User:SomeGuyWhoRandomlyEdits/Sumerian architecture

Sumerian architecture
	Top: a reconstruction of a cone mosaic from the Eanna;; Center: the Ziggurat of Ur;; Bottom: the alleged house of Abraham in Ur
Years active	c. 5500 – c. 1736 BC
Location	Iraq
Influences	Neolithic architecture
Influenced	Architecture of Mesopotamia

The architecture of Sumer is an ancient architectural style of the region of the Tigris-Euphrates river system (also known as Mesopotamia) spanning a period from c. 5500 – c. 1736 BC. Sumerians were a people who lived primarily in lower Mesopotamia (the main Sumerian settlements were all south of Baghdad in what are now the: Babil, Diyala, Wasit, Dhi Qar, Basra, Al-Muthanna and Al-Qādisiyyah governorates of Iraq). Among the Sumerian architectural accomplishments were the development of: urban planning, the courtyard house, and ziggurats. No architectural profession existed in Sumer; however, scribes drafted and managed construction for the government, nobility, and/or royalty.

The history of Sumer is usually taken to include: the prehistoric period of the Ubaidians, the protoliterate period of the Urukeans, and the historic periods of the archaeological culture of Jemdet Nasr, the Early Dynasties (ED), the Akkadian, Guti, Ur III empires, and Isin-Larsa kingdoms (c. 5500 – c. 1736 BCE). The Ubaid period saw the formation of the first proto-cities: large villages which displayed features from both the agricultural and urban revolutions; but, had neither centralized rule nor urban planning. There was a two-tier settlement hierarchy of hamlets—each occupying less than 1 hectare (110,000 square feet) and surrounding centralized villages—each occupying over 10 ha (1,100,000 sq ft) c. 6500/5500 – c. 4700/4500 BC. The Sumerian people claimed that their civilization had been brought—fully formed—to the city of Eridu by one of their gods (Enki) or by his advisor (Adapa).

This two-tier hierarchy gradually developing into a three-tier hierarchy of villages surrounding two small towns—each occupying 20 ha (2,200,000 sq ft): Uruk (in the south) and Nippur (in the north)—c. 4700/4500 – c. 4200/3800 BC. By the time of the Uruk period, the volume of trade goods transported along the canals and rivers of southern Mesopotamia facilitated the rise of many large, stratified, temple-centered cities where centralized administrations employed specialized workers.

The Sumerian people were aware of the "craft of building" as a divine gift taught to men by the gods. Sumerian architecture is the foundation of later Elamite, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian architectural styles. The study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture is based on available archaeological evidence, pictorial representation of buildings, and texts on building practices. According to Archibald Sayce, the primitive pictographs of the Uruk period suggest that "Stone was scarce, but was already cut into blocks and seals. Brick was the ordinary building material, and with it cities, forts, temples and houses were constructed. The city was provided with towers and stood on an artificial platform; the house also had a tower-like appearance. It was provided with a door which turned on a hinge, and could be opened with a sort of key; the city gate was on a larger scale, and seems to have been double. ... Demons were feared who had wings like a bird, and the foundation stones – or rather bricks – of a house were consecrated by certain objects that were deposited under them." Scholarly literature usually concentrates on the architecture of temples, palaces, city walls and gates, and other monumental buildings, but occasionally one finds works on residential architecture as well. Archaeological surface surveys also allowed for the study of urban form in early Mesopotamian cities.

Materials

The story of Sumerian architecture is overwhelmingly one of clay masonry and of increasingly complex forms of stacked bricks. In order to harden mudbricks; they were baked out in the Sun to dry. These types of bricks are much less durable than oven-baked ones; so, buildings eventually deteriorated. They were periodically destroyed, leveled, and rebuilt on the same spot. This planned structural life cycle gradually raised the level of cities, so that they came to be elevated above the surrounding plain. The resulting mounds are known as tells, and are found throughout the ancient Near East. Civic buildings slowed decay by using cones of colored stone, terracotta panels, and clay nails driven into the adobe-brick to create a protective sheath that decorated the facade.

Masonry materials

Mudbricks laid out to dry in the Sun by bricklayers as photographed in 2007.

