ABSTRACT
The physical remains from the Ancient Near East are the things that attract us still, the simple lines of Egyptian chairs, and the dynamism of the tiny gems that Mesopotamians used as personal seals. But as with literature our reactions may not be the same as the views of the ancients. Beauty may be in some sense eternal, but the clichés of what was expected in art were subject to change. We must keep in mind that the artists were always struggling between the accepted forms in their cultures and the possibilities for doing something new.
