Approximate tasks for the MHK Olympiad (grade 11). The school stage of the Olympiad for schoolchildren on world artistic culture Temple tower sanctuary

In both northern and southern Mesopotamia, temples and temple centers predated the birth of the state. Religious buildings were usually built from raw brick, i.e. in technology more advanced than adobe and reed houses. Already very early, from the first half of the 4th millennium, there was a desire for monumentality and symmetry in temples. Temple centers on the site of modern Abu Sharain (ancient Eridu) and modern Tepe-Gavra retained the importance of inter-communal sanctuaries for thousands of years.

Already at the beginning of the 4th millennium BC, a scheme of a rectangular temple was formed with the main room of an elongated shape, in which there was an altar and an altar, and with two rows of smaller rooms on its sides; the type of temple developed according to this scheme proved to be extremely stable and was used in various versions for thousands of years. In the earliest structures of this kind (Havre XIX and XVIII), the outer volume of the temple has not yet been differentiated: it is only clear that the entrance was on the short side, and the sanctuary had a longitudinal orientation. Later, with the separation of the temple into a separate building, the entrance was usually arranged in a deep niche (aivan) between the massive side ledges.

The temples of Mesopotamia were usually built of flat, rectangular mud bricks on clay mortar. The size of bricks increased with the improvement of manufacturing techniques. Bricks made it possible to create a dressing in alternating rows of masonry and to form a complex system of niches and ledges on the surface of the walls. Double and even triple protrusions, and even grouped in pairs, create a complex rhythm of wall processing on the facades and in the interior. Outside, the walls were covered with white lime mortar, and in the interior they were painted bright red.

Temples are an example. Eridu. Sixteen temples were here successively in the same place. The first temples were raised on a platform to protect them from swamp dampness and floods. Each subsequent building was built on the buried ruins of the previous one. By the end of the 4th millennium, the temple platform had grown into a monumental two-tier foot 65 m long (Fig. 5.7).

This is how the temple tower characteristic of Mesopotamian architecture, the ziggurat (which means “top” in Akkadian), was born and developed. Initially, all temples were built, apparently, on high platforms, which was reflected in the Sumerian designation of any temple - e-hens(literally "house of the mountain"). Later, the ziggurat was erected only at the temple of the main god of the city.

Rice. 5.7. Temple VII at Eridu (3rd millennium BC). Reconstruction

Rice. 5.8. Petesi (ruler) of Lagash Gudea (XXIII century BC)

The existence in the countries of Mesopotamia of "pervasive slavery" led to the emergence of the idea of ​​universal hierarchical dependence. Officials were now considered "slaves" of rulers, rulers ( ensi, petesi) - "slaves" of the kings, and the kings themselves considered themselves "slaves" of the gods. This worldview is vividly reflected in the myths that transferred earthly relations to heaven: people were created to accept the "yoke of labor on the gods", and their leaders - to build and renew temples. The founder of the III dynasty of Ur, the famous sovereign-builder Urnammu, is depicted walking behind the god Sin and carrying a measuring cord, a square and a construction hammer on his shoulder. Petesi (ruler) of Lagash Gudea is shown seated with a drawing of a building and a scale ruler on his knees (Fig. 5.8). This image explains the design process. On the drawings of the plans of this time, the ratio of the sizes of the premises was not respected and was expressed only in numbers. The Gudea measuring ruler is divided into 16 parts; on one side, these parts are divided into 2, 3, 4 and 6 shares, and on the other - into 12 and 13.

Already in ancient times, in connection with the formation of states, the estate of priests was isolated on the territory of Mesopotamia. These people usually came from wealthy families. The office of priest was hereditary. The main requirement for the applicant was the absence of physical defects.

There were many learned people among the priests. They possessed the astronomical knowledge necessary for the proper organization of irrigation and agricultural work. According to ancient authors, in Babylon, Borsippa, Sippar and Uruk there were large astronomical schools, the fame of which went far beyond Mesopotamia. Each of them developed its own system of astronomical calculations and had its adherents.

To follow the seasonal floods of rivers, it was necessary to conduct systematic observations of the movements of celestial bodies - the Sun, Moon, stars and planets. Therefore, in the countries of the Mesopotamia, astronomy and its accompanying astrology (the science of predictions according to the "patterns of the Heavenly Umbrella") appeared very early. With their help, star calendars and horoscopes were created. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia worshiped astral deities, which were various celestial bodies (Sabbeism). Therefore, placing their cities and temples in a natural environment, the priests-architects sought to draw a map of the night sky on the ground with the help of man-made creations.

At the same time, the Euphrates was identified with the Milky Way, the Sun and Moon - with major metropolitan cities, the zodiac constellations - with mythological monsters (wild dogs, bull-men, snakes, griffins, scorpion people, fish-people, etc.). All these images formed the basis of the monumental and decorative art of Mesopotamia.

