WEST ASIA ARCHITECTURE

Geographical Culture

➢ Arabian Peninsula with its desert extending to ➢ Babylonia and Assyrian belief
Syria; ➢ Anu: Gods of Heaven
➢ Yemen stretching from the Mediterranean coastal ➢ Enlil: God of wind, earth and storm
plain; Palestine through north Syria and Iraq to the ➢ Ea: God of ritual, purification
head of the Gulf, lies the zone of grasslands, foot ➢ Triad of Heaven, Anu in the northern, Enlil in the
hills, alluvial river plains known as the Fertile middle and Ea in the southern zone.
Crescent, ➢ Goddess of love, fertility: Eanna for the Sumerians;
➢ Mountains and plateaus of Anatolia, mountains and Ishtar for the Assyrians
and lakes of Turkey and Iran, mountain ranges of
Mesopotamian Civilization
Zargos
➢ Babylonian
Fertile Crescent-cradle of Civilization
➢ Sumerian
➢ Rich soil ➢ Assyrian
➢ Flooding of water from Rivers Tigris, Euphrates
Geographical Location
(Mesopotamia and Nile (Egypt) due to melting of
snow from Anatolia and Persian mountains made ➢ Part of the Fertile Crescent
the soil fertile and good for agriculture ➢ Bounded by two rivers. Euphrates and Tigris
➢ Irrigation (technology) increased food security - Meso: City
➢ Earliest settlements were found along these rivers - Potamus: River
➢ Consisted of Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel , part
Babylonian Civilization
of Egypt, Turkey (Anatolia), Iran (Persia), Iraq
(Mesopotamia) ➢ The city of Babylon started 4000 years ago along
the Euphrates River
Climatic
➢ King Hammurabi made the city one of the biggest
➢ Western Persia and Mesopotamia, warmer climate during that time
good for growth of settlements, part of the Fertile ➢ Several centuries later, city became a strong
Crescent empire stretching from Persia to Mediterranean
➢ Little rain but water came from snow found in the Sea
mountain ranges of Anatolia and Persia ➢ This period marked the construction of beautiful
➢ The melting of snow caused annual flooding of structures making the city one of the most
Tigris and Euphrates River good for agriculture beautiful during the ancient world
➢ Dry climate in Northern Mesopotamia, water from ➢ Persia conquered Babylon that caused it downfall
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to irrigate farmlands
Famous structures
➢ Southern Mesopotamia, fertile land good for
agriculture ➢ Tower of Babel
➢ First complex societies of southwest Asia evolved ➢ City walls
➢ Nebuchadnezzar palaces
Geological
➢ Hanging Garden of Babylon
➢ Limestone in Northern Egypt ➢ Ishtar gate
➢ Basalt, Red volcanic tuff in Jordan and Anatolia
Babylonian Civilization

➢ Babylonia abundance of mud brick, lack of stone

➢ Use of colored brick
➢ Use of Pilaster: imbedded column for
ornamentation
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➢ Frescoes on walls: frescoes technique in painting
on wall while the plater is still wet
➢ Use of reliefs: carvings on the walls
Geological
➢ Mud clay from the rivers
➢ Stone and timber were rare
➢ Developed a technology of making bricks
➢ Structures in brick
➢ Brick architecture
Culture
➢ Cuneiform writing: Developed during 3500-
3000BCE by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia.
➢ Start of the historic written period in the history of
civilization
➢ Sumerians influenced their culture
Neo-Babylonian Architecture
➢ Influenced by earlier architecture of Mesopotamia
and Assyria
City of Babylon
➢ Rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II (605-563 BC) after
being destroyed by Sennacherib (689 BC)
➢ Heavily fortified
➢ Inner town: square in plan of 1300m containing
principal buildings and Euphrates River at the west
side
➢ Few main streets intersect at right angles
terminating in tower framed gates where they met
the walls
➢ Tiered dwelling, business houses, temples, chapels
and shrines were along the streets
➢ Principal sites lined the riverfront behind them ran
the processional way. Its vista closed to the north
by the Ishtar Gate glowing in colored bricks
patterned with yellow and white Bulls and
Dragons
➢ Nebuchadnezzar’s palace complex on the water
side was the Hanging Gardens (275x183m). Its long
facade decorated with polychrome glazed bricks
➢ The central site of the river was occupied by the
temple of the gods the city, Marduk.
