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Mesopotamia
Sumer
Assyrian, Babylonian, Persian Architecture
Region in southern Mesopotamia where independent
cities and city-states were formed as early as 5000 Influences
BCE -Developed in the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Eridu, Uruk and Ur are archeological sites
-Assyria and Babylon experience floods and heavy
Sumerian Architecture rains, resulted in the conversion of soil to clay to
produce bricks
-Developed by the Sumerians from 4th – 3rd
millennium BCE -Persia uses timber and colored limestone because of
rare experience of rain
-Characterized by monumental temples of Sun-dried
Brick -Mesopotamia experience floods and heavy rains,
which resulted in building of ziggurats
-Built upon the ruins of their predecessors
-Persia experience hot and dry climate which resulted
Sumerians in building of open type temples
-Cuneiform system of writing -Mesopotamians were superstitious
-Kish, Uruk, and Ur are the major cities of Sumerian -Polytheistic
Civilization
-Believed that good triumphs in the end
-Mud was their building material, sun-dried, and built
into massive walls -Babylonians have the highest degree of civilization
among the three
Ur
-Assyria and Persia believed in military superiority
-Enclosed with walls and it is manifested in their buildings
-Ziggurats and palace are in the center Babylonian Empire
-Made up of residences mixed with commercial and -Most powerful state in the ancient world after the fall
industrial buildings of the Assyrian Empire
- Densely packed houses with narrow streets – Assyrian Empire
fronted by courtyard houses (1 story)
-Ancient Mesopotamian Kingdom and empire
Uruk 3300BC
-As early as 25th Century BC
-a.k.a. Warka, population of 40k covering 2 square km
Neo-Babylonian Period
-Iraq is derived from Uruk
-a.k.a Second Babylonian/Chaldean Empire
Oval Temple Khafaje (2600BC)
-last of the Mesopotamian empires ruled by native
-named because of the oval walls monarchs
Ziggurat Persian Empire
-Built with mud bricks -Series of imperial dynasties centered in Persia/Iran
-6th century BC Achaemenid Empire era to 20th -Two or more Stages Ziggurat -Rectangular in plan
century AD Qajar dynasty era with several tiers or stages
Ex: The Ziggurat Nimrod Tower, 604-562 BCE
-Seven Stages square base Ziggurat
Characteristics and Features Ex: Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, which has the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, 720-540 BC
Persian Empire
City of Babylon
-Columnar and
-City with towers and 100 Bronze gates
Trabeated – made using post and lintel construction
Ishtar Gate (approx.. 575 BC)
-Flat timber roof, sometimes domed
-King Nebuchadnezzar II ordered its construction
Assyrian and Babylonian Architecture
-Dedicated to the goddess Ishtar
-Arcuated type of construction
-Constructed with glazed brick and alternating rows of
ARCH
dragons
VAULT – Series of arches
Hall of a Hundred Columns (approx.. 470-450 BC)
BUTRESSES – support a building
-Started by Artaxerxes I and finished by Artaxerxes
-Glazed tile adornment Makrocheir

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS -Persepolis’ 2nd largest Building

-Massive -became a store room

-Monumental Palace of Sargon, Khorsabad

-Grand -Entrance is flanked by statues of headed winged

bulls and lions
ZIGGURAT
-700 Rooms
-resembling pyramids w/ terraced levels
Important Parts of the Palace
-accessible only by stairways
-Seraglio -King’s residence, men’s
-Symbolizes a link between the gods and humankind apartment, reception courts
*higher=closer to the gods* -Harem -Private family apartments, Women’s
-Served as a shelter from floods quarter