Priests observed the starry sky (“a hollow hemisphere of precious stones”) from the roofs of their temples or from the tops of brick tower-like structures - ziggurats.

For this, the nature of Mesopotamia has created excellent conditions. Here is the testimony of the famous archaeologist V.I. Gulyaeva: “By evening, the air cools down and becomes more transparent. And immediately everything around takes on the usual vibrant colors. Above your head, a fabulous heavenly dome seems to open. Sometimes it shows light feathers of clouds, illuminated from below and painted in warm pinkish-yellow colors. And at about six o'clock, the crimson disk of the sun instantly rolls down and disappears behind the crest of the mountains, as if an invisible giant pulled it by the rope. Twilight comes and the long-awaited coolness. After another 10-15 minutes, dark inky density sets in. Then, one after another, the stars light up in the sky, the silvery moon emerges, and the revived steppe throws off the remnants of the sultry daytime stupor. I must say that the sky here is black and black, like velvet, and the stars are unusually large and bright. You can admire them for hours. Silvery dust of the Milky Way, bright clusters of Orion, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor ... " .

The first temples were built on high brick platforms to protect them from floods. The height of the platforms reached 6-15 meters. They were built of raw bricks and equipped with a whole system of drainage channels. The tradition of placing sanctuaries on the tops of mountains and hills is also associated with the fact that the first settlers came to the plain from the Iranian highlands, where they built religious buildings on the hills. An example of this is the Oval Temple in Khafaj (beginning of the III millennium - XXII century BC) (Fig. 5.9).

Rice. 5.9. Oval temple in Khafaj (beginning of III millennium - XXII century BC)

Rice. 5.10. White Temple in Uruk (XIX century BC). Platform.

By the third millennium BC. e. the classical type of the Mesopotamian temple gradually developed. It had two parts - the "lower" and "upper" temples. Cult ceremonies and rituals took place in the "lower" temple. In the "upper", standing on top of a brick tower (ziggurat), the patron deity of the city lived. A staircase led up to the tower. The priests from the “lower” temple climbed up along it or descended from the “upper” temple to the “lower” deity in order to incarnate in their statue, which stood in the “lower” temple. An example is the so-called White Temple in the city of Uruk (XIX century BC) (Fig. 5.10, Fig. 5.11).

Rice. 5.11. White Temple in Uruk (XIX century BC). Sanctuary. Reconstruction

The ziggurat was a local version of the model of the universe. In the countries of Mesopotamia, the number of tiers in a ziggurat did not exceed four (together with the temple).

The lower tier, covered with black asphalt, was dedicated to Ea - "the lord of the bottom", the god of the underworld and ocean waters. During the period of river floods, this tier was partially hidden under water - Ea, as it were, took over. After the decline of water from the thickness of the tier, for a long time, through the drainage holes, moisture flowed out through the trays - the personification of river waters.

The second tier, lined with red burnt brick, symbolized the Earth, the possession of the god Enlil, "the lord of all countries." Trees ("hanging gardens") usually grew on this tier.

The third tier, whitewashed with lime, was dedicated to the god of "hot air" and heaven, Anu, the oldest of the Sumerian gods.

Lined with blue ceramic tiles, the temple was considered the dwelling of the deity. He was crowned with large gilded horns - the Crown of Anu.

Most famous E-temenniguru–ziggurat of the god Nanna (Nannar) in Ur (2118-2007 BC). This is the famous ziggurat Ur-Nammu - a massive pedestal for the main temple of the city, built in honor of the moon god Nanna. Excavated and carefully restored by the British in the 1920s, it is strikingly different from the other inconspicuous ruins of Ur in the perfect proportions and degree of preservation (Fig. 5.12).

The ziggurat was built of raw brick and covered on top with an almost three-meter "shell" of fired brick, fastened with a bitumen mortar. Its base is 60 by 45 meters. Previously, it consisted of at least three tiers or floors, but at present only the first floor and part of the second have survived. This imposing body of clay conveys an impression of lightness and grace, thanks to its perfect proportions and slightly rounded lines. For a long time it was believed that the Greeks invented a similar technique during the construction of the famous Parthenon. In fact, as we see, this happened almost two thousand years earlier. Trees once grew on the free area of ​​the steps-terraces of the ziggurat.

