"Portraiture" in Mesopotamia

Portraiture emerges as a performing art created by depicting the individual. Different approaches and definitions made with the effects of external factors such as similarity, reality, psychology and social status, together with the purpose of the emergence of the portrait, show that the portrait has more than one meaning. Complexities and incomprehensibilities arise with the determination of the diversity of the meaning of portrait. The reason for the incompatibility between the definition of portrait and Mesopotamian artefacts, which are tossed in such complexities and disagreements, is that the diversity of the meaning of portrait and Mesopotamian artefacts have stylised and lifelike physiognomic features, as well as being dependent on the stylistic and physiognomic characteristics of the period in which they were produced. This contrast between portraiture and Mesopotamian artefacts raises the questions 'what is portraiture?' and 'was there portraiture in Mesopotamia'? In order to understand the emerging problem, various portrait definitions in Archaeology, Art History and Sculpture Art were examined and selected examples from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Period to the Old Babylonian Period were evaluated and compared. The compared portrait definitions and Mesopotamian artefacts provided a new perspective on the question of whether these artefacts are portraits or not.