The document provides an overview of West Asian architecture from 3000 BC to 330 BC, covering religious, climatic, and historical contexts. It summarizes the architectural styles and prominent structures of the Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian periods. Key structures discussed include the White Temple and Great Ziggarat of Uruk and Ur, the Ishtar Gate of Babylon, and the palaces of Sargon and Persepolis. Traditional mudbrick construction evolved during this time with new ornamentation techniques using glazed bricks.

1. WEST ASIAN
ARCHITECTURE
SUBMITTED TO:-
AR. MOHD ARIF KAMAL
SUBMITTED BY:-
MOHD FARZAN(12ARB557)
MOHD WAQAR(12ARB558)

2. RELIGIOUS CONDITION
RELIGION DOMINATED THEIR LIFE. SPELLS WERE
CREATED, MAGIC WAS LARGELY PRACTICED. THEY
CARRIED MYSTERIOUS CEREMONIAL RITES, ALSO
LOOKED AFTER MEDICINE, ASTROLOGY AND THUS
INVENTED WITH UNLIMITED AUTHORITY IN ALL THE
WISDOM OF AGE. GODS WERE THOUGHT TO RESIDE IN
THE HEIGHT AND TO APPROACH THEM TEMPLES WERE
BUILT ON ELEVATED PLATFORMS USUALLY PROVIDED
WITH HOLY MOUNTAINS ‘ZIGGURATS’ WITH THE
SHRINE AT TOP. EACH CITY HAD AT LEAST ONE
ZIGGURAT. THE ZIGGURATS WERE AS IMPRESSIVE AS
THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT.

3. CLIMATIC CONDITION
THE CLIMATE IS EXTREME SEVERE HOT IN SUMMER
AND COLD IN WINTER. THE RAINFALL IS VERY SMALL.
TO PROTECT FROM SEVERE HEAT COLUMNED HALLS
AND PORTICOES WERE COMMON IN PERSIAN
BUILDINGS. THE TWIN RIVERS TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES
PRODUCED FLOOD HAZARD IN SUMMER DUE TO THE
MELTING OF SNOWS. SO HIGH PLATFORMS WERE
USUALLY PROVIDED FOR BUILDINGS TO PROTECT
THEM FROM FLOODS.

4. LOCATION
 LOCATED IN AND AROUND THE
VALLEY OF TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES
RIVERS IN MODERN IRAQ.
 AREA IS ALSO KNOWN AS
MESOPOTAMIA OR LAND BETWEEN
TWO RIVERS.
 THE LAND HAD POORLY DEFINED
EDGES.
 THE LAND STRETCHES FROM
MEDITERRANEAN TO EASTERN
BORDERS OF PRESENT IRAN.
 TO THE SOUTH AND WEST, IT FADES
INTO THE ARABIAN DESERT.

5.  TO THE NORTH AND WEST, IT FADES INTO THE PLAINS OF
SYRIA.
 THE TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS SIT IN THE LAND AS
DOMINANT PHYSICAL FEATURE.
 THE RIVERS WERE UNPREDICTABLE, BEING SUBJECT TO
ALTERNATING FLOOD AND DROUGHT.
PERIOD:
 THE AREA WITNESSED THE EARLIEST RISE OF HUMAN
CIVILIZATION AROUND 4500 BC.
 TRANSFORMATION FROM PREHISTORY, TO VILLAGES AND
CITIES OCCURRED THERE.
 CIVILIZATION THERE LASTED FOR 5000 YEARS.
 THE CULTURES INCLUDE SUMERIAN, AKKADIAN,
ASSYRIAN, BABYLONIAN, AND PERSIAN.

6. HISTORICAL CONDITION: THE ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE
OF WEST-ASIATIC DEVELOPED FROM 3000 BC TO 330 BC.
IN THE FOLLOWING PERIOD.
(a) EARLY SUMERIAN (3000—2000 BC)
(b) OLD BABYLONIAN (2016-1595 BC) ---NEO BABYLONIAN
(626-539 BC)
(c) ASSYRIAN (1859—626 BC)
(d) PERSIAN (750—330 BC)

7. SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE
 THE TRANSITION FROM PREHISTORY WAS MADE
AROUND 4500 BC WITH THE RISE OF THE SUMERIAN
CIVILIZATION.
 THE MAJOR CITIES OF THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
WERE KISH, URUKAND, UR.

