West Asiatic Architecture

AR 120: History Of Architecture 1 2nd Qtr 2009-2010

TThS 9-1030, 1030-12 S413 Ealdama

West Asiatic Architecture Reference: History of Architecture by Sir Banister Fletcher, 17th ed.

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internally and externally, not with glazed bricks, but with alabaster or limestone slabs carved with low-bas relief and inscriptions. In Persia there were hard, colored limestones which were used in the building of Susa and Persepolis, and timber was used for the roofs while Persian tiles have always been famous for their beauty of texture and color.

Influences Geographical. Geographically speaking, Babylonia and Assyria were one country which ancient writers called Assyria. Just as the pyramids and early monuments of Egypt clustered first around the Nile, so in Chaldea the earliest building appear to have been at the mouth of the two famous rivers of Western Asia, the Tigris and the Euphrates. In Egypt civilization spread southwards from Memphis to Philas, whereas in Western Asia it advanced northwards from Babylon in Chaldea to Nineveh in Assyria, and thus in both countries it followed the natural course, inland from the sea. On the east of Babylonia and Assyria was ancient Persia, which, under Cyrus and Darius, extended over the high plateau of Iran from the Tigris to the Indus.

Geological. Babylonia or Chaldea is an alluvial district of thick mud and clay deposited by the two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Such soil, in which no stone was found and no trees would grow, was eminently suitable for the making of bricks, which thus became the usual building material in Babylonia. The walls were constructed of crude, sun-dried bricks faced with kiln-baked bricks of different colors. There were also bitumen springs to be found, and in early times not bitumen or pitch was used as cementing material, and mortar of calcareous earth in later periods. In Assyria there was plenty of stone in the mountains to the north, but the Assyrian followed the Babylonians in the use of brick; though they faced the walls

Climatic Chaldea was, by reason of its situation around the river deltas, a region of swamps and floods, besides which torrents of rain fell for weeks at a time, and these conditions were aggravated during the long summer by unhealthy, miasmic exhalations. Therefore elevated platforms on which to build towns and palaces were desirable. Assyria, nearer the mountains and farther from the river mouths than Chaldea, had a similar estimate but with fewer swamps and lesser miasma, but any climatic difference had little effect on architecture, as Assyrians followed the Babylonian style. The Dry, hot climate of the high table-land of Persia was striking contrast to the damp of the low-lying plains of the Mesopotamia, and it accounts for the innovation of open columned halls in the palaces of Susa and Persepolis.

Religious

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 West Asiatic Architecture

The polytheism of Babylonia and Assyria was variously expressed, in the worship of heavenly bodies, divisions of the universe, and local deities. The priests, as depositories of wisdom, arrogated to themselves the power of reading the stars, of divination, and to interpreting the will of the gods, and for these astrologer-priests the towering ziggurats or temple observatories were erected. The Babylonians and Assyrians were not great tomb builders as they had not the strong belief of the Egyptians in a future life. The religion of the Persians based on the teachings of Zoroaster, was a system of ethical forces, good and evil at war from the beginning of time, with a belief in the final triumph of good. Fire was held to be the manifestation of good, and fire worship needed no temples, but only altars for the sacrificial flame, and thus in Persia we must not look for temple remains, nor expect religion to have exercised much influence on architecture.

Social In Babylon, a powerful priestly class arrogated to itself the learning known as “Chaldean wisdom”. The degree of civilization reached by the Babylonians was extraordinary: they had an elaborate legal system, cities had rights and charters, there were feudal holdings, a system of police and even a postal service. They practiced a cuneiform system of writing on clay tablets which have proved more lasting than the Egyptian records on perishable papyrus. The Babylonians were primarily traders in origin and commercial life flourished. The people were divided into nobles with hereditary estates, a landless class of freemen, and lastly slaves, a social system that is not only Medieval but almost modern in some aspects.

In Assyria a military autocracy with a conscript army was the dominating class.

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The Assyrians were fighters and sportsmen rather than traders like the Babylonians. Assyrian wall sculptures form an illustrated history of the battles and exploits from monarchs; there is little reference to religion, with its sacrificial rites, on these delicately incised slabs, which are devoted to war and chase, and the trail of cruelty is over them all.

