WEST ASIAN ARCHITECTURE

SUBMITTED TO:-

AR. MOHD ARIF KAMAL

SUBMITTED BY:-MOHD FARZAN(12ARB557)MOHD WAQAR(12ARB558)

RELIGIOUS CONDITIONRELIGION DOMINATED THEIR LIFE. SPELLS WERE CREATED, MAGIC WAS LARGELY PRACTICED. THEY CARRIED MYSTERIOUS CEREMONIAL RITES, ALSO LOOKED AFTER MEDICINE, ASTROLOGY AND THUS INVENTED WITH UNLIMITED AUTHORITY IN ALL THE WISDOM OF AGE. GODS WERE THOUGHT TO RESIDE IN THE HEIGHT AND TO APPROACH THEM TEMPLES WERE BUILT ON ELEVATED PLATFORMS USUALLY PROVIDED WITH HOLY MOUNTAINS ‘ZIGGURATS’ WITH THE SHRINE AT TOP. EACH CITY HAD AT LEAST ONE ZIGGURAT. THE ZIGGURATS WERE AS IMPRESSIVE AS THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT.

CLIMATIC CONDITION

THE CLIMATE IS EXTREME SEVERE HOT IN SUMMER AND COLD IN WINTER. THE RAINFALL IS VERY SMALL. TO PROTECT FROM SEVERE HEAT COLUMNED HALLS AND PORTICOES WERE COMMON IN PERSIAN BUILDINGS. THE TWIN RIVERS TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES PRODUCED FLOOD HAZARD IN SUMMER DUE TO THE MELTING OF SNOWS. SO HIGH PLATFORMS WERE USUALLY PROVIDED FOR BUILDINGS TO PROTECT THEM FROM FLOODS.

LOCATION LOCATED IN AND AROUND THE VALLEY

OF TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS IN MODERN IRAQ.

AREA IS ALSO KNOWN AS MESOPOTAMIA OR LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS.

THE LAND HAD POORLY DEFINED EDGES.

THE LAND STRETCHES FROM MEDITERRANEAN TO EASTERN BORDERS OF PRESENT IRAN.

TO THE SOUTH AND WEST, IT FADES INTO THE ARABIAN DESERT.

TO THE NORTH AND WEST, IT FADES INTO THE PLAINS OF SYRIA. THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS SIT IN THE LAND AS

DOMINANT PHYSICAL FEATURE. THE RIVERS WERE UNPREDICTABLE, BEING SUBJECT TO

ALTERNATING FLOOD AND DROUGHT.

PERIOD: THE AREA WITNESSED THE EARLIEST RISE OF HUMAN

CIVILIZATION AROUND 4500 BC. TRANSFORMATION FROM PREHISTORY, TO VILLAGES AND CITIES

OCCURRED THERE. CIVILIZATION THERE LASTED FOR 5000 YEARS. THE CULTURES INCLUDE SUMERIAN, AKKADIAN, ASSYRIAN,

BABYLONIAN, AND PERSIAN.

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)

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 THEIR BUILDING MATERIAL. 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 CENTERS OF THE CITY.

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.

STREETS WERE FRONTED BY COURTYARD HOUSES OF ONE STORY HIGH.

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.

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.

MOST OF WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT WHAT EXIST ON TOP OF THE ZIGGURAT IS PROJECTION

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 NEBUCHADNEZZAR, 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.

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.

THESE WERE MODELLED IN RELIEF AND GLAZED IN OTHER COLORS.

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.

IT HAD ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES, BARRACKS, THE KING’S HAREM, PRIVATE APARTMENT ALL ARRANGED AROUND FIVE COURTYARDS.

THE PALACE IS ALSO PRAISED FOR ITS LEGENDARY HANGING GARDEN.

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.

DESPITE SOURCING MATERIALS AND IDEAS FROM DIFFERENT AREAS, THEIR ARCHITECTURE WAS ORIGINAL AND DISTINCTIVE IN STYLE.

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.

THE ROYAL AUDIENCE HALL WAS A SQUARE 250 FEET IN LENGTH.

IT CONTAINED 36 SLENDER COLUMNS WIDELY SPACE & 67 FEET HIGH.

THE COLUMNS HAD A LOWER DIAMETER OF ONLY 5 FEET.

THE CENTERS OF THE COLUMNS WERE SPACED 20 FEET OR 4 DIAMETERS APART.

THE COLUMN WAS THE GREATEST INVENTION OF THE PERSIANS.

THE COLUMNS WERE FLUTED AND STAND ON INVERTED BELL SHAPED BASES.

THEIR CAPITAL COMBINE GREEK MOTIFS WITH EGYPTIAN PALM LEAF TOPPED BY AN IMPOST OF PAIRED BEAST.

ANOTHER FAMOUS ASPECT OF THE PALACE AT PARSEPOLIS WAS THE THRONE ROOM.

THIS WAS ALSO KNOWN AS HALL OF A 100 COLUMNS.

THE COLUMNS IN THE ROOM WERE 37 FEET HIGH, WITH A DIAMETER OF ONLY 3 FEET.

THEY WERE SPACED 20 FEET APART OR SEVEN DIAMETERS FROM AXIS TO AXIS.

THE SLIM NATURE OF THE COLUMN CREATED ROOM AND SPACIOUS FEELING IN THE ROOM WHEN COMPARED TO THE AUDIENCE HALL.

THE MONUMENTAL ENTRANCE TO PARSEPOLIS IS ALSO ONE OF THE UNIQUE ASPECTS OF THE PALACE.

THE MONUMENTAL GATEWAY ENSURE A DRAMATIC ENTRY TO THE PALACE.

IT WAS HEAVILY ADORNED WITH RELIEF SCULPTURE ORNAMENTING ITS STAIRWAY.

THE RELIEF STRUCTURE ADDRESSES DIFFERENT THEMES RELATING TO THE ROLE OF PARSEPOLIS AS THE CAPITAL OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.

IN SOME PLACES, THE SCULPTURE SHOWS DELEGATES FROM THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE PERSIAN BRINGING GIFTS AND RARE ANIMALS TO THE KING DURING CELEBRATIONS.

IN SOME PALACES, ROYAL GUARDS AND NOBLES OF THE IMPERIAL COURT ARE SHOWN.

ELSEWHERE, THE KING IS SEEN IN CONFLICT WITH ANIMALS OR SEATED BENEATH A CEREMONIAL UMBRELLA.

SOME COLUMNS SUPPORTING THE HALLS OF THE GREAT HALLS HAVE SURVIVED.

THE MUD BRICK FABRIC OF THE PALACE AND ITS ENCLOSING WALLS HAVE PERISHED COMPLETELY.

ONLY THE SCULPTURES WHICH ADORN DOORWAYS OR WINDOWS AND OPENINGS AND THE RELIEF ORNAMENTING ITS ENTRANCE WAY REMAIN.

THANK YOUREFERENCE:-SIR BANISTER FLETCHERG.K. HIRASKER