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Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamian Civilization
THE LANDSCAPE.
GREAT ZIGGURAT (UR) :
UR WAS A SUMERIAN CITY LOCATED NEAR THE
MOUTH OF THE EUPHRATES RIVER.
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 KING WAS THE CHIEF PRIEST OF THE
TEMPLE AND LIVED CLOSE TO IT.
THE TEMPLE SITS ON A THREE MULTI-TIERED
ZIGGURAT MOUNTAIN.
MOST OF WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT WHAT
EXIST ON TOP OF ITS PROJECTION.
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 STAIRCASE.
THE FOURTH STAIRCASE GAVE ACCESS TO THE SECOND
AND THIRD STAGES OF THE ZIGGURAT AND TO THE
TEMPLE.
THE TEMPLE IS USUALLY ACCESSED ONLY BY THE
PRIEST, WHERE GODS ARE BELIEVED TO COME DOWN
AND GIVE INSTRUCTIONS.
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.
BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE :
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
NEBUCHADNEZAR, REVIVED OLD BABYLONIAN
CULTURE TO CREATE A NEO-BABYLONIAN
CIVILIZATION.
OLD SUMERIAN CITIES WERE REBUILT.
THE CAPITAL OLD BABYLON WAS ENLARGED
AND HEAVILY FORTIFIED.
THE CAPITAL OLD BABYLON WAS ENLARGED
AND HEAVILY FORTIFIED AND MAGNIFICENT
NEW BUILDINGS WERE BUILT.
THE TRADITIONAL STYLE OF MESOPOTAMIAN
BUILDING REACHED ITS PEAK DURING THE
PERIOD.
TRADITIONAL BUILDING WAS ENHANCED BY A
NEW FORM OF FACADE ORNAMENT
CONSISTING OF FIGURES DESIGNED IN
COLORED GLAZED BRICK WORK.
CITY OF BABYLON:
THE CITY OF BABYLON IS SHAPED IN THE
FORM OF A QUADRANGLE SITTING ACROSS AND
PIERCED BY THE EUPHRATES.
THE CITY WAS SURROUNDED BY A
FORTIFICATION OF DOUBLE WALLS.
THESE HAD DEFENSIVE TOWERS THAT PROJECT
WELL ABOVE THE WALLS.
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 LOCATED ON ITS
NORTHERN SIDE ON THE OUTER WALL.
ISHTAR GATE :
FROM THE PALACE ORIGINATED A PROCESSION