Art & Images 2

Cylinder Seals (Ur)

Sumerian merchants used cylinder seals to mark the completion of a trade agreement. [THE ROYAL TOMBS OF UR] [Near East] [Art] [Archaeology] [Architecture]...

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Close uo of The lion that adorns the Ishtar Gate

Close up of the lions that adorn the Ishtar Gate. [BABYLONIA] [Near East] [Art] [Archaeology] [Architecture]...

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Head from a statue of an archer

from the walls of the palace at Persopolis. Typical AchÃ"menid aesthetic interest in repeated patterns. [AchÃ"mids and Medes] [images] [AchÃ"menid stone carving]...

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Gudea (Ur)

Gudea was an important ensi, or priest-ruler, of the city-state of Lagash. [THE ROYAL TOMBS OF UR] [Near East] [Art] [Archaeology] [Architecture]...

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Tomb of Cyrus the Great

(c. 550-529), near his palace at PasargadÃ". Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, won independence from the Media and expanded his control to Mesopotamia. He drew from Mesopotamia some ideological elements for a reconstructed monarchy. Tombs are above ground to prevent the corpse's being defiled. [AchÃ"mids and Medes] [images] [AchÃ"menid architec...

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Soldiers from the Ten Thousand Immortals.

Glazed tile relief showing soldiers from the Ten Thousand Immortals. This imperial guard was an élite force made up of trustworthy ethnic Persians. From the AchÃ"menid winter palace at Susa, Elam. 520-500 B.C. (Paris: Louvre) [AchÃ"mids and Medes] [images] [AchÃ"menid glazed tile relief]...

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Female Head (Ur)

This female head originated in the city-state of Uruk. [THE ROYAL TOMBS OF UR] [Near East] [Art] [Archaeology] [Architecture]...

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Relief of winged creatures at the gate of Persopolis

. Probably derived from Babylonian supernatural beings who guard the entrances to sacred places, and perhaps Babylonia is also the source for reconstituting the AchÃ"menid dynasty in terms of sacral kingship. [AchÃ"mids and Medes] [images] [AchÃ"menid stone carving]...

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Persian winter palace at Susa

Glazed tile relief originally from the Persian winter palace at Susa, capital of Elam. 520-500 B.C. (Paris: Louvre). Another imperial guard. The light military dress was designed for offensive combat, to rush out to address crises within the far-flung Persian Empire. [AchÃ"mids and Medes] [images] [AchÃ"menid glazed tile relief]...

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Sargon (Akkad)

The city-states of Mesopotamia were finally conquered and unified by the ambitious ruler, Sargon. He created the world's first empire, Akkad. [AKKAD] [Near East] [Art] [Archaeology] [Architecture]...

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