Screen LibraryA wonder to behold : craftsmanship and the creation of Babylon's Ishtar Gate /
"In the ancient Near East, expert craftspeople were more than technicians: they numbered among those special members of society who could access the divine. While the artisans' names are largely unknown today, their legacy remains in the form of spectacular artworks and monuments. One of t...
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| Corporate Authors: | |
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| Group Author: | ; ; |
| Published: |
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, New York University,
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| Publisher Address: | New York, NY : |
| Publication Dates: | 2019. |
| Literature type: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Summary: |
"In the ancient Near East, expert craftspeople were more than technicians: they numbered among those special members of society who could access the divine. While the artisans' names are largely unknown today, their legacy remains in the form of spectacular artworks and monuments. One of the most celebrated works of antiquity--Babylon's Ishtar Gate and its affiliated Processional Way--featured a dazzling array of colorful beasts assembled from molded, baked, and glazed bricks. Such an awe-inspiring structure demanded the highest level of craft; each animal was created from dozens of bricks that interlocked like a jigsaw. Yet this display of technical and artistic skill also served a ritual purpose, since the Gate provided a divinely protected entrance to the sacred inner city of Babylon. 'A Wonder to Behold' explores ancient Near Eastern ideas about the transformative power of materials and craftsmanship as they relate to the Ishtar Gate. This beautifully illustrated catalogue accompanies an exhibition at New York University's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Essays by archaeologists, art historians, curators, conservators, and text specialists examine a wide variety of artifacts from major American and European institutions."--Provided by publisher. |
| Item Description: | "This catalogue is published by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at New York University in association with Princeton University Press on the occasion of the exhibition 'A wonder to behold: craftsmanship and creation of Babylon's Ishtar Gate', on view at the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, November 6, 2019-May 24, 2020."--Title page verso. |
| Carrier Form: | 186 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps, color plan, forms ; 28 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-183). |
| ISBN: |
9780691200156 0691200157 |
| Index Number: | NA221 |
| CLC: | K883.778.3-28 |
| Call Number: | K883.778.3-28/W872 |
| Contents: |
Sacred materials, sacred skills / "The men who wrought the baked brick, those were Babylonians" : a brief history of molded and glazed bricks / Building Babylon : the anatomy of a monumental construction project / Layout and composition of the animals from the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way at Babylon / How bricks were made / Reading between the lines : fitters' marks in the Ancient Near East / The power of stones : natural, artificial, and in between / Eyestones, natural and man-made / Vitreous materials in the Ancient Near East / Glassmaking as a scribal craft / Color and affect in Nebuchadnezzar II's Babylon / "Ishtar overthrows its assailants" : the protective forces of Babylon's Ishtar Gate / Beholding Babylon's Ishtar Gate / |