ARCH202 History of Architecture Spring 2013-2014

Dr. Janon Kadhim

Associate Professor of Architecture

University of Nizwa

College of Engineering & Architecture

Dept. of Architecture & Interior Design

Mesopotamian

ARCHITECTURE

Dr. Janon A. W. Kadhim

Associate Professor of Architecture

University of Nizwa

Spring 2013-2014

ARCH 202 History of Architecture

Lecture #2

Mesopotamia: The Cradle of civilization

• On the land of Mesopotamia we can trace the growth and development of human existence and civilization from the earliest times in a continuous sequence.

• The caves in Northern Mesopotamia contain remains of the ancient Cavemen.

• The first Agrarian settlements in the world formed in the north of Mesopotamia some of which go back to 10000 BC.

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The fertile Crescent Arab

Gulf

Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers, is situated in the region called the fertile crescent

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Mesopotamia: Attributes of the Natural Environment

• Mesopotamia is part of what is known as the “Fertile Crescent”;

• It contains some of the most fertile and rich land in the world;

• Diverse topography and climate: which provided a variety of building materials, and led to the creation of a variety of art forms and architectural types;

• Mesopotamia does not have any natural means of fortification other than the mountains that create the North and North-Eastern boundaries of the region. This has created a continuous problem for Mesopotamia over history causing it to be invaded many times over history by surrounding entities.

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Other Natural attributes: • Characterized by the two large rivers, The Tigris and the

Euphrates, and their many tributaries;

• The rivers are known for their annual floods. The flood waters carry particles of clay and minerals which they carry from the mountainous region they go through as they flow from their main origins downwards;

• The flood over-flows create plains called the “Sedimentary Plains” that were created over thousands of years by the residue that covers the land during the floods;

• The major part of southern Mesopotamia is created of Sedimentary Plains. At one time the waters of the Arabian Gulf reached all the way up to the south of present - day Baghdad.

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Rivers Dijla “Tigris” and

Furat “Euphrates”

and their many branches, main

life stream; irrigating the whole land

Mesopotamia: The land between

the Two Rivers

A land of diverse topography, climate, and natural resources

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Local building materials and other natural resources

• Mud and mud brick: the main building material in Mesopotamia;

• It is the natural material available in the land;

• It was also considered to be a sacred material, sent to the people by the Gods.

• Various types of bricks were used:

Sun-burned brick;

Kiln fried brick;

Glazed and colored Glazed brick (used in decoration)

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Other Building materials

• Natural Stone was used in northern Mesopotamia, but only as a façade material over a base of mud or mud brick;

• Stone also used to build bridges and cross-overs, and for sculptures and carved Murals;

• Lime Mortar to bond the brick;

• Tar, as a natural sealant and bonding material;

• Stucco wash for façade treatments, and also Stucco panels for Fresco art work;

• Various minerals are available and widely used especially in artwork, tools, and decoration, like Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Iron.

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Climatic Factors in Mesopotamia

• The climate has highly impacted Mesopotamian architecture. Mainly it is hot and dry with cold, short winters with little rain;

• The prevailing winds are the north-western which are pleasant winds, while the summer brings the south-eastern winds that are hot and cause severe dust storms. This is an important factor considered in buildings;

• Most of the cities are built on the river banks with the buildings in the direction of the prevailing winds;

• Some very important historic cities were abandoned when the course of the river changed and the city became far from the river banks, as the ancient city of Ur ;

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Climatic Factors in Mesopotamia

• To overcome the harsh climate, buildings were inward-looking, depending on their inner courtyard to provide light and ventilation for the building. The openings take prevailing winds into account;

• The courtyard also became the main social area in houses and buildings;

• The facades are mostly window-less or with very few and small openings to protect from the heat & dust,

• Buildings are usually built adjacent to each other with narrow alley-ways for walkways and roads to prevent exposure to the harsh weather as well as for privacy and defense purposes.

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Cultural Attributes of Mesopotamia

• Architecture reflects the “Spirit of its Age”, meaning it is affected by the general cultural environment of the people who create it;

• The Mesopotamian people were highly influenced by their religious and spiritual beliefs;

• These beliefs influenced their understanding and outlook to life and to the world around them and was reflected in their art and architecture, as well as in their poetry, literature, and even music.

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Cultural Attributes of Mesopotamia

• The Mesopotamians believed in many Gods and their temples were dedicated to these Gods;

• The Sumerians had a special theory of creation. They believed Man was created from Mud or clay which was the gift from the Gods.

