Art+and+Architecture+-+Mesopotamia

__Art and Architecture- Mesopotamia__  The Mesopotamia River Valley Civilization came up with very useful and creative architecture and art. The inspiration for most of it was religion and politics. They dedicated their a big percentage artwork and buildings to their kings and gods. Architecture and art was very important to society in the Mesopotamia River Valley Civilization. -- As far as architecture goes, Mesopotamia had well-made plans for each architectural structure they made. Their first form architecture for the Mesopotamian Civilization was a type of temple called a ziggurat. This architectural structure was first created by the Sumerians. Later on the Babylonians and Assyrians made them. They built the temple to worship their gods and to thank the gods for all the gods have given them. Temples were a huge factor in Mesopotamian cities. Some cities were even built around temples. One of these temples was The White Temple. Another form of architecture that Mesopotamians made were palaces. These palaces were very big and well decorated. There was often decorative art on the walls of these palaces that were known as orthostats. Kings and people of royalty lived in these. Palaces were very helpful to the society for several reasons. Not only were they used as a place for the royal people of Mesopotamia to live but they were also open to the public. They contained food storehouses, ceremonial courtyards, workshops for craftsmen, and shrines. --  At first, Mesopotamian art was very minimal because the people of early Mesopotamia didn't have many resources. They had to use natural resources and imported metals and stones in their artwork. Their first form of artwork was the cylinder seal. These worked as signatures for the Early Mesopotamians that they used to sign documents and mark their possessions. People also used these as jewelery. Another form of art for the Mesopotamian River Valley Civilization were Tell Asmar Statuettes. These were first made around 2700 BCE. These religious statuettes were used to pray for crops and fertility. These were important to society because the Mesopotamians believed that praying and worshiping these figurines was the only way to get fertile and give birth. The appearance of the states had figurative meanings to them. For instance, their faces are the clearest and biggest part of these figurines because it symbolizes their belief in the power of the faces. Also, their hands are clasped and their heads are looking up to symbolize that they are waiting for something (such as fertility) to come.

