What are the common themes of ancient art? Why is ancient art relevant today? What makes a masterpiece? Before you begin your journey through the world of ancient art, consider why ancient art matters, what it tells us about different cultures, and its impact on and similarity to our world today.

Step back more than 30,000 years as you view some of the earliest known art in the world— a fabulous gallery of animals painted on the cave walls at Chauvet. These paintings tell us something profound about the Paleolithic mind and force us to reconsider our own ideas about “primitive” art.

In Mesopotamia, writing was developed 5,000 years ago, alongside the first narrative art, which set the stage for everything that followed in the Western art historical tradition. The registers on the Uruk Vase tell the story of civilization and reveal a hierarchical world as seen by one of the most complex societies of the era.

Turn to the masterpieces of the ancient Sumerians in the city of Ur, the “Cradle of Civilization.” No one knows whether the mysterious Royal Standard of Ur is actually a standard—or even royal—but it tells us a great deal about the technology, social structure, and the dazzling riches of this society.

Explore the fertility theme in the first 3-D sculpture of the course. “Ram Caught in a Thicket” was excavated from the Great Death Pit at Ur. In addition to telling us about royal burials, the sculpture tells us about the society’s wealth, its relationship with animals, and the religious role of the rulers and lords.

With the magnificent ziggurats, ancient people reached for the sky, which was the domain of the deities. Learn about Nanna, the Sumerian moon god, and experience the architectural grandeur at the heart of Sumerian daily life. While wars, climate, and looting have wrought their damage on the ziggurat at Ur, enough remains to tell a fascinating story.

What makes a king a god? Ponder the visual propaganda behind Naram-Sin’s victory stela. After learning the story of this Akkadian king, you’ll study this monument’s artistic innovation—its realism, its unified composition, and its new approach to narrative. Additional Akkadian art provides perspective on this era’s radical artistic changes.

Jump to the 1st millennium B.C. and the mighty Assyrian Empire. The palace reliefs reveal a warlike society in which the king reinforces order, as revealed in the famous Lion Hunt scenes. As he battles the lions, the king proves he is greater in power than the threatening beast and all that it represents. The reliefs demonstrate the apogee of artistic skill in the Assyrian court.

Cursed in the Bible as “the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth,” Babylon is much more fascinating and strange than you might think. Examine the “Queen of the Night,” a nude woman who is part animal and part human. This curious mixture of the erotic and the terrifying creates a mesmerizing masterpiece filled with mystery.

Continue your study of ancient Babylon by reflecting on Nebuchadnezzar’s city gates and processional way. These impressive feats of architecture and engineering inspire awe through their sheer size. The animals on the gate—lions, bulls, and the snake-dragon—were meant to protect the city by intimidating those who would bring harm to the community.

Turn to the Persian Empire, one of the grandest civilizations in the ancient world. Survey the history of Persia from King Cyrus to Alexander the Great, then study the city of Persepolis. Its construction, its palaces, and its many relief sculptures all showed the breadth and power of the king.

To maintain social cohesion, ancient kings had to justify their power through ideological control, and no culture was better than Egypt at creating art to establish the underpinnings of kingship. This first lecture on Egypt considers the Palette of Narmer, a superb carving that embodies the unification of the state and established an ideology of kingship for the next 3,000 years.

Why did the Egyptians go to such great lengths to prepare bodies after death? They loved life, and the grand tombs and sculptures were a way to capture the soul for eternal life. Reflect on the statue of King Khafre, which communicates strength and power—and signifies so much more than what is first evident.

You’ve no doubt seen images of King Tut’s mask, but what does it represent? Why is it such a magnificent work of art? Unpack the secrets of Egypt’s famous boy king and find out why the treasures of his tomb survived.

Look at a masterpiece of painting that lay hidden for more than 3,000 years and was never meant to be seen by human eyes again. Queen Nefertari was one of the most loved and celebrated women in the history of Egypt, and this lecture takes you on a tour through the chambers of her grand tomb.

Travel to ancient Greece and trace the development of realism in sculpture through the Archaic period. The “Kritios Boy” represents a leap forward and seems more “alive” than Egyptian sculptures, partly because of the development of contrapposto and partly due to cultural differences in artistic taste between the Greeks and the Egyptians.

Go back to a time when the Olympic Games were a sacred event. The famous discus thrower represents a new development in the history of sculpture because of the way it shows motion. This lecture delves into the sports culture of ancient Greece and reveals the technique behind the drama of Myron’s sculpture.

Plunge into the mythological battles of the Parthenon in Athens. The metopes, pediment sculptures, and frieze dramatize Greek myths, narrate battles, and are sublimely beautiful examples of Greek sculpture. Professor McDonald explains the context for these works and offers insight into the glory and pride of ancient Greece.

Visit the fields of Troy as phalanxes of Greeks advance upon the Trojans. There, according to the Iliad, Sarpedon was killed by Patroclus, a scene memorialized in Euphronios’s red-figure vase painting. Learn how artists represented death and what techniques artists used to tell a coherent story on a round vase.