Rice. 5.12. Ziggurat of Nanna in the city of Ur. Current state

To do this, they brought a layer of fertile soil upstairs and made special drainage structures for watering vegetation with rainwater. The green mountain of the znkkurat, rising high above the battlements of the city walls, was visible from afar, clearly standing out against the yellow-gray background of the bleak Mesopotamian plain. The ziggurat of Ur-Nammu is one of the few direct witnesses of the distant past that have survived to this day. All the violent whirlwinds of history left their mark on him. All the rulers of Ur made a contribution to its construction and decoration. In order to document his building ardor, each king hurried to wall up a cuneiform tablet or cylinder with a list of his merits to his descendants in the thickness of the walls of a stepped tower:

“To the glory of his lord Nanna, the most glorious of the sons of Enlil, the mighty husband Ur-Nammu, the ruler of Uruk, the king of Ur, the king of Sumer and Akkad, erected a temple beloved by Etemenigur” (Fig. 5.13).

Rice. 5.13. Ziggurat of Nanna in the city of Ur. Reconstruction options

The powerful rise of the stairs emphasizes the indivisibility of the massif itself, revealing the huge scale and gloomy grandeur of the ziggurat. The lower tier could be reached by three gentle stairs. Then the procession of priests moved along the covered passages to the "upper" temple. Her sudden disappearance was perceived from below as a genuine miracle.

Apparently, the main facade of E-temenniguru was aimed at the rising point of the "high" moon. Not by chance on clay cones. Found in the thickness of the tower, it was written: “To the glory of the royal Nanna, shining from clear skies, I, Vardasin, the pious ruler, erected this temple. I built his house for God, the joy of the heart of E-temennigur. Miracle and decoration of the earth, may it stand forever!…” (Fig. 5.14).

Rice. 5.14. Ziggurat of Nanna in Ur. Reconstruction by L. Woolley

The priests of the god Nanna at the end of the month of Nisan (March 21) stood on top of the ziggurat and looked to the west. On this day, the simultaneous rise of the "newborn" Moon (Nanna or Sina) and his wife Ishtar (Venus) was expected. The appearance of these luminaries in the sky ("sacred marriage") coincided in time with the beginning of the flood of the Tigris. And after 15 days, during the period of the “full” moon (“Nanna, who gained strength”), the flood of the Euphrates began. To ensure fertility for the earth, the king with his wife or the high priest of the god of the moon with a slave dressed in the costume of the goddess Ishtar performed the rite of "sacred marriage" inside the temple. This event in Ur began the celebration of the New Year.

A feature of the Mesopotamian ziggurats is the visual curvature of the surface of their walls. They have a slight arch (entasis) in the central part of the wall. It is quite possible that it turned out due to the general "spreading" of the brick mass under its own weight. But thanks to this feature, the viewer standing on the corner of the tower cannot see the neighboring corner - the building seems to be much larger than its true size: “Measurements made it possible to establish deviations and irregularities inherent in the forms of the structure, which archaeologists could not initially explain. The walls of individual tiers (ziggurat) were not vertical, but somewhat sloping, like medieval fortress walls. Moreover, they did not form straight lines, but curved in a horizontal arc towards the center. The pictorial reconstruction of the pyramid clarified the meaning of these mysterious errors. A structure consisting of rectangular hexagons stacked on top of each other by floors would create the impression of a huge and soulless block. On the inclined and concave planes of the cladding, the viewer's eye could freely slide to the top in order to stop at the temple - the main architectural and logical center of the entire structure. It became quite clear that the Sumerian architects were not only remarkable builders, but also sensitive artists who knew well the secrets of the composition of grandiose structures. With admirable skill, they managed to combine monumental strength with lightness and harmony in them ... " (Fig. 5.15).

Rice. 5.15. Fragment of the wall of the ziggurat of the god Nanna in Ur. Blades-buttresses.

It is possible that the ziggurats performed quite specific, "mundane" tasks. They served as monumental calendars, allowing to keep track of time with varying degrees of accuracy.

It should be recalled that the calendar year in the countries of Mesopotamia was divided into three periods - "Spill", "Sowing" and "Harvest". Each of these periods included approximately four months (in modern chronology). Most likely, the three steps of E-temenniguru personified precisely these seasons.

"Spill" (~ March - June) - the time when the god Ea rules in Mesopotamia. The spill reaches its maximum level in early May, the water level rises by an average of 3 meters. Therefore, the lower black tier of the ziggurat, plastered with asphalt for waterproofing, was dedicated to the water god. During the period of river floods, when the seething water approached the foot of the tower (and occasionally flooded it completely), the townspeople who filled the upper terraces could see for themselves the power of Ea, who visited his possessions.

It is noted that the surface of the wall was dotted with small square holes. These are the outlets of the drainage channels through which excess moisture was removed from the thickness of the masonry. Clay shards were placed inside the channels. Rainwater was removed from the surface of the roof and terraces through special "aprons" (weirs) - brick gutters with lead trays arranged between twin pilasters. With the help of these devices, not only rain moisture was removed, but also water, which was used to water the "hanging gardens" on the tiers of the ziggurat (Fig. 5.16).

