Page 65 - The Art & Architecture of the Ancient Orient_Neat

PART ONE: MESOPOTAMIA

Ur they are presented in the charmed manner of Sumerian art which suspends our dis­
belief when it converts the world of fairy-tale into reality. It is in such a world that the
benign human-headed bull of plate 26A and the demonic goat of plate 28 exist, and the
animals and monsters of the harp inlays celebrate their festival.

Glyptic Art

The seal designs of the period are very largely renderings of this same fantastic world
(Plates 3 9-40; Figures 14-16), but in them it is subjected to the decorative requirements
peculiar to the seal. In attempting this the Early Dynastic seal-cutters were so successful
that their inventions have decisively influenced the repertoire, not only of later glyptic, but
also of the metalwork and textiles of Mesopotamia, and through these the art of Greece
and Persia, and even of medieval Europe. The starting-point is, as we have seen (p. 18),
in the Brocade Style which developed one of the tendencies first observed in Protoliter­
ate times, where every subsequent development has its roots. The Brocade Style sacri­
ficed subject to design; simple linear figures were scattered over the surface to form a
continuous frieze of even density. The style was, in its purest form, elegant but jejune,
and its subject-matter was soon enriched. In the Second Early Dynastic Period this pro­
cess continued, but the stylistic principles remained unchanged. The design was still
mainly linear, and wider surfaces, such as the bodies of animals, were flat and without
modelling (Plate 39, A and b). Plasticity was introduced only in the Third Early Dynastic
Period.
The seal-cutters made much use of that animation which enabled the engraver of the
silver vase of plate 32 to produce a continuous design. When he made the Hons attack
the neighbouring herbivores, he united juxtaposed figures into a closed chain. On the
seals the commonest subject is a frieze of animals and fantastic creatures which seem to
be engaged in a free-for-all fight. We do not understand the implications of diis theme,
which is a favourite one with the Mesopotamian artists of all periods, but a somewhat
clumsy design like figure 15A shows that one of the sources of the friezes was the defence
of herds and flocks against the depredations of Hons. Whether the calf’s head drawn on
the left is merely a space-filler or is meant to represent a victim of the beasts of prey we
do not know, but the bull which collapses under the Hon’s paws is reprieved in the nick
of time by two bull-men. The same elements are used to produce the more sophisticated
seals which display an astounding gift of invention, since they are often but variations on
the same theme. The particular requirement of a seal - namely, that it should bear an
individual, distinctive engraving - offered a challenge to the designers to which they re­
sponded with dehght. In figure 14B three bull-men restrain two Hons, while a buU stands
by unharmed. Two heads of goats arc space-fiUers. There is nowhere a hiatus in the
frieze, yet the figures are not crowded. The facts of the scene - die killing of livestock by
Hons - which are presented plainly in figure 15A, are taken for granted, and the interest
centres in the composition. Another version is plate 39A where we meet the naked hero
of plate 6. He holds the beard of a wild ox in either hand, and is shown once more bend­
ing past a Hon which he seems to stab with a dagger in the hind quarters while grasping

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