ARC 110 - PowerPoint Presentation

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ARC 110History of Architecture I

Module 3

Architecture of the Ancient Near EastSlide2

Module Outline

Lecture 6

Historical Background

Location and period

Social characteristics and beliefs

Architecture of the Civilization

Sumerian Architecture

Lecture 7

Assyrian architecture

Babylonian Architecture

Persian architecture

Lecture 8

Architectural Characteristics

Buildings and other architectural elements

Building materials, construction and technologies

Architectural Organizing principles

Slide3

Learning Outcomes

We should expect to learn the following about the civilization

Evolution of early human society and civilization, including kingship and empires

Architectural responses to geography and the need for religious symbols

Architecture of Power and Authority

Temple and Palace architecture

Architecture and construction in mudSlide4

Module 3 Lecture 6Architecture of the Ancient Near EastSlide5

Outline of Lecture Lecture 6

Historical Background

Location and period

Social characteristics and beliefs

Architecture of the Civilization

Sumerian ArchitectureSlide6

Historical BackgroundSlide7

Historical Background

Location

Located in and around the valley of Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern Iraq

Area is also known as Mesopotamia or land between two rivers

The land had poorly defined edges

The land stretches from Mediterranean to eastern borders of present IranSlide8

Historical Background Location

To the south and west, it fades into the Arabian desert

To the north and west, it fades into the plains of Syria

The Tigris and Euphrates rivers sit in the land as dominant physical feature

The Rivers were unpredictable, being subject to alternating flood and droughtSlide9

Historical Background Period

The area witnessed the earliest rise of human civilization around 4500 BC

Transformation from prehistory, to villages and cities occurred there

Civilization there lasted for 5000 years

Cultural development was not homogenous during the period

Different cultures established city states and empires at different periods

The cultures include

Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and PersianSlide10

Historical Background Period

It has not been possible to trace a neat order of the history of the cultures

An acceptable order is presented

Sequence of Civilization

4500 to 2000 BC Sumerian culture, peaking in 3300 BC

2350 – 2200 BC Akkadian Period

2000- 1600 BC Babylonian Culture

1600 – 1717 BC Kessites and Hittites

1350 – 612 BC Assyrian Culture

612 – 539 BC Neo Babylonian culture

539 – 330 BC Persian culture

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Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization

What do we mean by civilization?

Civilization is usually associated with the cultural practices of cities and urban living, the presence of writing and written law

In Mesopotamia, earliest cities were established and urban culture took hold

Between 4000 and 3000 BC, large number of people began living in a small area creating first cities

Many people began to have jobs that is unrelated to agricultureSlide12

Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

Once established, cities grew and increased power and importance

As cities grew in power and importance, rivalries developed between them for military and economic control

The ANE was land without natural defenses

Warfare was common throughout its history

The Tigris and Euphrates also suffered from alternate drought and floods

Combination of warfare and frequent drought and flood made a continuous homogenous civilization impossible

The result is that several cultures flourished and died out during the ANE period

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Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

Cities in the ANE initially developed with authority residing in an assembly of male citizens

Short term leaders were selected during wars

When war leaders were retained during peace time, kingship evolved

It was initially elective and later hereditary

As some cities became more powerful, they defeated weaker ones to create empires and kingdoms

This led to collective rule of city states by a sovereign kingSlide14

Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

With kingship also came monumental palaces as place of residence and administration for the king

Almost all ANE culture

worshiped many gods and goddesses

ANE people did not

believe in immortality

or eternal life

They believed only gods were immortal

Rather, they believed in

divine rewards for moral conductSlide15

Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

The reward was enjoyed in this life

The rewards include increased worldly goods, numerous offspring and long life

The most popular and earliest religious cults related to fertility

Fertility goddesses influenced the growth of crops

Aspects of life such as war, weather, disease, were explained by the actions of gods

The Sumerian had a religion based on the elements- sky, earth, water, sun, moon, etcSlide16

Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

This reflected the agrarian nature of their society

As ANE people came together to live in cities, they needed a means of communication and record keeping

Around 3500, the Sumerians invented a system of writing based on pictograph

This was later developed into a simpler writing called the cuneiform

Development of written language enabled them to produce historical records Slide17

Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

Written records also led to the development of written law as in the code of King Hummurabi

Cities in ancient Mesopotamia were enclosed by wall fortifications

The fabric of the cities are a blend of residential, commercial and industrial buildings

Houses were one story high and mostly of mud brick

Rooms were arranged around courtyards Slide18

Historical Background Social Characteristics & Beliefs

Houses looked inward

Rooms were narrow with thick walls and flat, vault or dome roofs

Timber and stone were scarce, clay was abundant and mud brick was most common building material

Buildings were usually raised on platforms to protect them from the floods

Clay was also used for pottery

Mesopotamians invented astrology, wheeled vehicle & made advances in science & mathSlide19

Architecture of the CivilizationSlide20

Architecture of the Civilization

Sequence of Treatment

Sumerian Architecture

Assyrian Architecture

Babylonian Architecture

Persian Architecture

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Sumerian Architecture Introduction

The transition from prehistory was made around 4500 BC with the rise of the Sumerian civilization

Sumerians established an irrigation system that made the capable of food production to support urban living

They were also skilled in metal craft

The Sumerians invented the cuneiform system of writing Slide22

Sumerian Architecture Introduction

The Sumerians invented the cuneiform system of writing

The major cities of the Sumerian civilization were Kish, Uruk and Ur

The Sumerian were the first civilization to make a conscious attempt of designing public buildings

Mud was their building material

Mud was formed into brick, sun dried and built into massive wallsSlide23

Sumerian Architecture Introduction

Mud was their main building material

Mud was formed into brick, sun dried and built into massive walls

Walls were thick to compensate the weakness of mud

They were reinforce with buttresses

Spaces were narrow because of the walling materialSlide24

Sumerian Architecture Introduction

Spaces were narrow because of the walling material

Façade of buildings were whitewashed and painted to disguise the lack of attraction of the material

Buttresses and recesses also relieve the monotony of the plastered wall surfaces

Temples was their major building type

We will examine Sumerian house organization and their temple forms

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Sumerian Architecture Introduction

The clearest example of the cities of the ancient Near East is found in the Sumerian city of Ur

Cities were enclosed in walls with Ziggurat temples and palace as centers of the city

Fabric of the city is made up of residences mixed with commercial and industrial buildingsSlide26

Sumerian Architecture Introduction

The houses are densely packed with narrow streets between them.

Streets were fronted by courtyard houses of one story high

The houses streets were usually punctuated by narrow openings that serve as entrance to houses

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Sumerian Architecture Architectural Monument- Temples

Temples were the principal architectural monuments of Sumerian cities

Temples consist of chief and city temples

We will examine two examples of chief temples-

the white temple at Uruk and the Great Ziggurat at Ur

And we will examine on city temple, the

Oval temple at Khafaje

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Sumerian Architecture White Temple Uruk

Uruk was a major Sumerian city by 3300 BC

Uruk is also known as warka in arabic

The name Iraq is derived from Uruk

The city covered an area of 2 square kilometer

Had a population of 40,000 people

White temple was located at UrukSlide29

Sumerian Architecture White Temple Uruk

The white temple was built around 3000 BC

The white temple is an example of earliest development of Sumerian temples and Ziggurat Slide30

Sumerian Architecture

White Temple Uruk

The temple is place on a great mound of earth called

Ziggurat

, rising more than 12 meters above ground

The ziggurat and temple are built with mud bricks

The temple is rectangular in shape

Temple walls were thick and supported by buttresses

In the inner part of the temple was a long sanctuary, that contains an alter and offering tableSlide31

Sumerian Architecture White Temple Uruk

Rooms oblong and in shape and vaulted surrounded the long side of the sanctuary

The temple had imposing doorways located at its either end

Worshippers to the temple however enter through a side roomSlide32

Sumerian Architecture White Temple Uruk

Series of staircases and stepped levels lead worships to the entrance of the temple

The temple was plastered white externally, making it visible for miles in the landscape

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Sumerian Architecture Great Ziggurat Ur