Rice. 5.16. Drainage holes on the surface of the lower tier of the ziggurat

"Sowing" (July-October) - the time of Enlil, the patron of earthly fertility. During this period, barley, the main grain crop of Mesopotamia, was sown.

"Harvest" (November-February) - the period of complete domination of the god of hot air Anu. The feast of this god was celebrated in January-February, and the “feast of sickles”, which completes the harvest of the last harvest, was already at the end of March. The main dates are taken from the book of the famous orientalist I.M. Dyakonov "People of the city of Ur" .

From our point of view, the three tiers of E-temenniguru symbolized the agricultural seasons mentioned above. Each of the faces in the tiers denoted a particular month. In turn, they were divided by flat blades, seven on each side. Probably, the priests of the Temple of the Moon at a certain time interval moved from one shoulder blade to another the image of the god Sin (Nanna) sparkling in the sun. It could be a huge silver ball or an anthropomorphic sculpture visible from anywhere in the city. By its position on the parapet of the ziggurat, the townspeople could judge the calendar date. During the year, this fetish gradually went around all the tiers of the tower and was installed on the roof of the upper temple between the gilded horns. This happened on the eve of the month of Nisanu (Nisanu) and marked the beginning of the next lunar year.

MHK Olympiad assignments (school tour) Grade 11

2017-2018

Maximum points - 170 points

Run time - 3 hours

Task 1. Name the term.

1. The temple tower, the sanctuary of the main deity in the architecture of Mesopotamia, which is stacked on top of each other, like a truncated pyramid, terraces (from 3 to 7), built of mud brick.

2. The headscarf of the Egyptian pharaohs, usually striped, with longon the shoulders with the ends. ____________________________________________________________________________

3. A song to the accompaniment of a lute, mandolin or guitar, addressed to the beloved._____________________________________________________________________________

4. Stone slabs or pillars forming in plan one or more concentric circles up to 100 meters in diameter.__________________________________________________

5. Mortuary figurines of servants, which were located next to the sarcophagus of the pharaoh.____________

Task 2: Fill in the correct letter(s) for the gaps.

1. T…t…nkh…mon; 2. P ... nt ... mime; 3. D...lm...ny; 4. Per ... fr ... r; 5. M...m...r...al.

6. M__za__ka; 7. M__r__nist; 8. __xlibr__s; 9. __quarrel; 10. Frame

Task 3: What or who is superfluous in a row? Underline the extra word.

1. Louvre, Colosseum, Hermitage, Tretyakov Gallery.

2. Cows of Gerion, Kerberos, Trojan horse, Hesperides apples.

3. Sculpture, architecture, casting, carving.

4. Red, green, blue, yellow.

5. Engraving, etching, drawing, printmaking.

Task 4: Finish the sentences.

1. The modernist trend in the visual arts of the early 20th century, which brought to the fore the formal task of constructing a three-dimensional form on a plane, was called ...

2. One of the founders of abstractionism was a Russian painter, graphic artist, art theorist ...

Task 5:

Place the followingeras, styles, trends in artin chronological order (put numbers from 1 to 10).

1 classicism 6 baroque

2 Romanesque 7 Renaissance

3 realism 8 gothic

4 antiquity 9 romanticism

5 modernism 10 impressionism

Task 6: Here are the titles of the music:

"Leningradskaya", "Requiem", "Romeo and Juliet", "Cinderella", "Trout", "Children's Corner".

1). Determine the genre of each of them.

2). Specify the number of the illustration with the author's image.

3). Give an example of a work and its author in the remaining line.

4). Fill the table

1. 2. 3.

D.D. Shostakovich Sh.F. Gouno V.A. Mozart

4. 5. 6.

S.S. Prokofiev F.P. Schubert A.K. Debussy

Task 7:

Here are 10 architectural works.

1. Arrange them in chronological order. Write the name of the work, if possible - its location, author, style or era, time of creation.

2. Suggest the principles of classification (no more than 5), explain the principle of grouping. Record your answers in tables.

Fill the table:

Grouping principles:

Task 8:

Imagine in the form of a presentation, materials for a television program dedicated to the influence of the culture of Ancient Greece on Russian culture in a historical perspective.

(The program is dedicated to the cross year of culture of Russia and Greece).In each slide, place images and your own text (no more than five sentences).

Preview:

The key to the answers to the Olympiad tasks of the school stage of the All-Russian Olympiad for schoolchildren in art (MHK) for grade 11 2017-2018.

Maximum points - 170 points

Exercise 1:

5 points.

1) ziggurat; 2) claft; 3) serenade; 4) cromlech; 5) ushabti

Task 2:

For each correct answer - 1 point. Total 10 points.

