MODULE 1

Prehistoric and Ancient Architecture

HOA
History of Architecture
EXAM SUBJECT WEIGHTS
▪30%: History and theory of architecture; principles of
planning; architectural practice
▪30%: Structural design; building materials and
construction; utilities
▪40%: Architectural design and site planning
History
A systematic, often chronological narrative of
significant events as relating to a particular people,
country, or period, often including an explanation of
their causes.
Course Outline
▪ MODULE 1: Prehistoric and Ancient Architecture
▪ MODULE 2: Classical Architecture and the Western
Succession
▪ MODULE 3: Architecture in Asia and the Pacific
Region
▪ MODULE 4: Architecture in the Philippines
MODULE 1
Prehistoric and Ancient Architecture
Module 1 Overview
1.1 Prehistoric Architecture
1.2 Mesopotamian Architecture
▪ Sumerian
▪ Babylonian
▪ Assyrian
▪ Persian
1.3 Egyptian Architecture
1.4 Minoan Architecture
 Prehistoric
Architecture
A map of early human migrations.
Early Dwellings
■ Shift from nomadic, hunter-gatherer system to a
combination of farming and hunting.
■ Domestication of animals and plants.
■ Created societies of villages near caves or along
shores and streams.
Rock caves
Earliest form of human settlement.
Lascaux Cave
Lascaux, France.

A cave in France containing wall

paintings and engravings of Paleolithic
humans thought to date from c. 13,000-
8,500 BCE.
Built shelter
■ Primitive lifestyle was nomadic.
■ Temporary shelter were designed in direct
response to climate, local materials, and hunting
patterns.
■ Built with limited investment in time and energy.
Tipi
A portable Indian shelter.
Beehive hut
Kerry, Ireland.

A clochán is a stone beehive-shaped

hut with a corbelled roof, commonly
associated with the Irish coastline.
Trullo
Alberobello, Bari Province.

A traditional rendered stone dwelling in

Apulia, southern Italy, in which square
chambers are roofed with conical
vaulted roofs.
Wigwam
An American Indian dwelling, usually of
round or oval shape, formed of poles
overlaid with bark, rush mats, or animal
skins.
Hogan
A Navaho Indian dwelling constructed
usually of earth and logs and covered
with mud and sod.
Igloo
An Eskimo house, usually built of
blocks of hard snow or ice in the shape
of a dome, or when permanent, of sod,
wood, or stone.
Religious Structures
Villages were connected by shared mortuary and
goddess ritual centers.
Megaliths
Ancient stone monuments.

After people started sharing community

life, they began turning their attention
to architecture that celebrated the
spiritual and the sacred.
Their tombs and temples imitated
nature in gigantic forms resembling
mountains and other landscape
formations.
Menhir
Monolith; A prehistoric monument consisting of
an upright stone, usually standing alone
but sometimes aligned with others in parallel
rows.
Kerloas Menhir
Brittany, France.
Dolmen
From the words daul, a table, and maen, a stone; A
prehistoric monument consisting of two or more
large upright stones supporting a horizontal stone
slab or capstone, and usually regarded as a tomb.
Kilclooney
County Donegal, Ireland.

It utilizes trabeation, the most basic

construction system for structures.
It consists of vertical supports called
posts that hold up horizontal elements
called lintels.
Goindol
Gochang, South Korea.

The Gochang, Hwasun and Ganghwa

Dolmen Sites are the location of
hundreds of stone dolmen in Korea. The
sites were designated as a World
Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000.
Variations
Cove Trilithon
Three standing stones, A structure consisting of
two on the sides and one two upright stones
at the back. supporting a horizontal
lintel.
Cromlech
A circular arrangement of megaliths
enclosing a dolmen or burial mound.
Stone Circle
Avebury, England

These stone circles were associated

with burials, others with cremation.
They also worked as celestial
observatories that were meant follow
the movements of the moon and stars,
as would have been typical for early
agrarian-based societies.
Stonehenge
Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England.