Sumer lacking both forests and quarries, used adobe-brick (also called mud-brick) as the primary material. Adobe-brick was preferred over vitreous brick because of its superior thermal properties and lower manufacturing costs. red brick was used in small applications involving water, decoration, and monumental construction. A late innovation was glazed vitreous brick. Sumerian masonry was usually mortarless although bitumen was sometimes used. Brick styles, which varied greatly over time, are categorized by period.

Patzen 80×40×15 cm: Late Uruk period (3600–3200 BCE)
Riemchen 16×16 cm: Late Uruk period (3600–3200 BCE)
Plano-Convex 10x19x34 cm: Early Dynastic Period (3100–2300 BCE)

Since rounded bricks are somewhat unstable, Sumerian bricklayers would lay a row of bricks perpendicular to the rest every few rows. The advantages to Plano-Convex bricks were the speed of manufacture as well as the irregular surface which held the finishing plaster coat better than a smooth surface from other brick types.

Other materials

Building materials other than brick were used for sheathing, flooring, roofing, doors, and special applications. These materials include:

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) used for ceiling lintels
The giant reed (Fragmites communis) used for roofing and rammed earth foundations
Terracotta panels used for decoration
Bitumen used to seal plumbing

Espcecially prized were imported building materials such as cedar from Lebanon, diorite from Arabia, and lapis lazuli from India.

Residential architecture

Adobe houses

Ubaid houses were usually large, rectangular, unwalled dwellings. They were constructed on stone foundations, with the house itself being made out of mudbricks. Wood, ashlar blocks, and rubble were also popular materials used to make houses. The mudbricks were made from clay and chopped straw. They used mudplaster for the walls, and mud and poplar for the roof.

Mesopotamian masonry was usually mortarless; although, asphalt was sometimes used. Brick styles, which varied greatly over time, are categorized by period. The favoured design was rounded bricks, which are somewhat unstable, so Mesopotamian bricklayers would lay a row of bricks perpendicular to the rest every few rows. The advantages to plano-convex bricks were the speed of manufacture as well as the irregular surface which held the finishing plaster coat better than a smooth surface from other brick types.

In order to harden mudbricks; they were baked out in the Sun to dry. These types of bricks are much less durable than oven-baked ones; so, buildings eventually deteriorated. They were periodically destroyed, leveled, and rebuilt on the same spot. This planned structural life cycle gradually raised the level of cities, so that they came to be elevated above the surrounding plain. The resulting mounds are known as tells, and are found throughout the Near East.

The larger, more complex houses had square centre rooms or long-roofed central hallways with other, smaller rooms attached to the central ones; but, a great variation in the size and materials used to build the houses suggest they were built by the inhabitants themselves. These houses could be tripartite, round, or rectangular. The Late Ubaid (or Early Uruk) houses had courtyards and stairways leading to more rooms on second storeys and/or rooftops. These houses may have been the predecessors of the first religious, public, and domestic temples in Mesopotamia.

Mudhifs

The smaller, simpler houses may not have coincided with the poorest people; in fact, it could be that the poorest people built houses out of perishable materials such as from reeds on the outskirts of settlements, but there is very little direct evidence for this. Mudhifs (or reed huts) could be constructed out of bundles of reeds which would be tied to form parabolic arches (which make up the buildings' spines). These arches were strengthened by the pre-stressing of the columns, as they were initially inserted into the soil at opposing angles. Long cross beams of smaller, bundled reeds were laid across the arches and tied. The front and back walls were attached to two large vertical bundled reed columns and also made from woven mats.

Urban planning

The Sumerians were the first society to create the city itself as a built form. They were proud of this achievement as attested in the Epic of Gilgamesh which opens with a description of Uruk its walls, streets, markets, temples, and gardens. Uruk itself is significant as the center of an urban culture which both colonized and urbanized western Asia.

The construction of cities was the end product of trends which began in the Neolithic Revolution. The growth of the city was partly planned and partly organic. Planning is evident in the walls, high temple district, main canal with harbor, and main street. The finer structure of residential and commercial spaces is the reaction of economic forces to the spatial limits imposed by the planned areas resulting in an irregular design with regular features. Because the Sumerians recorded real estate transactions it is possible to reconstruct much of the urban growth pattern, density, property value, and other metrics from cuneiform text sources.

