The Historians' History of the World 01 [Prolegomena; Egypt, Mesopotamia]

Too little of the sculpture of the new Babylonian realm has been preserved to allow judgment of the state of art during this period. The well known carving of Nebuchadrezzar II on a cameo would force us to have a very high opinion of it, if convincing reasons did not argue that, although genuine, it is the work of a foreign, probably a Cyprian, artist.

There is no doubt that the art of music was cultivated among the Babylonians and Assyrians, since the reliefs show musicians very frequently, at religious festivals, at triumphal greetings of the victorious king and at festivities. They play singly or in concert, and also accompany singing. The musical instruments are of various kinds, and the musicians, who are sometimes very daintily attired, are not always eunuchs, and are of different ages.

On the whole it must be conceded, that the Assyrio-Babylonian nation was artistically inclined and that it cultivated various branches of art with talent and success. If they, the Assyrians in particular, had been able to free themselves from tradition, they might have surpassed their predecessors and teachers. They practised art, however, not for itself alone, but as a means of glorifying the gods or the kings, and the historical reliefs at least, are for the greater part nothing more than illustrations to the inscriptions, a sort of war-report in pictures. They were not an artistic people like the Greeks. Still they have produced more and better results in this respect, than all other nations of their race put together. And although in some special instances they may have been excelled by the Egyptians, in others they are far in advance of them. The Assyrians, following the example of the Babylonians, showed their artistic talents also in the productions of their industries; art and industry were with them closely related.

Among the productions to be considered here are primarily the hundreds of seals, which are still in preservation, and whose number will not seem so surprising when it is remembered that every Babylonian and Assyrian of quality had his private seal. In early times these were always, and in later times generally, cylinders, pierced through the centre, to be worn around the neck suspended from a cord. The impression was made by rolling them over moist clay. After the eighth century conical and half-spherical seals appear. These cylinders are made of many different materials, at first, of easily carved, later of harder, material, such as porphyry, basalt, ferruginous marble, serpentine, syenite and hematite. After that, semi-precious stones were used, jasper, agate, onyx, chalcedony, rock-crystal, garnet, etc. In the oldest stones the pictured objects were rather suggested by indentations and strokes, than actually executed and carved; but gradually a great skilfulness was attained, and there are beautiful cuttings in the hard stones also. The execution varied greatly of course, not only in proportion to the talent of the artist, but also according to the rank and wealth of the person who gave the commission. The subjects chosen are mostly of a religious nature, the adoration of a goddess, an offering of sacrifice, various emblems such as winged animals, sun, moon, and stars, and very frequently the tree of life, in whose shadow stand two persons, or which is guarded by two genii. Under the new Babylonian dominion and under the Achamenides, glyptics as an art declined rapidly.

Ceramic art seems not to have occupied a very lofty position in Babylonia at first. Clay vases and utensils, during a long period made by hand, are crude and inartistic in earliest times. Gradually with the introduction of the potter’s wheel, however, they become more graceful in form, and towards the end of the Assyrian period are enamelled and decorated with patterns painted in colours. However, Babylonian ceramic art cannot compete with that of Greece, although it surpasses that of Egypt. Glass has not been found in large quantities, to be sure, but quite advanced progress had been made in its manufacture. The Assyrians and Babylonians showed particular skill in the working of metals. Bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, was known to them in the earliest times. They had a knowledge of iron earlier than the Egyptians, and certainly made much greater use of it. Gold objects are commoner than those of silver, and lead is seldom used. Ornaments, such as bracelets, ear-rings, and necklaces are usually cast of precious metal and often inlaid with pearls. It may be taken as a proof of highly advanced culture that they used not only spoons, but forks, a luxury introduced into Europe only at the close of the Middle Ages, and that toilet articles, such as combs, pins, etc., were ornamented with the greatest care and skill.

Bas-relief of Wild Sow and Young among Reeds