White Temple of Uruk
Introduction
Sumerian architecture is that of the Sumerian people who lived in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) from the middle of the 6th millennium to the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. C. Among his architectural achievements are the invention of urban planning, houses with patios and stepped pyramids (ziggurat). Although there is no architecture as a profession in Sumeria, scribes drafted and administered buildings for the government and nobility. The Sumerians were aware of the 'craft of building' as a divine gift taught to men by the gods. Sumerian architecture is the foundation of later Hebrew, Phoenician, Anatolian, Hittite, Hurrian, Ugaritic, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, Islamic and, to a certain extent, Greco-Roman and therefore Western architecture.
The most famous and impressive type of Sumerian buildings was the ziggurat, a construction of long, wide overlapping platforms on top of which there were temples. Some scholars have theorized that these structures could have been the base of the biblical tower of Babel, which is described in Genesis.
Materials
Contenido
La abrumadora mayoría de arquitectura sumeria utiliza mampostería de arcilla y formas cada vez más complejas de ladrillos apilados. Debido a que estos ladrillos no eran cocidos, las edificaciones sumerias se deterioraban con el tiempo, por lo que fueron periódicamente destruidas, aplanadas y reconstruidas en el mismo lugar. Este ciclo de vida estructural planificado elevó gradualmente el nivel de las ciudades, de manera que terminaron estando elevadas por encima de la llanura circundante. Los montículos resultantes son conocidos como tels y se encuentran por todo el territorio que comprendía el antiguo Cercano Oriente. Los edificios civiles decayeron lentamente por el uso de conos de piedras coloreadas, paneles de terracota y "clavos" de arcilla colocados al interior de los ladrillos de adobe para crear una funda protectora que adornaba la fachada.
Masonry materials
The Sumerians lacked both forests and quarries, so they had to use adobe bricks (also called mud bricks) as their main material. Adobe bricks were preferred over others because of their superior thermal properties and lower production costs. Red brick was used in small applications involving water, decoration and monumental constructions. A late innovation was glazed brick. Sumerian masonry did not use mortar, although bitumen was sometimes used.