Civic architecture

Religious precincts and places of worship

The city always included a belt of irrigated agricultural land including small hamlets. A network of roads and canals connected the city to this land. The transportation network was organized in three tiers: wide processional streets (Akkadian:sūqu ilāni u šarri), public through streets (Akkadian:sūqu nišī), and private blind alleys (Akkadian:mūṣû). The public streets that defined a block varied little over time while the blind-alleys were much more fluid. The current estimate is 10% of the city area was streets and 90% buildings. The canals; however, were more important than roads for transportation.

The typical city divided space into residential, mixed use, commercial, and civic spaces. The residential areas were grouped by profession.

At the core of the city was a high temple complex always sited slightly off of the geographical center. This high temple usually predated the founding of the city and was the nucleus around which the urban form grew. The districts adjacent to gates had a special religious and economic function. Temples often predated the creation of the urban settlement and grew from small one room structures to elaborate multiacre complexes across the 2,500 years of Sumerian history. Sumerian temples, fortifications, and palaces made use of more advanced materials and techniques, such as buttresses, recesses, and half columns. Chronologically, Sumerian temples evolved from earlier Ubaid temples. As the temple decayed it was ritually destroyed and a new temple built on its foundations. The successor temple was larger and more articulated than its predecessor temple. The evolution of the E₂.abzu temple at Eridu is a frequently cited case-study of this process. Many temples had inscriptions engraved into them, such as the one at Tell Uqair. Palaces and city walls came much later after temples in the Early Dynastic Period.

Temples

Temples often predated the creation of the urban settlement and grew from small one room structures to elaborate multiacre complexes across the 2,500 years of Sumerian history. Sumerian temples, fortifications, and palaces made use of more advanced materials and techniques, such as buttresses, recesses, and half columns. Chronologically, Sumerian temples evolved from earlier Ubaid temples. As the temple decayed it was ritually destroyed and a new temple built on its foundations. The successor temple was larger and more articulated than its predecessor temple. The evolution of the E₂.abzu temple at Eridu is a frequently cited case-study of this process. Many temples had inscriptions engraved into them, such as the one at Tell Uqair. Palaces and city walls came much later after temples in the Early Dynastic Period.

The form of a Sumerian temple is manifestation of Near Eastern cosmology, which described the world as a disc of land which was surrounded by a salt water ocean, both of which floated on another sea of fresh water called apsu, above them was a hemispherical firmament which regulated time. A world mountain formed an axis mundi that joined all three layers. The role of the temple was to act as that axis mundi, a meeting place between gods and men. The sacredness of 'high places' as a meeting point between realms is a pre-Ubaid belief well attested in the Near East back the Neolithic age. The plan of the temple was rectangular with the corners pointing in cardinal directions to symbolize the four rivers which flow from the mountain to the four world regions. The orientation also serves a more practical purpose of using the temple roof as an observatory for Sumerian timekeeping. The temple was built on a low terrace of rammed earth meant to represent the sacred mound of primordial land which emerged from the water called dukug, 'pure mound' (Sumerian: du₆-ku₃ Cuneiform:) during creation.

The doors of the long axis were the entry point for the gods, and the doors of the short axis the entry point for men. This configuration was called the bent axis approach, as anyone entering would make a ninety degree turn to face the cult statue at the end of the central hall.

The bent axis approach is an innovation from the Ubaid temples which had a linear axis approach, and is also a feature of Sumerian houses.

An offering table was located in the centre of the temple at the intersection of the axes.

Temples of the Uruk Period divided the temple rectangle into tripartite, T-shaped, or combined plans. The tripartite plan inherited from the Ubaid had a large central hall with two smaller flanking halls on either side. The entry was along the short axis and the shrine was at the end of the long axis. The T-shaped plan, also from the Ubaid period, was identical to the tripartite plan except for a hall at one end of the rectangle perpendicular to the main hall. Temple C from the Eanna district of Uruk is a case-study of classical temple form.

