Assyrian painting. Architecture of ancient Assyria

The decorative art of Assyria is famous for its tiles, relief panels (orthostats) and round sculpture. Let's look at them in order.

Tiles – glazed bricks with bright multicolor images of rosettes, “lotuses” and “trees of life” (stylized images of date palms). They found wide use in decorating cornices, arches, battlements of fortress walls, and window frames.

Stone orthostats - huge slabs that lined the lower part of the walls and entrances to buildings. The slabs usually depicted scenes of royal hunting, chariot races, siege of enemy cities, processions of prisoners, etc. (Fig. 6.20).

These compositions often used “stencils” to depict natural surroundings (“river”, “mountains”, “forest”, etc.), fortifications, and human figures. To convey movement, they also used the combination of two projections in the same figure - front and side.

Rice. 6.20. Scene of the capture of the Urartian fortress. On the right is Tiglath-pileser III.

Assyrian relief, mid-8th century. BC e.

Particularly famous are the scenes of lion hunting from the palaces of Ashurbanipal II in Nimrud, Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin, and Sennacherib in Nineveh.

Lion hunting was generally one of the king's favorite pastimes. Tiglath-pileser I (1115-1077 BC), for example, boasted that he personally killed a thousand lions, a huge number of wild bulls, ostriches, etc. (Fig. 6.21). On the reliefs, the poses of the hunters are quite static, sharply contrasting in comparison with the figures of predators dying under a hail of arrows (Fig. 6.22).

Rice. 6.21. Images of royal hunting. Assyria, 7th century BC e. Fragments of “lion hunts”. Relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal. Nineveh, 7th century BC e.

The reliefs were usually painted. The horses were blue, the riders' clothes were red, their hair and beards were black, and the exposed parts of their bodies were dark brown, almost black. Clothes were sometimes decorated with jewelry - rings, earrings, etc. Gilding was often used (Fig. 6.22).

Rice. 6.22. Kneeling figure (Nimrud, 9th century BC).

Royal hunt (Nineveh, 7th century BC)

The round sculpture of Assyria is represented by statues of five-legged winged man-bulls (shedu, lamassu). These creatures were considered guardian spirits of royal residences. The height of the statues is from three to five and a half meters. The fifth leg was necessary to convey the illusion of movement of the stone monster (Fig. 6.23).

The statues were carved from a monolithic limestone block with careful attention to anatomical details. A possible prototype of the winged man-bull is the mythological bull king Gopat Shah, who serves the gods on the seashore in the promised land of Eran Vezh. These statues stood near the entrances and in the inner chambers of the royal palaces. Scientists were able to establish that these were statues of four astral Assyrian gods: Marduk was depicted as a winged bull, Nabu as a winged man, Nergal as a winged lion, Ninurta as a man-eagle. “These winged man-lions were not just a random creation generated by human imagination. Their appearance inspired what they were supposed to symbolize: awe. They were created for the edification of generations of people who lived three thousand years before us. Through the portals they guarded, rulers, priests and warriors carried their sacrifices long before the wisdom of the East spread to Greece, enriching its mythology with symbolic images long known to the Assyrians. They were buried underground even before the founding of the Eternal City, and no one suspected their existence. For twenty-five centuries they were hidden from the eyes of people and now they have appeared again in all their greatness...” (A. Layard).

A pleasant exception is the recently restored central chambers of the palace of Ashurnazirpal II. Winged geniuses - lamassu - giant stone statues of man-bulls and man-lions, as before, guard the main gates and internal passages of the royal residence. Their size is amazing and overwhelming. Standing next to them, a man of average height can barely reach the body of these monsters with his hand. It is also surprising that they have not four, but five legs. This was done by the ancient master so that the viewer, no matter from which side he looked, would certainly see four legs. “If you look from the side,” explains M.V. Nikolsky, - that winged monster is coming; if you look at it from the front, it’s standing...”

Rice. 6.23. Five-legged walking effect

Despite the fact that the achievements of the Assyrians in the visual arts were small, they had a significant influence on the art of Urartu and Ancient Iran.

The largest role in the history of the Ancient East in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. played by Assyria. The origins of Assyrian art go back to the 3rd millennium (Ancient Ashur), but it received its highest development only in the 1st millennium BC, from which the largest number of monuments have been preserved.

At this time, Assyria became a major military-despotic slave-owning power that claimed dominance throughout the Ancient East. The dominion of Assyria, which waged great predatory wars, extended to Western Asia from Iran along the Mediterranean Sea and reached the capital of Egypt - Thebes. 9th - 7th centuries BC. - the time of the highest rise of Assyrian art, which absorbed and transformed in a new way much of what was found in the previous time. During this period, cultural relations between Assyria and other countries took place on a large scale. Around 7th century BC. The Assyrians are in direct contact with the Greeks. The latter, through Assyria, adopted many of the cultural achievements of the Ancient East; in turn, the Assyrians became acquainted with a new world, previously unknown to them.

The socio-economic system of Assyria was based on the brutal exploitation and enslavement of a huge mass of the population. All power (both civil and priestly) was concentrated in the hands of the Assyrian kings; art was required to glorify military campaigns and glorify royal valor. This found its most consistent expression in the images on the reliefs of Assyrian palaces. In contrast to the more ancient art of Mesopotamia and the art of Egypt, Assyrian art was predominantly secular in nature, despite the connection between art and religion that existed in Assyria, typical of all ancient Eastern cultures. In architecture, which continued to be the leading form of art, it was not cult architecture that prevailed, but serf and palace architecture. The architectural complex of the palace of Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin (now Khorsabad) has been studied better than others. It was built in the 8th century. BC, simultaneously with the city, built according to a specific plan in the form of a square with a rectangular grid of streets. The city and palace were surrounded by a fortress wall. Interesting feature The plan was to build a palace on the line of the city fortress wall in such a way that one part of it was within the city limits, and the other went beyond its boundaries. Adjacent to the palace on the city side was a series of buildings that formed the official and sacred area, which included a temple and other buildings. This entire complex, including the palace, was in turn surrounded by a fortress wall, forming a citadel, separated from the city and thus protected not only from external enemies, but also from internal ones, in case of an uprising in the city.

The palace rose on an artificially constructed embankment, the construction of which required 1,300,000 cubic meters of alluvial soil and the use of a huge amount of slave labor. The embankment consisted of two terraces located side by side in the shape of the letter T, 14 m high and occupied an area of ​​10 hectares. In its layout, the palace was similar to the usual residential building in Mesopotamia, but it was, of course, many times larger. Closed spaces were grouped around numerous open courtyards connected to each other, and each courtyard with adjacent rooms formed, as it were, a separate isolated cell that could also have defensive value in the event of an attack. A special feature of the palace was the asymmetrical overall layout. Nevertheless, the palace was clearly divided into three parts: the reception area, extremely richly decorated, the living area, connected with the service premises, and the temple area, which included temples and a ziggurat.

Unlike the ancient ziggurat of Ur, the Khorsabad ziggurat consisted of seven tiers. The lower tier had 13x13 m at the base and 6 m in height, the subsequent ones, decreasing in size, ended with a small chapel. It can be assumed, although the ziggurat has reached us in ruins, that the total height of the building was approximately a ten-story building. Thanks to the decorative treatment of the wall, which had vertical projections, and the line of the ramp, decorated with a parapet, the mass of the building acquired a certain lightness, without disturbing the overall monumental character of the architecture.

The palace ensemble towered above the city below. The main entrance of the facade of the Khorsabad Palace facing the city was flanked by two large towers protruding from the walls, where there was a guard room. On the sides of each entrance, framing it, were sculptured huge stone figures (3-4 m in size) of fantastic winged bulls or lions with human heads (ill. 28). These monsters, the “shedu” of cuneiform texts, were considered the patrons of palace buildings. The figures are made using the technique of very high relief, turning into a round sculpture. Modeling them, the sculptor used a wealth of light and shadow effects. It is characteristic that the sculptor wanted to show the monster both at rest and in motion. To do this, he had to add an extra leg, and thus it turned out that someone looking at the figure from the front saw it standing, and someone looking at it in profile saw it walking. On the sides of the “walk” along the façade of the building there was a frieze of monumental relief images. Gigantic figures of the invincible hero of the Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh, strangling a lion with one hand, alternated with images of winged people and winged bulls. Bright tiled panels decorated the upper parts of the palace entrances. Thus, the external appearance of the Assyrian palaces, generally very monumental, was distinguished by great pomp and decorativeness.

