West Asiatic

Architecture
Group 2: Baldonado, Brosas,
Cruz, Gorostiza, Lamento,
Rodil
 West Asiatic Architecture
has been divided into
three tolerably distinct
periods :
⬗ The Babylonian
(Chaldaean) period (c.
B.C. 4000-1275).
⬗ The Assyrian period (B.C.
1275-538).
⬗
2
 Babylonian
(Chaldaean)
Period
(c. B.C. 4000-1275)

3
 Babylonian art and architecture are
inseparable from other Mesopotanian studies.
Both the cultural background of earlier periods
in southern Mesopotamia and the parallel
history of Babylonia’s northern neighbor,
Assyria, are intimately linked and highly
relevant to Babylonian cultural practices of
all kinds.
 The geographical component is also fluid,
since the nature and extent of Babylonian
culture and its influence beyond the
Babylonian heartland and strong Babylonian
influence in the arts of other areas inevitably
varies considerably over time. The entire
period is literate, and detailed historical
information is available.

5
 Hanging Garden
of Babylon
were the fabled gardens
which adorned the capital
of the Neo-Babylonian
Empire, built by its
greatest king
Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605-
562 BCE). One of the
Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World, they are
6
7
 Ishtar Gate
was constructed by the
Babylonian King
Nebuchadnezzar II circa
575 BCE. It was the
eighth gate of the city of
Babylon and was the
main entrance into the
city and was part of
Nebuchadnezzar's plan to
8
beautify his empire's
9
 ZIGGURAT
One of the most
important aspects of
Babylonian religion and
tradition. Were a huge
"stepped" structures with,
on their summit, far
above the ground, a
temple. This Temple
would have been to the
10
11
 Tower of Babel
⬗ in biblical literature,
structure built in the
land of Shinar
(Babylonia) some time
after the Deluge.
⬗ The Book of Jubilees
mentions the
tower'sheight as being
5,433 cubits and 2
12 palms, or 2,484 m
13
 The
Assyrian
Period
(B.C. 1275-538).

14
 Assyrians of Northern Mesopotamia took the principles of design

“
established by their Sumerian predecessors.
During the Assyrian Empire's historical span from the
25th century BCE to 612 BCE, architectural styles 
went through noticeable changes. Assyrian
architects were initially influenced by previous
forms dominant in Sumer and Akkad.
However, Assyrian structures eventually
evolved into their own unique style.

15
 They used brilliant coloring in their architecture,
and sculptured decorations in relief as well as free
standing objects. Assyrian temple-platforms
resembled flattopped stepped pyramids. Also
inscriptions and reliefs produced under the Assyrian
Empire depict structures with
octagonal and circular domes, which were
unique to the region at the time.
Their architectural materials in the Assyrian
empire were quite diverse, consisting of a
variety of woods, stones, and metals.
16
 Temples
Ziggurats in the Assyrian Empire
came to be built with two towers (as
opposed to the single central tower
of previous styles) and decorated
with colored enameled tiles.
Contemporaneous inscriptions and
reliefs describe and depict structures
with octagonal and circular domes,
unique architectural systems for the
17 time. Its base is measuring 198 feet
 Dur-Sharrukin
Building plans remained rectangular through
much of the empire's history. The fortress of
Sargon II (reigned 722–705 BCE) at Dur-Sharrukin,
or Khorsabad, was the best known. Consisting of a
stone foundation punctuated by seven gates, the
fortress housed
the emperor's palace and a ziggurat among
massive 
load-bearing walls with regularly spaced towers. 
The city was almost a perfect square
(1.76 x 1.635 kilometers / 1.09 x 1.02 miles).
18
 The Persian
Period
(B.C. 1275-538).

19
 • Their architectural solutions were a synthesis ideas gathered
from almost all parts of their empire and from the Greeks
and Egyptians.
• Their materials of construction was also from different
locations.
• Material included mud-brick from Babylon, wooden roof
beams from Lebanon, precious material from India and
Egypt, stone columns quarried and carved by Ionic Greeks.
• Despite sourcing materials and ideas from different areas,
their architecture was original and distinctive in style.

20
 Palace of Persopolis
• Persian architecture achieved its greatest monumentality at
Persopolis and was constructed as a new capital for the Persian
Empire.
• It is set along the face of a mountain levelled to create a large
platfrom (1800 ft. by 900 ft.).
• It was surrounded by a fortification wall.
• The site was more than half covered by buildings.