There was an explosion of diversity in temple design during the following Early Dynastic Period. The temples still retained features such as cardinal orientation, rectangular plans, and buttresses. Now however they took on a variety new configurations including courtyards, walls, basins, and barracks. The Sin Temple in Khafajah is typical of this era, as it was designed around a series of courtyards leading to a cella.

The high temple was a special type of temple that was home to the patron god of the city. Functionally, it served as a storage and distribution centre as well as housing the priesthood. The White Temple of Anu in Uruk is typical of a high temple which was built very high on a platform of adobe-brick. In the Early Dynastic period high temples began to include a ziggurat, a series of platforms creating a stepped pyramid. Such ziggurats may have been the inspiration for the Biblical Tower of Babel.

Ziggurats

Eabzu

Eanna

There was an explosion of diversity in temple design during the following Early Dynastic Period. The temples still retained features such as cardinal orientation, rectangular plans, and buttresses. Now however they took on a variety new configurations including courtyards, walls, basins, and barracks. The Sin Temple in Khafajah is typical of a this era, it was designed around a series of courtyards leading to a cella.

The high temple was a special type of temple that was home to the patron god of the city. Functionally, it served as a storage and distribution center as well as housing the priesthood. The White Temple of Anu in Uruk is typical of a high temple which was built very high on a platform of adobe-brick. In the Early Dynastic period high temples began to include a ziggurat, a series of platforms creating a stepped pyramid. Such ziggurats may have been the inspiration for the Biblical Tower of Babel.

Classical ziggurats emerged in the Neo-Sumerian Period with articulated buttresses, vitreous brick sheathing, and entasis in the elevation. The Ziggurat of Ur is the best example of this style. Another change in temple design in this period was a straight as opposed to bent-axis approach to the temple.

Palaces

The palace came into existence during the Early Dynastic I period. From a rather modest beginning the palace grows in size and complexity as power is increasingly centralized. The palace is called a 'Big House' where the lugal or ensi lived and worked.

Landscape architecture

Text sources indicate open space planning was a part of the city from the earliest times. The description of Uruk in the Epic of Gilgamesh tells of one third of that city set aside for orchards. Similar planned open space is found at the one fifth enclosure of Nippur. Another important landscape element was the vacant lot (Akkadian: kišubbû) which was used alternatively for agriculture and waste disposal.

External to the city, Sumerian irrigation agriculture created some of the first garden forms in history. The garden (sar) was 144 square cubits with a perimeter canal. This form of the enclosed quadrangle was the basis for the later paradise gardens of Persia.

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

Bibliography

Journals

External links

Geography

Language

Black, Jeremy Allen; Baines, John Robert; Dahl, Jacob L.; Van De Mieroop, Marc. Cunningham, Graham; Ebeling, Jarle; Flückiger-Hawker, Esther; Robson, Eleanor; Taylor, Jon; Zólyomi, Gábor (eds.). "ETCSL: The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature". Faculty of Oriental Studies (revised ed.). United Kingdom. Retrieved 2022-09-23. The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL), a project of the University of Oxford, comprises a selection of nearly 400 literary compositions recorded on sources which come from ancient Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) and date to the late third and early second millennia BCE.
Renn, Jürgen; Dahl, Jacob L.; Lafont, Bertrand; Pagé-Perron, Émilie (2022) [1998]. "CDLI: Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative" (published 1998–2022). Retrieved 2022-09-23. Images presented online by the research project Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDLI) are for the non-commercial use of students, scholars, and the public. Support for the project has been generously provided by the Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the Institute of Museum and Library Services (ILMS), and by the Max Planck Society (MPS), Oxford and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); network services are from UCLA's Center for Digital Humanities.
Sjöberg, Åke Waldemar; Leichty, Erle; Tinney, Steve (2022) [2003]. "PSD: The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary" (published 2003–2022). Retrieved 2022-09-23. The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project (PSD) is carried out in the Babylonian Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology. It is funded by the NEH and private contributions. [They] work with several other projects in the development of tools and corpora. [Two] of these have useful websites: the CDLI and the ETCSL.