Ti Watching A Hippo VS. Bull Leaping

I am doing option number one and I will be comparing the Egyptian Ti Watching A Hippopotamus Hunt from the Fifth Dynasty with the Minoan Bull Leaping from the late Minoan Period. I will be comparing the style of the two pieces, the medium in which they are made, and the subject matter and also geographically how close both cultures were to each other. These two pieces have very interesting similarities and differences being from two different continents. You can really see how they look like the Egyptians influenced the Minoans. It is interesting how distance does not affect how the Minoans may have been influenced, seeing’s that at the time trading was big with the Minoans.

First lets talk about the style of the two pieces. When looking at the Ti Watching A Hippopotamus Hunt and the Bull Leaping, they both show a story of a male working against a beast of some kind. It shows strength between a man and beast. There are a lot of textures between both pictures. With the Egyptian piece you can see the texture in the limestone medium that they chose to carve into. There are patterns and animals on the patterns making the texture of the piece pop out more. With the Bull Leaping there are patterns around the outside but within the bull figure the lines that are what I assume is hair give another form of texture.  The figures in both pieces seem flat. A quote from our Art History book from Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren that tells a better understanding of what I am trying to say, “They (Minoans) preferred profile or full-faced views, and they turned natural forms into decorative patterns through stylization”.  The Egyptians and Minoans both used a profile view in the human and animal figures. Both piece in this profile sense seem like they are in the same era, which is interesting when looking at where both countries were.

The Ti Watching A Hippopotamus Hunt was in the tomb of Ti in Saqqara Egypt from the Fifth Dynasty. As for the Bull Leaping fresco is from the Palace Complex of Crete Greece.  The only thing separating the two different states is the Mediterranean Sea. Knowing that the Minoans traded a lot by sea one could see how the Egyptians could easily influence the Minoans in this fresco.

Both piece have a painted value to each. They Egyptians actually cut into the limestone and then painted over it with dark reds and yellows. As for the Minoans they painted right onto the wall but again using dark colors and almost gold’s. One cause really see in the texture and color and also in the figures themselves the Egyptians highly influenced the Minoans. In both pieces they use very rich color and textures to illustrate the story they want to tell. They both have a strong male controlling a beast of sorts.

Ziggurat of Ur VS. The Pyramids of Giza

I chose to go with option one doing a comparative analysis on the Ziggurat of Ur vs. Pyramids at Giza. I have chosen to put both the pictures up so everyone could see exactly what I am talking about. My comparisons are going to be similarities of differences between the size to the two buildings, the medium in which they are made, the function on them and a little about the style and design of the structures.

My first comparison is about the size difference between the Ziggurat of Ur and The Pyramids at Giza. Looking at the size in both pictures it is hard to tell if one is bigger than the other. Ziggurat of Ur is estimated of around 150 feet. The Pyramids is around 450 feet. The size difference is pretty huge between the two. But the structures of the two look alike. The Ziggurat and the Pyramids both have the triangle shape. Though the Ziggurat is made of rectangles it stacks on top each other to make a triangle shape. With the size of them both being so big and in a triangle shape makes the connection that they both were reaching for something bigger then themselves, like a God or the Heavens. Also the size gives both the buildings a imitation factor. The Ziggurat looks so imitating in the fact that you can see that there are heavily gated passage ways to get into the building’s roof.

The medium of the Pyramid at Giza is made up of stone, and as for the Ziggurat it is made up of mud brick. When looking at the buildings they look like they are made out of the same stone. It is interesting that the way they both look resembles each other. They fact that they are both triangle shape and made with the same medium almost makes it look like it was made by the same person but at a different time. The fact that they are both have the same hard looking stone also tells me they were trying hard to make the buildings unbreakable. Make them strong so that no one could destroy them. They are both solid buildings which is another similarity they have, furthering onto the whole strength of the buildings.

The two different structures were used in different ways but in a small way are still similar to each other. The Ziggurat of Ur was used for a religious ritual to please the Gods and give thanks to them by giving them food and gifts. They wanted to be as close as they could to the heavens so it was easy for the Gods to come down. As for the Pyramids at Giza it was used as a religious belief that we have an afterlife with our ka. Inside this solid pyramid are tunnels to different places in the pyramid, some were to just trick thieves and others had the tomb of where king’s body lies. Inside these tombs would lye riches and things that the afterlife would need. Both structures were used to put riches in and they were believed to be used for something bigger than the life they knew then. The only difference is what they the people believed it was used for and the places they held their rituals. The Ziggurat rituals were on top of the temple and the Pyramids have their rituals inside the structure. 

Lamassus

My formal analysis is on the Lamassus or as it is named in the book Guardian Figures at the Gate A of the Citadel of Sargon II during its Excavation. It is a great example of Ancient Near East modern Kharsabad art. It is 13’ 10” tall, towering over who ever stands under it. The Lamassus is a huge cement lion or bull with wings and a man’s face. When looking at this massive structure it is hard not to feel intimidated and that they are very powerful beings. The Lamassus stands so tall and strong in this high relief that is very intimidated to look at, one could say they feel very powerless it their precise.

The first thing I would like to talk about is the obvious scale of this structure making whomever looking at it feel powerless. When walking up to the gate and seeing the Lamassus, and humans averaging around the height of 5 to 6’ we would only come up to the top of this beings legs. If it were alive it could easy just squish us. From every angle of this relief the legs are very long and strong. From the side view it could be taken as the Lamassus is running or coming towards you. Again looking at the side view we see these huge almost stretched out wings and for me showing another sign of running or charging. For me this would scare me if it were coming at me, having power over me and intimidation.

The medium of this relief also is another representation of strength and power. To what I can tell from the pictures of the Lamassus it looks like it is made out of a stone or brick like medium. Being made out of most liking stone, as a relief it shows a very powerful being. It is a hard and strong medium, meaning that even if you wanted to you couldn’t destroy it with your own two hands. I want to also point out that the whole stone is not carved into it has a sense of white space in the piece. When looking at the Lamassus in the frontal view the statue on the left and right sides is just blank stone. That for me shows strength too, reason being the figure is coming out of this stone, it not only has the strength of the Lamassus but also of this huge bolder. To put into better terms if the guardians fail to keep the enemy out this huge wall will not.

The style of the Lamassus I feel is representational style. With the huge lion like creature coming out of the stone makes it feel like it is very alive. The way the high relief is so strongly coming out of the stone and the creature’s life like features makes it feel scary. Also at the head of the Lamassus is a human face, showing the mix between power and strength in humans and beast. The very defined way everything is coming out of the stone and how detailed it is very life like. Something I found very interesting about the style is how the feet of the creature are hooves making it feel like it could jump right out of the stone.

When looking at the Lamassus it is easy to see how this huge guardian can be very intimating. It stands strong with its defined high relief body. It is a very powerful structure and was probably used to keep enemies away. It shows strength in the legs and body or the whole relief. Every feature of this piece is a representation of strength and power.