WEST ASIATIC

ARCHITECTURE
2500 600 B.C

The West Asiatic civilization mainly spread in the fertile

lands of the two long rivers Tigris and Euphrates which can
together some 160 km from their mouths depositing rich
alluvial soil along lower plains. This district was named as
Mesopotamia its north part is known as Akkad and that of
south as Sumer. The rich alluvial lands of Mesopotamia
stretched from the Persian Gulf and known as Fertile
Crescent which formed the cradle of civilisation.

THE ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE OF WEST ASIATIC

DEVELOPED FROM 3000 B.C. TO 330 B.C. IN THE
FOLLOWING PERIOD -

Early Sumerian (3000 2000 B.C.)

Old Babylonian ( 2016 1595 B.C.) Neo
Babylonian (626 -539 B.C.)
Assyrian (1859 626 B.C)
Persian (750 330 B.C)

SUMERIAN PERIOD

INTRODUCTION

THE SUMERIANS WERE PEOPLE WHO LIVED IN

MESOPOTAMIA (ANCIENT IRAQ)
THE LAND BETWEEN THE RIVERS TIGRIS AND
EUPHRATES.
GENTLY UNDULATING LAND AND LOW LYING HILLS.
ABSENCE OF STONE, METALS AND TIMBER.
MUD BRICKS IN DRY MASONRY REBUILDING OVER
DEBRIS.
AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOURAL TENDENCIES, THREAT OF
ATTACKS, EMERGENCE OF STRONG LEADERSHIP
SKILLS.
DISCOVERY OF SEALS AND OTHER OBJECTS INDICATES
FAR REACHING TRADING NETWORK
IRRIGATION VIA DAMS TERRACING OF UNDULATING
LAND FOR CULTIVATION.

THEIR ARCHITECTURAL ACHIEVEMENTS ARE URBAN

PLANNING, THE COURTYARD HOUSE, AND ZIGGURAT STEP
PYRAMIDS.
THE SUMERIANS WERE AWARE OF 'THE CRAFT OF BUILDING'
THEY THOUGHT CRAFT AS A DIVINE GIFT TO MEN BY THE
GODS.
ZIGGURATS WERE HUGE PYRAMIDAL TEMPLE TOWERS
HAVING THE FORM OF A TERRACED STEP PYRAMID OF
SUCCESSIVELY RECEDING STORIES OR LEVELS.
THERE ARE 32 ZIGGURATS KNOWN. TWENTY-EIGHT OF THEM
ARE IN IRAQ, AND FOUR OF THEM ARE IN IRAN.
NOTABLE ZIGGURATS INCLUDE THE GREAT ZIGGURAT OF UR
NEAR NASIRIYAH, IRAQ, THE ZIGGURAT OF AQAR QUF
NEAR BAGHDAD, IRAQ, CHOGHA ZANBIL IN KHZESTN,
IRAN.
SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE BECAME AS FOUNDATION FOR THE
BABYLONIAN, PERSIAN, ISLAMIC, HURRIAN, UGARITIC,
ASSYRIAN, AND TO A CERTAIN EXTENT WESTERN
ARCHITECTURES.

THIS SMALL OBJECT

5 X 6 , MADE
OUT OF SOFT STONE,
IS THE HEAD OF A
EWE
OR
FEMALE
SHEEP CARVED BY A
SUMERIAN
SCULPTOR, PERHAPS
IN
URUK,
MORE
THAN 5000 YEARS
AGO WHEN SUCH
ANIMALS
WERE
ESSENTIAL
TO
HUMAN SURVIVAL.
WE
NEED
TO
IMAGINE THE ENTIRE
FIGURE, ITS BODY
INTACT,
AND
SO
STANDING 2 TO 3
HIGH AND HAVING
ABOUT THE SAME
LENGTH.

SCULPTURAL
IMAGES
ARE
MORE
FORMALLY ABSTRACT THAN THE EWE,
THEIR UPPER AND LOWER TORSOS WEDGE
SHAPED, LIKE THE CHARACTERS OF
SUMERIAN CUNEIFORM WRITING, AND
THEIR MOST STRIKING FEATURES ARE
EXTREMELY
PROMINENT
EYES
AND
RITUALLY FOLDED, ALMOST WRINDING
HANDS, SEEMILGLY EXPRESSIVE OF A
CERTAIN
ANXIETY. STRUGGLED WITH A
THE SUMERIANS
HOST OF INSECURITIES IN A LAND WHERE
NATURE, PARTICULARLY THE WEATHER,
VACILATED
WILDLY
BETWEEN
BENEVOLENCE AND MALEVOLENCE.