1. Tutankhamun, 2) pantomime, 3) dolmens, 4 peripteres, 5) memorial, 6) mosaic, 7) marine painter, 8) bookplate, 9) watercolor, 10) ceramics

Task 3:

Only 5 points.

3.1) Colosseum; 2) Trojan horse; 3) architecture; 4) green; 5)drawing

Task 4:

For each correct answer - 1 point. Only 3 points.

1. The modernist trend in the visual arts of the early 20th century, which brought to the fore the formal task of constructing a three-dimensional form on a plane, was called cubism.

2. One of the founders of abstract art was a Russian painter, graphic artist, art theorist V.V. Kandinsky.

3. N.I. Zabela-Vrubelshe had an amazing voice that inspired N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov to create The Tsar's Bride, The Snow Maiden, and The Tale of Tsar Saltan. Her appearance was glorified by her husband-artist in the paintings “The Swan Princess”, “Lilac”.

Task 5: 4,2,8,7,6,1,9,3,10,5

For each correct answer - 1 point. Only 5 points.

Task 6:

For an indication of genre affiliation - 1 point selected match in the illustration - 1 point, own example - 2 points,

Total points - 14 points.

Task 7:

Criteria:

Participant…

1. correctly writes down the title of the work, author, style/time – 2 points for each element (see table, maximum 52 points).
2. correctly arranges the work in chronological order - 6 points . With one mistake 5 points ; with two errors 3 points ; Three errors or more will not earn points.
3. For each grouping principle, 2 points , provided that at least two examples of works (numbers) from the proposed series are given. Maximum 10 points .
4. reasonably expands his answer (names the location, style, historical, applied features, other additional information). By 1 point for each element, but no more than 10 for the entire answer.

The maximum is 78 points.

Task 8: This task is completed at home and submitted for verification the next day after writing the classroom part of the Olympiad.

Job evaluation criteria:

1. The participant accurately fulfills the proposed terms of reference (image and 5 sentences). 2 points for each well-composed slide. 10 points .

2. The presentation contains references to memorial sites, museums and collections that house the work. 2 points for each meaningful naming. No more 10 points .

3. The presentation presents a dialogue of cultures, the connection between Russian culture and Ancient Greece is considered. 4 points for each correlation. No more 20 points.

4. The presentation focuses on the analysis of works. By 2 points for each comment related to the analysis. No more 10 points.

5. The participant finds interesting, rare illustrations and facts. By 4 points for each interesting and rare fact and illustration. No more 12 points.

Maximum score: 50 points.

The city, a settlement of a civil collective, arose as a result of multiple associations and settlements in one place of a number of small, originally tribal, communities. Each of them had their own god and moved to the city with him. This is how the urban pantheon was created. With the political unification of the country and the ethnic consolidation of its population, the pantheon grew and became more complex. The supreme god appeared in every city and the supreme god of the whole people. Polytheism (that is, polytheism) is a characteristic feature of all pagan religions.

In the era described, the head of the Babylonian pantheon was considered the king of the gods Bel-Marduk, the lord of Babylon. His sacred animal was the famous Dragon of Babylon, his heavenly body - the planet Jupiter, and the day of the week - Thursday (in French jeudi - "day of Jupiter"). The cult of the god Marduk grew up with Babylon. When Babylon ruled the country, the Babylonian god Marduk was identified with the ancient Sumerian supreme god Enlil (in Babylonian Ellil, or Bel - "Lord"), the god of air, who was revered in Nippur, where his temple Ekur ("Mountain House") was located. Thus arose the double name of the Babylonian god - Bel-Marduk ("Lord Marduk").

Bel-Marduk headed the seven supreme gods of the Babylonian pantheon, each of which had its own city, its own temple-dwelling, its own functions, its own heavenly body and its own day of the week. In addition to Bel-Marduk, this seven included: the god of wisdom Nabu - the city of Barsippa, the temple of Ezid, the planet Mercury, Wednesday (in French mercredi - "Mercury's day"); the god of the sun and justice Shamash - the city of Sippar, the temple of Ebabbarr, Sunday (in German Sonntag - "day of the sun"); the god of the moon and knowledge Sin - the city of Ur, the temple of Egishshirgal, Monday (in French lundi - "moon day"); the god of bloody war and the lord of the underworld Nergal - the city of Kuta, the temple of Emeshlam, the planet Mars, Tuesday (in French mardi - "day of Mars"); the god of a happy war, the knight of the gods Zababa, or Ninurta, - the city of Kish, the temple of Epatutil, the planet Saturn, Saturday (in English Saturday - "Saturn's day"); the goddess of love and beauty Ishtar (she is also Belit - "Lady", Tsarpanitu - the wife of Marduk, Anunit, Nana, Innina) - the city of Uruk, the temple of Eanna, the planet Venus, Friday (in French vendredi - "day of Venus").

