mesopotamian civilization and architecture

Abhishek K. Venkitaraman

Assistant Professor

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURELECTURE 2

Mesopotamian

E a r l y H u m a n M i g r a t i o n o u t o f A f r i c a

Earliest Homo Sapienfossils have been found in Ethiopia

Africa West Asia EuropeEast & South

Asia

North America South America

Australia

natural determinantstopography (location)

climatenatural resources, building materials and technology

man-made determinantstrade

political powerreligiondefensemobility

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS

L o c a t i o n o f A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a n C i v i l i z a t i o n

L o c a t i o n o f A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a n C i v i l i z a t i o n

This civilization rose in the valleys between the Tigris and Euphratesrivers (source in Turkey).

Mostly dry desert climate, except in the region between 2 rivers

The rivers flood every year and leave behind a thick bed of silt

It is termed as the Fertile Crescent –dense network of cities and villages, grain- bearing valleys

Alluvial soil plain between 2 rivers

Mesopotamia – In Greek mesos = middle, potamos = rivers

Northern part is known as Akkad and south as Sumer

South west – Arabian desert, South east – Persian gulf, North – Zagros mountains

Natural defense boundaries were absent

Arid landscape in which farming was impossible without irrigation

A network of canals, irrigation channels and levees was developed

Rivers caused floods seasonally – April and May

Since 4000 BCE, the coastline has shifted outwards by 100 miles in the southern plain of Iraq

S h i f t i n g o f t h e C o a s t l i n e

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA

Oldest known civilization

Cradle of Human Civilization

Ziggurat

Hanging gardens

FIRST SUMERIANS

Sumerians first arrived in region around 5000 BC

◦ Typical Paleolithic people motivated by search for game

◦ Settled in region and took up farming

◦ Built dams, dikes, and short canals to use water from the Euphrates

◦ Grew barley and dates and raised sheep and goats

SUMERIAN AGRICULTURE

Each was crisscrossed by irrigation system of major canals and minor channels◦ Designed to bring water from Euphrates to

farmland

Farmland divided into square and rectangle-shaped plots◦ Farmers worked land with plows, seed-drills,

and stone hoes and received yield of 40:1

Other areas set aside as gardens and fruit orchards

Carts pulled by donkeys and boats on the canals took produce to the urban center itself

SOCIAL CLASSESEstablishment of a social hierarchy where some people had more power, wealth, and privileges than others

Equality originally prevailed in Sumerian city-states

◦ But divisions soon appeared

◦ First group to claim special privileges and status were priests

◦ Gave up working and began to live off work of others

◦ Temples given huge tracts of land which priests rented in small parcels to farmers

The King

The

Governors

The

Aristocracy

The

Peasantry

SLAVERYOriginated with practice of men selling themselves and/or their families to pay off debts◦ Supplemented by using prisoners of

war as slaves

Demand for slaves increased as civilization progressed

◦ Advance of civilization did not bring same benefits to everyone◦ Some benefited a great deal

◦ Others saw a deterioration in their situation

Civilization brought important benefits but it also introduced inequality, exploitation, taxes, and slavery

The Beginnings of WritingFarmers needed to keep records.

The Sumerians were very good farmers. They raised

animals such as goats and cows. Because they needed to

keep records of their livestock, food, and other things,

officials began using tokens.

Tokens were used for trade.

Clay tokens came in different shapes and sizes. These

represented different objects. The number of tokens

began to be pressed on the outside of the clay balls. Many

experts believe that this is how writing on clay tablets

began.

A system of writing develops.

The earliest form of writing dates back to 3300 B.C.

People back then would draw "word-pictures" on clay

tablets using a pointed instrument called a stylus.

These "word-pictures" then developed into wedge-shaped

signs. This type of script was called cuneiform (from the

Latin word cuneus which means wedge).

Who used cuneiform?

Not everyone learned to read and write. The ones that were

picked by the gods were called scribes. Boys that were

chosen to become scribes (professional writers) began

to study at the age of 8. They finished when they were

20 years old.

Geography

This civilization rose in the valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Some say this Fertile Crescentwas the real Garden of Eden.

