PPT 2 - Exam 1 Flashcards
Prehistoric settlements and megalith constructions
Prehistory- the period before the appearance of written language (35,000 BC - 3,500 BC)
Note 3,500 - Sumerian written language appears
Ukraine (Russian plane) 14,000 BC
Mammoth bones and pine poles, lining of animal skins, a central hearth
The framework of the largest dome shaped hut constrained skeleton elements form approximately 100 mammoths, structure is probably used for rituals and ceremony
At Mezhirich in 1965, a farmer dig up the lower jaw bone of a mammoth while in the process of expanding his cellar, further excavations revealed the presence of four huts, made up of a total of 149 mammoth bones
Between Novgorod and Moscow (12,000 BC)
Cluster of skin covered huts
The largest hut had an irregular shape , 39 ft by 13 ft , formed by 3 interlocking cons of tree branches, opening at the top to allow smoke to escape from the 3 fireplaces
Jericho, Israel (ca 8,000 BC)
Fortified settlement
Stone wall 27 ft thick
Area = 10 acres
Earliest dwellings - circular mud huts with conical roofs
Catal Huyuk, Anatolia, Turkey (6,500 - 5,700 BC)
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Densely packed rectangular dwellings, with a post and lintel timber framework
Walls made of mud-bricks with high opening for ventilation and light
The walls of the house adjoined the walls of the neighboring house, forming a perimeter twin wall
Intermingles with the houses were smaller windowless worship units (shrines) decorated with cult statues of deities and decorative motives
No streets (access through roofs)
Precursors is the urban developments establish in the Fertile Crescent 3 millenniums late around 3,000 BC in Mesopotamia
Western Europe - megalith constructions (mega=great, life=stone)
Tombs: constructed to protest the remains of the ancestors, show reverence and to mark territories were building on important, visible locations
Spain and France
< 4000 BC
chambered tombs
Dry wall masonry (stones laid without mortar) with corbelled roofs
Stabilized with an earth covering
Ireland
Has more than 500 megalith tombs
Decorated boulders around the mound
Interior stone work decorated with engraved rhombs and spirals
Trilithons
Two upright stones supporting a lintel stone
Tenons
Knobs left on the top of the upright stones of the trilithons
To fit into socket holes carved into the underside of the lintel stone
Mortises
The holes carved into the underside of the lintel stones
Trilithons are assembled through mortise and tenon joint
Stone hedge- used to establish solstices, solar eclipses and Luna eclipses
Significance of these settlements
Building and orienting megalith tombs provided the scientific knowledge and work experience to produce one of the most astonishing architectural works of all time
Stonehenge - culmination of construction skills and scientific observation of the prehistoric era
Bluestones of Wales transporter by water 190 miles and dragged over land
Sarsen stones were probably dragged from about 15 miles
Ancient Mesopotamia
In Greek means between two rivers
Meso= Middle , potamia = river
No definite boundaries
Covers nowadays Iraq, NE Syria, SE Turkey, SW Iran
Euphrates and Tigris (rivers)
Origin - Taurus mountains of eastern Turkey
Ends - Persian gulf
Euphrates more navigable with a unifying effect on the communities developed along its banks
Unite near Basra
More about ancient Mesopotamia
Use rivers for irrigation
Fertile lands and cultivated crops and created surpluses
Large urban population that specialized in different fields
Sumerians (4000 BC - 2350 BC)
Considered the worlds 1st civilization
Located in southern Mesopotamia- present day Middle East (Iran and Iraq)
Mastered irrigation using Euphrates river
Mastered the art of cultivating land (barley and wheat) and domesticated animals (sheep, goats, donkeys, and oxen)
Developed in independent urban communities city states
Biggest invention - cuneiform writing on clay tablets developed around 3500 BC to record governmental transactions and account for inventory of grain and other products
This ended the prehistoric era
Sumerians continued
Believed in gods of natural elements and in a mutual inter-dependence between people and the gods Anu- god of sky Enlil- god of earth Ea -god of water Utu- god of sun Nanner- god of moon Inanna - goddess of fertility Religious shrines - temples of gods and excess food storage area- were at the center of the urban communities
Eridu
