HYDRAULIC

CIVILIZATIONS:
EGYPTIAN
ANCIENT NEAR EAST
ANCIENT
NEAR
EAST
5000 BC T0 AD 641
ANCIENT NEAR EAST

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTE
R
ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLES
FAMOUS ARCHITECTS
ARCHITECTURAL TERMS HOME
ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTER
ARCHITECTURAL STYLE
ROOF
INDIGENOUS MATERIALS
ORNAMENTATION
OUTSTANDING CONSTRUCTION
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
-MESOPOTAMIA
 STRUCTURAL CHARACTER
 ARCUATED
 theTRUE ARCH with radiating
VOUSSOIRS known by the third
millennium BC.
 COLUMNS WERE NOT USED due
to lack of stones
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
-MESOPOTAMIA
 ROOFS were usually flat outside,
except where domes protruded.
FLAT ROOFS
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
-MESOPOTAMIA
 INDIGENOUS MATERIALS USED:
 SUN-DRIED OR CLAY FIRED MUD
BRICKS
 PALM LOGS, REEDS & RUSHES
 CEDAR& TIMBER FOR
IMPORTANT BUILDINGS
MUDBRICKS
ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTER -
MESOPOTAMIA
 ORNAMENTATION:
 BURNT BRICK was used sparingly for facings or
where special stress was expected.
 WALLS WERE WHITEWASHED or, as with the
developed ziggurat, PAINTED IN COLOR.
 In palaces the alabaster PLINTHS or DADOES of
state courts and chambers bore low-relief carving
 the walls above them being painted internally
with bands of continuous FRIEZES on the thin
plaster coverings.
 FACING WITH POLYCHROME GLAZED BRICKS,
introduced by the Assyrians, was another mode of
decoration
WHITEWASHING
PAINTED FRIEZES
POLYCHROME GLAZED
BRICKS
ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTER -
MESOPOTAMIA
 LAYOUT – except for fortifications and the
ziggurats, BUILDINGS OF ALL TYPES WERE
ARRANGED ROUND LARGE AND SMALL COURTS,
the rooms narrow and thick-walled, carrying
brick barrel vaults and sometimes domes.
ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTER -
MESOPOTAMIA
 OUTSTANDING CONSTRUCTION
 TEMPLE COMPLEXES or ZIGGURATS
 TEMPLES – BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE
 PALACES – ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
-PERSIA
 STRUCTURAL CHARACTER
 COLUMNAR & TRABEATED
 FLAT TIMBER ROOFS rather than vaults served
as coverings, which allowed columns to be
slender and graceful.
 MUDBRICK WALLS for stability
 SMALL WINDOWS below ceiling level
 STONE and WOODEN COLUMNS used
 DOUBLE-BULL or DOUBLE-DRAGON CAPITAL
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
-PERSIA
 INDIGENOUS MATERIALS USED:
 SUN-DRIED OR CLAY FIRED MUD BRICKS
 TIMBER
 ORNAMENTATION:
 Many features showed foreig influence like
Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Syrian, Ionian and
Greek . Persians drew upon the superior skills of
the peoples of their conquered empire.
ARCHITECTURAL
CHARACTER –
MESOPOTAMIA & IRAN
 The architectural character of
the major buildings erected
both in Mesopotamia and Iran
exemplifies the two main
traditions of the Near East as
a whole: THE TRADITIONS OF
CLAY AND WOOD.
ARCHITECTUR
AL EXAMPLES
ARCHITECTUR
AL EXAMPLES
EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN 5000-2000 BC
ASSYRIAN & NEO-BABYLONIAN 1859-539 BC
EARLY ANATOLIAN & HITTITE 3250-117 BC
CANAANITE, PHOENICIAN & ISRAELITE 3250-587 BC
SYRO-HITTITE 1170-745 BC
URARTIAN 850-600 BC
PHRYGIAN 750-650 BC
MEDIAN & PERSIAN 750-650 BC
SELEUCID, PARTHIAN & SASSANIAN 312BC
– AD641
EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN
ARCHITECTURE
EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN
ARCHITECTURE
EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN
ARCHITECTURE
 ERIDU. It is
the first
significant
example of the
initial
association of
the
Mesopotamian
traditions in
architecture
with that of the
Sumerians.
TEMPLE XVI
EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN ARCHITECTURE
 TEMPLE XVI, the earliest temple to be uncovered in its
entirety, reveals the central feature of the typical
Mesopotamian temple, the CELLA or SANCTUARY, with
an altar in a niche and a central offering table with
traces of burning.
THE WHITE TEMPLE
EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN
 THE WHITE TEMPLE may be said to illustrate the
origin of the ziggurat, in the prehistoric
Mesopotamian temple set on its platform.

