Chapter Two:The Ancient Near East
P010-Persia
Achaemenid Persia
4 /Alliance of Medes & Scythians had crushed Nineveh in 612 BC
Persians at that time were vassals of the Medes60 years latercyrus the Great of the family of Achaemenidsreversed this
4 /Cyrus (c 600-529 BC)
Cyrus conquered Babylon in 539 BC
Assumed title of King of Babylon
Had ambitions sim to Assyrian rulers
Empire continued to expand under his successors
Egypt
Asia Minor
almost Greece
Generally ruled efficiently/ humanely throughout life of Persian Empire
Mastered complex machinery of imperial administration
/ Achaemenid Persiansc 539 - 331 BC
Persians
c 538 - 330 BC
Darius
c 550- 486 BC
Xerxes
519- 465 BC
Overthrown by Alexander the Great
(356-323)
in331 BC
4 /
High tide
Darius(c 550- 486 BC)
Xerxes(519- 465 BC)
Persian empire far larger than Egyptian & Assyrian together
Empireendured for 2 centuries
Overthrown by Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) in 331 BC
44 /
Persian retained own religious belief drawn from prophecies of Zoroasterbased on dualism of Good and Evil embodied in Ahuramazda (Light) and Ahriman (Darkness)
Cult of Ahuramazda centered on fire altars in open air --- SO---no religious architecture
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3 /
Palace at Persepolis
4 /begun by Darius I in 518 BC
7General View of Persepolis
/ J129
G2-39
Plan of the Palace complex at Persepolis
10197
Persepolis
c 500 BC
General View
/ 4 /
Vast number of rooms, halls, courts on raised platform
Basd on a grid
Recall royal Assyrian residences, and Assyrian elements are the strongest influence
fortified like Assyrian palaces
but with more open space between buildings and greater use of courtyards (G2-39)
/ Achaemenid Persiansc 539 - 331 BC
Darius
c 550- 486 BC
Xerxes
519- 465 BC
Overthrown by Alexander the Great
(356-323)
in331 BC
4
G2-38
Royal audience hall and stairway
Palace of Darius in background
Persepolis, Persia
c. 500 BC
Mature Classical Greek / G2-41
Palace of Darius
Persepolis
H4-28
Many Columns
/ 4 /
Audience Hall of Darius
The great Hall of One Hundred Columns (G2-38) utilizes many ideas garnered from the peoples the Persians conquered, but melded together to create a specific style (G2-41)
Columns used on grand scale
Room = 250 ' square
Wood ceiling supported by 36 columns, 40' tall
only a few columns are still standing
Massing of columns recalls Egyptian architecture
4 /Egyptian influence
ornamental details on bases and capitals
Slender fluted shaftderivative of Ionian Greek in Asia MinorIonian Greeks = artists to the Persian court
4G2-40
J131
Bull capital from the royal audience hall of the palace of Artaxerxes II, from Susa, Persia, c 375 BC. Gray marble, 7'7" high, 12'3" wide. Louvre, Paris. / 4 /
Bull Capitals
Palace of Persepolis
Without Precedent
"Cradle" for beams of the ceiling
Front parts of two bulls
Animals each are Assyrian in originbut combination is somewhat an elarged version of the pole-top ornaments of Luristan
Seems to be the nly instance f Architect's own artistic heritage
/ Achaemenid Persiansc 539 - 331 BC
Persians
c 538 - 330 BC
Darius
c 550- 486 BC
Xerxes
519- 465 BC
Overthrown by Alexander the Great
(356-323)
in331 BC
4
4
G2-42A
15140
oblique view
Subjects Bringing Gifts to the King (detail), from the stairway to the royal audience hall, Persepolis, Persia, c 500 BC, Limestone
/ G2-42
Subjects Bringing Gifts to the King (detail), from the stairway to the royal audience hall, Persepolis, Persia, c 500 BC, Limestone
/ 4 /
Reliefs
Marching Figures
Subjects Bringing Gifts to the King
Along double stairway leading up to
Audience Hall
Repetitive, ceremonial character emphasizes subservienceto architectural setting that is typical of all Persian sculpture
The reliefs show the influence of the Ionian Greeks,
for the Persians have gone beyond the Assyrian figure that combined the old profile view of head and legs with full front view of the shoulders (G2-42)
/ Achaemenid Persiansc 539 - 331 BC
Persians
c 538 - 330 BC
Darius
c 550- 486 BC
Xerxes
519- 465 BC
Overthrown by Alexander the Great
(356-323)
in331 BC
4 /
They understood the concept of shoulders seen in profile along with the rest of the body.
