La Mesopotamia: Arte e architettura

by Zainab Bahrani, Daniele A. Gewurz (Translator), Isabella Zani (Translator)

Zainab Bahrani introduce i lettori alla produzione artistica di questa civiltà leggendaria che fiorí tra il Tigri e l’Eufrate – quella parte del Vicino Oriente che oggi corrisponde al moderno Iraq, al nordest della Siria e al sudest della Turchia – non mancando, nell’ultima parte, di affrontare le problematiche legate alle violente distruzioni patite negli ultimi anni da questo ricco patrimonio culturale. Ogni capitolo si concentra sulle forme e concezioni dell’opera d’arte, sull’estetica e la ricezione delle immagini. Le mappe aiutano il lettore ad orientarsi nella geografia e nella cronologia, rivelando le antiche città di Ur, Babilonia, Ninive, Hatra e Seleucia al Tigri. Accanto all’accurata ricostruzione del contesto storico e culturale, al centro dell’attenzione restano le opere stesse, sempre oggetto di raffinate analisi.

Genres: History, Art, Nonfiction, Art History, Architecture, Ancient History

550 pages, Paperback

Published September 20, 2022

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful book this is! The problem of Art History books tends to be that while the art analysis and high resolution photographs are excellent, they can be rather sparse in describing the historical events, people, and philosophical movements that inspired the original artists. I supplemented this text with Marc Van De Mieroop’s “A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000-323 BC”.
The text starts in Uruk, and weaves it way through Assyria, Ur, and Babylon, through to eventually the Parthians. The photographs are amazing, and as for the content and analysis, Bahrani’s summation of the archaeological insights that have been found are thoroughly stunning. If you are at all curious about the cultures of lost civilizations, this book vividly brings them to life. I’ll close my endorsement by noting that I bought at least four other books while reading this because each chapter left me wishing to know more!

[O LCB · Rating 3 out of 5]

★★★½

It has significant information from the first settlement in Mesopotamia, explaining why it is the cradle of art, and it concludes with the Persian and Greek conquests, marking the end of Mesopotamia.

However, towards the end, includes a concern that the US has used these ancient areas as military bases, destroying a significant portion of the historical heritage of the origin of the world. This not only violates human rights laws but also cultural heritage and should be stopped.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super helpful during my praxis course!