8.  THE SUMERIAN WERE THE FIRST CIVILIZATION TO
MAKE A CONSCIOUS ATTEMPT OF DESIGNING PUBLIC
BUILDINGS.
 MUD WAS THEIR BUILDING MATERIAL.
 MUD WAS FORMED INTO BRICK, SUN DRIED AND
BUILT INTO MASSIVE WALLS.
 WALLS WERE THICK TO COMPENSATE THE WEAKNESS
OF MUD.
 THEY WERE REINFORCE WITH BUTTRESSES.

9.  SPACES WERE NARROW BECAUSE OF THE WALLING
MATERIAL
 FACADE OF BUILDINGS WERE WHITE WASHED AND
PAINTED TO DISGUISE THE LACK OF ATTRACTION OF
THE MATERIAL.
 BUTTRESSES AND RECESSES ALSO RELIEVE THE
MONOTONY OF THE PLASTERED WALL SURFACES.
 TEMPLES WAS THEIR MAJOR BUILDING TYPE.

10.  CITIES WERE ENCLOSED IN WALLS WITH ZIGGURAT
TEMPLES AND PALACE AS CENTERS OF THE CITY.
 FABRIC OF THE CITY IS MADE UP OF RESIDENCES
MIXED WITH COMMERCIAL AND INDUSTRIAL
BUILDINGS.
 THE HOUSES WERE DENSELY PACKED WITH NARROW
STREETS BETWEEN THEM.
 STREETS WERE FRONTED BY COURTYARD HOUSES OF
ONE STORY HIGH.

11.  THE HOUSES STREETS WERE USUALLY PUNCTUATED
BY NARROW OPENINGS THAT SERVE AS ENTRANCE TO
HOUSES.
 TEMPLES WERE THE PRINCIPAL ARCHITECTURAL
MONUMENTS OF SUMERIAN CITIES.
 TEMPLES CONSIST OF CHIEF AND CITY TEMPLES.

12. WHITE TEMPLE (URUK)
 URUK WAS A MAJOR SUMERIAN CITY BY 3300
BC.
 URUK IS ALSO KNOWN AS WARKA IN ARABIC.
 THE WHITE TEMPLE WAS BUILT AROUND 3000
BC.
 IT IS AN EXAMPLE OF EARLIEST
DEVELOPMENT OF SUMERIAN TEMPLES AND
ZIGGURAT.
 THE TEMPLE IS PLACE ON A GREAT MOUND OF
EARTH CALLED ZIGGURAT, RISING MORE
THAN 12 METERS ABOVE GROUND.
 THE ZIGGURAT AND TEMPLE ARE BUILT WITH
MUD BRICKS.
 THE TEMPLE IS RECTANGULAR IN SHAPE.

13.  TEMPLE WALLS WERE THICK AND
SUPPORTED BY BUTTRESSES.
 IN THE INNER PART OF THE TEMPLE
WAS A LONG SANCTUARY, THAT
CONTAINS AN ALTER AND
OFFERING TABLE.
 ROOMS OBLONG AND IN SHAPE
AND VAULTED SURROUNDED THE
LONG SIDE OF THE SANCTUARY.
 THE TEMPLE HAD IMPOSING
DOORWAYS LOCATED AT ITS EITHER
END.
 WORSHIPPERS ENTER TO THE
TEMPLE THROUGH A SIDE ROOM.

14.  SERIES OF STAIRCASES AND STEPPED LEVELS LEAD
WORSHIPS TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE TEMPLE.
 THE TEMPLE WAS PLASTERED WHITE EXTERNALLY,
MAKING IT VISIBLE FOR MILES IN THE LANDSCAPE.

15. GREAT ZIGGURAT (UR)
 UR WAS A SUMERIAN CITY
LOCATED NEAR THE MOUTH OF
THE EUPHRATES RIVER.
 IT WAS CONSTRUCTED OF MUD
BRICKS REINFORCED WITH THIN
LAYERS OF MATTING AND
CABLES OF TWISTED REEDS.
 THE GREAT ZIGGURAT WAS
LOCATED AS PART OF A TEMPLE
COMPLEX.

