Ziggurat of Tchoga Zanbil
The ziggurat stands at the site of the ancient city of
Elam, in today’s Khuzestan province in southwest Iran.
Built by Untash-Gal in 13th BC
Five tiers; the lowest, the shallowest
Base is 107 m; hieght is 53m
Flights of steps recessed in the mass
led to the first tier on the center on
the south-west side
Rest of the height was to be scaled on
the south east, the principal facade
Choga Zanbil was built around 1250
BCE by the king Untash-Napirisha to
honor the great god Inshushinak.
Before the ziggurat could be
completed, the king died and
construction of the complex was
abandoned. When the Assyrians
attacked Choga Zanbil six centuries
later, there were still thousands of
bricks stacked at the site.
The ziggurat is only a part of the
complex. There are also temples, a total
of eleven, dedicated to the lesser gods
at the site.
It is believed that king Untash-Napirisha
originally planned twenty-two temples,
which some scholars believe was an
attempt to create a new religious center.
Temple Complex, Ischali
2nd millennium BC
Terraced type without a ziggurat
Rectangular in plan with a large main
terrace court and upper one in which
the temple lay at right angles to the
chief axis
On the corresponding side of the main
court were two minor courts all were
lined with rooms
Application of plinth- or raised temple
base or platform in anticipation of
annual flooding
Temple Oval AT Khafaje
Northeast of Bagdhad was an unusual
complex dating from early Dynastic period
Within the ovals, the layout was rectilinear,
corner oriented to the four cardinal points
Consisted of three ascending terraces; the
lowest had many roomed building for
administrative or dwelling of the priest
Second terrace was with rooms used for
stories and workshops
Near the staircase was a sacrificial altar
Elsewhere were well and two basin for ritual
ablution
Sumerian masonry was usually mortarless
although bitumen was
sometimes used. Brick styles, which varied
greatly over time, are
categorized by period.
The favored design was rounded bricks,
which are somewhat unstable,
so Mesopotamian bricklayers would lay a row
of bricks perpendicular to
the rest every few rows.
The advantages to plano-convex bricks were
the speed of manufacture
as well as the irregular surface which held the
finishing plaster coat better
than a smooth surface from other brick types.
Royal Cemetery At Ur
Early Dynastic period
Displays best engineering skills of the
Sumerian architects
Used rough limestones
Rubble masonry
Roofed tomb with chamber with vault and
dome
Connecting doors were often spanned with
arch
 formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or
pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel
vault) along a given distance
corbel arch-”false
arch” is an arch-like
construction
method. Stones are EGYPTIAN
placed one on top of
the other where part Softstone:
of the lower stones Limestone, Sandstone, Alabaster

➢ Hardstone:
corbel arch-”false Granite, Quartzite, Basalt
arch” is an arch-like
construction *Timber, brick, clay and stone were
method. Stones are abundant. Metal was very rare
placed one on top of
the other where part Climate: spring and summer
of the lower stones
Walls not needed as door
and window silts allowed
Developed by the Assyrians daylighting; unbroken
Used for openings on wall to support upper walls provide protection
part of the structure from the heat of the sun
and provided a wall for
Composed of wedge-like stones (voussoir) their hieroglyphics.
and
a keystone at the center to lock the arch Hieroglyphics
The formal writing system used in Ancient
Egypt,
Dome on pendentive used for writing the Egyptian language.
•Dome- hemispherical structure evolved Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic
from the arch, usually forming a ceiling or and
roof alphabetic elements, with a total of some
•Pendentive is the term given to a 1,000 distinct characters.
construction element that allows a dome to
be placed over square or rectangular spaces Used to decorate many objects of cultic and
the Egyptians’ daily life use.