SUMERIAN
STATUETTE, TELL
ASMAR 2900 2600
BCE
MADE OF GYPSUM
INLAID WITH SHELL
& BLACK

AS MOST SUMERIAN
BUILDINGS WERE MADE
OF SUN DRIED MUD
BRICK, MUCH OF
SUMERIAN
ARCHITECTURE IS
KNOWN BY ITS
FOUNDATIONS & LOWER
SECTIONS OF WALLS.
ROOFS WERE
FABRICATED FROM LIGHT
WEIGHT WOODEN
RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
MEMBERS OR REED
ACROPOLIS, TEPE GAWRA,
BUNDLES THAT SPANNED
SUMER 3800 BCE
URBAN COMMUNITIES DEVELOPED AROUND LIMITED DISTANCES, SO
RELIGIOUS SHRINE, THE DWELLING PLACES THERE WERE NO LARGE
OF THE GODS AND THE REPOSITORIES OF INTERIOR SPACES.
SURPLUS FOOD STORES, LEADING TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF MONUMENTAL TEMPLE
IN BOTH SUMERIAN &
COMPLEXES AT THE HEARD OF SUMERIAN LATER MESOPOTAMIAN
CITIES.
ARCHITECTURE,
IMPORTANT BUILDINGS
ERIDU WAS THEIR OLDEST CITY ITS
WERE GIVEN
ORIGINAL MODEST SHRINE WAS
ADDITIONAL DURABILITY
SUCCESSIVELY ENLARGED TILL ABOUT 3800 BY HAVING WEATHER
BCE.
RESISTANT CASINGS
FORE THE MUD BRICKS,
TEPE GAWRA, ~500 MILES TO ITS NORTH,
AND WERE RAISED ON
FEATURED AN ACROPOLIS WITH 2 TEMPLES, ARTIFICIAL PLATFORMS
A SHRINE & DWELLING HOUSES. ITS MAJOR IMPARTING THEM
BUILDINGD FORMRD A U SHAPED OPEN
GREATER DIGNITY.
COURT, THEIR FASCADES ARTICULATED BY
BUTTRESSING PILASTERS THAT
STRENGTHENED THE MUD BRICK WALLS.

THE WHITE TEMPLE AT

URUK IS BUILT ON A 40
HIGH BASE OF RUBBLE
FROM EARLIER BUILDINGS.
IT HAS A PROTECTIVE COAT
OF WHITEWASH OVER THE
SLOPING EARTH WALLS
COVERED WITH SUN DRIED
BRICK. TEMPLE AT
WHITE
URUK, MESOPOTAMIA
3500 3000 BCE

 UR

IT WAS THE IMPORTANT SUMERIAN CITY STATE

LOCATED NEAR THE MODERN TOWN OF NASIRIYA IN
SOUTHERN IRAQ.
IT STOOD ON AN OPEN PLAIN AND MADE UP OF IMMENSE
BRICK WALLS.
ONE STRAIGHT STREET AND BOTH SIDES 3- 4 STOREY
HOUSES. EACH STREET RAN TO THE RIVER.

WALLED CITY OF UR,

MESOPOTAMIA
2100 BCE

PLAN OF THE
RESIDENTIAL
QUARTERS

THE HOUSES OF THE ORDINARY POPULATION WERE SET IN DENSLY

PACKED NEIGHBOURHOODS. PLANS WERE ROUGHLY ORTHOGONAL, AND
HOUSES WERE CONSTRUCTED AROUND OPEN COURTYARDS THAT
PROVIDED LIGHT AND VENTILATION. THE HOUSES PRESENTED A BLANK
WALL TO THE STREET, THEREBY MAINTAINING PRIVACY.

Original ht ~ 70
Base = 200 x 150

Shorter flights led to the

2nd and 3rd terraces, to
which only his priests
were allowed to ascend.

ZIGGURAT AT UR (RECONSTRUCTED)
2100 BCE
IT IS ONE OF THE BEST PRESERVED ZIGGURATS.
THE POPULATION FLOW COULD OBSERVE THE
PRIESTLY PROCESSIONS UP THE SUCCESSIVE
FLIGHTS OF STAIRS TO THE TEMPLE ON THE
UPPER MOST PLATFORM
MAIN FEATURE: LEVELS, PILASTERS & PARAPETS.