➢ To the north was the Tower of Babel, a ziggurat of
Mesopotamian and Assyrian influence, 90 square
plan with seven stages and summit temple of blue
bricks
Ishtar Gate
➢ The Ishtar Gate was constructed by the Babylonian
King Nebuchadnezzar II circa 575 BCE.
➢ It was the eighth gate of the city of Babylon (in
present day Iraq) and was the main entrance into
the city.
➢ The Ishtar Gate was part of Nebuchadnezzar's plan
to beautify his empire's capital and during the first
half of the 6th century BCE, he also restored the
temple of Marduk and built the renowned wonder:
the Hanging Gardens as part of this plan
➢ The front of the gate is adorned with glazed bricks
with alternating rows of dragons and bulls.
➢ The beasts are furnished in yellow and brown tiles,
while the bricks surrounding them are blue.
➢ The blue enameled tiles are thought to be of lapis
lazuli, but there is some debate to this conjecture.
➢ The gates measured more than 38 feet (11.5 m)
high with a vast antechamber on the southern side.
➢ Hanging Garden of Babylon: Gift of King
Nebuchadnezzar II to his homesick wife Amitis
Sumerian civilization
➢ The rivers Tigris and Euphrates about 4000 BC
➢ Sumerian communities were city states organized
around a temple headed by a priest
➢ The god is the divine ruler of the people. The king
and the priests were representatives of the god
➢ Social base were servant-slaves
Sumerian contributions
➢ Cuneiform: System of writing
➢ Plow for farming
➢ Social and economic organization
➢ Units of time (one day equivalent to 24 hours and
60 minutes to one hour)
Sumerian Architecture
Buildings Ziggurats – Artificial Hill
➢ Sun-baked brick for the interior
➢ Burnt brick for the exterior
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➢ Designed in such a way to protect the core from
the elements
Functions
➢ Residence of the heavenly gods during the earthly
visit
➢ Grain store room: Grains as tribute from the citizen
➢ Residence of the priest
➢ Altar at the top of the hill for religious rites and
rituals
➢ Access through the use of stairs
Uruk or Warka (2900-2340 BC)
➢ Largest Sumerian City with 9 km perimeter
➢ One third of the city occupied by temples
➢ Two important areas in the city were: Eanna and
Anu associated with mother goddess and sky god.
Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu
➢ City of Ur consisted of courts and ziggurats,
secondary courts and three great temples
➢ Remodelled by Ur-nammu and his predecessors
➢ Contained ziggurats, courts, three great temples on
a great rectangular platform
➢ 62m x 43m at its base and 21m high
➢ Normal orientation
The monument has now elements of modern
reconstruction based on how scholars believed it once
looked
➢ Solid core of mud brick and covered with burned
brick
➢ Designed in such a way to protect the core from the
elements
➢ A building with rooms approached with long flight
of steps
➢ The square-shaped holes that we see on the sides
are not windows (as some might think) but a way
for excess moisture to escape the structure
➢ There were important geometric properties➢andThe Anu district consists of a single massive terrace, the Anu
solar alignments that were incorporated into theZiggurat, dedicated to the Sumerian sky god Anu.
ziggurat’s design ➢ Sometime in the Uruk III period the massive White Temple was
➢ The different levels have dimensions that followbuilt atop of the ziggurat.
