HOA 1 Near East Architecture

M. Ticao

Near East Architecture

INFLUENCES

A. Geographical

o Mesopotamia (Gk.
mesos = middle +
potamos = river)
o earliest civilization
flourished in the fertile
plains of the twin rivers,
Tigris and Euphrates
o Garden of Eden and the
four rivers of the Book
Source: Nuttgens, P. The Complete Handbook of Architecture
of Genesis could have been
found in these regions
o frequent flooding caused destruction of crops and flocks
o such condition is set forth in the account of the building of the Ark by Noah before the time when a
system of irrigation gave security to agriculturists
o Ur was the home of Abraham before he set out on his travels to escape from the constant strife in
his own country
o was irrigated by canals from river to river
o land was fertile enough to support the immense populations round Nineveh and Babylon
o geographically, Babylonia and Assyria were one country which ancient writers called Assyria
o civilization advanced northwards from Babylon to Nineveh
o on the east of Babylonia and Assyria was ancient Persia, which, under Cyrus and Darius,
extended over the high plateau of Iran from the Tigris to the Indus

B. Geological

Chaldaea or Lower Mesopotamia

o alluvial district of thick mud and clay deposited by the two great rivers, Tigris and Euphrates
o no stone was found and no trees would grow
o Materials:
• bricks (sun-dried or kiln-dried)
• glazed bricks of different colors
• bitumen used as cementing material

Assyria
o plenty of stone in the mountains to the north
o Assyrians followed the Babylonians in the use of brick
o generally faced the walls internally and externally, not with glazed bricks, but with alabaster or
limestone slabs carved with low bas-reliefs and inscriptions of great historic importance
o materials:
• bricks
• stones
o best-known cities of Assyria, all situated in the territory of present-day Iraq:
• Assur
• Nimrud
• Nineveh
• Khorsabad

Persia
o hard, colored limestones used in the building of Susa and Persepolis
o roof-timbers were obtained from Elam on the west
o colored and textured tiles famous for their beauty
o materials:
• stones

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• timber
• limestones
• brick
• timber
• tiles

C. Climatic

Chaldaea or Lower Mesopotamia

o a region of swamps and floods
o torrents of rain fell for weeks at a time
o long dry summer with miasmic exhalations
• essential to build towns and palaces on elevated platforms

Assyria
o nearer the mountains and farther from the river mouths than Chaldaea
o similar climate with Chaldaea but with fewer swamps
• climatic difference had little effect on architecture
• Assyrians followed the Babylonian style

Persia
o dry, hot climate
o high table-land
o country of sunshine, gardens, and deserts, with a climate ranging between extremes of heat and
cold
• unlike the damp low-lying plains of Mesopotamia it then was able to develop innovation of
open columned halls in the palaces at Susa and Persepolis

D. Religious

Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria

o polytheism
• worship of heavenly bodies, divisions of the universe, and local deities
• priests claimed to divine the gods’ will through divination and reading of the stars
• ziggurats were erected for the priests to divine the will of the gods
o Assyrian gods grouped in triads:
• Anu, god of heaven, Baal, god of earth, and Ea, god of water
• Shamash, the sun, Sin, the moon, and Ishtar, the life-giving power
o Ashur, the god in the north was exalted by Assyrians to the chief place in their pantheon
o Marduk, exalted in Babylonia
• there was a continuous struggle to make Babylon the religious centre with Marduk as chief
god
o superstition and symbolism prevailed and evidenced in the man-headed bulls, placed as
beneficent genii at palace entrances to ward off evil spirits
o Assyrians, not great tomb-builders

Persia
o tendency towards monotheism
o religion of Persia was a system of ethical forces
o good and evil at war from the beginning of time
o two protagonists:
• Ormazd, the creator of good, with his supporting gods
• Ahriman, the destructive spirit, or power of evil
o fire was held by Zoroaster to be the manifestation of good, and fire worship needed no temples,
but only altars for the sacrificial flame
o religion has not much influence on its architecture