• Therefore, they believed Mud was a sacred material and ensured to build all structures from Mud or mud brick, even in areas where there was Stone, as Northern Mesopotamia.

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Cultural Attributes of Mesopotamia

• They believed Man was created to serve the Gods, therefore they dedicated their temples to them;

• They were very superstitious, they believed a person could be cursed if his name was known, therefore they used “fake names”;

• They believed Man’s strength is in his head, the place of his mind, therefore in sculptures the proportion of the head was lager than reality;

• They believed the “eyes were the mirror of the spirit” therefore, in sculptures the eyes were very large or were inlaid with precious stones.

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Cultural Attributes of Mesopotamia • They did not believe in the Divine King, or that the King was

the God, as the Egyptians did, but rather the king was to serve the God;

• They did not believe in life after death, as the Egyptians did, therefore they concentrated on secular (worldly) matters. They built temples for the Gods, and built elaborate palaces and others to celebrate everyday life.

• They also used perishable materials in building;

• They did not have funerary architecture (burials, tombs, etc.) since they feared death;

• The only example is the Royal Burial in UR (the 1st dynasty of UR), which contains the remains of three of the Sumerian kings.

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A map showing some of the most famous sites of the Mesopotamian Civilization

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Mesopotamian Era

C 10.000 B.C. – 539 B.C.

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Early shelters and settlements

• The Paleolithic Age in Mesopotamia:

Remains of the Cave Man were found in three caves in the mountains of northern Mesopotamia.

Human remains in addition to small stone tools and gadgets were found in these caves.

• Early Settlements of Mesopotamia:

The earliest dated back to 10,000 B.C

They were founded in northern Mesopotamia;

The first huts were circular, built of mud on a foundation of large rocks.

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The Settlement of Jermo (around 6750 B.C.)

• Located in northern Mesopotamia;

• The first agrarian settlement (village) in the world;

• They planted barely and wheat;

• The settlement remained inhabited for over 400 yrs;

• The remains of more than 25-20 houses were found in the settlement;

• The houses were of rectangular floor plans;

• Built of Mud on foundations of natural rock;

• Other settlements followed. The later ones had fortifying walls to protect them.

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• Most of all “they invented the Wheel”.

• Some of the ancient Mesopotamian agrarian settlements were highly developed .

• The ancient Mesopotamians were the first to discover means of growing wheat and barley. (The Agrarian Revolution)

• They invented weaving , pottery and other art forms as early as 10000 BC.

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Babylonians (1895- 539 B.C.)

in the south

Ancient Mesopotamian Era

Eridu Ubaid Warka

Pre Dynastic Era ( c. 5300 B.C. – 2900 B.C. )

Jamdet Nasir Late Ubaid

Early Dynastic Era ( c2900 B.C. –2350 B.C. )

UR I Dynasty

Sumerian dynasty

Kish II Dynasty

(Kingdom of Misilim)

Akkadian Empire ( c2371 B.C. –2159 B.C. )

UR III Dynasty – Neo Sumerians ( c2110 B.C. –2048 B.C. )

Assyrians (….- 612 B.C.)

In the North Dr. Janon Kadhim 21

Pre Dynastic Era 5300 B.C. - 2900 B.C.

Also known as the Pre-Sumerian and Sumerian

Era;

Very important era since many great developments happened at this time, especially the invention of writing, and the wheel;

Many of the typical art forms of Mesopotamia originated in this era;

Great architectural achievements: the prototypes of most Mesopotamian architectural types originated in this era including the first cities.

Cuneiform Script

Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of written expression.

It emerged in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium (the Uruk IV period), cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs.

In the course of the 3rd millennium BC the pictorial representations became simplified and more abstract.

The number of characters in use also grew gradually smaller, from about 1,000 unique characters in the Early Bronze Age to about 400 unique characters in Late Bronze Age (Hittite cuneiform).

Cuneiform writing was gradually replaced by alphabetic writing in the Iron Age Neo-Assyrian Empire and was practically extinct by the beginning of the Common Era. It was deciphered from scratch in 19th century scholarship.

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Cuneiform documents were written on clay tablets, by

means of a blunt reed for a stylus. The impressions left

by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the

name cuneiform "wedge shaped," from the Latin cuneus,

meaning "wedge".

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Cylindrical Seal with imprint

A. Cylindrical seals: An art form typical of Mesopotamia exclusively. A small clay cylinder with bas-relief carving on it. When rolled on a wet clay sled the cylinder leaves an decorative imprint .

Art forms typical to Mesopotamia

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First artifacts are traced back to the pre-

dynastic era and continuing in

Mesopotamian Art through the following

eras.