In the rich decoration of the ceremonial palace premises, the main place was occupied by relief, sometimes painted. Glazed bricks were also used, as well as colorful paintings. The best example of the use of wall painting is the Til-Barsiba palace (now Tel Ahmar) of the 8th - 7th centuries. BC. The themes of the images here are the life of the king and war scenes. The nature of the painting was a contour painted drawing applied to lime plaster (ill. 35 a). By white background They wrote with black, green, red and yellow paints. Both in painting and in glaze, one is sometimes surprised by the unreality of color when depicting animals, which may have had a magical meaning.

Paintings and glazed ornaments usually occupied the upper part of the wall, while the lower part was intended for reliefs. In general, the decoration of the walls was distinguished by a flat carpet character. It emphasized the flatness of the wall, echoing the general rhythm of the lines of the building's architecture.

Long ribbons of reliefs stretched at human height through the halls of Assyrian palaces. In the Khorsabad Palace, 6,000 square meters were occupied by relief. m. Researchers believe that there were cardboards on which artists drew the general outlines of images, while countless assistants and students copied individual scenes and executed the details of the compositions. There is also evidence to suggest the presence of sets of stencils of hands, feet, heads, etc. for both images of humans and animals. Moreover, sometimes, apparently in a hurry to complete the task, the figures were made up of randomly taken parts. This assumption becomes especially probable when you remember the huge areas that were occupied by relief compositions, and those small lines that were provided for the decoration of palaces. Working on large wall planes required a somewhat broad manner and generality. Sculptors carved figures that barely stood out from the background, but with sharply defined contours. Details were usually rendered in incised, deep relief (en creux), while decorations were engraved rather than carved (embroidery on clothing, etc.).

The subjects of the compositions were mainly war, hunting, scenes of everyday life and court life, and, finally, scenes of religious content. The main attention was focused on those images where the king was the central figure. All the work of Assyrian artists was aimed at glorifying him. Their task was also to emphasize the physical strength of the king, his warriors and retinue: we see in the reliefs huge people with powerful muscles, although their bodies are often constrained by a conventional canonical pose and heavy, fluffy clothing.

In the 9th century BC, under Ashurnasirpal II, the Assyrian state reached its greatest prominence. The distinctive features of the art of this period are simplicity, clarity and solemnity. In depicting various scenes on reliefs, artists tried to avoid overloading the image. Almost all compositions of Ashurnasirpal II's time lack landscape; sometimes, as in hunting scenes, only a flat line of ground is given. One can distinguish here scenes of a historical nature (depictions of battles, sieges, campaigns) and images of palace life and ceremonial receptions. The latter include the most carefully executed reliefs.

Human figures, with rare exceptions, are depicted with the convention characteristic of the Ancient East: shoulders and eyes - straight, legs and head - in profile. The models of the masters of this time seem to have been reduced to a single type. The variety of scales when depicting persons of different social status is also preserved. The figure of the king is always completely motionless. At the same time, these reliefs reflect the great observation skills of the artists. The naked parts of the body are executed with knowledge of anatomy, although the muscles are exaggeratedly emphasized and tense. Great expressiveness is given to the poses and gestures of people, especially in crowd scenes, where the artist, depicting warriors, foreigners, servants, did not feel bound by the canon. An example is a relief with a scene of the siege of a fortress by Assyrian troops, which is one of a whole series of reliefs telling about the victorious campaigns of Ashurnasirpal and glorifying his power. In terms of execution, these reliefs are similar to literary works of that time (royal chronicles), are somewhat dry and protocol, they carefully list the small details of weapons, etc., depicting the most cruel and bloody scenes with dispassionate monotony.

In the 8th century. BC. some new features appear in Assyrian art. The reliefs and paintings from the palace of Sargon II (722 - 705 BC) are similar to the previous ones in the severity of their manner, the large size of the figures and the simplicity of the composition. But artists show great interest in the appearance of people. The musculature becomes less exaggerated, although its processing is still very strong and sharp. The performers of the reliefs try to convey some personality traits human appearance, which is especially noticeable in the depiction of Sargon himself. A more careful study of the model forces artists to dwell on such details as folds of skin on the neck, etc. In reliefs with images of animals, movement is well and truly conveyed. Artists begin to observe nature more carefully, and a landscape appears. The features of the areas and countries through which the Assyrian troops passed in their numerous campaigns are conveyed with great reliability. The same can be observed in literature, the best example of which is the chronicle description of Sargon’s eighth campaign. According to the interpretation, the relief remains as flat as in the previous period, but the dryness disappears, and the contour of the figure becomes smoother and rounded. If earlier, in the reliefs of Ashurnasirpal II, artists sought to convey power and strength by the size of those depicted or by exaggeration of muscles, now the same theme is revealed in a different, more the hard way. For example, while celebrating victories, artists show the difficulties overcome by the Assyrian army, carefully conveying the landscape in every detail.

At the end of the 8th - beginning of the 7th century. BC. further development of the relief can be noted. The compositions become significantly more complicated, sometimes overloaded with details that are not directly related to the plot. For example, in the scene “Construction of the Palace of Sennacherib”, along with a detailed image of the work being carried out, the surrounding landscape is conveyed, into which scenes are also included fishing, and the distillation of rafts, and even a herd of wild boars wandering in the reed thickets. The same is now typical for reliefs depicting scenes of battles and campaigns. Wanting to diversify the long rows of walking figures in crowd scenes, the artist resorts to various techniques, showing different positions of the heads and movements of the hands, and different gaits of those depicted. The abundance of details and the large number of figures increase simultaneously with a decrease in their size. The relief is now divided into several tiers.

The Assyrian relief reached its highest development in the 7th century. BC, during the reign of King Assyria Ashurbanipal (668 - 626 BC). The content of the images remained the same: they all glorified the king and explained the phenomena of life by the divine will of the ruler. The central place in the reliefs that decorated the palace of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh was occupied by battle scenes telling about the military victories of the Assyrian king; There are also numerous scenes of royal hunting. The motives become very diverse. In the visual arts, the trends of the previous period are developing with great force, and the features of realism are significantly strengthening. In constructing complex scenes, artists strive to overcome difficulties in depicting movement and angles. All compositions are very dynamic (ill. 30, 31).

In this regard, the hunting scenes are best executed, more than others full of life and movement. The scenes of hunting gazelles and wild horses are remarkable for their laconicism and power of expressiveness. The naturalness of the animals’ poses, the sense of steppe space achieved by the free and at the same time superbly rhythmically organized placement of figures on a plane and large fields of unoccupied space, force us to classify these reliefs as the peaks of Assyrian art (ill. 33).

The best works of Assyrian art are also scenes of lion hunting. The powerful and majestic beauty of wild animals and their struggle with humans are full of intense dramatic content. The masterpieces of Assyrian art of this time are images of killed, wounded and dying predators, especially the reliefs “Hunters Carrying a Killed Lion”, “Lion Spewing Blood” and “Wounded Lioness” (ill. 32). With great observation, the artist conveyed in the last of these reliefs the figure of a mighty beast, showing the contrast of the still living and powerful front part of his body and the lifelessly dragging legs pierced by arrows. The relief is distinguished by soft sculpting, emphasizing the tension of the muscles of the front legs and the fine modeling of the head. The most remarkable thing is that in the image of the lioness the state of the wounded animal is so vividly conveyed that it is as if one can feel the death roar rushing from its open mouth. In depicting the suffering of wild animals, Assyrian artists found those features of realism that were not available to them in creating images of people.

The technique of making relief has also reached great perfection. But at the same time, in the art of Ashurbanipal’s time there are also features of stagnation, manifested in an increase in decorativeness, a kind of heraldic abstraction that leads away from the truth of life, in a certain sophistication of execution that becomes an end in itself.

