Mesopotamian Architecture

Monumental Architecture

Palaces

The palace of Ashurbanipal was located north and east of the temples of the god Nabu Ezida and the goddess Ishtar Emasmas. The Ashurbanipal palace in scholarly literature, it is often referred to as the North Palace. Ashurbanipal wasn’t just an Assyrian king, he was a propaganda king. The layout, decorations and even the landscaping of his palaces were all made to point to one major fact, he was more powerful than you. A small portion of the once-grand Assyrian palace is still visible today. It is also called the North Palace.The North Palace is named due to its location on the Nineveh citadel mound of Kuyunjik. (JA)

Above there is a video on the left that is about the decoration of the palace of Ashurbanipal, and on the right there is a video about the Northwest Palace of Ashurbanipal ll

Ziggurats

Ziggurats are ancient Mesopotamian temples. Ziggurats are massive structures with many steps leading to the top. A ziggurat was built to honor the patron god of city. Besides being temples, they also served as a cities town hall. The people who worked in ziggurats were priests. The priests in ziggurats served as a link from the Sumerians to the gods. They also collected taxes and controlled irrigation and did so many other jobs. This gave the priests a lot of power. The Sumerians were the first to build ziggurats but other Mesopotamian civilizations such as the Babylonian and Assyrian civilizations also built ziggurats. Ziggurats were very important in ancient Sumer.

Hanging Gardens

The hanging gardens were built in the sixth century B.C.E by Nebuchadnezzar. the gardens were not just about flowers and plants, either, as architectural, sculptural, and water features were added, and even the views were a consideration for the ancient landscape gardener. (AV)

Ishtar Gate

The Ishtar Gates were the gates leading into Babylon, and they were made by king Nebuchadnezzar. The gates were built in 575 B.C.E., and they were 38 feet tall and were made out of glazed bricks and cedar with images of lions, dragons, and bulls symbolizing the gods Marduk, who was the patron god of Babylon, Adad, the god of weather, and Ishtar, the goddess of love. The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar made the gate to beautify his city. (IC)

Royal Tombs

The Royal Tombs of Ur were found by Leonard Woolley in 1926. He found them in the ancient Sumerian city of Ur in southern Iraq or Mesopotamia back then. The Tombs were so special because of all the burials and precious belongings there. There were 1800 burials 16 of which were royals. He figured out they were royals because of the cylinder seals found near them. The other exciting discovery he found there was the lapis lazuli this is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone. He would find lapis lazuli on a hilt of a sword , as a decorative touch or on a weapon of some sort. He also found gold, this gold was on crowns and jewelry. There were many other precious artifacts as well. Most of the tombs had been found before him and were robbed, but they still found many wonders of the tombs. One of the most shocking parts however was that when the kings were buried his attendants were buried with him. His discovery told us so much about Mesopotamia back then.

Homes

City Homes (Mud Brick)

Mesopotamian homes in the city were made out of mud bricks. The mud bricks were held together with plaited layers of reeds. They were made in molds, dried in the sun and fired in kilns. "They were simply furnished with tables, chairs, and chests for clothing and kitchen ware." The first known bedrooms were in a Sumer palace that dated back to 3500 B.C.E. In Sumerian homes there was usually only one bedroom even if the family was big. Rooftops were very important to Mesopotamians because they provided a fourth living space. A typical Sumerian city house had a series of rooms that were built around a courtyard. The courtyard was usually covered with palm leaves placed over wooden beams. The loose layering of palm leaves helped protect Mesopotamians from the sun and allowed cooking smoke to escape.

Country Homes (Straw and reeds)

People lived in reed houses near the rivers and in wetland areas. They were also simply furnished with tables, chairs, chests for clothing and kitchen ware. They were built with reeds plastered with clay. The Ma’dan, or Marsh Arabs, live like the ancient Mesopotamians did, but thousands of years later. They inhabit the marshy area at the intersection of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. They are tribal people that move around a lot, but not as much as hunter-gatherers. They have their own distinct culture whose way of life has changed very little in the past couple thousand years. They depend on the marshes because they have a tradition to build floating houses made entirely out of reeds. (JP)

Mesopotamian city houses

Marsh Arabs floating houses

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