The Stele Law Code of Hammurabi

The Stele Law Code of Hammurabi, an ancient Babylonian artifact, is a slightly over seven-foot sculpture made from diorite and inscribed with the code of laws written by King Hammurabi of Babylon. This code of laws was written to cover just about any possible type of law for general society, particularly as dealing with criminal acts. This set of laws originally dictated by King Hammurabi had to be translated into several different languages around the empire, but the stele engraved with it is one of the greatest records we have of Babylonian law.

Above the cuneiform script of the code of laws there exists a relief sculpture of King Hammurabi himself and a Babylonian god, Shamash, depicting the scene in which King Hammurabi received the code of law from Shamash. Generally, this scene is fairly well balanced, as the figures are similar in size, even though Shamash is presented sitting on something like a throne and King Hammurabi is standing. The god is larger in proportion to King Hammurabi however, as he is the more important of the two figures. On the left, King Hammurabi is still fairly large and before Shamash without an interpreter, thus showing what a close relationship to the god he himself has. It is interesting to note though, that despite the composite view of seeing different angles of the figures at once, both of their heads are carved in enough relief so as to be well presented in profile and facing each other equally. Again, such emphasis on the two figures exchange of near equality, gives King Hammurabi a great sense of power over most “mere mortals”.

When looking again at the whole sculpture, it can be seen that the large portion of text lends a sense of heavy repetition, particularly as the cuneiform alphabet seems to unfamiliar eyes to be very uniform. As well, such a repetition gives the piece a very balanced look horizontally, but seems to make it somewhat top heavy, as the text does not reach quite to the floor and there is no counter to the relief at the top.

As for the physical properties of the statue, the diorite that it is carved from gives it a particularly smooth texture in places where the carvings and actual stone has been well polished, in contrast to much of the writing, which seems to lend another more rough texture to the piece. In addition, the fact that it is made of such a durable stone gives the piece a very heavy sense of weight and endurance or permanence. The stone seems like because it is so large and stable, it would present a very difficult challenge to move and must therefore when it was made it must have been placed in a prominent position where it would remain for a long time after.

Pictures:
> Photo 1
> Photo 2

Additional Info:
> www.allaboutarchaeology.org
> www.historians.org

Film Reflection

The Cave of Forgotten Dreams

My initial reaction to the film Cave of Forgotten Dreams was oddly enough a bit of “déjà vu”, because in high school I actually went on a trip to France, and though we obviously did not visit the particular cave featured in the movie, the caves do look quite similar. The surrounding area as well seemed like a similar portion of France, and in fact, we even later in the same trip visited the recreation of Lascaux Cave, which I was reminded of when seeing the cave paintings.

Like for many, the mystery of cave paintings and the relative skill with which they were created are what draws me personally into ancient art. The mystery and wonder lay not only in seeing something that was put into place unfathomable amounts of time ago, at least, unimaginable for my 20 year old self, but also in simply trying to understand why such paintings would have been made to begin with. Given that these are some of the very few remains from so long ago, the best we can really do is guess and imagine.

The film, in my opinion, did quite a good job of capturing that sense of wonder, awe, mystery, and just a little bit of that far-more-significance-than-you-will-ever-achieve sense I got when seeing similar cave paintings. Even though some portions of it were slower, I also think that it covered a great deal of fascinating and diverse information on something that I had never really known that much about in such detail.

What is Art?

This topic is easily one of the most often repeated deceptively simple questions asked of artists, art students, and so-claimed art experts. Each one, of course, will give a widely different answer depending upon their background and experiences. This is because art, like so many things based in opinion, is so very subjective.

As for me personally, I suppose I generally consider anything that requires some creativity to produce to be “art”. There is the obvious: visual, writing, and performing/musical arts, but also, I see a form of art in math and science and many other places that may not look, at first glance, to be art. As with many definitions, particularly on subjective topics, I prefer to be very broad in my definition of art because of the imprecise nature of such subjective topics. A broad definition will not only cover more ground in terms of what is in general considered to be art, but also plays towards my own general policy of tolerance, in this case for variety in art.

At the same time though, I think I am often looking at the design of something as art or art in design rather than specific media or practices as being art. While not exactly the same things, I am inclined to say that both art and design are, at the least, very interrelated. Add to this like of many kinds of design, the very practical portion of my personality, and you get the main reasoning behind why I am doubling as a Graphic Design major. I like fine art just as much of course, but simply prefer (most of the time) doing art for things that can be used or have a purpose other than as exhibits.

The art I prefer to view, listen to, and/or otherwise enjoy, happens to be largely varied, but with an often present theme of contrast. Not necessarily contrast in colors or values exactly, but I find I really love to see the dichotomy and interplay between things on very opposite ends of a spectrum. Like seeing a very old tree placed in the same work as a very young animal, such things simply fascinate me; seeing they can not only exist at opposite extremes at the same time, but in the same scene is an intriguing conundrum. That, and I very often like to see or feel some sort of story in a piece, at least in part because I simply love stories of all kinds and the possibilities they offer. It’s also fun for me to make up stories to go with works, adding to the value of the art for myself.

Overall though, I maintain that due to its very subjective nature, “art” has quite a broad definition.

- Art is a way of expressing meaning, an excess of beauty and design in form and function, effort put into an otherwise ordinary task to make it somehow greater. -