In round sculpture, Assyrian masters did not achieve such perfection as in relief. Assyrian statues are few in number. Those depicted are usually shown in strictly frontal, frozen poses, they are dressed in long clothes that hide the shape of the body under a carefully ornamented costume - a feature that makes these statues similar to many figures on reliefs, where clothes also served as a plane for outlining the smallest details of embroidery and other decorations. An example of Assyrian round sculpture is a small limestone statue of Ashurnasirpal II, dressed in heavy long clothes (9th century BC) (ill. 29). Extremely planarly interpreted, it looks more like a board than a three-dimensional figure . The statues of minor gods, originating from Khorsabad, holding in their hands magical vases with flowing water, have the same character. The planar nature of such statues can be explained by their dependence on architecture, since, undoubtedly, they are designed to be perceived against the background of a wall. A slightly different type of statue of the god Nabu (8th century BC, British Museum), distinguished by its massiveness and volume.

Metal-plastics reached great perfection in Assyria. Its best example is relief compositions on bronze sheets that lined the gates found in the ruins of the ancient city of Imgur-enlil on Balavat Hill (the time of Shalmaneser III, 9th century BC). The particular interest of this work for the history of art lies in the depiction (among many others) of the scene of the sculptor making the king’s victory stele. This is one of the rarest evidence of the life and work of artists in the art of Western Asia.

In Assyrian glyptics of the 1st millennium BC. scenes of religious content occupy a much larger place than in palace reliefs. But stylistically, the images on cylinder seals are close to monumental reliefs and differ from Sumerian-Akkadian glyptics in their great craftsmanship, fine modeling of figures and careful rendering of details.

In cultural history Ancient world Assyria, which during the period of its power united most of the countries of Western Asia, played an important role. The Assyrians adopted and enriched the cuneiform system, scientific knowledge, literature and art from the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia. The remarkable height of Assyrian culture for its time is evidenced by the famous library of Ashurbanipal, found in the ruins of his palace. In architecture and fine arts, the Assyrians developed many of the basic features developed by the previous cultures of Mesopotamia. Full of originality and possessing high artistic merits for its time, the art of Assyria represents a bright page in the history of art of the Ancient World. It had a great influence on the art of a number of neighboring countries and, in particular, on the art of Urartu, its closest neighbor and rival in the 1st millennium BC.

In the 2nd millennium BC. e. New centers of culture arose near Sumer. Great changes in art were associated with the rise of Assyria. The power of the conquering state and the concentration of power in the hands of the kings contributed to the creation of art that glorified the strength of the rulers, their glory and valor. Fortresses, magnificent palaces, images of rushing chariots driven by warriors, scenes of hunting wild animals on monumental reliefs characterize Assyrian art.

Architecture. In architecture, which continued to be the leading form of art, it was not cult architecture that prevailed, but serf and palace architecture. The architectural complex has been studied better than others Sargon II's palace at Dur-Sharrukin (now Khorsabad). It was built in the 8th century. BC e., simultaneously with the city, built according to a specific plan in the form of a square with a rectangular grid of streets. The city and the palace were surrounded by a fortress wall. An interesting feature of the layout was the construction of the palace on the line of the city fortress wall in such a way that one part of it was within the city limits, and the other went beyond its boundaries. Adjacent to the palace on the city side was a series of buildings that formed the official and sacred area, which included a temple and other buildings. This entire complex, including the palace, was in turn surrounded by a fortress wall, forming a citadel, separated from the city and thus protected not only from external enemies, but also from internal ones, in case of an uprising in the city.

The palace rose on an artificially erected embankment. The embankment consisted of 2 terraces located side by side in the shape of the letter T, 14 m high and occupied an area of ​​10 hectares. In its layout, the palace was similar to the usual residential building in Mesopotamia, but it was many times larger. A special feature of the palace was the asymmetrical overall layout. However, the palace was clearly divided into three parts: the reception area, extremely richly decorated, the living area, connected to the service premises, and the temple area, which included 3 temples and a ziggurat.

Unlike the ancient ziggurat of Ur Khorsabad ziggurat consisted of seven tiers. The lower tier had 13x13 m at the base and 6 m in height, the subsequent ones, decreasing in size, ended with a small chapel. It can be assumed that the total height of the building was approximately a ten-story building. Thanks to the decorative treatment of the wall, which had vertical projections, and the line of the ramp, decorated with a parapet, the mass of the building acquired lightness without disturbing the overall monumental character of the architecture.

The palace ensemble towered above the city below. The main entrance of the facade of the palace facing the city was flanked by two large towers protruding from the walls, where there was a guard room. On the sides of each entrance, framing it, were sculptured huge stone figures (3–4 m in size) of fantastic winged bulls or lions with human heads. These monsters - "I'm coming" were considered patrons of palace buildings. The figures are made using the technique of very high relief, turning into a round sculpture. Modeling them, the sculptor used a wealth of light and shadow effects. The sculptor wanted to show the monster both at rest and in motion. To do this, he had to add an extra leg, and it turned out that someone looking at the figure from the front saw it standing, and someone looking at it in profile saw it walking. On the sides of the “walk” along the façade of the building there was a frieze of monumental relief images. Gigantic figures of the invincible hero of the Mesopotamian epic Gilgamesh, strangling a lion with one hand, alternated with images of winged people and winged bulls. Bright tiled panels decorated the upper parts of the palace entrances. The appearance of Assyrian palaces, generally monumental, was distinguished by great pomp and decorativeness.

Relief and paintings. Distinctive features of the relief of the 9th century. BC e. - simplicity, clarity and solemnity. In depicting various scenes on reliefs, artists tried to avoid overloading the image. Almost all compositions lack landscape. One can distinguish between scenes of a historical nature (depictions of battles, sieges, campaigns) and images of palace life and ceremonial receptions.

Human figures, with rare exceptions, are depicted with the convention characteristic of the Ancient East: shoulders and eyes - straight, legs and head - in profile. The variety of scales when depicting persons of different social status is also preserved. The figure of the king is always completely motionless. The naked parts of the body are executed with knowledge of anatomy, although the muscles are exaggeratedly emphasized and tense. Great expressiveness is given to the poses and gestures of people, especially in crowd scenes, where the artist, depicting warriors, foreigners, servants, did not feel bound by the canons.

In the 8th century BC e. some new features appear in Assyrian art. The reliefs and paintings retain the severity of their manner, the large size of the figures and the simplicity of the composition, but the artists show great interest in the appearance of people - Assyrian dignitaries. The musculature becomes less exaggerated, although its processing is still very strong and sharp. A portrait resemblance appears. In reliefs with images of animals, movement is well and truly conveyed. A landscape appears. According to the interpretation, the relief remains the same flat, but the contour of the figure becomes smoother and more rounded.

At the end of the 8th - beginning of the 7th century. BC e. there was further development of the relief. The compositions become significantly more complicated, sometimes overloaded with details that are not directly related to the plot. The relief is now divided into several tiers.

The Assyrian relief reached its highest development in the 7th century. BC e. The central place in the reliefs was occupied by battle scenes telling about the military victories of the Assyrian king; Scenes of royal hunting are numerous. The motives become very diverse. In the visual arts, the trends of the previous period are developing with great force, and the features of realism are significantly strengthening. In constructing complex scenes, artists strive to overcome difficulties in depicting movement and angles. All compositions are very dynamic.

The best works of Assyrian art are scenes of lion hunting - "Hunters Carrying a Killed Lion", "Wounded Lioness".

Sculpture. In round sculpture, Assyrian masters did not achieve such perfection as in relief. Assyrian statues are few in number. Those depicted are usually shown in strictly frontal, frozen poses; they are dressed in long clothes that hide the shape of the body under a carefully ornamented costume. An example of Assyrian round plastic is a small one made of limestone statue of Ashurnasirpal II, dressed in heavy long clothes (IX century BC). Extremely planarly interpreted, it looks more like a board than a three-dimensional figure. The statues of minor gods, originating from Khorsabad, holding in their hands magical vases with flowing water, have the same character. The planar nature of such statues can be explained by their dependence on architecture, since they are designed to be perceived against the background of a wall.

