A couple of weekends ago, Cindy and I went to the Oriental Institute at U Chicago. It's a small museum, but has quite a bit of neat objects from the middle east, especially the Mesopotamian region. Here are some pictures (click for bigger ones):

Leading up to the Gates of Babylon was a series of 100 mosaic lions. Two of them now live in Illinois:

 

The Babylonians were also quite into protective gods. Here's a Lamassu from the king's palace:

 

If you can't tell he's a god, take a look at all those horns. They signify divinity. And he has 5 legs, not 4, so he looks right from the front.

Here's the king, followed by his son and servants (and me):

All the figures used to be painted, but most of the paint is gone.The prince's appearance has changed too. Here's a close-up:

 

The prince still has his royal bracelets, but no more beard or tassels. Apparently he fell out of favor...

The collection also contains the giant head of a bull from a Babylonian temple. The rest of the bull, as well as his neighbor, are still in Mesopotamia:

The following "Genius" used to sit on top of a huge column, supporting the temple roof:

In the Egyptian section, the following painting really struck me:

It was once placed in a sarcophagus over the body and is often used as an example of Graeco-Roman influence in the style (compared to the more standard covers in the picture). But, as with many works of art I had seen photos of, this one struck me very much when I saw it live.There's something very human, real, and personal about this picture. Perhaps it's the fact that the gaze follows you around. Perhaps it's the contrast with the overly generic mummies. But there's definitely something there that grabs my attention.

Anyway, we also wandered around the U-Chicago campus for a bit and had lunch at Medici's. Here's a few photos from that:

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Last Updated ( Monday, 27 July 2009 05:19 )