Central Civilizations (Mesopotamia, Persia, Moorish Spain, and Mughal India) Flashcards
These comprise that part of the caucasoid race whose civilization began with the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, developed with the Assyrians, Persians, and Sassanids, and under Islam spread west to Spain and east to India roughly about 35 deg. north.
The world’s first literate civilization
Sumerian
System of writing on clay developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia
Cuneiform
The second city state to arise in the Tigris-Euphrates delta; described in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh as being composed of equal parts city, garden, and field
Uruk
Early expression of man’s determination to place his mark upon an endless flat surface; both a holy mountain lived by a god, and an observatory for the deduction and empirical study of astronomy
Ziggurat
Described as the mother-city if the manufactured landscape as well as of gardens
Babylon
The dominant military power in Mesopotamia or the military autocracy
Assyrians
Earliest picturesque landscapes of the Western world
The carved temple and artificial hill at Khorsabad
(2250 BC) Sumer’s greatest surviving monument considered to be an artificial ‘Hill of Heaven’; dedicated to Nanna the moon
Ziggurat of Ur
This site was chosen as the center of the world c. 540 BC by Cyrus the Great in the tradition of the earlier Achaemenid fortresses
Persepolis
(2500 BCE - 612 BCE) Large enclosed parks of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians; stocked with exotic plants and animals; evidence of early management of the landscape
Mesopotamian hunting parks
(546 BCE) The imperial capital of Cyrus the Great (Achaemenid Empire); having a geometric division of space defined by water and trees; early example of the four-square pattern (paradise garden)
Pasargadae, Persia
The capital city of Sassanians that marks the return to ancient Iranian traditions after the interruption of Alexander and his Hellenizing successors; one of its glories was the Spring Carpet of Chosroes
Ctesiphon
Reputedly the widest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world
Palace of Chosroes I
In Greek architecture, it is a vestibule or the structure forming the entrance to a specific place, usually a temple or religious complex; monumental gateway
Propylaeum, propylaea, propylon (ex. Propylaea of Xerxes)
In Persepolis, it is the hall of audience,a large hypostyle hall, begun by Darius and finished by Xerxes
Apadana
a round city founded by the Caliph al-Mansur as the new capital of the Abbasid dynasty in AD 762, in fertile country beside the Tigris; center of perfume industry due to abundance of flowers
Baghdad
The palace city founded in AD 850, with is iconic spiral minaret (Manaret al-Malwiya) at the Great Mosque; the administrative headquarters of the Abbasid caliphs
Samarra
Empire founded in c. 1300 by Osman I and was replaced by modern Turkey in 1922; populated by 150 million people, comprising of major portions of Asia, Africa, and Europe until after World War I
Ottoman Turks
City founded by the Ottoman Turks in A 1326 at the foot of Ulu Dag (Mount Olympus)
Bursa
Turkish word for “tomb”, and for the characteristic mausoleums, often relatively small, of Ottoman royalty and notables; related to the Arabic turba, which can also mean a mausoleum, but more often a funerary complex, or a plot in a cemetery.
Turbes
A Byzantine city that fell to the Ottomans in 1453, the capital being transferred here from Bursa
Constantinople (Istanbul)
Pertaining to the design style originating in Byzantium, the Eastern Roman Empire ruled from Constantinople, following the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476 - 1453, when the city was captured by the Ottoman Turks
Byzantine
The long series of wars and battles between the Muslim Moors and Christian Kingdoms over the Iberian Peninsula (Middle Ages)
Reconquista
A Moorish-style patio at the mosque of Abd er-Rahman I in Cordova; utilizing the grid system for the orange trees exemplifying the principles of unity and order of all Islamic gardens
The Court of Oranges (Patio de los Naranjos)
Moorish-style garden situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Granada; consists of the Court of Myrtles and Court of the Lions
Alhambra
Oriental plane trees
Chenars
A style applying the Islamic design elements and principles to structures and gardens by Moorish craftsmen under Christian authority (ex. The Alcazar at Seville)
Mudejar style
A garden laid out by Shah Jahan in Kashmir; originally consisted of three fourfold gardens (public audiences, private garden, and harem)
Shalamar Bagh
In the Tomb of Akbar (at Sikandra), the Cypress trees that lined the avenue, and the fruit trees that filled the terraces represented…
Death (Cypress) and life (fruit trees)
A Moorish-style garden located at the east of the Alhambra; a daytime retreat built in the early 14th century by the founding rulers of Granada; consists of a series of seven lush garden terraces
Generalife
Babur’s first garden in India with symmetrical avenues, plantings, and pavilions that constituted the char bagh (chahar “four” became char in Hindi); oldest Mughal garden located in the east bank of Jumna opposite Agra
Ram Bagh
A vast complex of traditional paradise gardens at Delhi; built by Shah Jahan bet. 1639 and 1648; made an impact on the history of city planning
Red Fort
An assimilated shape that symbolizes the union of heaven (the circle) and the earth (the square)
Octagon
An art form that is a blend of Persian, Central Asian, and Indian style
Mughal art form
Literally, “shawl,” a textured stone or marble chute; where water is made to flow from a pool over a rippled incline to appear to sparkle as it descends to a lower pool; if not textured, it contains zigzag patterns made from different colored stones
Chadar, chador, chuddar, or chuder
Women’s garden or harem garden
Zenana
In Mughal gardens, an open pavilion or summerhouse, usually with 12 openings
Baradari
A low wall with niches, like a dovecote; the niches are usually placed with candles or flowers to enhance the effect of the falling waters
Chini-khana
The colossal public square or imperial square included in the construction Isfahan City which measures about 1500 ft. by 500 ft.
Maidan
Capital of the Safavid dynasty from 1598, flowering in an arid desert; laid out by Shah Abbas I
Isfahan
On the dry Iranian plateau, subsurface tunnels that carried water from sources in the surrounding foothills
Qanats
A Persian term for covered porch
Talar
Significant number in Islamic cosmology,representing the levels of the paradise and the number of angels supporting the throne of God
Number 8
A monumental gateway of Isfahan; a six-story pavilion containing the throne room, royal apartments, and reception rooms
Ali Qapu
A tomb garden built in Agra by Shah Jahan (1632-54) in memory of his most cherished wife; an enormous char bagh; unique because the tomb is located at the far end of the garden, overlooking the Jumna river
Taj Mahal (for Mumtaz Mahal)
A place if learning attached to a mosque
Medresseh
A royal pavilion between the Ali Qapu and the Chahar Bagh Avenue; reconstructed by Shah Abbas II in 1647; also means 40 columns
Chehel sotoon