A megalithic monument consisting of

four concentric rings of trilithons and
menhirs centered around an altar stone.
It is believed to have been used by a
sun cult or for astronomical
observations.
Tumulus
An artificial mound of earth or stone, especially
over an ancient grave. Also called barrow.
Etruscan necropolis of Banditaccia at Cerveteri.
Early Cities
■ Ice Age to the Neolithic Age; the earth’s climate
warmed up.
■ As settlements became more permanent,
hunters started farming communities.
■ New architecture was also developed to
represent communal and spiritual values.
Fertile Crescent: An early, dense network of cities and villages.
Jericho
Aerial view showing the ruins of Tell es-
Sultan. Jordan.

■ One of the world's oldest

continually-inhabited city.
■ A hilltop city; citizens lived in
stone houses with plaster floors,
surrounded by high walls and
towers.
Khirokitia
Cyprus.

■ One of the earliest Neolithic

village.
■ Utilized a complex architectural
system built according to a
preconceived plan, suggesting a
structured social organisation.
Khirokitia
Partial modern-day reconstruction of
Khirokitia, Cyprus.

Houses, built in limestone, had a

circular plan, the exterior diameter of
which varied from about 2 to 9 meters.
Çatal Hüyük
■ Largest and most well-preserved
Neolithic village.
■ Consisted of rectangular flat-
roofed houses packed together
into a single architectural mass
■ No streets or passageways.
Typical house and reconstructed shine, Catal Hüyük.
Mesopotamian
Architecture
Mesopotamia
■ Fertile Crescent; present day Iraq;
■ From the Greek words mesos and
potamas, meaning “middle river.”
■ Refers to the fertile plain between
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Sumerian (5000-2000 B.C.)
▪ Architecture developed by the Sumerians.
▪ Characterized by monumental temples of sun-dried
brick faced with burnt or glazed brick, often built
upon the ruins of their predecessors.
Ziggurat
Stepped structures constructed with outside
staircases and a temple or shrine at the top for
worshipping the gods of nature.
Ziggurat
▪ Ziggurats were built of mud bricks
made of dirt mixed with water and
straw. The mud was poured into
wooden molds and left to dry in
the sun (or baked in kilns).

▪ Its four corners were oriented

towards the cardinal points.

▪ Priests conduct ceremonies at the

fire altar on top.
Ziggurat of Ur
Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq.

A temple dedicated to the moon god

built by the Sumerian ruler, Ur Nammu,
and his successors around 2125 B.C.
Babylonian (2000-1600 B.C.)
▪ The last great Mesopotamian city-empire of the
ancient age.
▪ Architecture characterized by mud-brick
construction, had walls articulated by pilasters and
recesses, sometimes faced with burnt and glazed
brick.
▪ Palaces and temples were decorated with enameled
brick friezes of bulls and lions.
Tower of Babel
Lucas van Valckenborch, 1594.

As described in the Bible, this structure

may have been built in Babylon around
600 B.C. by King Nebuchadnezzar II to
“rival heaven.”
Herodotus recorded that the ziggurat
had 7 tiers covered in glazed tiles. The
tower may have risen to a height of 300
feet and may have been used as a
temple for worshipping Marduk, the god
of the city of Babylon.
Hanging Gardens
One of the “Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World.”
A royal palace constructed of mud brick
walls were covered with glazed, colored
tiles decorated with animal reliefs.
Legend says that the sumptuous palace
was terraced with lush gardens that
were irrigated by water pumped from
the Euphrates.
Ishtar Gate
Reconstructed. Pergamon Museum,
Berlin.

Large, four-storey portal dominating

the processional avenue through the
city. It was covered in glazed bricks,
colorful tiles, and decorative figures of
bulls and dragons.
Assyrian (900-700 B.C.)
▪ Palaces took precedence over religious buildings.
▪ Architecture was characterized by mud-brick
buildings. Stone was used for carved monumental
decorative sculptures.
▪ External walls were plainly treated, but ornamented
with carved relief sculpture or with polychrome
bricks.
▪ Interior courts were all large, and filled with columns.
Dur-Sharrukin
Palace of Sargon. Khorsabad, Iraq.
Sargon II.

