The Louvre Abu Dhabi – Part 1a Ancient Worlds

The Louvre Abu Dhabi is a treasure trove of experience. A visit to the museum is absolutely recommended, not only for the works on display, but also and above all for the architectural beauty of the structure itself. 

Abu Dhabi, a vibrant city at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa, is transforming into a fresh canvas poised to foster rich cultural exchange. While the Palm islands in Dubai create lavish beachfront properties and hotels around a mythical Atlantis, and the World Islands map out the whole globe, bridging gaps between nations via short boat trips, Saadiyat Island is home to exclusive famous museums and the works of five Pritzker-winning architects.

The Louvre Abu Dhabi embodies this vision – its elegant French architecture intertwined with the timeless heritage of the Arab world boldly showcases the myriad traditions that have shaped human history for centuries.

Louvre Abu Dhabi focuses on cross-cultural interactions: the stories of human creativity that transcend individual cultures or civilisations, times or places.

The Architect and His Vision

Created by Pritzker Architecture Prize winner, Jean Nouvel, the Louvre Abu Dhabi was inaugurated on November 8, 2017. Taking inspiration from Abu Dhabi’s idyllic virgin lagoon island, Saadiyat, the world-renowned architect designed a façade that brilliantly complements the chronological journey of the world, aptly characterising the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collection.

The Dome

The 55 buildings that make up the museum city are blanketed by an aluminium and steel latticed dome, inspired by the mashrabiya, a screen used in the Middle East as protection from the harsh sunlight. The sunlight filters through the dozens of stars stenciled within the dome, and the soft beams of light create a magical aura at every turn in the museum.¹

Within the museum grounds, architect Nouvel has brilliantly designed a café, as well as a an open plaza. As part of the Saadiyat Island Cultural Hub, this ‘Universal Museum’ is set to be the beginning of so much more than a single attraction.

The Permanent Galleries

There are 12 galleries² arranged in four main sections in a sequence highlighting universal themes and commonalities, transcending geography, nationality and history. Over the next four week, we will explore each section of the “permanent” collection, most of which are on loan from The Louvre and other museums.

Ancient Worlds 10,000 BC – 500 AD

Ancient history (as defined by historians) is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BC – AD 500, ending with the expansion of Islam in late antiquity.³

The Great Vestibule (Introduction)

“The Great Vestibule” generally refers to a large and impressive entrance hall or anteroom, often found in grand buildings or temples. Here, the visitor is introduced to the different artefacts that are found in archaeological excavations around the known world.

This gallery serves as an introduction to the museum’s universal narrative, highlighting themes like motherhood, writing, water, and sun. The floor design, inspired by nautical charts, features a winding line representing the UAE coastline, with place names in different languages indicating the origins of the exhibited works. 

Instead of separating exhibits by ancient civilisations like Egypt and Greece, I appreciate how these artefacts from different cultures are displayed side-by-side based on shared human qualities, reminding us that we have more in common than we think.

The First Villages

We mark the starting point of the collective history of the world, discovering how, by around 10,000 BC communities began to settle in the first villages, and were bound together by shared beliefs and rituals.

Settlements

In Japan, China and the Sahara, the first clay containers appeared around 10,000 BC. Watertight and resistant to fire, they were used to store, prepare and eat foodstuffs. These fragile artefacts, difficult to transport, are often associated with mankind’s switch to a sedentary existence. The sides of these pots were sometimes decorated with painted, incised or imprinted motifs, which makes it possible to identify the communities and cultures that produced them.

The First Great Powers

The rise of kingdoms around 3,000 BC, which was a crucial event in the history of humanity, resulting in clashes, movement of populations and the emergence of powerful hierarchies.

The first kingdoms appeared in the fertile valleys of the Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, Indus and Yellow River around 3,000 BC. The emergence of these first great powers was accompanied by the spread of bronze weapons. Axes, swords and armour became emblems of prestige and splendour for the powerful. The new warrior elite also began to ride horses, a development that spurred long-distance exchanges, increased the size of kingdoms and broadened the horizons of communities.

