Part VI

At a very early period the Babylonians conceived the device to harden the clay by the admixture of substances which gave it almost the quality of a soft stone. We have a variety of such artificial substances that form a transition to sculpture in stone. A particularly good specimen was found in Nippur, showing a sacrificial scene in two divisions. The upper portion represents a naked worshipper offering a libation before Enlil, the chief deity of Nippur, repeated for the sake of symmetry. In the lower portion are attendants carrying some objects and driving two goats.

Despite the fact that the human figures are drawn in outline with the aid of simple lines, there is dignity in the expression on the face of the deity. The animal apparently a gazelle drawing a plough (again repeated for the sake of symmetry), is well reproduced in a second plaque from Nippur, which shows the same naked worshipper before Enlil (see Plate XLIII, Fig. 2).

In general, it may be said that in this early work there is little expression in the human face. The eye is lifeless, and, even when the face is in profile, the eye is usually given in full. The crudeness of the art is to be seen in the position of the feet, though occasionally an artist succeeds in correctly representing a standing position. So in the case of a bas-relief found at Nippur which, though revealing all the characteristic traits of the early art, is redeemed by the effective manner in which a bearded priest is shown with, his face half turned towards a worshipper carrying a goat as an offering and being led into the presence of a goddess seated on a bird (Plate XLIV, Fig. 1).

A limestone plaque with the figure of a Sumerian chief, standing at the entrance to the sanctuary of the god Ningirsu at Lagash, belongs to the same period, the dress of the worshipper being again of the same primitive character as in the Nippur bas-relief, with the exception that the single garb hanging from the waist reaches to the feet (Plate XLIV, Fig. 2). The elaborate pattern as well as the border of the garb which has a slit in front is due to the greater care in the artistic execution. Very striking is the arrangement of the hair falling down the neck and gathered together by a fillet around his head, while a long chin beard adorns the face.

The eye is drawn in front view, and the positions of the feet also reveal the usual limitations of the early art. The long aquiline nose and long feathers as part of the head gear suggest a foreign conqueror who is here paying his respects to the patron deity of Lagash.

The sacred poles with mace heads in front of the chief who grasps one of the poles with his right hand are religious symbols, perhaps originally trees placed near altars or in front of sanctuaries, not unlike the totem poles of the North American Indians. A similar attempt to represent two different ethnical types may be recognized in a group of figures that are unfortunately only partially preserved. We have here apparently a procession of warriors, leading captives.

The warriors wear their hair long, but the drawing is so conventionalized as to suggest wigs. The long aquiline noses remind one of the figure with the high feathers, as do the long almond-shaped eyes. The procession appears to have been arranged in two rows, and it is evident that the bald-headed and beardless figure in the second row is intended to represent a Sumerian.

The folded arms are the gesture of adoration or devotion. It would appear then that we have here a portrayal of a scene in the early history of the Euphrates Valley in which a foreign group succeeded in bringing the Sumerians into subjection.

PLATE XLIV

Fig. 1, Goddess seated on bird

Fig. 2, Sumerian chief

PLATE XLV

Fig. 1, Procession of Warriors

FIG. I, PROCESSION OF WARRIORS

The two warriors facing one another would then represent the conquerors. Beyond, however, the indication of broadly distinctive types and a certain dignity and strength of posture these specimens of the earliest art do not go, so far as the human figure is concerned (Plate XLV, Fig. 1).

On the other hand, the art is rather remarkable in the skill with which a series of figures are grouped so as to convey a unity or a continuity of action. A good specimen is furnished by the fragment of what was, when complete, a limestone relief of an unusually large size. The fragment preserved is about four feet high. It is again divided into two sections, the upper one representing a procession of four figures being led into the presence of a deity, though it is possible that the third figure with uplifted hands represents a goddess, the consort of the god to whom homage is to be paid and who acts as an intercessor between the gods and the worshipper.

In the lower portion the most significant feature is a seated figure no doubt again a priest playing on an eleven stringed instrument, the details of which even to the figure of a bull as a decorative portion of the frame are drawn with great precision. Despite the fragmentary condition of the scene portrayed, one obtains an impression of unity (Plate XLV, Fig. 2) .

We can trace this artistic method in detail in a series of bas-reliefs, likewise on limestone plaques, portraying Ur-Nina, the king of Lagash (c. 2975 B.C.) and his family taking part in building the temple Eninnu to Ningirsu in Lagash. ^[1] In the upper portion Ur-Nina is portrayed with the workman's basket on his head. He, as well as all the other personages, is beardless and without hair on his head. Naked to the waist, the customary flounced skirt falls in three folds covering the lower part of his body. The dress of all the other figures is the same, only that in place of the flounced skirt, all except one are clothed in a simple form of skirt across which the artist has written the name of the personage portrayed.

Behind the king stands an attendant priest with libation vase and cup ; in front of him five members of his family with names attached, and it seems quite certain that the first of these is a woman and the king's daughter. In the lower portion the king is seated on the throne, pouring out a libation after the ceremonial rite of building. Behind him stands the attendant priest with the jar out of which a libation has been poured into the cup held by the king in his right hand, while before the king stand a priest (?) ^[2] and three other sons of the king.

The pose of all the figures is entirely conventional, the crossing of the arms symbolizing devotion, and the same convention is observed in the manner in which the left arm is portrayed when the right one holds an object. No attempt is made to give any expression to the faces, all of which, therefore, look alike, but in keepirfg with the symbolism which pervades the art, the higher stature of Ur-Nina is intended to portray the supreme dignity of his royal office, just as by further contrast between the human and divine ruler, the god is represented in the early art as -much larger than the king (Plate XLVI, Fig. 1).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Two in the Louvre (Decouvertes, PL 2 bis, fig. 1 and 2, and PI. 2 ter, fig. 1) and two in the Museum at Constantinople one of the latter in a very fragmentary condition.

[2]:

The name of this personage is Dudu, but the title that follows is not clear. At all events he is not a member of the royal family, but some official.