The
art of Mesopotamia has survived in the archaeological record from early
hunter-gatherer societies (10th millennium BC) on to the
Bronze Age cultures of the
Sumerian,
Akkadian,
Babylonian and
Assyrian empires. These empires were later replaced in the
Iron Age by the
Neo-Assyrian and
Neo-Babylonian empires. Widely considered to be the
cradle of civilization,
Mesopotamia brought significant cultural developments, including the oldest examples of writing. The art of Mesopotamia rivalled
that of Ancient Egypt as the most grand, sophisticated and elaborate in western
Eurasia from the 4th millennium BC until the
Persian Achaemenid Empire conquered the region in the 6th century BC. The main emphasis was on various, very durable, forms of sculpture in stone and clay; little painting has survived, but what has suggests that, with some exceptions, painting was mainly used for geometrical and plant-based decorative schemes, though most sculptures were also painted.
Cylinder seals have survived in large numbers, many including complex and detailed scenes despite their small size.