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E. Social

Babylon
o a powerful priestly class arrogated to itself all the learning known as "Chaldaean wisdom"
o "medicine men" or physicians were included in the priestly ranks
o traders
o employed slaves
• to build palaces and their platforms, irrigation
o hired men for transport trade by caravans and canals
o cuneiform
• system of writing
• wedge-shaped characters on clay tablets or cylinders
• proved more lasting than the Egyptian records on
perishable papyrus
• counts of the proceedings in Babylonian law courts and
endless business documents
o “Code of Laws" of Khammurabi (c. B.C. 2250)
• deciphering supplied a wonderful insight into habits,
customs, and private life from the earliest times the family
idea prevailed
o women were free and respected
o cities had rights and charters
o there were feudal holdings
o a system of police Law of Hammurabi on stone tablet
o a postal service
• elaborate legal system
o complete commercial life
o landlord's responsibilities
o city dues
o divisions in society
• nobles with hereditary estates
• landless class of freemen
• slaves Cuneiform, wedge-shaped writing
developed by the Sumers
Assyria
o military autocracy with a conscript army was a dominating class
o fighters and sportsmen rather than traders
o irrigation and agriculture also occupied the Assyrians
o built palaces on raised platforms by the work of captive slaves
• 10,000 men worked for twelve years on the platform of Kouyunjik (Nineveh)
o wall sculptures portray social conditions and form an illustrated history of the battles and exploits
of monarchs
o little reference to religion, with its sacrificial rites, on the delicately incised slabs, which are
devoted to war and the chase, and the trail of cruelty is over them all
o social economy: carpenters, masons, smiths, makers of musical instruments, engineers,
scientists, mathematicians, poets, and musicians
o houses were of the primitive form still prevailing in the East
o wall tablets depict the simplest furniture in the way of chairs, couches, and tables

Persia
o military superiority
o imposed Persian civilization on Western Asia under the rule of the Satraps
o soldiers: land-owners as horsemen, and people as infantry
o traditions were modified by Egyptian and Greek craftsmen who migrated to this new world-empire
• Babylon continued the winter residence of the Kings
• Susa was the capital, because Persepolis was too remote for government
o erection of royal palaces gave ample opportunity for the development of Persian architecture and
decorative art

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F. History

Near East Architecture is divided in the three distinct periods:

Babylonian period (c. B.C. 4000-1275)

o Eannatum, an early Sumerian king, brought about the first union of Babylonian cities
o Sargon of Akkad (c. B.C. 3800), the earliest Babylonian king, ruled in Babylonia when rivalry
existed between city-states
o King Khammurabi, B.C. 2250
• great king who established the domination of Babylon
• formulated his "Code of Laws"
o Babylonian power declined later under the attacks of Hittites and Kassites
o B.C. 1700 Assyria became a separate kingdom

Assyrian period (B.C. 1275-538)

o Assyrians conquered Babylonia in B.C. 1275
o great military power of Western Asia until the destruction of Nineveh about B.C. 606
o Tiglath-Pileser I (B.C. 1100) carried on campaigns to the north-west, and in northern Syria
o Ashur-nasir-pal (B.C. 885-86o) waged war on every side, and removed the government from
Ashur to Calah (Nimroud), where he built a palace and patronised art
o Shalmaneser II (B.C. 860-825), Ashur-nasir-pal’s son, made himself master of Western Asia from
Media to the Mediterranean, and from Armenia to the Persian Gulf, and then the Assyrians first
came into conflict with the Israelites
o Tiglath-Pileser III (B.C. 745-727), extended his empire to the borders of Egypt and, as ally of
Ahaz, King of Judah, made Hoshea, King of Israel, his vassal
o Sargon (B.C. 722-705), most famous of Assyrian kings
• first to defeat the army of the Egyptians
• great builder, as is testified by his magnificent palace at Khorsabad and his buildings at Calah
and Nineveh
o Sennacherib (B.C. 705–681)
• famous son of Sargon
• invaded Syria, defeated the Egyptian army, entered Judaea, laid siege to Jerusalem and
forced King Hezekiah to pay tribute taken from the treasure of the Temple
• destroyed Babylon in B.C. 689
• defeated the Greeks in Cilicia
• later settled in Nineveh to worship his gods and to build a mighty palace
• assassinated by his sons
o Esarhaddon, Sennacherib’s son (B.C. 681–668)
• fought against Arabs and Medes, invaded Phoenicia, Edom, and Cilicia, and conquered
Lower Egypt in B.C. 672
• built great palaces at Calah (Nimroud) and Nineveh and temples to the gods
o Ashur-banipal (B.C. 668–656)
• fought three campaigns in Egypt and sacked Thebes (B.C. 666)
• extended the boundaries of his kingdom on the north and south
• records of his last campaign were sculptured on the wall slabs of his palace at Nineveh, which
are now in the British Museum
o B.C. 634, empire was at the height of its power
o decline set in until in B.C. 606 Nineveh was captured and destroyed, and the Assyrian Empire
divided
o the new Babylonian Empire only lasted for seventy years
o Nebuchadnezzar II (B.C. 605–562)
• famous for the destruction of Jerusalem and for the Babylonian captivity (B.C. 597–538)
• associated with the wonders of Babylon, its palaces, hanging gardens, and towered walls
o after a short series of weak rulers, Babylon itself, under Belshazzar, to whom the prophet Daniel
interpreted the writing on the wall (Dan. v.), was captured by the Persian King Cyrus in B.C. 538

