King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon s Monumental Architecture. Chul Dokko Amanda Jacks Tarek Arch Jeevitha Martin

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1 King Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon s Monumental Architecture Chul Dokko Amanda Jacks Tarek Arch Jeevitha Martin

2 Historical context - Jeevitha Martin Babylon means babilu or the gate of God. This ancient city exists in the plain of shiner on the Euphrates River. History of Neo-Babylonians: BC: Babylon rises again after the decline of Assyrians in the north. Old southern culture again flourishes King Nebuchadnezzar rules King Nebuchadnezzar: - Son of Nabopolassar, the Chaldean restorer of the Babylonian independence. - Reigned from B.C. - Restored religious monuments and improved the canals. - Built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which is one of the seven wonders of the world. - He also built a wall surrounding the capital city which had an elaborate entry called the Ishtar gate.

3 Nebuchadnezzar continued his father s work of reconstruction in making his capital one of the world s wonders. An underground passage and a stone bridge connected the parts of the city separated by the Euphrates river. The city was impenetrable as a result of the triple layer of walls surrounding the city. He restored the Lake of Sippar, opened the port on the Persian Gulf and built the Median wall between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers to protect the country against attack from the North. The work force required for all his undertakings were the captives from various parts of Western Asia.

4 Nebuchadnezzar s Babylon: - Square in shape with 14 miles on each side. - The brick wall was 56 miles long, 300 feet high, 25 feet thick, 35 feet below the ground and another wall was placed 75 feet behind the first wall. - Had 250 towers, each of them being 450 feet tall. - Euphrates flowed through the middle of the city. - 8 massive gates led to the inner city and it had 100 brass gates - Streets were paved with stone slabs of 3 square feet. - Had the great tower of Ziggurat - 53 temples altars to Ishtar

5 Cultural influences - Amanda Jacks The kingdom of Babylon was around from approximately the eighteenth to the sixth centuries before Christ. Due to this simple time period they had significant cultural influences from Mesopotamia because that is where Babylon was located. They were not an entirely new period of kingdom they simply grew out of an old one and reunified it under a new name. For this reason much of the cultural influence of Babylon comes from the Sumerians because that is the group that was reunified. The Babylonians took significant cultural influences from the Sumerians in their agriculture. They used their irrigation system in order to water, among other things, their plants specifically in the hanging gardens of Babylon.

6 Subject and Style - Arch Tarek The ancient city of Babylon, under King Nebuchadnezzar, was a city that according to the historian Herodotus, surpasses in splendor any city in the known world. Inside its walls, were fortresses and temples filled with solid gold statues. Rising above all architecture in the city is the Tower of Babel, the ziggurat for the god Marduk. The ziggurat, or temple, is built on a square foundation of earthen embankment about three hundred feet on each side. King Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the tower to stand 295 feet high and according to inscriptions made by the king, the tower is constructed with "baked brick enameled in brilliant blue." Many believe that the terraces of the tower may have been planted with trees and flowers. The tall tower bridged earth with heaven and earth with the underworld, as the structure of ziggurats conveys. Down the street from the tower were The Hanging Gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

7 The gardens consisted of vaulted terraces hanging one on top of another and supported by cube pillars. The hollow pillars were filled with earth to allow trees and nature to grow. The pillars, vaults, and terraces were built of baked brick and asphalt. Although Babylon, did not receive much rain, King Nebuchadnezzar was determined to create a heaven-like city filled with nature, trees, flowers. The terraces of the gardens were rising towards the heavens, similarly to the tiers of ziggurats. A pool at the top of the gardens would feed artificial streams that would run throughout the garden watering the plants and trees. The pool was probably filled with chain pumps that carried water from a source up to the pool. The Hanging Garden, along with the tower of Babel, created an image of a nature filled city that bonds the heavens with the earth via the ascending terraces and tiers. Nature was the main focus of the city as both the tower and the gardens were implanted with the biggest and most beautiful trees and greenery.

8 Materials and Processes - Chul Dokko In Greek terminology, the word Babylon means Gate of the God. This meaning essentially becomes the major theme that ties in most of the architectural works. Like Tower of Babel and the Ziggurat, it is considered to be very massive and grandeur in respect to its size. Mud bricks were the primary source for their architecture. In addition, mortar was used as cement. Verticality of these architectures was a key element. The kings and worshippers felt that if they were highly elevated from the Earth s surface, they can draw closer into God s presence. In order to accomplish this, a massive foundation was also heavily emphasized in their building processes. According to Herodotus, the Babylonians believed that having multiple inner walls inside the outer wall was a key asset for ensuring safety and protection.

