The history of early Assyrian art dates from the 18th to the 14th century BC, but is little known. The art of the Middle Assyrian or Meso-Assyrian period (1350 BC to 1000 BC) shows its dependence on Babylonian stylistic traditions. Religious themes are presented in a solemn way and profane scenes in a more naturalistic way. The ziggurat was the main form of Assyrian religious architecture and the use of polychromatic glazed bricks was very common at this stage.
Genuine Assyrian art had its epoch in the Neo-Assyrian or Late Assyrian period (1000-612 BC). With Ashurbanipal II, who converted the city of Nimrud (ancient Calah of the Bible) into a military capital. Within its walls were the citadel and the main royal buildings, such as the northwest palace, decorated with relief sculptures. Sargon II, who reigned between 722 and 705 BC, created a new-plan city, Dur Sharrukin (present-day Jorsabad), which was surrounded by a wall with seven gates, three of which were decorated with reliefs and glazed bricks. In the interior stood the palace of Sargon, a great temple, the residences and the smaller temples. His son and successor, Sennacherib, who reigned between 705 and 681 BC, moved the capital to Nineveh, where he built his own palace, which he called the "palace without rival". The Assyrians adorned their palaces with magnificent sculptural reliefs.
The art of seal carvers of the late Assyrian period is a combination of realism and mythology. Even in naturalistic scenes, symbols of the gods appear. In Nimrud and Jorsabad, fabulous ivory sculptures date from this period. In the first, thousands of small figures of elephants were found, which manifest a wide variety of styles.
The ancient peoples of Mesopotamia and Anatolia used cuneiform writing, a system that probably originated in Sumer. It consists of 600 characters, each of which represents words or syllables written on clay or stone tablets.
The lowlands of Mesopotamia embrace the fertile plain, but its inhabitants had to face the danger of invasions, extreme atmospheric temperatures, periods of drought, violent storms and attacks by wild beasts. His art reflects, at the same time, his adaptation and his fear of these natural forces, as well as his military conquests. They established urban centers on the plains, each dominated by a temple, which was the center of commerce and religion until it was displaced in importance by the royal palace. The soil of Mesopotamia provided the clay for adobe, the most important building material of this civilization.
Genuine Assyrian art had its epoch in the Neo-Assyrian or Late Assyrian period (1000-612 BC). With Ashurbanipal II, who converted the city of Nimrud (ancient Calah of the Bible) into a military capital. Within its walls were the citadel and the main royal buildings, such as the northwest palace, decorated with relief sculptures. Sargon II, who reigned between 722 and 705 BC, created a new-plan city, Dur Sharrukin (present-day Jorsabad), which was surrounded by a wall with seven gates, three of which were decorated with reliefs and glazed bricks. In the interior stood the palace of Sargon, a great temple, the residences and the smaller temples. His son and successor, Sennacherib, who reigned between 705 and 681 BC, moved the capital to Nineveh, where he built his own palace, which he called the "palace without rival". The Assyrians adorned their palaces with magnificent sculptural reliefs.
The art of seal carvers of the late Assyrian period is a combination of realism and mythology. Even in naturalistic scenes, symbols of the gods appear. In Nimrud and Jorsabad, fabulous ivory sculptures date from this period. In the first, thousands of small figures of elephants were found, which manifest a wide variety of styles.
More than 2,000 years before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors, the Incas already had a rich culture of their own, different from that of other pre-Columbian peoples. Over the centuries, the Incas expanded their territories and assimilated characteristics from other cultures:Chavins, Nascas, Hua