Ancient Near East Creative Writing

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Ancient Near East Art at the Met

The Cyrus Cylinder is a fragmented clay cylinder (9 in. x 4 in.) from ancient times (roughly 530 BC), which contains the dictates of the Persian king Cyrus, known as Cyrus the Great. The cylinder is made of baked clay, like a pot or an ancient tablet, and inscribed in the clay are the orders of the king, concerning the people of Babylon, whom he had recently conquered.

The purpose of the cylinder was to give praise to the king Cyrus, to show how his virtues marked him as an exemplary king, how he did much to improve the lives of the Babylonians, and how he allowed non-Babylonians (such as Jews) to return to their native lands.

The Cyrus Cylinder is important first of all as an historical artifact which has captured a time and place and allows us today to witness what life was like in ancient Babylon. It allows for a better understanding of the cuneiform script and tells us something about the values held dear to Cyrus and the way in which those values were communicated to others. It is also important in a historical sense because it corroborates another historical document -- the Bible -- concerning the exodus of the Jews from Babylon, back to their native land, whereat they set about rebuilding the Temple.

The Cyrus Cylinder is positive proof of a historical narrative set down by another people at another time. It is an artifact which acts as a piece of narrative evidence, by confirming the Biblical account of history, and which also confirms the imposition of Persian rule on the Near East in the 6th century BC.

Lagash Gudea Statue

The Statue of Gudea is a Neo-Sumerian diorite stone statue, whose dimensions are roughly 17 x 9 x 12 in. It is an incredibly ancient work of art, whose date is considered to be around 2090 BC -- which would mean that this statue is over 4000 years old.

The statue is the representation of Gudea, a king who ruled in Lagash following the reign of the Akkadians.

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Gudea took a strong interest in preserving the Sumerian culture and in rebuilding the religious temples that were so important to the culture's heritage and identity.

The purpose of the statue is evident in the words inscribed on it in the Sumerian language: "Gudea, the man who built the temple; may his life be long." The script is found in the king's robes and would have been easily read by those close to it. The statue is meant to preserve the memory of the king just as the king preserved the memory of Lagash and its heritage.

As a cultural artifact, the statue is important because it shows yet another glimpse of what it is to be human. Here, we see King Gudea, seated in a rather traditional pose representing good will and spiritual prayer. The king is humbling himself before God and before his subjects and before his ancestors: it is a valuable lesson not only for his people but also for us. We see the power that tradition and heritage and culture all have in generation, a time, and a place. This little state carries a lot of weight and a lot of meaning in terms of what humanity truly is.

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