The Sumerian Bull Lyre, above, is one such artifact that speaks volumes about Ancient Near East Culture. Since the prehistoric era, the development of technology has conceived such complexities as musical devices. Not only does the existence of a lyre testify to the advance of technology since the prehistoric era but it also suggests an appreciation for the arts. The musical tradition suggested by the lyre amongst Sumerian artifacts most likely facilitated the oral tradition of storytelling. Art such as the Sumerian Bull Lyre was not only used to facilitate one’s spoken storytelling but there is an obvious visual quality to the imagery present on the lyre that has symbolic meaning. 
The bull for example, pictured left, is a recurring motif in the art of early civilizations that we are not already unfamiliar with from prehistoric paintings and sculptures. As previously discussed, because of essential resource that bulls were to the lifestyle of early societies it is unsurprising they would come to eventually be associated with such things as good fortune and even divinity. The materials chosen to craft the bull including such precious metals and stones as gold, silver, and lapis lazuli are also indicative of the emphasis of the importance of the bull. The bull itself seems somewhat naturalistic with the exception of the highly stylized lapis lazuli beard that might represent wisdom. Stokstad and Cothren point out that lapis lazuli was not present to the reason and required import from Afghanistan, further indicating the effort and importance and this piece as well as giving us an idea of the scope of trade that Mesopotamian cultures had accomplished (44). 
The image to the left are the detailed registers below the bull on the lyre. It is interesting that the art at this point acts for the purpose of record keeping paralleling the development of written language, cuneiform, and the profession of scribes. This particular series of registers seems to illustrate the Epic of Gilgamesh (45).
Expanding on the theme of Sumerian art being extremely narrative in nature is the Standard of Ur, seen below, that is extremely similar in design and function. 
Formalistically speaking, the Standard of Ur is a series of registers not unlike the ones present on the Sumerian Bull Lyre. Similarly to the Sumerian Bull Lyre, the Standard of Ur was inlaid with lapis lazuli as the background to the figures depicted within the registers. Not only does this choice emphasize the significance of the piece but aesthetically speaking it offers contrast to the light colored pictographs and effectively makes them seem more three dimensional despite being crafted into a flat surface. The actual content present within the registrars contains a wealth of knowledge towards the culture of Sumer. There are two sides to the Standard of Ur, a peace side and war side which speak to the dichotomy of society and the advantages and ramifications of the conception of organized civilizations. The apparent banquet on the peace side seems to portray different levels of preparation leading up to the banquet chronologically beginning with the lower registers. The lower classes are seen preparing the meal at harvest and are portrayed with the various animals that were valued their culture. The lower classes depicted in the lower registers are also noticeably diminutive in comparison to the imposing and comfortably depicted figures on the top register. The order of the registrar as well as the designs for the individual characters effectively communicate the hierarchy that was present in Mesopotamian culture.
Throughout this post, I meant to emphasize the increasing role of art in society since the prehistoric era. The role of art has effectively developed in order to facilitate record keeping purposes just as written language was developed. The use of registers and pictographs are evidence of the evolving utility of the capacity for art to serve an important part in preserving a culture through narratives not unlike the sequences we read comic panels today.