This seven gods embodied the unity of Babylonia, the federation of its seven main cities, the seven luminaries of the solar system visible to the naked eye, the seven days of the week. Through the Greeks, Romans, Jews and Arabs, the sacred Babylonian seven and some of the ideas associated with it entered the cultural tradition of all Christian and Muslim peoples, that is, a good half of all mankind.

Around the supreme seven grouped many great and small, highly revered and half-forgotten deities. Each of which had its own temple, cella or altar. In Babylon, the religious center of the country, according to the Babylonians themselves, there were 53 temples, at least 955 cellas and 384 street altars, not counting all the altars at home.

Babylonian god Marduk

The main temple of Babylon and the whole country was Esagila (in Sumerian "House in which they raise their heads"), the dwelling of the god Bel-Marduk and his vast divine family. Marduk was the god of the city of Babylon, and Bel was the head of the entire Babylonian pantheon, the embodiment of the unity of Babylonian citizens, the ruler of Babylon and the whole country. His temple, as the main temple of the city, had a temple tower-ziggurat - the famous Tower of Babel, Etemenanki (in Sumerian "House of the cornerstone of heaven and earth"). Esagila was located in the very center of Babylon. Its ruins are covered by the Amran ibn Ali hill, which R. Koldewey failed to excavate completely. However, the plan and appearance of this majestic sanctuary, with the help of descriptions left by Nebuchadnezzar II and Herodotus, have been completely established.

The territory of Esagila was a rectangle oriented along the Babylonian cardinal points, about 650 m long (from north to south) and about 450 m wide (from west to east). In the west, it was bounded by the Euphrates embankment, and in the east, by the main city avenue, Ayburshabum. The street, which departed from the avenue at right angles and led to the bridge over the Euphrates, cut the territory of Esagila into two parts. In the south (450 x 250 m; according to Herodotus, a square with a side of 2 stages - 370 m) was the temple itself, and in the north (450 x 400 m) - the Tower of Babel. Each part was surrounded by a wall with copper gates.

The central place in the southern part of the temple territory was occupied by the sanctuary of the god Marduk - “The so-called Nuhar”, a rectangle measuring 79.3 x 85.5 m. All its four sides had gates; At the gates under King Nergal-Sharru-Utsur, bronze statues of half-serpents-half-griffins were placed. Inside Nuhar there was a large courtyard (31.3 x 37.6 m), around which there were chapels: Ekua - the holy of holies of the god Marduk; Kahilisud - the holy of holies of the goddess Tsarpanitu, his wife; Ezida - the chambers of the god Nabu, the son of Bel-Marduk, where the idol of this deity was placed when it was delivered during the celebration of the New Year from the Barsippian temple of Ezida.

“In the Babylonian sanctuary there is another temple below, in which there is a large golden image of seated Zeus (that is, the god Marduk), Herodotus tells about Ekua. - In front of him is a large golden table, a golden bench and the same chair. All this was made, as the Chaldeans say, from 800 talents (about 24 tons) of gold. Near the temple there is a golden altar. There is also another altar, a large one, on which adult small cattle are sacrificed. On the golden altar, however, only animals that are still suckling may be sacrificed. In addition, on a large altar, the Chaldeans annually burn a thousand talents (about 30 tons) of incense during the feast of this deity. 5 .

The marble walls of the chapel were decorated with gold and lapis lazuli, its cedar wood ceiling was covered with pure gold. Within Nukhar there was a massive golden statue of the god Bel 12 cubits high (6 m) - palladium; Babylon. Nuhar was surrounded by many other courtyards, chapels of minor deities, household and living quarters for priests and pilgrims.

In the northern part of the temple territory towered the Tower of Babel - Etemenanki. The stepped temple tower-ziggurat was an indispensable decoration of the main temple of each Assyrian-Babylonian city-mahazu. The Sumerians, whose religion was adopted by the Babylonians and Assyrians, worshiped the gods on the tops of the mountains in their ancestral home. - Having moved to the low-lying Mesopotamia, they did not change their custom and began to build artificial mounds. This is how ziggurats appeared, which, according to the Babylonians, connected heaven and earth. This is how the purpose of the Tower of Babel was understood and interpreted by the captive Jews, who for the first time saw such a grandiose creation of human hands. These impressions are described in the famous Genesis passage about the Babylonian Pandemonium:

“The whole earth had one language and one dialect. Moving from the east, (people) found Saint-naar in the land (that is, in Mesopotamia. - V. B.) plain and settled there. And they said to each other: "Let's make bricks and burn them with fire." And they became bricks instead of stones, and earthen tar instead of lime. And they said: “Let us build ourselves a city and a tower as high as the heavens; and let us make a name for ourselves, before we are scattered over the face of all the earth.” And the gods came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. And the gods said: “Behold, one people, and one language for all. And this is what they decided to do, and they will not lag behind what they decided to do. Let us go down and confuse their language there, so that one does not understand the speech of the other.” And the gods scattered them from there all over the earth. And they stopped building the city. Therefore, the name "Babel" was given to him (in Hebrew, "Gate of God." - V. B.), for there the gods confounded the language of the whole earth, and from there the gods scattered them over all the earth.” 6 .

