Ancient Background. Art has been part of everyday life from the time of the earliest civilizations in the ancient Near East, which form the background for the civilizations of Islam and the modern West. Art seems to have developed from ordinary necessities. People needed shelter, and the art of domestic architecture developed, with the rich and powerful living in larger, more-decorated dwellings than the poor. People needed places to worship and carry out the rituals of their organized religions, and beautiful temples survive from as far back as the time of the ancient Egyptians and Iraqis (known in the West as Mesopotamians). Ancient people adorned themselves with fine jewelry made from precious metals and gemstones as well as from more ordinary materials such as bone, ivory, tusks, and ebony. Even ordinary utensils were often beautifully decorated. As for the linguistic arts, people have expressed themselves through poetry and...