numerical ratios that are important to the
Sumerians
➢ The proportion of the width and length for the
ground level are very close to the exact ratio of 3:2
➢ The second level maintains a dimension of 4:3 •
➢ Upper levels are celestially aligned towards the
summer solstice sunrise with a grand staircase
facing the rays of the summer sun
➢ The great ziggurat was dedicated to the moon god
Nanna who was the patron deity of the city
➢ Ziggurats may have functioned as representations
of the gods’ homes (because the Sumerian gods
were commonly linked to the Eastern mountain)
There is no known text that explains precisely what
Ziggurats were intended to symbolize, however, modern
scholars were able to determine that:
➢ The ancient Mesopotamians believed that
ziggurats were the Earthly homes of their many
deities
➢ The people of Ur believed that the Ziggurats were
a place on Earth where the moon god Nanna
chose to dwell and a single small shrine was
placed on the summit
➢ Ancient Mesopotamians believed that the gods
had needs like humans, thus, there’s a
bedchamber provided for Nanna in the Shrine
➢ It was occupied by a high priest or maiden who
was chosen to be the God’s companion
➢ There was a kitchen which may be built for the
preparation of the god’s food OR the high priest’s
food
➢ The outer enclosure of the Ziggurats contained a
temple storehouse, the houses of the priests, and
a royal ceremonial palace
Anu District
White Temple in the Mesopotamian City of Uruk
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➢ Functions: religious and secular
➢ Sloping sides, three of which had flat buttresses;
➢ A broad square platform of similar height
overlapped the north corner long flight of steps
with circuitous ramp.
➢ Originally white washed mud bricks - had an end to
end wall with a span of 4.5m. Flanked on both sides
with a series of smaller rooms, three of which
contained stairway leading to the roof.
➢ Of the four entrances, the chief was placed
asymmetrically on one long side giving a “bent axis”
approach to the sanctuary, marked by an altar
platform 1.2m high in the north corner of the hall.
➢ Centrally nearby was a brick offering table,
adjoined by a low semi-circular hearth. Shallow
buttresses formed the principal decoration of the
hall and the external walls. The platform stood 13
m high.
➢ The White Temple could be seen from a great
distance across the plain of Sumer, as it was
elevated 21m and covered in gypsum plaster which
reflected sunlight like a mirror.
➢ For this reason it is believed the White Temple is a
symbol of Uruk's political power at the time.
Ziggurat of Choga Zanbil
The ziggurat stands at the site of the ancient city of
Elam, in today’s Khuzestan province in southwest Iran.
➢ Built by Untash-Gal in 13th BC
➢ Five tiers; the lowest, the shallowest
➢ Base is 107 m; hieght is 53m
➢ Flights of steps recessed in the mass led to the first
tier on the center on the south-west side
➢ Rest of the height was to be scaled on the south
east, the principal façade
➢ Choga Zanbil was built around 1250 BCE by the King
Untash-Napirisha to honor the great god
Inshushinak.
➢ Before the ziggurat could be completed, the king
died and construction of the complex was
abandoned. When the Assyrians attacked Choga
Zanbil six centuries later, there were still thousands
of bricks stacked at the site.
➢ The ziggurat is only a part of the complex. There are
also temples, a total of eleven, dedicated to the
lesser gods at the site.
➢ It is believed that king Untash-Napirisha originally
planned twenty-two temples, which some scholars
believe was an attempt to create a new religious
center.
Temple Complex, Ischali
➢ 2nd millennium BC
➢ Terraced type without a ziggurat
➢ Rectangular in plan with a large main terrace court
and upper one in which the temple lay at right
angles to the chief axis
➢ On the corresponding side of the main court were
two minor courts all were lined with rooms
➢ Application of Plinth or raised temple base or
platform in anticipation of annual flooding
Temple Oval, Khafaje
➢ Northeast of Bagdhad was an unusual complex
dating from early Dynastic period
➢ Within the ovals, the layout was rectilinear, corner
oriented to the four cardinal points
➢ Consisted of three ascending terraces; the lowest
had many roomed building for administrative or
dwelling of the priest
➢ Second terrace was with rooms used for stories and
workshops
➢ Near the staircase was a sacrificial altar
➢ Elsewhere were well and two basin for ritual
ablution
Building Materials
Sumerian masonry was usually mortarless although
Bitumen was sometimes used. Brick styles, which varied
greatly over time, are categorized by period.
The favored design was rounded bricks, which are
somewhat unstable, so Mesopotamian bricklayers would
lay a row of bricks perpendicular to the rest every few
rows.
The advantages to plano-convex bricks were the speed
of manufacture as well as the irregular surface which
held the finishing plaster coat better than a smooth
surface from other brick types.