Approximate tasks for the MHC Olympiad (GRADE 11)

For knowledge of terms.

Task 1. Name the term.

1. A herbaceous plant in the form of stylized leaves and stems, used as decoration on the capitals of Corinthian columns.

2. The temple tower, the sanctuary of the main deity in the architecture of Mesopotamia, which is a stacked high, like a truncated pyramid, terraces (from 3 to 7), built of mud brick.

4. Wide and flat fired brick, basic construction material in the architecture of Byzantium and Russian temple architecture of the XI-XIII centuries.

5. The image of the idyllic peaceful life of shepherds and shepherdesses in the bosom of nature, their love and serene rural spirit in the fine arts.

6. Jewelry made from twisted metal threads, usually bent into curls and forming an intricate lacy pattern.

7. The headscarf of the Egyptian pharaohs, usually striped, with long ends falling to the shoulders.

Task 2. Define the term.

8. Ennead.

Task 3: Fill in the correct letter(s) for the gaps and explain what the term means.

1. 3...com...ra; 2. G...relief...; 3. D...lm...ny; 4. Per ... fr ... r; 5. M.. .m.. .r.. .alny.

Task 4. Write the correct letter(s) instead of the gaps.

1. Pr ... skene - the protruding part of the stage structure (skene) in the ancient Greek theater.

2. Enk ... set ... ka - a technique of painting with hot wax paints.

3. Eng...zh...ment - an invitation to the artist for some period of time to participate in the play.

4. D.. .zab.. .lye - light loose home clothing.

5. Kr.. .n.. .lin - a special cut of a dress or skirt in the 18th-19th centuries.

Task 5.: "Linguistic constructor". Using all the given words and phrases, make definitions of historical concepts. Name these concepts. Words and phrases cannot be used twice. You can add prepositions, change words by case, change places, etc.

1. Visual arts, everyday culture, inner meaning, genre, painting.

2. Style, Russian culture, pretentiousness, ornate forms, Western European culture, color contrast, XVII - early. XVIII centuries, whimsicality, splendor, decorativeness.

FACT QUESTS

Exercise 1. Indicate an extra name in the series of Russian artists of the early 19th century:

1) ; 2) ; 3) ; 4) .

Task 2. What or who is extra in the row (write out the extra word and briefly explain your choice)?

A) Perun, Stribog, Plutos, Svarog, Veles.

B) N. N. Ge,.

Give a short answer to the mythology question:

Exercise 1.

1. How is the tree in the center of the world called in the figurative language of mythology and poetry?

2. What is "reality", "nav" and "right" in Slavic mythology?

3. Which goddesses of Greek mythology controlled the fate of people?

4. How many years did Adam live according to the Bible?

5. His images in ancient Egypt served as amulets and jewelry.

b. The beauty of this goddess was sung in the hymns of ancient Babylon: "Be sung to the goddess,

especially revered among the goddesses."

Task 2.

1. What Scandinavian god could take on any guise?

2. What was the name of the Creator of the entire Universe in ancient Indian mythology?

3. On the paternal side, he considered himself a descendant of Hercules himself, and on the maternal side - Aeacus, the grandfather of the famous Achilles, the hero of the Trojan War. His father established dominion over all of Greece. Who is this?

4. Which goddess helped Perseus defeat the Gorgon Medusa?

5. The name of which semi-mythical hero was very popular in Assyrian literature?

6. Who was the supreme deity of the all-Chinese pantheon?

7. According to legend, one of the apostles of Christ was in Kyiv. Who is this?

Task 3.

1 . Who is out of place here? Cows of Gerion, Kerberos, Trojan horse, Hesperides apples.

2. Bird of paradise with a human face: Alkonost, Phoenix, Vargan.

3. The priests of the ancient Celts, who were both soothsayers, and doctors, and teachers: Druids, shamans, healers, magicians.

5. The character of Russian folklore, half-man - half-dog, endowed with horse hooves: Kerberos, Centaur, Polkan.

6. About what god of Ancient Egypt they say: "He has a wise heart"? Ra, Osiris, Thoth.

7. Which one of the wonders of the world is associated with the name of Nebuchadnezzar? Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, Colossus of Rhodes.

Give a short answer to the questions on the artistic culture of the Middle Ages:

Exercise 1.

