# Illustrations of Ancient Mesopotamia
**URL:** https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393
**Category:** Historical Reference
**Created:** [14 April 2020 06:55 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393 "2020-04-14T06:55:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Admiral](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/Admiral)
#### Post date: [14 April 2020 06:55 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/1 "2020-04-14T06:55:29Z")
[Yet another picture hunt](http://www.chaos-dwarfs.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=17152) prompted by Photobucket rodeo. Had parts of it saved since earlier. Given the strong ancient Mesopotamian basis for Chaos Dwarfs, this should be of interest to most folks around here.
[Google Drive Folder](https://drive.google.com/drive/u/3/folders/0Bz_9N3kdoPWdRldWMW9QTzJYWkk)
[Mesopotamian Imgur Album](https://imgur.com/a/OQM5g)
[Urartu Imgur Album](https://imgur.com/a/X4sDL)
Bronze age Mitanni pictures were included since parts of their territory encompassed northern Mesopotamia. Urartu (ancient Armenia) has been included as a bonus, the reason of which should be evident in the pictures displaying strong Mesopotamian influences, besides constant wars between the highland Urartians and the lowland Assyrians. Most Urartu art are by talented artist [Rubik Kocharian](http://www.peopleofar.com/2012/10/20/art-of-rubik-kocharian/) (born 1940), a treasure hoard of fine illustrations for an age and culture usually skimmed over.
Since most etchings and drawings from the 19th century are well known and well-circulated, they were not included in this collection. It’s recent art shared across the Internet that’s in peril, plus some peripheral older pieces not widely known yet made accessible online nevertheless.
A few historical fantasy pieces made it into this collection. Likewise, the Biblical depiction of the prophet Jonah in Nineveh (a comic tale of a failed prophet) and the Biblical depiction of Nebuchadnezzar II have been included where artists have been reasonably accurate with dress or architecture. For flow, the Biblical illustrations were kept together, bar that of Abraham smashing idols. All Nebuchadnezzar II depictions have been included in the Biblical illustration section.
For the best experience, I recommend that you listen to [HBO Rome Intro Music (1 hour loop)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwnk1xXGx2E&ab_channel=Nemo) while looking through these images, or something similar, for that atmosphere. [Or perhaps this one](https://listenonrepeat.com/?v=3WKN0XF8-3Q#The_Prince_of_Egypt_-_01_-_Deliver_US), for the whiplash sounds?
And speaking of videos:
Thorsteinn Gislason’s Images of the Ancient Near East, parts [1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asNrObbs-xo&ab_channel=ThorsteinnGislason), [2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI4OGsjzFFM&t=113s&ab_channel=ThorsteinnGislason) & [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGhkhG8Q7qQ&ab_channel=ThorsteinnGislason).
[The city of Ur](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjMqMskoHrg&ab_channel=ZeroOneAnimation)
[The city of Babylon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Hbht4iNQg&ab_channel=Byzantium1200)
_Enter the cradle of civilization._
_Enter a realm of mysticism and sun-baked clay, of mud and sun, of irrigation canals and lush grain fields, of kings and slaves, of twin rivers and a maelstrom of tribes and cities vying for control of a rich land that was the envy of the world._
_Enter a world of dazzling beauty and crudeness, of learning and labour, of family and cruelty, of gods and demons._
_Enter a world of wars, endless wars, where cities are sacked and their charred ruins remain abandoned forever in the blowing desert sands._
_Enter ancient Mesopotamia._
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### Author:  [@Admiral](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/Admiral)
#### Post date: [14 April 2020 07:04 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/2 "2020-04-14T07:04:13Z")
**Sumer**
 
  
                               ![Uruk 01|500x312]
 (upload://bp6q1990oDNx6dbe7Bho2i8R0wM.jpeg)    
  
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### Author:  [@Admiral](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/Admiral)
#### Post date: [14 April 2020 07:08 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/3 "2020-04-14T07:08:18Z")
**Scribes**
       
**Akkad**
       
**Mitanni**
    
**Urartu**
 
                    
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### Author:  [@Admiral](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/Admiral)
#### Post date: [14 April 2020 07:11 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/4 "2020-04-14T07:11:52Z")
**Assyria**
                                                                                      
