Art

The Steles of Hammurabi and Naramsin are both of Akkadian origins. They have been found in Susa, Iran which is not in the boundaries of Mesopotamia. While the Stele of Naramsin is made out of pink limestone which do not yield easily to sculptors, the Hammurabi stele is carved out black diorite, a fine grained stone. It easily yields to the sculptor yet it is proven to be hard and polished enough to last whatever type of destruction. Also, unlike the stele of Naramsin, which depicts the victory of Naramsin against the mountain people, the stele of Hammurabi has inscriptions. These inscriptions talk of the code of laws passed by the gods to Hammurabi. It shows that Hammurabi is of equal footing with the gods. This theme is also found in Naramsins stele. The fact that his image is on top of the slab points of his superiority and that he ranks above the common people.

Both the Hagia Sophia and Mosque of Sultan Selim are in Turkey. These are Islamic mosques which are not only architectural wonders but functional religious locations as well. These churches adopted the Byzantine church styles which was very popular during the times these things were built. However, the Hagia Sophia gained more recognition because of its massive dome, which is partiucular to byzantine architectural design. On the other hand, the Mosque of Sultan Selim carries a more modern feel of byzantine architectural design. It also has a dome like the Hagia Sophia, however, the more noticed part of the mosque are the pillars surrounding the dome. Pillars are typical to middle eastern architecture. It carries the illusion of palm trees in the middle of  desert. It gives the feel of having an oasis in the middle of the hot city. Apart from this, as compared to the Hagia Sophia, this mosque is the only with a mihrab that can be seen from any location of the church. There is no need to stay within a location just to get a glance of the mihrab.

The temples of  Kandariya Mahadeva and  Rajarajeshvara are both Indian temples built during the middle ages. However, the Kandariya Mahadeva temple is more preserved unlike the  Rajarajeshvara. It is surrounded by 84 miniature spires and is made for the destruction god, shiva. Conversely, the latter is  made to commemorate not only one god but three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. For this reason, the temple has three parts. It also has a connecting hallway, which is more modern than the Kandariya Mahadeva  temple. The Kandariya Mahadeva  looks like a huge carved piece of stone and not actually a structure.

The paintings, The Hour of Cowdust and Jahangir Darbar are of Indian origins. Both are depicting the culture of India, the religion which respects cows and the light of the world. The paintings are in canvass and colored with watercolor. Both of the paintings speak of the countrys religion but of different gods. On The Hour of Cowdust, the image of the god there are the cows. On the other hand, on the other painting, the god is he who is the light of the world. The paintings also depict the high respects Indians have on their gods, whether this god is an animal or human with preternatural powers or determination.

Conclusion
 All the pieces provided have things in common like origins and the nature of each works. Most of them come from the same country and almost carrying the same theme. The difference in each is mostly found in the physical aspect of the works. This pertains to the materials used in the creation, the design, and the concept altogether. However, all of them speaks of the same aspect of the country of origins culture. For instance, the paintings both spoke of the Indian religion, the material from which they were made were the same but the theme inside each portrait is different. This is the same case as the other pieces. The templese were all for religious worship but by the way each has been designed, one stands out more as an art piece rather than a place for prayer and worship.