21
 Palace of Persopolis Plan
22
 THREE PARTS OF PALACE PERSOPOLIS :
1. An approach of monumental staircase, gateways, and avenues.
2. Two great state halls towards the center of the platform.
3. The Palace of Xerxes, the Harem, and other living quarters at the
south end of the site.
• Structurally, the building relied on a hypostyle sheme
throughout.
• Some of the spaces were very big and generally square in plan.
• The spaces were enclosed by mud brick walls.
• The most impressive aspect of the palace was the royal audience
hall.
23
24
 • The royal audience hall was a square 250 ft. in length.
• It contained 36 slender columns widely space and 67 ft. high.
• The columns had a lower diameter of only 5 ft.
• The centers of the columns were spaced 20 ft. or 4 diameters
apart.
• The column was the greatest invention of the Persians.
• The columns were fluted and stand on inverted bell shaped
bases.

25
 • Their capital combine Greek motifs with Egyptian Palm Leaf
topped by an impost of paired beast.
• Another famous aspect of the Palace at Persepolis was the throne
room.
• This was also known as hall of a 100 columns.
• The columns in the room were 37 ft. high, with a diameter of
only 3 ft.
• They were spaced 20 ft. apart or seven diameters from axis to
axis.
• The slim nature of the column created room and spacious
feeling in the room when compared to the audience hall.
26
27
 • The monumental entrance to Persepolis is also one of the
unique aspects of the palace.
• The monumental gateway ensure a dramatic entry to the palace.
• It was heavily adorned with relief sculpture ornamenting its
stairway.
• The relief structure addresses different themes relating to the
role of Persepolis as the capital of the Persian Empire.
• In some places, the sculpture shows delegates from the different
parts of the Persian bringing gifts and rare animals to the King
during celebrations.

28
29
 • In some places, royal guards and nobles of the imperial court are
shown.
• Elsewhere, the king is seen in conflict with animals or seated
beneath a ceremonial umbrella.
• Some columns supporting the halls of the great halls have
survived.
• The mud brick fabric of the palace and its enclosing walls have
perished completely.
• Only the sculptures which adorn doorways or windows and
openings and the relief ornamenting its entrance way remain.

30
31
 Influences on
West Asiatic
Architecture

32
 Geographical
• The earliest civilisation of
Western Asia flourished in the
fertile plains of the twin rivers
called Tigris and Euphrates.

• Geographically speaking,
Babylonia and Assyria were
one country which ancient
writers called Assyria
33
 ⬗ The plain of Mesopotamia (Gk. mesos =
middle + potamos = river) was irrigated
by canals from river to river, and thus
the land became fertile enough to
support the immense populations round
Nineveh and Babylon.
⬗ It was also decribed as “a land of corn
and wine, a land of bread and vine-
yards, a land of oil, olive, and honey,"

34
 ⬗ Alluvial district of thick mud and clay
deposited by two great rivers. Such
soil, in which no stone was found and
no trees would grow, was suitable for
making bricks, which became the
main and usual building material in
Babylonia.
⬗ Alluvial soil - a fine-grained fertile
soil deposited by water flowing over
flood plains or in river beds

35
 ⬗ Chaldea - crude, sun-dried bricks faced with kiln-burnt and
glazed bricks of different colours.
⬗ Assyria - Plenty of stone in the mountains but followed
Babylonians in the use of bricks.
⬗ Persia - Hard colored limestones which were used in the
building of Susa and Persepolis, and roof-timbers were
obtained from Elam on the west, while Persian tiles have
always been world - famous for their beauty of texture and
color.

36
 Persian Tiles Bricks in Ishtar Gate
37
 Climatic
• Chaldaea was, by reason of its situation round 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
and by swarms of aggressive and venomous insects. Therefore
elevated platforms, on which to build towns and palaces, were
not only desirable, but essential.

38
 • Assyria, nearer the mountains and farther from the river
mouths than Chaldaea, had a similar climate, although with
fewer swamps and less miasma, but any climatic difference had
little effect on architecture, as the Assyrians followed the
Babylonian style. The dry, hot climate of the high table-land
of Persia was in striking contrast to the damp of the low-lying
plains of Mesopotamia, and it accounts for the innovation of
open columned halls in the palaces at Susa and Persepolis.

39
 • Persia has been described as a country of
sunshine, gardens, and deserts, with a
climate ranging between extremes of heat
and cold. The astronomer-poet of Persia,
Omar Khayyam, though writing in the
eleventh century of our era, indicates the
national love of beauty as developed under
the influence of climatic environment.