9 Ishtar Gate This is one of the eight gates of inner city of Babylon, built during King Nebuchadnezzar s reign. Built in 575 BC, it is located on the north side of the city. It is the main entrance to the inner city. It is a grand processional way running for more than half a mile. The processional way was lined with walls covered in lions on glazed bricks. Ishtar gate is the starting point for the processions that led to Ziggurat. Its remarkable brickwork and technique of glazed, carved reliefs is very extraordinary. It contains images of Gods in animal forms. This gate is dedicated to the Goddess of Ishtar. Tiles of glorious blue surrounded the brightly colored yellow and brown beasts. The blue glazed tiles were alternated with rows of bas-relief dragons and bulls. The roof and the doors of the gate were made of cedar. This gate has now been reconstructed. - Jeevitha Martin

10 Tower of Babel - Amanda Jacks The Tower of Babel is a fairly known location. However it is not necessarily known for its artistic wonder and grandeur. Instead people know the story behind the Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel has a story behind it that symbolizes human sin. It is all about how God put different languages into everyone s mouth causing them to no longer be able to communicate. He did this to prove a point of their incredible sins. This is the main story behind the tower. The other story of the Tower of Babel is the architectural side of it. This tower, or ziggurat, was one of many built in order to bring the people closer to their God; but this was the largest of those built. It was built tall and with walkways that led up to higher portions of the tower in order for people to become in essence closer to God. This temple also symbolized the human rebellion because they were trying to ascend to Heaven. This idea of the human rebellion trying to get closer to Heaven makes sense because the loose translation of the word Babel is gate of god which is exactly what they were using this tower for.

11 The Tower of Babel is built in a circular pattern. It is set up with paths leading up to the top by going around the outside of the building. Most reconstructions have many openings showing that is was most likely constructed using the post and lentil system which would make sense for that time period.

12 Ziggurat - Arch Tarek A ziggurat is a form of temple tower common to the historic Mesopotamian valley and Persia (modern Iran). This form of temple is built in receding floors upon a rectangular, oval, or squared platform, making it a pyramidal structure. Due to similarities in structure, many have linked the ziggurats with the Egyptian pyramids. The number of tiers ranges from two to seven, with a shrine, temple, at the summit. The ziggurats were thought to be dwelling with gods and thus were not a place for public worship or ceremonies. Strictly priests were permitted inside the temple in order to cater to the god s needs. The structure of the temple symbolizes the original mound upon which the universe was though to be created on, whereas the purpose of it is to bridge earth and heaven. In fact, the temple was believed to be a cosmic axis; vertically, it bridges heaven and earth, and earth with the underworld.

13 Horizontally, it bonds lands on earth. When built with seven tiers, the ziggurat symbolized seven heavens and levels of existence, the seven planets with the seven colors corresponding to each metal associated with each one of the planets. Considering that 365 are taken for the earth to make one complete revolution around the sun, which is also an approximate estimate of the degrees in a circle, the ziggurats, similarly to all pyramidal structures, have a square base that can be encompassed in a circle. Theoretically, the square base represents the additional five points- four on the edges and the fifth in the middlewhich is the equilibrium point of both the square and the circle that encompasses it. The fifth point represents the bridge to heaven symbolized by the circle which is considered a sign of infinity and perfection.

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15 Hanging Gardens of Babylon - Chul Dokko Under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was constructed to satisfy his wife, Amytis, in 562 B.C. Amytis came from a verdant region where countless trees and high mountain tops were seen everywhere. To make sure she does not get homesick too frequently, the king constructed a colossal palace, surrounded by array of terraces and exotic plants that generally showed no signs of withering. Ultimately, King Nebuchadnezzar II ended up building an artificial mountain with rooftop gardens. The Garden is quadrangular with outer walls wide enough to allow a four-horse chariot to turn. The vaulted terraces are stacked on top of each other and supported by cube-shaped pillars. The pillars, the vaults, and terraces are constructed of baked brick and asphalt. 1 The Hanging Garden also has another special attribute that helps to define itself as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. At the very top of the stairway, a pumping device for water was installed to ensure all the plants constantly received proper amounts of water. This simple yet very sophisticated technology became the main source that established the jungle-like atmosphere. 1:Ashmawy, Alaa K. Seven Wonders Home Page. 26 Apr <

16 Since stone was a rare material to be found in Mesopotamia, bricks were primarily used for the construction of the Garden. The composition of the bricks was also fairly complex. With the mixture of clay and chopped straw, the bricks were then baked in the sun for several hours. Lastly, the bricks were then joined with bitumen, a material which served as mortar. 1 For the platform of the garden, Diodorus, a Greek historian, emphasized that a massive slabs of stone were used to set a firm foundation for the massive architecture. Moreover, it was carefully layered with reeds, tiles, and heavy sheets of metal to protect against wetness and moisture. If the platforms and crevices of the walls absorbed too much water, Diodorus believed that it would slowly disintegrate the structure of the building. Although historians still have not accurately determined the dimension and size of the garden, archaeologists acknowledge that it was a massive architecture that amazed even their enemies. 1:Lee, Krystek. "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon." The Museum of Unnatural Mystery. 26 Apr <

17 Works Cited Lee Krystek- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon May 9, Ashmawy, Alaa. "The Seven Wonders of The Ancient World" May 9, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ziggurat May 9, Tore Kjeilen- Ziggurat May 9,

18 N.S.Gill, Nebuchadnezzar May 9, Ancient Babylonia - Nebuchadnezzar s Babylon Works Cited Nebuchadnezzar II Ancient Babylonia The Ishtar Gate Ishtar Gate