West Asian Art
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Assyrian relief of prisoners
After the Dark Ages, by around 1000 BC, the Assyrians became the biggest power in West Asia, and they created many important works of art. The Assyrians continued the Mesopotamian tradition of rounded forms, and continued to write over the surface of their stone carvings, and to represent their war victories, but they did it all in a much more organized and impressive style than earlier people had, and they used their art to frighten other people who were visiting their palaces.
Assyrian relief of a siege
Assyrian bull
Floating cedars on the river to Assur
The right-hand one shows people in boats bringing cedar logs from Lebanon down the Euphrates river to Susa for the Assyrian king; the designer wants you to see that the Assyrian king is so powerful that he rules all the way to Lebanon. Can you see the fish in the river?
In the 600's BC the Assyrian Empire collapsed and the Babylonians took over again. They wanted to show how traditional they were, and how they were restoring the past, and so they went back to using a lot of clay in their art.
Ishtar Gate

