Kandahar University

Engineering Faculty
Architectural Engineering Department

Architectural History 1
Lecture 3: Mesopotamian Architecture
Text-Book : Global History of Architecture
Prepared By : Eng. Iftikhar Mukhtar

1403/07/19
General Outlines:
➢ Mesopotamian Civilization:
o Geographical Setting
o History
o Architecture:
1. Sumerian
2. Akkadain
3. Assyrian
4. Babylonian

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 Mesopotamian Civilization
➢Mesopotamia is a Greek word for ‘Land between two rivers.’ It’s the
region of Middle Eastern Asia located between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers.
➢Here, the first human civilizations were taking the earliest steps from
hunter-gatherer societies into settled community.
➢Since it was Positioned between Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley, it
became a center for trade, technology, and religion in prehistory.
➢This region produced essential inventions that shaped human history.
➢Inventions in Mesopotamia:
1. The wheel
2. Written language
3. The idea of minutes, hours and seconds

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Mesopotamian Civilization
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1- Sumerian Civilization

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Sumerian Civilization:
➢Sumerians were the first ancient Mesopotamian culture, emerging
around 4000 BCE.
➢ Sumerians were the first civilization to settle in southern Mesopotamia.
➢By the 4th millennium BCE, Sumerians had approximately 12 city-states,
each featuring:
1. Walled metropolises )‫(پایتخت‬
2. Ziggurats as central focal point )‫(معبد‬
➢ Major Sumerian City-States:
1. Eridu
2. Ur
3. Nippur
4. Lagash
5. Kish Ziggurat ‫د ساماریانو معبد‬

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Sumerian Culture:
➢The Sumerian city of Eridu, on the coast of the Persian
Gulf, is considered to have been one of the oldest cities,
where three separate cultures were living together:
1. Fisher Folk (‫ (ماهیګر خلګ‬:
o Living in huts on grassy areas
o Who may have been the ancestors of the Sumerians
2. Peasant Ubaidian )‫(دهقان‬:
o Living in mud-brick huts
o Practicing irrigation
3. Nomadic Semitic Pastoralists )‫(د ساموي قوم چوپاني کوچیان‬:
o Living in black tents
o Following herds of sheep and goats

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Sumerian Civilization

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Sumerian Culture:
➢The Sumerians were primarily a trading culture, building
ships to enable the exchange of things like:
o Ivory
o Copper
o Leather
o Precious stones

➢Sumerian farmers were able to grow an abundance of

grain and other crops, the excess of which enabled them to
settle in one place.
➢ Clay was the most abundant material.

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Sumerian Architecture:
➢ They used Plano-Convex mud bricks
➢ The house had a tower-like appearance
➢ The house was provided with a door which turned on a hinge, and
could be opened with a sort of key.
➢ Houses were usually windowless and made of sun dried mud bricks
➢ The city gate was large and doubled.
➢The Sumerians also developed the arch, which enabled them to
develop a strong type of dome.
1. Doorway
2. Bridges
3. Temple

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Sumerian Architecture House Model- 1
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Sumerian Architecture:
➢Due to a lack of stones and wood, Sumerians used plano-convex
mud bricks for construction, which was not fixed with mortar or
cement.
➢Brick styles, which varied greatly over time, are categorized by
period:
1. Patzen 80×40×15 cm
2. Riemchen 16×16 cm
3. Plano-convex 10x19x34 cm
➢ The advantages of Plano-convex bricks:
1. The speed of manufacture
2. The irregular surface
o Which held the finishing plaster coat better than a smooth
surface from other brick types due to the round surface to not
slide one mud.
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Sumerian House Model-2
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Ziggurats:
➢The Sumerians began to place the temples on top of multi-layered
square constructions built as a series of rising terraces, giving rise to
the Ziggurat style.
➢ Ziggurats (Sumerian temples) each had an individual name and
consisted of:
o Forecourt, with a central pond for purification
o Central nave (‫ )د کلیسا دهلیز‬with aisles (‫ )الر‬along either side
o Beside the aisles would be rooms for the priests
o At one end would stand the stage and a mud brick table

