INTRODUCTION :

 THE WORD 'MESOPOTAMIA' IS IN ORIGIN A

GREEK NAME (MESOS `MIDDLE' AND
'POTAMOS' - 'RIVER' SO `LAND BETWEEN
THE RIVERS').
 HOME TO THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS TO
DEVELOP THE BASICS OF TECHNOLOGY AND
CULTURE.
 FIRST CITIES DEVELOPED AROUND 3500 B.C.
 MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS INCLUDED :
– SUMERIA
– BABYLONIA
– ASSYRIA
 GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITION :
 BETWEEN TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVER.
 NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA MADE UP OF
HILLS AND PLAINS.
 LAND IS FERTILE MOST OF THE YEAR
BECAUSE OF THE RAINS,RIVERS AND
STREAMS.
 SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA MADE UP OF
MARSHY FLAT BARREN PLAINS.
 IRRIGATION SYSTEM.
 300 MILES LONG AND 150 MILES WIDE.
 CLIMATIC CONDITIONS :
 LITTLE RAINFALL.
 HOT AND DRY CLIMATE’
 WINDSTORMS LEAVING MUDDY RIVER
VALLEYS IN WINTER.
 CATASTROPHIC FLOODING OF THE RIVERS
IN SPRING.
 ARID SOIL CONTAINING LITTLE MINERALS.
 NO STONE OR TIMBER RESOURCES.
 POLITICAL CONDITION :
 THE MESOPOTAMIANS BELIEVED THEIR
KINGS AND QUEENS WERE DESCENDED
FROM THE CITY GODS BUT, THEY NEVER
BELIEVED THEIR KINGS WERE ACTUALLY
GODS.
 KINGS OFTEN NAMED THEM SELVES “KING OF
THE UNIVERSE” OR “GREAT KING”.
 KINGS HAD TO LOOK AFTER THEIR PEOPLE.
 KING HAMMURABI CREATED A SET OF RULES
CONTAINING THE CRIMES AND THEIR
PUNISHMENTS.
 ECONOMICAL CONDITION :
 POOR PEOPLE MOSTLY HAD TO DEPEND ON
CROPS BECAUSE THEY HAD LITTLE MONEY.
 RICH PEOPLE HAD SLAVES AND EASIER WAYS
OF OBTAINING FOOD.
 FARMING ONE MAIN WAY TO GET FOOD AND
OTHER NEEDS.
 BARTER SYSTEMS WERE USED.
 MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS:
 OVER THE CENTURIES, MANY DIFFERENT
PEOPLE LIVED IN THIS AREA CREATING A
COLLECTION OF INDEPENDENT STATES :
 SUMER- SOUTHERN PART (3500-2000 BCE)
 AKKAD- NORTHERN PART (2340 – 2180 BCE)
 BABYLONIA- THESE TWO REGIONS WERE
UNIFIED (1830-1500 BCE AND 650-500 BCE)
 ASSYRIA- ASSYRIAN EMPIRE (1100 -612 BCE)
ARCHITECTURE :
 HISTORICAL CONDITION:
 THE ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE OF WEST-
ASIATIC DEVELOPED FROM 3000 BC TO 330 BC.
IN THE FOLLOWING PERIOD –

(A) EARLY SUMERIAN (3000—2000 BC)

