Mesopotamian

Architecture

Monumental Architecture

Palaces

Ziggurats

Ziggurats are a part of Mesopotamia. They were built to honer their main gods. They were built for tradition from Sumerians, but other parts of Mesopotamia also built ziggurats. The ziggurat is a type of temple and is known as the place where the moon god Nanna had chosen to dwell. The ziggurat at Babylon was named Etemenanki, which meant “Foundation of heaven and Earth” in Sumerian. It is a very religious structure. The ziggurat was always built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick.

The best-preserved ziggurat is at Ur. The largest, at Choghā Zanbīl in Elam, however, now is in southwest Iran.There are about 25 known ziggurats still in existence today, located mostly in Iran and Iraq. The most famous ziggurat is the "tower of Babel."Ziggurats are found scattered around what is today Iraq and Iran, and stand as a belief to the power and skill of the ancient culture that produced them.

The Ziggurats purpose is to get the temple closer to the heavens. The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. The materials for the Ur ziggurat were bricks of mud and a material called bitumen. If the bricks were stacked with only mud between them, they would not have lasted long. Bitumen was similar to a waterproofing glue that helped ensure the structures would last. All Sumerian cities built ziggurats the same size. Ziggurats were built on high platforms to keep them safe from floods. Each Sumerian city built a ziggurat or temple for its own special god or goddess. (CA)

Hanging Gardens

Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar was said to have constructed the awsome Hanging Gardens in the sixth century B.C. as a gift to his wife Amytis who was homesick for the beautiful vegetation and mountains of her native land.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were the gardens which decorated the capital of the Babylonian Empire, built by its king Nebuchadnezzar II one of the seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Greek and Roman texts paint clear pictures of the great Hanging Gardens of Babylon. amongst the hot, dry landscape of ancient Babylon. (TK)

Ishtar Gate

The Ishtar Gate was created by King Nebuchadnezzar II circa 575 BCE, to create a big impression. The walls were made of glazed bricks with bulls and dragons all over. The magnificent site was named one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. The gate also served as a transportation area during the Procession of the Gods.

The Bricks

The glazed blue bricks were embedded with bulls and dragon type creatures called “Mušḫuššu.” The animals represented Marduk, the patron god of Babylon, and Ishtar, the goddess of love and war. Mušḫunššu was Marduk's sacred hybrid.

The glossy bricks could withstand harsh weather which was one of the reasons for its choice. The bricks also created vibrant and colorful pictures on the walls.

The Entrance to Babylon and The Processional Way

The Ishtar gate was one of the 8 entrances to Babylon. The gate was located on the north side of Babylon, the Processional Way was connected to the Ishtar Gate. The Processional Way was the path way, where the floats would parade down. The path was furnished with red and yellow stone. Each of the stones had a prayer from the king to Babylon’s patron god.

Excavation and Reconstruction

The Ishtar gate was moved between 1902 to 1914 CE. Robert Koldewey moved material that was used in the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Way. Robert Koldewey and his team founded the ruins of the Ishtar Gate around 1899 and 1917. After world war two part of the smaller gate was reconstructed and moved to Berlin.

The Gate can show us a lot about what early communities in Babylon, what they woke up to everyday and early life in Mesopotamia. (GM)

Royal Tombs

Beginning with Howard Carter's landmark 1922 discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamun, the decade would end with another stunning find: Leonard Woolley's discovery of intact Mesopotamian royal tombs dating back more than 4,000 years in the ancient city of Ur, located 140 miles southeast of Babylon.

Leonard Woolley’s excavations at the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in southern Iraq – or Mesopotomia, ‘the land between the two rivers’, as it was then known – lasted from 1922 to 1934. At the end of the 1926 season, working on a cemetery site containing some 2,500 burials. (TK)

homes

City Homes (Mud Brick)

Homes were important in ancient mesopotamia. One reason is because they provided shelter. Even if they were rich or poor the mesopotamians had a home. The rich had large wide houses and the poor had long narrow houses.The first floor was an entryway and courtyard. The children played there and small livestock was kept there. If the weather made it possible, meals might be cooked here. The next two floors were where the family lived. Their sleeping and sitting rooms were there .People lived in reed houses near the rivers and in wetland areas. In drier areas, people built homes of sun-dried mud bricks. Mud or brick homes had one or two floors.The roof was an extra living area where families could cook and sleep on hot nights. Homes where important to the ancient mesopotamians. (IP)

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