Ancient Near Eastern Architecture

Question 1

The major factors that influenced the Near Eastern architecture.

Answer 1

Geographical, Geological, Climatic, Religious, Socio-Political, and Historical

Question 2

The three main periods of West Asiatic Architecture

Answer 2

Babylonian Period (4000 BCE - 1275 BCE), Assyrian Period (1275 BCE - 538 BCE), and Persian Period (538 BCE - 333 BCE)

Question 3

etymology of the name Mesopotamia

Answer 3

from the Greek words mesos, meaning “middle” or “between”, and potamos, meaning “river”

Question 4

Why did the Mesopotamian civilization thrive?

Answer 4

Because of the river that made the soil fertile and usable for agriculture and even construction.

Question 5

It is an Akkadian-speaking Amorite-ruled state based in the city of Babylon in central southern Mesopotamia.

Answer 5

Babylon

Question 6

It was called the country of Akkad after Hammurabi’s reign.

Answer 6

Babylon

Question 7

Babylonian legal text composed from 1755 BCE to 1750 BCE, and is the longest, best preserved legal code.

Answer 7

Code of Hammurabi

Question 8

What scripture is used in Mesopotamia?

Answer 8

Cuneiform

Question 9

It is known for ornate architecture: the Hanging Gardens and Ishtar Gate

Answer 9

Babylon

Question 10

Named as one of the most powerful rulers of the Ancient Near East, he ruled the new Babylonian Empire after the Assyrian Empire’s division due to the Medes’ destruction of Nineveh in 606 BCE.

Answer 10

King Nebuchadnezzar II

Question 11

Another name for Babylon

Answer 11

Chaldea

Question 12

7th century Babylonian king who built a palace near the Tigris River in Nimrud.

Answer 12

Ashurbanipal

Question 13

The administrative capital of the ancient Persian Empire which has remains of great palaces of Xerxes and Artaxerxes. M. Dieulafoy found here world-famous friezes of glazed brickwork in green, yellow, and blue, known as the “Lion frieze” and the “Archer frieze.”

Answer 13

Susa

Question 14

This period of the ancient Near East started when Sumerian king Eannatum unified Babylonia and Assyria in ca. 4000 BCE and ended when the latter conquered the former in 1275 BCE.

Answer 14

Babylonian Period (ca. 4000 BCE - 1275 BCE)

Question 15

This period of the ancient Near East started when Assyria conquered Babylon in 1275 BCE after the two’s separation in 1700 BCE. It ended when the empire fell to Persia in 538 BCE.

Answer 15

Assyrian Period (1275 BCE - 538 BCE)

Question 16

Who was the ruler of Persia when it captured the Babylonian Empire in 538 BCE?

Answer 16

Cyrus II (commonly known as Cyrus the Great)

Question 17

This period of the ancient Near East started when Cyrus the Great conquered the Babylonian Empire and ended when it became a Greek province under Alexander the Great.

Answer 17

Persian Period (538 BCE - 333 BCE)

Question 18

_______, Cyrus the Great’s son, caused the introduction of columns into Persian architecture after being fascinated by Egyptian architecture.

Answer 18

Cambyses

Question 19

Also known as the Achaemenid Empire, it is the first ever global empire in history.

Answer 19

Persian Empire

Question 20

The empire-state that took over Persia after it fell to the Greeks and before the Parthian/Arsacid Empire conquered it.

Answer 20

Seleucid Empire (312 BCE - 280 BCE)

Question 21

The _________ overthrew the Parthians to take Persia and established the ________ Empire.

Answer 21

Sassanian (226 CE - 642 CE)

Question 22

During his reign as the greatest Assyrian emperor, Sargon II established his city-palace of _________.

Answer 22

Khorsabad

Question 23

What is Asia Minor?

Answer 23

Anatolia, Turkey

Question 24

The location of Cyrus the Great’s tomb.

Answer 24

Pasargadae

Question 25

The principal feature of this Sassanid Dynasty building consisted of a triple-arched portico behind which rose a beehive dome of brick with openings for light and ventilation, and a long barrel vault over each side compartment, reminding one of Assyrian palaces.

Answer 25

Sarvestan Palace (350 CE)

Question 26

This Sassanid Dynasty building has entrance leading into three domed halls, beyond which is a court.

Answer 26

Feruz-abad Palace (450 CE)

Question 27

This Sassanid Dynasty structure was built of colored brickwork, but is now only a ruin, consisting of a great central arched portal about 83 ft. wide, leading into a throne room, 160 ft. deep, flanked by side walls no less than 24 It. thick, and
covered with a remarkable vault, elliptical in form, and obviously founded on Assyrian prototypes.

Answer 27

Ctesiphon Palace (550 CE)