Transcript Barbaric Splendour_The 1st Civilization

Barbaric Splendour
Kalaa Sghrira, Tunisia
MODULE 1: THE FIRST
CIVILIZATIONS
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“civis”: dweller of a city

The story of Architecture begins with the
story of Civilization, when nomadic peoples
established settlements.
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Module 1 Architectural History
Learner Outcomes of Module 1

Know the four old-world River Valley Cultures
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/mvigeant/univ270_05/jake_aq/history.ht
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Learner Outcomes of Module 1

Differentiate the different characteristics of the
culture and architecture of the Mesopotamian vs.
Egyptians
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Know the first four
periods of the
history of Egypt
unified under Menes
Learner Outcomes of Module 1
Learner Outcomes of Module 1
Temple of
Horus,
Edfu

Be able to identify tombs, temples built in each period
Understand the
natural
phenomena
which
facilitated the
development
of surveying
Learner Outcomes of Module 1
The invention of
Agriculture changed
the way people
lived.

Agriculture (Farming)

Growth of Cities

Division of Labor
(Specialization)

Trade

Writing and Mathematics
Origins and Spread of
Agriculture
Four old-world River Valley Cultures
• Sumerian Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers (Mesopotamia)
• Egyptian Civilization - Nile River
• Harappan Civilization - Indus River
• Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River
http://www.facstaff.bucknell.edu/mvigeant/univ270_05/jake_aq/history.ht
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Early River Valley Civilizations
Environment
Sumer
Egypt
Indus
Valley
China
• Flooding of Tigris and Euphrates unpredictable
• No natural barriers
• Limited natural resources for making tools or
buildings
• Flooding of the Nile predictable
• Nile an easy transportation link between Egypt’s
villages
• Deserts were natural barriers
• Indus flooding unpredictable
• Monsoon winds
• Mountains, deserts were natural barriers
• Huang He flooding unpredictable
• Mountains, deserts natural barriers
• Geographically isolated from other ancient
civilizations
Mesopotamia
No one knows for certain why ziggurats
were built or how they were used. They are
part of temple complexes, so they were
probably connected with religion.
Ziggurats
Mesopotamia
“the land between the rivers”
 From
~5500 to 539 BC hub of the
world
 Fertile because of massive
irrigation works
 Common building material sunbaked mud brick
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Module 1 Architectural History
Mesopotamia
“the land between the rivers”
Cuneiform writing wedge-shaped marks on
clay tablets
 The planning and architecture of cities was
closely related to the civic and religious
organization
 Early use of bronze in artistic artefacts
 Cities were surrounded by thick, fortress-like
walls
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Module 1 Architectural History
Module 1 Architectural History
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The Fertile Crescent
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Module 1 Architectural History
The Map of Mesopotamia
Map of the Akkadian dynasty (2340 2180 BC
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Module 1 Architectural History
Map of the Babylonian dynasty (2000 -323
BC)
The Map of Assyria (1350 - 612 BC)
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Module 1 Architectural History
Cuneiform

What impact did writing had in the
development of civilization and
architecture?
The Development of Written
Language (1:42)

The ancient Sumerians began to
document their activities by drawing
pictures that represented words.
Eventually, these pictures became
symbols that were easier and faster to
write

What impact did writing had in the development of
civilization and architecture?
http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/8812-mesopotamia-the-development-ofwritten-language-video.htm
Evolution of
Cuneiform
Words
Hammurabi’s Code
- 1792 BC
The top of the
Hamurabi stele
shows the king
worshipping
before a seated
god.
Detail of part of
the inscription
on the stele of
Hamurabi's code
http://library.thinkquest.org/20176/hammurabis_code.htm?tqskip1=1&tqtime=1023
Hammurabi’s Code
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229. If a builder build a house for some one, and
does not construct it properly, and the house
which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that
builder shall be put to death.
230. If it kill the son of the owner the son of that
builder shall be put to death.
231. If it kill a slave of the owner,
then he shall pay slave for slave to
the owner of the house.
http://www.phillipmartin.info/hammurabi/
hammurabi_law201-250.htm
Module 1 Architectural History
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Mesopotamian Cities