16.  THE KING WAS THE CHIEF PRIEST OF THE TEMPLE
AND LIVED CLOSE TO IT.
 THE TEMPLE SITS ON A THREE MULTI-TIERED
ZIGGURAT MOUNTAIN.
 ACCESS TO THE TEMPLE IS THROUGH TRIPLE
STAIRWAYS THAT CONVERGE AT THE SUMMIT OF THE
FIRST PLATFORM.
 FROM THIS STAGE, ONE PASSED THROUGH A PORTAL
WITH DOME ROOF TO FOURTH STAIRCASE.

17.  THE FOURTH STAIRCASE GAVE ACCESS TO THE
SECOND AND THIRD STAGES OF THE ZIGGURAT AND
TO THE TEMPLE.
 THE TEMPLE IS USUALLY ACCESSED ONLY BY THE
PRIEST, WHERE GODS ARE BELIEVED TO COME DOWN
AND GIVE INSTRUCTIONS.
 THE PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT CLIMBING THE
STAIRCASE OF THE ZIGGURAT GIVES A HOLY
EXPERIENCE.
 THE CHIEF TEMPLE WAS ALSO USED AS A LAST LINE
OF DEFENSE DURING TIMES OF WAR.

18.  MOST OF WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT WHAT EXIST ON
TOP OF THE ZIGGURAT IS PROJECTION

19. BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE
 AFTER THE FALL OF NINEVEH IN 612 BC
AND THE END OF THE ASSYRIAN
CIVILIZATION, FOCUS OF
MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION
SHIFTED TO OLD BABYLON.
 A NEW DYNASTY OF KINGS,
INCLUDING NEBUCHADNEZZAR,
REVIVED OLD BABYLONIAN CULTURE
TO CREATE A NEO-BABYLONIAN
CIVILIZATION.
 OLD SUMERIAN CITIES WERE REBUILT.
 THE CAPITAL OLD BABYLON WAS
ENLARGED AND HEAVILY FORTIFIED.

20.  THE CAPITAL OLD BABYLON WAS ENLARGED AND
HEAVILY FORTIFIED AND MAGNIFICENT NEW
BUILDINGS WERE BUILT.
 THE TRADITIONAL STYLE OF MESOPOTAMIAN
BUILDING REACHED ITS PEAK DURING THE PERIOD.
 TRADITIONAL BUILDING WAS ENHANCED BY A NEW
FORM OF FACADE ORNAMENT CONSISTING OF
FIGURES DESIGNED IN COLORED GLAZED BRICK
WORK.
CITY OF BABYLON:
 THE CITY OF BABYLON IS SHAPED IN THE FORM OF A
QUADRANGLE SITTING ACROSS AND PIERCED BY THE
EUPHRATES.

21.  THE CITY WAS SURROUNDED BY A
FORTIFICATION OF DOUBLE WALLS.
 THESE HAD DEFENSIVE TOWERS
THAT PROJECT WELL ABOVE THE
WALLS.
 THE WALLS ALSO HAD A LARGE
MOAT IN FRONT, WHICH WAS ALSO
USED FOR NAVIGATION .
 THE LENGTH OF THE WALL AND
MOAT IS ABOUT FIVE AND A
QUARTER MILES.
 THE CITY HAD A PALACE LOCATED
ON ITS NORTHERN SIDE ON THE
OUTER WALL.

22. ISHTAR GATE
 FROM THE PALACE ORIGINATED A
PROCESSION STREET THAT CUTS
THROUGH THE CITY RAISED ABOVE
THE GROUND TO THE TOWER OF
BABEL.
 THE PROCESSION STREET ENTERS
THE CITY THROUGH THE FAMOUS
ISHTAR GATE.
 THE ISHTAR GATE IS BUILT ACROSS
THE DOUBLE WALLS OF THE CITY
FORTIFICATION.
 THE GATE HAD A PAIR OF
PROJECTING TOWERS ON EACH
WALL.

23.  ALL THE FACADES OF GATES AND
ADJOINING STREETS WERE FACED
WITH BLUE GLAZED BRICKS AND
ORNAMENTED WITH FIGURES OF
HERALDIC ANIMALS-LIONS,
BULLS, AND DRAGONS.
 THESE WERE MODELLED IN RELIEF
AND GLAZED IN OTHER COLORS.
 NONE OF THE BUILDINGS OF OLD
BABYLON HAS SURVIVED TO THE
PRESENT AGE.