Cylinders

made of clay,

lime or

gypsum

stone or

shell.

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Cylinders rolled on a surface of wet clay. Imprint is made on wet surface that is then left to dry.

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Other main art forms:

B. Pottery: made of clay, main building and art material in Mesopotamia. Colored and painted pottery becoming typical as early as the 4th millennium B.C.

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Sacred cup, Warka, 3rd mill. B.C., Pre-dynastic era, Mesopotamia

Bas-relief on lime stone

* Key work

One of the earliest works of sculpture,

Head statue of the Sumerian woman, Warka,

2800 B.C., Pre-Dynastic Era

C. Small sculptures.

1. Bas-Relief sculpture: usually using clay as a main material.

2. Sculptures –in-the-round, made mostly of limestone

3. Inlaid bas-relief sculptures: most typical inlays in shell, stones or colored stone.

D. Jewelry: mostly made of

gold, silver, bronze and inlaid with precious and semi precious stones. Some designs are very elaborate and fashionable

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E. The art of colored cones (Mosaic like):

Cone shaped objects made of clay and colored in vibrant colors are nailed into the wet mud wall.

It creates a beautiful decoration in addition to embracing and strengthening the wall.

This art form is typical of the pre-dynastic era and disappeared afterwards

Cone mosaics, Warka, Temple of Inanna, hall of the pillars,

Pre-dynastic era

* Key work Dr. Janon Kadhim 31

Cone mosaics, Warka, Temple of Inanna, hall of the pillars,

Pre-dynastic era

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Pre-Dynastic Architecture

1. Temples: • The first Mesopotamian temples were built in this era

forming the basic prototype. No Palaces in this era;

• They believed the temple was the God’s home on earth;

• They believed the Gods chose certain places to reside in, that’s why certain sites were sacred and temples were always built on these sites and old temples continuously renovated;

• They also had the tradition of building new temples on top of the old. This eventually led to the high temple;

• Sites like Uruk, Warka, and UR were considered sacred;

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Mesopotamian Temples

• First temples had simple rectangular plans;

• They contained the basic spaces:

Entrance

Courtyard;

Antecella: the space that leads to the Cella;

The Cella or Sanctuary: place of worship, contained an offering table, and a nitch;

Fortification: in some of the temples

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Types of Mesopotamian Temples

• Low Temples: The first type of temples were of this type. They are built directly on the ground;

• High Temples:

1. Mastaba type: the first type of high temples developed naturally due to building new temples on top of the old leading over time to a raised ground level;

2. The Ziggurat: the first one built was in the Neo-Sumerian era, Ur Dynasty III, in 2100 B.C. (will explain later)

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Building materials used in Temples

• Temples were built of sun-baked Mud brick, on foundation of large rocks;

• Recessed Paneling is used on the outer facades to strengthen the wall. Also creating a beautiful shade and shadow effect on the window-less elevation;

• The exterior facades were coated with a layer of slurry mud or plaster to protect them;

• Some decorative means were used on the temple walls like a frieze (strip) decorated with inlays of colored stone or shells;

• The art of cone mosaics was used in some examples.

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The White Temple, Uruk, c. 3000 B.C., Pre-Dynastic (high

temple)

Called the White temple because the exterior walls were coated with a layer of Plaster to protect them

Very simple floor plan, typical of Mesopotamian Temples

*Key Work

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Pre-Dynastic Cities

• The Sumerian city of Warka, in southern Mesopotamia was the first planned city in history;

• Built c. 3000 B.C.;

• It contains the 3 typical elements of the Mesopotamian city:

The city walls: the walls of Warka were fortified with towers;

The urban center (or Core): which contained the main temple, also the white temple;

The residential district: Organic in planning, with adjacent courtyard houses and narrow alley ways.

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Warka, 3000 B.C., Southern

Mesopotamia,

The first planned city in history,

Warka is a sacred site therefore it contains many

famous Mesopotamian

temples Warka

* Key work

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Early Dynastic era 2500 B.C. - 2230 B.C.

• City States: Many cities formed in this era in the southern part of the region on the river banks. Some of these cities become self governing states called city stats ruled by families or dynasties. Most famous are Warka, Ur, Kish, Lagash.

• Famous dynasties of the era:

• UR Dynasty I - 2600 B.C. , (Sumerian dynasty)

• Dynasty of Kish II, (Tribes from Arab Peninsula) , their king Misilim started the palace as a new building type- separating the (religious) power from the secular power of the king.

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Sumerian woman with gold jewelry , Early Dynastic era,

UR Dynasty I 2600 B.C.

