4. First cities- Mesopotamia/Persia
Ziggurat
a stepped pyramid form used in ancient Mesopotamia as the platform for a religious building. 3 stairways, walls sloped inward to center top had a temple, only priests allowed to ascend
Ziggurat at Ur
Mesopotamia (Iraq) ca 2100 BC made of kiln-fired brick big mass of earth mudbrick stands today as best surviving ziggurat stepped pyramid. sundried brick on inside
City of Ur and Residential Quarter
Mesopotamia (Iraq) ca 2100 BC not orthogonal organic, curving cluster there are streets there are courtyards share same resources protection from weather high windows
Persian
539 Persian empire ruled by Cyrus 2 overthrown Medes continued to expand capital to Susa borrowed freely from cultures they conquered
Palace
Made for kings
Buttress
Masonry reinforcement applied to a wall to provide additional strength
Mud brick (sun-dried vs. kiln fired)
Mud brick sun-dried for houses. kiln fired for ziggurats and temples for weather resistance and durability
Palace of Persepolis
Persia (Iran) ca 518 BC audience halls with columns (hyppostyle) borrowing from different architecture columns with bulls at top architecture for power and prestige
Hypostyle Hall
a large house composed of many columns placed close together to support the roof
Mesopotamia
fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers here the earliest literate civilizations developed in independent urban communities called city-states an area of about 500 miles long by 300 miles wide Euphrates was more navigable and unifying people constructed elaborated irrigation canals made possible fertile landscape growth large urban populations priests, merchants, architects
Courtyard House
houses of general population densely packed neighborhoods plan roughly orthogonal spaces constructed around open courtyards. provided light and fresh air to all rooms. courtyards were open communal spaces. many times had much garbage
Sumerian
world's first civilization 4000 BC lasted till about 2350 BC settlements were city-states, political and religious center based on natural elements