MESOPOTOMIAN

CIVILIZATION
 MESOPOTOMIAN CIVILIZATION

• Mesopotamia (land
between rivers) is a name
for the area of the Tigris–
Euphrates river system,
corresponding to modern-
day Iraq, the north-eastern
section of Syria and to a
lesser extent south-
eastern Turkey and smaller
parts of south-western Iran.
Map showing the TIGRIS EUPHRATES
RIVER SYSTEM, which defines
Mesopotamia.
 PERIODIZATION
1) Pre & Proto history 4) Late Bronze Age -
-  Middle Assyrian Period
 Pre-Pottery Neolithic A
 Assyrian Empire
 Pre-Pottery Neolithic B
 Kassite Empire in Babylon
 Hassuna
 Bronze Age Collapse
 Samarra
 Ubaid Period 5) Iron Age -
 Urunk Period  Neo - Hittite
 Jamdet Nasr Period  Neo - Assyrian Empire
 Neo – Babylonian Empire
2) Early Bronze Age - 6) Classical Antiquity -
 Early Dynastic Period
 Persian Babylonia
 Akkadian Empire
 Seleucid
 Third Dynasty of UR
 Parthian Babylonia
 Early Assyrian Kingdom
 Osroene
3) Middle Bronze Age -  Adiabene
 Hatra
 Early Babylonia
 Roman Mesopotamia
 First Babylonian Dynasty
 Minoan Eruption 7) Late Antiquity -
 Persian Mesopotamia
 Arab Muslim Conquest of Mesopotamia
 MESOPOTOMIAN CIVILIZATION
• Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the
Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires, all native to the territory
of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-
Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires.

• West -Asiatic development

• Early sumerian (3000-2000B.C.)

• Old babylonian (2016 -1595B.C.) – Neo babylonian (626 -539B.C)
• Assyrian (1859-626 B.C.)
• Persian (750 – 330B.C.)
 LANGUAGE & WRITING
• The earliest language written in Mesopotamia was Sumerian. Along with
Sumerian, Semitic language were also spoken in early Mesopotamia.

• Akkadian, came to be the dominant language during the Akkadian

Empire and the Assyrian empires, but Sumerian was retained
for administration, religious, literary, and scientific purposes. Different
varieties of Akkadian were used until the end of the Neo-Babylonian
period. Aramaic, which had already become common in Mesopotamia,
then became the official provincial administration language of first the Neo
Assyrian Empire, and then the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Akkadian fell
into disuse, but both it and Sumerian were still used in temples for some
centuries. The last Akkadian texts date from the late 1st century .

• Early in Mesopotamia's history cuneiform script was invented. Cuneiform

literally means "wedge-shaped", due to the triangular tip of the stylus
used for impressing signs on wet clay. The standardized form of each
cuneiform sign appears to have been developed from pictograms.
• The study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture ARCHITECTURE
is based on available archaeological evidence,
pictorial representation of buildings, and texts on
building practices. Scholarly literature usually
concentrates on temples, palaces, city walls and
gates, and other monumental buildings, but
occasionally one finds works on residential
architecture as well. Archaeological surface
surveys also allowed for the study of urban form in Sumerian ziggurat

early Mesopotamian cities.

• Brick is the dominant material, as the material was freely available locally,
whereas building stone had to be brought from a considerable distance to most
cities.
• The Ziggurat is the most distinctive form, and cities often had large
gateways, of which the Ishtar Gate from Neo-Babylonian, decorated with
beasts in polychrome brick, is the most famous, now largely in the Pergamon
Museum in Berlin.
 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
• In the alluvial plains of the Tigris & Euphrates, stone & timber; suitable for
building were rare , or unobtainable except by importation.
• Clay was available in abundance, which was compressed in moulds & either
dried in the sun or kiln fired.
• For decorative work they used bricks glazed in different colours.
• Polychrome ornamental brick work is a special feature of this style and was
largely used in palace decoration.
• Besides massive towered fortifications, the outstanding constructions were
temple – complexes or palaces.
• Temples being typical of Babylonian Architecture & palaces of Assyrian.
Buildings were raised on mud-brick platforms, and chief temples had sacred
Ziggurats.
• Ziggurats are artificial mountains ,rectangular stages which rose in number
one to seven in course of Mesopotamian history.
 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
• In babylon due to the absence of stone ,the brick construction led to the
evolution of arch, vault and dome .
• the Assyrians unlike the Babylonians produced mural decorations.
• Palace gates were often flanked by imposing towers.
• The chief form of ornamentation was lotus flowers ,buds and band of
rosettes.
• The temples ,houses had rectangular plan and were built on high platforms
to protect them from heavy floods.
• Apart from the fortifications & the Ziggurats, buildings of all types were
arranged round large and small courts, the rooms were narrow & thick
walled, carrying brick vaults & sometimes domes.
• The roofs were usually flat outside, expect where domes protruded.
Essentially the true arch with radiating voussoirs having been known by the
third millennium BC.
• For want of stone, columns were not used, except in a few instances in late
Assyrian & Neo-Babylionian work.
 ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