Squarish parallelogram city, with the

palace, temples, and government
buildings compressed within the walls.
Palace, public reception rooms, inner
court, and harem. Temple with 7-staged
ziggurat. Stables, kitchen, bakery, and
wine cellar.
 Apartments in an Assyrian
Palace

Seraglio, palace proper

Haram, private chamber
Khan, service chamber

View of palace compound of Dur-Sharrukin (Khorsabad).

Persian (500-331 B.C)
▪ Characterized by a synthesis of architectural
elements of surrounding countries, such as Assyria,
Egypt, and Ionian Greece.
Persepolis
Fars Province, Iran. Darius.

Darius designed his own capital city,

Persepolis—“the city of the Persians,”
as the Greeks called it—located 10
kilometers to the southwest and closer
to the fertile lands along the coast.
 Apadana, great audience hall.
Throne room, “Hall of a
Hundred Columns.”
Palaces of Darius and Xerxes I
Harem
Council hall
Store rooms
Hillside tombs
No shrine or temple has been
identified.

Plan: Palace complex at Persepolis

1) Staircase at Persepolis; 2) Part of the palace complex.
 Egyptian
Architecture
Egyptian (3000 B.C.-200 A.D.)
▪ Characterized by the axial planning of massive
masonry tombs and temples, the use of trabeated
construction with precise stonework, and the
decoration of battered walls with pictographic
carvings in relief.
▪ A preoccupation with eternity and the afterlife
dominated the building of these funerary monuments
and temples.
Egypt, ca. 3rd
century B.C.
Egypt’s possession of the Nile was of
immense advantage, not only on
account of its value as a trade route,
and as a means of communication, but
also because its waters were the
fertilizing agents that made desert
sands into fruitful fields.
Religious Structures
Saqqara, Egypt.
Mastaba
A tomb for the nobility or members of the royal
family.

Made of mud brick, rectangular in plan with a flat

roof and sloping sides, from which a shaft leads to
underground burial and offering chambers.
 1 stone facing
2 sacrificial chapel
3 tombstone (serdab)
4 fill
5 shaft
6 masonry seal
7 stone slab
8 burial chamber
9 sarcophagus

Cross section of a mastaba.

Luxor, Egypt.
Temples
An edifice or place dedicated to the worship or
presence of a deity.
Kinds of Temple
Cult Temple Mortuary Temple
An ancient Egyptian An ancient Egyptian
temple for the worship of temple for offerings and
a deity. worship of a deceased
person, usually a deified
king.
 1 RA, RE – sun
2 OSIRIS – death, judgement
3 ISIS – motherhood, protection
4 HORUS – falcon, royalty
5 SETH, SET – storms, chaos, evil
6 ATUM, TUM – sun, creator of all
things
7 MIN – fertility
8 MAAT – order
9 AMUN, AMEN, AMON – 'the
unseen one'
10 MUT – mistress of heaven
11 KHONSU – moon 'the traveller'
12 HAPI – the Nile's fertility
13 NUT – the firmament
15 SHU – air
14 GEB – earth
16 PTAH – creation, craftsmanship

Egyptian gods.
Karnak Temple
Complex
Luxor, Egypt.

When Amun-Re, the god of the sun and

the heaven became the national deity
during the period of the New Kingdom,
at least a dozen temples were built in
his honor.
One of the main components of this
political/religious landscape was the
temple complex of Karnak.
Karnak Temple Complex. Luxor, Egypt. (Reconstructed model)
 1 1st pylons, c.320 BC
2 forecourt
3 birth house, mammisi
4 kiosk
5 pylon temple
6 2nd pylons, c.1320 BC
7 hypostyle hall, c.1290–1250 BC
8 3rd pylons
9 obelisks
10 4th pylons
12 5th pylons
13 6th pylons
14 barque temple
15 temple court (Middle Kingdom)
16 festival hall
17 holy of the holies
18 ambulatory
`Botanical garden´
Cult Temple of Amon (Amun), Karnak; 2000–300 BC
Avenue of
Sphinxes
Leads to a tall portal guarded by a
towering pylon.

