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The title given to Prehistoric art is misleading, since prehistoric means the time before recorded or written history. The art itself is a form of recorded history. We might also use Genesis as our source of history, although Moses wrote it centuries after the events occurred. By studying prehistoric art, we can see that early man was not of lower intellect as evolutionist may want us to believe.
The Mesopotamian period of art began soon after the Flood, and lasted till the fall of the Babylonian empire in 539 BC by the Persians. That is a period of about 3,000 years; the longest art period ever. It spans from before Abraham up to Daniel. That would include the entire Old Testament except for the first ten chapters of Genesis and the books of Haggai, Zechariah, Esther, Malachi, Ezra and Nehemiah. The majority of the Old Testament (91%) takes place during this time. Even though Persia would also be considered under the Mesopotamian art grouping, the fall of Babylon is considered by art historians as the end of this art period. Persia would later fall to the Greeks (Alexander the Great in 331 BC); this occurred between the Old and New Testaments.
The Egyptian period is almost as long as the Mesopotamian period, about 2,700 years. It would cover the same Biblical events except that it started after the Tower of Babel.
The Jews were caught between these two dynasties. There were times when the Egyptian influence was dominant and others when the Mesopotamian was dominant. Many of God's messages to the Israelites were telling them to remove themselves from these influences; but over and over they did not. In fact they often embraced them. The Jews were slaves in Egypt as well as Babylon (Mesopotamia).
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