1. This is a book and news, history and teaching, knowledge and good news.

2. What were the main signs of papal authority and papal power?

3. How was God portrayed in the Qur'an?

4. What was the name of one of the iconographic images of the Mother of God, which was formed

in the Middle Ages and had roots in the early Christian art of Byzantium and Ancient Rus'?

What is its feature?

Task 2.

1. What architectural styles of the Middle Ages are the following verses about?

But a secret plan betrays itself from the outside:

Here, the strength of the girth arches took care,

So that the mass of the heavy wall does not crush, -

And the vault of the impudent ram is inactive.

O. Mandelstam

And the arch, like a skull from the inside,

Raised eyebrows and arches,

Without gilding and tinsel,

Only cheeks magnificently puffing out,

They play silver pipes

Babies are angels in heaven.

K. Nekrasova

2. With these words begins the famous poem in Old French, the pearl of medieval literature. What is its name?

Our king Karl, the great emperor,

Fought seven years in the Spanish country

All this mountainous land to the sea took,

He took by storm all the cities and castles,

He toppled their walls and destroyed their towers. Aoi!

Only the Moors did not surrender Zaragoza.

Marsilius - infidelity reigns omnipotently there,

Honors Mohammed, praises Apollo,

But he will not leave the Lord's punishment.

(Korneeva)

3. What characteristic of the science of the Middle Ages is discussed in verse:

And here again, before the light, calcinate, highlight, strain and distill

Through clay, chalk, and even through protein, through a sieve, borax, potash, ash, sand,

Through realgar, waxed canvas and haired mixed clay,

Through different coal, wax, dry manure; mix saltpeter, vitriol,

Antimony and minium, sulfur and arsenic, or tartar, brown iron ore,

Or all sorts of alloys ...

(From J. Chaucer's poem "The Canterbury Tales"

4. What grandiose building, the citadel of Orthodoxy and Islam, is the poem talking about:

Beautiful is the temple bathed in peace,

And forty windows - a triumph of light;

On sails, under the dome, four

Archangel is the most beautiful.

And a wise spherical building

Peoples and centuries are going through,

And seraphim's booming sob

Will not warp dark gilding.

O. Mandelstam

What is interesting and famous for this temple, why did it unite the two religions?

Task 3.

1. Singers - poets in medieval Scandinavia were called skalds, but what were they called in Scotland?

2. This temple was consecrated in 537, and a well-known historical figure involved in the construction of this temple exclaimed: "Glory to the Lord, who honored me to do such a thing! Solomon, I defeated you!" What is this temple and who is this historical figure?

3. What did medieval students call their university? What does it mean?

4. In the "Divine Comedy" Dante named six names of the greatest, from his point of view, poets. Who are they?

5. In medieval Europe, the mask was the property of itinerant artists. What were they called? Gradually, the mask became part of the comedy theater. This is how the comedy of masks originated in Italy. What name did she get? Name the main characters of these comedies.

6. In the 16th century, the style of "abstract animal ornamentation" appeared in the art of ornamentation. What does it mean?

7. This technique in painting was developed by the famous artist of the Renaissance and represented in painting and graphics a softening of the outlines of objects with the help of a picturesque recreation of the light and air environment surrounding them. What is this technique and who developed it?

Task 4.

1. During the first religious reform, Prince Vladimir established a pantheon of Slavic gods in Kyiv. Among the gods named below, one name is superfluous. Which? Perun, Hora, Dazhdbog, Stribog, Simargl, Veles, Mokosh.

2. In the oral folk art of the Eastern Slavs, a special place was occupied by the epic epic. What were such works called in ancient times?

3. Nestor in "The Tale of Bygone Years" tells the following about the founding of Kyiv: "And there were three brothers: named Kyi, the other - Shchek, the third - Khoriv, ​​and their sister was ...". What was the brother's sister's name?

4. According to ancient Slavic beliefs: a brownie is a good patron of the house, and who brought evil into the house?

5. What word did the ancient Slavs denote the personal name of a person?

Task 5.

1. This very "Byzantine" temple was erected in Chernigov by Greek masters in the 11th century and has survived almost entirely to our times. What is it called? What architectural element distinguishes this temple?

2. It is believed that this icon appeared miraculously after the artist sent by the King of Edessa Abgar could not depict the Savior. How did the image of Christ appear and what name did the icon get?

Task 6. Determine where this image is located, who is depicted in it?

Task 7. Determine where this image is located, who is depicted on it?

What does this image symbolize?

Zapadanie 8. Determine which temple is shown in the picture, where it is located. Hurry up the main architectural elements of the temple.

CREATIVE TASKS:

Write an essay on one of the following topics:

1. "Temple as a model of the world in medieval culture".

2. "Space and Time in Antiquity and the Middle Ages".

3. "Thing in culture."