Towering ziggurats or temple observatories were erected for astrologer-priests who studied the stars

The Persian domination was due to the military superiority of this hardy, upland race, which gradually imposed its civilization on Western Asia under the rule of the Satraps. They were soldiers all; landowners as horsemen and people as infantry. It is therefore not surprising that the Assyrians and Persians erected lordly palaces in preference to stupendous temples and tombs. Here again, the colossal nature of building undertakings points to the social conditions that prevailed; for the thousands of prisoners taken in battle raised those enormous platforms on which the palaces of Nineveh, Babylon, and Persepolis were placed. It is estimated that 10,000 man labored for twelve years on the platform of Nineveh.

AR 120: History Of Architecture 1 2nd Qtr 2009-2010

TThS 9-1030, 1030-12 S413 Ealdama Historical The historical period is taken to begin c.3000BCE with the bringing to perfection of the art of writing and the full development of urban life; but as in the case of Egypt, the Mesopotamian civilization had been shaping many centuries previously. There are remains of important buildings that can be ascribed to an „archaic‟ stage, c.3500-300BCE. There are four main historical periods:

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of Memphis and Thebes caused the introduction of the column into Persian architecture, though in curious and grotesque forms. The Persians under Darius invaded the Greek mainland but they were defeated at Marathon (BC 490) and a season expedition under Xerxes was likewise defeated at Salamis and Platoea (BC 480-479). Under Alexander the Great (BC 333-323) Persia became a Greek province.

1. The Babylonian Period (BCE 3000-1250). Little is known of this period until about BCE 2500 when rivalry existed between the Babylonian cities. In BCE 2250 the great King Hammurabi established the domination of Babylon. The Babylonian power, however, later declined under the attacks of Hittites and Kassites, until BCE 1700 Assyria became a separate kingdom. 2. Assyrian Period (BC 1250-612). The Assyrians conquered the Babylonians in BC 1275 and remained the great military power of Western Asia until the destruction of Nineveh in BCE 606. Sargon, most famous of Assyrian Kings, defeated the Egyptians, and like many a conqueror, he was also a great builder, as is testified by his magnificent palace at Khorsabad. With incursions by the Medes decline set until in BCE 606, Nineveh was captured and destroyed, and the Assyrian Empire divided. The new Babylonian only lasted 70 years. 3. Neo Babylonian Period, (BC 612-539). Babylonian leader was Nabopolassar, a Chaldean. He was succeeded by his son, Nebuchadnezzar II (605-563 BCE) of bible fame, despoiler of Jerusalem and responsible for the captivity of the children of Israel from 597-538 BCE. He is lastingly associated with the wonders of Babylon, its palaces, hanging gardens and towered walls. The dynasty ended with Nabonidus, defeated by Persian King Cyrus in 539 BCE. 4. Persian Period (BC 539-331). The domination of Persia over Western Asia and her struggles for a further extension of power is reflected in her architecture. Persia conquered Greek colonists of Asia Minor and the recurring vertical scrolls in Persian column capitals is probably derived from Greek examples. The Persian conquest extended to Egypt and there seems no doubt that the impression produced by the marvelous buildings

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Architectural Character

Babylonian-Assyrian architecture is characterized by “Massiveness, monumentality and grandeur”. Grandeur was produced by the towering masses of palaces and stepped ziggurats which were planted on great platforms and approached by broad stairways and ramps.

The Persians continued the use of flanking monsters in doorways. The outstanding feature of Persian ornament is their mastery in the preparation and application of pure color to glazed bricks. The Persians, like the Assyrians, reserved to their ornament for special positions, in contrast to the Egyptians who spread it broadcast over their unbroken wall surfaces.

The Assyrian palace is designed for both internal and external effect, (in contrast to the Egyptian temple which, behind the massive entrance is surrounded by a plain, forbidding girdle wall.)

Twin bull capital from Persepolis, as restored by sculptor Donato Bastiani.

The system of construction used by the Assyrians is principally one of arch and vaults.

This column capital once supported a roof beam in the Apadana of Darius I (521-486 BCE.).

The arch is the principal feature and was formed by horizontal corbelled courses or with radiating vouissoirs using bricks. The Assyrians developed blocks of sufficient size to span wide openings. The Assyrians also developed the pointed arch which was employed as early as BCE 722 in the drain, under the palace at Khorsabad.

