The Ancient Near East

The Sumerian culture put a great emphasis on the importance of gods and deities. The roles the gods played were in fact so important in their society that much of the artwork found from the Sumerians were religiously based. Amongst those religiously driven pieces of artwork are votive figures. Dated back to 2900-2600 BCE and founded in 1932-1933 in the Square Temple in Eshnunna.

The medium used in order to create these figures was limestone. Though at the time the Sumerian artists were also using other mediums such as an array of of precious metals. These limestone figures were believed to have a much more practical purpose than what meets the eye. The votive figures are fairly small, with the largest figure standing at thirty inches. Though many are small in size the scale does not seem to take away from their powerful presence. While each figure slightly differs from the next there are several distinct attributes that each obtain. All stand with hands folded in a prayerful way. When looking at these votive figures it is nearly impossible to overlook the wide and attentive stares looking off into the distance. These gazes, at first glance, are somewhat overwhelming seeing as the eyes are intensely exaggerated  in order to put emphasis on them. The creator of these votive figures  clearly wanted the eyes to be out of proportion with the rest of the figure in order to emphasize their watchfulness and openness to the gods. It is as if they are constantly locked in eye contact with the image of the god they are set in front of. The votive figures are represented in a very stylized manner. The eyes and beards are heavily stylized, making them very recognizable to the Ancient Near East time period. We see the same stylized beard on many other pieces of artwork from the time such as Head of a Man (Known as Akkadian Ruler) and the same beard is even seen on The Great Lyre with Bull's Head. It is believed that at one point the eyebrows were inlaid with things such as stone and shell in order to put even more emphasis on the large eyes. All the figures, men and women alike, have large legs and feet. The men wear nothing on their upper half while wearing sheepskin skirts on the bottom. The women are covered in sheepskin as well. They are all cylindrical in shape with fairly broad shoulders. All the bodies appear to have a smooth texture, while the men's beards are heavily textured.

These pieces are in fact devotional figures that represent individual worshipers. Their function is to be a stand-in put in an actual shrine in front of an image of a god for an individual. Thus, it is as if they are constantly in worship even if the individual is physically not in the shrine. These votive figures are depicted as both men and women posed in a very respectful posture.

Something that I find to be very interesting about these devotional figures is that there are inscriptions identifying each sculpture. It was the Sumerians who invented writing. The words were represented as pictographs called cuneiform. It was indeed cuneiform that was used to identify each votive figure. However, it is not the individual's name that is detailed onto the figure, but rather what that individual has done in honor of the god. So some figures could be inscribed with very little showing that individual has yet to accomplish many things in the honor of the god, while others could have large amounts of inscriptions.

When looking at these figures the first reaction I have to them is that their look is somewhat frightening. Frightening because the eyes are so out of proportion with the rest of their bodies; it is unlike anything I have ever seen. However, after taking time to really examine these votive figures their prayerful stature is what I focus in on more so than the eyes. These devotional figures are very interesting and unconventionally beautiful to me.