Central Civilizations (Mesopotamia, Persia, Moorish Spain, and Mughal India)

Question 1

The world’s first literate civilization

Answer 1

Sumerian

Question 2

System of writing on clay developed by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia

Answer 2

Cuneiform

Question 3

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

Answer 3

Uruk

Question 4

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

Answer 4

Ziggurat

Question 5

Described as the mother-city if the manufactured landscape as well as of gardens

Answer 5

Babylon

Question 6

The dominant military power in Mesopotamia or the military autocracy

Answer 6

Assyrians

Question 7

Earliest picturesque landscapes of the Western world

Answer 7

The carved temple and artificial hill at Khorsabad

Question 8

(2250 BC) Sumer’s greatest surviving monument considered to be an artificial ‘Hill of Heaven’; dedicated to Nanna the moon

Answer 8

Ziggurat of Ur

Question 9

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

Answer 9

Persepolis

Question 10

(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

Answer 10

Mesopotamian hunting parks

Question 11

(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)

Answer 11

Pasargadae, Persia

Question 12

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

Answer 12

Ctesiphon

Question 13

Reputedly the widest single-span vault of unreinforced brickwork in the world

Answer 13

Palace of Chosroes I

Question 14

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

Answer 14

Propylaeum, propylaea, propylon (ex. Propylaea of Xerxes)

Question 15

In Persepolis, it is the hall of audience,a large hypostyle hall, begun by Darius and finished by Xerxes

Answer 15

Apadana

Question 16

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

Answer 16

Baghdad

Question 17

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

Answer 17

Samarra

Question 18

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

Answer 18

Ottoman Turks

Question 19

City founded by the Ottoman Turks in A 1326 at the foot of Ulu Dag (Mount Olympus)

Answer 19

Bursa

Question 20

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.

Answer 20

Turbes

Question 21

A Byzantine city that fell to the Ottomans in 1453, the capital being transferred here from Bursa

Answer 21

Constantinople (Istanbul)

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Byzantine

Question 23

The long series of wars and battles between the Muslim Moors and Christian Kingdoms over the Iberian Peninsula (Middle Ages)

Answer 23

Reconquista

Question 24

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

Answer 24

The Court of Oranges (Patio de los Naranjos)

Question 25

Moorish-style garden situated in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Granada; consists of the Court of Myrtles and Court of the Lions

Answer 25

Alhambra

Question 26

Oriental plane trees

Answer 26

Chenars

Question 27

A style applying the Islamic design elements and principles to structures and gardens by Moorish craftsmen under Christian authority (ex. The Alcazar at Seville)

Answer 27

Mudejar style

Question 28

A garden laid out by Shah Jahan in Kashmir; originally consisted of three fourfold gardens (public audiences, private garden, and harem)

Answer 28

Shalamar Bagh

Question 29

In the Tomb of Akbar (at Sikandra), the Cypress trees that lined the avenue, and the fruit trees that filled the terraces represented…

Answer 29

Death (Cypress) and life (fruit trees)

Question 30

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

Answer 30

Generalife

Question 31

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

Answer 31

Ram Bagh

Question 32

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

Answer 32

Red Fort

Question 33

An assimilated shape that symbolizes the union of heaven (the circle) and the earth (the square)

Answer 33

Octagon

Question 34

An art form that is a blend of Persian, Central Asian, and Indian style

Answer 34

Mughal art form

Question 35

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

Answer 35

Chadar, chador, chuddar, or chuder

Question 36

Women’s garden or harem garden

Answer 36

Zenana

Question 37

In Mughal gardens, an open pavilion or summerhouse, usually with 12 openings

Answer 37

Baradari

Question 38

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

Answer 38

Chini-khana

Question 39

The colossal public square or imperial square included in the construction Isfahan City which measures about 1500 ft. by 500 ft.

Answer 39

Maidan

Question 40

Capital of the Safavid dynasty from 1598, flowering in an arid desert; laid out by Shah Abbas I

Answer 40

Isfahan

Question 41

On the dry Iranian plateau, subsurface tunnels that carried water from sources in the surrounding foothills

Answer 41

Qanats

Question 42

A Persian term for covered porch

Answer 42

Talar

Question 43

Significant number in Islamic cosmology,representing the levels of the paradise and the number of angels supporting the throne of God

Answer 43

Number 8

Question 44

A monumental gateway of Isfahan; a six-story pavilion containing the throne room, royal apartments, and reception rooms

Answer 44

Ali Qapu

Question 45

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

Answer 45

Taj Mahal (for Mumtaz Mahal)

Question 46

A place if learning attached to a mosque

Answer 46

Medresseh

Question 47

A royal pavilion between the Ali Qapu and the Chahar Bagh Avenue; reconstructed by Shah Abbas II in 1647; also means 40 columns

Answer 47

Chehel sotoon