Comparative Analysis

Pointed arch and vault was developed by the Assyrians

Persian Architecture, like the Assyrian, Is principally one of royal palaces, but it is characterized by a “light and airy magnificence” in contrast with the ponderous solidity of Egyptian and the towering monumentality of Assyrian architecture. The style is columnar and trabeated with widely spaced columns. Persian columns were long and slender with highly moulded bases, fluted shafts and capitals of recurring vertical scrolls. Sometimes these columns were surmounted by twin bulls, unicorns, horses, griffins on the backs of which were placed the cross-beams of the roof.

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PLANS The Assyrians, who throughout this comparative table are taken to include Babylonians, erected temples and palaces on artificial platforms, reached by flights of steps, 30 to 50 ft. above the plain, for defense and protection against malaria. Halls and rooms grouped round open quadrangles were long and narrow, so as to be easy to vault. Ziggurats, which rose tower-like in diminishing terraces to the temple observatory at the top, had their angles to the cardinal points, thus differing from Egyptian pyramids whose sides were so placed. Assyrian buildings were designed for both internal and external effect, in contrast with Egyptian temples which, behind the massive entrance pylons, were enclosed by a plain and forbidding girdle wall which gradually decreased in height from front to back.

AR 120: History Of Architecture 1 2nd Qtr 2009-2010

TThS 9-1030, 1030-12 S413 Ealdama The Persians, like the Assyrians, placed their palaces on lofty platforms, often partly rock-cut and partly built-up, but the style of palaces at Susa and Persepolis was influenced by that of Egyptian temples, and the vast halls had widely spaced columns which suggest timber roofs, in contrast to the corridor-like, vaulted apartments of Assyrian palaces.

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OPENINGS Assyrian doorways were spanned by semicircular arches, here first met with as ornamental features, suitable to the nature of brick construction. At palace entrances the arches were enhanced by decorative archivolts of coloured bricks.

WALLS Assyrian walls were composite structures of sundried bricks faced with kiln-dried bricks, which contrast with the massive stone walls of the Egyptians and the solid marble walls of the Greeks. Palace walls were frequently sheathed internally with alabaster bas-reliefs which record military and sporting exploits.

It is to be noted that the pointed arch was employed as early as BCE 722 in the drains under the great palace at Khorsabad, and indeed Assyria seems to have been the original home of this feature.

External walls were plainly treated, sometimes with alternating vertical projections and recesses or with half-cylinders, and the top was often finished with battlemented cresting, while towers flanked palace entrances and occurred at short intervals along the walls. The Persians built their walls of brick, which as at Persepolis have crumbled away, but the massive stone blocks of door and window architraves and the broad stone stair-ways have in many instances withstood the ravages of time and weather. The highly glazed and coloured brickwork, as found at Susa and Persepolis was applied to give that surface finish to the walls which in Greece was obtained by polishing the surface of the marble to great brilliancy.

Windows were not in use, but light was admitted through doors and probably through pipe-holes in walls and vaults. The Persians used horizontal stone lintels for doors and windows, in contrast to the arches of the Assyrians, and some may still be seen among the ruins at Persepolis where large doorways are surmounted by cornices similar to the Egyptian gorge.

ROOFS Assyrian roofs were externally flat and were probably rendered waterproof by means of bitumen. As is still usual in the unchanging East, they were used as a resort in the cool of the evening and were concealed behind battlemented cresting. The houses of Babylon were vaulted, as at Khorsabad,

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and the dome was probably employed over small compartments owing to its suitability for clay and brick construction. Persian roofs, of which, however, none remain, were also flat and probably of timber; for at Susa and Persepolis they appear to have been supported on comparatively slender and widely spaced columns. COLUMNS The Assyrians could not have used columns, as in all the excavations no columns or even bases have been found; indeed in Assyrian architecture the brick-built tower, and not the column, is the outstanding feature. Columns may, however, have been used in smaller buildings, such as the little fishing pavilion which, as represented on a slab from Khorsabad, has columns with an early form of the Ionic scroll. The Persians on the contrary used columns, widely spaced and comparatively slender, as they had only to support the weight of timber and clay roofs, instead of ponderous stone slabs, as in Egypt. The Persians invented a most distinctive type of column with high moulded bases, fluted shafts, and capitals of recurring vertical scrolls. Sometimes these columns were surmounted by twin bulls, unicorns, horses, or griffins, on the backs of which were placed the cross-beams of the roof. This peculiar and somewhat grotesque treatment has been supposed to have had a timber origin in which the capital was formed either of a long beam or of a fork which was the simplest type of bracket capitals.