The Greeks offered more than just action and warfare in their art. This lecture examines the first female nude in the tradition, a sculpture of Aphrodite, the femme fatale of Mount Olympus. Whereas Greeks would have considered it unseemly to represent a nude woman, Aphrodite was a goddess and could be portrayed as sensuous, beautiful, and alluring.

Contemplate one of the most mesmerizing sculptures in the world. Beyond the emotional expressiveness, the writhing snakes, and the doomed children, “Laocoön” has a complicated history that reflects its importance and its genius. As a hallmark of Hellenistic art, the beauty of this piece lies not only in its composition, but in its many interpretations.

This stunning 125-foot-high monument is truly a marvel, combining a feat of engineering with the skill of sculptors who crafted a 650-foot-long story that spirals upward from the base. The column commemorates the successful military campaigns of the Roman emperor Trajan and offers a wealth of information about Roman warfare, religious rites, and even building techniques.

Move east to the Shang and Chou dynasties in ancient China, where bronze vessels cast with astonishing technical skill and artistry are the defining artifact. Excavated in 1976, the royal tomb of Fu Hao revealed a trove of precious bronze vessels, which would have been used in ancestor worship, for ceremonial meals, and to support the authority of kings.

Delve into the world of Buddhism and the Great Stupa at Sanchi, the most ancient stone structure in India and the only one that supposedly houses the ashes of Buddha. Take a tour of a spiritual monument, protected by impressive gates, and see how the sculptural reliefs and pilgrimage instruct visitors in the teachings of the Buddha.

Continue your investigation of Buddhism by turning to the largest Buddhist monument in the world, Borobudur. As you study the terraces of this “cosmic mountain,” you’ll see superb carved reliefs that tell stories about the Buddha’s life, humanity’s place in the cosmos, and the path to nirvana.

Next, your journey takes you halfway around the world to Mesoamerica to explore the unusual Olmec culture. Here in the low-lying Gulf Coast of Mexico, 17 colossal heads offer a startling look at a fascinating and intricate culture—what anthropologists call a “pristine civilization” for its emergence in isolation from the rest of the world.

Nestled in the foothills of southern Mexico is one of the most magical and hauntingly beautiful archaeological sites in the world. Here, one of the richest tombs in the New World was discovered, and its marvelous artifacts—particularly King Pakal’s sarcophagus cover—provide insights into the myths and religion of the ancient Maya.

Blood sacrifices. Sacred visions. Poisonous animals. Artwork from the Maya kingdom of Yaxchilán may shock us, but the visceral and expressive detail carved into these stones is unlike anything in Western art. This riveting lecture takes you into a truly different world of self-sacrifice and hallucinogenic trances, but a world that has important lessons for our own.

Venture north to the city of Teotihuacán, the “place of the gods.” Here, the Temple of the Feathered Serpent is a mysterious pyramid that may contain a royal grave. You’ll analyze the pyramid’s repeating carved serpents and investigate one of the most enigmatic cultures in the Americas.

Aztec art has some of the most skilled, complex stone carvings in the world, yet it is difficult to understand. Professor McDonald explains the significance of the colossal sculpture of Coatlicue, the goddess known as Serpent Skirt. Find out what art historians think this terrifying sculpture means and how it fits into the myths of Aztec civilization.

Many people are familiar with the iconic Aztec calendar stone, but few understand what it means. Discover the story of one of the most famous excavated objects from the ancient world. Why is it a masterpiece? What does it tell us about the Aztecs? What cataclysms does it portray?

Go inside the Moche society in ancient Peru and marvel at the beautiful metal jewelry discovered in the Sipan tombs. Beyond the beauty and the sophisticated metalwork of the Moche earspools, the tomb of Sipan gives us a window into Moche society—including sacrificial ceremonies once believed to be purely mythical.

Many societies in this course have used art to communicate ideas, especially state propaganda. But Andean elites took a different approach. Rather than creating massive stone sculptures, artists made usable, practical objects. This lecture shows you some of the beautiful pots created in a culture isolated from the Western tradition.

Shift your attention to Andean textiles. These masterpieces combined amazing technical virtuosity with supreme aesthetic taste. You’ll be amazed by the labor that went into these luxurious pieces, yet what’s most striking here is that abstract art—a modern innovation in Western art—was developed in the Andes more than 1,000 years ago.

What can ancient art teach us about our place in the cosmos? What do we find so beautiful about ancient art? And how does it compare to contemporary art? Does art need to have a function? Ponder these questions and more as you reflect on your journey through the world of ancient art.

Revisit some of the masterpieces you have seen in this course, compare them to contemporary works that draw from ancient sources, and review some of the universal themes you have explored—especially animals, fertility, death, and rulership. These themes bind humans in nearly every civilization, and the themes are reflected in its art.