Northern Mesopotamia - Assyria - was limited from the north and east by the mountain ranges of present-day Armenia and Kurdistan (in ancient times the countries of Urartu and Media). To the west of the Tigris, which, together with two tributaries, the Upper and Lower Zab, irrigated Assyria, lies a vast steppe. From the northwest, a neighbor of Assyria in the 2nd millennium BC. e. There was a state called Mitanni, which bordered Babylonia in the south. The hilly, well-watered terrain where Assyria was located forms a naturally sheltered plateau. The country had many forests teeming with animals, and hunting, along with cattle breeding and agriculture, was one of the important occupations of the population. The fields were sown with wheat, barley, and millet.

Rich in timber, Assyria was not poor in other building materials. In particular, fine marble-like limestone was widely used for sculptural details. Hard limestone, basalt and other related rocks were also found. Metals (iron, copper, lead) were imported from neighboring mountainous regions.

In the early historical era - in the 4th millennium BC. e. - the population of Assyria consisted of the peoples of the ancient Subarean race and Semites-Assyrians, obviously aliens.

The emergence of the Assyrian power dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e., to the era of the dominance of Sumerian culture in the south of Mesopotamia.

For a long time, Assyria remained subordinate to its neighbors: the states of Ur, Babylonia and Mitanni. Assyria acted as an independent powerful power twice. Each of these two periods of its history takes a little more than two and a half centuries (about 1400-1130 and 885 - 612 BC). Assyria reached the peak of its power under Ashurbanipal (668 - 626), when, in addition to Babylonia, it even controlled Egypt. The capital of the state was moved from city to city in different eras. The most significant Assyrian capital cities are Ashur (Assur, which gave its name to the entire country), Kalah, Dur-Sharrukin and Nineveh. The latter was destroyed by the Medes around 607 BC. e.

The social and economic structure of Assyria was generally similar to that of southern Mesopotamia. The basis of its economy was agriculture (partially irrigation, as in the south of Mesopotamia and Egypt), as well as cattle breeding. Assyria was a country of large landholdings that used slave labor, but at the same time it also retained rural communities.

Taking advantage of the presence of metal ores and other minerals in the country, the Assyrians created developed handicraft industries. A large artisan population lived in the cities, consisting largely of foreign slaves. The highly developed trade of Assyria, on the territory of which the most important trade routes of Western Asia crossed, was almost entirely in the hands of foreigners.

In its general structure, Assyria was a clearly defined military power. From the XIV to the VII centuries. BC e., during the periods of the first and second rise of Assyria, its life and state structure were entirely subordinated to military tasks.

Construction equipment. Assyrian construction records show that due to constant flooding, Assyrian builders had to take care of constructing solid foundations, foundations and terraces.

All construction in Assyria was a state, “royal” matter. The bricks used for the construction of large palaces bore the mark of the king. The annals of the Assyrian kings often mention their construction: “I built, I restored.”

Massive Assyrian buildings, artificial platforms and foundations required huge numbers of workers. According to the calculations of one of the Assyriologists, the construction of the terrace on which the four palaces of Nineveh were located required 12 years of continuous labor by no less than 10 thousand workers. There are images reminiscent of Egyptian ones, dedicated to the transportation of a colossal semi-hewn monolith in the form of a bull (Table 105, fig. 4). Transportation was carried out on skids with mounted rollers, using levers.

As in Southern Mesopotamia, the main building material of Assyrian architecture was raw brick or simply “broken earth.” The masses made from these materials needed to be strengthened by lining the bottom with stone or in stone foundations. Covering an adobe wall with stone slabs became a characteristic technique of Assyrian architecture.

Stone extraction in quarries was apparently carried out using the same methods as in Egypt. Assyria is characterized by skillful and careful production of large, but relatively thin slabs of facing stone, covered with planar relief carvings.

The bricks found in the buildings of Assyria range from 31.5 to 63 cm in length and 5-10 cm in thickness. Burnt brick was used mainly in the construction of palaces, temples and important defense structures; all other buildings were built from adobe; in this case, layers of raw brick were often laid in a wet state, due to which the entire masonry merged into one compact mass.

The Assyrians used asphalt as a binding material, although less frequently than in Babylon (for example, the palace at Dur-Sharrukin); they also knew lime and gypsum. The huge adobe substructures of the terraces on which the palace complexes stood were equipped with special drainage channels of various diameters and sizes, sometimes with a vaulted ceiling.

The Assyrians knew false and vaulted vaults. The relief from Nineveh depicts buildings covered with spherical or beehive-shaped domes, of which, however, not a single one has reached us (Table 103, Fig. 8). Underground vaulted tombs from the 13th century. BC e. (in Ashur) were covered with a box vault (Table 105, Fig. 7). A wedge-shaped box vault of classical form was used to cover the monumental entrances of Sargon's palace in Dur-Sharrukin. In the arches of this palace, wedge-shaped, properly seasoned brickwork on liquid clay was used. In the vaults of the drainage galleries and canals, the pointed form dominated (Table 105, Fig. 3). The Assyrians continued to use wood to cover the interior halls of palaces and temples. In the chronicles there are indications of the use of entire cedar trunks in the ceilings of palace premises.

Decoration techniques. Decorating walls with relief, fine or decorative painting, and the use of clay ornamentation and glaze were characteristic features of Assyrian architecture, which continued the southern Mesopotamian traditions.

Also extremely characteristic of Assyrian architecture are the so-called “lamassu” or “izedu” - sculptural sculptures in the form of monumental figures of winged bulls or lions with human heads (Table 105, fig. 2). Huge monolithic “lamassu”, with a base about 3 m long and 1 m wide, up to 3 m high, stood on the sides of palace portals, and sometimes city gates. The figure of a walking winged bull or lion on the side was a high relief with the background preserved, and from the front it was interpreted as an independent round statue depicting a bearded husband in a tiara with horns. Despite all the ornamentation in the interpretation of individual details (for example, wool and feathers), these Assyrian sculptures testify to the ability of their sculptors to observe nature.

Another significant variety of Assyrian sculpture are the flat relief orthostats. Orthostats in Kalakh, depicting the king, his courtiers and guardian spirits, decorated the walls both on the inside and on the outside. In the composition of individual scenes and groups, one can note a technique that was later developed in European heraldry, in which two similar figures were positioned strictly symmetrically on either side of the central axis.

In the interior decoration of Assyrian palaces, fresco paintings played a significant role; they have been discovered only in recent years and have not yet been studied enough (Table 103, figs. 5, 6 and 7). Lamassu figures and limestone reliefs were usually painted. A purely Assyrian invention is, apparently, glazed tiles, the technical and artistic development of which subsequently reached its highest peak in New Babylon and in Iran of the Achaemenid era. Since the 10th century. BC e., the Assyrians decorated the top of the walls and their battlements with such tiles (Table 105, Fig. 6). To protect the walls from dampness, the base of the building was covered with glazed brick.

The use of bronze, often gilded, in combination with wood and stone can also be counted among the characteristic prisms of Assyrian decoration. In front of one of the temples of Sargon's palace, the remains of small wooden pillars covered with sheets of bronze were found. An inscription from Sargon has also been preserved, which says that he ordered “four pairs of double lions” to be made in bronze as bases for the “bit-hilani” pillars.

On the Balavat Hill near Nineveh, a gate was found covered with relief strips of bronze, 27 cm high, up to 1.75 m long, depicting episodes of the campaign of Salmatassar III to the country of Urartu. Gilded bronze undoubtedly found widespread use in Assyrian palace and temple architecture. When ancient sources (including Herodotus) say that the upper tier of the Babylonian ziggurat was “golden,” then, obviously, we are talking about upholstery with gilded sheets of bronze. The use of metal for structural purposes, fastenings, etc. in Assyrian architecture was, in all likelihood, insignificant.