The layout of cities:

There is not enough at the lower levels of explored mounds to give us a total image of

the Mesopotamian city before the Early Dynastic Period. By then a dozen or so cities

containing from 10,000 to 50,000 people prospered, both in lower Mesopotamia or

Sumer and further north in Babylonia.

SUMERIAN CITY-STATES

City-states gradually emerged over next 1000 years

◦ Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, Kish, Umma, etc.

◦ Larger than Neolithic settlements and displayed evidence of economic specialization and strong political organization

Included the urban center plus surrounding countryside

◦ Each was also an independent political unit

Lagash

In the city-state (or state), kin and tribal loyalties are, by definition, subordinated

and replaced by political ties.

Due to the fertile soil in Mesopotamia, farming was very successful.In fact, people were able to grow a surplus of food.

This meant that some people could stop farming and begin doingother things

As cities began to develop, people began to worry about others whomight come and invade their city.

They wanted to protect themselves from enemies, so people inMesopotamia built walls around their cities

W h y d i d t h e s e c i t i e s d e v e l o p ?

Inventions -

Writing

Wagon wheel

Potter’s wheel

Number system, demarcation of time

R e l i g i o u s B e l i e f s - Z i g g u r a t s

Through daily rituals, attention to the deities, proper funeral practices and simple civic duty, the people ofMesopotamia felt they helped maintain balance in the world and kept the forces of chaos and destruction at bay

•The Mesopotamian thinking - instruction for the layout and design of temple precincts

came directly from the gods – in the form of a mysterious dream

•Position of king was enhanced and supported by religion

•Each god had control of certain things and each city was ruled by a different god

•The belief that gods lived on the distant mountaintops gave rise to Ziggurats

•The word ziggurat comes from the Assyrian for ‘raised up’ or ‘high’. Ziggurats were built in

the centre of the city

•Connection between heaven and earth

•Stepped pyramid – Temple complex

Historical and Analytical account of cities in

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia means “land between rivers”.

Four broad segments of chronology

Protoliterate Period, from ca.3500 to 3000 B.C.

Early Dynastic Period, from 3000 to 2350 B.C.

Sumerian Period, from 2350 to 1600 B.C.

Assyrian Period, from 1350 to 612 B.C.

2-Early Dynastic Period:

When the role of these leaders was retained in times of peace as well, kingship,

first elective and then hereditary, became established. With it raised the

monumental palace, an administrative center which employed a large retinue of

bureaucrats and entertainers & occupied itself with raising and supplying an army

and maintaining the defensive system of the city.

1-Protoliterate Period:

During this time , the towns, which had

probably evolved from agricultural

villages, acquired their battlements

of ring walls; and the temple and the

ziggurat began to gain architectural

definition. Political authority resided

in an assembly of male citizens that

selected short-term war leaders.

Uruk: a substantial ceremonial hub by 3500

B.C.

3-Sumerian Period:

This period saw the rise of empire, the collective rule of several city-states through the might of a sovereign king. The first part of the period is dominated by the Third Dynasty of Ur whose prodigious building activity includes the Ziggurate of Ur-Nammu, the high point of that building type.

4-Assyrian Period:The northern region of the two rivers now flourishes at the expense of lower Mesopotamia. The Assyrian by their imposing state reliefs and their palaces, like the one at Khorsabad.

Ziggurat of Ur Nammu

Timeline in Mesopotamia 3500-2000 B.C. (5500-4000 B.P.)

3500 B.C. Cities growing across Mesopotamia

3200 B.C. Pictographic record keeping

3000 B.C. Signs used to write Sumerian

2800 B.C. Legendary rulers like Gilgamesh

2600 B.C. Royal Tombs of Ur

2400 B.C. Signs become cuneiform

2300 B.C. Sumerian cities united by King Sargon of Agade (Akkad)

Cities 3000-2300 B.C.

Timeline2200 B.C. Agade Empire expands and declines

2100 B.C. Ur becomes the capital of a new empire

2000 B.C. Ur destroyed by Elamites & Amorites

Agade Empire 2250 B.C.

Empire united by King Sargon of Agade (Akkad)

Kingdoms 1800 B.C.

