Gardners Art through the Ages A Global History

AKKADIAN PORTRAITUREA magnificent copper head of

an Akkadian king (FIG. 2-12) found at Nineveh embodies this new

concept of absolute monarchy. The head is all that survives of a statue

that was knocked over in antiquity, perhaps when the Medes, a people

that occupied the land south of the Caspian Sea (MAP2-1), sacked Nin-

eveh in 612 BCE. But the damage to the portrait was not due solely to

the statue’s toppling. There are also signs of deliberate mutilation. To

make a political statement, the enemy gouged out the eyes (once inlaid

with precious or semiprecious stones), broke off the lower part of the

beard, and slashed the ears of the royal portrait. Nonetheless, the king’s

majestic serenity, dignity, and authority are evident. So, too, is the mas-

terful way the sculptor balanced naturalism and abstract patterning.

The artist carefully observed and recorded the man’s distinctive fea-

tures—the profile of the nose and the long, curly beard—and bril-

liantly communicated the differing textures of flesh and hair, even the

contrasting textures of the mustache, beard, and braided hair on the

top of the head. The coiffure’s triangles, lozenges, and overlapping disks

of hair and the great arching eyebrows that give so much character to

the portrait reveal that the sculptor was also sensitive to formal pattern.

No less remarkable is the fact this is a life-size, hollow-cast

metal sculpture (see “Hollow-Casting Life-Size Bronze Statues,”

Chapter 5, page 122), one of the earliest known. The head demon-

strates the artisan’s sophisticated skill in casting and polishing cop-

per and in engraving the details. The portrait is the earliest known

great monumental work of hollow-cast sculpture.

NARAM-SIN STELE The godlike sovereignty the kings of

Akkad claimed is also evident in the victory stele (FIG. 2-13) Naram-

Sin set up at Sippar. The stele commemorates his defeat of the Lullubi,

a people of the Iranian mountains to the east. It is inscribed twice, once

in honor of Naram-Sin and once by an Elamite king who had captured

Sippar in 1157 BCEand taken the stele as booty back to Susa in south-

western Iran (MAP2-1), where it was found. On the stele, the grandson

of Sargon leads his victorious army up the slopes of a wooded moun-

tain. His routed enemies fall, flee, die, or beg for mercy. The king stands

alone, far taller than his men, treading on the bodies of two of the

fallen Lullubi. He wears the horned helmet signifying divinity—the

first time a king appears as a god in Mesopotamian art. At least three

favorable stars (the stele is damaged at the top) shine on his triumph.

By storming the mountain, Naram-Sin seems also to be scaling

the ladder to the heavens, the same conceit that lies behind the great

ziggurat towers of the ancient Near East. His troops march up the

mountain behind him in orderly files, suggesting the discipline and

organization of the king’s forces. The enemy, in contrast, is in disar-

ray, depicted in a great variety of postures—one falls headlong down

40 Chapter 2 THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

2-13Victory stele of Naram-Sin, from Susa, Iran, 2254–2218 bce.

Pink sandstone, 6 7 high. Louvre, Paris.

To commemorate his conquest of the Lullubi, Naram-Sin set up this

stele showing him leading his army up a mountain. The sculptor

staggered the figures, abandoning the traditional register format.

2-12Head of an Akkadian ruler, from Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik),

Iraq, ca. 2250–2200 bce.Copper, 1 2 –^38 high. Iraq Museum, Baghdad.

The sculptor of this first known life-size hollow-cast head captured the

distinctive features of the ruler while also displaying a keen sense of

abstract pattern. The head was vandalized in antiquity.

1 ft.

1 in.