The Cradle of Civilization, Middle East

Image: KhanAcademy

    The Cradle of Civilization is the term given to the land in the Middle East, ancient Mesopotamia, meaning “the land between the rivers.” Located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the land became known as the Fertile Crescent because the land was moist and rich due to the proximity of the two rivers and the Mediterranean Sea. Because the land was rich, it was the first place that people settled down and created a community, this was the first place where complex urban centers grew and flourished. The importance of the location not only provided suitable land for agriculture, the location was also key for hunting, fishing, irrigation, and protection. The nomadic lifestyle soon became irrelevant because the people didn’t need to continue traveling; everything they needed was there, so they began establishing permanent villages and cities. It is said that Mesopotamia was the place of the legendary Garden of Eden. On the spot where the Tigris meets the Euphrates Rivers, the holy tree of Adam emerged symbolizing the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Mesopotamia does not refer to any particular civilization. Over the course of thousands of years, many civilizations developed, collapsed, and were replaced in this region including the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians.

     Around 10,200 BC, the first fully developed Neolithic cultures appeared. From the Fertile Crescent, people spread eastwards and westwards. One of the first settlements, thought to be settled around 8500 BC, was Jericho in the Levant region.  It was during the Ubaid period (6500 BC to 3800 BC) that the movement towards urbanization began. Agriculture and animal breeding were widely practiced in communities in Northern Mesopotamia, and irrigated hydraulic agriculture began to be practiced in the south. Eridu and Ur date to around 5300 BC and are the oldest Sumerian settlements around this period. In the south, the Ubaid period had a very long duration from around 6500 to 3800 BCE, when it was replaced by the Uruk Period, named after the Sumerian city of Uruk. This period saw the early stages of urban life in Mesopotamia.  During this period pottery painting declined as copper started to become popular, Uruk trade networks started to expand to other parts of Mesopotamia and strong signs of governmental organization and social classes began.  The earliest ziggurats date to the end of this time period.   

Image: KhanAcademy

Built in the flat terrains, the ziggurats were temples built to perhaps mimic a mountain. They were created mostly of brick as it was freely available and a local material. Most remarkable is the ziggurat located in Ur (c 2125BC). This is the best preserved of the staged towers that arose in most Sumerian cities. Ur was a walled city with two enclosed harbors for shipping from the Euphrates, their public buildings, temples and palaces had additional, inner fortification. 

Cities often had large gateways which were used to enter and exit the fortification walls. The most famous of these was the Ishtar Gate from Babylon. It was decorated with carvings of animals and patterns. Today, some of it is reconstructed and is in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Image: archeoloogy-travel.com

The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from theEarly Dynistic period sites in the River valley

Sources: 
1-  Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture: Sixth ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986. Print.
2- KhanAcademy.com
3- Encyclopædia Britannica, September, 2014

New York City City Hall

The New York city hall

Donald Costner 1078942

     New York City City Hall is the oldest city hall in the United States. It was designed by John McComb Jr. and, Joseph – Francois Mangin. John McComb Jr. was born and raised in New York City. He was educated by his father (John McComb Sr.) who was also an architect. Joseph – Francois Mangin is from Chalons-en-Champahne, France. Raised predominantly in America. But he never forgot his French roots. He studied law at the University of Nancy. He graduated in 1794 and later worked for the French military. He later came back home and started an architecture firm with his brother following the French revolution.

                     

     They began construction in 1803 finished in 1812. They took inspiration from French Renaissance architecture, Renaissance Revival architecture, and Georgian architecture. French Renaissance architecture is any architecture building between the 15^th and 17^th century in France. Renaissance Revival architecture is found predominantly in 19^th century structures throughout Europe. Georgian architecture is found usually in English speaking counties. One can see examples of this style of architecture in structures build between 1714 and 1830. The building is located in lower Manhattan. Just a few blocks away from the Freedom Tower, and stands three stories tall. The building has maintained its structure since it’s completion.

     Lastly, my experience there was amazing! The building is located in City Hall Park. The walk to the building was very interesting. It is surrounded by trees, which makes one forget that they are in New York City. The trees then come to a complete stop a few feet from the site. It was like walking through a grove that opened to a grand structure that demanded your respect and honor.

Bibliography:

·         http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/cityhall_history.html

The Sargon’s Fortress (Dur-Sharrukin), Khorsabad, 717-706 BCE

The Sargon’s Fortress was also known as the Dur-Sharrukin, or the present day Khorsabad. This was built by Sargon II of Assyria. This was a building project that became the king’s obsession, and as an outcome covered 1.1 square miles. The design behind this was to form a near perfect square which rose a “palace without rival” with a four story ziggurat. The outer town is pierced by seven fortified gates,

Plan of Palace at Sargon’s Fortress

Dur-Sharrukin was built to be the beginning for Sargon II, and he had overseen the construction of it from afar. He wanted this city to be built as fast as possible, but also wanted to make sure the quality of it was great. To have this city built, he required a lot of manual labor, and needing them to the extent where he would cancel their debts in order for them to focus on the construction. He would also have prisoners of war and those whom he had conquered to help aid in construction of the city.