With a relatively steady supply of food, a
surplus of goods and human energy allowed
the construction of ever larger cities
– grain [new] was grown;
– surplus was stored in clay pottery vessels [new];
– communal storage of surplus grain required the
development of writing and numbers [new]
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PEOPLE from MESOPOTAMIA & PERSIA
http://www.fotolibra.com/gallery/32487/ziggurat-mesopotamia/
http://home.comcast.net/~DiazStudents/whistory_units1.htm
The Ancient Near East
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Khirokitia
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Model of the
city of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Model of the
city of Babylon
Artist’s Sketch
http://home.comcast.net/~DiazStudents/whistory_units1.htm
Istar Gate and Processional Way
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Module 1 Architectural History
Ishtar Gate
the Gate was constructed of blue glazed tiles with alternating rows of bas-relief
sirrush (dragons) and aurochs.
Ishtar gate of
Babylon built by
Nebuchadnezzar
II
(604 - 562 BC)
now in the
Staatsmuseum,
Museum Berlin,
Germany
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Module 1 Architectural History
Wall of Hanging
gardens of
Babylon still
standing
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Module 1 Architectural History
One of the dragons from the gate
Marduk’s
Dragon
An Auroch above a flower ribbon,
missing tiles are replaced
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Module 1 Architectural History
Building inscription of King
Nebuchadnezzar II
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Module 1 Architectural History
The temple is surrounded by sturdily built mud-brick homes which were packed closely
together along the narrow, winding city streets.
Isometric artist's reconstruction of the Temple
Oval at Khafajah, Iraq as it may have looked
around 2700 B.C.
Hamilton D. Darby, Pencil and charcoal on
paper
1934 P. 24174f/N. 12990/London # 14/S. 4796
The thick walls of the houses provided
good insulation against the elements,
and flat rooftops provided extra living
space.
A reconstruction drawing of the citadel of Khorsabad, now in
Iraq, as it may have appeared in the time of Sargon II (721–705
BC). Drawing by Charles Altman.
Reconstruction drawing
of the citadel of Sargon II, Dar Sharrukin
(modern Khorsabad) Iraq
ca. 720-705 B.C.E.
Winged bull with
a human head,
guardian figure
from the gate of
the palace at
Dur Sharrukin,
near Nineveh; in
the Louvre.
Mesopotamia
Assyrian decoration stone
figure of humanoid with wings
White Temple and ziggurat
Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq
ca. 3,200-3,000 B.C.E.
mud brick
White Temple and ziggurat
Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq
ca. 3,200-3,000 B.C.E.
mud brick
Çatal Hüyük, Turkey
Existed from approximately
7500 BCE to 5700 BCE. It is
the largest and best preserved
Neolithic site found to date.
[Discovered 1961] 48
Çatal Hüyük,
Turkey
Reconstruction
Phases in use &
Rebuilding
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Çatal Hüyük, Turkey
Interior Reconstruction
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Khirokitia (sometimes spelled Choirokoitia)
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A Neolithic walled village occupied from
7000 BCE to 4000 BCE. Between 300 –
600 people lived on subsistence farming
and herding. Round buildings between 1.6
and 4.8 m in diameter with domed roofs.
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Module 1 Architectural History
Babylon 2000 to 600 BC

