The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin In the Akkadian culture, they held art in high regard, particularly imperial art depicting the Akkadian Dynasty. During the reign of Naram-Sin art and power reached its apogee in the Akkadian culture and many artistic structures such as steles were created. A stele is a vertical stone monument or marker often inscribed with text or relief carving. Steles help to understand better the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the people living during the time of its creation. The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, constructed between 2254-2218 B.C.E is a six-foot, seven-inch-tall slab of rose limestone. The stele was used to publically commemorate Naram-Sin and his military’s victorious defeat of the Lullubi mountain people …show more content…
The soldiers appear to be very disciplined, organized, upright, and proud, they never break their ranks and are marching in a continuous straight line. The soldiers are meant to symbolize behaviour and attitudes of the Akkadian people. To the right of and beneath Naram-Sin are the Lullubi people who give the impression of being trampled on by Naram-Sin, fallen and wounded. They represent people that are in a state of chaos, the Akkadians are under Naram-Sin’s feet, begging as they flee and being thrown off the mountain headlong. The relief carving is dominated by Naram-Sin who is the sole figure carved in the top of the stele. In the carving, Naram-Sin portrays godlike divinity and this is understood through many accoutrements of the carving, one of which being his size. Naram-Sin is the largest figure on the stele, towering over the others; this denotes his dominance as a deific ruler. He wears a horned helmet signifying divinity--- the first time a king appears as a god in Mesopotamian art. He ascends towards the heavens above him which are represented by what are understood to be three stars (which are partly damaged) these symbolize the gods shining down on him. The inclusion of these deities suggests that the gods have sanctioned Naram-Sin’s military triumph,
This image, and the detail that goes into it in the Torah’s description, loom large in the Jewish imagination, and our conceptualization of our community. As the Israelites move forward into the desert, surely they can rally behind this glorious homage to God’s greatness – surely they will be proud to march to the Promised Land behind this banner for holiness, the ultimate reminder of God’s presence. And within the Ark, the tablets themselves, perhaps the broken first set alongside the second set that Moses carved himself. What could be more powerful?
Millions come to the Tomb to see the tomb and ceremony. The men laid in the tomb are a testament to all the unknowns, even though there are only three men in the tomb they are symbolizing all of the unknowns lost. The guard’s movement are very symbolic and mean so much to other soldiers. The movement of 21 steps and seconds is for the highest military honor a: 21 gun salute. The monument is one of the most famous and sacred military monuments in the United
The Palace Wall carving depicts an image of the ancient Assyrian warriors of Sennacherib’s army invading Lachish an ancient Judean city in 701 BCE. The carving was made to show the military records of the ancient western world. It was made a year after the war was happening and it shows some soldiers shooting bows at a castle-like structure. There are some documents that describe the attacks on Lachish and come from the Sennacherib Prism, a document written in cuneiform in 701 BCE. It describes how Sennacherib’s army attacked the Judean city and what they did with the citizens of the city. Another document that describes the accounts of the war is the Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. This document was written by many different people and in different times ranging from 680 BCE to 500 BCE, a while after the war. Both documents describe some details, some true some not, of the invasion. They share the same Ancient Assyrian invasion of Lachish but they go about describing it in different ways.
The shape of a shield serves as a motif for the cyclical events in Roman history and to showcase the recurring themes of violence, freedom and peace. As the god of fire, Vulcan forges weaponry and must tame nature to create art much like the Roman belief of taming nature to serve political and societal purposes. Through the shield, Vergil shows the importance of peace to avoid history to repeat itself, and also as a warning. Like the great city of Troy, Rome will fall again even under the splendor of Augustus. Vergil like Vulcan shapes and fashions Roman history into his own narrative and creates a new artistic form.
Another important aspect of the Narmer Palette are the carvings and what they symbolize. According to Dr. Amy Calvert, some have interpreted the battle scenes as a historical record of the initial unification of Egypt under one ruler, supported by the general timing, as this is the period of the unification, and the fact that Narmer sports the crown connected to Upper Egypt on one face of the palette and the crown of Lower Egypt on the other, this is the first preserved example where both crowns are used by the same ruler. Other theories suggest that, rather than an actual historical representation, these scenes were purely ceremonial and related to the concept of unification in general
Both pieces to me seem to represent godlike features. For example, in the palette the king is shown as larger than his enemies and in the stele the king is standing over the people and is much higher than them. As rulers, they are both depicted as strong and heroic and as humans, they are depicted as
The Palette of Narmer was created on a flat stone surface; the artists then carved the story into the flat stone in a very specific manor. This palette is known for representing the coming together of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt (Stokstad and Cothren, 52). At the top of the palette on both sides shows two bulls that were said to possibly represent the goddess Hathor. Hathor was known as the goddess of protection, and is depicted in other Egyptian art as a woman with cow ears (British Museum, no page). In between the heads of Hathor is the name of the King Narmer, written with iconography called serekh. In this serekh, one can see the Horus falcon head and below it is the name of the king. The falcon head is said to protect the Egyptian ruler (Kinnaer). Although this is just one small piece of the top of the palette, it already starts to depict an enormous part of history in Egypt.