3D View of Palace at Sargon’s Fortress

Sargon’s Fortress had soon been forgotten after Sargon II was defeated in battle. Because of this, the city was never complete. A majority of the city had been completed: mainly walls, and several buildings, but there are some excavations that lead us to believe that there is much work to be done still.

Apparently, his death was so severe because they were unable to retrieve his body on the battlefield. They believed that he must’ve done something so sinful that the Gods would have punished him this way. After his defeat, Dur-Sharrukin soon collapsed in fire after the fall of the Assyrian Empire.

Palace of Dur-Sharrukin

Works Cited:

Mark, Joshua J. "Dur-Sharrukin." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 05 July 2014. Web. 30 Oct. 2016.

Temple of Athena at Paestum, Campania, Italy, ca. 500 BC

Image by Norbert Nagel. Temple of Athena at Paestum. 

At an archaeological site in Italy, called “Parco Archeologico di Paestum”, stands one of the best surviving examples of ancient Greek architecture – the Temple of Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom and strategy.

According to Greek mythology, Athena was born from Zeus’ forehead fully grown and armoured. She is known to be the wisest, most courageous and most resourceful of the Olympian gods. She is associated with the crafts in the household, giving mortals the gift of cooking and sewing. She was a significant figure to the people of Attica (a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens) which resulted in a city being named in honor of her – the city of Athens, also known as the capital of Greece; which was also a reflection of her gift of the olive tree which became the symbol of peace and plenty.

Depiction of Greek goddess Athena.

It is not rare to see Greek history and architecture scattered throughout the country of Italy. The coastal areas of southern Italy were colonized by various ancient Greek city-states, including Magna Graecia. These certain sites were selected by the Greeks due to their fertile lands and, at the time, its beneficial geographical position for trade.4 As a result, Paestum, located in Italy, contains the Greek Temple of Athena. The identification of the temple as belonging to Athena, not Ceres, as proposed in the eighteenth century, is now secure due to the discovery of over one hundred terracotta figurines depicting Athena, and a later fragment of pottery with the archaic Latin inscription MENERVAE (the Roman equivalent name for Athena).5 Also, among many temples located in the area, the Temple of Athena sits on the highest point of Paestum; which was very common in Greek towns, as temples dedicated to the goddess Athena were always built on their highest points.2 It is also the first structure seen upon entering this historical site.

Temple of Athena is built on a slight rise in the highest part of town.

As one approaches the front façade of the temple, it becomes noticeably clear that part of the limestone pediment has been preserved or restored; in fact, one of the triglyphs inserted into the pediment is still preserved.3 It is common that in Greek temples, the rectangular blocks located between the triglyphs were decorated with carved figures, as seen in the Parthenon in the city of Athens; however, that is not the case in this temple due to the lack of naturally occurring marble in Southern Italy, and only coarse stones could be used for carving. Nonetheless, holding the pediment are 6 twenty-feet tall fluted columns of the Doric order, classifying this temple under “hexastyle”. Along the rest of the exterior are 13 fluted columns that continue on each of the longer sides; while the 6 columns of the inner pronaos are of the Ionic order.

Image from John Griffiths Pedley's book on Paestum. Plan of the Temple of Athena at Paestum.1

Doric is a classical order of architecture characterized by a masculine, sturdy, fluted and heavy column with a plain capital. In contrast, Ionic is a classical order of architecture characterized by thinner and fairly smaller columns, giving the column a more feminine quality, along with a capital using volute. Essentially, this idea of using both Doric and Ionic order in one structure is what makes this piece of architecture so meaningful. During the time of the construction of the temple, ca. 500BC, the Ionic order was emerging to popularity. For the first time in Italy Ionic columns were being incorporated in a Doric temple. Consequently, through the temple of Athena in Paestum, this critical change in architecture history is manifested.   
                           

1 Pedley, John Griffiths. Paestum, Greeks and Romans in Southern Italy. New York, NY: Thames and Hudson, 1990. Print.

2 "Paestum History Italy | Greeks." Paestum History Italy | Greeks. Amalficoastdrivers.com, n.d. Web.

3 "Paestum Temple of Athena (Ceres)." WwwPaestumorguk. Www.paestum.org.uk, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

4 Cartwright, Mark. "Paestum." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History Encyclopedia, 02 Feb. 2016. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.

5 "Poseidonia, Temple of Athena (Building)." Perseus Hopper. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2016.