Pre-Historic / Mesopotamian / Egyptian Architecture

Egyptian gorge

Cornice consisting of a large cavetto decorated with vertical leaves and a roll molding Aka cavetto cornice

Perseopolis

New capital of the Persian Empire established under the reign of Darius in 520 B.C.E. Darius designed his own capital city.

Hanging Gardens

One of the 7 wonders of the Ancient World. Nebuchadnezzar built these for his wife in the grand palace with terraced with lush gardens

Khan

Service chambers in an Assyrian palace.

Bluestone

The smaller stones at Stonehenge that were transported a great distance

Valley Temple

Used for preparing the pharaoh for his final journey

Jericho

World's oldest and continually-inhabited city Hilltop city

Hypaethral court

[Egypt] Part of the temple that is party or wholly open to the sky

Hypostyle hall

a large hall with a roof supported by many columns, sometimes a clerestory

Sacrophagus

a large stone coffin

Temenos

an enclosed sacred area reserved for worship in ancient Greece

Imhotep

designer of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara

Cromlech

huge stones arranged in a circle

Cove

with 3 standing stones, two oterm-78n the sides and one at the back

Syrinx

A narrow rock-cut corridor in an ancient Egyptian tomb.

Dur-Sharrukin

Assyrian capital for Sargon II in Khorsabad. Home to Sargon's palace complex, guarded by lamassuses. Squarish parallelogram city 7-staged ziggurat

Mesopotamia

"land between the rivers" Tigris, Euphrates Rivers - fertile crescent - now IRAQ

Tower of Babel

- 7 tiers covered in glazed tiles - type of ziggurat - King Nebuchadnezzar to "rival heaven"

Babylonian architecture

- Mud brick construction and burnt and glazed brick works - articulated pilasters and recesses

Khirokitia

- earliest neolithic village - complex arch'l system: built accdg. to a preconceived plan. Modern day: limestone, circular plan, 2-9m dia.

Catal Huyuk

- largest & most well preserved neolithic villages - rectangular flat roofed house with no streets or passageways - Anatolia, Turkey

Egyptian Architecture

1. Axial planning of massive masonry tombs and temples 2. Trabeated construction 3. Battered wall, pictographic carvings in relief

Ziggurat

1. stepped structure with outside stairs and monumental ramps with temple/shrine at the top. 2. Mud bricks / natural stone 3. Four corners oriented at the cardinal points

Nebuchadnezzar's Palace

600-room palace chamber

Henge

A circular ground plan arrangement of vertically oriented wood or stones. Used for rituals and marking astronomical events

Trullo

A circular stone shelter of the Apulia region of southern Italy, roofed with conical constructions of corbeled dry masonry, usually whitewashed and painted with figures or symbols.

Sarsen

A form of sandstone used for the megaliths at Stonehenge.

Cuneiform

A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.

Kiosk

A freestanding stone canopy structure supported in columns in Egyptian architecture.

Pylon

A gateway guarding a sacred precinct consisting of either a pair of tall truncated pyramids and a doorway between them, often decorated with painted reliefs

Androsphinx

A human-headed sphinx

Stonehenge

A megalithic monument consisting of four concentric rings of trilithons and menhirs centered around an altar stone

Cairns

A mound of stones erected as a landmark / tombstone Aka CARN

Wigwam

A native American lodge frequently having an oval shape and covered with bark or hides

Serdab

A small concealed chamber in Egyptian mastaba for the statue of the deceased for the Ka to find [Part of an Egyptian Mastaba]

Obelisk

A tall, four-sided pillar that has a pyramidical cap (pyramidion)

Shaft Graves

A term used for the burial sites of elite members of Mycenaean Greek society in the mid-second millennium B.C.E. At the bottom of deep shafts lined with stone slabs, the bodies were laid out along with gold and bronze jewelry, implements, weapons, and masks.

Palm Capital

An ancient Egyptian capital shaped like the crown of a palm tree.

Osirian column

An ancient Egyptian column incorporating the sculptures figure of the Egyptian goddess of death and resurrection.