Ur was a Sumerian city located near the mouth of the Euphrates river

The city was a thriving place by 2600 BC

It was considered sacred to Nnanna, the moon god

The white temple was built around 2113 to 2048 BC by the ruler Urnammu

It was built on the ruins of previous temples and incorporated their remainsSlide34

Sumerian Architecture Great Ziggurat Ur

It was constructed of mud bricks reinforced with thin layers of matting and cables of twisted reeds

The Great Ziggurat was located as part of a temple complex

The complex comprised of the ziggurat and its court and a secondary court attached to it called the court of Nannar

The king was the chief priest of the temple and lived close to it

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Sumerian Architecture Great Ziggurat Ur

The temple sits on a three multi-tiered Ziggurat mountain

Access to the temple is through triple stairways that converge at the summit of the first platform

From this stage, one passed through a portal with dome roof to fourth staircaseSlide36

Sumerian Architecture Great Ziggurat Ur

The fourth staircase gave access to the second and third stages of the ziggurat and to the temple

The temple is usually access only by the priest, where gods are believed to come down and give instructionsSlide37

Sumerian Architecture Great Ziggurat Ur

The ziggurat is believed by the Sumerians to unit the heavens and the earth

The people believed that climbing the staircase of the ziggurat gives a holy experience

The chief temple was also used as a last line of defense during times of war

Most of what is known about what exist on top of the ziggurat is projectionSlide38

Sumerian Architecture Oval Temple- Khafaje

Oval temple is an example of second type of Sumerian temples

It was constructed around 2600 BC

The temple is named oval because of its massive oval walls surrounding the temple

Located in the city, emphasis in its organization is on enclosing space within courtyardsSlide39

Sumerian Architecture Oval Temple Khafaje

Space is enclosed to create island of peace from a busy city

The temple is raised on a simple platform enclosed within the oval walls

It had subsidiary chambers at the ground level

The outer wall was extended to protect a priestly residence with its own chapelSlide40

Sumerian Architecture Oval Temple Khafaje

The inner court had an offering table and showed evidence of animal sacrifices

The inner court also had basins for ablution as well as workshops and storage rooms Slide41

End of Module 3 Lecture 6Slide42

Module 3 Lecture 6Architecture of the Ancient Near EastSlide43

Outline of Lecture 7

Assyrian architecture

Introduction

City of Khorsabad

Palace of Sargon at Khorsabad

Babylonian Architecture

Introduction

City of Babylon

Architecture in the city of Babylon

Persian architecture

Introduction

Palace at ParsepolisSlide44

Assyrian ArchitectureSlide45

Assyrian Architecture Introduction

Assyria is the name for a part of ancient Mesopotamia located on the upper Tigris

The principal cities of Assyria were Nineveh, Dun, Khorsabad, Nimrud and Assur

The Assyrians were great warriors and hunters, and this was reflected in their art

They produced violent sculptures and relief carving in stone that was used to ornament their housesSlide46

Assyrian ArchitectureIntroduction

During the Assyrian periods, temples lost their importance to palaces

Assyrian kings built walled cities, in which palaces took precedent over religious buildings

Palaces were raised on brick platforms, and their principal entrance ways were flanked by guardian figures of human headed bulls or lions of stone

Their halls and corridors were lined with pictures and inscriptions carved in relief on stone slabs up to 9 feet highSlide47

Assyrian ArchitectureIntroduction

The interiors were richly decorated and luxurious.

The walls of cities were usually strengthened by many towers serving as defensive positions

The city of Khorsabad demonstrate the might and authority of the Assyrian kings

It is also at this place that the remains of Assyrian architecture can be found

Slide48

Assyrian ArchitectureCity of Khorsabad

Khorsabad was designed as the royal capital of Assyria

The city was built on a flat land with an area of about a square mile and was enclosed by a double wall with seven city gates

Only a part of the city including palaces, temples and administrative headquarters was built

The palace was located on the north west side of the citySlide49

Assyrian ArchitecturePalace of Sargon

The palace is approached at ground level through a walled citadel

Within the citadel is found the main palace, two minor palaces and a temple dedicated to Nabu

The main palace was set on a platform located on the northern side of the citadel