MOULDINGS Assyrians, like Egyptians, had no general use for mouldings, as their architecture was on too vast a scale for such treatment, and moreover the glazed

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tiles and marble slabs which protected the perishable brick walls were sufficient decoration without mouldings It is noticeable too that mouldings only came into general use after they had been evolved and standardised by the Greeks. Persians were susceptible to the influence both of Egyptian and Greek models, and allowed themselves much latitude in adapting and combining various motifs, and the conglomerate character of the style is nowhere more conspicuous than in their use and application of mouldings. There is at Persepolis a curious melange attributable to this dual source in which carved bases, moulded capitals, and Ionic-like volutes are combined with the Egyptian " gorge " cornice over doorways. ORNAMENT The Assyrians used as their chief architectural ornament chiselled alabaster slabs which show an extraordinary refinement of line and detail far superior to Egyptian carvings, and these, both in treatment and colouring, undoubtedly influenced Greek bas-reliefs. These slabs, some of which are in the British Museum, form an illustrated record of Assyrian pursuits. The well-known pavement slab from Nineveh, with rosettes, palmettes, and border of lotus buds and flowers, shows a decorative art, doubtless derived from Egyptian sources, but tempered by the art of Greece. The Assyrians displayed their skilled craftsmanship not only in stone carving, but also in bronze working, as shown in the gates of Shalmaneser II (B.C. 860– 825) which are in the British Museum. The external ornament of Assyrian palaces appears to have been concentrated around the main entrance, in the sculptured monsters which guarded the kingly threshold, and in the brilliantly glazed and coloured archivolt of the archway. The Persians continued the use of flanking monsters

AR 120: History Of Architecture 1 2nd Qtr 2009-2010

TThS 9-1030, 1030-12 S413 Ealdama to doorways, as in the Propylaea at Persepolis, and of carved dadoes to stairway walls. The outstanding feature of ornament as developed by the Persians is their mastery in the preparation and application of pure colour to glazed bricks, as in the " Archer " and " Lion " friezes from Susa, now in the Louvre Museum, Paris, or as in the bas-relief from Persepolis. Persians, like Assyrians, reserved ornament for special positions ; whereas the Egyptians spread it broadcast over their unbroken wall surfaces. The Greeks, as we shall see, followed the Assyrian method in concentrating ornament, allocated it to entablature, frieze, and pediment, and standardised it in the " Orders of Architecture," which, as regards the variation of detail, must be regarded from the point of view of ornament, though their raison d'etre is essentially constructive. Terms (used in this handout) Bas-relief. Ornament with a projection of a design from a plane surface less than half its threedimensional form; Columnar and Trabeated. Type of construction consisting of vertical columns supporting horizontal beams (as opposed to arcuated construction) Corbel. An incremented wall projection used to support additional weight, most commonly constructed of brick. Cuneiform. Early system of writing used by the Babylonians Flute. A channel of semi-circular, segmental section set parallel to each other.

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Vouissoir. A wedge-shaped block, normally of stone or brick, forming part of the structure of an arch. Ziggurat. Temple observatory erected for astrologer-priests who studied the stars

Significant Personalities and Structures

Nebuchadnezzar. King of Babylonia from 605 to 562 BCE. He was a tireless builder who made Babylon the most splendid city of its time. Ishtar Gate. Built by Nebuchadnezzar in honor of the Babylonian goddess of love and battle. Walls were clad from tope to bottom with glazed blue bricks decorated with yellow and white reliefs of dragons, symbols of their chief god Marduk. Bulls – symbols of the lightning god Adad. Overlooking the Ishtar gate rose the famous Hanging Gardens. Hanging Gardens – built during Nebuchadnezzar‟s reign, traces of these gardens were found in the form of a massive arched substructure, with thick layers of earth on the roof. In chambers beneath this Sargon. Military leader of the Akkadians who conquered Mesopotamia in 2300 BCE, he reigned for 56 years and created the first empire known to history; Darius. Persian king

Frieze. A decorative horizontal band; Gorge. projecting moulding especially used in Egyptian ornaments. Shaft. Main body or trunk of a column extending from the top of the base to the bottom of the capital.

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