Sphinx
A figure of an imaginary creature
having the body of a lion and the head
of a man, ram, or hawk.
 7 androsphinx: human-headed sphinx Vatican
Museum, Rome
8 androsphinx: human-headed sphinx
Amenemhet III, 12.dynasty, c.1800 BC
9 androsphinx: human-headed sphinx
Thutmosis III, 18th dynasty, Rek-minh-re,
Thebes, Egypt
10 criosphinx: ram-headed sphinx
11 hieracosphinx: falcon-headed sphinx

Egyptian sphinxes.
Obelisk
An Egyptian monolithic four-sided
standing stone, tapering to a
pyramidical cap (a pyramidion), often
inscribed with hieroglyphs and erected
as a monument.
Pylon
A gateway guarding a sacred precinct
consisting of either a pair of tall
truncated pyramids and a doorway
between them, often decorated with
painted reliefs.
Hypostyle Hall
A large hall having many columns in
rows supporting a flat roof, and
sometimes a clerestory.
Pylon temple
An Egyptian temple type with
monumental gateways, formed by
twined pylons.
Kiosk
A freestanding stone canopy structure
supported by columns in Egyptian
architecture. (Hypaethral, classical
temple that is wholly or partly open to
the sky.)
Mammisi
Dendera Temple Complex. Dendera,
Egypt.

Birth-house; a small Egyptian side

temple, kiosk or tent shrine to celebrate
the place where the god of the main
temple was born, or where the goddess
bore her children.
Barque Temple
A room or building in which the image
of the Pharaoh or deity was revered.
Mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut and Shrine of Anubis, c.1470 BC
Mortuary Temple
of Hatshepsut
Deir el Bahari, Egypt. Senmut.

Queen Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple

played a key role in the processional
events as the temporary resting place
for the barque during the Beautiful
Feast of the Valley.
Located in the Valley of the Kings,
which was to become the main burial
place for the Egyptian royalty.
Rock-cut Tomb
A tomb hewn out of native rock, presenting only an
architectural front with dark interior chambers, of
which the sections are supported by masses of
stone left in the form of solid pillars.
 20 outer court
21 sphinxes
22 ramps
23 colonnades (lower)
24 terrace (lower)
25 ramp to shrine
26 shrine (of goddess Hathor)
27 colonnades (upper)
28 chapel (chapel of Anubis)
29 Osiris pillars
30 chapel (of Hatshepsut)
31 ceremonial court
32 sun temple
33 inner sanctuary

Mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut and Shrine of Anubis, Deir el-Bahari; c.1470 BC, architect Senenmut.
Temple at Abu Simbel, near Philae, Egypt.
Abu Simbel
The facade, carved directly into the
sandstone cliff, takes the form of a
pylon and is dominated by four colossal
seated figures, 22 meters tall, all
portrayals of Ramesses.
Pyramid
A massive masonry structure having a rectangular
base and four smooth, steeply sloping sides facing
the cardinal points and meeting at an apex.

Used in ancient Egypt as a tomb to contain the

burial chamber and the mummy of the pharaoh.
Imhotep
▪ The first architect recorded in
history.

▪ Designed the Saqqara complex

and the Stepped Pyramid of Zoser.
Pyramid
The Egyptian pyramids of the Giza
Necropolis.

The ancient Egyptians built more than

80 pyramids along the banks of the Nile
near modern-day Cairo from 2700 to
1640 B.C. The pyramids were designed
according to three forms:

▪ Step pyramid

▪ Bent pyramid

▪ Straight-sided/Sloped pyramid
Step Pyramid
A pyramid-type whose sides are stepped with tiers
rather than smooth, in Egypt predating the true
pyramids; the primary existing Egyptian example is
that of King Zoser at Saqqara, south of Cairo.
Pyramid of Zoser
Saqqara, Egypt.

Built by Imhotep, architect to King

Zoser; begun as a mastaba-tomb then
successively enlarged; made of
limestone; and set within a complex of
buildings.
Mortuary
Complex of Zoser
The Mortuary Complex of Zoser,
located on a slight hill west of Memphis
and just to the north of Saqqâra, was
enclosed by a 277-by-544 meter wall
laid out in precise orientation to the
four cardinal points.
Section through step pyramid and tomb of Zoser.
Ka statue of
Zoser
In a small chapel positioned against the
north side of the pyramid was a life-size
statue of Zoser, showing him wearing a
priest’s Sed festival cloak, a ceremonial
beard, and a ritual headdress.
Sitting in the dark chamber, he could
gaze through two small holes in the wall
placed at the statue’s eye level, through
which he could watch the ceremonies
taking place in the court.
Bent Pyramid
An Egyptian pyramid-type in which each triangular
planar surface changes direction as it approaches the
top, as in a mansard roof; sometimes also called a
blunt or false pyramid.
Pyramid of
Sneferu
Dahshur, Egypt.