(B) OLD BABYLONIAN (2016-1595 BC) -
NEO BABYLONIAN (626-539 BC)
(C) ASSYRIAN (1859—626 BC)
(D) PERSIAN (750—330 BC)
 CITY PLANNING PATTERNS :
 MASSIVE SIZE COMPARED TO PREVIOUS
SETTLEMENTS.
 GREATER CONCENTRATION OF PEOPLE WERE
LIVED.
 THERE WERE SPACE DEVOTED TO GARDENS,
GRAZING LAND, ETC.
 LOCATION NEAR RIVERS IN ORDER TO
CONTROL WATERWAY.
 NEW URBAN FORM - CITADEL WITH
CLOSELY-LINKED TEMPLE PALACE UNIT,
SEPARATED FROM REST OF TOWN BY HEIGHT
OR WALLS.
 GENERAL FEATURES:
 MESOPOTAMIAN TRADITION OF SEEING
UNIVERSE AS SQUARE, REFLECTED IN
GROUND PLANS.
 THE UPPER CLASS LIVED IN LARGE HOMES
THAT WIDE AND NEARLY THREE STORIES
HIGH.
 THE MATERIALS WERE USED TO MAKE
HOUSES WAS SUN-DRIED BRICKS, BECAUSE
THERE WAS LITTLE WOOD NAD STONES.
 THE MOST IMPORTANT FLOOR IN THE HOUSE
IS THE FIRST FLOOR.
 SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE :
 THE TRANSITION FROM PREHISTORY WAS
MADE AROUND 4500 BC WITH THE RISE OF
THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION.
 THE MAJOR CITIES OF THE SUMERIAN
CIVILIZATION WERE KISH, URUKAND, UR.
 THE SUMERIAN WERE THE FIRST CIVILIZATION
TO MAKE A CONSCIOUS ATTEMPT OF
DESIGNING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
MUD WAS FORMED INTO BRICK, SUN DRIED
AND BUILT INTO MASSIVE WALLS.
 WALLS WERE THICK TO COMPENSATE THE
WEAKNESS OF MUD.
 THEY WERE REINFORCE WITH BUTTRESSES.
 SPACES WERE NARROW BECAUSE OF THE
WALLING MATERIAL.
 FACADE OF BUILDINGS WERE WHITE WASHED
AND PAINTED TO DISGUISE THE LACK OF
ATTRACTION OF THE MATERIAL.
 BUTTRESSES AND RECESSES ALSO RELIEVE THE
MONOTONY OF THE PLASTERED WALL
SURFACES.
 TEMPLES WAS THEIR MAJOR BUILDING TYPE.
 CITIES WERE ENCLOSED IN WALLS WITH
ZIGGURAT TEMPLES AND PALACE AS
CENTERSOF THE CITY.
 STREETS WERE FRONTED BY COURTYARD
HOUSES OF ONE STORY HIGH.
 FABRIC OF THE CITY IS MADE UP OF
RESIDENCES MIXED WITH COMMERCIAL AND
INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS.
 THE HOUSES WERE DENSELY PACKED WITH
NARROW STREETS BETWEEN THEM.
 THE HOUSES STREETS WERE USUALLY
PUNCTUATED BY NARROW OPENINGS THAT
SERVE AS ENTRANCE TO HOUSES.
 TEMPLES WERE THE PRINCIPAL
ARCHITECTURAL MONUMENTS OF SUMERIAN
CITIES.
 TEMPLES CONSIST OF CHIEF AND CITY
TEMPLES.
 WHITE TEMPLE (URUK) :
 URUK WAS A MAJOR SUMERIAN CITY BY 3300
BC.
 URUK IS ALSO KNOWN AS WARKA IN ARABIC.
 THE WHITE TEMPLE WAS BUILT AROUND 3000
BC.
 IT IS AN EXAMPLE OF EARLIEST
DEVELOPMENT OF SUMERIAN TEMPLES AND
ZIGGURAT.
 THE TEMPLE IS PLACE ON A GREAT MOUND
OF EARTH CALLED ZIGGURAT, RISING MORE
THAN 12 METERS ABOVE GROUND.
 THE ZIGGURAT AND TEMPLE ARE BUILT WITH
MUD BRICKS.
 THE TEMPLE IS RECTANGULAR IN SHAPE.
 TEMPLE WALLS WERE THICK AND SUPPORTED
BY BUTTRESSES.
 IN THE INNER PART OF THE TEMPLE WAS A
LONG SANCTUARY, THAT CONTAINS AN ALTER
AND OFFERING TABLE.
 ROOMS OBLONG AND IN SHAPE AND VAULTED
SURROUNDED THE LONG SIDE OF THE
SANCTUARY.
 THE TEMPLE HAD IMPOSING DOORWAYS
LOCATED AT ITS EITHER END.
 WORSHIPPERS ENTER TO THE TEMPLE
THROUGH A SIDE ROOM.
 SERIES OF STAIRCASES AND STEPPED LEVELS
LEAD WORSHIPS TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE
TEMPLE.
 THE TEMPLE WAS PLASTERED WHITE
EXTERNALLY, MAKING IT VISIBLE FOR MILES IN
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
STREET THAT CUTS THROUGH THE CITY
RAISED ABOVE THE GROUND TO THE TOWER
OF BABEL.
 THE PROCESSION STREET ENTERS THE CITY
THROUGH THE FAMOUS ISHTAR GATE.
 THE ISHTAR GATE IS BUILT ACROSS THE
DOUBLE WALLS OF THE CITY FORTIFICATION.
 THE GATE HAD A PAIR OF PROJECTING TOWERS
ON EACH WALL.
 THESE WERE MODELLED IN RELIEF AND
GLAZED IN OTHER COLORS.
 ALL THE FACADES OF GATES AND ADJOINING
STREETS WERE FACED WITH BLUE GLAZED
BRICKS AND ORNAMENTED WITH FIGURES OF
HERALDIC ANIMALS-LIONS, BULLS, AND
DRAGONS.
 NONE OF THE BUILDINGS OF OLD BABYLON
HAS SURVIVED TO THE PRESENT AGE.

