![]() ![]() Official policy is governed by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group. theocratic: A form of government in which a deity is officially recognized as the civil ruler.Sumer was an ancient civilization that saw its artistic styles change throughout different periods in its history. ![]() Statue of Gudea: Neo-Sumerian period, circa 2,090 BCE. The paucity of stone in Babylonia made every pebble precious and led to perfection in the art of gem cutting. In Babylonia, three-dimensional figures often replaced bas-relief-the earliest examples being the Statues of Gudea, which are realistic if somewhat clumsy. Painted terra cotta cones for torches were also embedded in the plaster. Walls were brilliantly colored and sometimes plated with zinc or gold, as well as with tiles. The use of brick led to the early development of the pilaster, column, frescoes, and enameled tiles. Babylonian temples were massive structures of crude brick supported by buttresses, with drains to remove rain. In Mesopotamian Babylonia, an abundance of clay and lack of stone led to greater use of mud brick. From the Iranian Plateau came the Medes and then the Persians, who nearly succeeded in uniting the entire civilized world under one empire. From the fertile floodplains of the Nile emerged the Egyptians, with their great monuments and sophisticated society. Societies in the region laid the foundations for astronomy and mathematics.įrom Mesopotamia came the empires of Sumeria, Babylon, and Assyria. Cultures in the ancient Near East (often called the Cradle of Civilization) practiced intensive year-round agriculture, developed a writing system, invented the potter’s wheel, created a centralized government, law codes, and empires, and introduced social stratification, slavery, and organized warfare.
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