-“Holy Mountains”, Square in plan with steeply -Khan -Service Chamber, Moslem “inn” for
battered sides and an open flat form on top containing travelers
the fire altar Palace Platform Persepolis
3 types of Ziggurat Contains the ff.
-Archaic Ziggurat -one flat top rectangular mound -Palace of Darius
Ex: White Temple at Warka, 3517-3358 BCE -Palace of Xerxes
-Hypostyle Hall of Xerxes Openings
-Hall of a Hundred Column -Babylonian and Assyrian Doors are usually Semi
Circular (see Ishtar gate)
-Propylaea – Entrance Hall Design by Xerxes
-Persian Doors are spanned by lintels and use of
Ziggurat of Ur Nammu (Tell el-Muqayyar)
monster prior to doorways
-Administrative center of the city
Monster – Religious
-Shrine of the moon god Nanna
-Protectors
-Started 2050-2030 BC
Windows
-Finished 2030-1980 BC
-Babylonians and Assyrians do not use windows
Ziggurat of Tchoga-Zanbil Elam (Khuzestan Province,
-Persian windows are spanned by lintels
Iran)
Roofs
-Ancient Elamite Complex
-Usually flat externally, and in some cases, tunnel
-one of the few Ziggurats outside mesopotamia
vaults and domes are used
-Constructed approx.. 1250 BC
Columns
Mesopotamian Comparative Analysis
-Babylonians and Assyrians Have no columns
Plans
-Persian Columns are features
-Babylonian palaces and temples were built on
-High molded base
artificial platforms 30’ above the plan
-Fluted shafts
-grows in several tiers
-Bracket form of topmost capitals were of
-angles to the cardinal points, same with Assyrians
twin bulls, dragons, or sometimes human heads
and Persians
Ornaments
Cardinal Points – North, South, East, West
-Assyrian and Persian ornaments have the monster
Walls
planking entrance portals
-Sun-dried Bricks, kiln burnt
-Mural decoration by polychrome bricks, blue, yellow,
-Assyrians and Persians also use Sun-Dried Bricks and green relief stabs
finished with Polychrome
Sun Dried Bricks
-last major method of Adobe Construction
-can be hand formed, but made with rectangular
molds
-left to dry in the sun
-joined together by a mud mortar of the same
composition, then covered by a mud plaster.

Pre-Columbian
-a.k.a. Mesoamerican Architecture
-public, ceremonial, and urban monumental buildings
and structures
Geographical Influence
Important areas:
Central Mexico, including part of the gulf of Mexico
coast and the Oaxaca Region, Yukatan Peninsula,
southern Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala
Climatic Influence
Upper Region – dry High plains
Other Regions – in tropical conditions and
impenetrable rain forest
Geological Influence
-Stone is abundant
-Northern Yukatan – Limestone
-Mexico – Volcanic rock of various types
Tezontli -Porous stone ranging from black to crimson
Adobe Brick – sun-dried clay
Forests of the southeast furnished excellent
hardwoods
OLMEC (1300 BCE)
-Earliest Civilization of Mesoamerica
-located in the hot and swampy lowlands
-large cities that are center for religious rituals
-carved colossal stone head
-monumental sacred complexes, massive stone
sculptures, ball games, drinking of chocolate, animal
gods
-identified with 17 huge stone heads, ranging from
1.47-3.4 meters, with flat faces and full lips, wearing
helmet-like headgear – generally thought that these
are Olmec rulers.
- “Baby faced” figurines – referred as were-jaguars
MAYA
-Developed from the Olmec civilization
-Developed the great Maya culture of the Yucatan
region
-Pre-classic
-Classic
-Post-Classic
-Represented by Chichen Itza
-Group of city states ruled by a king
-Polytheistic
Influences
3 different sub areas
-Northern Maya Lowlands in the Yucatan Peninsula
-Southern lowlands in the Peten District of northern
Guatemala
-Southern Maya Highlands, southern Guatemala
Political and social Structure
-Cities were built around a central pyramid
-Pyramids are topped with a shrine to the gods
-City states are governed by a hereditary ruling class
Ball games
-ritually and politically significant to Maya culture
Toltecs
-Founded Tula and extended influence into Maya
territory
Aztec
-Founded the twin capitals Tenochtitlan and
Tlatelolco, Present day Mexico City
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
Temple Pyramid
-Most important building type
-entered by a single door
-Mexican examples had tall false fronts of wood,
decorated with symbols with the connected god
-Roofs were flat, windows were not used
-Doorways were square-headed
-internal walls are decorated with mural paintings
Maya Arch
-Corbelled arch of triangular shape
Classic Maya
Cities of stone
Pyramids
-Stepped pyramid shape decorated with elaborate
reliefs and inscriptions
Fall
-unknown
-3 theories: overpopulation, endemic warfare, drought
City Layout
-Important public buildings like temples, palaces and
the ball court are in the center
-Residential areas radiated out of the city, growing
sparser the further they got from the center
Homes
-Maya kings lived in stone palaces near the temples
-common Maya lived outside the city center
-Maya tend to build a mound or base and building
upon it
Temples
-stone with platforms on top where wooden or thatch
structures can be built
-tended to be pyramids
-elaborate stone carvings and glyphs
-Built with astronomy in mind, aligned with the
movements of venus, sun and moon
Palaces
-large multi-storied buildings
-made of stone with wooden structures on top, roofs
were made of thatch
-has courtyards, other structures possibly homes,
patios, towers, etc.
Ball Courts during a ritual dance ceremony, Cuauhtemoc took
over as emperor and drove away the Spaniards,
-ceremonial ball game is an important part of Maya
Cortez mounted an offensive against Tenochtitlan and
life
won. Cortez razed Tenochtitlan and built Mexico City
-rectangular with sloped walls on either side on its ruins.