vaults
•Sumerians developed the earliest barrel
vault
• The earliest known example of a barrel
vault is found under the Sumerian ziggurat in
Nippur, Babylonia, dating from around 4000
BC, built of fired bricks connected by clay
mortar.
•A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault
or
a wagon vault, is an architectural element
Tombs:
Believe to be for permanence (eternity);
everlasting monuments; the omnipotence of
the Kings in the seen world.
Houses:
Believe to be for temporary stays
Temples:
Solemn and mysterious; the supremacy of
the Gods in the hidden world
OLD Kingdom
(3000-2130 BC; Dynasties 1-10)
MIDDLE Kingdom
(2130-1580 BC; Dynasties 11-17)
NEW Kingdom
(1580-332 BC; Dynasties 18-30)
OLD Kingdom
(3000-2130 BC; Dynasties 1-10)
Dynasties I-X
1. MENES The 1st Dynastic King and
founded the city of Memphis
2. MEMPHIS 1st Chief City of Egypt (heyday
of pyramid building III-VI)
3. THEBES 2nd Chief City of Egypt (dark
days)
I – II Hieroglyphic system being developed;
tombs were of the mastaba type
III Evolution of tomb to stepped pyramid
(stone)
IV Pyramid perfection (Giza)
V Pyramid building
VI Pyramid building
VII onwards: Political and social upheavals
MIDDLE Kingdom
(2130-1580 BC; Dynasties 11-17)
Dynasties XI-XVII
1. MENTUHETEP II In XI, reunited the
country: mortuary temple at Der el-Bahari
2. AMENEMHAT I In XII, consolidated the
administrative system; founded the Great
Temple of Karnak
“ Recovery from upheavals / renaissance “
NEW Kingdom
(1580-332 BC; Dynasties 18-30)
Dynasties XVIII-XXX
1. THOTMES I Commenced the additions to
Temple of Ammon, Karnak and with the
help of successive pharaohs, made it the
most imposing building in Egypt
2. HATSHEPSUT aka “The Queen Elizabeth
I” of Egypt built the funerary temple at Der
el-Bahari
3. AMENOPHIS III Erected the Colossi of
Memnon
4. RAMESES I Commenced the Great
Hypostyle Hall at Karnak
5. SETI I Son of Rameses I, continued the
works at Karnak
6. RAMESES II Rock Temples at Abu Simbel,
finishes the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak
REEDS, PAPYRUS, PALM
The pressure of the flat reed-and-mud roofs
against the tops of the wall reads may have
produced the characteristics of Egyptian
“George” cornice
Timber was used for better
buildings, in square, heavy vertical
plates, at the head and enframing
narrow panels, or in window-vents.
Palm logs, rounded on the
underside, were sometimes used
for roofs
Batter or slope
• Receding slope of a wall,
structure or earthwork
• The form of which is more
suitable to a structure of rushed
overlaid mud or puddled clay
• Promulgated by a royal decree
The distinct reminiscence of the
primitive reeds tied together, and
crowned with the lotus bud, is found in
the later granite column and capital.
Pillars represent a bundle of four reeds or
lotus stalks bound together near the top,
to form a capital, in imitation of a lotus
bud.
Sgraffito (means scratch)
• Incised plaster
• The surface of walls could not
be modelled or carved, but
their flat surfaces when b. Cult Temples
plastered, provided an 3. Obelisks
admirable field for decoration 4. Dwellings
and for instruction using
hieroglyphics. Mastaba
Flat –roofed, rectangular structure with
Pyramids inward sloping sdes, made out of
• The most extravagant mudbricks; “eternal house”
of all ancient buildings.
Cenotaph
Imhotep A symbolic tomb, honoring the dead but not
• The world’s first known architect containing the body.
• He designed Djoser’s Pyramid at Saqqara
to be made from cut stone. Sarcophagus
A box-like funeral receptacle
Hemiunu • Architect, engineer and for a corpse, most commonly
mathematician • Design and oversaw the carved in stone, and usually
construction of displayed above ground,
the Great Pyramid of Giza as a tomb for though it may also be buried
the Pharaoh Khufu.
Serdab
STEP, MEIDUM, BENT, GREAT The actual chamber

Temples Stele Upright stone slab with the

• The building decrease in name of the dead
height from front to back,
presenting a disconnected Royal pyramids
collection of various sized Surrounded by:
structures, often built at Offering Chapel - with a stele,
different times. usually at the E of the Pyramid (N)
Mortuary Temple - worship of the
Tombs dead and deified Pharaoh
• Consists in the planning of Causeway - raised and enclosed
their mysterious chambers connecting the P & VB
and corridors, which Valley Bldg. - embalmment and
covered with paintings interment rites
and hieroglyphics,
produce an effect of Examples:
gloom and solemnity on Step Pyramid of Zoser, Sakkara world’s first
the spectator. large-scale stone monument
Pyramid at Meydum 7-stepped structure
Classifications of Ancient Egyptian before becoming a true pyramid
Architecture Bent Pyramid of Senefuru has peculiarities
in angles
1. Tombs North Pyramid of Senefuru actual burial
a. Mastabas place of Senefuru
b. Royal Pyramids Great Pyramid of Cheops son of Senefuru;
c. Rock-Hewn Tombs largest at Giza
Pyramid of Chephren 2nd largest at Giza
2. Temples Pyramid of Mykerinos smallest at Giza
a. Mortuary Temples

Pyramid of Sahura, Abusir triple series
paired-stoned false arches which cover its
“Rock-Hewn Tombs are rare before the
Middle Kingdom, and even so, are at that
time, a type serving for the nobility,
rather than royalty; pyramids, though of
indifferent construction, remain the principal
form of royal tomb.”
(Fletcher, 1963)
Examples:
Tombs, Beni Hasan - about 39 (great
family)
Tombs of the Kings, Thebes - sarcophagi
at Seti I, Rameses III, IV, and IX
Mortuary Temples
“for ministrations to deified Pharaohs;
developed from the offering chapels of the
royal mastabas and pyramids, assuming
early performance and ever greater
importance.” (Fletcher, 1963)
Examples:
Temple of Mentuhetep, Der el-Bahari, Thebes
Temple of Hatshepsut, Del er-Bahari, Thebes
Temple of Seti I, Abydos
Ramesseum, Thebes
astride temple entrances, are huge
monoliths, square
on plan and tapering to an electrum-capped
pyramidion of the summit, which was the
sacred
part.”(Fletcher, 1963)
Dwellings
“Ordinary dwellings were of crude brick,
one or two-stories high with flat or
arched ceilings and a parapeted roof
partly occupied by a loggia.” (Fletcher,
1963)
Sphinx
A spiritual guardian and most often depicted
as a male
with a pharaoh headdress—as is the Great
Sphinx—
and figures of the creatures were often
included in
tomb and temple complexes.
Examples:
Great Sphinx of Giza – the largest
and oldest statue in the world

Cult Temples
“for the popular worship of the ancient and
mysterious gods.” (Fletcher, 1963)

Temple of Khons, Karnak, Thebes

Great Temple of Ammon, Karnak, Thebes
the grandest of all temples
Temple of Luxor
Temple, Island of Elephantine
Great Temple, Abu-Simbel the most
stupendous Temple of Isis on the island of
Philae
Temple of Horus, Edfu well-preserved
Mammisi Temple, Edfu God Isis
Temple of Hathor, Dendera
Temple of Sebek and Haroeris at Kom Ombo

“Obelisks, originating in the sacred symbol of

the sun
god of Heliopolis, and which usually stood in
pairs