Transcript ancient mesopotamia architecture

Dr. Wang Qi
Department of Architecture and
Built Environment
Irrigated
by two rivers
The earliest literary
civilization
State-cities
Eridu – the oldest known city 3800 BC
The enlarged shrine standing on a HIGH PLATFORM
ZIGGURAT
A massive step tower forming part of temple
Tepe Gawra, 4000 BC
Two Temples, Shrine, Dwellings and Chambers
SMALL SPACES, FLAT ROOF, NO COLUMNS
SUN-BAKED BRICKS AS MAIN MATERIAL
Akkadians, arrived at about 2350 BC, unified kingdom ruled
by one warrior-king.
Akkadian empire was short-life and was overthrown by
Guti at 2150 BC. The Guti didn’t have power and skill to
rule the land.
Soon after less than one century, the reminiscent allegiances
to Sumerian city-states returned – called Neo-Sumerian
Period.
The most famous city was Ur.
Maze
like
residential
district with
courtyards
everywhere
Ur – a walled coastal city worshiping Nannar, the god of moon, located near the
mouth of Euphrates
A
large
Ziggurat in
the middle of
the city with
stairs leading
from three
directions,
buttressed
wall and
temple on the
top
Ur – a walled coastal city worshiping Nannar, the god of moon, located near the
mouth of Euphrates
Hattusa – the capital of Hittite Empire
A strong fortified city built in
mountain, by stone, clay and timber
Followed topological feature
Strong sense of defence
Hattusa – the capital of Hittite Empire
A strong fortified city built in mountain, by stone, clay and timber
Surroudned by hills and agriculture lands, and woods
Plenty of building materials
Battle of Qadesh (1274 BC)
Hitties army VS. Egypian Army of
Ramesses II
Assyrians
were great warrior.
They controlled the south
Mesopotamia after Babylon
and great three great captials –
Calah (Nimrud), Khorsabad
(Dur-Sharrukin) and Nineveh
(Kuyunjik)
Lamassu
– a middle east
version of Centaur was their
majestic icon.
Khorsabad by Sargon II, 720 BC Nineveh by King Sennacherib, 800 – 632 BC
Nebuchadnezzar II’s (604 – 562 BC)
magic city
Tower of Babel (a Ziggurat) and
the hanging Garden forms the
immortal impression of Babylon
The remains of Babylon has revealed us a grant city built by sun-baked
bricks, with massive structure and small chambers.
The archaeological site of Babylon has reveal a fortified city riding over the Euphrates,
with Ziggurat and temple in the middle, and palace offside on the north boundary.
Ishtar
Gate the
most significant
architectural icon
in Babylon
A reconstruction
of the Ishtar Gate
at the Pergamon
Museum in Berlin
by material
excavated by
Robert Koldewey
in the 1930s.
14M high and
30Mwide.
The excavation
ran from 1902 to
1914, and, 45 feet
of the foundation
of the gate was
uncovered.
Nebuchadnezzar Portrait by William Blake (1757 – 1827)
How Nebuchadnezzar looks like? – A fierce beast-man or A majestic King?
Don’t let Bias affect your judgement in the History of Architecture
Darius’ Persepolis, 518 BC
Highly decorated
columns and beams
High relief, rich
decoration on architrave
and complex capital
Stone as main material
Influence on Indian
Architecture by military
campaign of Alexander the
Great
19th Century Reconstruction illustration by Flandin and Coste
Darius’ Persepolis,
518 BC
High density of
columns and small
span
Xerxes’ the Hall of a
Hundred Columns is
the largest space in
the palace and can
contain 10000 people
in the 76.2M square
room.
Gate
of All Nations guarded by
pair of Lamassus
Load-bearing wall and beam
Panorama
View of Persepolis
on which the remains of
columns are obvious in distance