The figures, both seated and standing are depicted according to traditional Egyptian conventions. Nebamun is painted as the largest figure in the painting because he is the most significant . He is standing in perfect balance with a youthful, well proportioned and defined body. The artist has painted Nebamun in a way that emphasises what the Egyptians believed to be the most important parts of a man’s body. Teeter expands upon this.
The first piece in this set is tilted The Fall of Giants, accession number 1974.607, and it is a detailed depiction of the grecian god Zeus, calling down a storm of stone that crushes every man underneath it. If not for close inspection, one would walk right past the stony mound and never notice the crushed limbs sticking out from underneath. Piamontini intended this in order to show the brutality of the gods, also representing symbolism of returning to the earth, the old religion is
The Base of North Acropolis and Temple I wanted to show the royal status and power, or the people in that time of the royal forces respect and yearning. The early works are used carved stone, style is more rough, like brave men strong body and spirit. It fully shows the people affected by the war as expressed in culture. The other one use animal as topic, that show the prospect for peace in that period. One such group, the Tlingit, used art to create and portray its rights, privileges, and talents inherited to them and became symbols of tribal importance. It has a lot of human face on the grizzly arm and leg, this shows that the people-oriented scene. In peacetime, people live happy and work and the pursuit of life. These sprites can show in art
Taking precedence amongst these reliefs is the lion, representative of the goddess Ishtar, to whom the gate is dedicated. The Processional Way leading to and from the great gate is lined with these beasts, in reverence to the deity Ishtar, but also in recognition of Nebuchadnezzar’s power over such awesome creatures; their even-spaced cadence gives the impression of being conducted or controlled by the king himself. The form of two other venerated creatures adorn the gate walls, that of the auroch (a now extinct ancestor to modern cattle/bulls) and a “composite creature” most closely resembling a dragon or serpent but with the features of a few different animals. The auroch is synonymous to the weather god Adad, while the serpent creature was frequently used to depict the god Marduk, patron god to the city of Babylon. In addition to Marduk being a paramount deity in the Babylonian pantheon, King Nebuchadnezzar chiefly associated himself and his rule to the god Marduk. The three symbols on the Gate of Ishtar are meant to convey that the rule of the king was not only under the protection of, but also in league with the gods themselves. Given that “divine right” to rule has long been crucial to strong leadership over subjects, it is no wonder why King Nebuchadnezzar had the entrance to his palace patrolled constantly by symbols of his culture’s most important deities. In addition to these divine sentries, an inscription on the side of the gate illustrates majesty possessed by the Babylonian ruler. An excerpt
The Victory Stele of Naram-Sin is a vertical stone marker, referred to as a stele, that depicts the military triumph of Naram-Sin and his army over the Lullubi people from the city-state of Sumer in eastern Mesopotamia. This stele, an artifact I find most intriguing due to its dynamic symbolism and compelling story-telling, elaborately details not only one of Naram-Sin 's greatest military victories but displays, what I believe to be, Naram-Sin as a divine-like being, suggesting a change in the religious ideas of the Ancient Near East era. As the text in Art and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities explains, rulers of this time period we not viewed as gods, but as an “intermediary between the god and the people,” yet this artifact gives the impression of quite the opposite. The symbolism suggesting the alteration in religious ideas is profoundly depicted throughout every detail of this artifact, not only through its focal point, Naram-Sin, but among the minute details of the accompanying figures and the overall composition of this artwork.
Dickson, Keith. "The Wall of Uruk: Iconicities In Gilgamesh." Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions 9.1 (2009): 25-50.
Saint George’s pose and stance define his authoritative nature as a symbol of hope. His stance is intentionally static and stable, due to the fact that Saint George is, in fact, a soldier of war. His posture is strong, with his shoulders back and chest forward, indicating cool obedience. Yet his neck shows his defiance, as it is tall and taut as if ready to spring to battle. His expression is marred with the scars of battle; his forehead wrinkled as if in pain and his mouth twisted in disgust. As you move down the statue, you stop to look at his hands and arms; the right one looks almost tense and stressed, while his left side looks calm and relaxed, yet there is a feeling of naturalness to this arrangement. He is covered in what looks like Roman armor that is a representation of his high status as an officer of the military. This, along with the shield that covers half of...
Monuments are a symbol of a significant time in history. Monuments represent life, death, success, and struggle just to name a few. They have become as important to society as the events they represent. They bring history alive to new generations and memories to those who experience them firsthand. Monuments create a bridge between generations. Many parents feel a certain indescribable joyfulness when they see the look in their child’s eyes they had went they viewed the same monument.