All the buildings within the citadel were arranged around courtyardsSlide50

Assyrian ArchitecturePalace of Sargon

The palace was arranged around two major courtyards about which were grouped smaller courtyards

The palace consisted of large and smaller rooms with the throne room being the largest

The building was decorated with relief sculpture and glazed brick

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Babylonian ArchitectureSlide52

Babylonian ArchitectureIntroduction

After the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC and the end of the Assyrian civilization, focus of Mesopotamian civilization shifted to old Babylon

A new dynasty of kings, including Nebuchadnezzar, revived old Babylonian culture to create a Neo-Babylonian civilization

Old Sumerian cities were rebuiltSlide53

Babylonian ArchitectureIntroduction

The capital old Babylon was enlarged and heavily fortified

It was also adorned with magnificent new buildings

The traditional style of Mesopotamian building reached its peak during the period

Traditional building was enhanced by a new form of façade ornament consisting of figures designed in colored glazed brick work

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Babylonian ArchitectureCity of Babylon

The city of Babylon is shaped in the form of a quadrangle sitting across and pierced by the Euphrates[64]

The city was surrounded by a fortification of double walls

These had defensive towers that project well above the wallsSlide55

Babylonian ArchitectureCity of Babylon

The walls also had a large moat in front, which was also used for navigation

The length of the wall and moat is about five and a quarter miles

The city had a palace, Nebuchadnezzar’s palace, located on its northern side on the outer wallSlide56

Babylonian ArchitectureIshtar Gate

From the palace originated a procession street that cuts through the city raised above the ground to the tower of Babel

The procession street enters the city through the famous Ishtar gate

The Ishtar gate is built across the double walls of the city fortification

The gate had a pair of projecting towers on each wallSlide57

Babylonian ArchitectureIshtar Gate

All the facades of gates and adjoining streets were faced with blue glazed bricks and ornamented with figures of heraldic animals- lions, bulls, and dragons

These were modeled in relief and glazed in other colors

None of the buildings of old Babylon has survived to the present ageSlide58

Babylonian ArchitectureArchitecture in the city of Babylon

Nebuchadnezzar’s palace covered a land area of 900 feet by 600 feet

It had administrative offices, barracks, the king’s harem, private apartment all arranged around five courtyards

The palace is also praised for its legendary hanging garden

This is recorded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but exact knowledge of the nature of this garden is not knownSlide59

Babylonian ArchitectureArchitecture in the city of Babylon

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

There is also no information about the design and construction of the tower

Most of what is available on the tower is hypothetical

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Persian ArchitectureSlide61

Persian ArchitectureIntroduction

The Persian empire started in about 560 BC when Cyrus the great from the province of Fars swept over the region with his powerful cavalry

By the end of the century, Cyrus and his successors, Darius 1 and Xerxes had conquered the entire civilized world from Indus to Danube River with the exception of Greece

It was the wish of the Persians to construct great buildings

They were to achieve greatness with their architectural solutions

The architectural solutions were a synthesis of ideas gathered from almost all parts of their empire and from the Greeks an EgyptiansSlide62

Persian ArchitectureIntroduction

Their materials of construction was also from different locations

Material included mud-brick from Babylon, wooden roof beams from Lebanon, precious material from India and Egypt, Stone columns quarried and carved by Ionic Greeks

Despite sourcing materials and ideas from different areas, their architecture was original and distinctive in style

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Persian ArchitecturePalace at Perspolis

Persian architecture achieved its greatest monumentality at Parsepolis

It was constructed as a new capital for the Persian Empire

The city was started 510 BC and finished in 460 BC

It is set along the face of a mountain leveled to create a large platform 1800 feet by 900 feet

It was surrounded by a fortification wall

The site was more than half covered by buildings

Slide64

Persian Architecture Palace at Perspolis

The palace consisted of three parts:

An approach of monumental staircases, gate ways and avenues

Two great state halls towards the center of the platform

The palace of Xerxes, the harem, and other living quarters at the south end of the siteSlide65

