Unit 2 Required Works
Chloe Davis
12 min read
Listen to this study note
Study Guide Overview
This study guide covers Ancient Mediterranean Art (c. 3500 BCE - 400 CE), including Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art. Key works are examined with details on form, function, content, and context. Important concepts such as hierarchy of scale, registers, and narrative art are also highlighted.
#AP Art History: The Night Before 🌙
Hey there, future art historian! You've made it to the final stretch. This guide is designed to be your best friend tonight, helping you feel confident and ready for anything the AP exam throws your way. Let's dive in!
#🏛️ Ancient Mediterranean Art (c. 3500 BCE - 400 CE)
#Mesopotamia (Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian)
#White Temple and its Ziggurat
Form: Mud brick. Function: Religious structure, access via terraces. Content: Sloping sides, cella (inner chamber). Context: Uruk, c. 3200-3000 BCE. One of the oldest ziggurats, elevated for deity descent.
Think of a muddy mountain reaching for the sky. Ziggurats are all about getting closer to the gods, step by step.
#Statues of Votive Figures
Form: Gypsum with shell and limestone inlay. Function: Stylized representations of patrons, placed in temples for continuous prayer. Content: Folded hands, HUGE open eyes. Context: Sumer, c. 2700 BCE. Hundreds found buried under temple floors.
Imagine these figures with their eyes wide open, never ceasing their prayers on your behalf.
#Standard of Ur
Form: Wood inlaid with shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone. Function: Narrative art, possibly funerary. Content: Registers, hierarchy of scale, twisted perspective. War side and peace side. Context: Sumerian, reflects extensive trade networks.
Think of it as a historical comic strip, with a war side and a party side.
#The Code of Hammurabi
Form: Basalt stele. Function: Displays Hammurabi's power, first written law code. Content: Shamash giving Hammurabi symbols of authority, cuneiform laws. Context: Ancient Babylon. Divine blessing of laws.
It's like a giant stone tablet with the rules of the land, blessed by the sun god himself.
#Lamassu from the Citadel of Sargon II
Form: Alabaster. Function: Guardian figures, ward off enemies, symbolize king's power. Content: 5-legged, winged, composite human-animal figure. Context: Assyrian, c. 720 BCE. Reflects warring nature of the kingdom.
Imagine a powerful beast guarding the city gates, ready to scare off any intruders.
#Ancient Egypt
#Palette of King Narmer
Form: Graywacke. Function: Commemorates King Narmer uniting Upper and Lower Egypt, ceremonial use. Content: Hierarchy of scale, registers, King Narmer with crowns of both kingdoms. Context: Old Kingdom, unification of Egypt.
Think of it as a historical infographic, showing Narmer's power and the unification of Egypt.
#Seated Scribe
Form: Painted limestone with inlaid crystal eyes. Function: Funerary item, ka statue. Honors scribe's ability for writing. Content: Realistic, non-idealized, seated with papyrus scroll. Context: Saqqara, Egypt.
It's like a lifelike portrait of a very important person, not a god or a king, but a scribe.
#Great Pyramids (Menkaura, Khafre, Khufu) and Great Sphinx
Form: Limestone. Function: Pyramids as tombs, Sphinx as guardian, symbols of royal power. Content: King's chamber, mortuary temple, Sphinx is composite human-animal figure. Context: Giza, oriented to the sun, modeled after ben-ben.
Imagine massive triangles pointing to the sky, guarded by a creature with a human head and a lion's body.
#King Menkaura and Queen
How are we doing?
Give us your feedback and let us know how we can improve