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ARC 110
History of Architecture I
Module 3
Architecture of the Ancient Near East
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
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 mud
Module 3 Lecture 6
Architecture of the Ancient Near East
Outline of Lecture
• Lecture 6
– Historical Background
• Location and period
• Social characteristics and beliefs
– Architecture of the Civilization
• Sumerian Architecture
Historical Background
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 Iran
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
drought
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 Persian
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
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 agriculture
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
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 king
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 conduct
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, etc
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
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
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 & math
Architecture of the Civilization
Architecture of the Civilization
• Sequence of Treatment
– Sumerian Architecture
– Assyrian Architecture
– Babylonian Architecture
– Persian Architecture
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
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 walls
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
material
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
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 buildings
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
Sumerian Architecture
Architectural Monument- Temples