• The Architecture of the Persians was columnar.

• The flat ,lighter timber roofs were supported by slender
columns which helped them to enlarge the rooms where
necessary.
• Persian columns had a moulded base, fluted shaft and
decorative capital with continuous vertical scrolls.
• Double walls were more common
• Doorways and windows were square headed .
• They used relief slabs for parapets and surface decoration
for lower portion of the buildings.
 Typical examples
1. SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city of Ur.
• Ziggurat of Ur-nammu
• Ziggurat of choga zanbil near susa
• Mari

2. BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city of Babylon
 Typical examples
3. ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city of ashur
• Palace of nimrud
• The city of khorsabad
• The city of nineveh

4. THE PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE

• The city of susa
• The palace of persopolis
 SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE
 Ziggurat of Ur-nammu(2125 B.C.)
• The Ziggurat of Ur”is a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat in present
day Iraq
• The ziggurat or holy mountain was erected by the
Mesopotamian king ur- nammu
• Man made structure ,Dedicated to the moon god nanna.
• Believed to be the link between earth and heaven.
• Rectangular plan 64m x 46m ,and over 30m high.
• Made of sun dried bricks in the inner core and outer burnt bricks
which was cemented with bitumen.
• Optical illusion was corrected.(main lines of the ziggurats were
built with slight curves)
Ziggurat of Ur
 SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE
 Ziggurat of Ur-nammu(2125 B.C.)
• had three terraces ,three stair ways led to each terrace.
• At the top was the temple dedicated to the moon god
nanna.
• A large courtyard surrounded the ziggurat.
• The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st
century BC by King Shulgi, who, in order to win the
allegiance of cities, proclaimed himself a god.
• During his 48-year reign, the city of Ur grew to be the
capital of a state controlling much of Mesopotamia. Many
ziggurats were made by stacking mud-bricks up and using
mud to seal them together.
 Ziggurat of Ur
• The ziggurat was a piece in a temple complex that served
as an administrative centre for the city, and which was a
shrine of the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur.

• The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st

century BC by King Shulgi, who, in order to win the
allegiance of cities, proclaimed himself a god. During his
48-year reign, the city of Ur grew to be the capital of a state
controlling much of Mesopotamia. Many ziggurats were
made by stacking mud-bricks up and using mud to seal
them together.
 THE PALACE AT MARI
• It was founded in the late third millennium & endured until its destruction by
Babylonian.
• This great building combined within its walls the functions of royal
residence, center for receptions & audiences, offices & a school for the civil
service, servants’ quarters & numerous store-rooms.
• The layout of the palace as a whole exemplifies the typical Mesopotamian
arrangement of rooms round a succession of courtyards, providing light, air
& means of access.
• Rooms must have been gloomy inside, but doorways were high and only
partially covered with matting, most of the palaces was probably of one
store only.
THE PALACE AT MARI
BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city of Babylon(beginning at 19th century B.C).
• Meaning gateway of the god.
• Circumference 18km.
• The city was surrounded by a moat.
• The city was protected by huge rampart walls which were
more than 86km in length.
BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city had the Hanging Gardens
• Built by king nebuchadnezzar
• Area 275m x 183m
• Situated near the Euphrates river.
• According to legend ,they were an annexe of the palace , a
series of terraces supported by arcades to the height of the
city wall from the bank of euphrates.
• The arcades were constructed with bricks and bitumen.
• The walls were about 6 to 7 m thick with passages between
them about 3m wide.
BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city had the Hanging Gardens
• The terraced gardens planted with flowers and trees, with
the beautiful fountains were 25m to 100m above the
ground.
• Water was stored in the reservoir on the top and supplied
through pipes to the gardens.
HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON
 Typical examples
3. ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city of ashur
• Palace of nimrud
• The city of khorsabad
• The city of nineveh
 THE CITY OF ASHUR