Persian period (B.C. 538–333)

o Cyrus, made war on Croesus, King of Lydia, and then the Greek colonists in Asia Minor fell under
the rule of Persia, after the capture of Babylon (B.C. 538)
o Cambyses (B.C. 529–551), Cyrus’ son, extended the Persian conquests to Egypt

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• marvellous buildings of Memphis and Thebes caused the introduction of the column into
Persian architecture
• columns in a somewhat grotesque form were seen in the halls of Susa and Persepolis
o Darius (B.C. 521–485)
• carried Persian arms into Europe as far as the Danube
• hankered after Greece
• in B.C. 494 captured Miletus, destroying the famous Ionic temple
• defeated the allied Greeks at Ephesus, but was him-self defeated at Marathon (B.C. 490)
o Xerxes (B.C. 485–465)
• defeated by the Greeks, not only in the sea battle of Salamis (B.C. 480), but also in the land
battle at Plata (B.C. 479)
o Alexander the Great (B.C. 333–323)
• Western Asia became a Greek province
• after Alexander's death, passed under the Seleucid (B.C. 312–280) and Sassanian (A.D.
226–642) dynasties
o various Perso-Mahometan dynasties arose after the Arab conquest in A.D. 642, which made
Bagdad a new capital of great magnificence

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria

o massive
o simple
o military commanding
o absence of columns
o whitewashed buildings except for the ziggurats

Persia
o columnar with great hypostyle halls
o commanding
o formal and monumental

IMPORTANT FEATURES

System of Construction
Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria
o combination of arch and vaults
• arcuated
o foundation
• elevated platforms of crude bricks faced with hard bricks or stones

Persia
o post and lintel
• columnar
o foundation
• broad platforms, partly cut in the rock and partly structural

Walls
Babylonia
o bricks faced with dried colored, glazed bricks
o use of polychrome glazed tiles
o whitewashed or painted

Assyria
o bricks faced with alabaster and limestone with low bas-relief which record the military and sports
exploits

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o external walls were plainly treated sometimes with vertical projections and processes or with half
columns as half cylinders

Persia
o double mud brick walls for stability
o burned, colored, glazed tiles for facing

Plans
Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria
o rooms were grouped around a quadrangle (corridor in appearance)

Persian
o predominance of square rooms and lavish use of columns

Openings
Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria
o spanned with semi-circular arch
o at palaces’ entrances, arches were enhanced by decorative archibolts (molding on the face of an
arch following the contour even to projecting members)
o windows were not used, light were admitted through doors or pipe halls

Persian
o windows below ceiling levels
o doors and windows surround the platform

Roofs
Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria
o early dwellings used palm logs with parched clay
o flat roofs, rendered with water proofing by use of bitumen
o with battlement cresting to conceal the roof, except where domes protrude

Persian
o flat timber roofs (cedar)
o roofs were covered with turf terrace

Mouldings
Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria
o no characteristic mouldings, nor architraves nor capitals

Persian
o use of mouldings

Ornaments
Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria
o ceramic decoration in the form of:
• colored and glazed bricks
• colored terra-cotta cones inserted into clay walls
o sculptural decoration in the form of statues and bas-relief
o chiseled alabaster slab, more refined than that of the Egyptians
o motifs were:
• hunting scenes
• battles
• deities (mythological subjects)
o palace gates were adorned with “portal guardians” set into deep jambs (colossal monsters with
bodies of bulls, wings of eagles and human heads with strong countenance)
o rosettes, guilloche, palmette and lotus flower

Persian
o colored glazed ceramics, woven fabrics and gilding
o motif – lion

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o procession of arches
o bodyguard of the kings
o palace decorations – sculpture and bas-relief
o entrances of palaces an towns flanked by colossal king-headed winged bull similar to Assyria

Columns
Mesopotamia: Babylonia and Assyria
o no columns

Persian
o capital was usually double-bull or double unicorn
o beneath the capital are recurring vertical scroll
o slender body shaft with flutings
o high molded base