We no longer see the exaggerated stocky limbs & tense muscles,but rather, relaxed figureswith more normal proportions, representing the numerous court officialsthat ran the Persian Empireand representatives of the manyconquered peoples bringing tribute
.
4J132
U531B
Darius and Xerxes Giving Audience, c c. 490 BC. Limestone, height, 8'4". Treasury, Persepolis, Iran
/ 4 /
Darius and Xerxes Giving Audience
c 490 BC
expressive energy & narrative skill of Assyrians have been deliberately rejected
4-----still-----
J132
U531B
Darius and Xerxes Giving Audience, c c. 490 BC. Limestone, height, 8'4". Treasury, Persepolis, Iran
/ 4 /
Persian Style
softer and more refined than Meso tradition
Greek input
No precedent for the play of finely pleated foldsof the Darius & Xerxes relief
Or the revealing of shoulders through clothing
These come from Greece, who had created them in the 6th c BC
/ Achaemenid Persiansc 539 - 331 BC
Persians
c 538 - 330 BC
Darius
c 550- 486 BC
Xerxes
519- 465 BC
Overthrown by Alexander the Great
(356-323)
in331 BC
4
J133
Gold Rhyton, Achaemenid,
5th - 3rd c BC, ArchMus, Teheran.
/ G2-40
J131
Bull capital from the royal audience hall of the palace of Artaxerxes II, from Susa, Persia,
c 375 BC. Gray marble, 7'7" high, 12'3" wide. Louvre, Paris. / 4 /
Achaemenids= synthesisbut had no No capacityy for change
Perhaps due to preoccupation with decorative effects regardless of scalea carryover from nomadic heritage
Essentially no diff between bull capital and gold rhyton in J133
4 /Gold Rhyton
This tradition survived 500 yrs of domination under rule of Greece and Rome
Flowered agin when Persia regained independence and seized Meso from Romans
/ Achaemenid Persiansc 539 - 331 BC
Persians
c 538 - 330 BC
Darius
c 550- 486 BC
Xerxes
519- 465 BC
Overthrown by Alexander the Great
(356-323)
in331 BC
4
4
4
4 /
Sassanian
Rulers who regained independence from Rome=House of Sassanian
Greatest figure= Shapur I(died 272 BC)Political and artistic ambitions of Darius
Naksh-i-Rustam, the burial place of Achaemenid kings
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J134
Shapur I Triumphing Over the Emperors Philippus the Arab and Valerian, 260-72 AD. Naksh-i-Rustam (near Persepolis), Iran
/ 4 /
Shapur I Triumphing Over the Emperors Philippus the Arab & Valerian,260-72 AD.
At Naksh-i-RustamShapur I commemorated his victory over Roman emperors in relief carved into living rock
formal source of this scene iswell known Roman compostionbuthere the emperors are in defeat
Flattening of volumes & ornamental elaboration of draperies indic revival of Persian qualities
The mixture of Persian and Roman= intriguing and makes this relief impressive.
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J135
Palace of Shapur I, Ctesiphon, Iraq. 242-72 AD
/ 4 /
Palace of Shapur at Ctesiphon, (near Babylon)
enormous vaulted audience hall
Blind arcades of the facade emphasizes decorative surface pattern
Monumental art incapable of further evolution also under Sassanian rule
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4
J136
Woven silk, Sassanian, c 6th c AD. Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence,
/ 4 /
Woven Silk
Metalwork and textiles continued to flourish
chief glory of Sassanian art was the woven sils
Was a direct echo of the ornamental tradition of Luristan bronzes
Big export to Constantinople and Christian West
Were imp stimulus upon art of Middle Ages
Manufacture was resumed after fallof Sassanians to Arabs mid 7th cas resultessential treasury of design motifs for Islamic art
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