• This was the ancient religious and national center of Assyrian state, it was the
capital of the city on the bank of Tigris.
• It is built on a high rocky promontory above the Tigris, being surrounded during
the second millennium BC by a strong defensive wall.
• An outer wall was added in the ninth century BC with a further extension to
protect a residential suburb.
• The first shrine on the site of temple was dedicated to Ishtar, goddess of both love
& war, was built in early dynasty period.
• The double temple of Anu & Abad had twin ziggurats, with their related temples
spanning between them.
• There were further two temples without ziggurats & two enormous palaces, one
being primarily for administrative purpose.
 THE CITY OF NINEVEH
• The king Sennacherib founded the new capital at Nineveh in about 700BC to
replace the city that Sargon II built at Khorsabad.
• Nineveh is described as a gigantic city which took almost three days cross on foot.
The city had massive rampart about 11km. Long studded with fifteen huge gates
each guarded by the man-headed winged bulls, the symbol of Abad, the God of
thunder to frighten the enemies.
• Under Sennacherib, Nineveh emerged as the most splendid capital in the known
world.before the fall of Assyria, Nineveh was given an extra rampart along its
• Soon
vulnerable east side, but this was never finished.
• The city fell finally only after a prolonged attack by the Babylonians in 612BC, and
was never to rise again.
• Water supply had long been a major concern of the Assyrian Kings. They dug a
canal from the river Zab to irrigate the land close to Nimrud. Same time an arched
aqueduct of stone construction was built by Sennacherib at Jerwan.
THE CITY OF NINEVEH
 CITY OF NIMRUD
• The city was restored & enlarged by Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC), who made it
the capital of his kingdom.
• Ashurnasirpal II established his capital in Nimrud where he built a palace for
himself.
• The palace was divided in two separate parts known as Babanu & Bitanu wach of
which had a courtyard, the entrance door was elaborately decorated & flanked by
two man-headed winged bulls.
• The door then opened on to the throne rooms, the walls of which covered with bas-
relief showing the scenes of hunting & fighting.
• Behind the alabaster throne, a relief work shows the king worshipping a tree, a
sign of fertility of the Assyrians.
• There were private rooms besides the royal chambers – bitanu which were also
decorated with relief works containing the scenes of royal banquets where the king
enjoyed the music & dance.
• Excavations at Nimrud have been mostly within the citadel, which had an area
550mX320m, & was situated at the south-west corner of the outer town, whose
wall has a perimeter of not less than 7.5km, enclosing an area of 358 hectares.
CITY OF NIMRUD
 THE CITY OF KHORSABAD
• Sargon II founded the great capital city of Khorsabad. The city stood on a
rectangular plan 2.6 Sq.km.
• There are several office buildings including a temple. But the palace of Sargon II
was the most splendid structure, occupying an area of nearly twenty-three acres.
• It had a large & small courts, corridors and rooms & was approached by broad
ramp.
• The main gateway to the grand court was flanked by imposing towers an guarded
by the man-headed winged bulls as a symbol of Adad, the god of thunder.
• These bulls about 3.8m high supported the thick semi-circular arch opening,
4.35m wide, 6.5m high, which was lavishly decorated with the bricks glazed in
different colors.
• The palace was divided in three parts. On its wing there were six temples, three
large & three small & on its right-wing were service rooms & administrative offices,
and on its opposite wings, were residential quarters which were followed by royal
apartments.
• The royal apartments had dadoes nearly 2m high on which the king & his courtiers
were shown in high relief.
• At the end was throne room about 49mX11m terracotta gutters for drainage were
provided under the palace paving.
 THE CITY OF KHORSABAD

• The high plinths of the Temple courts were decorated with polychrome glazed
bricks. At one corner of the palace, there stood a Ziggurat on square base of about
45m side, rising seven tires to a height of 45m with the shrine at the top.

• It had a winding ramp 1.8m wide by which one could reach on its top, each of the
seven tires were painted in different colors
The city and palace at Khorsabad
THE PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE
• The city of susa
• The palace of persopolis
(Image 01)