AHS17A-14 - Lecture notes 14 PDF

Preview

Summary

Professor Conrad...

Description

---------------------------------------Lecture Notes AHS 17A-----------------------------------------------Lecture 14: The Persian Empire ➢ It was the persians who were the downfall of the neo-babylonians --persians as in the mede people ➢ Although they were traditionally nomadic people--they established the largest empire to date under Cyrus the Great (professor notes that the empire stretched from Persia to Egypt and from Greece to India) ➢ It is also worth noting that they established this empire in an efficient and humane way. ➢ One of the significant advancements of this era was coinage The Palace of Darius the first and Xerxes the first (539-341 BC) --Persepolis, Iran Zoroastrianism or Mazdayasna is one of the world's oldest continuously practiced religions. It is a multi-faceted faith centered on a dualistic cosmology of good and evil and an eschatology predicting the ultimate conquest of evil with theological elements of henotheism, monotheism/monism, and polytheism. ➢ The palace of Darius the first would only serve ceremonial function rather than administrative or domestic. Therefore, the king did not live here all year long ➢ The structure was only used for ceremonial or political events ➢ As you may see throughout the architecture; most of the influences are assyrian. ➢ The persians believed in uniting people peacefully-➢ The style of this hall resembles Egyptian hypostyle halls--however this functioned as a throne room rather than a passageway. ➢ The tops of the columns were carved to look like double headed lions or bulls to hold massive wooden beams. This was believed to have stemmed from the minor casting traditions of the persians themselves--however, the iconography is Assyrian. The Hundred Column Hall in the palace (521- 465 BC) (Throne Room)

➢ The beams were made of a hardwood

➢ Because of their migratory nature they had an advanced metallurgy tradition ➢ The columns themselves are fluted in the style of greek pillars--while egyptians also fluted their columns they carved them in a concave manner while the greeks were the only ones during this time period to be carving them in a convexed way. ➢ The contributions were made according to specialty-- the babylonians provided brick, considering how far along they were technologically speaking in the making and glazing of bricks. The timber was provided by the labenese (Cedars of Lebanon). The copper and silver came from Egypt (a land famous for its riches). The gold was provided by the medes and egyptians--both having strong traditions with artwork. The architecture and ornamental structure was done by the Ionians (eastern greeks of asia minor)

➢ This piece is believed to have been carved by a greek craftsman although it is of persian subject matter. ➢ The drapery is carved in a greek style rather than egyptain or mesopotamian. ➢ During ceremonial proceedings the throne was moved in accordance to the movements in the heavens--as the sun moved, so was the throne. (expression of cosmic power) Relief of Darius the first and Xerxes giving audience c. 490 BC (palace in Persepolis, Iran) During the ceremony, the king allotted important government positions much like the sun distributes its benefits. (This was a way to push the symbolic metaphor between the king and his people to the sun and the cosmos). In the relief of Darius I--you can see the hierarchical positioning of the figures depicted. Although Darius and Xerxes are the same height Darius is seated and if he were to stand he’d be taller. The persian “new world order”-- Uniting all peoples peacefully under one great king. The reliefs are carved in assyrian tradition--picked up by the greek craftsmen. You can differentiate the carvings as being greek because of the attention to drapery and the body modeling beneath it. While it is not yet classical it can be considered very late archaic/naturalistic. It was the Greeks under Alexander the Great who eventually brought down the persian empire--destroying the palace at Persepolis. Alexander later adopted some of the same traditions from the empire he had conquered.

Archaic Greek Art

➢ While the early history of the Greeks is unclear. ➢ 2000 BC--earliest branch of Greek people to inhabit the greek mainland had arrived. The Achaeans of Mycenaean culture (greek culture that is pre archaic) 800 years later--1200 BC the mainland was invaded by another branch of the greeks--Dorian people. Achaeans were pushed off the mainland to live on the coast and islands of Asia Minor--later becoming Ionians. “The Hellenic world”

13th c. BC--Trojan war (era of troy 6). Between Achaean Greeks and the non greeks along Asia Minor (Turkey today). ~Extra Knowledge~  The Odyssey (date unknown) is thought to be a collection of oral stories collected by Homer over the years....