Seated majestically, Ramesses II (shown above) appears to preside over a vast empire. Yet, a few metres away, another stone statue shows Mesopotamian ruler Gudea (see below in the “Must See”), who also ruled over a large empire, standing humbly with his hands clasped. The contrasting depictions of the rulers offer different interpretations of power as the world’s first cities emerged

Governance

With the development of the kingdoms of Mesopotamia and Egypt came the birth of the first cities, a crucial event in the history of humanity. Resulting from a population surge and a strong hierarchical organisation of society, the first cities became social and cultural melting pots that encouraged exchange and innovation. One fundamental invention was writing, which facilitated transactions and helped legitimise power.

Writing

Writing first appeared in Mesopotamia around 3,500 BC, a few decades afterwards in Egypt, and later in northern China. In these regions, where the first cities and centralised states also developed, writing facilitated commercial and diplomatic exchange and aided in the transmission of knowledge. A tool used by emerging administrations at the service of power, writing strengthened the authority of the first rulers.

Civilisations and Empires

Later, around 1000 BC, and until 500 AD, even more powerful kingdoms and empires emerge and disappear in turn all around the world. Next week, we will look deeper at some of the civilisations and empires that left an imprint that stimulated cultural diversity and artistic exchanges.

Must-See Exhibits

The museum’s growing collection of treasures includes important artworks and artefacts spanning the entirety of human history around the world. Here are some of the highlights from the early antiquities.

Woman Dressed in a Woolen Garment – The First Barbie Doll

Oxus civilisation | Central Asia, Bactria, 2300-1700 BC | Chlorite, calcite | Louvre Abu Dhabi

The absence of specific attributes and precise archaeological documentation makes it impossible to identify this young woman with any certainty. Sometimes majestic and sometimes rudimentary, these composite figures were frequently placed in the tombs of men and women alike to afford protection in the world beyond the grave. In a world with no writing, this imposing female figure also appeared on certain ceremonial objects, such as goblets, seals and pins, in combat with fantastic creatures (dragons and eagle-headed spirits) in a complex mythological repertory. Of divine nature, she appears to reign over the entire Central Asian pantheon, governing the forces of the underworld and ensuring the rebirth of vegetation and preservation of the cycle of nature and water.

Monumental Statue with Two Heads – Earliest Action Figures

Jordan, Ain Ghazal c. 6500 BC | Plaster, bitumen (eyes) | Department of Antiquities of Jordan

Nazimaruttash Kudurru Stone: Defining National Borders

Northern Mesopotamia Media-Assyria Kingdom, c. 2500 BC | Limestone | Musée du Louvre

Some kudurrus are known for their portrayal of the king, etc., who consigned it. Most kudurrus portray Mesopotamian gods, often portrayed graphically in segmented registers on the stone. Nazimaruttash’s kudurru does not use registers; instead, graphic symbols are used. Nineteen deities are invoked to curse the foolhardy individual who seeks to desecrate it. Some are represented by symbols, such as a goat-fish for Enki, a bird on a pole for Papsukkal, a spear-head for Marduk, an eight-pointed star for Ishtar, and a disc for Shamash.

Prince Gudea – The First Prophet in History

Neo-Sumerian kingdom Irag, Girsu (modern Tello), c. 2120 BC | Black stone | Musée du Louvre

Artefacts from United Arab Emirates – Trading in the Gulf

This collection of artefacts offers evidence of the growing trade in the Arabian Gulf region, including cups, bottles, necklaces and seals imported to the UAE between 2,500 and 1,800 BC. On display is a seal discovered off the coast of Abu Dhabi. This seal, representing an animal in profile, probably belonged to a merchant from Dilmun (today Bahrain), who came to stock up on the coasts of the Emirates. Its existence is indicative of the dynamic trade in the Gulf at the end of the 2nd millennium BC.