1800 B.C. Hammurabi unites much of Mesopotamia

1500 B.C.

1500 B.C. Mitannian Empire controls north Mesopotamia Kassites control south Mesopotamia

1200 B.C.

1300 B.C. Assyrians conquer much of Mesopotamia

1100 B.C. Aramaean and Chaldaean tribes become important

650 B.C.

1000 B.C. Assyrians begin reconquest of Mesopotamia

Babylon rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar II

550 B.C.

The Neo-Babylonian Empire

500 B.C.

Mesopotamia becomes part of the Achaemenid Persian empire

A Sumerian CitySumerian city streets

were so narrow that you

could hardly get a cart

through them.

Sumerian houses faced

away from crowded

streets. Instead, they

faced onto courtyards

where families ate and

children played.

Narrow Streets

Courtyard Area

On hot nights, people

slept outdoors on the top

of their house’s flat roof.

CITY CHARACTERISTICS

Each city surrounded by walls

◦ Permanent garrisons of soldiers stationed in towers and at each gate

Wide boulevards crossed city, lined by houses of the wealthy

◦ Rest of city made up of narrow, twisting alleys surrounded by small, flat-roofed huts

◦ Homes of farmers, and small craftsmen

9000 BCE - Neolithic Agricultural Community

A n c i e n t t o w n o f J e r i c h o

• Basic building material – Mud and Timber

• Mud was mixed with reeds and laid in horizontal courses to make wall

• Houses had rectilinear rooms – Each side measuring 1.5 to 2m.

• Interior wall surfaces were decorated with gypsum plaster

• Rock Gypsum was found in northern Iraq and Syria – Used locally and also exported as a trade commodity

A n c i e n t M e s o p o t a m i a n H o u s e s ( 3 5 0 0 B C E )

• Complex social system – Existence of Social classes

• Kings and Priests were on top

• Earlier village- based civic loyalty to local chieftains

• Akkadians came to dominate Mesopotamia- King Sargon brought the

concept of Kingship – loyalty to a ruler

• New idea of an administrative center

• Vast Palace, offices, libraries, storage places

• 2150 BCE – Akkadian dynasty was overthrown; Sumerian kingdom

established

• The realm of Kings of Ur was established

S o c i a l S y s t e m – A k k a d i a n P e r i o d

3 social classes – Nobility, Free Citizens and Slaves

Women enjoyed nearly equal rights – own land, own business &

trade

Kings were stewards of God

Priests- Managers of city’s economy and infrastructure,

interpretation of omens for all activities

A pantheon of Gods – Patron deities, smaller ones

Life after death was portrayed as sad – Burial architecture was rare

Wrote myths (Epic of Gilgamesh – 2100 BCE)

Expanded trade with other cities

City states which developed - Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, Kish, Umma

Construction was done by slaves conquered from other lands

S o c i a l S y s t e m – S u m e r i a n P e r i o d

City of Warka

Around 3000 B.C.E

•The city of Uruk (present day Warka in Iraq) was a large city with apossible population of 50 thousand•Dependent on a single economy of agriculture•Wheel was used and a system of weights was developed•Dedicated to God Anu – The God of sky

C i t y o f W a r k a ( a n c i e n t U r u k )

• Surrounded by walls on all sides – 6 miles length and 50ft. high in

places

• At the centre of the city was a pyramid built of mud bricks with a

platform on top for the temple of the City God

• There are 17 layers of temples at Warka – constant elaboration

• Earlies temples were simple boxes with an altar at the back and an

oven at the front

• Evolved an became larger – older temples were filled to create a

mound on which new temples were built

•The temple of God Anu – White Temple

•It rested on top of a broad terrace on top of a tall

artificial mountain rising 13m above the plain

•Access was by a stairway on the North Eastern face

•It was a flight of narrow steps leading to the shrine

•The shrine (18 m long) had an offering table and a

hearth for fire

C i t y o f W a r k a – T h e W h i t e Te m p l e

C i t y o f W a r k a – T h e W h i t e Te m p l e

City of Ur

A millennium later… Around 2100 B.C.E

• Development of Urban Planning

• Courtyard houses

• Ziggurats

• Mud plaster, adobe construction (Earth, Water, Straw/dung), glazed bricks, bitumen