Persian Architecture Palace at Perspolis

Structurally, the buildings relied on a hypostyle scheme throughout

They used it to achieve spaces of varying scale

Some of the spaces were very big and generally square in plan

The spaces were enclosed by mud brick walls

The most impressive aspect of the palace was the royal audience hallSlide66

Persian Architecture Palace at Perspolis

The Royal audience hall was a square 250 feet in length

It contained 36 slender columns widely space & 67 feet high

The columns had a lower diameter of only 5 feet

The centers of the columns were spaced 20 feet or 4 diameters apart

The column was the greatest invention of the Persians

The columns were fluted and stand on inverted bell shaped bases

Their capital combine Greek motifs with Egyptian palm leaf topped by an impost of paired beast

Slide67

Persian Architecture Palace at Perspolis

Another famous aspect of the palace at parsepolis was the throne room

This was also known as hall of a 100 columns

The columns in the room were 37 feet high, with a diameter of only 3 feet

They were spaced 20 feet apart or seven diameters from axis to axis

The slim nature of the column created room and spacious feeling in the room when compared to the audience hallSlide68

Assyrian Architecture Palace at Perspolis

The monumental entrance to Parsepolis is also one of the unique aspects of the Palace

The monumental gateway ensure a dramatic entry to the Palace

It was heavily adorned with relief sculpture ornamenting its stairwaySlide69

Assyrian Architecture Palace at Perspolis

The relief structure addresses different themes relating to the role of Parsepolis as the capital of the Persian EmpireSlide70

Assyrian Architecture

Palace at Perspolis

In some places, the sculpture shows delegates from the different parts of the Persian bringing gifts and rare animals to the king during celebrations

In some places, royal guards and nobles of the imperial court are shown

Elsewhere, the king is seen in conflict with animals or seated beneath a ceremonial umbrella

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Assyrian Architecture Palace at Perspolis

The ruins of Parsepolis have survived to the present day

Existing ruins however give a faulty expression of the city’s original appearance

Some columns supporting the halls of the great halls have survived

The mud brick fabric of the palace and its enclosing walls have perished completelySlide72

Assyrian Architecture

Palace at Perspolis

Only the sculptures which adorn doorways or windows and openings and the relief ornamenting its entrance way remain Slide73

End of Module 3 Lecture 7Slide74

Module 3 Lecture 8

Architecture of the Ancient Near EastSlide75

Outline of Lecture

Lecture 8

Architectural Characteristics

Buildings and other architectural elements

Building materials, construction and technologies

Architectural Organizing principlesSlide76

Architectural CharacteristicsSlide77

Buildings & Other Arch ElementsSlide78

Buildings & Other Arch. Elements Building Types

3 building types examined in ANE;

Cities and houses, temples and palaces

Temples and palaces

were the most outstanding buildings types in ANE

Significant development in house organization and city fortification was also witnessed

In Sumerian civilization, development in house organization led to the evolution of the inward looking

courtyard house

Houses formed the dominant buildings of the city with narrow passages to distribute people Slide79

Buildings & Other Arch. Elements Building Types

Across all the civilizations, cities were usually walled

The walls were of massive brick material, with evenly distributed towers serving as buttresses.

Examples of city wall or fortification examined include City of

Khorsabad and Babylon

The chief’s house at precinct of the Great Ziggurat and the Palace at Parsepolis were also fortified with brick walls.Slide80

Buildings & Other Arch. Elements Temples and Palaces

Importance of temples and palaces varied during the different periods of the ANE

Temples started during the Sumerian period and were also common during the Babylonian period.

The Sumerian temples were raised on Ziggurats, while the character of the Babylonian temples is not certain because there is no trace of them

The Sumerian temples had

chief temples

located outside the city and

the city temple

located within the fabric of the city Slide81

Buildings & Other Arch. Elements Temples and Palaces

Neo-Babylonians also built great palaces. The legendary palace of Nebuchadnezzar with its hanging garden is widely reported in history

Temple building declined during the Assyrian period, when palaces took over as the prominent building type

The Palaces at Khorsabad and Parsepolis shows the rise of the palace as the focus of architectural development over the templeSlide82

Materials, Const. & Tech.Slide83

Materials, Construction & Tech.

Materials

Stone and timber suitable for building was rare in the plains of the Tigris and Euphrates.

