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1.Even without television advertising and Press Secretaries, ancient Near Eastern rulers did a fine job of self-promotion. Which examples of art do you feel best communicated the rulers’ power to their people? What leadership qualities did they present in their imagery?<\/p>\n
2.In this chapter we have depictions of gods along with humans. Use examples from the chapter to explain how works of art embody the different and varied roles of humans and their gods within the ancient near east.<\/p>\n
3.Your textbook mentions that many world religions employ buildings that reach up into the sky, illustrating their belief that deities inhabit the heavens. What other purpose may lie behind the interest in building large religious structures? Pick two examples and relate them in terms of their physical form and their function within society. (Compare and contrast the formal strategies. Identify the features their architecture share.
Explain the significance of scale and height in the art and architecture.<\/p>\n
4.Let\u2019s think about geography and technology and art. How is the frequent political instability visible in ancient Near Eastern art and architecture? Describe at least three different building technologies employed by architects working in the ancient Near East.<\/p>\n
5.Take a moment to think about what life must have been like before cuneiform writing first recorded such mundane information as trade records and bureaucratic documents. Why do you think these routine documents had such a profound impact on early civilizations? How does writing influence our understanding and interpretation of the art in this chapter? Pick an exemplary work of art that displays this relation between text and image. <\/p>\n