• Buildings were regularly destroyed, levelled and rebuilt on the same spot; level raised (Tel – Arabic word for hillock)

Materials:

• Earth plaster used to seal and finish exterior and interior spaces of common residences

• Lime plaster used to seal and finish exterior and interior spaces of wealthy residences, places, and temples

• A type of terrazzo used as flooring (Burnt lime + clay + natural colour pigment)

• Terracotta panels used for decoration

• Bitumen used to seal plumbing

F e a t u r e s o f C i t y a n d B u i l d i n g M a t e r i a l s

•Ur, the capital city of ancient region of Sumer (now

south- eastern Iraq) stood on the Euphrates river near

the Persian gulf.

•It was the commercial centre and port, from about

3500- 1850 BCE

•Between 3000- 2000 BCE, Ur served as the capital of

the 3 major ruling families.

•Third of these families, founded by King Ur-Nammu

(2100 BCE) controlled a large empire that extended from

Assyria in the north-west to the Elam in the south- east.

C i t y o f U r

SURROUNDING FIELDS AND VILLAGES

• The city of Ur was oval in shape, with Euphrates

flowing along its side

• Partly planned, partly organic

• Harbours on north and west sides – Temple

complex was between them and formed the focal

point in the city

• The sacred complex had a rectilinear layout and

was in the north- west to catch the breeze

• Surrounding walls to protect and impress

• The city was surrounded by cultivated fields and

villages outside the walls

• Gates to enter within the city walls were had huge

towers and decoration

C i t y o f U r

Late Babylonian

Quarter

The first city

Cities began to emerge in

Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) around

4500 years ago. Ur, the capital of

ancient Sumeria, was the world’s first

city. It supported a complex and

sophisticated society.

Ur(Iraq):

• The cities were closed by a wall

and surrounded by suburban

villages and hamlets.

• The two monumental centers

were the Ziggurat complex with

its own defensive wall,

overseen by a powerful

priesthood, and Palace of the

king.

• Lesser temples were sprinkled

here and there within the rest of

the urban fabric, which was a

promiscuous blend of residential

and commercial architecture.

• Small shops were at times

incorporated into the houses.

• In the later Sumerian period at Ur,

an example of a bazaar was

found.

Ur, the capital city of Mesopotamia

• Hierarchy of Streets - Main wide boulevards ; narrow, twisting alleys

• Streets varied from narrow lanes to 2-3 m wide

• Streets were used as passageways and also to dump garbage

R e s i d e n t i a l Q u a r t e r s o f U r - D o m e s t i c A r c h i t e c t u r e

• Houses were built of sun-baked mud bricks

• Windows were rare

• Accumulation of garbage led to an increase in the

elevation of the street – door threshold had to be

raised

• Roofs were made of mud layered on mats which

were placed on wooden rafters

• The processional road leading to the sacred temple

precinct was the only planned passageway

R e s i d e n t i a l Q u a r t e r s o f U r - D o m e s t i c A r c h i t e c t u r e

• House quality depended upon the wealth of the occupant

• Houses had rooms organized around small courtyards

• Better houses – baked brick foundation walls

• The principal room was opposite to the entrance - used for meals and reception

Traffic along the twisted network of unpaved streets was mostly pedestrian. At Ur, one sees on occasion a low flight of steps against a building from which riders could mount, and the street corners were regularly rounded to facilitate passage.

Street width at the very most , would be 3 meters (9 feet) or so, and that only for the few principal thoroughfares that led to the public buildings. These would be bordered with the houses of the rich.

Poorer folk lived at the back ,along narrow lanes and alleys.

Once walled the land became precious, and the high value of private property kept public space to a minimum. Ample squares or public gardens were very rare.

The houses were grouped into congested blocks, where partition walls were common.

Ur, residential area southeast

of the royal mausolea in the

twentieth century B.C.;Plan

The houses were , for the most part, one-

storey structures of mud-brick, with

several rooms wrapped around a central

court. There were usually no outside

windows, no attempt to contribute to a street

architecture.

