Chrissie Cornacchia
Arch 1
Chapter 3
THE RISE OF THE CITY: ARCHITECTURE IN WESTERN ASIA
o the Near East is called “the cradle of civilization” because of their non“barbarous” ability to write
o “civitas”=civilization; the city typified a social process
Stirrings of Urban Consciousness
o chemistry of early cities relied on people, productive resources, and ambition
o specialization went hand in hand with social stratification
o power manifests itself through architecture perhaps more easily and
universally than through anything else
o Jericho- present day mound near the modern town on the left back of the
river Jordan; it holds a series of Jerichoes built on the ruins of its predecessor
o Jericho had been a reliable source for freshwater in the desert of the
Dead Sea (now called Elisha’s Fountain)
o first permanent settlement had solid doomed houses of mud-brick,
with an entrance porch and curved walls; the floor was sunk below
the ground level- underneath it the dead lay buried
 the settlement was fortified by a fine stone wall of cyclopean
masonry
 fort was overseen by a massive round, stone tower
 in its hollow core, a staircase of single stone slabs had
been constructed; either to man the tower or else to
reach the source of the spring, perhaps both
o second settlement made rectangular houses which consisted of
several rooms, interconnecting through wide doorways
o “cob”, pisé, mud-brick
o the sizable population, defensive wall, and interweaving of public
buildings (cisterns, shrines) and houses are features that point Jericho
towards urbanism
o Khirokitia- a hilltop settlement in southern Cyprus, within the bend of the
river Maronioù
o home of the first true street that runs uphill from the riverbank on the
south side of the bend, crosses the settlement, and descends again on
the opposite side
 the street defines the settlement as emphatically as the walls
did the first Jericho
o composition of Khrokitia is open- houses huddle on both sides of main
street, which gives settlement a spine of communication and spectacle
 houses right on the main street or adjacent to the halting place
(street is widened as a stopping area with a splendid view of
the Maronioù Valley) might seem to be privileged and
therefore more desirable than others
o Çatalhöyük- in the Konya Plain of south Anatolia; largest and mot complex
Neolithic settlement because of trade
o this town of perhaps 10,000 people would seem to have controlled the
trade of a valued commodity, obsidian (black volcanic glass used for
making cutting tools)
o prospecting and metallurgy were two important skills of the town
o buildings were grouped into tight quarters so that a continuous, blank
was off construction faced the countryside
o streets were unknown; quarter opened up to an occasional courtyard
o a timber framework of posts and beams divides the walls into a series
of vertical and horizontal panels that are then filled with mud-brick
and plastered
The Cities of Mesopotamia
o the “land between two rivers” ; concentrated urban culture sustained by
written tradition
o 1. Protoliterate Period- towns acquired battlements of ringwalls; the temple
and the ziggurat begin to gain architectural definition
o 2. Early Dynastic- kingship, first elective then hereditary, became
established; monumental palace rose as an administrative center
o 3. later Sumerian period- the rise of empire, the collective rule of several citystates through the might of a sovereign king
o 4. Assyrian period- Assyrians were known for their imposing state reliefs and
their palaces; northern region of the two rivers now flourishes at the expense
of lower Mesopotamia
o The Layout of the Cities: cities were enclosed by a wall and surrounded by
suburban villages and hamlets
o two monumental centers were the ziggurat complex and the palace
o bazaar (at Ur)- a concentration of little booths along a narrow passage
with doors at either end that were closed at night (a market?)
o streets were no wider than 9 ft; bordered with houses of the rich, the
poorer folk lived at the back along narrow lanes and alleys
o houses were rectangular, divided into orthogonal rooms around a
central living space
o Temples and Ziggurats: these shrines had become monumental temple forms
and fitted into the urban scheme
o (Warka)- four corners point toward the main directions of the
compass, the standard orientation for religious architecture
o ziggurat was conceived as a substantial mountain
 called by the Sumerians, “House of the Mountain, Mountain of
the Storm, Bond between Heaven and Earth”
 the essence of the ziggurat is that it be high; at its skirts will be
arrayed the full panoply of theocratic socialism
 ziggurat is a ladder, as much for the deity’s descent into the
city as for the ceremonious climb of human servants
 permission to build the temple came from above; precise
measurements were spoken to the king in secret
most famous is ziggurat of Ur-Nammu at Ur; stepped pyramid
in three stages
 none of the lines of the ziggurat is straight; sloping walls
are slightly convex- intended to correct the look of
stiffness
 once the ziggurat is built, the remaining question was Would
the god be pleased with it and come to reside there?
 the hope is rigorously upheld ritual
o Palaces:
 Mari- 260 rooms, overwhelms ziggurat complex to southeast
 the movement of servants and troups must be kept
separate from the royal path; the kings intimate life
must be separate from his public presence
 the palace at Khorsabad
 the Throne Room is a fitting testimonial to the warlike
Assyrian kings who had ruthlessly forged an empire out
of the city-states of Mesopotamia and struck terror
among neighboring people
 palace grew at the expense of the ziggurat it started out
as into a theater of absolute power and intimidation, the
symbol of a city whose piety now existed in the shadow
of a fierce war machine