24. ARCHITECTURE IN THE CITY OF
BABYLON:
 NEBUCHADNEZZAR’S PALACE
COVERED A LAND AREA OF 900 FEET
BY 600 FEET.
 IT HAD ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICES,
BARRACKS, THE KING’S HAREM,
PRIVATE APARTMENT ALL
ARRANGED AROUND FIVE
COURTYARDS.
 THE PALACE IS ALSO PRAISED FOR
ITS LEGENDARY HANGING
GARDEN.

25.  THIS IS RECORDED AS ONE OF THE
SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT
WORLD, BUT EXACT KNOWLEDGE
OF THE NATURE OF THIS GARDEN IS
NOT KNOWN.
 TEMPLES AND TOWERS WERE ALSO
PROMINENT ARCHITECTURAL
ELEMENTS OF BABYLON.
 THE LEGENDARY TOWER OF BABEL
LOCATED AT THE END OF
PROCESSION STREET IS MENTIONED
IN THE CHRISTIAN BIBLE.

26. ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE
 THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF ASSYRIA
WERE NINEVEH, DUN, KHORSABAD,
NIMRUDAND ASSUR.
 THE ASSYRIANS WERE GREAT
WARRIORS AND HUNTERS, AND THIS
WAS REFLECTED IN THEIR ART.
 THEY PRODUCED VIOLENT
SCULPTURES AND RELIEF CARVING IN
STONE THAT WAS USED TO
ORNAMENT THEIR HOUSES.
 DURING THE ASSYRIAN PERIODS,
TEMPLES LOST THEIR IMPORTANCE TO
PALACES.

27.  PALACES WERE RAISED ON BRICK PLATFORMS, AND
THEIR PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE WAYS WERE FLANKED
BY GUARDIAN FIGURES OF HUMAN HEADED BULLS OR
LIONS OF STONE.
 THEIR HALLS AND CORRIDORS WERE LINED WITH
PICTURES AND INSCRIPTIONS CARVED IN RELIEF ON
STONE SLABS UP TO 9 FEET HIGH.
 THE INTERIORS WERE RICHLY DECORATED AND
LUXURIOUS.
 THE WALLS OF CITIES WERE USUALLY STRENGTHENED
BY MANY TOWERS SERVING AS DEFENSIVE POSITIONS.

28. PALACE OF SARGON:
 THE PALACE IS APPROACHED AT
GROUND LEVEL THROUGH A
WALLED CITADEL.
 WITHIN THE CITADEL IS FOUND THE
MAIN PALACE, TWO MINOR PALACES
AND A TEMPLE DEDICATED TO NABU.
 THE MAIN PALACE WAS SET ON A
PLATFORM LOCATED ON THE
NORTHERN SIDE OF THE CITADEL.
 ALL THE BUILDINGS WITHIN THE
CITADEL WERE ARRANGED AROUND
COURTYARDS.

29.  THE PALACE WAS ARRANGED
AROUND TWO MAJOR
COURTYARDS ABOUT WHICH
WERE GROUPED SMALLER
COURTYARDS.
 THE PALACE CONSISTED OF
LARGE AND SMALLER ROOMS
WITH THE THRONE ROOM BEING
THE LARGEST.
 THE BUILDING WAS DECORATED
WITH RELIEF SCULPTURE AND
GLAZED BRICK.

30. PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE
 THEIR ARCHITECTURAL SOLUTIONS WERE A SYNTHESIS
OF IDEAS GATHERED FROM ALMOST ALL PARTS OF THEIR
EMPIRE AND FROM THE GREEKS AND EGYPTIANS.
 THEIR MATERIALS OF CONSTRUCTION WAS ALSO FROM
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS.
 MATERIAL INCLUDED MUD-BRICK FROM BABYLON,
WOODEN ROOF BEAMS FROM LEBANON, PRECIOUS
MATERIAL FROM INDIA AND EGYPT, STONE COLUMNS
QUARRIED AND CARVED BY IONIC GREEKS.
 DESPITE SOURCING MATERIALS AND IDEAS FROM
DIFFERENT AREAS, THEIR ARCHITECTURE WAS ORIGINAL
AND DISTINCTIVE IN STYLE.

31. PALACE OF PERSEPOLIS:
 PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE ACHIEVED ITS
GREATEST MONUMENTALITY AT
PERSEPOLIS AND WAS CONSTRUCTED
AS A NEW CAPITAL FOR THE PERSIAN
EMPIRE.
 IT IS SET ALONG THE FACE OF A
MOUNTAIN LEVELLED TO CREATE A
LARGE PLATFORM 1800 FEET BY 900 FEET.
 IT WAS SURROUNDED BY A
FORTIFICATION WALL.
 THE SITE WAS MORE THAN HALF
COVERED BY BUILDINGS
 THE PALACE CONSISTED OF THREE
PARTS:
1) AN APPROACH OF MONUMENTAL
STAIRCASES, GATE WAYS AND AVENUES.

