Architecture - Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia Cheat Sheet

A Education › History cheat sheet in English by Anais_Pe

Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian culture, cheat sheet covering monumental architecture including temples and palaces.

3,794 views 462 downloads 2 Jun 2025 History

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Egypt - Temples

Overview	- Temple = fulfilling the role of house. Entrance into the divine world, allows gods to be provided for in their spiritual form. Duty of king to maintain temples. - Two types of temples: cult and mortuary temples.
Old Kingdom (2686-2125 BCE)	- Early temples as arenas for royal display rather than places of worship? - *Abu Ghurab* - Central obelisk, alabaster altar
New Kingdom (1550-1069 BCE)	- *Abu Simbel* - Temple dedicated to Amon-Re during reign of Ramses II, existence of temple very much for the purpose of glorifying the king. Symbolism in the architecture targeted at elite members of society - statue over entrance that spells out Ramses' name + scenes inside the temple representing the king smiting enemies. 4 monumental statues of Ramses in the front.

Abu Simbel

Mesopotamia - Temples

Uruk (4^th millennium BCE)	- Pre-mud brick - reed altars with naval processions. - *Eanna complex:* Different construction stages illustrating the development of architecture from 4^th to 3^rd millennium. Tripartite floorplan. Square building = latest addition to Eanna, break in homogeneity of structure - political statement, new traditions. Eanna as public building? Central + visible. Or as demonstration of power.
Early Dynastic (2900-2334 BCE)	- Rectangular + multi-levelled structure on top of mound. --> bottom level = similar structure to Babylonian house + very restricted access. - *Marduk temple* - biblical tower of Babel.
Ur III (2112-2004 BCE)	- Ziggurats. - Low homogeneity in design, continuity in building program, but no standardisation of architecture. Used for cultic activity, storage, court and administration. Walled off and separated from everyday life. Gipparu-House - temple of high-priestess + used as storage room.
Neo-Assyrian (934-612 BCE)	- Oblong shape with court for worshippers where deity could be found - Deity = master of house, but shielded from view so could not be seen without entering the temple.

Mesopotamia - Settlements in Sumer and Akkad

Ubaid period c.3100-1500 BCE	Small sites, with the additional emergence of larger ones e.g. Eridu and Ur.
Uruk period c.4000-3100 BCE	Urbanisation in Uruk through migration from surrounding regions and sedentisation of local pastoral nomadic groups.
Jemdet Nasr + Early Dynastic I period c. 3000-2600 BCE	Expansion of urbanism. --> abandonment of countryside (coerced or not).
Early Dynastic II-III - Ur III c. 2600-2100 BCE	Standardisation + spread of cuneiform and political unification. Each city = house of a god. e.g. Lagash.
Ur III c. 2100-1850 BCE	Followed by political decentralisation in the Isin-Larsa period. End of 3^rd millennium = first irrigation systems.
Old Babylonian period c. 1850-1500 BCE	Political reunification under Hammurabi. Growth of existing cities e.g. Nippur and Ur.

Issues with settlement surveys:
Relies on assumption that physical traces are left behind on surface. Therefore tends to miss smaller sites, and requires reliance on textual sources.

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