40
 Religious
Chaldea - Reading the stars, of
divination, and of interpreting the
will of the gods, and for these
astrologer-priests the towering
ziggurats were erected
Ziggurat of Ur - Ancient temple to
the Moon God Nanna.
Ziggurat of Ur

41
 • Assyria - Superstition and
symbolism everywhere
prevailed and it is evidenced in
the man-headed bulls, placed
as beneficent genii at palace
entrances to ward off evil
spirits. The Assyrians, in striking
contrast to the Egyptians, were
not great tomb-builders, as they Palace Gate of
had not the same strong belief Nimrud
in a future life. Winged human-headed bulls, the
powerful guardians of ancient
42 Assyrian gateways.
 • Persia - The primitive religion of Persia, which betrays the
influence of Babylon and became incorporated in the religion of
Zoroaster, was a system of ethical forces and represented good
and evil at war from the beginning of time. There appears to
have been a tendency towards monotheism and to a belief in the
final triumph of good. Fire was held by Zoroaster 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.

43
 Social
• Chaldea - In Babylon a powerful priestly
class arrogated to itself all the learning
known as " Chaldaean wisdom," and "
medicine men " or physicians were
included in the priestly ranks.Cuneiform
or wedge-shaped characters on clay tablets
or cylinders have proved more lasting
than the Egyptian records on perishable
papyrus, and among them are accounts of
the proceedings in Babylonian law courts
and endless business documents.
44
 • Assyria - A military autocracy with a conscript army was the
dominating class, and Assyrians were fighters and sportsmen
rather than traders. Irrigation and agriculture also occupied the
Assyrians, and they built palaces on raised platforms by the work
of captive slaves.Assyrian wall sculptures portray social conditions
and form an illustrated history of the battles and exploits of
monarchs ; there is little reference to religion, with its sacrificial
rites, on the delicately incised slabs, which are devoted to war
and the chase, and the trail of cruelty is over them all.

45
 • Persia - The Persian domination was due to the military
superiority of this hardy, upland race, which gradually imposed
Persian civilisation on Western Asia under the rule of the
Satraps. They were soldiers all ; land-owners as horsemen, and
people as infantry. The traditions were now modified by
Egyptian and Greek craftsmen who migrated to this new world-
empire, of which Babylon continued the winter residence of the
Kings ; while Susa was the capital, because Persepolis was too
remote for government. The erection of royal palaces gave
ample opportunity for the development of Persian architecture
and decorative art.
46
 Historical
⬗ Babylonian period - An early Sumerian king, Eannatum,
seems to have brought about the first union of Babylonian
cities, while the earliest Babylonian king of whom we hear is
Sargon of Akkad. The great king Khammurabi established
the domination of Babylon, and formulated his " Code of
Laws." The Babylonian power declined later under the attacks
of Hittites and Kassites, until in B.C. 1700 Assyria became a
separate kingdom.

47
 • Babylonian period - An early Sumerian king, Eannatum,
seems to have brought about the first union of Babylonian
cities, while the earliest Babylonian king of whom we hear is
Sargon of Akkad. The great king Khammurabi established
the domination of Babylon, and formulated his " Code of
Laws." The Babylonian power declined later under the attacks
of Hittites and Kassites, until in B.C. 1700 Assyria became a
separate kingdom.

48
 • Assyrian period - The Assyrians next conquered
Babylonia and remained the great military power of
Western Asia until the destruction of Nineveh.

Sargon, most famous of Assyrian kings, was the first to

defeat the army of the Egyptians, and like many a
conqueror, ancient and modern, he was also a great
builder, as is testified by his magnificent palace at
Khorsabad, and by his buildings at Calah and Nineveh.

49
 Palace of Sargon II
50
 Nebuchadnezzar II is famous for the
destruction of Jerusalem and for the
Babylonian captivity, and is lastingly
associated with the wonders of Babylon,
its palaces, hanging gardens, and towered
walls.
After a short series of weak rulers,
Babylon itself, under Belshazzar, to
Palace of Nebuchadnezza
whom the prophet Daniel interpreted the
writing on the wall, was captured by the
Persian King Cyrus.
51
 Persian period - After the capture of
Babylon, Cyrus made war on Croesus, King of
Lydia, and then the Greek colonists in Asia
Minor fell under the rule of Persia. Cambyses,
his son, extended the Persian conquests to
Egypt, and there seems no doubt that the
impression produced by the marvellous
buildings of Memphis and Thebes caused the
introduction of the column into Persian
architecture, though in the somewhat
grotesque form seen in the halls of Susa and
Persepolis.
52
 Darius, who carried Persian arms into Europe as far as the Danube.
He also hankered after Greece, and in B.C. 494 captured Miletus,
destroying the famous Ionic temple.
Under Alexander the Great Western Asia became a Greek
province. Persia, however, after Alexander's death, passed under the
Seleucid and Sassanian dynasties, and after the Arab conquest there
arose various Perso-Mahometan dynasties which made Bagdad a new
capital of great magnificence.

53
 The ruins of the Temple of
Apollo at Didyma
54