- Art and architecture of Assyria
Assyria flourished from theOld Assyrian period in theMiddle Bronze Age until theNeo-Assyrian Empire in theEarly Iron Age .Building materials
In Babylonia, an abundance of brick, and lack of stone, led to greater use of
mudbrick ; Babylonian temples are massive structures of crude brick, supported bybuttress es, the rain being carried off by drains. One such drain atUr was made of lead. The use of brick led to the early development of thepilaster and column, and offresco es and enamelled tiles. The walls were brilliantly coloured, and sometimes plated withzinc or gold, as well as with tiles. Painted "terra-cotta " cones for torches were also embedded in the plaster.Assyria, imitating Babylonian architecture, also built its palaces and temples of brick, even when stone was the natural building material of the country — faithfully preserving the brick platform, necessary in the marshy soil of Babylonia, but little needed in the north.
As time went on, however, later Assyrian architects began to shake themselves free of Babylonian influence, and to use stone as well as brick. The walls of Assyrian palaces were lined with sculptured and coloured slabs of stone, instead of being painted as in
Chaldea . Three stages may be traced in the art of these "bas-reliefs": it is vigorous but simple underAshurnasirpal II , careful and realistic underSargon II , and refined but wanting in boldness underAshurbanipal .In Babylonia, in place of the "bas relief", there is greater use of three-dimensional figures in the round — the earliest examples being the statues from
Telloh , that are realistic if somewhat clumsy. The paucity of stone in Babylonia made every pebble precious, and led to a high perfection in the art of gem-cutting.Two seal-cylinders from the age of
Sargon of Akkad are among the best examples of their kind. One of the first remarkable specimens of earlymetallurgy to be discovered by archaeologists is the silver vase ofEntemena . At a later epoch, great excellence was attained in the manufacture of such jewellery as earrings and bracelets of gold. Copper, too, was worked with skill; indeed, it is possible that Babylonia was the original home of copper-working.The people were famous at an early date for their embroideries and rugs.
The forms of Assyrian pottery are graceful; the porcelain, like the glass discovered in the palaces of
Nineveh , was derived from Egyptian models. Transparent glass seems to have been first introduced in the reign of Sargon. Stone, clay and glass were used to make vases, and vases of hard stone have been dug up at Telloh similar to those of the early dynastic period of Egypt.ee also
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Babylonia and Assyria
*Sumerian architecture "This article was originally based on content from the 1911
Encyclopædia Britannica . Update as needed."
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