WESTERN ASIATIC ARCHI TECTURE.

INFLUENCES.

i. Geographical.
ii. Geological.
iii. Climate.
iv. Religion
v. Social and Political.
vi. Historical.

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER.

EXAMPLES.

Western Asiatic Architecture can be divided into three tolerably distinct periods :

(a.) The first or Babylonian (Chaldaean) period (B.C. 4000 (?) 1290).

(b.) The second or Assyrian period (B.C. 1290-538).

(c.) The third or Persian period (B.C. 538-333).

THE FIRST OR BABYLONIAN PERIOD

 temple-biiilding epoch
- Temple of Birs-Nimroud was dedicated to the seven heavenly spheres.
- temple at Khorsabad.

Palace of Sargon, Khorsabad

Date: (B.C. 722-705) between 717 and 706 BC and abandoned after his death in
705 BC.

Designer/Builder: King Sargon II

Architectural details: its various courts, chambers, and corridors occupies 25 acres.

Present status: preserved remains at the khorsabad courtyard

Influences: radical decision of king to assert authority

Construction method
King Sargon II died in a bloody battle in 705 BC and his body was never found. The mystery of his
disappearance led to fears of divine punishment, so his son and successor, King Sennacherib, decided to
establish his capital in Nineveh, where he was already acting as regent. He abandoned work on the
unfinished city of Khorsabad, and the site was gradually forgotten, not to be rediscovered until the
pioneering excavations conducted in 1843 by Paul Émile Botta, the French vice-consul in Mosul. This
marked the beginning of Mesopotamian and Near Eastern archaeology. The excavation of Khorsabad led
to the rediscovery of a lost civilisation, known only from the Bible and other ancient texts. Some of
Botta’s finds were exhibited at the Louvre, where the world’s first Assyrian museum was inaugurated on
1 May 1847.

Palace of Sennacherib, Nineveh,

Date: B.C. 705-681,

Designer/Builder:

Architectural details:

Present status:

Influences:

Construction method

Persepolis,

Hall of Hundred Columns,

Hypostyle Hall of Xerxes

Susa

Tomb of Darius, Naksh-i-Rustam,

Hypostyle Hall of Xerxes

Date: (B.C. 485)

Designer/Builder

Architectural details: originally had seventy-two black marble columns, 67 feet in height, arranged in a
somewhat novel manner supporting a flat roof.

Present status:

Influences:

Construction method

Babylonian (Chaldæan) Period: ( 4th millenium BC - 1290 BC)

a.) Tower of Babel

As described in the bible, this structure may have been built in Babylon around 600 BC by King
Nebuchadnezzar II to "rival heaven"

Tower of Babel: Genesis 11:1–9 - Built in Shinar after the Deluge. Babylonians sought glory by
constructing a city and a tower to the heavens. God disrupted the project by confusing
languages, leading to dispersion of people worldwide.

b.) Hanging Gardens

Hanging Gardens of Babylon, ancient gardens considered one of the Seven Wonders of the
World and thought to have been located near the royal palace in Babylon.
They were also described as having been watered by an exceptional system of irrigation and
roofed with stone balconies on which were layered various materials, such as reeds, bitumen,
and lead, so that the irrigation water would not seep through the terraces.

c.) Ishtar Gate

Built during the reign of the king Nebuchadnezzar II. The Ishtar Gate, serving as the eighth gate
to Babylon's inner city, had a dual purpose – practical functionality and symbolic grandeur.
Adorned with vibrant blue tiles depicting dragons and gods, it aimed to impress and intimidate
visitors, showcasing Babylon's wealth and power under King Nebuchadnezzar II around 575
BCE.

Enormous burnt-brick entryway located over the main thoroughfare in the ancient city of
babylon.

The Ishtar Gate was more than 38 feet (12 meters) high and was decorated with glazed brick
reliefs, in tiers, of dragons and young bulls

Estimated that there were 120 lions along the street, and 575 dragons and bulls, in 13 rows, on
the gate.