Footnotes:

1. https://www.headout.com/blog/louvre-abu-dhabi/ ↩︎
2. The 12 Galleries in the permanent exhibits (as of Nov 2022):
   The Great Vestibule
   The First Villages
   The First Great Powers
   Civilizations and Empires
   Universal Religions
   Asian Trade Routes
   From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic
   Cosmography
   The World in Perspective
   The Magnificence of the Court
   A New Art of Living
   A Modern Art
   Challenging Modernity
   A Global Stage ↩︎
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_history ↩︎
4. Egypt became a unified country five thousand years ago, and until the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332 BC, remained a fiercely independent land with its own very distinctive art, religion and culture. The Egyptian Imhotep was called the “God of Medicine” and the “Prince of Peace” Imhotep was worshipped as a god and healer from approximately 2850 B.C. to 525 B.C., and as a full deity from 525 B.C. to 550 A.D. Even kings and queens felt compelled to bow at his throne. Imhotep lived during the Third Dynasty at the court of King Zoser. During his life, Imhotep was known as a: scribe, chief lector, priest, architect, astronomer and magician (as medicine and magic were used together). For 3000 years he was worshipped as a god in Greece and Rome. Early Christians worshipped him as the “Prince of Peace.” He was the world’s first named architect who built Egyp’s first pyramid. Imhotep has been recognized as the world’s first doctor, a priest, a scribe, a sage, a poet, an astrologer, a vizier, and as a chief minister, though Djoser, the second king of Egypt’s third dynasty (who reigned from 2630-2611 BC). He may have lived under as many as four kings.
   An inscription on one of that kings statues gives us Imhotep’s titles as the “chancellor of the king of lower Egypt”, the “first one under the king”, the “administrator of the great mansion”, the “hereditary Noble”, the “high priest of Heliopolis”, the “chief sculptor”, and finally the “chief carpenter” Imhotep’s best known writings were medical texts. As a physician, Imhotep is believed to have been the author of the “Edwin Smith” Papyrus in which more than 90 anatomical terms and 48 injuries are described. He founded a school of medicine in Memphis, a part of his center was known as “Asklepion”, which remained famous for two thousand years. All of this occurred some 2200 years before the Western “Father of Medicine” Hippocrates was born. Imhotep was also a philosopher. He urged contentment and preached cheerfulness. His proverbs contained a “philosophy of life.” Imhotep coined the saying: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we shall die.” When the Ancient Egyptians crossed the Mediterranean, they laid a large portion of the foundation for Greek culture. Imhotep’s teachings were absorbed there. Yet, Greek culture, at that time, was such that they asserted that they were the originators of all things, and Imhotep was forgotten for thousands of years. Thus, a legendary figure, Hippocrates, who came 2000 years after Imhotep, came
   to be known as the “Father of Medicine”. https://x.com/OnlyAfricaFacts/status/705475996800131073/photo/2 ↩︎
5. https://www.louvreabudhabi.ae/en/whats-online/head-of-a-ptolemaic-queen ↩︎
6. A network of fortified settlements developed in the areas of deltas in the heart of a territory extending over modern Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and part of Afghanistan. As suppliers of raw materials like metal and lapis lazuli, they traded beyond the mountains and deserts with regions as far away as Mesopotamia, the northern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula, the Iranian plateau and the Indus Valley.
   The discovery of fragments of comparable statuettes on the sites of Quetta and Harappa in Pakistan, but also at Susa in south-west Iran, confirms the vast network of long-distance trade that characterised the end of the 3rd millennium BCE and connected the Mediterranean with the shores of the Gulf, the Indus Valley and the foothills of the Pamir range.
   https://collection.louvreabudhabi.ae/en/object/female-figure-called-bactrian-princess-100004965 ↩︎
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayn_Ghazal_statues ↩︎
8. https://www.phillytrib.com/lifestyle/5-pieces-of-art-you-should-see-at-the-louvre-abu-dhabi/article_3a56c68b-78b4-5a10-bdfa-adb267026841.html ↩︎
9. https://x.com/histories_arch/status/1946271940597178776 ↩︎
10. https://fanack.com/iraq/culture-of-iraq/prince-gudea-the-first-prophet-in-history/ ↩︎