2011 AR 103

History of

Architecture
CLASS 12

Nipun George
SCMS School of Architecture, Karukutty, Kochi.

MODULE 2

a. Neolithic Age / Bronze Age

5500 BC 2700 BC

PREDYNASTIC PERIOD IN EGYPT,

EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS

5000 BC 3000 BC

YANGSHAO CULTURE & CHINESE

BRONZE AGE CIVILIZATIONS

4000 BC 3100 BC URUK PERIOD, ZIGGURATS

3300 BC 1300 BC

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION MOHENJO DARO &

HARAPPA

3200 BC 1500 BC

EUROPEAN MEGALITHIC TOMBS, STONE

CIRCLES,STONE HENGE

b. Iron Age 1300BC 0AD

MESOLITHIC AGE
20,000 BC 9000BC

PALEOLITHIC AGE

9000 B.C.
BRONZE AGE
3000 BC 1300 BC

20,000 B.C.

NEOLITHIC AGE
9,000 BC 3000BC

3000 B.C.
IRON AGE
1300 BC 0 A.D

MODULE 1
MODULE 2

1300 B.C.

MODULE 3

0 A.D
2014 A.D

800 A.D

Mesopotamia
"land of rivers" is a name for the area of the
TigrisEuphrates river system, corresponding
to modernday Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, smaller
portions of Turkey and Iran.
Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer
and the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian
empires
In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo
Assyrian and NeoBabylonian empires.
fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was
conquered by the Achaemenid Empire.
Fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and
after his death, became part Greek empire

History
region was one of the 4 riverine civilizations
where writing was invented the Nile valley in
Egypt, the Indus Valley in the Indian
subcontinent, andYellow River valley in China.
important cities such as Uruk, Nippur,
Nineveh, Assur and Babylon
major territorial states such as the city of
Eridu, the Akkadian kingdom, theThird Dynasty
of Ur, and the various Assyrian empires.
historical leaders were UrNammu (king of
Ur), Sargon (the Akkadian Empire), Hammurabi
(the Old Babylonian state), Ashuruballit II and
TiglathPileser I (who established the Assyrian
Empires).

Language
The earliest language written in Mesopotamia
was Sumerian.
Semitic languages were also spoken in early
Mesopotamia.
Akkadian came to be the dominant language
during the Akkadian Empire and the Assyrian
empires, but Sumerian was retained for
administrative, religious, literary and scientific
purposes.

Writing
Around the 3500 BC, cuneiform was invented for
the Sumerian language.
Cuneiform literally means "wedgeshaped", due
to the triangular tip of the stylus used for
impressing signs on wet clay.
The standardized form of each cuneiform sign
appears to have been developed from pictograms.
The earliest texts (7 archaic tablets) come from a
temple dedicated to the goddess Inanna at Uruk,
(labeled asTemple C by excavators)

Architecture
Among the Mesopotamian architectural
accomplishments are the development of urban
planning, the courtyard house, and ziggurats.
Brick is the dominant material, as the material
was freely available locally, whereas building
stone had to be brought a considerable distance
to most cities.
The ziggurat is the most distinctive form, and
cities often had large gateways, of which the Ishtar
Gate from NeoBabylonian Babylon, decorated
with beasts in polychrome brick, is the most
famous.

The most notable architectural remains from

early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at
Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and
palaces from the Early Dynastic period sites, the
Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur and Ur.
Late Bronze Age palaces at Bogazkoy (Hattusha),
Iron Age palaces and temples at Assyrian
(Kalhu/Nimrud, Khorsabad, Nineveh), Babylonian
(Babylon), Urartian
Houses are mostly known from Old Babylonian
remains at Nippur and Ur.

Uruk
One of the most important cities in ancient
Mesopotamia.
Founded by King Enmerkar sometime around
4500 BCE.
Uruk was known in the Aramaic language
Erech gave rise to the modern name for the
country of Iraq
The city of Uruk is most famous for its great
king Gilgamesh and the epic tale of his quest for
immortality
It is considered the first true city in the world,
the origin of writing, the origin of the ziggurat,
and origin of cylinder seals.

Uruk Period
4000 BC 3100 BC
A period in Mesopotamia following the
Ubaid period and succeeded by Jemdet Nasr
period
Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk
Emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia.
It was followed by the Sumerian civilization.
The late Uruk period (34th to 32nd centuries)
saw the emergence of the cuneiform script
Early Bronze Age (Protoliterate period)
pottery painting declined copper, cylinder
seals become popular.

 Uruk was the largest urban center and the

hub of trade and administration during this
period.
famous for the socalled beveledrim bowl.
This kind of bowl, mouldmade and mass
produced, is found in large numbers
throughout Mesopotamia.
the means by which workers seem to have
been paid by a certain amount of grain
they were frequently discarded immediately
after use.

City Districts
The city was divided into two sections,
1) the Eanna District (Goddess Inanna)
2) Anu District (Father God Anu)

 composed of several buildings with spaces

for workshops, and it was walled off from the
city.
The Anu District was built on a terrace with a
temple at the top.
The rest of the city was composed of typical
courtyard houses, grouped by profession of
the occupants, in districts around Eanna and
Anu.
was well penetrated by a canal system
described as, "Venice in the desert."
flowed throughout the city connecting it with
the maritime trade on Euphrates River and
agricultural belt.

Ziggurats

Great Ziggurat of Ur

 "to build on a raised area" were massive

structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian
valley having the form of a terraced step
pyramid of successively receding levels.
Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex
which included courtyard, storage rooms,
bathrooms, and living quarters.
built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites,
Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions.
The number of tiers ranged from two to seven. It
is assumed that they had shrines at the top, but
there is no archaeological evidence

Sunbaked bricks core of the ziggurat with facings

of fired bricks on the outside.
The facings were often glazed in different colors
and may have had astrological significance.
Access to the shrine by a series of ramps on one
side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to
summit.
The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for
public worship or ceremonies but dwelling places
for the gods and each city had its own patron god.
Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat and
were very powerful members of society.