 TWO SEPARATE FUNCTIONS:

 RELIGIOUS - the recreation of a sacred mountain
in the flat alluvial plain
 secular - to provide a permanent reminder to the
populace of the political, social, and economic
pre-eminence of the temple
THE ZIGGURAT
PRECINCT OF UR
EARLY MESOPOTAMIAN
 THE ZIGGURAT PRECINCT OF UR
 The complex comprised the ziggurat and its
court, a secondary court attached to it, and three
great temples.
 The ziggurat carried the usual temple on its
summit, and had the normal orientation.
 Its sides were slightly convex, giving an added
effect of mass, with bold shallow corner
buttresses.
 WEEPER HOLES through the brickwork allowed
for drainage and the slow drying out of the
interior.
ASSYRIAN & NEO-
BABYLONIAN
ARCHITECTURE
THE PALACE OF SARGON
ASSYRIAN
ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE

 THE PALACE OF SARGON is a complex of large

and small courts, corridors and rooms, covering
23 acres.
 Each of the buildings raised upon a terrace, that
of the Palace of Sargon reaching to the level of
the town walls, and was approached by broad
ramps.
 The main entrance to the palace grand court
was flanked by great towers and guarded by
man-headed winged bulls, nearly 3.8 meters
high, supporting a bold, semi-circular arch
decorated with brilliantly colored glazed bricks.
 STATE
COURT COURT

THRONE ROOM

ZIGGURAT

TEMPLE
BUILDINGS
GRAND ENTRANCE
COURT COURT

COUR
T
SERVICE QUARTERS
MAIN ENTRANCE
COURT
 PALACE GATES

SARGON’S
DEATH LAMASSU
THE CITY OF BABYLON
NEO BABYLONIAN
NEO-BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE

 THE CITY OF BABYLON was rebuilt by

NEBUCHADNEZZAR after it had been
thoroughly destroyed by SENNACHERIB.
 Ithad an inner and outer part, each
heavily fortified.
 Between the main streets tiered
dwellings, business houses, temples,
chapels, and shrines jostled in lively
disorder.
NEO-BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE

 The principal sites lined the river

front, and behind them ran a grand
processional way, its vista closed on
the north by the ISHTAR GATE,
glowing in colored glazed bricks,
patterned with yellow and white
bulls and dragons in relief upon a
blue background.
NEO-BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE

Here were the PALACE-

CITADELS, and connected with
Nebuchadnezzar’s great palace
complex on the water side was
the marvel of the ancient world,
THE HANGING GARDENS, 275
meters x 183 meters overall.
 The central sites on the riverfront were occupied by the
chief temple of the god of the city, MARDUK, and at its
north, raised the associated ziggurat, the TOWER OF BABEL.


 The celebrated ziggurat appears to have been one

combining the triple stairway approach and massive lower
tier customary in early Mesopotamia, with upper stages
arranged spirally according to Assyrian practice.

 The plan was square, and there were seven stages in all,
the summit being faced with blue glazed bricks.
EARLY ANATOLIAN &
HITTITE ARCHITECTURE
EARLY ANATOLIAN &
HITTITE ARCHITECTURE
TEMPLE I BOGAZKOY
TEMPLE I BOGAZKOY
EARLY ANATOLIAN & HITTITE
EARLY ANATOLIAN AND HITTITE
ARCHITECTURE

 TEMPLE I, Bogazkoy is the largest and

oldest temple.
 Itconsists of a number of rooms arranged
round a central court, with cloister or
corridor access on two or more sides.
CANAANITE, PHOENICIAN
& ISRAELI ARCHITECTURE
CANAANITE, PHOENICIAN AND ISRAELI
ARCHITECTURE

 JERUSALEM. Nothing has survived of the

TEMPLE OF SOLOMON, built by Phoenician
craftsmen, with CEDAR BEAMS imported from
Lebanon.

 However, the excavations have revealed much

of the long and complex succession of defenses
of the city.
SYRO-HITTITE
ARCHITECTURE
SYRO-HITTITE
ARCHITECTURE
CITADEL OF ZINCIRLI
SYRO-HITTITE ARCHITECTURE
 CITADEL OF ZINCIRLI was OVAL IN PLAN,
standing centrally on a mound in a walled town,
which was completely circular.
 The construction of the citadel walls was typical
of the period in being TIMBER-FRAMED WITH
SUN-DRIED BRICK INFILL, standing on two
courses of cut masonry on rubble foundations.
SOUTH CITADEL GATE
URARTIAN ARCHITECTURE
FORTRESSES
TEMPLES
PALACES
URARTIAN ARCHITECTURE
URARTIAN ARCHITECTURE

 FORTRESSES were the most typical buildings so

far known in Urartu; many of them strategically
sited round Lake Van.
 TEMPLES are the most characteristic
manifestation of Urartian architecture. Their
original appearance must have resembled a
tall, fortified tower.
 PALACES. At Altintepe, situated by the
northwest frontier of Urartu, a palace has been
excavated with an audience hall, with six rows
of three columns having their superstructure of
mud-brick, not wood.
CITADEL OF VAN
THE TEMPLE AT ALTINTEPE

 The Temple at
Altintepe has a
colonnade
running round
the court in
which the
temple stands.
PALACE OF ARGISHTI I