Main buildings and temples raised above
rest of the city allocated to special gods.
[Assumption: gods lived on mountains]
Module 1 Architectural History
Marduk Temple
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Babylon
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Life for the upper echelon was quite
luxurious: artefacts of gold, silver, lapis
lazuli (from India) and shell.
reconstructed
hanging gardens
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Module 1 Architectural History
Stretch Break!!
Think
outside the
box
Drawing of the zigurat at Ur: the moon-god
Nanna
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Module 1 Architectural History
By 4000 B.C. large temples were being
built in Mesopotamian towns on top of
mud-brick platforms.
Temples were originally built on platforms.
During the third millennium B.C., these
were made higher and bigger.
By 4000 B.C. large temples were being
built in Mesopotamian towns on top of
mud-brick platforms.
Eventually it was decided to build even
higher temples on platforms which were
stepped. These stepped towers we call
ziggurats.
By 4000 B.C. large temples were being
built in Mesopotamian towns on top of
mud-brick platforms.
By 2000 B.C. mud-brick ziggurats were
being constructed in many Sumerian
cities. Later, ziggurats were constructed in
Babylonian and Assyrian cities.
By 4000 B.C. large temples were being
built in Mesopotamian towns on top of
mud-brick platforms.
Archaeologists discovered one of the
oldest at Eridu. They thought it must have
been a temple because they found the
remains of burnt fish which had been
left as offerings.
By 4000 B.C. large temples were being
built in Mesopotamian towns on top of
mud-brick platforms.
Over hundreds of years the temple was
rebuilt on the remains of previous
buildings, and so the platform grew in size.
Ziggurat
at Ur
2100 BC
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Module 1 Architectural History
Ziggurat
at Ur (modern Tell Muqayyar) Iraq
ca. 2,100 B.C.E.
mud brick
The north-east side of the ziggurat
with the workmen on the stairs.
The south-east corner of the ziggurat after
excavation.
The Ziggurat of Ur
Around 2100 B.C. king Ur-Nammu built a ziggurat in honour of the god Sin in the city of
Ur. It was called 'Etemennigur', which means 'House whose foundation creates terror'.
Staircase
This staircase runs up the side
of the ziggurat. Possibly only
priests were allowed to climb
these steps to get to the higher
stages of the ziggurat.
Staircase
This staircase runs directly
up the front of the ziggurat.
The three staircases on
the front of the ziggurat
came together at a
gate.
Gate
Mud-brick
The core of Ur-Nammu's ziggurat was made of mudbricks.
This brick was stamped with the name and
title of Ur-Nammu, the king who ordered the
ziggurat built. Most bricks used to build the
ziggurat were stamped. Somebody had the
job of stamping the damp bricks.
Each of Ur-Nammu's mud-bricks measured about 25 x
16 x 7 cm and weighed about 4.5 kg. Almost 7,000,000
mud-bricks would have been used to build the first stage
of the ziggurat.
After about every sixth layer of mud-brick, a layer of
reeds was placed on top of the mud-bricks in a crisscross pattern.
How were baked bricks made?
Clay was pressed into moulds. When the clay was dry, the bricks were turned
out. They were stacked together with gaps between them.
Terrace
Drains
On each level of the ziggurat
there was a terrace covered in
baked brick.
Two vertical drains made of baked brick
were built on the sides of the ziggurat.
These drains carried rain water away from
the ziggurat.
Weeper holes
Small holes were left in the ziggurat to allow
water to evaporate from the core. The
archaeologist C. Leonard Woolley called these
'weeper' holes.
Each weeper hole was lined with baked bricks.
This glazed
brick was
found at Ur. It
may have
come from the
temple which
stood on the
highest
terrace of the
ziggurat.
Temple
Many archaeologists believe that there was a temple on the highest terrace
of the ziggurat.
Buttress
On either side of the
main staircase was
a buttress.
The Ziggurat of Ur today
In the 1960's and 1970's, the first stage of the ziggurat was reconstructed
by the Iraqi Department of Antiquities.
http://home.comcast.net/~DiazStudents/whistory_units1.htm
http://home.comcast.net/~DiazStudents/whistory_units1.htm
Ziggurat at Ur
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Tablets found with temple hymns, myths and
histories of the temples.
Mathematical tablets with square and cube roots.
Fountains and water troughs lined with bitumen
Bread ovens
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Module 1 Architectural History
White Temple,
Uruk
As it looks today
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White Temple and ziggurat
Uruk (modern Warka) Iraq
ca. 3,200-3,000 B.C.E.
mud brick
Hattusa
Hittite capital, 1300 BC
 Main gateway guarded
by sentinel towers and
animal guardians
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Module 1 Architectural History
Greek
Antecedents:
Mycenaeans
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1600 BC – 1125 BC,
overrun by Dorians
Fortified settlements
on rock plateaus with
thick walls of large
irregular, fitted stones
called cyclopean by
the Greeks
Mycenae
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Lions Gate
Mycenae
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Module 1 Architectural History
Greek Antecedents: Minoans
Crete, the Cyclades islands, Peleponnesus
 3400 BC to 1400 BC
 Appeared to have complete control of the sea
 Built palaces with sophisticated plumbing and
drainage but without defensive walls
 Wall murals depict religious activities and
festive sports notably vaulting over bulls
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Royal Palace, Knossos, Crete
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Royal Palace Knossos
Partial Restorations
Royal Apartments
North Palace
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Royal Palace
Knossos
Partial Restorations
Architecture in Crete is no
more structurally complex
than in Mesopotamia or
Anatolia
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Knossos Palace:Bull Fresco
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Ctesiphon Palace on the Tigris
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Kiln-baked brick in a parabolic vault over
the great hall (or iwan) of the palace
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Module 1 Architectural History
Persepolis 550 BC
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Great flights of steps lead up
to the podium on which the
palaces were built. Only the
stumps of the columns survive, originally they
had unique capitals – the forefront of animals
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Module 1 Architectural History
...Giving Birth to Great Architecture
Definition of terms
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Ziggurats
Cuneiform
Mud Bricks
Weeper Holes
Buttress
Fertile Crescent
Stylus
Mosaic
Bas Relief