I will devote the next article to the Sumerians and Mesopotamia, but now I would like to write about the first city - the state. This is what it is today, and perhaps in a couple of three years, or even tens, archaeologists will unearth an even more ancient city. But so far we have only this one - Eridu (Mesopotamia). It was founded in 5,400 BC. n. e. and occupied 8 - 10 hectares in the south of modern Iraq.
It should be noted that stars and planets are clearly visible in this area, therefore the Sumerians gave astronomy an important place in their lives. For example, the choice of the site for the construction of the temple, as an important center of the city, was chosen with the help of astrological phenomena. The laying of the first stone took place on the feast of the god An (god of the sky) on the first day of the new year.
Let's now take a look at the general layout of the city. At first, a temple was built, which later turned into a temple complex. This is a place of worship, offering of gifts (can be considered as a prototype of taxes, since all residents of the city were obliged to present gifts), and a palace was also built on this territory. After all, the ruler was considered the heir of the gods, who fulfills their will. All other buildings were based on social hierarchy. Near the temple are the ruling elite, then the houses of artisans and farmers on the outskirts.
And everyone made offerings to the temple, and in order to designate from whom exactly, seals were invented, on which identification marks were made, and inscriptions were left on clay tablets. This was the birth of writing. This imprinting technique is called cuneiform. Given the growth of the population, trade operations, people could not remember everything and cuneiform began to develop. And the usual images of animals and plants have become more abstract and figurative. And to this day, clay tablets have survived with the economic, political data of the city, as well as with mythological legends (here, as usual, opinions differ, official science calls them myths, while others claim that real events are displayed) about the gods, their activities on earth, transfer of knowledge to people, as well as conflicts between gods.
Before moving on to a detailed description of the architecture, I would like to mention the priests. After all, initially a priest was at the head of the state, where did the ruler come from with his palace on the territory of the temple complex? And so, let's start with how the priest got out. Quite simply, they wondered on the internal organs of the sacrificed animal. Where did the ruler come from? Earlier in my articles I wrote that wars arose between cities, and so, during the war, a leader was chosen, he was called lugal. Of course, he was a strong, brave and warlike man and, of course, not from the bottom. After the end of military operations, such people remained in power for some time, resolved various post-war issues, and settled residual affairs. And, it is worth noting, military showdowns between cities arose quite often. And, as often happens in our life, I liked itwarmed up and began to "sit up in power", well, and there it is a stone's throw to begin to transfer power by inheritance. And since the ruler was associated with a deity, then his place is near the temple.
The architecture of Eridu was highly developed, as evidenced by the good level of construction skill and the high quality of the material. Ceramics of excellent quality, raw brick is widespread.
The style and techniques of these buildings formed the basis of the architectural development in the territory of Mesopotamia. The first temple complex arose here at the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. e.
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A new building was always erected on the site of the old foundation. The temple towered on a small platform formed by the remains of previous temples. The height was getting higher and higher. Archaeologists have identified 12 temples built in one place, which only emphasized the chosen holy place. The temple later turned into a complex of sacred buildings. Sumerian temples were located at the corners or sides in accordance with the wind rose. The rectangular sanctuary, oriented to the cardinal points, became the image of the sacred land, and was separated by the border of the walls from the rest of the space. Its symbolic meaning was enhanced with thoughtful architectural details.
The temples consisted of an elongated hall with an altar and side borders. The main components of the temple are smooth outer walls of adobe bricks, two ledges in line with the altar in the center between them, and small ledges marking the entrance from the inside. The altar is located in a specially designated niche. From the outside, it is distinguished by a rectangular ledge from the west. Dividing the inner space into two zones - the altar and the altar.
The following temples become more complicated compositionally, projections, different in size and purpose, alternate. There are more and more small spaces around the main hall. The only passage to the interior is located along the southwest wall of the temple. This design feature was associated with astrological calculations. Thus, significant architectural details captured important information.
In the second half of the V - the first half of the IV millennium BC. e. temple layouts become more complex. Small rooms are added to the main cult building. On the facades, they correlated with the protruding volumes. The alternation of ledges and niches created an expressive and complex structure that became part of the tradition of ancient architecture. Terraces in front of the temple and staircases have also become distinctive features. The end point of the development of architecture is a temple complex called a ziggurat (in fact, truncated pyramids, with ledges, niches, terraces and stairs).
Speaking about architecture, it is worth immediately mentioning the found unfinished ziggurat (2047-2039 BC), which speaks eloquently about the economic decline of the city, and soon its decline and the loss of its political role in Mesopotamia.