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Royal Cemetery, Ur
➢ Early Dynastic period
➢ Displays best engineering skills of the Sumerian
architects
➢ Used rough limestones
➢ Rubble masonry
➢ Roofed tomb with chamber with vault and dome
➢ Connecting doors were often spanned with arch
Structural concepts developed during this period
➢ Corbel Arch (false arch) - is an arch-like
construction method. Stones are placed one on top
of the other where part of the lower stones
protrude to close the opening
➢ Corbel Vault - uses architectural technique of
corbelling to cover a space in a structure to span a
space or void in a structure.
➢ True Arch - Developed by the Assyrians. Used for
openings on wall to support upper part of the
structure. Composed of wedge-like stones
(voussoir) and a keystone at the center to lock the
arch.
Dome on pendentive
➢ Dome: Hemispherical structure evolved from the
arch, usually forming a ceiling or roof
➢ Pendentive is the term given to a construction
element that allows a dome to be placed over
square or rectangular spaces
Vaults
➢ Sumerians developed the earliest barrel vault
➢ The earliest known example of a barrel vault is
found under the Sumerian ziggurat in Nippur,
Babylonia, dating from around 4000 BC, built of
fired bricks connected by clay mortar.
➢ A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a
wagon vault - is an architectural element formed
by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves,
in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given
distance
Assyrian Architecture
➢ 2nd millennium BC include old Assyrian and Middle
Assyrian period
➢ First innovation: Polychrome ornamental
brickwork was introduced
➢ Second innovation: High plinths or dadoes placed
on edge and usually carved low relief sculpture
➢ Temples with or without ziggurats
➢ Palaces were numerous emphasizing central roles
of the monarchy
➢ Excavations at Tell Rimah showed the use of barrel-
vaulting
Social
Assyrian civilization: Assyria was located in the northern
part of Mesopotamia, which corresponds to most parts
of modern-day Iraq as well as parts of Iran, Kuwait, Syria,
and Turkey.
The great cities of the Assyrian empire were Nimrud,
Ashur and Nineveh.
Assyrian cities were beautiful
➢ Aqueducts-supply of fresh water
➢ Impressive Palaces for the king
➢ Walled city
➢ Canal system Inventions
Inventions
➢ First system of writing.
➢ Use of glazed colored bricks
➢ Sculptured wall decoration
➢ Free-standing sculptures
➢ Wall reliefs
➢ Build ziggurats, temples palaces.
➢ Famous palace was Palace of Sargon at Khorsabad
➢ Use of corbel vaults, corbel arches, domes in
pendentive.
Lamassu: Winged human-headed lion, Mesopotamian
deity appearing on entrance way believed to be a
protector
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City of Ashur
➢ Center Assyrian state as administrative capital
located above Tigris River
➢ The first shrine was dedicated to Ishtar: Goddess of
love and war
➢ During the reign of Ashur and his successors, the
Assyrian architects displayed the ability to
experiment with architectural combinations
showing intentional divergence with Babylonian
prototypes
Tell Rimah
➢ Temple built by Shamshi-Adad, the strongest ruler
of Assyria in 2nd BC
➢ Had central citadel mound, a palace, and outer
town
➢ Excavations on the south side of the mound
revealed 3 phases of building using “pitched” brick
vaulting, and domical vault using thinner bricks
➢ Voussoirs were used
➢ The temple was of Babylon plan, with radial
vaulting, 277 engaged columns, 50 of which were
in complex palm-truck and spiral form patterns
City of Nimrud
➢ Restored by Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC)
➢ Consisted of a ziggurat with temples on the north
side, large public court; south side huge throne
room and private wing of the palace
➢ Carbed slabs with scenes of war and domestic
chores adorned the palace
➢ The walls are surrounded by bas-relief.