-prominently placed on Maya cities ARCHITECTURE

Aztecs City layout

-originated as a nomadic tribe in northern Mexico -Tenochtitlan was built around their public plaza

-Arrived in Mesoamerica in the beginning of the 13th -plaza is surrounded by temples, shrines and
century pyramids

-capital city – Tenochtitlan -on the outskirts were Aztec homes, ball courts,
gardens and farming land
-a dominant force in central Mexico
Palaces
-arrived after the fall of the Toltecs
-very large courtyard and had 2 stories, gold panels,
-drained swampy land, constructed artificial islands, paintings and carvings cover the walls
which they could plant gardens – 1325 AD
-numerous rooms
Aztec Civilization
-large staircase located in the center of the grand
6-12 million people by 1500 home
Aztec emperor Chinampas
-ruled over the Aztec empire, self-claimed to be divine -artificial islands created by building up extensions of
People soil into bodies of water

-made up of commoners, indentured workers and -had ditches between them, giving plants access to
slaves water and making crops grown independent of rainfall

-men were to be warriors, while woman’s role was to -separated by channels large enough for canoes to
stay at home pass

Women
-allowed to own and inherit property and enter
contracts
-wove textiles and raised children
-can be priestess
MIDDLE AMERICA ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLES
Fall
Pyramid of the Sun
-*rough summary*
-part of an important complex centered on a broad
Cortez arrived in Tenochtitlan, they were greeted as
avenue 3km
honored guests due to their resemblance with
Quezalcoatl, Spaniards murdered thousands of Aztec -4 stages
-square in plan
-approached from the west by a broad stairway
Citadel, Teotihuacan
-large court surrounded by terraced platforms
Temple I (Temple of the Giant Jaguar) Tikal
-classic Maya temple pyramid
-base is 34mx29.8m in plan
Rises 10 stages to a height of 30.5m
-approached by a single steep flight of steps
-total height of 47.5m
PERU
3 types of stones – general use for important
buildings
-Black andesite
-Yucay limestone
-Diorite porphyry
Influence
-cultivation of crops was difficult
-steep valley sides were terraced into andanas,
complex irrigation systems
-wheel was unknown, llama was domesticated and
employed for agricultural purposes and transport
-Alpacas were important to Peruvian economy, long
hair was used for textiles
-skillful in working of gold, silver, and copper and their
alloys
-advanced civilizations existed in peru before the first
millennium bc
-under the Incas, religion and state were independent
ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS
-Adobe Brick -basic building material in the coastal
region
-Adobe brick were made in a variety of shapes at
different periods – conical, hemispherical, cubic forms
-Sometimes gabled roofs
-Minimum openings
-several houses belonging to different membes of a -steep slopes were terraced with masonry retaining
family were grouped around a central courtyard, a walls
typical village is made up of a number of these
compounds
-in highlands, simple buildings are constructed with
rubble, sometimes bonded with clay
-public buildings and fortifications – dressed stone
was used in a variety of forms
-Walling-edges of stones were beveled and their
faces dressed into a cushion-llike form
-stones were fitted with great precision
-public building roofs were covered with thatch, and Gate of the Sun, Tiahuanaco
corbelled stone roofs were sometimes used
-one of the most important monuments of the great
Inca ceremonial site in the Titicaca basin
-Incan state was built on war -cut from a single andesite
-each region has a governor who answered to the -approx. 3m high and 3.8m wide, estimated weight of
emperor 10 tons
-Inca built roads to unify their people -there is a carved formalized representation of the
god Viracocha
-there were rest houses and storage depots along
with bridges -flanking the central figure are 48 small rectangular
beliefs depicting figures running towards the god
-reached its height in 1400s CE
-Great builders
-Machu Picchu – 8000 ft above sea level
-Urubamba River – river below Machu Picchu
Defeat
-Spanish
-Smallpox
-Civil War
ARCHITECTURAL EXAMPLES
Machu Picchu
-late Inca town
-constructed of local stone, various types of walling
-Masonry gables – some buildings have small
trapezoidal doorway