This book examines the sculptures created during the Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 BC) of Sumer, a region corresponding to present-day southern Iraq. Featured almost exclusively in temple complexes, some 550 Early Dynastic stone statues of human figures carved in an abstract style have survived. Chronicling the intellectual history of ancient Near Eastern art history and archaeology at the intersection of sculpture and aesthetics, this book argues that the early modern reception of Sumer still influences ideas about these sculptures. Engaging also with the archaeology of the Early Dynastic temple, the book ultimately considers what a stone statue of a human figure has signified, both in modern times and in antiquity.

Catalog of an exhibition held at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University, New York, February 12-June 7, 2015.

Provides a broad view of the history and current state of scholarship on the art of the ancient Near East This book covers the aesthetic traditions of Mesopotamia, Iran, Anatolia, and the Levant, from Neolithic times to the end of the Achaemenid Persian Empire around 330 BCE. It describes and examines the field from a variety of critical perspectives: across approaches and interpretive frameworks, key explanatory concepts, materials and selected media and formats, and zones of interaction. This important work also addresses both traditional and emerging categories of material, intellectual perspectives, and research priorities. The book covers geography and chronology, context and setting, medium and scale, while acknowledging the diversity of regional and cultural traditions and the uneven survival of evidence. Part One of the book considers the methodologies and approaches that the field has drawn on and refined. Part Two addresses terms and concepts critical to understanding the subjects and formal characteristics of the Near Eastern material record, including the intellectual frameworks within which monuments have been approached and interpreted. Part Three surveys the field’s most distinctive and characteristic genres, with special reference to Mesopotamian art and architecture. Part Four considers involvement with artistic traditions across a broader reach, examining connections with Egypt, the Aegean, and the Mediterranean. And finally, Part Five addresses intersections with the closely allied discipline of archaeology and the institutional stewardship of cultural heritage in the modern Middle East. Told from multiple perspectives, A Companion to Ancient Near Eastern Art is an enlightening, must-have book for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of ancient Near East art and Near East history as well as those interested in history and art history.

This volume represents a first attempt to conceptualise the construction and use of composite artefacts in the Ancient Near East by looking at the complex relationships between environments, materials, societies and materiality.

An essay on the finds from sites in the al-Hasa region of Saudi Arabia. The presentation is organised chronologically, from the 3rd millennium to the Sasanian period.

This work is a study of the origins of the ancient Greek stadium, especially with regard to the archaeological evidence from the Archaic & Classical sites of Corinth, Isthmia, Halieis and Olympia. The earliest remains of the Greek "stadion" come from the Peloponnesos, a region of southern Greece, although the architectural structure eventually became well known all over the Greek and Roman world. The author also includes the ancient evidence for the initial appearance of the world "stadion" in the Greek language and its early use in the 6th and 5th centuries B.C. The primary component of this work is the most recent archaeological research from Ancient Corinth concerning the Archaic "dromos" and the Early Classical starting line and its significance for the study of Greek and Roman athletics, as well as the understanding of early Greek mathematics. Illus.

The Congress hosted 611 registered participants from 38 countries. Its aim was to be an international forum for scholars and demands of Near Eastern Archaeology. From the four sections of the Congress, Vol. I: 1) The Reconstruction of Environment. Natural Resources and Human Interrelation through Time, 2) Visual Communication, [Vol. II: 3) Social and Cultural Transformation: The Archaeology of Transitional Periods and Dark Ages, 4) Archaeological Field Reports (Excavations, Surveys, Conservation) ISBN 978344705757-8].Together these volumes unite 77 contributions on about 1100 pages. They are arranged according to the sections. The rst three will be introduced by the key lectures which were given by Tony Wilkinson, Winfried Orthmann, and Roger Matthews. The resumes of these sections were provided by Wendy Matthews, Dominik Bonatz, and Diederik J.W. Meijer. The contributions cover many aspects of the main themes through time, from the Neolithic to the Hellenistic / Roman period, and offer interdisciplinary approaches to complex archaeological problems.