ARCHITECTURE IN THE CITY OF

BABYLON:
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S PALACE COVERED A LAND
AREA OF 900 FEET BY 600 FEET.
 THE PALACE IS ALSO PRAISED FOR ITS
LEGENDARY HANGING GARDEN.
 IT HAD ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES, BARRACKS,
THE KING’S HAREM, PRIVATE APARTMENT ALL
ARRANGED AROUND FIVE COURTYARDS.
 THIS IS RECORDED AS ONE OF THE SEVEN
WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, BUT EXACT
KNOWLEDGE OF THE NATURE OF THIS GARDEN
IS NOT KNOWN.
 TEMPLES AND TOWERS WERE ALSO PROMINENT
ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS OF BABYLON.
 THE LEGENDARY TOWER OF BABEL LOCATED AT
THE END OF PROCESSION STREET IS MENTIONED
IN THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE.
 ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE :
 THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ASSYRIA WERE
NINEVEH, DUN, KHORSABAD, NIMRUDAND
ASSUR.
 THE ASSYRIANS WERE GREAT WARRIORS AND
HUNTERS, AND THIS WAS REFLECTED IN
THEIR ART.
 THEY PRODUCED VIOLENT SCULPTURES AND
RELIEF CARVING IN STONE THAT WAS USED
TO ORNAMENT THEIR HOUSES.
 DURING THE ASSYRIAN PERIODS, TEMPLES
LOST THEIR IMPORTANCE TO PALACES.
 PALACES WERE RAISED ON BRICK
PLATFORMS, AND THEIR PRINCIPAL
ENTRANCE WAYS WERE FLANKED BY
GUARDIAN FIGURES OF HUMAN HEADED
BULLS OR LIONS OF STONE.
 THEIR HALLS AND CORRIDORS WERE LINED
WITH PICTURES AND INSCRIPTIONS CARVED
IN RELIEF ON STONE SLABS UP TO 9 FEET
HIGH.
 THE INTERIORS WERE RICHLY DECORATED
AND LUXURIOUS.
 THE WALLS OF CITIES WERE USUALLY
STRENGTHENED BY MANY TOWERS SERVING
AS DEFENSIVE POSITIONS.
 PALACE OF SARGON:
 THE PALACE IS APPROACHED AT GROUND LEVEL
THROUGH A WALLED CITADEL.
 WITHIN THE CITADEL IS FOUND THE MAIN
PALACE, TWO MINOR PALACES AND A TEMPLE
DEDICATED TO NABU.
 THE MAIN PALACE WAS SET ON A PLATFORM
LOCATED ON THE NORTHERN SIDE OF THE
CITADEL.
 ALL THE BUILDINGS WITHIN THE CITADEL
WERE ARRANGED AROUND COURTYARDS.
 THE PALACE WAS ARRANGED AROUND TWO
MAJOR COURTYARDS ABOUT WHICH WERE
GROUPED SMALLER COURTYARDS.
 THE PALACE CONSISTED OF LARGE AND
SMALLER ROOMS WITH THE THRONE
ROOM BEING THE LARGEST.
 THE BUILDING WAS DECORATED WITH
RELIEF SCULPTURE AND GLAZED BRICK.
 PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE :
THEIR ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTIONS WERE A
SYNTHESIS OF IDEAS GATHERED FROM
ALMOST ALL PARTS OF THEIR EMPIRE AND
FROM THE GREEKS AND EGYPTIANS.
THEIR MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION WAS
ALSO FROM DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.
MATERIAL INCLUDED MUD-BRICK FROM
BABYLON, WOODEN ROOF BEAMS FROM
LEBANON, PRECIOUS MATERIAL FROM INDIA
AND EGYPT, STONE COLUMNS QUARRIED AND
CARVED BY IONIC GREEKS.
 PALACE OF PERSEPOLIS :
 PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE ACHIEVED ITS
GREATEST MONUMENTALITY AT PERSEPOLIS
AND WAS CONSTRUCTED AS A NEW CAPITAL
FOR THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
 IT IS SET ALONG THE FACE OF A MOUNTAIN
LEVELLED TO CREATE A LARGE PLATFORM 1800
FEET BY 900 FEET.
 IT WAS SURROUNDED BY A FORTIFICATION
WALL.
 THE SITE WAS MORE THAN HALF COVERED BY
BUILDINGS
 THE PALACE CONSISTED OF THREE PARTS:
1) AN APPROACH OF MONUMENTAL STAIRCASES,
GATE WAYS AND AVENUES.
2) TWO GREAT STATE HALLS TOWARDS THE
CENTER OF THE PLATFORM.
3) THE PALACE OF XERXES, THE HAREM, AND
OTHER LIVING QUARTERS AT THE SOUTH END
OF THE SITE.
 STRUCTURALLY, THE BUILDINGS RELIED ON A
HYPOSTYLE SCHEME THROUGHOUT.
 SOME OF THE SPACES WERE VERY BIG AND
GENERALLY SQUARE IN PLAN.THE SPACES WERE
ENCLOSED BY MUD BRICK WALLS.
 THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ASPECT OF THE PALACE
WAS THE ROYAL AUDIENCE HALL.