Art in Ancient Cultures

673 Words3 Pages
Holly M. Wallace Professor Lisa Bednar Humanities Cluster April 2, 2012 Art in Ancient Cultures Art has played a variety of roles in ancient cultures. Most all of the cultures used art in pottery and household items and things of a practical nature. They had to be creative in making the things they needed in daily life. In contrast to the making of things needed for daily work, most of the cultures also used art to glorify their rulers and to decorate temples for their rulers or gods. The Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians all used art in palaces or temples and also to make statues of their rulers or gods. The Assyrians used art to glorify their king as a mighty hunter and warrior. However, they also used art to ward off what they thought of as evil spirits as they made figures to place at the palace entrance to protect it. Art has played a role in creating figures of gods that ancient cultures would worship, such as the Sumerians who made figures of a fertility god. The Sumerians also made musical instruments and would create elaborate art scenes on them depicting times of war and times of peace. The Egyptians were perhaps the most advanced in their forms of art making. The Egyptians used art not only in their daily life but to exalt their Pharaohs and queens in life and in death. The Egyptians were the first to come up with makeup that was used by the wealthy and elite to adorn their facial features, mainly the eyes. Jewelry became a popular art form during the Egyptian reign as well. The Egyptian royals used jewelry to adorn their bodies and show their wealth. Art was used elaborately in death as the Egyptians believed in an afterlife and needed their wealth to follow them into this afterlife. Egyptians began the art of goldsmithing to create golden coffins for their rulers. The tombs of the rulers also

More about Art in Ancient Cultures

Open Document