The earliest settlement in the region, founded close to the Persian gulf, near the mouth of the Euphrates river
Originally had a small shrine with a brick alter and a small niche (wall recess) surrounded by dwelling houses
Successive improvements to the original shrine ended in a temple enclosed in buttressed walls built on a plant form
Buttress
Masonry reinforcement applied to walls to provide additional strength
Sumerian cities
Tepe Gawra- a city 500 miles north of eridu
Had an acropolis = the location of most important temples and religious shrines
2 temples, one shrine, and family dwellings
Facades reinforced with buttressing pilasters
Facade
The front exterior of a building
Pilaster
Rectangular column, enhanced in a wall, which is sometimes articulated as an order
Sumerian cities continued
Uruk - the largest settlement in southern Mesopotamia, if not the world
White temple (3500-3000 BC) Built on a 40 ft high platform Rubble of previous buildings Earth and sun dried bricks Covered with water resistant white wash
Temple had a sanctuary flanked by additional side rooms build on each side of a hall
Sumerian cities continued
Eanna- two groups of temples flanking a courtyard
Decorated with a mosaic of small terra-cotta cones
Base dipped in black, white, and red glaze
Tip inserted into the clay of the wall
Developed an alternating pattern of circular elements
Mosaic
A floor, wall, ceiling decoration composed of small pieces of colored glass or stone that form designs
Terracotta
Unglazed fired clay, often used for ornamental purposes
Akkadians
2,350 BC akkadians (Semitic people) took over the Sumerian civilization
Sipar and Akkad cities with centralized government led by priests and a warrior king
Neo-Sumerians
2150 BC the Akkadian empire was conquered by the Guti tribes
Their military power was short lived
Reminiscence of the Sumerian political supporters started the so called neo-Sumerian period (2150-2000 BC)
Urban communities continued to develop around temples elevated on tiered artificial mounds called ziggurats
Ziggurat
A stepped pyramid form used in ancient Mesopotamia as the platform for religious buildings
Construction process: a series of stepped platforms with inward-sloping walls
Made of sun dried bricks
Bounded together with bitumen, reed matting, or rope for stability
Protected by a weather resistant kilnfired brick exterior layer for durability
Role of ziggurats
To elevate the temples to the god
Facilitate a more direct communication between priests and gods
To recreate the mountain environment they came from
Protect the sacred temple from flood waters
Provide visual prominence
Only the base survived in time of the three tiers toped by a temple dedicated to the moon god, nanna
Babylonians, Hittites, Assyrians
1,800 BC city of Babylon dominated Mesopotamia
1830 BC info-European hittites overrun Babylonians and took over norther Mesopotamia
Further south Semitic Assyrians took control of the area
They building strongly fortified successive capitals along Tigris river at:
-calah (present day Iraq)
-dur-sharrukin (khorsabad)
-nineveh (kuyunjik)
Khorsabad- royal city built by Sargon 11, CA 720 BC - illustrates the main characteristic of their architecture and planning
The Persians
539-331 BC the expansion of the Persian empire
Palace complex of Persepolis
-city founded in 518 BC by Darius
-ceremonial capital (along with susu - administrative capitol and pasargadae - court life capitol)
-architectural influence from: Egyptians, hittities, Assyrians
Main characteristics
-built on a stone platform of 1500 x 900 ft
-beautiful carved sumptuous stairways
-fabulous hall of 100 columns -thrown room
Ancient Egypt
Ca 3000 BC
Another center of civilization emerged in Northern Africa along the nile river
Ben-Ben stone
Was a sacred stone in the solar temple of Heliopolis
Symbolism
Obelisks and pyramids symbolize the connection between the ruler and the sun god
Obelisk
A stone monolith, square in plan, with sides tapering toward a pyramidal top
Mastaba
Egyptian tomb with a flat top an sloping sides
Built over a grave shaft
Characteristics
Similar to the dwellings of the living
Used materials durable in time : mud bricks or stone
2 chambers:
-a small offering chapel
-one hidden chamber for the body and a statue of the deceased
A deep shaft was to added with an early revision and the burial chamber was moved underground at the base of the shaft
First pyramids
The step pyramid, saqqara, ca. 2630 BC
Designed by Imhotep- architect, engineer, sage, doctor, astronomer, and high priest
