Ancient Near East Architecture PDF

ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST The fertile plains between the twin rivers, Tigris and Euprates were of Mesopotamian art. They did not believe in eternal life but rather given the name Mesopotamia from the Greek word meaning believed that only gods were immortal. mesos (midd...

ARCHITECTURE OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST The fertile plains between the twin rivers, Tigris and Euprates were of Mesopotamian art. They did not believe in eternal life but rather given the name Mesopotamia from the Greek word meaning believed that only gods were immortal. mesos (middle) and potamos (river). The Sumerians developed the cuneiform script in clay tablets, It is part of what is known as the Fertile Crescent because of the one of the earliest known forms of written expression. irrigated farmlands. Mesopotamia has no natural barriers. Ziggurats are terraced pyramids with temples at the summit, Known as the “cradle of civilization,” it was here where writing and believed to connect heaven and earth. government began. The central hall, known as the cella, served as a meeting place for It is now home to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey and Syria. the priests and gods making this belief that temples were often referred to as waiting rooms. Ancient Near East cultures: The grand height serves two purposes: Sumerian to stand out among the other structures and appear Akkadian more important Babylonian to get the temple closer to the sky Assyrian Persian Types of Ziggurats: ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: 1. One-stage Babylonia & Persia Assyria Construction Arcuated Columnar method Building types Temples & Palaces Palaces on lofty on artificial platforms platforms Building Chief temples had Large columnar characteristics sacred ziggurats halls (temple tower or 2. Multi-stage sacred mountain) Architectural Massive, Light and airy characteristics monumental and magnificence grand Walls Whitewashed & Double mud painted in color brick walls Burnt bricks as accents Roofs Usually flat Flat timber roofs Columns None Columns had EXAMPLES: double bull or double unicorn White Temple, Uruk capitals earliest development of the ziggurat Openings No windows Small windows with horizontal one-step ziggurat lintels dedicated to God Anu Colossal winged Glazed brick The name Iraq was derived from Uruk. Ornaments bulls relief The White Temple contains a shrine of the god. The Polychrome glazed shrine is fairly small in comparison to the surrounding bricks (Assyria) structures. The modest size (61 by 16 feet) could hold Chiseled alabaster only a select few, most likely these people were the priests and/or leaders of the city. The central hall, Bricks were made from clay mixed with chopped straw to known as the cella, was set aside for the divinity and improve cohesion and bonding. housed a stepped altar. The ancient Sumerians believed that the gods/goddesses would descend from Types of bricks : the heavens into the cella and meet with the priests. It is 1. Sun-dried – for ordinary finish because of this belief that the temples were referred to 2. Kiln-Dried – for facing important buildings as waiting rooms. 3. Colored glazed – for decorative purposes Temple Oval, Khafaje A. SUMERIAN an example of a city temple walls enclosed the temple from the city The votive figures stood in attentive prayer before the god with the Special sanctity was attached to the temple by digging wide, staring eyes. The stylized hair and beard are characteristic down to virgin soil before its construction. The dug area UST Architecture | Copyright © 2023 by HOA1 Sub-cluster | No reproduction without written consent of HOA1 Sub-Cluster Page 1  was filled with clean sand to ensure the purity of the 4. Tower of Babel foundation. the builders intended the tower to reach heaven. “God at times intervenes with a divisive hand in B. ASSYRIAN human affairs” by interrupting the construction and causing a confusion of languages. EXAMPLES: Palace of Sargon, Khorsabad D. PERSIAN built by King Sargon II all buildings arranged around a courtyard In the 6th century B.C., Cyrus the Great (Father of the decorated with relief sculptures and glazed bricks Iranian Nation) established the Persian Empire as the gate is guarded by a Lamassu, an Assyrian protective most powerful state in the world. deity, often depicted as having a human’s head, a body Darius I (son of Cyrus the Great) ruled the Persian of an ox or a lion, and bird's wings. Empire from 522-486 B.C. He developed infrastructure projects, the largest being the building of the new capital C. BABYLONIAN of Persepolis. Xerxes I (son of Darius I) 486 B.C., was known for his King Hammurabi, the first king of Babylon, recorded a massive invasion of Greece and his defeat marked the system of laws called the Code of Hammurabi. decline of the empire. He ordered 282 laws engraved in stone and placed in a public location for everyone to see EXAMPLES: King Nebuchadnezzar II (650 B.C.) was the greatest The Palace of Persepolis (City of the Persians) king of ancient Babylon. was begun by Darius I It was during his reign that Babylon became the largest was built as a showcase for the empire, designed to awe city in the world. visitors with its scale and beauty. It is Persian in ideology and design but international in its superb architecture EXAMPLES: and artistic execution. The City of Babylon (Gate of God) was the richest ancient city was largely the creation of Nebuchadnezzar II UNESCO World Heritage Site, 1979 owes its fame to the many references in the Bible was the most famous and the largest city in ancient Structures in the Palace of Persepolis: Mesopotamia from 1770-1670 BC. Gate of All Nations by Xerxes I. Xerxes' name was written in three Significant Structures in the City of Babylon: languages and carved on the entrances, informing everyone that he ordered it to be built. 1. Nebuchadnezzar’s Great Palace The Apadana (Grand Audience Hall) by Darius I was praised for its legendary Hanging Gardens (600 Tachara Palace of Darius & Xerxes, Persepolis. The Tachara is BC) recorded as one of the seven wonders of the the smallest of the palace buildings in Persepolis. It was ancient world constructed of the finest quality stone. The surface was almost plants grew on the roof and terraces and watered by completely black and polished to a glossy brilliance. This surface a complex irrigation system treatment combined with the high-quality stone is the reason for it Nebuchadnezzar had constructed the gardens to being the most intact of all ruins at Persepolis today. Although its please his homesick wife, Amytis of Media, who mud block walls have completely disintegrated, the enormous longed for the trees and fragrant plants of her stone blocks of the door and window frames have survived. homeland Hadish Palace of Xerxes Tombs of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III 2. The Ishtar Gate by Nebuchadnezzar II Tripylon (Reception Chamber & Guard Room) was dedicated to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar The Treasury by Darius served as the armory and storehouse. Through the gatehouse is the Processional Way, The Throne Hall or Hall of the Hundred Columns was begun by over half a mile long, leading to the Temple of 8th Xerxes I and completed by Artaxerxes I. It was constructed for the gate of Babylon king to receive the nobles and dignitaries. Columns at the throne 8th gate of Babylon hall have the double unicorn and the double bull capitals. blue glazed tiles with alternating rows of bas-relief of Arch of Ctesiphon (Taq Kasra), Iraq dragons and lions. built during the Achamanaid Empire (remnant of the Persian Empire) 3. Temple of Marduk (God of Babylon) was the center of was part of the Imperial Palace of Sasanian kings the state cult. has the largest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in An impression of power radiated by this massive the world architecture. Heavily bastioned, built in clay, with its huge square towers and its crenellated terraces, the Copyright © 2023 by Ar. Ma. Vicenta Sanchez (HOA1 Sub-cluster main body constituted the actual temple of Marduk, Head) with an outbuilding attached to the temple. Marduk’s chief temples at Babylon were the Esagila and This handout was produced by the History of Architecture 1 (HOA1) Sub- cluster in preparation for S.Y. 2023-24. These pages and any portion the Etemenanki, a ziggurat with a shrine of Marduk thereof may not be reproduced or used without the written consent of the on the top University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture except for brief quotes or for review UST Architecture | Copyright © 2023 by HOA1 Sub-cluster | No reproduction without written consent of HOA1 Sub-Cluster Page 2