Types of Assyrian construction

Cities. The old Assyrian cities, like Ashur (Table 102, Fig. 1) and Nineveh (Table 103, Fig. 2), apparently formed through the gradual overgrowth of the original core; in most cases, their layout is caused by terrain conditions and the area’s irrigation system. The newly created cities, which served as permanent or seasonal residences of kings, like Kalah and Dur-Sharrukin, were built according to a single specification. They were distinguished by a clear square plan with rectilinear streets.

The construction of cities was carried out in Assyria in an organized and rapid manner. The cities were surrounded by massive walls, the size of which will be illustrated by the wall of Dur-Sharrukin, which was 23 m thick and approximately the same height.

The city walls had gates carefully fortified with flanking towers; the gates themselves were made of wood, sometimes they were upholstered with metal.

Nineveh, The largest city Assyria (about 200,000 people), had 15 gates (Table 103, Fig. 2). Its streets were 15 m wide and were paved. Under penalty of execution, it was forbidden to violate the building lines. The perimeter of the city walls of Nineveh, forming an irregular triangle, reached 12 km.

House. As in the Southern Mesopotamia, the Assyrian residential house originated from the oldest wicker hut.

The plans of residential buildings revealed by excavations in Ashur had the usual form for the East (Table 102, figs. 4, 8 and 9). A massive, low, windowless brick wall enclosed the area; The living quarters inside the courtyard were located on the south side. The houses were apparently one-story and had no windows. To protect against heat, ventilation holes were installed in the houses facing north. The entrance was along the long side of the house. In the middle of the site there was an open paved courtyard (See the description of a “northern” type residential building in the “Architecture” section Ancient Mesopotamia»).

The ceiling of the residential building was most likely flat. A hole was made above the fireplace for the smoke to escape. The relief mentioned above was found in Dur-Sharrukin, depicting a group of buildings with spherical beehive-shaped domes (Table 103, Fig. 8). However, this image is isolated, and the existence of the domes has not yet been confirmed by archaeological data. Some scientists see in this group of buildings an image of royal granaries.

Table 102. City of Ashur (Assur). 1. City plan between the 9th and 7th centuries. BC e. - 2. General form excavations of the city (on the left is the ziggurat of the temple of Anu-Adad, in the depths is a large ziggurat, on the right is the city wall of Shalmaneser II). - 3. City walls of the 9th - 7th centuries. BC e. (reconstruction).- 4. Plan of an ancient Assyrian residential building. -
5. Early temple of Anu-Adad (reconstruction by Andre). - 6. Temple of Ishtar, plan, end of the 3rd millennium BC. e.- 7. Underground vaulted tomb. - 8. Plan of a red residential building, 7th century. BC e. (a - entrance, b - courtyard). - 2. “Red” residential building (part in the plan of Fig. 8), External
yard

Temples. The plans of the most ancient Assyrian temples were closely related to the layout of housing. A small temple of the goddess Ishtar in Ashur (Table 102, Fig. 6), the construction of which dates back to the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e., clearly repeated the composition of a residential building (Table 102, Fig. 4). It was based on an oblong room like a room with a fireplace; a statue of the goddess occupied a place near the end wall; Votive figures depicting believers were placed along the long walls. The entrance to the temple hall was located on the side, i.e. the basis of the composition was, as in the palace and temple complexes of Mari and Ashnunak, a wide spread. The Temple of Ishtar differed, however, from ordinary residential buildings in that it stood freely, neither surrounded by a wall nor built up on all sides, such as the “Red House” in Ashur (Table 102, figs. 8 and 9) .

At a later time, in the 2nd and especially in the 1st millennium BC. e., the Assyrian temple acquired a different composition, elongated along the longitudinal axis. In the era of developed palace and temple construction in Ashur, Dur-Sharrukin and Nineveh, the temple was divided into a high-rise stepped tower - a ziggurat and a lower, like an entrance, small temple with a longitudinal-axial plan.

The ziggurat is a monument of Sumerian origin. In late Assyria, the ziggurats erected at temples were dedicated to one of the gods; the double temple of Anu-Adad in Ashur had two ziggurats (Table 102, fig. 5). The best preserved ziggurat is at Dur-Sharrukin, the lower square tier of which occupied an area of ​​about 1,760 square meters. m (42 m x 42 m) (Table 104, Fig. 1 f). The surviving 4 floors were about 24 m in height. If we assume that the ziggurat was supposed to have 7 floors, as in Babylonia, according to the number of planets, then the total height of the Dur-Sharrukin ziggurat should have reached 42 m. A ramp leading to the upper tiers encircled the ziggurat on all four sides. The purpose of the Assyrian ziggurats obviously coincided with the Babylonian-Sumerian one. They served for the purposes of the cult and related astrological observations, which were carried out by the priests.

Palaces. In Assyria, the construction of palaces was widely developed, in the layout, design and decoration of which Assyrian architecture reached its highest peak. The best preserved palace in Dur Sharrukin covers an area of ​​about 10 hectares (Table 104, figs. 1 - 3). Placed on a huge terrace, the palace dominated the city like a fortress. The palace had more than 200 rooms.

Both early (in Ashur, Kalakh) and later (in Nineveh) Assyrian palaces, with large differences in the quality of execution, in the scale of buildings and the luxury of decoration, had the same layout and structure. The Assyrians owe the main forms and techniques of their palace architecture to the art of the Southern Mesopotamia. At the same time, the Assyrians included in the artistic and constructive principles of their construction many things borrowed from the West, from Northern Syria and from the Hittites. A striking example is the borrowing by Assyria of the Hittite “bit-hilani”.

The characteristic features of the bit-khilani are the deployment of the entire composition in the transverse direction and the entrance along the axis of the long side of the buildings, decorated with two towers standing symmetrically on the sides of an open terrace with columns.

The massive adobe architecture of Southern Mesopotamia rarely used free-standing supports. The column and pillar are taken from the west by Assyrian architecture. In the reliefs of Dur-Sharrukin one can find images of such bit-hilani, unlike the rest of the buildings of the palace of Sargon II.

Parks. Green spaces were of great importance in Assyrian architecture. To the north of Nineveh, traces of a country park were found, and in Nineveh itself a kind of botanical garden was discovered. In the middle of this park there was a bit-hilani type kiosk. The park was irrigated with artificial water.

Canals and aqueducts. Concern for irrigation and water supply, as well as for sewerage, drainage, drainage and ventilation can be traced throughout the city and palace construction of Assyria.

An example of large water supply structures is the once famous aqueduct of Sennacherib in Nineveh, which united the water of “eighteen mountain rivers.” Its ruins have reached us (Table 103, Fig. 1). The sewers and sewers in Nineveh and Dur-Sharrukin indicate high technical skill in their execution. The drains in Ashur's residential buildings were made of stone, baked brick or terracotta. At Dur-Sharrukin there was a real underground tunnel built to collect and drain water (Plate 105, Fig. 3).

Fortress construction. Assyria pursued an energetic military policy and erected many defensive structures. The structure and layout of the surviving walls of Ashur and Nineveh indicate high technology fortress construction (Table 102, Fig. 1-3; Table 103, Fig. 2). From the north and east, Nineveh was fortified with ditches, the walls surrounded the city in two rows and were equipped with battlements, between which special shields were placed to protect against arrows and stones thrown by throwing weapons. There was also a special arsenal building. Frequent reliefs depicting military scenes can give an idea of ​​the appearance of the Assyrian fortified city. For example, the famous relief from Nineveh, kept in Berlin, depicts a camp with tents, in the background of which a wall with alternating low towers is visible (Pl. 103, Fig. 3).

The Assyrians also had a high level of road construction technology, the need for which was caused by the military nature of the state and developed trade in the absence of waterways.

Monuments of Assyrian architecture

Ashur. The city of Ashur (in modern times - Kalat Shergat), excavated in 1903-13. archaeologist Andre, was founded by the Sumerians around 3000 BC. e. (Table 102, Fig. 1). Ashur played the role of a “sacred” city. In the former palace of the rulers of Ashur between the 11th and 7th centuries. BC e. there were sarcophagi of the kings of the country. There were at least 34 temples and chapels in the city. Standing on a cliff 25 meters high, surrounded by the Tigris and canals, the city of Ashur must have presented an exceptionally picturesque spectacle. Its silhouette was characterized by three ziggurats: one belonged to the main temple of Ashur, the other two to the mentioned double temple of the god Anu and his son Adad (Table 102, figs. 2 and 5).

