Description
Book SynopsisThis second volume of collected essays, complement to volume one, focuses upon the art and culture of the third millennium B.C.E. in ancient Mesopotamia. Stress is upon the ability of free-standing sculpture and public monuments not only to reflect cultural attitudes, but to affect a viewing audience. Using Sumerian and Akkadian texts as well as works, the power of visual experience is pursued toward an understanding not only of the monuments but of their times and our own. "These beautifully produced volumes bring together essays written over a 35-year period, creating a whole that is much more than the sum of its parts...No library should be without this impressive collection." J.C. Exum
Table of ContentsChapter Sixteen- After the Battle is Over: The Stele of the Vultures and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art of the Ancient Near East Chapter Seventeen- Eannatum and the “King of Kiš”?: Another Look at the Stele of the Vultures and “Cartouches” in Early Sumerian Chapter Eighteen- Women in Public: The Disk of Enheduanna, the Beginning of the Office of En-Priestess, and the Weight of Visual Evidence Chapter Nineteen- Sex, Rhetoric, and the Public Monument: The Alluring Body of Naram-Sîn of Agade Chapter Twenty- Tree(s) on the Mountain: Landscape and Territory on the Victory Stele of Naram-Sîn of Agade Chapter Twenty-One- How Tall was Naram-Sîn’s Victory Stele? Speculation on the Broken Bottom Chapter Twenty-Two- The Body of the Able Ruler: Toward an Understanding of the Statues of Gudea Chapter Twenty-Three- ‘Idols of the King’: Royal Images as Recipients of Ritual Action in Ancient Mesopotamia EXPERIENCING ‘ART’ AND ARTIFACT Chapter Twenty-Four- Representing Abundance: A Visual Dimension of the Agrarian State Chapter Twenty-Five- Reading Ritual in the Archaeological Record: Deposition Pattern and Function of Two Artifact Types from the Royal Cemetery of Ur Chapter Twenty-Six-“Surpassing Work”: Mastery of Materials and the Value of Skilled Production in Ancient Sumer Chapter Twenty-Seven- The Aesthetic Value of Lapis Lazuli in Mesopotamia Chapter Twenty-Eight- Agency Marked, Agency Ascribed: The Affective Object in Ancient Chapter Twenty-Nine- “Seat of Kingship”/“A Wonder to Behold”: The Palace as Construct in the Ancient Near East Chapter Thirty- Opening the Eyes and Opening the Mouth: The Utility of Comparing Images in Worship in India and the Ancient Near East Chapter Thirty-One- The Affective Properties of Styles: An Inquiry into Analytical Process and the Inscription of Meaning in Art History VIEWING (IN) THE PAST AND THE PRESENT Chapter Thirty-Two- The Eyes Have It: Votive Statuary, Gilgamesh’s Axe, and Cathected Viewing in the Ancient Near East Chapter Thirty-Three- Babylonian Archaeologists of The(ir) Mesopotamian Past Chapter Thirty-Four- Exhibit/Inhibit: Archaeology, Value, History in the Work of Fred Wilson Chapter Thirty-Five- Change in the American Art Museum: The (An) Art Historian’s Voice Chapter Thirty-Six- Packaging the Past: The Benefits and Costs of Archaeological Tourism
