Who were the first named artists and authors of history? Art History 301
Bronze Age creators of significant works
In the earliest days of art, no one sought credit for their works. Partly because writing hadn’t been invented yet and people thought of art differently at the time. It usually had a symbolic and/or religious purpose and the authorship of the work didn’t matter as much as the work itself and what it represented. Artists didn’t initially exist as a professional class, and even when they did, they rarely created for themselves. Works were dedicated to kings and gods, and the names of mere mortals were insignificant in comparison.
Pottery and music are typically the first advanced arts to develop in a culture, followed by other creative endeavors like poetry and textile work. Painting is often dead last. Even though painting was among humanity’s first inventions it wasn’t considered a true standalone art until the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans. Before that, it often played a complementary role, such as wall frescos or sculptural accents. It wasn’t until the Italian Renaissance that painting entered the realm of the masters.
Mesopotamia
The first examples of proto-writing date to around 7000-4000 BC, well after the Neolithic Revolution. The earliest settlements included Çatalhöyük and Uruk. The first coherent writing systems (cuneiform and hieroglyphics) emerged around 3500-3000 BC.
Sargon of Akkad's daughter Enheduanna, Sumerian high priestess of the moon god Nanna (Suen) and goddess Inanna (Ishtar), may have been the first female poet and even the first named author in history. A disc excavated in 1927 included her name and dates to around 2300 BC. She was a priestess for at least 40 years until her death around 2250 BC.
At least two works are attributed to her, “The Exaltation of Inanna” and “Hymn to Inanna,” and she may have authored or edited up to 45-50 poems total. It’s not clear whether Enheduanna actually wrote or composed everything herself (it’s impossible to prove) but her name does appear, which was unusual in ancient history–especially for a woman. The Epic of Gilgamesh and Atra-Hasis, for example, as history’s first written epic poems (2100-1700 BC), were authored anonymously.
One theory speculated that Enheduanna’s name was added later; the original works, if they existed, have not survived–what we have are Babylonian copies from 1800 BC onwards (also see: The Decad), and the Babylonians might’ve wanted to give extra legitimacy to such works by associating them with Sargon of Akkad’s influential dynasty. Sargon had been dead for centuries (since ~2279 BC) by the time of the Babylonian Empire.
Also in Mesopotamia, we have the names of many musicians (like Haddamilku, Ur-Utu, Rišiya, and Warad-Ilišu) although most details of their contributions remain unknown. Music was of great importance and many types of instruments were invented. Some were thought of as gods or aspects of gods. Cities had schools of music, royal musicians, and some of the world’s oldest foundations for music theory. Musical notation existed from at least 1400-1250 BC.
King Shulgi of Ur (r. 2094-2046 BC) claimed to be an expert with several instruments and wrote various poems. He boasted of many accomplishments, most of which are probably untrue, and declared himself a god at one point. He did accomplish things of importance though, such as completing the Great Ziggurat of Ur (begun by his father) and promoting the oldest surviving law code (Code of Ur-Nammu, also begun or completed by his father).
The well-known Code of Hammurabi came soon after. While not physically written by the king himself (likely dictated or outlined by Hammurabi to royal scribes), it was another cultural landmark.
Outside of Mesopotamia
The Egyptian Middle Kingdom (2040-1782 BC) was a time when art and literature expanded, referred to by later ancient Egyptians as “classics,” but authorship continued to be primarily anonymous. Exceptions included The Satire of the Trades, attributed to the scribe Kheti of Sile. The Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor, while the author is unknown, has the signature of the scribe (Amenaa) and is the world’s oldest signature on papyrus.
Amenhotep (1425-1356 BC) was one of Egypt’s most important scribes. Also a priest and architect, he was sometimes referred to as a philosopher (although we have none of his works) and deified after his death. Amenemope, an Egyptian scribe, is the likely author of the Instruction of Amenemope, written between 1300-1075 BC at the earliest.
Egyptian Pharaohs requested artists and sculptors from foreign kings during the Bronze Age (Minoan, etc) but generally didn’t name specific people. Diplomatic messages were more akin to “please send me your best column guy because I have a cool project for him.”
The Duke of Zhou (r. 1042-1035 BC) is credited with writing the Chinese I Ching and the Book of Poetry.
The “Golden Age of Chinese philosophy” (including the rise of Confucianism and Taoism) dates to the “Hundred Schools of Thought” of 600-221 BC.
Early Sanskrit literature included the Mahabharata (400 BC - 400 AD) and Purāṇas attributed to Krishna Dvaipayana, as well as the Rāmāyana (800-300 BC) attributed to the sage Vālmīki. Most early Indian works, like other early works, were oral.
Greece
The Greek poet Homer, probably living around 900-700 BC, is credited with telling the story of The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Athenian politician Pisistratus (600-527 BC) is said to be first to collect and organize Homer’s oral poetry. Other famous works from this time include the Works and Days and Theogony from Hesiod, who was thought to be active between 750 and 650 BC.
Art was elevated to a new prominence after the end of the Greek Dark Ages in 776 BC. We know of countless artists, including the Nine Lyric Poets:
Alcman of Sparta (7th century BC)
Stesichorus of Metauros (7th century BC)
Sappho of Lesbos (630-570 BC)
Alcaeus of Mytilene (~600 BC)
Simonides of Ceos (6th century BC)
Bacchylides of Ceos (5th century BC)
Later Greek artists and authors included Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides, Parrhasius, Zeuxis, Phidias, Polykleitos, Myron, and Herodotus.
Greece is credited as the primary foundation of Western Civilization for many reasons, and its multi-century explosion of artistic accomplishment is a major contributing factor.
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