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LECTURE 2
A B H I S H E K K . V E N K I TA R A M A N I Y E R
A S S I S TA N T P RO F E S S O R
ANCIENT
MESOPOTAMIA
Oldest known civilization
Cradle of Human
Civilization
Nebuchadnezzar
Ziggurat
Hanging gardens
FIRST SUMERIANS
Sumerians first arrived in region around
5000 BC
Typical Paleolithic people motivated by
search for game
Settled in region and took up farming
Built dams, dikes, and short canals to use
water from the Euphrates
Grew barley and dates and raised sheep
and goats
SUMERIAN AGRICULTURE
Each was crisscrossed by irrigation system of
major canals and minor channels
Designed to bring water from Euphrates to
farmland
Geography
This civilisation rose in the
valleys between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers.
Some say this Fertile Crescent was
the real Garden of Eden.
SUMERIAN
CITY-STATES
City-states gradually emerged over next 1000
years
Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, Kish, Umma, etc.
Larger than Neolithic settlements and displayed
evidence of economic specialization and strong
political organization
Lagash
In the city-state (or state), kin and tribal loyalties are, by definition, subordinated and replaced by
political ties. What makes a city-state different from an agricultural town is the synergy created
by its people interacting with each other on the basis of political relationships rather than
traditional blood ties.
1-Protoliterate Period:
During this time , the towns, which had
probably evolved from agricultural
villages, acquired their battlements of ring
walls; and the temple and the ziggurat
began to gain architectural definition.
Political authority resided in an assembly
of male citizens that selected short-term
war leaders.
2-Early Dynastic Period:
3-Sumerian Period:
This period saw the rise of empire,
the collective rule of several citystates through the might of a
sovereign king. The first part of the
period is dominated by the Third
Dynasty of Ur whose prodigious
building activity includes the
Ziggurate of Ur-Nammu, the high
point of that building type.
4-Assyrian Period:
The northern region of the two rivers
now flourishes at the expense of
lower Mesopotamia. The Assyrian by
their imposing state reliefs and their
palaces, like the one at Khorsabad.
Ziggurat of Ur Nammu
A Sumerian City
Sumerian city streets were
so narrow that you could
hardly get a cart through
them.
On hot nights, people slept
outdoors on the top of their
houses flat roof.
Narrow Streets
Courtyard Area
CITY CHARACTERISTICS
Each city surrounded by walls
Permanent garrisons of soldiers stationed in
towers and at each gate
LAYOUT PLAN OF UR
8
6
3
9
4
5
2.
7
7
6
1.Temenos Precinct
2.Nimin-Tabba Temple
3.Royal Cementery
4.Royal Mausolea
5.Residential Area
6.City Wall
7.Fortification Tower
8.North Harbor
9.West Harbor
Traffic along the twisted network of unpaved streets was mostly pedestrian. At Ur, one
sees on occasion a low flight of steps against a building from which riders could mount,
and the street corners were regularly rounded to facilitate passage.
Street width at the very most , would be 3 meters (9 feet) or so, and that only for the
few principal thoroughfares that led to the public buildings. These would be bordered with
the houses of the rich.
Poorer folk lived at the back ,along narrow lanes and alleys. It is hard to imagine much
wheeled traffic in this maze, though both service carts (with solid wheels) and chariots had
been in use from an early date.
Once walled the land became precious, and the high value of private property kept
public space to a minimum. Ample squares or public gardens were very rare.
The houses were grouped into congested blocks, where partition walls were common.
the
royal mausolea in the twentieth
century B.C.;Plan
3.
2.
1.
7.
4
.
8.
6.
1. Courtyard
2. Entry Vestibule
3. Reception Room
(Liwan)
4. Private Chapel
5. Kitchen
6. Lavatory
7. Stair case
8. Drain
9.Shop
5.
1.
1.
1.
3.
1.
4.
9.
Ur, Residential quarter between the Ziggurat precinct and the West
Harbor , Plan
Architects designed
perfect house plan,
rectangles
divided
neatly into orthogonal
rooms
around
a
central living space.
But the reality of
living town played
havoc
with
the
conceptual order of
the architect. The
building lots were not
of uniform size. Each
house was compelled
to
fit
into
a
predetermined space.
Uruk
Map of
Nippur
GATES
CANAL
TEMPLE
PARK
TEMPLE
Political Timeline
SOCIAL CLASSES
Establishment of a social hierarchy where some people
had more power, wealth, and privileges than others
The Aristocracy
The Peasantry
SLAVERY
Originated with practice of men selling
themselves and/or their families to pay off
debts
Supplemented by using prisoners of war as
slaves
LUGAL
Cities originally governed by an assembly of
adult males
Kings appeared who claimed to be
representatives of the gods and who took control
of most government functions
Called lugals
Not originally an hereditary position and the kings
power was limited to interpreting the will of the
gods
But this position would become extraordinarily
powerful in a relatively short period of time
GENERAL ANARCHY
Although an occasional city-state would
temporarily control the region from time to time,
more common were long, anarchic periods
where the various city-states fought each other
over boundaries and water rights
North of Sumer
Originally settled by
nomads from Arabia
Fairly untouched by
Sumerian civilization
for centuries
Khorsabad:
KHORSABAD
The city was a royal Assyrian foundation, begun in 706 B.C., and abandoned, unfinished,
shortly afterward.
It covered 2.5 Sq.Km. (almost 1 Sq.mile).
There were two arched gates on each side of the square, guarded by stone demons in the
form of human-headed bulls.
On the North-West side one of the gates had been replaced by a bastion that served as a
platform for the royal place.
The Royal place:
The administrative court of honor is at the top of the plan, with the great Throne Room on
the left.
The entrance court is associated with a number of temples grouped along the west side.
They were all served by single ziggurat that was no other example of this Mesopotamian
building type.
4.
3.
2.
1. Citadel wall
2. Entrance court
3. Court of honor
4. Unexcavated
Temple
Entrance
Court
Court Of
Honor
Citadel Wall
Un-excavated
Thank you
A b h i s h e k K . V.