Deck 2: Art of the Ancient Near East

Question 1

What does the uppermost scene of the Carved Vessel (Fig. 2-4) from Uruk represent?

A) the birth of a goddess
B) a ritual burial
C) a re-enactment of a ritual marriage
D) the signing of a peace treaty

Answer 1

C

Question 2

What technique did the Sumerians use to create cylinder seals that ensured the identification of documents and established property ownership?

A) illusionism
B) registers
C) vertical perspective
D) sunken relief

Answer 2

D

Question 3

What did the low relief scenes on the walls at Kalhu portray?

A) war campaigns and lion hunts
B) abstract, geometric motifs
C) bulls and the god Marduk
D) judgments and punishments

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which city was Nebuchadnezzar II responsible for transforming into one of the most splendid of its day?

A) Ur
B) Persepolis
C) Babylon
D) Nineveh

Question 5

The incised design on a cylinder seal found in the tomb of Queen Puabi (Fig. 2-8) demonstrates the Sumerians' use of

A) narrative images.
B) geometric patterns.
C) personal monograms.
D) cuneiform.

Question 6

Which culture controlled most of Mesopotamia by the end of the ninth century BCE?

A) Assyrian
B) Persian
C) Hittite
D) Babylonian

Question 7

The lion hunting scene of Assurnasirpal II (Fig. 2-14) marks a shift in Mesopotamian art from a sense of timeless solemnity toward greater

A) political content.
B) emotional drama.
C) historical accuracy.
D) interest in individuals.

Question 8

A beautiful copper alloy head, which is the earliest major work of hollow-cast sculpture known in the ancient Near East, dates from the time of

A) Darius.
B) Nebuchadnezzar.
C) Ashurbanipal.
D) Sargon.

Question 9

What original element of the Head of a Woman (Fig. 2-3) symbolizes the purity of the figure?

A) the wooden body
B) a gold wig
C) inlaid eyes
D) the marble face

Question 10

The Stele of Hammurabi is significant as both a work of ancient Mesopotamian art and as

A) an example of Babylonian literature.
B) a religious artifact recording Hebrew tradition.
C) a key to deciphering cuneiform texts.
D) a historical document recording a written code of law.

Question 11

What was at the top of the Anu ziggurat White Temple?

A) scenes of military victories
B) a living quarters for priests
C) giant columns
D) a simple rectangle with an off-center doorway

Question 12

The Epic of Gilgamesh was attributed to the

A) Sumerians.
B) Akkadians.
C) Babylonians.
D) Persians.

Question 13

The relief of Darius and Xerxes Receiving Tribute (Fig. 2-23) exemplifies Persian art's emphasis on

A) the divinity of the king.
B) military power.
C) allegiance and economic prosperity.
D) multicultural tolerance.

Question 14

What were most of the buildings in Kalhu built from?

A) cut marble
B) alabaster
C) bitumen
D) mud bricks

Question 15

What did the Sumerians use to produce cuneiform writing?

A) stylus
B) seal
C) picture stamp
D) chisel

Question 16

In the Stele of Hammurabi, Hammurabi stands before the seated god Shamash in an attitude of

A) submission.
B) defeat.
C) prayer.
D) solidarity.

Question 17

The Sumerians invented the first system of writing called

A) pictographs.
B) hieroglyphics.
C) cuneiform.
D) inlay.

Question 18

The first domestication of grains occurred in the area known as the

A) Fertile Crescent.
B) Kalhu.
C) Zagros Mountains.
D) Persia.

Question 19

Stepped structures known as ziggurats may have developed from the practice of

A) using prisoners as a workforce.
B) repeated rebuilding at sacred sites.
C) establishing settlements on high land for safety.
D) burying the dead in pyramids.

Question 20

Ziggurats functioned symbolically as

A) entrances to the underworld.
B) bridges between the earth and the heavens.
C) fortresses of the rulers.
D) the home of the gods.

Question 21

What did the mutilations of the Head of a Man (Fig. 2-1o) mean?

Question 22

What were some of the significant features of the palace complex of Sargon II?

Question 23

Consider the style and purpose of the female figures portrayed in Head of a Woman (Fig. 2-3), Carved Vessel (Fig. 2-4), and Assurbanipal and His Queen in the Garden (Fig. 2-18). What do these images suggest about the role of women in Mesopotamia?

Question 24

The Persians won the loyalty of their subjects by tolerating

A) relaxed punishment toward slaves.
B) trade with the Greeks.
C) local chieftains and advisors.
D) native customs and religions.

Question 25

What story does the Stele of Naram-Sin tell?

Question 26

Discuss the religious beliefs and funerary practices of the Mesopotamians, and describe how Mesopotamian art reflects the region's history and beliefs. Provide at least one example of architecture and one example of sculpture.

Question 27

What types of Persian art show the Persians' high level of technical and artistic sophistication?

Question 28

Discuss the development of Mesopotamian architecture and city development from Sumer to Persia.

Question 29

Cylinder seals, which were often buried with the dead, were signs of

A) favor of the gods.
B) belief in the afterlife.
C) status or high office.
D) penance.

Question 30

Discuss the form, iconography, and style of the figure of Gudea as seen in Figure 2-12.

Question 31

In the image of Enemies Crossing the Euphrates to Escape Assyrian Archers (Fig. 2-15), what device is used to convey spatial depth?

A) closed outlines
B) different viewpoints
C) large-scale animals
D) overlapping swimmers

Question 32

Why was Mesopotamia vulnerable to political upheaval?

Question 33

Trace the development of the various cultures that inhabited Mesopotamia from the Assyrians to the Persians.

Question 34

How did agriculture change the face of culture in the Fertile Crescent?

Question 35

Which object, taken by an Elamite king, demonstrated the importance of art objects as military booty?

A) Disk of Enheduanna (Fig. 2-9)
B) Stele of Naram-Sin (Fig. 2-1)
C) Votive Statue of Gudea (Fig. 2-12)
D) Stele of Hammurabi (Fig. 2-13)

Question 36

Which ruler conquered the Persian Empire in 334 BCE?

A) Alexander the Great
B) Xerxes
C) Sargon II
D) Gudea

Question 37

In the ancient Near East, why was there a need to control the water supply of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers?

Question 38

How is trade exemplified in the Great Lyre with Bull's Head (Figs. 2-6A and B)?