Western Asiatic Architecture

WESTERN ASIATIC ARCHITECTURE from Egypt to Archaic Greece. Racially, as well as geographically, the whole Mesopotamian region is one. The Chaldaeans of the earlier settlements—a mixture of Sumerian and Semitic elements—the Babylonians and the Assyrians, all had the same broad character istics in their architecture as in their beliefs. The vast plain, watered by the Euphrates and Tigris, was liable to flooding. Hence, the terraced platform was an indispensable preparation for all Mesopotamian building. The ziggurat, or terraced pyra mid, was its principal feature but would have been impossible, by itself, without a base on which to stand. Herein lies the great contrast between the architecture of Babylonia and Assyria and that of the dry, firm sand of Egypt.

Chaldaea.

Under this head may be included the architecture of the lower Mesopotamian region from the earliest times till the effective rise of Assyria, c. 1275 B.C. The principal factors are (I) the early Sumerian centres of Ur, Erech, Larsa and Lagash, dating from c. 3500 B.C. or earlier, to c. 2200 B.C. ; the overlapping power of Akkad which became the dominating power c. 2700-2600 B.C. under Sargon I. and Naram Sin; and (3) the rise of Babylon, c. 2200 B.C., culminating in the reign of the great lawgiver, Ham murabi. Each important Chaldaean settlement was primarily the home of the reigning god and of the local ruler as his priest. Ur was devoted to the cult of the moon-god, Nannar, and of his wife, Nin-Gal. The ziggurat-200 ft. by 15o ft. and still 7o ft. high— is a solid mass of brick in high stages and built with bitumen instead of mortar, standing on a brick-paved terrace having a clear front space 30o ft. long and 174 ft. wide. It is the work of Ur Engur, 3rd dynasty king of Ur (c. 2300 B.C.) and of his son, Dungi. There is no doubt that the final or temple stage was finished with great richness. At Abu Shahrein there were evidences that the topmost chamber was lined with a mosaic of agate, alabaster, marble and gold, fixed with gold-headed copper nails. This technique has been borne out by recent finds at Ur (q.v.).

The retaining walls of the terrace at Ur are massively con structed of sun-dried brick with sloped faces having a series of shallow buttresses. Burnt clay cones are built in at intervals and the circular inscribed ends of these show on the face. On the

terrace were cultural buildings and the houses of the god and his wife. Remarkable results have been disclosed by recent excava tion. The earliest tomb structures, far below terrace level, go back to c. 3500 B.C. and show astonishing facility in the construc tion of barrel vaults and semi-domes of crude brick. Bricks, both crude (or sun-dried) and burnt, were the great building material of Mesopotamia, a natural result of the rich stiff clay which was the subsoil everywhere. "The walls, constructed and repaired with bricks stamped with names of lords of the locality, contain in themselves alone an almost complete history" (Maspero). Plas ter was the usual finish on this brickwork. An important decora tive work is the "stela" (inscribed tablet or pillar) of Ur Engur, 15 ft. high and 5 ft. wide, with carvings in panels of unequal heights—arranged horizontally—and an inscription (cf., the later Assyrian stela of Shalmaneser II. in the British Museum). At Tell-el-Obeid, near Ur, was a temple of c. 3500 B.C. "At the door stood statues of lions made of copper and on each side of the door were columns encrusted with mosaic in mother-of-pearl and red and black stones" (Woolley, Times report, 1925). There is a Greek perfection in the green stone door socket at Ur, "shaped as a serpent with a hollow in the top of its head, wherein the pivot of the door hinge turned" (ibid.).

At Lagash (Tello) there is a palace platform 174 ft. by 69 ft., rising 4o ft. above the plain. It belongs to the time of Gudea, c. 2600 B.C. There is a distinct arrangement in the setting-out of the buildings and the treatment of portions of the external wall is characteristic—deep rectangular grooves arranged vertically at regular intervals, or rows of semicircular projecting pilasters, like "gigantic organ pipes." At Erech (Warka) the treatment is ren dered more decorative by diaper, chevron and spiral patterns, coloured, which are formed of terra-cotta cones sunk deep into solid plaster. Tello is justly celebrated for the quality of its sculpture (now in the Louvre) in excessively hard stone, which is comparable with the early dynastic work of Egypt.