➢ Bas-relief created either by carving away material
or adding material to the top of an otherwise
smooth surface (hardened clay)
- Influenced the Mesopotamian Architecture
along with ancient Greek and Roman
sculptures
City of Khorsabad
➢ Built by Sargon II (722 - 705 BC)
➢ Square planned with defensive perimeter nearly 1
mile
➢ Contained a citadel and palaces
➢ “Palace without Rival”
Palace of Sargon
➢ Northeastern part of the City of Khorsabad
➢ Contained courts, corridors, and rooms covering 23
acres
➢ Each of the building was raised with terrace
➢ Palace site was approached by broad ramps
➢ Main entrance to the palace grand court was
flanked with two towers and guarded by a man-
headed winged bull, 3.8m high supporting a
semicircular arch decorated with coloured glazed
bricks
➢ Has 3 main parts, on the left were temples; on the
right were service quarters and administrative,
and opposite were private residential apartments,
state chambers behind Terracotta drains to carry
rain water in the mud-brick platform
City of Nineveh
➢ Capital of Assyrian empire 705-681 BC built by
Sargon’s son, Sennacherib
➢ Considerable labor spent in securing foundation
platform
➢ More places built by Sennacherib successors
➢ Reliefs showed activity of hunting and bloody war
against the Kingdom Elam
➢ Before its downfall, Nineveh was given extra
rampart on the east side but was never finished
➢ The city fell in the war against Babylonian in 612 BC
and never to rise again
➢ Water was the primary concern of Assyrian Kings
➢ Ashurnasirpal II dug a canal from river Zab to
irrigate the land near the Nimrud
➢ Sennacherib built an arched aqueduct of stone
construction, which may be said to anticipate
Roman achievements of this class
Architectural Styles
Houses
➢ Mud brick, Mud plaster, and Wooden doors, which
were all naturally available around the city
➢ Most houses had a square center room with other
rooms attached to it, but a great variation in the
size and materials used to build the houses suggest
they were built by the inhabitants themselves.
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➢ The smallest rooms may not have coincided with Persian Architecture (3500BCE TO 1500 BCE)
the poorest people; in fact, it could be that the
➢ Achaemenid Architecture - During the Persian
poorest people-built houses out of perishable
empire, Achaemenid rule, beautiful structures
materials such as reeds on the outside of the city,
flourished glorify the city.
but there is very little direct evidence for this.
➢ Monuments and audience halls were constructed.
➢ Persepolis – capital of Achaemenid empire 550 BC-
Mesopotamian Ornamentations 330 BC and was burned by Alexander the Great as
retaliation for burning Athens in 480 BC.
➢ The Standard of Ur
➢ Apadana Hall - Biggest structure audience hall in
➢ Confronted animals: 2 animals facing each other
the city of Persepolis constructed by Darius the
➢ Relief sculptures: Carvings on the walls
Great in 6 BC and continued by Xerxes
➢ Mesopotamian mosaic pieces of colored stones,
shells, ivory placed together to form figures Throne hall: Hall of Hundred Columns
➢ Ishtar Gate: Glazed blue bricks with animals
➢ Built by Xerxes and was continued by his son
Decorated with relief images of Lions: Symbol of
Artaxerxes by the end of the 5th century BC
love and war goddess, Ishtar. Dragon: Marduk, the
➢ Second largest structure in Persepolis
lord of gods and Bull: Adad, the storm god.
➢ Used for assembly for military gatherings and
Persian Civilization representatives of nations under the empire. Later
became museum of the empire.
Religion: Zoroastrianism
➢ Double bull capital
➢ World’s oldest monotheistic religion ➢ Wall frescoes
➢ Founded by prophet Zoroaster around 3500 years
ago in (currently: Iran)
➢ Official religion of pre-Islamic Iranian Empire (650-
600BC)
➢ Zoroastrians believe in one god called Ahura
Mazda: Wise Lord
➢ They believe that Ahura Mazda created the world
and designed it to exist in a way that is
perfect/righteous
➢ “LAW OF ASHA”
- “Holiness is the best of all good: it is also
happiness. Happy the man who is holy with
perfect holiness!” - Ashem Vohu (prayer)
➢ Good and evil, Heaven and hell
➢ Excellent Abode and Worst Existence

Islam, Christianity, and Judaism are all said to be

influenced by Zoroastrian beliefs of a single deity, a
dualistic universe, and final judgment religion