Clay was however in abundance

This was compressed in moulds and dried in the sun to provide bricks for all buildings

Sun dried brick became the standard building material

It was used across all the cultures of the ancient Near East Slide84

Materials, Construction & Tech.

Materials

Wood was scarce but was imported from Lebanon

Wood was probably applied mainly for roofing or for producing tools and ornaments

Stone was used by the Assyrians but only for relieve carving and for columnar support

It was in ancient Persia that extensive use of stone witnessed

The Babylonians introduce glazed brick, which was used in the façade of their gates and prominent buildingsSlide85

Materials, Construction & Tech.

Construction

The abundance of mud brick led to the development of construction methods appropriate to its physical properties.

Structurally Mud brick is weak when compared to stone

To compensate, walls were very thick and reinforced with buttresses.

This construction system is evident in the Sumerian temples.

Vaulting was known and used during the Mesopotamian periodSlide86

Materials, Construction & Tech.

Construction

Rooms were usually roofed with domes or vaults.

Tunnel vaults were used to cover long narrow oblong spaces.

Columnar construction was not very popular in the ANE

It was used in few instances in the late Assyrian and Neo-babylonian periods.

It was however extensively used by the Persians

Persian architecture, was an architecture that borrowed from other cultures in the region, including Egypt and Greek sourcesSlide87

Materials, Construction & Tech.

Technology

Two technologies appear to have been commonly used in the Ancient Near East; passive cooling and water supply.

The evolution of courtyard in Mesopotamia was probably a product of its desert environment and the need for climate modification.

Courtyards were used for cooling to create livable environments in houses

The thick walls of houses may also have served as a thermal storage

They help to mitigate against the wide fluctuations of temperature Slide88

Materials, Construction & Tech.

Technology

People of the ancient Near East also mastered the earth of water supply

Channels were used to move water and supply it to agricultural fields and houses.

Ancient Babylon was said to have an aqueduct that supplied water to the city.

The hanging garden in Nebuchadnezzar’s palace would also be impossible without a means of transporting water from the ground to the garden Slide89

Principles of Arch. OrganizationSlide90

Principles of Arch. Organization Principles

Three principles appear to predominant in the organization of architectural form and space

Courtyard organization

Lifting of buildings on artificial mountains

Organic organization of city fabricSlide91

Forces Shaping Arch. Organ. Forces

Three forces account for the prevailing architectural organizing principles observed

Geography,

Symbolism and meaning to the people

Social factors

Combination of the factors account for the architectural forms that are witnessed in all the cultures of the ANE Slide92

Forces Shaping Arch. Organ. Geography

A strong factor in shaping spatial organization and built form

Limited the availability of construction material and constrained the development of construction technology

Desert environment also meant t hash climatic conditions which lead to the evolution of the courtyard form of building

Prevalence of mud bricks coupled with the use of courtyard fixed the form of buildings as a regional solution.

Most buildings- whether house or palace, were of one story multi-courtyard form Slide93

Forces Shaping Arch. Organ. Symbolism and Meaning

Organizing principles may also be a factor of symbolisms and meaning

The role of symbolism is evident in the Ziggurat

Sumerians think of ziggurat as a ladder to the sky and to god

They believed that God came down to the Ziggurat to communicating with the chief priest

Climbing the ziggurat is also associated with a holy experience.

Symbolic meaning of ziggurat provides motivation for the construction of larger and more impressive mountainsSlide94

Forces Shaping Arch. Organ. Symbolism and Meaning

Palaces also symbolize

power and authority

In Assyria, architecture expressed the authority and power of the king

The palace at Khorsabad also shows the decline in the symbolic importance of the temple compared to the palace of the king, which is the center of authority.

At Parsepolis, the palace also expresses the authority and power of the emperor of the Persian empire

This power is evident in the ability to commandeer resources from as far as Egypt and Lebanon to create a unique palace Slide95

Forces Shaping Arch. Organ. Social Concerns

Social concerns contributed to the evolution of design principles

There was need for defense due to warfare

Led to construction of wall fortifications for cities

Also to ziggurat as a place of refuge from attack

Concerns for privacy

Courtyard house may have evolved because of privacy needs Slide96

End of Module 3