➢Sumerian temples and palaces made use of more advanced materials

and techniques, such as:
o Buttresses
o Half columns o Recesses
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Buttress: a projecting structure of
masonry or wood for supporting or
giving stability to a wall or building.
half column: an engaged column
which projects from a wall by
approximately half its diameter
Recess: a secret, secluded place Recess in temple

Aisle and nave Half Column Buttress

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Ziggurat Model, Ur
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Remains of the Anu Ziggurat, Uruk (modern Warka), 3517-3358 BCE
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White Temple:
➢ White Temple:
o Bright White Color
o High above the town (40 feet)
o 17.5m by 22.3m
o Tri-Partite Plan:
1. Long rectangular central hall with rooms on either side
2. Three entrances (None face Ramp)
3. Walk around the temple once exiting the ramp to be able to
enter
4. Turn 90 degrees once entering the temple to face the alter
➢ Inside the White Temple:
o North end of central hall had alter with fire-Stained surface

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White Temple Model
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2- Akkadian Civilization

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2- Akkadian:
➢The Akkadian Civilization, ruled by Sargon, was an early empire of ancient
Mesopotamia.
➢Located in the area to the north of Sumer, Akkadian became a dominant
force in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC.
➢It was a hereditary monarchy, meaning that the country was ruled by a King
who was succeeded by his sons upon his death.
➢Spanned into parts of Syria, Iran, Jordan, Turkey, Kuwait and possibly even
further to the south and into Cyprus.
➢There are remains of works and palaces, restored by the Akkadians, no
architectural sites have been found to know exactly what the buildings of
the period looked like.

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Ishtar Gate:
➢It was constructed in about 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar
II on the north side of the city.
➢It was a gate at the start of a path with tall walls, decorated with blue-
glazed bricks and low-relief images of animals and gods on it.
➢The front of the gate has a low relief design with a repeated pattern of
images of two of the major gods of the Babylonian pantheon (‫)زیارت د بابل‬:
o Marduk
o Adad

➢ The design of the Ishtar gate also includes linear borders and patterns
of rosettes, often seen as symbols of fertility ‫حاصل خیزه‬.

Rosette; rose flower decuration

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Ishtar Gate:
➢The excavation ran from 1902 to 1914, and, during that
time, 14 m (45 ft.) of the foundation of the gate was
uncovered:
o 14 m (46 ft.) high
o 30 m (100 ft.) wide
➢ The borders and rosettes are glazed in:
o Black
o White
o Gold

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The reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin

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3- Assyrian Civilization

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The Assyrian Empire

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Assyrian Civilization:
➢Ashur, a small Sumerian city-state on the middle Euphrates, began to
gain political prominence during the pre-Hammurabi period.
➢After the Akkadian empire collapsed, the Assyrians were the
powerhouse of Mesopotamia, For over 1400 years, Assyria had control
of parts of:
o Egypt
o Turkey
o Iraq
o Iran

➢Of all the cultures of the ancient Mesopotamian civilizations, Assyria

is considered to be the greatest, And developed advanced military and
bureaucratic ‫ اداري‬systems.

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Assyrian Architecture:
➢ The excavations referred to, show that the Assyrian
buildings were:
o Raised upon terraces
o Consisted of narrow corridor like apartments
o Irregularly arranged around an open court
o Without any idea of symmetry
o Lower terraces often formed:
1. Small pleasure grounds
2. Planted with palms and cedars ‫د لمرګل‬
o Each story was then crowned with a:
1. Varendra (gellary)
2. Opening with small colonnades
3. No window or other external openings

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Assyrian Architecture:
➢Sargon's palace itself, is planned, first, around a great open courtyard
accessible to the public and, second, around an inner court of elites.
➢ The gardens of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia were of three types::
o Game Reserves:
i. Enclosed areas for hunting, like the Garden of Eden.
o Pleasure Gardens:
i. Private spaces with shade and cool water for
relaxation.
o Sacred Terraces:
i. Man-made terraces with trees, such as the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon for religious activities.

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Nineveh-southwest-palace- Royal palace of sennacherib

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 Thank You!
For your kind attention

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