Built in the 11th century. BC the Algu-Adad temple had a courtyard with a well in front of a symmetrically located facade, as if splitting into two parts; its gates had a fortress character. The temple has not reached us; the restoration made by Andre (Table 102. Fig. 5) reproduces the massive nature of the building and indicates its greater compactness and height compared to similar temples of the Southern Mesopotamia (for example, the Temple of Anu-Antum in Uruk).

Palace of Ashurnasirpala in Kalakh. The next most significant architectural monument of Assyria was the palace of Ashurnasirpal in Kalakh (modern Nimrud). In this palace, built between 884 and 859. before i. e., those techniques of combining architecture with sculpture are already noticeable, fine arts and decorative, ornamentation, which later reached highest point development in Dur-Sharrukin and Nineveh.

The Kalakh palace, richly decorated with sculpture, gives an idea of ​​two decorative elements of architecture that are constantly encountered subsequently. These are, firstly, the winged statues of sacred animals, genii, bulls or lions described above, guarding the entrances, the so-called “lamassu”; and, secondly, narrative relief orthostats located in the lower part of the brick or adobe walls. Characteristic for the Assyro-Mesopotamian, as well as for the Hittite composition, is the placement of the main images and inscriptions at the bottom of the walls, at eye level. Orthostagnic slabs, which later became purely decorative, had a surface area of ​​over 7 square meters. m, sometimes no more than 20 cm thick. Their origin was clearly constructive; Their original purpose was to strengthen and support the mass of broken earth, clay or adobe that made up the terraces or walls of large Assyrian buildings, and to promote waterproofing of substructures.

Sargon's Palace at Dur Sharrukin. The most famous monument of Assyrian architecture is still the palace of Sargon II in Dur-Sharrukin - modern Khorsabad; (Table 104, Fig. 1-3; Table 105, Fig. 1-3). The city of Dur-Sharrukin was built within 4 years (711-707 BC) according to a pre-conceived plan by order of Sargon, who outlined it for his residence. The area of ​​the city was about 280 hectares (1780 m x 1685 m). Its street grid was rectangular. The palace rose above the city on a huge, specially built terrace. The height of its smooth walls facing the city was 14 m. Constructed from “broken earth”, it contains 1,300,000 cubic meters. m of masonry. The entire masonry is penetrated by a system of sewage and ventilation ducts and reinforced on all sides with massive stone blocks weighing up to 24 tons; A ramp and stairs led to the terrace. The construction of such terraces was a typical technique in the Southern Mesopotamia, where it was caused by the need to protect structures from river floods. At Dur Sharrukin, the terrace served a defensive purpose, while at the same time giving the palace an exceptionally majestic appearance.

The palace was located in such a way that half of it extended beyond the city wall. There is no doubt that the palace was conceived as a fortress, protecting its inhabitants not only from external enemies, but also from the inhabitants of the city itself. It consisted of 210 halls and 30 courtyards. The monumental entrance to the huge complex of courtyards and the hall was very decorative and strictly symmetrical: but in the plan of the entire palace asymmetry dominated, the composition of the complex was closed. Three or even four groups of premises, different in their purpose and isolated from one another, can be clearly distinguished. In the center of the entire square there was a “seraglio” (The names “seraglio”, “khan”, and “harem” are of later origin; they are used in scientific literature to designate the corresponding main parts of the most ancient palaces, due to their similarity in this respect with later, for example, Arab and Turkish palaces of the Middle East) - the official part of the palace (Table 104, fig. 26) with large reception halls and courtyards. The greatest luxury of decoration was concentrated in the seraglio. The main halls were lined with stone slabs with relief images. To the right of the main entrance a, which led from the city to the front yard, there were more cramped and modestly decorated office premises- “khan” c. To the left of the entrance, on the other side of the large courtyard that separated all three groups of premises, there was a “harem” with its courtyards. The fourth group of palace premises included temples and a ziggurat. In the depths of the entire square there was a pavilion-type building, apparently summer home of the king. It was built according to the type of the Syro-Hittite bit-khilani, as such rooms were usually built in late Assyrian palaces. All these groups of rooms had exits to the middle courtyard, and were connected to each other only by small passages, easily blocked if necessary. This layout was based on the desire to create the possibility of defense even in individual premises in the event of a palace coup attempt.

The issue of covering the main halls of Assyrian palaces is still unclear. In the Kalakh palace of Ashurnasirpal, the width of the hall did not exceed 7 m, in the palace of Sargon it reached 10 m; the width of the doors was 3 m. Judging by the texts of Ashurnasirpal, Kalakh had wooden flat ceilings made of cedar and palm tree trunks. In Sargon's palace, the extreme massiveness of the walls makes it possible to think about the use of a vaulted ceiling. Its use has been proven for entrances (decorated along a semi-circular vault with glazed tiles) and for temples. In Sargon's palace, stone was used more than in other Assyrian palaces. Only very high construction equipment could allow the erection of arches such as the semicircular arch of the main entrance of this palace, which had a span of 4.30 m with a castle height of 5.46 m from the floor (Table 104, Fig. 3). The walls of Dur-Sharrukin were built up to a height of 1.10 m of stone, and above were made of mud masonry. Vertically they were dissected by alternating protrusions and depressions. The height of the orthostats reached 3 m. The lower frieze of one of the entrances of the harem is lined with slabs depicting animals, birds, and trees.

The main entrance was flanked by two towers with an arch between them (plate 104, fig. 3). At the bottom they had a frieze formed by the figures of colossal “lamassus” (there were at least 28 “lamassus” in the palace), between which there was a high relief depicting the national hero of the Sumerian-Assyrian epic Gilgamesh strangling a lion.

The decoration of the palace (cladding the walls with orthostats with relief images, plaster and glazed tiles, bronze decorations, along with the vertical division of the walls) can be generally recognized as the most characteristic example of decorative techniques of Assyrian architecture.

Nineveh. Palaces of Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal. Monuments of Assyrian construction of the last period have been preserved in Nineveh, an ancient city, especially built under Sennacherib, the son of Sargon. Sennacherib built a grandiose palace on a terrace in Nineveh, reaching 30 m in height. The excavations of the palace yielded, however, less for the history of architecture than the palace at Dur Sharrukin.

From the palace of the last of the major rulers of Assyria, Ashurbanipal, reliefs of exceptional artistic interest have been preserved in Nineveh, now stored in London (Table 103, fig. 4).

In general, however, the art of the era of Ashurbanipal already indicates a certain refinement of style and the absence of monumental power in the buildings of this time.

Luxury and overload of detail replaced here the simplicity and strength that characterized the earlier monuments of Assyria.

Features of the style of Assyro-Babylonian architecture

Massiveness. The main means of artistic influence of Mesopotamian architecture was monumental, volumetric mass.

The impression of the massiveness of the structures was greatly enhanced by the presence of monumental platform terraces on which Mesopotamian structures rose. Egyptian monuments, even when they contrasted with the surrounding nature, were never divorced from it. Mesopotamian buildings, raised on massive clay pedestals, sharply separating the architecture from the surrounding landscape, emphasized with enormous force and sharpness the main features of the artistic influence of the architecture of the countries of Mesopotamia: its massiveness and heaviness.

Spatial features. In Egyptian architecture, one of the methods for solving internal space was its sequential deployment along the longitudinal axis. In Assyria and Babylonia we are dealing with either an asymmetrical, off-axis system of placement of premises, or with a clearly expressed transverse deployment of space.

Continuing the development of the spatial scheme of the ancient dwelling of Northern Mesopotamia, Assyrian temples often had an entrance in one of the long walls on the side (the temple of Ishtar at Ashur).

Assyrian palaces had an asymmetrical layout of the main groups and a series of courtyards surrounded by narrow rooms, the entrance to which was mostly located in a long wall.