 This is the most important Urartian palace known. It was

decorated with mural paintings in the formal court style
adapted from that of Assyria. This palace included a
throne room with two entrances and a courtyard with a
wooden gallery supported by fourteen wooden columns
on stone bases.
PHRYGIAN
ARCHITECTURE
PHRYGIAN ARCHITECTURE

 At GORDON, the Phrygian capital, the

architecture uncovered by excavations includes
houses built on the MEGARON PLAN.
 It had essential features of a front porch flanked
by ANTAE prolonging the line of the main walls,
and leading into a large room with a hearth at
or near its center.
 This was suited to the extremes of the Anatolian
climate.
MEDIAN & PERSIAN
ARCHITECTURE
MEDIAN AND PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE
MEDIAN AND PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE

 THE PALACE OF PERSEPOLIS

 The various buildings stood on a platform,

partly excavated faced in well-laid local stone
bound with iron clamps.

 The approach on the northwest was by a

magnificent flight of steps, shallow enough for
horses to ascend.
MEDIAN AND PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE

 A gatehouse by XERXES had mud-brick walls,

faced with polychrome bricks, and front and
rear portals guarded by stone bulls.

 A third doorway on the south led towards the

APADANA, a grand audience hall, with thirty-six
columns within six-meter thick walls.
King Darius I King Xerxes
Tomb of Artaxerxes II
 Columns of the lesser apartments had wooden shafts,
thickly plastered and decoratively painted, but those of the
Halls were of stone throughout.

 They have a character all their own, with molded bases,

fluted shafts and curious complex capitals with vertical
Ionic-like volutes and TWIN BULLS or DRAGONS supporting
the roof beams.
Gate of All Nations
SELEUCID, PARTHIAN
& SASSANIAN
ARCHITECTURE
SELEUCID, PARTHIAN AND SASSANIAN
ARCHITECTURE

 THE PALACE, FERUZ-ABAD

 Built of stone rubble faced with plaster, it has a deep,
open-fronted arched entrance leasing to three domed halls,
forming a reception suite, beyond which is a court
surrounded by private chambers.

 The domes are seated over the three large square halls
with the help of SQUINCH ARCHES thrown across the
angles, while the internal walls below them are ornamented
with niches having plaster ARCHIVOLTS.
THE PALACE, FERUZ-ABAD
THE PALACE, CTESIPHON
 The Palace, Ctesiphon is made of brick.

 The principal part surviving is a vast banqueting hall, open-

fronted, with flanking private wings screened by an
enormous wall.
 Made of brick

 ornamented with tiers of attached columns and arcades.

THE PALACE, SARVISTAN
 The Palace, Sarvistan was fronted by the typical deep
barrel-vaulted porches, behind which rose a beehive
dome, carried on SQUINCH ARCHES, marking the principal
apartment.
 The dome was pierced with openings for light and
ventilation.

ARCHITECTURAL
TERMS
ANTAE - a pilaster
terminating the
sidewall of a Greek
temple, with a base
and capital differing
from those of
adjacent columns;
also seen in Egyptian
temples

APADANA - is a large
hypostyle hall
ARCHIVOLT – the
mouldings on the face
of an arch, and
following its contour.

ARCUATED - a
building, building
system or style of
architecture, of which
the principal
constructive feature is
an arch
BARREL VAULT – a
continuous vault of
semicircular section.
Also called a tunnel
vault, wagonhead
vault, or wagon vault.

BATTLEMENT - a
parapet having a
series of indentations
or embrasures,
between that is raised
portions known as
merlons
BIT-HILANI - Syrian
porched house

BUTTRESS -a
mass of masonry built
against a wall to resist
the pressure of an
arch or vault
CELLA the chief
apartment of a
temple, where the
image of a god stood

CITADEL the chief

apartment of a
temple, where the
image of a god stood
, or in the case of a
siege, to supply a
final refuge
CYCLOPEAN MASONRY - is
a type of stonework built
with huge limestone
boulders, roughly fitted
together with minimal
clearance between
adjacent stones and no
use of mortar.

DADO - the portion of a

pedestal between its base
and cornice. A term also
applied to the lower
portion of walls when
decorated separately
DOME – a convex
covering, usually
hemispherical or
semi-elliptical over a
circular or polygonal
space

FRIEZE – a decorative
horizontal band, as along
the upper part of a wall in a
room usually decorated
with pictures, carving etc
HYPOSTYLE
HALL – a
pillared hall in
which the roof
rests on
columns
MEGARON – the
principal room of an
early Anatolian or
Aegean house

ORTHOSTATS –
courses of large
squared stones at
the base of a wall
SQUINCH ARCH - a
small arch built across
the interior angle of
two walls (usually to
support a spire)

VOUSSOIRS – the
truncated wedge-
shaped blocks
forming an arch
WEEPER HOLE –
a hole or pipe in a
wall to allow water to
run off.

ZIGGURAT – a high
pyramidal staged
tower, of which the
number of stages
rose from one to
seven in the course of
time.