32. 2) TWO GREAT STATE HALLS TOWARDS THE
CENTER OF THE PLATFORM.
3) THE PALACE OF XERXES, THE HAREM,
AND OTHER LIVING QUARTERS AT THE
SOUTH END OF THE SITE.
 STRUCTURALLY, THE BUILDINGS RELIED
ON A HYPOSTYLE SCHEME
THROUGHOUT.
 SOME OF THE SPACES WERE VERY BIG
AND GENERALLY SQUARE IN PLAN.
 THE SPACES WERE ENCLOSED BY MUD
BRICK WALLS.
 THE MOST IMPRESSIVE ASPECT OF THE
PALACE WAS THE ROYAL AUDIENCE
HALL.

33.  THE ROYAL AUDIENCE HALL WAS A SQUARE 250 FEET
IN LENGTH.
 IT CONTAINED 36 SLENDER COLUMNS WIDELY SPACE
& 67 FEET HIGH.
 THE COLUMNS HAD A LOWER DIAMETER OF ONLY 5
FEET.
 THE CENTERS OF THE COLUMNS WERE SPACED 20
FEET OR 4 DIAMETERS APART.
 THE COLUMN WAS THE GREATEST INVENTION OF THE
PERSIANS.
 THE COLUMNS WERE FLUTED AND STAND ON
INVERTED BELL SHAPED BASES.

34.  THEIR CAPITAL COMBINE GREEK MOTIFS
WITH EGYPTIAN PALM LEAF TOPPED BY AN
IMPOST OF PAIRED BEAST.
 ANOTHER FAMOUS ASPECT OF THE PALACE
AT PARSEPOLIS WAS THE THRONE ROOM.
 THIS WAS ALSO KNOWN AS HALL OF A 100
COLUMNS.
 THE COLUMNS IN THE ROOM WERE 37 FEET
HIGH, WITH A DIAMETER OF ONLY 3 FEET.
 THEY WERE SPACED 20 FEET APART OR
SEVEN DIAMETERS FROM AXIS TO AXIS.
 THE SLIM NATURE OF THE COLUMN
CREATED ROOM AND SPACIOUS FEELING IN
THE ROOM WHEN COMPARED TO THE
AUDIENCE HALL.

35.  THE MONUMENTAL ENTRANCE TO
PARSEPOLIS IS ALSO ONE OF THE UNIQUE
ASPECTS OF THE PALACE.
 THE MONUMENTAL GATEWAY ENSURE A
DRAMATIC ENTRY TO THE PALACE.
 IT WAS HEAVILY ADORNED WITH RELIEF
SCULPTURE ORNAMENTING ITS
STAIRWAY.
 THE RELIEF STRUCTURE ADDRESSES
DIFFERENT THEMES RELATING TO THE
ROLE OF PARSEPOLIS AS THE CAPITAL OF
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE.
 IN SOME PLACES, THE SCULPTURE SHOWS
DELEGATES FROM THE DIFFERENT PARTS
OF THE PERSIAN BRINGING GIFTS AND
RARE ANIMALS TO THE KING DURING
CELEBRATIONS.

36.  IN SOME PALACES, ROYAL GUARDS AND
NOBLES OF THE IMPERIAL COURT ARE
SHOWN.
 ELSEWHERE, THE KING IS SEEN IN CONFLICT
WITH ANIMALS OR SEATED BENEATH A
CEREMONIAL UMBRELLA.
 SOME COLUMNS SUPPORTING THE HALLS OF
THE GREAT HALLS HAVE SURVIVED.
 THE MUD BRICK FABRIC OF THE PALACE AND
ITS ENCLOSING WALLS HAVE PERISHED
COMPLETELY.
 ONLY THE SCULPTURES WHICH ADORN
DOORWAYS OR WINDOWS AND OPENINGS
AND THE RELIEF ORNAMENTING ITS
ENTRANCE WAY REMAIN.

37. THANK YOU
REFERENCE:-
SIR BANISTER FLETCHER
G.K. HIRASKER