Egypt’s 1st monumental construction in stone
The 1st step pyramid for pharaoh djosers (3rd dynasty) funerary complex at saqqara
Comprised of 6 traditional mastabas each smaller than the previous one piled on top of each other
Provides the pharaohs way to Ra after death
One single true entrance and many false ones
Dummy buildings similar to the ones at djosers palace
Pyramid was faced with white limestone, the rest of the complex and all the decorative details made of stone
First pyramids
Meidum sneferu’s pyramid (onion)
Built at Meidum, 6 miles south of Saqqara
Might have been started by Huni - the last pharaoh of the 3rd dynasty
Finished by Huni’s son, Sneferu (2613-2589 BC) - the first pharaoh of the 4th dynasty, who became the greatest pyramid builder in Egyptian history by completing 3 of them
7 stage stepped pyramid core
Transformed to a true pyramid by adding 2 layers of outer casings
With the addition of the 3rd outer layer of limestone, the top part collapsed
Burial chamber - the first Egyptian stone corbelled construction
Dahshur sneferu’s south pyramid (bent)
Built at dahshur, 28 miles south of Meidum
Starts out at one angle and then the inclination angle changes
Stabilizing factors
- firm limestone foundation
- solid core
- reduced inclination angle
Dahshur sneferu’s north pyramid (red)
Last pyramid built by sneferu, ca 1.5 miles north of the bent pyramid
Oldest true pyramid in Egypt
Red from the oxidation of the core limestone exposed
Constant angle
The great pyramids at Giza
2550-2460 BC
During the 4th dynasty
Work of sneferu’s descendents
Son, grandson, and great grandson worked on one of the three
Refer to picture
Great pyramid of Khufu (2551-2528 BC)
3 chambers
Saddle roof
Ascending passage
Grand gallery
Both kings and queens chambers have a pair of ventilation shafts pointing to the North Pole Star and Orion
Pyramid of Khafre (2520-2494 BC)
Second largest pyramid complex
Stands on higher ground than Khufu’s - makes it seem taller
One burial chamber made of granite at ground level close to the middle of the pyramid
Distinguished by: the original limestone casing preserved at the top of the pyramid, the adjacent Sphinx temple and countless statues throughout the area
Pyramid of Menkaure (2490-2472 BC)
Smallest of the 3 pyramids
Limestone and granite
Sarcophagus made of basalt
Tomb of Mentuhotep II, at Dier-el-Bahari (ca. 2061-2010 BC)
Hypostyle Hall- large hall composed of many columns placed together to support a roof
Nowadays is a ruin
Axial route from the Nile
T shaped, 2 level colonnaded terrace built around a massive flat-roofed Hall
Coaxial followed a courtyard, a hypostyle Hall, and the burial vault carved in the mountain
Beni Hasan
Ca. 2000-1900 BC
Cemetery site located in the middle Egypt region
More typical of Middle Kingdom tombs
-rock cut tombs
-with sheltering porticoes
-interior decorations replicate the interior of ordinary houses
Portico
Colonnaded porch
Queen Hatshepsut Mortuary Temple, Deir-el-Bahari
Ca. 1473-1458 BC
Hatshepsut - first important female ruler known to history
Buried in the valley of the kings
One of the most impressive temples, dedicated to God Amun (sun)
Senmut- the architect, designed and built the temple with some of the aspects on Mentuhotep’s neighboring temple, but on a grander scale
Ramps (key difference from other temple in the mountain-side) led to 3 broad terraces, defined by colonnaded supporting the next level
Processional way ends at a false door painted on the rock wall
Columns in the northern part of the 2nd terrace resemble the Doric style
Sanctuaries are decorated with relief carvings and wall paintings depicting scenes from her life
The great temple of Amun, Karnak
Ca. 1550-323 BC
Constructed in stages, with often improved and renovated
Buildings are arranged along the processional route from the Nile to the nearby temple site of Luxor
Pylons (massive entrance with sloping walls and central opening) represent:
- the entrance through which the sun was reborn daily
- the gates to the underworld, through which the eternal spirit must pass
Newgrange
Marks a significant spot
Aligned with cosmic events
Involves a path (from profane to sacred space)
Includes ornament
Ziggurats, pyramids, obelisks, Egyptian temples
Exploited open terrain
Manmade vertical fouls for the natural horizon
Axial movement toward a terminal point, providing a rhythm and signaling change
Columns important for structure and architectural features
