Chaldean Architecture
Introduction
Chaldean or Neo-Babylonian architecture refers to that used in the regions of lower Mesopotamia, around the city of Babylon "Babylon (city)"). The oldest monuments include the primitive towers with stepped platforms that perhaps served as a model for the oldest Egyptian pyramids, as can be seen from the similarity of their structure. And although the ruins of the architectural monuments explored in Mesopotamia are not as old as the pyramids of Egypt, other different vestiges and remains of civilization found in those regions seem to be older than those on the banks of the Nile, especially the ideographic inscriptions preserved in the British Museum.
Historical context
The two great empires, the Chaldean and the Assyrian, which succeeded one another in the ancient region of the Tigris and the Euphrates, gave rise to two civilizations that were also different and successive, although in art they were closely linked by copying each other's forms. The first empire was initially based in different cities of Chaldea that, although they did not maintain political unity, ultimately respected the hegemony of the famous Babylon and the second, in Assyria, with its capital finally being the famous Nineveh. After this city was destroyed by the Median Ciájares, the Chaldean Empire was reborn with Nabopolassar and had its most brilliant period with Nebuchadnezzar II, his son, to end with the taking of Babylon by the Persians. Assyrian-Chaldean architecture was very far from reaching the perfection that the Egyptian architecture had and despite the repeated excavations that have taken place, a perfect knowledge of it has not been achieved due to the weakness of its construction material and in view of the lamentable state of the ruins. The best known era in the architectural field is that of the Assyrian Empire, especially with the exploration of the palaces of Nimrud and Nineveh.
Once the first Empire was established in lower Mesopotamia, where there is no stone for construction, but excellent clay for making adobes "Adobe (construction)") and bricks, Chaldean art used these materials, simply hardened in the sun or baked in the oven, depending on the robustness required by the building. A large number of these bricks have been found, which are of extraordinary size and several of them have a voussoir or wedge shape, to form the construction of arches "Arch (architecture)"): some and others were arranged in a regular "Surface (construction)") rig, joined with asphalt, clay or cementing mortars.