3 LONG STAIRWARS CONVERGED AT

THE TOWER GATE AT THE LEVEL OF
THE FIRST PLATFORM

ITS CORE IS SUN DRIED BRICK, OVERLAID WITH

AN OUTER LAYER OF KILN FIRED BRICK AND
BITUMEN , AS PROTECTION AGAINST WEATHER.
(SOMETIMES BITUMEN, REED MATTING OR ROPE
WAS USED FOR BONDING THE MUD BRICKS.
FROM A RECTANGULAR BASE THE ZIGGURAT
ROSE WITH BATTERED OR INWARD SLOPING
WALLS IN A SERIES OF STEPPED PLATFORMS,
CULMINATING A HIGH TEMPLE AT THE TOP.
A FLIGHT OF STEPS SET IN THE CENTER OF ONE
SIDE AFFORDED ACCESS TO THE TEMPLE.

 ASSYRIAN
ARCHITECTURE

IN 1830 BCE, THE VIGOROUS INDO-EUROPEAN

HITUTES OVERRAN BABYLON AND TOOK OVER
NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA. FARTHER SOUTH, THE
SEMITIC SPEAKING ASSYRIANS TOOK CONTROL
AND ESTABLISHED CAPITALS. STRONGLY
FORTIFIED CITADELS BUILT FOR EACH CAPITAL
REFLECT THE ASSYRIANS RELENTLESS WARRING
AS WELL AS THE RUTHLESS CHARACTER OF THEIR
KINGS.

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE
PALACE
KHORSABAD
FORTIFIED WALLS ENCLOSE THE
PALACE. THE ROYAL AUDIENCE HALL
WAS REACHED THROUGH A
SEQUENCE OF COURTYARDS AND
SMALLER CHAMBERS.
THE CEREMONIAL ROUTE LEADING
FROM THE SOUTHEAST ENTRY TO
THE THRONE ROOM IS CIRCUITOUS
INVOLVING 3 CHANGES IN
DIRECTION.
THE STEPPED ZIGGUARAT IS A
SMALLER VERSION OF THOSE FOUND
IN MESOPOTAMIA

ZIGGURAT
TEMPLE
BUILDINGS

THRONE
ROOM
STATE
COURT

ENTRANCE
COURT

PLAN OF THE PALACE,

KHORSABAD,
ASSYRIA (IRAQ) 720 BCE

Proto-Ionic Column

Proto-Ionic Capital from Assyrian Sculptur

Proto-Corinthian Capital from

Assyrian Sculpture.

PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE

PRESIPOLIS
AMONG THE MOST
SIGNIFICANT REMAINS
AT PERSEPOLIS ARE:
THE GATE OF ALL
NATIONS
APADANA PALACE
THE THRONE HALL
PALACE OF DARIUS
PALACE OF XERXES

PLAN OF THE PALACE AT

PRESEPOLIS, PERSIA (IRAN)
518 BCE
THIS GREAT COMPLEX WAS
CREATED BY AT LEAST 3
PERSIAN MONARCHS AS ONE
OF THE CAPITALS OF THE
PERSIAN EMPIRE. ITS RUINS
REVEAL
ARCHITECTURAL
INFLUENCES
FROM
OTHER
CULTURES IN MESOPOTAMIA,
NOBLY THE HITTITES AND
ASSYRIANS, AS WELL AS THE

Column from
Persepolis,
East and West
Porticoes

Column from
Persepolis, North
Portico

BABYLONIAN
ARCHITECTURE

At the beginning of 19th century B.C. Amorites a nomadic tribe

from Syrian desert founded their first Dynasty in Babylon
gateway of the God (old Babila), bab meaning gate and ili
of the god.

The city had a circumference of at least 18 km . It was surrounded by

a canal acting as a moat . It was also protected by huge rampart
walls which were more than 86 km in length and provided with

Each eight gateways was protected by different gods, the

main palace and gate were dedicated to Ishtar, the goddess
of Love and Battle.

There were
Hanging Gardens
(600 B.C.) built by
King
Nebuchadnezzar.
His wife was home
sick for the hills and
woodlands of her
native country.
They occupied an
area of 275 m x
183m and situated
near the Euphrates
river, in the great
palace of
Nebuchadnezzar.

The terrace
gardens plated
with flowers and
trees with the
beautiful fountains
were 25m to 100m
above the ground .
Water stored in
the reservoir on
the top and
supplied through
pipes .
The Greeks described them as one of the seven
wonders of the ancient world.

 WRITE SHORT NOTE ON : Ziggurats ( with sketches)

Hanging garden of Babylonian ( with
sketches)
Planning of palace of khorsahbad ( with
sketches)