            
       
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### Author:  [@Admiral](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/Admiral)
#### Post date: [14 April 2020 07:13 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/5 "2020-04-14T07:13:37Z")
**Babylonia**
 
                                                                        
    
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### Author:  [@Admiral](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/Admiral)
#### Post date: [14 April 2020 07:42 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/6 "2020-04-14T07:42:32Z")
Babylon scenes from Intolerance (1916)
The movie director D.W. Griffith’s strange and highly expensive film Intolerance from 1916 is to date the only movie featuring independent Babylon that I know of. Fantastical sets. There are elephant sculptures in there for some reason, but overall it looks rather brilliant in black-and-white, or perhaps aged sepia.
[Check out its Babylon scenes sometime for the visuals!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MI871iS_gik) (The only Youtube videos with only-Babylon-scenes have atrocious video quality.)
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### Author:  [@GhraskDragh](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/GhraskDragh)
#### Post date: [14 April 2020 07:43 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/7 "2020-04-14T07:43:48Z")
So much inspiration 🤯 even for the style I’m doing now there’s so many things I just picked out to add 🤔
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### Author:  [@Admiral](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/Admiral)
#### Post date: [23 September 2020 19:54 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/9 "2020-09-23T19:54:38Z")
Cheers, Ghrask!
**Was Ancient Egypt a Nicer Place Than Ancient Mesopotamia**
[This essay by Luka Trkanjec](https://www.quora.com/Do-people-prefer-Egypt-than-Mesopotamia-because-they-left-a-greater-material-legacy-like-statues-and-buildings/answer/Luka-Trkanjec) grapples with the question why ancient Egypt remains so much more popular than ancient Mesopotamia, and homes in on a similar phenomenon existing in ancient Greece contemporary with Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as cultural differences making ancient Egypt a more pleasing place to learn about compared to ancient Mesopotamia. This goes beyond stone monuments in Egypt having survived better than brick structures in Mesopotamia.
Some themes of Trkanjec’s nuanced drift is that of Egypt being a more serene and harmonious place suspicious of strict legal codification of people’s status. Egyptians often portrayed themselves as embracing families and couples, with Mesopotamian art traditions being lacking in this regard, but excelling in terms of depicting atrocities committed by one’s own side. Mesopotamia early on came to see domination, aggression and exploitation as something good, glorying in conquering warlords and developing strict legal codes with a famously draconic bent. While both were ancient monarchies, Ancient Egypt comes across as a culture who loved the good life, in contrast to the more pessimistic and misanthropic outlook of Mesopotamia. The latter also sported a constant phenomenon of impoverished robbers roving the fringes of the lands, without a similar thing being mentioned in any Egyptian sources outside of intermediary periods of collapse and disorder.
It may be added that Mesopotamian kings had themselves depicted with whips, and some even claimed the title King of the Universe. I cannot remember a single instance of Egyptian artists depicting people being flayed or impaled, in contrast to Mesopotamia. Trkanjec’s argument is not one of ancient Egyptians being bereft of evil or shy of e.g. depicting the killing of enemies, but it is one where the nuance difference between ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt is a noticable one, both in sources that have survived and in contemporary ancient Greek sources.
So, comparatively pleasant Egypt and grimdark Mesopotamia.
Whether one agrees or not, this rather long essay is worth checking out for anyone interested in the period (hint, Tomb Kings and Chaos Dwarfs, hint).
 
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### Author:  [@denelian5](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/u/denelian5)
#### Post date: [31 January 2022 09:36 UTC](https://discourse.chaos-dwarfs.com/t/illustrations-of-ancient-mesopotamia/393/10 "2022-01-31T09:36:42Z")
Found these by dumb luck, seems to be there were several reliefs in Nineveh displaying Assyrians casually chopping off and exhanging heads with their enemies. The artist Fredrick Charles Cooper seem to have made several drawings from the South West Palace as well as the temple of Nimrod (of course of Lamassu statues etc)in the middle of the 19th century. Real classy drawings and aquarells, I think:
[Nineveh relief South West Palace 1](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_2007-6024-46)
[Nineveh relief South West Palace 2](https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_2007-6024-36)