#sumerian art

[along-the-silkroad]

Standing female worshipper statue of limestone, inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli, Nippur, Mesopotamia, Sumerian, c. 2600-2500 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art (ID: 62.70.2) This statue of a standing woman with her hands clasped in front of her chest was found in the plasterings of a mud-brick bench located in one of the cellas of the Nippur temple of Inanna (Level VIIB), the Sumerian goddess of abundance. Her garment is draped over her left shoulder and falls in folds indicated by two incised lines along the border of the otherwise smooth fabric. The feet are carved in high relief against the back support and the toes and ankles are clearly indicated. The wavy hair is held in place by two plain bands, and curly locks hang down on either side of the face. Inlay of shell and lapis lazuli survives in her left eye.  (MET)

[nemfrog]

"Portrait in limestone of a Sumerian priestly official named Kur-lil." Preshistoric Man. 1927.

Internet Archive

[bronzeageecho]

vase shard with ibex | c. 3900 - 3500 BCE | found in Ĝirsu (modern-day iraq)

in the louvre collection

[themuseumwithoutwalls]

MWW Artwork of the Day (9/3/25) Early Dynastic Period III (c. 2600–2350 BCE) Ram in a Thicket (c. 2600-2400 BCE) Lapis lazuli, gold leaf, copper, shell wood & bitumen sculpture, 16.5 in. high The British Museum, London

"The Ram in a Thicket} is one of a pair of figures excavated in Ur, in southern Iraq, and which date from about 2600-2400 BC. The ram's head and legs are layered in gold leaf which had been hammered against the wood and stuck to it with a thin wash of bitumen, while its ears are copper but which are now green with verdigris. The horns and the fleece on its shoulders are of lapis lazuli, and the body's fleece is made of shell, attached to a thicker coat of bitumen. The figure's genitals are gold, while its belly was silver plate. The tree is also covered in gold leaf with gold flowers.

[floating-space-jellyfish]

So the MET has a fragmented Sumerian male worshiper statuette right

But it looks….so familiar…..

[cbr-95]

So I’ve been studying about Mesopotamia, and it also involves art. Well I had also started to watch Hunter x Hunter and so THIS happened and I can no longer unsee it. Those eyes have seen some shit and I’m sure their plan was to scare death away.

[sumerianlanguage]

how to say “art” in sumerian language?

I’m not sure if I can find an exact translation for our modern concept of “art,” since the Sumerians didn’t use “art” as a broad category like we think of it today. I know words for specific categories, like shegin 𒊺𒂆 “painting” and namtibira 𒉆𒁾𒉄 “sculpture,” but the closest I can think of to “art” in general would be namgalam 𒉆𒃴 “skilled craftsmanship” from galam 𒃴 “artfully made, skillful, ingenious”.

[dreams-and-echoes]

Androcephalic bull (c. 2000 BCE)