The wealthier classes of Ur lived in

ample hoses of dozen or so rooms,

arranged on two storeys, and

whitewashed inside and out.

Architectsdesigned perfecthouse plan,rectanglesdivided neatlyinto orthogonalrooms around acentral livingspace. But thereality of livingtown playedhavoc with theconceptual orderof the architect.The building lotswere not ofuniform size.Each house wascompelled to fitinto apredeterminedspace.

1. Courtyard

2. Entry Vestibule

3. Reception Room

(Liwan)

4. Private Chapel5. Kitchen6. Lavatory7. Stair case8. Drain 9.Shop

Ur, Residential quarter between the Ziggurat precinct

and the West Harbor , Plan

1.

1.

3.

8.

4.

2.

3.

1.

9.

1.1.

4.

5.6.7.

R e s i d e n t i a l Q u a r t e r s o f U r - D o m e s t i c A r c h i t e c t u r e

• Courtyard – Need for privacy, climate

• If there were any windows facing the street, they were in the

upper storey

• There was a step sown from the vestibule to the central court

• The central court was brick paved and slopes toward a central

drain

• The stairs and the lavatory were opposite to the guest room

across the courtyard

• The first flight of this stair leading to the second floor is very high

to permit headroom in the lavatory

• The family lived on the second level in a layout essentially

duplicating the ground floor

There were two ways in which this temple differed from others in the city. It stood on a tremendous platform called the ziggurat, and being free of the pressures of density in its ample precinct, its form could afford to be both regular and open.

Uruk

For thousands of years,

Nippur was the

religious center of

Mesopotamia.

According to Sumerian

religion, it was at Nippur

where Enlil, the supreme

god of the Sumerian

pantheon, created

mankind.

Although never a capital city,

Nippur had great political

importance because royal

rule over Mesopotamia

was not considered

legitimate without

recognition in its temples.

Thus, Nippur was the

focus of pilgrimage and

building programs by dozens

of kings including

Hammurabi of Babylon and

Ashurbanipal of Assyria.

Z i g g u r a t o f U r - N a m m u

• One of the most impressive structures of that time

• It was located in a Temple Complex of Nanna (the Moon God)

• Innovative structure – For the first time the elements were united in a dramatic architectural design

• Structure – Highly axial; Axis did not continue into surroundings• Access to the court was diagonally from a gate at one of the corners

Z i g g u r a t o f U r - N a m m u

Z i g g u r a t o f U r - N a m m u

• The Ziggurat was a free standing structure

• Base – 100m X 65m; Height – 21m

• 3 terraces with the sacred shrine on the highest one

• 3 monumental staircases on the North-East side, converging

into a canopied vestibule at the top of the first platform

• From there, a central stair continued to the second stage and

the third.

• Main lines were built with slight curves to correct optical

illusion

• Mud bricks reinforced with reeds

C i t y o f U r – P r e s e n t d a y r e s t o r a t i o n s

Sumer, 3200-2350 B.C. Sargon’s Empire, 2350-

2320B.C.

The Dynasty of Ur, 2100-

2000B.C.

The Amorite invasions, 2100-1900 B.C. Reign of Hammurapi of Babylon, 1792-1750

B.C.

Khorsabad:

The city was a royal Assyrian foundation, begun in 706 B.C., and abandoned, unfinished, shortly afterward. It covered 2.5 Sq.Km. (almost 1 Sq.mile).There were two arched gates on each side of the square, guarded by stone demons in the form of human-headed bulls.On the North-West side one of the gates had been replaced by a bastion that served as a platform for the royal place.

The Royal place:The administrative court of honor is at the top of the plan, with the great Throne Room on the left.

The entrance court is associated with a number of temples grouped along the west side. They were all served by single ziggurat that was no other example of this Mesopotamian building type.

KHORSABAD

1. Citadel wall

2. Entrance court3. Court of honor4. Unexcavated

Khorsabad (the ancient Dur Sharrukin, Iraq),

Assyrian city founded by SargonII (721-705 B.C.),

Plan

2.

3.

4.

Entrance

Court

Court Of

HonorTemple

Un-

excavated

Citadel WallKhorsabad, citadel with royal palace

Khorsabad, citadel with royal palace