ARCH 340: Pre-2500 BCE - 400 BCE

Neolithic Period

10,200 BCE – 4500 / 2000 BCE; Characterized by chipped, ground, and polished stone tools, villages with domestication, pottery, weaving, and megalithic architecture. End is marked by writing systems and urbanization.

Megalithic Architecture

Mega=great; lithic=stone

Dolmen

Type of megalithic architecture, trabeated (pi/t-shaped) sepulcher (someone buried beneath it)

Menhir

Megalithic; non-sepulcher upright stone (often alone or in rows)

Henge

Roughly circular or oval bank with an internal ditch surrounding a central flat area, typically over 20 meters in diameter.

Caves paintings at Lascaux

Lascaux, France (ca. 10,000 BCE); multi-generational, giant paintings in large cave system of France

Carnac, Dolmen & Menhir

Dolmens & Menhirs are found in Carnac France (ca. 3rd millennium BCE)

Stonehenge

Salisbury, England (ca. 2750-1500 BCE); Non-sepulcher menhir arranged in a ring with a small trench bordering the stones. Exists in a sacred landscape. Stones were shaped with a taper and joined in multiple directions

Ġgantija

Malta (3600–2500 BCE); 2nd oldest work. Sits in a sacred landscape dedicated to fertility; lobe shaped organization with smooth facing and rough interior.

Bronze Age

Near East, 3300 – 1200 BCE & Europe, 3000 – 600 BCE; production, trading, or using bronze/bronze tools

Ziggurat

A temple tower of ancient Mesopotamia, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories

‘It’ vs. ‘Thou’

Ancient/order societies view nature & universe as a “thou” - alive, unique, unpredictable, wondrous, and terrifying | Modern societies view nature as an “it” - autonomous, objectified, and dead; like a natural resource to be used.

Upper Egypt

Southern portion of Egypt (Nile River valley)

Lower Egypt

Northern portion of Egypt (Nile River Delta); Dark, fertile land was “black land” and red, sandy desert was “red land”

Polytheistic

A society believes in multiple gods; often complex pantheon of gods that vary across localities

Mastaba

Ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with inward sloping sides, constructed out of mud bricks or limestone.

Pyramid

A massive monument of ancient Egypt having a rectangular base and four triangular faces culminating in a single apex, built over or around a crypt or tomb; stabilization of culture

Pyramid of Zoser, Saqqara, Egypt (ca. 2680 BCE)

Saqqara, Egypt (ca. 2680 BCE); built by Imhotep. First pyramid to be built

Pyramids of Giza

Giza, Egypt (2570-2500 BCE); Great Pyramid of Giza is largest Egyptian pyramid

Rosetta stone

Stone that translated between Ancient Egyptian, Demotic Egyptian, and Ancient Greek

Main neolithic period takeaways (pre-2500-2500BCE)

Ancient Desire for the earth bound architecture of the ancestral cave - womb-like and a sky-bound vertical architecture of celestial and heavenly events related to the sun, moon, etc

It vs. thou concept

Myth was truth - making sense of life and the universe

Ancient need to mark the earth, approach the divine, and structure their existence

Architecture was a ritual

Mythopoetic architecture

concrete way to reconcile the world’s cycles with invisible forces they can feel

Valley of the Kings

Near Luxor (across from ancient Thebes); rock cut burial chambers (with grave goods) for pharoes and nobles in about 1550 BCE; mountain acts as the symbol of primordial creation; layering and nesting with symbolic meanings

Pyramid symbolizes what?

Myth of creation

Who is Ra

Ancient egyptian sun god & most important deity

Who is Nu

God of primordial water

Who is Atum

Ancient egyptian creation god

Luxor Temple, Luxor, Egypt (ancient Thebes) (ca. 1550 BCE)

Luxor, Egypt; ancient Thebes; ca. 1550 BCE; A ritual site (potentially where the new pharaoh was crowned, not a burial site. Columns take on symbolic importance (palms, lotus, papyrus forms), axial spaces, obelisks are viewed as rays of sun

Karnak Temple

Luxor, Egypt (ancient Thebes) (ca. 1350 BCE); sprawling complex with monumental trabeated construction in hypostyl hall that depict ancient history

Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir el-bahir, Egypt (ca. 1470 BCE) – Senmut (architect)

Built to commemorate her reign, not a burial site. Columns at temple would influence the development of the Greek orders

Abu Simbel, Philae, Egypt (ca. 1264-1244 BCE)

Military exploits, not burial site; pharaohs after death are viewed and worshipped as gods

Pylons

(Greek word for ‘gate’)

Processions

an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner

Axis

A central line that bisects a two-dimensional body or figure or about which a three-dimensional body or figure is symmetrical. Also, a straight line to which elements in a composition are referred for measurement or symmetry.

