ANCIENT NEAR EAST (MESOPOTAMIA)

• Ancient Near East - Mesopotamia


  • Sumer
  • Babylon
  • Assyria
  • Persia
• Mesopotamia


  Land between the rivers
• Geographical influence on architecture


  • Developed and flourished between the twin rivers
  • No good natural stone deposits, hence use of sun-dried bricks
  • Lack of timber, hence limited use of burned bricks covered by bitumen
  • Persia had good stone and wood, hence use of timber and limestone
• Architectural theory


  • Massiveness
  • Monumentality
  • Grandeur
• Sequence of civilization


  • Sumerian Civilization (4500 BC to 2000 BC)
  • Sargon's rule over Sumerian's Akkadian Empire (2350 BC to 2200 BC)
  • Old Babylonian Empire (1792 BC to 1570 BC)
  • Assyrian Empire (1350 BC to 612 BC)
  • Neo-Babylonian Empire (625 BC to 539 BC)
  • Persian Empire (560 BC to 275 BC)
• Start of Egyptian Civilization 2686 BC
• Sumer


  Earliest known Civilization, started around 4000 BCE, located at the Eastern part of Mesopotamia
• City states of Sumer


  • UR
  • URUK
  • UMMA
  • KISH
  • LAGASH
• City states all had separate rulers and kings until Sargon, leader of Akkad, invaded and conquered all states and built an empire (2350 BC)
• Sumerians' advanced technologies


  • Invention of wheel
  • Possibly earliest writing system
  • First to use maps
  • Invented sails for navigation
  • First Literature- Epic of Gilgamesh (written in cuneiform)
  • Mathematical systems based on 60 (ex. 60 mins., 60 seconds.)
  • Cuneiform- one of the Earliest writing system ever developed (Syllabary, contra Alphabet and Pictograms)
• Sumerian gods


  • Enlil (main god)- god of the air and clouds
  • Udugs- god of misfortune
• Sumerians experience floods but when the sun comes, the land becomes dry
• The Sumerians established an irrigation system to save their food production
• Sumerian architecture


  • Mud was their main building material
  • Walls are built for protection
  • Walls were thick to compensate for the weakness of mud
  • Walls were reinforced with buttresses
  • Buttresses and recesses were used to relieve the monotony of the plastered wall surfaces
• Sumerian houses


  • Punctuated by narrow openings that serve as entrances
  • Narrow streets between them
  • Street layout is irregular and "chaotic", no canalization
• Oval temple at Khafaje

  Constructed around 2600 BC, massive oval walls surrounding the temple, raised on a simple platform
• Ziggurat


  Built of mud-bricks, major building and centerpiece of each Sumerian city, a temple tower built in several diminishing storeys, culminating in a summit shrine reached by a series of stairways
• Types of ziggurat


  • Archaic Ziggurat
  • Two or more storey ziggurat
  • Seven story ziggurat
• Archaic ziggurat


  Usually one flat top rectangular mound carrying the temple
• Two or more storey ziggurat


  Rectangular in plan, design with several tiers
• Seven-storey ziggurat


  Example: Babylon
• Temple of Birs Nimrud


  Dedicated to the seven planets, with glazed tiles in different colors
• Amorites (Semitic-speaking people from Syria) took over the Sumer and established their capital in Babylon, start of Old Babylonian Empire


  1792 BC
• Babylon


  Means 'The Gate of the God'
• Hammurabi


  Famous for his codes of law called the Code of Hammurabi, the code was inscribed on a stele and placed in a public place so that all could see it
• The Assyrians conquer Babylon, start of the Assyrian Empire


  1350 BC
• Assyrians


  • Known for their military might and cruelty
  • Great warriors and hunters, this was reflected in their art
  • Sculptures and carvings in stone depicting violence and war, used to ornament their palaces
• Assyrian architecture


  • Palaces took precedent over religious buildings
  • Temples lost their importance
  • Vaulted & flat strips, buttressed walls with glazed ornaments
  • Palaces were raised on brick platforms, with guardian figures of human headed bulls or lions of stone
  • Walls of cities were strengthened with many towers serving as defensive positions
  • Interiors of palaces were richly decorated and luxurious
• Lamassu


  Human headed winged bull
• Khorsabad


  Designed as the royal capital of Assyria during the reign of Sargon II, enclosed by a double wall with seven gates, only palaces, temples, and administrative headquarters were built
• Palace of Sargon II, Korsabad


  Decorated with relief sculptures and glazed brick, arranged around two major courtyards, entrance portals flanked with statues of Lamassu
• Important parts of the palace

  • Seraglo - palace properly which includes the kings residence, men's apartment & reception court
  • Harem - private family apartment and womens quarter
  • Khan - service chamber
• Assyrians were defeated by Nabopolassar, start of Babylonian Empire revival


  625 BC
• Neo-Babylonian Empire


  Period when Babylon reached its peak of civilization, old Sumer cities were rebuilt, capital old Babylon was enlarged and heavily fortified, adorned with magnificent new buildings
• Ishtar Gate


  Built into the double walls of the city fortification, had a pair of projecting towers on each wall, all the facades were faced with blue glazed bricks and ornamented with figures of heraldic animals- lions, bulls, and dragons
• Nebuchadnezzar's palace


  Covered a land area of 900 feet by 600 feet, praised for its legendary hanging garden
• Hanging gardens of Babylon


  Recorded as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, but exact knowledge of the nature of this garden is not known
• Temples and Towers were also prominent Architectural elements of Babylon
• The legendary Tower of Babel located at the end of procession street is mentioned in the Christian bible
• Cyrus the Great takes over Babylon, start of Persian Empire

  560 BC