Later Mesopotamia and Assyrian Art

Tell Brak

ancient city in Syria; Uruk expansion

Assyria

a southwest Asian kingdom that controlled a large empire from about 850 to 612 B.C.

Ninevah

Capital of the ancient Assyrian empire

Khorsabad

built from about 720 BCE
The site of the Assyrian Palace of Sargon II, large rooms and courtyards with a circuitous path from entrance to thrown room

Persia

an empire in southern Asia; 6th century BC to the 4th century BC

Persepolis

A complex of palaces, reception halls, and treasury buildings erected by the Persian kings Darius I (used columns rather than walls)

Akkadia

A people who ruled southern Mesopotamia from 2334-2180 BCE. The important trade center and first empire.

Naram-Sin

The Akkadian ruler who had a temple built for him

Mari

City in Akkadia

Ashurnasirpal II

Assyrian king who conquered lands stretching across north Mesopotamia during the Iron Age; his palace had a decorated throne room

Nimrud

a city in Assyria

Babylon

the chief city of ancient Mesopotamia and capitol of the ancient kingdom of Babylonia; it's entrance was decorated with glazed bricks

Nebuchadnezzar II

King of Babylon

Darius I

Persian king

Architecture

the art of designing and constructing buildings, for human inhabitance/use

royal architecture

the structure, patterns, methods used to build and design palaces

palace

places/structures where people or political power lived and conducted their policital

floor plan

This type of plan view shows the location of walls, windows, doors, fixtures and placement of various systems in a structure. It is drawn from an overhead or bird's eye view

courtyard

key to Mesopotamian palaces; central area between rooms that led people from one room to another

throne room

The official chamber in which the ruler would preside; Ashurnasirpal II had a highly decorated throne room

pictorial program

storytelling in pictures that presents a connected sequence of event, oftes used in ancient civilizations to tell of a King's accomplishments/ military victories

orthostat

an upright, standing stone slab, often protecting the lower part of a mud brick wall, can contain relief structures

Lamassu

a colossal winged human-headed bull in Assyrian art, often a guard figure

glazed brick

Bricks painted and then kiln fired to fuse the color with the baked clay; used to construct the entrance to Babylon

column

structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below (used in Persepolis)

post and lintel

a structure consisting of vertical beams (posts) supporting a horizontal beam (lintel), used in the city of Persepolis to construct the palace of Darius I

hypostyle hall

a large interior room characterized by many closely spaced columns that support its roof, used in Persepolis

site plan

a view of the building as seen from directly above. Shows roof of building, surrounding yards, and property immediately adjacent to the site