Mesapotamia and Anatolia in Bronze and Iron age

Unit 2.2

What period did the bronze age last?

1650-1180 BC - Bronze Age

When was the capital of the Hittite Empire formed?

Hattusha formed around 1600 BC - Hittite people

What were the key features of the Hittite Empire?

1. political, social unification - ruled a huge chunk of the area

2. ruggedness of the site - cliffs, hills, mountainous *

3. used the very challenging site to their advantage - military defense systems, very appropriate to the site *

4. very good at synthesising, symbiosis between land and architecture (references from nature show they were a very conscious, sensitive people) *

5. stylised depictions - great ceremonial architecture and artistic representation

6. critical site in trade routes

7. very refined metal craftsmanship - again animal related not mythical or imaginative

How did the Hittite peoples sensitivity to nature affect other aspects of society?

The challenging, very overpowering natural landscape led to the development and worship of many nature-related deities

What fortifications were utilised in the Hittite Empire?

1. Walls

2. Towers

3. Gates

4. Posterns

5. Ramparts

What was the religious significance like in the Hittite Empire?

more than 40 temples in Hattusha alone, numerous gods and deities, depicted in wall reliefs and paintings

How did the Hittite people utilise nature to their advantage when building defense fortifications?

They used the natural hill to place rocks for fortification (Glacis)

• soapy liquid was poured to make climbing difficult

• city walls gave elevated perspective of potential attacks

• secret tunnels through secret postern gates

What were important military features of the Hittite Empire?

1. Glacis - defense fortification, harmonious continouation fo the mountain itself

2. Cyclopean walls - giant polygonal stones stacked without adhesive material, yet they stood well

3. Postern Gates

(glacis shown in the picture)

Postern gates (secret tunnels and entrances)

What were the changes in temples in the Hittite Empire?

1. Temples were still at the centre (central structures around office-like buildings, storages, magazines)

2. Courtyard with volumes around it

3. Organic rather than strict progressions (again sensitive to the natural way of space-making)

4. Unsymmetrical (only symmetry in gates)

• This was reflected in other structures too, like palaces

What were key feature of construction in the Hittite Empire?

• visual connection to nature

• scale and structure of defense architecture and fortifications

• continuous, harmonious with nature, no stand-alone structures - city walls are always part of a system

• organic - space-making, circulation, etc.

What was the most important religious Hittite site?

Yazılıkaya - most important Hittite shrine site

What are the features of Yazılıkaya?

1. Just walls, open structure - more connected to nature, surroundings, and natural gods

2. Main spaces and subspaces - not symmetrical but sequential

3. Organised, cluster organisation

4. Deities jutting from rocks - also where ceremonies took place

What is the site plan of Yazılıkaya?

What is Carchemish?

An ancient Neo-Hittite city-state at the border of southern Turkey and Syria

What are the features of Carchemish?

• Not as challenging/hilly of a site as Hittite

• Has a main axis

• Urban plaza - open public spaces

• Different types of palaces

• Stone Reliefs and Slabs *

What were the most important aspects of Neo-Hittite city-states like Carchemish?

the Hittite sculptural techniques

Where are the Hittite sculptural techniques showcased?

1. The Long Wall of sculpture - Hittite sculptural techniques

2. Heralds’s Wall - military religious, ceremonial etc. (in-situ)

What were the most important features of the Neo-Assyrian Empire

Hanging gardens as an urban planning element

When was the Neo-Assyrian Empire thriving?

Late Iron Age

How and why were natural elements integrated into architecture in the Neo-Assyrian Empire?

As the land was difficult, they

1. Perfected Irrigation

2. Integrated gardens and greenery into their temples and palaces

they controlled the land, had power over the nature (may be why there was a shift from natural gods)

• Ziggurats always in an angular fashion

• plastered and colourful temples

What was the purpose of hanging gardens and greenery?

1. Terrace gardens symbolise heaven, paradise

2. Show advanced scientific techniques (irrigation to the gardens)

3. Show authority and political power (similarity to the gods)

What were the most significant reliefs of the gardens?

At the Citadel at Nimrud - the reliefs and depictions of the gardens are usually shown next to the kings/royalty 

What was the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire?

Nineveh

What were some features of Nineveh?

• nature in column capitals

• terrace gardens

• southwest and north palace (palace overpowering temples?)