Early Dynastic Era

Also known as the Sumerian era.

Famous Sumerian city state of UR and the royal dynasty of Ur I

* Key work Dr. Janon Kadhim 41

The Dynasty of UR I was famous for its Gold Jewelry works with some outstanding designs;

Many of these objects were found in the Royal Burial in UR, 2600 B.C. , the only example of burial architecture in Mesopotamia

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Sumerian Golden Harp

Early dynastic, UR Dynasty I

2600 B.C.

They were also famous for tools, weapons and musical instruments that were made of Bronze , gold and other precious materials, using inlays of shells and precious and semi-precious stones

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“Standard of UR”, Wall

Mural UR Dynasty I,

2600 B.C.

Bas-Relief filed with shell on Bitumen backing

Early Dynastic

Era

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Early Dynastic Architecture

• Temples: Followed the same style of those of the pre-dynastic era, but became larger and a little more elaborate or complicated;

• Some Temples were surrounded by a fortifying wall, like the mustaba temple in Khafaja;

• Cities: New cities were built following the main concepts and elements developed in the previous era. Famous cities: Ur and Kish;

• The Palace: New building type created by Misilim the ruler of Kish;

• He built the first Palace “Misilim Palace”, Kish, 2600 B.C.

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The Temple in Khafaji, c. 2600 B.C., Early-Dynastic era,

Mastaba type temple. Enclosed in an oval shape enclosure

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The Stele of King Naram-Sin

Akkadian Empire 2230- 2350 B.C.

The Akkadian Empire

2230 – 2350 B.C.

The Stele, a new art form invented by the Akkadians which later also became typical of Mesopotamian art

* Key work Dr. Janon Kadhim 47

King Sargon of Akkad, founder of Akkadian

Empire,2230- 2350 B.C. Head Sculpture in

bronze Dr. Janon Kadhim 48

The Neo- Sumerians UR Dynasty III

2021-2125 B.C.

• Created by king Ur-Nammu the ruler of the third dynasty of UR;

• He defeated the Akkadian Empire and re-united all of Mesopotamia under his leadership;

• Great developments especially in the arts and architecture happened in this era;

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The Ziggurat

• An outstanding development by the Dynasty of Ur III;

• The ziggurat is a high temple;

• It is called the God’s heavenly home. So it is built on a very high platform to ensure that is closer to the sky;

• The first ziggurat is the great ziggurat of Ur-Nammu in Ur, 2100 B.C.

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Ziggurat of UR-NAMMU, UR Neo-Sumerians, UR dynasty III

2100 B.C. / main feature of the neo-Sumerians

Neo-Sumerian Era ; Ur, 2021 – 2123 B.C.

* Key work Dr. Janon Kadhim 51

Ziggurat of UR-NAMMU, UR Neo-Sumerians, UR dynasty III

2100 B.C.

Aerial view of the ruins of Ur and the reconstruction of the ziggurat base

A reconstruction drawing of the

ziggurat

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The City of Ur in the Neo-Sumerian era (Ur Dynasty III)

With a contemporary day Arial view

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The Citadel of ancient Ur, 2100 B.C., Ur Dynasty

III

Contains the main elements of the urban core which are the main temples, the Ziggurat and the palace.

All contained within the fortified walls forming the citadel

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The residential district, City of Ur,

2100 B.C.

Adjacent courtyard houses with

narrow, twisty alleys and road

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Stele of Ur-Nammu, Ur, Neo Sumerian, Ur

Dynasty III, 2100 B.C.

Other typical Mesopotamian art forms continued to flourish and develop in the era, as the cylindrical seals, pottery, and Stella.

* Key work

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Key works

1) Sacred cup, Warka, 3rd mill. B.C., Pre-dynastic era, Mesopotamia, Bas-relief on lime stone

2) Cone mosaics, Temple of Inanna, hall of the pillars, Warka, Pre-dynastic era

3) The White Temple, Uruk, c. 3000 B.C., Pre-Dynastic (high temple)

4) City of Warka, 3000 B.C., Southern Mesopotamia,

5) Sumerian woman with gold jewelry , Early Dynastic era, Ur Dynasty I, 2600 B.C.

6) Ziggurat of UR-NAMMU, Ur, Neo-Sumerians, Ur dynasty III, 2100 B.C. (High Temple)

7) Stele of Ur-Nammu, Ur, Neo Sumerian, Ur Dynasty III, 2100 B.C.

8) The Stele of King Naram-Sin, Akkadian Empire, Akad, 2230- 2350 B.C.

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