The large entrance courtyards in Sargon's palace in Dur-Sharrukin and the entrances to them were located asymmetrically, well guarded by fortress-type towers. The entrances to the following rooms were offset from the axis of the outer door. The broken line characteristic of fortress construction determined the layout of most palace complexes in late Assyria.

However, in Assyria, the enfilade semi-symmetrical arrangement of rooms in groups of main halls is also becoming widespread. Thus, the entrance going along a broken line from the large courtyard of the seraglio in Dur-Sharrukin leads to a square reception courtyard, from which enfilades of transversely located halls located on straight axes diverge in all directions (with their length repeating the width of the courtyard). The same system of two enfilades facing the courtyard was built around the main square room of the harem. However, here these enfilades lead to longitudinally arranged halls. Previously, in Ancient Mesopotamia such enfilades in palaces were rare. Now they get dominance in the main premises.

Subsequently, longitudinal axial directions even more begin to displace the picturesque arrangement of the premises of the earlier layouts. However, the new principles of composition have not yet been completed. The intersections of the enfilades do not coincide with the centers of the middle squares. The formally decorated doors are not located exactly on the axis of the facades and courtyards. The principle of symmetry on facades is still valid for a short distance. The elements adjacent to the architecturally emphasized entrance - towers and semicircular arches of additional doors - are placed at equal distances from the compositional center. However, further parts of the facade (or interior) are made of arbitrary length. Therefore, despite the presence of many symmetrically designed fragments of buildings in Dur Sharrukin, there is not a single completed symmetrical facade.

The layout of cities in the military despotisms of Assyria and Babylon acquired the features of an organized military camp, surrounded by residential areas with a free layout. Babylon was clearly inscribed in a rectangle with a regular grid of main streets. The plan of the city of Borsippa was even more correct, brought, like the plan of the city of Dur-Sharrukin, almost to an exact square.

Features of great correctness are found in the plans of later ensembles. In Nebuchadnezzar's palace in Babylon, the main five courtyards are located in a straight line, facing the street of sacred processions. In the middle three courtyards, the entrance openings are located on the same axis according to the enfilade principle. The continuation of this axis (running almost exactly along the west-east line) determines the position of the main entrance gate to the palace, however, due to the rotation of the line of the street of sacred processions, the internal doors of the first courtyard did not fall on the axis of the main enfilade. The layout of the palace complex consistently alternates transversely elongated and square courtyards, separated by narrow small rooms, emphasizing the size of the open spaces of the courtyards. The three rear courtyards in the transverse direction were built symmetrically; moreover, additional symmetrical enfilades had increasing depth; first one, then two and finally three rooms were added to the courtyards from the south (simultaneously with the increase in the number of rooms, their size decreased).

The difference in the layout of the temple and the palace, observed, for example, in the early Ashnunak, was smoothed out in Babylon. The Temple of Nin-Max near the Ishtar Gate basically follows the layout of the palace. The common longitudinal axis of the main premises does not coincide with the axis of the external entrance. Functionally justified in fortress construction, the complexity of the entrance line passed into the temple scheme as a general compositional device. As in a palace, the side rooms of the temple were distributed unevenly across long sides volume.

Compared to the strict sequence of the deployment of rooms along the longitudinal axis in an Egyptian temple, the ensembles of Mesopotamia give the impression of a random combination of courtyards, long and narrow rooms, and small closets. Meanwhile, this apparent accident contains a unique understanding of the ensemble and the internal space, where the pictorial-functional construction of the plan and the transverse deployment of large rooms have become familiar to the architecture of the countries of Mesopotamia and the starting point for the architectural development of Iran, as well as the entire Muslim architecture of the East.

Wall and vault. The free-standing column did not receive as much development in the architecture of the countries of Mesopotamia as in Egypt. Instead, the wall surface acquired exceptional importance as a means of artistic influence. It is safe to say that the wall, as such, was the most important artistic theme in Mesopotamian architecture.

Further logical development of the wall surface manifested itself in Mesopotamia in the appearance of vaulted coverings. A box vault, apsidal rooms with conchs, a dome - all these techniques of curved ceilings arose as a natural transition of the wall surface directly from the vertical to the horizontal direction.

Principles of wall surface solution. The wall in the architecture of the countries of Mesopotamia usually did not acquire structural divisions into load-bearing and non-supporting parts. On the contrary, in the wall, in its decor, the uniformity of the surface was always emphasized, and as a result, its entire interpretation acquired a specific decorative character.

This concept originated in the early days of the reed structure, which was completely covered with mats. With the transition to adobe and brick structures, this principle was preserved throughout the further development of Mesopotamian architecture as a relic. In general, several characteristic methods for solving the wall plane can be noted.

Continuing the tradition of Ancient Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian architects decorated the walls of buildings with vertical grooves and divided them with a significant number of tower-like projections.

The old technique of treating a wall with a series of columns touching each other is also repeated. However, this made processing the completion of the wall, which was covered with a jagged stepped parapet, much more difficult. These teeth were easily obtained by laying the top of the wall from baked bricks. The border stripes emphasized the difficulty of completion; the overhanging upper parts of the towers, visible in many Assyrian images, further complicated the silhouette of the structures.

Arches and vaults played a significant role in Assyro-Babylonian architecture. The main entrance of the palace at Dur Sharrukin consists of a series of arches receding into the depths, sandwiched between powerful towers. The curve of the arch was clearly emphasized by the frame. Its wedges remained open, and it was sometimes outlined by a frieze of glazed bricks.

The lower part of the walls in secondary places was completely smooth, and in the entrances and front rooms it was decorated with stone orthostats, the use of which was borrowed from Hittite architecture. Sculptural images of animals and people covered the vast spaces of the reception halls with a continuous ribbon and usually conveyed the history of victories and conquests. Entrances were often symbolically guarded by guardian spirits in the form of winged bulls with human heads. All these sculptural images obeyed architectural forms, following the break of the walls, and with their flat relief further emphasized the dominance and power of the wall.

We have an idea of ​​the Assyrian columns mainly on the basis of surviving images. Obviously, columns were rarely used. In most cases they had a simple geometric shape. Their bases and capitals often had the shape of a smooth or ornamented onion. Some examples of capitals in the form of twisting two-tiered rollers or baskets with curling leaves were the forerunners of Ionian and Corinthian capitals. The shape of the base in the form of a lion or sphinx with a bolster on the back on which the column trunk rested was adopted from Hittite art.

Synthesis of arts. Color was of great importance in Assyro-Babylonian architecture. The presence of various horizontal belts covered with several primary colors, combined with vertical division into small protrusions and recesses, a rich use of colored ceramics, tiles with colorful patterns and shiny surfaces and glazed bricks different colors, an abundance of copper jewelry and many stone and copper relief images of animals, the use of some precious rocks cameo, gold and silver in throne rooms and sanctuaries - all of this provided the architect with a rich palette for artistic expression. Black paint was used for the bottom of the walls, and green, white, yellow, dark red and blue for the upper part. The sculptures were painted in blue, scarlet and violet tones. The background color for the enamel cladding was dark blue; Yellow, green, black and white colors were used for images.

The ornaments combined geometric figures and stylized plants. Most often, stepped teeth, arabesques, palm leaves, lotuses and rosettes similar to Egyptian ones were used. All these motifs achieved great grace and, in accordance with the place they occupied, received a variety of shapes and sizes. The art of laying various patterns and images from glazed colored bricks has reached a high level.

These unique methods of treating the wall surface became the starting point for the development of all later architecture in the countries of the Muslim East.

Assyria is a powerful, aggressive state, whose borders in its heyday stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. The Assyrians brutally dealt with their enemies: they destroyed cities, carried out mass executions, sold tens of thousands of people into slavery, and deported entire nations. At the same time, the conquerors paid great attention to cultural heritage conquered countries, studying the artistic principles of foreign craftsmanship. Combining the traditions of many cultures, Assyrian art acquired a unique appearance.