Column

vertical structural element with 3 main components: base, capital, and shaft

Knossos Palace, Crete (ca. 1600 BCE)

Largest Minoan palace containing residences, kitchens, storage, bathrooms. ceremonial rooms, workshops, and sanctuaries with sophisticated infrastructural installation ventilation and groundwater circuits. Arranged around a courtyard with verandas with Minoan columns (upside-down taper). Linearly extended spatial experience

Camel, Horse & Chariot

Increased power, quickened diffusion, & were venerated

Iron Age

Production of smelted iron (especially tools and weapons) replaces bronze

Etruscans (900 BCE to 27 BCE)

Civilization north of Rome with a system of city states with wealthy families as ruling class. They had a material and polytheistic culture. Funiary practices: mound tombs of tuff and held funeral games. Eventually assimilated into roman culture

Tumulus Tombs, Tarquinia, Italy

Etruscan mound tombs, likely organized by family

Urn

small huts that represented typical etruscan houses

Tuff stone (or ‘Tufa’)

Excavated volcanic rock. Easy to cut when wet, but strong in compression when dry

Cella

Sacred room in a temple with an image (sculpture/painting) of the deity. Often, the priestly class maintains the cella

Pronaos

Portion of a temple, vestibule or porch

Temple of Solomon, Jerusalem (953-586 BCE)

Seen as divinely given proportions because of The Bible, book of Kings (Temple’s description w/ measurements)

The Bible - religious anthology

Ancient Town Foundation Rituals: Founder

Part of ancient town foundation rituals: often one person called to a place to found a city through dreams, signs (birds, clouds, lightning, etc.) - divine mandate

Ancient Town Foundation Rituals: Augur

Comes to site and reads invisible forces (a templum) in the sky; once read, uses a liver to read the templum to translate it to the earth

Ancient town foundation rituals: augury

the Roman religious practice of observing the behavior of birds to receive omens

Ancient town foundation rituals: Templum

Floating sign in the sky (like a crosshair) that determines where the city should be

Cardo

Major ancient ‘road’ that was viewed as the hinge of the sun (north to south); started the grid

Decumanus

Major ancient ‘road’ that was the line of the sun (east to west)

Sacred furrow

Taking oxen with a plow and digging a circular outline of the city (templum) - ritualistic border

Peristyle

A series of columns surrounding a building or enclosing a court/ A court enclosed by columns.

Polis

city

Agora

‘marketplace’ - heart of the city

Stoa

Roofed collonade - bordered the agora

Theater & its origins

Connected to Dionysian rituals/fertility rites, Skene (scene), Proscenium (frame that separates stage and audience), Orchestra, Auditorium

Daedalus

Mythical ancient architect

Doric columns

Shorter, wider, no base, simple capital (block). Masculine

Ionic columns

Taller, skinnier, simple base, curly capital with some plant motifs. Matronly

Corinthian columns

Tallest, skinniest, simple base, incredibly ornate and floral capital. Younger feminine.

Entasis

Optical correction; intentional bowing/proportions to adjust for perception

Polychrome

All architecture was multi-colored, painted with vibrant pigments

Temple of Poseidon at Isthmia, Corinth, Greece

rituals take place outside, select few people maintain the interior. 1st construction to use standardized measurements and masonry

Athenian Acropolis

Ritual and spiritual core containing: Sacred Way (Eleusis to Acropolis); Propylaea (435 BCE), Mnesikles (arch); Temple of Athena Nike (427 BCE), Kallikrates (arch); Erechtheion (421-405 BCE), Kallikrates (arch); Parthenon (447-438 BCE), Iktinos & Kallikrates (arch), Phidias (sculptor)

Erechtheion (421-405 BCE),

Array of spaces, levels, etc. Caryatids

Propylaea (435 BCE),

Ceremonial gateway to acropolis