Tumulus

An artificial mound of earth or stones placed over a grave ; aka barrow

Hathor Headed Capital

Ancient egyptian capital of a head of the Egyptian goddess of love and happiness

Megaliths

Ancient stone monuments

Persian Architecture

Architecture developed under the Achaemenid dynasty of kings who ruled ancient persia from 550BC until its conquest by Alexander the Great in 331BC. Synthesis of architectural elements of surrounding countries, as assyria, greece, and egypt

Pyramid of Zoser/Djoser

Begun as a mastaba stone then successfully enlarged

Sumerian Architecture

Characterized by monumental temples of sun-dried brick faced with burnt or glazed brick, often built upon the ruins of their predecessors.

Cult Temple

Egyptian Temple for worship of gods / deity

North Pyramid of Dahshur

First true pyramid [also the Red Pyramid]

Dolmen

From the words daul (table), maen (stone). A prehistoric with stones laid on 2 or more upright stones

Mortuary Temple

In Egyptian architecture, a temple erected for the worship of a deceased pharaoh.

Tholos Tomb

In Mycenaean architecture, a beehive-shaped tomb with a circular plan.

Igloo

Innuit (Eskimo) house constructed of hard packed snow blocks built up spirally.

Assyrian Architecture

Mesopotamian architecture. Within city walls strengthened by towers with oriented battlements, palaces, took precedence over religious buildings, vaulting played a greater role, polychrome glazed brickworks.

Haram

Private chambers in an Assyrian palace.

Temple of Abu Simbel

Temple built by Ramses the Great that is mostly famous for the 4 huge statues of him at the entrance 22m tall

Ishtar Gate

The entrance gate into Babylon. It was built by Nebuchadnezzar. 4-storey covered in blue glazed bricks and tiles

Seraglio

The palace proper in Assyrian palaces.

Temple of Hatshepsut

[Egypt] Temple with 3 tiers, seemingly carved out of the rock; built by Senenmut Shift from the compact geometry to the linear (new kingdom)

Mammisi

a birth house; a small egyptian side temple, kiosk or tent shrine to celebrate the place where the god of the main temple was born or where the goddess bore her children

Necropolis

a cemetery, especially a large one belonging to an ancient city.

Cromlech

a circle of megaliths

Lamassu

a colossal winged human-headed bull or lion in Assyrian art

Hogan

a cone-shaped Navajo shelter built by covering a log frame with mud or adobe

Tepee

a cone-shaped tent made from wooden poles and buffalo skins

Passage grave

a prehistoric tomb under a cairn, reached by a long, narrow, slab-lined access passageway or "dronos" [also tumulus/chamber grave]

Trilithon

a structure consisting of two large vertical stones (posts) supporting a third stone set horizontally across the top (lintel)

Battered Wall

a wall that slopes inward as it rises

Papyrus Capital

an Egyptian capital resembling a bundle of papyrus buds

Lotus Capital

an Egyptian motif in which a column is capped with a closed lotus flower

Mastaba

an ancient Egyptian mudbrick tomb for nobility with a rectangular base and sloping sides and flat roof Shaft leads to underground burial chamber

Sphinx

an imaginary creature with a human head (also ram, hawk) and the body of a lion that was often shown on Egyptian statues

Propylon

an outer monumental gateway standing before a main gateway (as of a temple)

Stelae

an upright stone slab or column typically bearing a commemorative inscription or relief design, often serving as a gravestone.

Bent Pyramid

built by Seneferu, first attempt at classic shape but made too steep and had to be sloped Also called a "blunt/false pyramid"

Ziggurat of Ur

dedicated to the moon god built by the sumerians

Clochan

is a stone bee-hive shaped hut with a corbelled roof, commonly associated with the Irish coastline

Menhir

monolith, prehistoric monument consisting an upright stone, usually standing alone but sometimes aligned with others in parallel rows

Karnak Temple

one of the largest temples in all of Egypt dedicated mainly to Amun but also Mut and Khonsu and Mentu - basically every king added on to it architecturally in some capacity Located in luxor

Dromos

passage leading to a sub-terranean tomb

Barque temple

room or building in which the image of pharaoh or deity was revered

Apadana

the great audience hall in ancient Persian palaces.

Sundial

uses the position of shadows cast by the sun to tell the time of day First invented by the Babylonian