At first glance, the Assyrians did not strive to create new forms; all previously known types of buildings are found in their architecture, for example, the ziggurat. The novelty lay in the attitude towards the architectural ensemble. The center of the palace-temple complexes became not the temple, but the palace. A new type of city appeared - a fortified city with a single strict layout.

An example of such a city is Dur-Sharrukin (modern Khorsabad, Iraq) - the residence of King Sargon II (722-705 BC). More than half of the city's total area was occupied by a palace built on a high platform. It was surrounded by powerful walls 14 meters high. Vaults and arches were used in the palace ceiling system. There were seven passages (gates) in the wall. In each passage, on both sides of the gate, there stood giant figures of fantastic shedu guards - winged bulls with human heads. Shedu were symbols that combined the properties of humans, animals and birds and, therefore, were a powerful means of protection against enemies. The Louvre houses a pair of shedu guards. The colossal statue is carved from a single block. The creature's nearly round head, the only human element, has human face, but the ears are of an animal. Thick eyebrows converge over a clearly defined nose, the creature’s eyes are expressive. The soft mouth is lined with a curly beard that covers the jaw and chin. Long hair fall onto the shoulders, framing a good-natured face. On the head of the shedu is a tiara with stars, decorated on the sides with a pair of horns and crowned with feathers. The body, the anatomy of which is conveyed very accurately, is the body of a bull. The beast, however, has five legs, so when the viewer is from the front, the creature appears to be standing, but when viewed from the side, it appears to be moving. The wings of a bird of prey grow from the creature's shoulders (only one wing is visible). The chest, belly, back and rump are covered with thick curly hair. The tail is very long and curls at the end. On two panels between the shedu's hind legs there is a dedication carved, listing the ruler's virtues and calling a curse on anyone who wants to harm him.

Behind the guards of the march in the palace at Dur-Sharrukin stood colossal statues of the guardian geniuses. One of them is kept in the Louvre. The figure of the winged genius is shown from the front up to the waist and in profile below the waist. The genius holds a pine cone in his right hand and a small metal vessel (situla) in his left. The head, framed by a curly beard, is crowned with a tiara with two pairs of horns. A fringed cape is thrown over the short tunic, covering the right shoulder and left leg. Two pairs of wings growing from the back are located strictly symmetrically relative to the body of the genius. His hands and wrists are decorated with rings and bracelets. The genius is wearing sandals that cover his heels. Geniuses, depicted as bulls with human heads, people with bird heads, and also winged people, form an important part of Assyrian mythology. They have superhuman capabilities, but are not deities, although sometimes (as in this case) they have certain divine attributes (tiara with horns). The geniuses in the palace in Dur-Sharrukin performed not only a security function (guarding the city gates and walls), but also blessed everyone passing by.

In the central passage of the palace at Dur-Sharrukin, in addition to the pair of shedu bulls, there were four more bulls, along the wall, with their heads turned towards the visitor. Between each pair of bulls stood a lion tamer. One of them is currently in the Louvre. The motif of lion taming was part of a complex architectural and decorative system. It symbolized divine and royal power; the power emanating from the image protected the palace and extended the reign of the monarch. The colossal sculpture depicts a man strangling a lion. The hero (or spirit) is depicted from the front, which is rare for Assyrian art and is found only when depicting creatures with magical power. In his right hand the hero holds a royal ceremonial weapon with a curved blade. He wears a short tunic and over it a fringed shawl, hiding one leg and leaving the other open. The magical effect of the image is that the hero looks directly into the eyes of the viewer. The hero's eyes, once brightly colored, were supposed to hypnotize the viewer. The hero's head is almost separated from the solid stone, his hair and beard are cut “royally”. On his wrist is a bracelet with a rosette. The spirit of the lion tamer, often identified with the hero Gilgamesh, the semi-legendary ruler of Uruk, probably symbolizes the boundlessness of royal power: the hero tames the terrible beast without the slightest effort. The hero's unshakable strength represents magical power.

When decorating chambers in the royal palaces, the Assyrians gave preference to relief, creating their own style in this art form. The main features of the Assyrian relief were formed by the 9th century. BC BC, which dates back to the ensemble from the palace of King Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) in Kalhu (modern Nimrud, Iraq). The palace was decorated with a series of reliefs glorifying the king as a commander, a wise ruler, physically very strong man. To embody this idea, the sculptors used three groups of subjects: war (Inspection of prisoners and booty), hunting (Ashurnasirapal II during the lion hunt) and a solemn procession with tribute (Ashurnasirapal II with a squire, Solemn procession with tribute). An important element of the image is the text: the close lines of cuneiform sometimes run right across the image. The reliefs are replete with characters and narrative details. The human figures are made in a conventional, generalized style, while the appearance of animals is conveyed close to life. Sometimes masters resort to deliberate distortion of proportions, thereby emphasizing the drama of the situation: for example, in hunting scenes, a lion could be larger than a horse. People were most often depicted in accordance with the canon: the head, lower torso, legs and one shoulder - in profile, the other shoulder - full face. The smallest details were carefully worked out - curls of hair, folds of clothing, muscles. The reliefs were painted; they may have originally resembled wall paintings. The complex of reliefs from the palace of Ashurnasirpal II became the model for all subsequent works of Assyrian sculpture.

A typical example of the provincial art of the Assyrian Empire in its heyday is the Stele with the goddess Ishtar, discovered in 1929 during excavations carried out at Tell Asmara (ancient Til Barsib) by the archaeological mission of the Louvre. Ishtar, one of the favorite characters in the art of the ancient Front Asia, was revered as the goddess of love and war. Unusual for such a monumental monument is the image of Ishtar as a warrior goddess, which is more typical for cylinder seals. Ishtar is depicted standing on the back of a lion (the lion is the animalistic form of the goddess herself). With her left hand the goddess holds the lion on a leash. A sacred halo is depicted above her head, a sword hangs at her side, and two quivers with arrows are behind her back. Ishtar wears a horned headdress on her head, a typical attribute of gods in the iconography of the peoples of ancient Western Asia. The headdress has the shape of a cylinder and is crowned with a disk with rays, which recalls that Ishtar personifies the planet Venus. Because of the dual role played by the goddess Ishtar in Mesopotamian mythology, she was worshiped as both a woman and a man, as evidenced by her typically masculine attire: a short tunic and a fringed shawl thrown over her shoulder.

The most famous work of Assyrian sculpture is considered to be the ensemble from the palace of King Ashurbanipal in Nineveh (7th century BC). Reliefs depicting hunting scenes (Wounded Lioness, Deer Hunt), military triumphs (Ashurbanipal on a chariot and Elamite captives), and ritual feasts (Feast in the Garden) were executed with amazing skill and emotional power. In contrast to similar images from Kalhu with their solemn and somewhat slow action, here everything is in rapid motion, the increase in free space between the figures allows you to feel both this movement and the excitement that gripped all the participants in the scene. The reliefs in Nineveh are naturalistic, which primarily refers to the depiction of animals: their appearance is anatomically accurate, their poses are natural and expressive, and the agony of the dying lions is conveyed with exceptional verisimilitude and brightness.

The Assyrians practiced decoration in the form of bas-reliefs, but almost did not use isolated sculpture. The image on the bas-reliefs was more consistent with their warlike spirit, because made it possible to perpetuate their own victories in military campaigns. The rare surviving figures of Assyrian monarchs lack individuality and are reduced to cylindrical forms in which details of clothing and royal emblems stand out, as seen in the example of the statue of King Ashurnasirpal II. Not a single feature protrudes from the cylindrical structure of this statue, representing continuous immobility and cult. The figure is covered by a tunic that reaches the feet and completely hides the body. The head, for its part, is also characterized by the symmetry of the beard and hair, which flow on either side of the imperturbable face.

At the end of the 7th century. BC e. Assyria was destroyed by its long-time opponents - Media and Babylonia. In 612 BC. e. The capital of Assyria, Nineveh, was destroyed in 605 BC. e. In the battle of Karkemish, the remnants of the Assyrian army died. In the art of antiquity, the traditions of Assyria, especially in the field of monumental relief, attracted attention for a long time. In particular, they had a strong influence on the sculpture of ancient Iran.