EXAMPLES

Mesopotamia: Babylonian
o Earliest architecture developed to accommodate religious, legal, governmental, and military
systems

Temples

o Erected to a local deity

o Usually the nucleus of a civil building comples
o Built on plinths made from the crumbled remains of the old brick
o Ziggurat
• Embodiment of the rain-giving mountains

The White Temple, Uruk (modern Warka), Iraq (4th C. BC)

• Predecessor of the ziggurat
• Alternating niches and buttresses, typically Sumerian
• Much of the platform (originally white-plastered) and triple stairway
have survived

The Ziggurat, Ur (modern Muqari’iya), Iraq

• Shared platform with three temples
th
The Ziggurat, Chogo Zanbil, Iran (mid 13 c BC), in
ancient Elam
• Best preserved ziggurat
• Main stairway passed through structure

Palaces

The Palace, Mari (now Tell Hariri), Syria (3rd BC)

• Best preserved of the early period
• Arrangement of rooms round a succession of courtyards was typical

Assyria and the new Babylon

nd
o polychrome brickwork introduced during the 2 BC
o high wall slabs carved in low reliefs
o temples were sometimes on ziggurats, 3-7 storeys with ramps spiraling to the summit
o during the late Assyrian cities: Nimrud, Nineveh, and Khorsabad, supreme buildings were palaces
o human-headed winged bull or lion sculptures guard the entrances of the palaces
th
o during the time of Nebuchadnezzar (6 BC), new Babylon, architecture was derived from
Mesopotamia and Assyrian Styles

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Nimrud and Nineveh (early 1st BC)

• both cities had temples, palaces, and fortified walls with
crenellated towers
• layout of Ashurnasirpal II’s palace in Nimrud became
standard:
o with ziggurat complex
o throne room
o administrative block
o residential wing
o public court enclosed by the structure
• first wall slabs carved with scenes of war occurred in
Nimrud

Khorsabad
• laid out by Sargon (c. 717 BC)
• similar in plan to Nimrud and
Nineveh
• massive defensive wall of
mudbrick and stone
• walls punctuated by double-
gated towers with citadels
• private temples and small
ziggurat were incorporated on
a platform

The New Babylon

• rebuilt city contained the royal palace, the Hanging Gardens,
and a ziggurat (perhaps the Tower of Babel)
• a summer palace to the north was linked to the inner city by
a grand processional way
• processional way passed through the famous Ishtar Gate,
decorated with blue-glazed bricks (reconstructed in Berlin
Museum)

Persian and Sassanian

o Cyrus the Great’s Persian capital at Pasargadae was spaciously
laid out on a plain, whereas the great complex later built at
Persepolis was closely grouped on a rock terrace
o fine carving in stone is a characteristic of Persian architecture
o after Alexander’s defeat of the Persians, towns such as Antioch and Seleucia were built by
Macedonian and Greek immigrants
o a period of artistic decline was reinvigorated by the Sassanians, whose capital was Ctesiphon

The Palace of Persepolis, Iran (Persian)

o began by Darius I in 518 BC
o built mainly under Xerxes I (reigned 486-465
BC)
o palace terrace was
approached by a double
staircase, leading to a
gatehouse faced with
polychrome bricks
o palace of Darius wasw
smaller
o Xerxes built his own palace
and started the Hall of the
Hundred Columns (throne
room)

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The Palace of Ctesiphon, near modern Baghdad (Sassanian)

o probably 4th AD
o a part of a huge open fronted audience hall with elliptical vault of
baked brick, 37 m high, is still standing
o great influence on modern structural forms
o one of the wings has survived, with attached columns and blind
arcades in Roman manner (but with regular axes)

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REFERENCES

Books:
Fletcher, Sir Banister. A History of Architecture. 20th Edition. Oxford: Architectural Press, 1996.
Nuttgens, Patrick and Richard Weston. The Complete Handbook of Architecture: From the First
Civilizations to the Present Day. London: Mitchell Beazley, 2006.
Internet Sources:
West Asiatic Architecture. Old and Sold Antique Digest.
http://www.oldandsold.com/articles23/architecture-146.shtml. July 26, 2008.
Other Sources:
Lecture notes of Arch. Clarissa L. Avendaño
History Powerpoint from the Center for the Designed Professions (CDEP)

Prepared by:
Arch. Mar Lorence G. Ticao
Email: mar.ticao@gmail.com

For:
History of Architecture 1
2Ar-5
2Ar-8
1st Semester AY 2008-2009

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