Built by Sneferu (2613–2589 BCE), who

ruled during the Fourth Dynasty.
Originally planned to be a towering 150
meters high, it was too bold, and the
ground gave way under part of it. In an
effort to save the building, the
designers added a kink or bend to
reduce the weight and angle of the
slope.
Sloped Pyramid
An Egyptian pyramid-type in which four sloping
triangular sides, with a fixed angle, culminate at an
apex. Also, true pyramid.
Pyramids of Giza
Giza, Egypt.

Built of local stone on a core of rock

with casing blocks of limestone; 480
feet tall with a square base measuring
756 feet on a side.
Pyramid Complex
The ceremonial area of buildings and structures
surrounding an ancient Egyptian pyramid.
Parts of a Pyramid Complex
▪ Mortuary temple
In ancient Egyptian architecture, a place of worship of a
deceased king or queen, especially one adjoining a
pyramid or rock cut tomb, in which offerings of food
and objects were made; also called a funerary temple.
Parts of a Pyramid Complex
▪ Valley temple
A temple pavilion in an ancient Egyptian pyramid
complex, connected via a covered causeway to a
mortuary temple at the foot of a pyramid; used for
preparing the Pharaoh for his final journey.
Parts of a Pyramid Complex
▪ Pyramid temple
A mortuary temple connected specifically to a pyramid,
or part of an Egyptian pyramid complex.
▪ Pyramid causeway
A covered ceremonial route or corridor leading from a
valley temple to a mortuary temple at the foot of a
pyramid, notably at sites of the Nile valley pyramids.
 11 Western necropolis
12 boat grave, boat pit
13 Eastern necropolis
14 pyramid
15 mortuary temple, pyramid temple
16 pyramid causeway
17 valley temple
18 queen’s pyramid
19 sphinx
20 sphinx temple

Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops); pyramid of Khafre (Chefren); pyramid of Menkaure (Mycerinus), after 2472 BC.
Plan: Mortuary and valley temples of Khafre at Giza
Section: Great pyramid of Khufu; King’s chamber.
Stela
A slab stela shows a royal personage at
a funerary repast sitting next to an
offering table covered with the loaves
of bread that have been brought to him.
Next to him on the floor, on small
platforms, are containers holding
incense, ointments, figs, and wine.
A scalar comparison of Egyptian pyramids.
Why a tapering
shape?
Ancient rulers liked these artificial
mountains for their great height
(allowing them to commune with the
gods) and commanding visual presence
over flat river valleys.
On a practical level, a pyramid
concentrates most of its building on the
lower half, so fewer stones have to be
hauled to the top.
Egyptian Capitals
 C palm capital, palmiform (plume capital) F bell capital, blossom capital, campaniform, open
D papyrus capital, papyriform capital
E bud capital, closed bud capital, closed capital
G lotus capital, lotiform, lily capital
H tent-pole capital

Egyptian Capitals.
1) Composite column (Hathor capital); 2) Hathor column; 3) Hathor column; 4) Osiris column, Osiris pillar
 Minoan
Architecture
Minoan (1800-1300 B.C.)
▪ A Bronze Age civilization flourished in Crete.
▪ Named after King Minos of Knossos.
▪ Gate buildings with multi-columnar porches provided
access to unfortified compounds.
▪ Foundation walls, piers and lintels were stone with
the upper walls in timber framework.
Palace at Knossos, Crete, Greece. (Largest palace built by the Minoans.)
Palace at
Knossos
Crete, Greece.

The palace contained residences,

kitchens, storage rooms, bathrooms,
ceremonial rooms, workshops, and
sanctuaries.
End of Module 1