DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.67683#0109
PERSIAN PERIOD
67
Ishtar Gate rose the palace of Nebuchadnezzar with its terraced
garden filled with tropical plants — the famous hanging gardens
of Babylon. As we walk up Procession Street past the brilliant
roaring lions and approach the gate, its tiled surface flashing in
the sunshine against the rich green of the gardens above and
beyond, we cannot but marvel at the rich effect gained by the
Babylonian in his use of glazed tile.
SUMMARY
In the architecture of the Babylonian-Assyrian period we have
seen massive rambling structures built chiefly of brick on the arch
system of construction. Broad platforms with monumental
stairways, entrances flanked with colossal bulls and glittering
with brilliantly colored tile decorations, interiors adorned with
long rows of reliefs, with scenes full of life and vigor — all these
created a rich and sumptuous appearance; but it was the effect
of temporary barbaric splendor, rather than monumental en-
durance. In sculpture, while the human figure was poorly exe-
cuted, the representation of animal life was superb in its realism,
full of life and movement, always forceful, always impressive.
The handicrafts reached their climax in the work of the engraver,
the lapidary, and the bronze worker, whose sense of decoration
and technical skill are seen in the silver vessels, the early Baby-
lonian seals, and the Assyrian bronzes.
D. PERSIAN
539-331 B.C.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The end of the Assyrian power and the establishment of the
Chaldean had been brought about by the combined efforts of the
Semitic Chaldeans and the Medo-Persians. The latter were an
Aryan people who had moved southward from the grasslands
of central Asia, and had gradually built up an empire on the
mountainous plateaus east of the Valley of the Two Rivers.
They had brought with them from their original home a beauti-
ful conception of religion, recognizing the struggle of good and
evil and the ethical value of right conduct as seen in the writings
of their great prophet, Zoroaster. About 550 b.c., Cyrus, a
Persian vassal of this Median Empire, threw off the yoke and
with his powerful archers and daring horsemen swept over
western Asia, swiftly conquering from the Persian Gulf to the
67
Ishtar Gate rose the palace of Nebuchadnezzar with its terraced
garden filled with tropical plants — the famous hanging gardens
of Babylon. As we walk up Procession Street past the brilliant
roaring lions and approach the gate, its tiled surface flashing in
the sunshine against the rich green of the gardens above and
beyond, we cannot but marvel at the rich effect gained by the
Babylonian in his use of glazed tile.
SUMMARY
In the architecture of the Babylonian-Assyrian period we have
seen massive rambling structures built chiefly of brick on the arch
system of construction. Broad platforms with monumental
stairways, entrances flanked with colossal bulls and glittering
with brilliantly colored tile decorations, interiors adorned with
long rows of reliefs, with scenes full of life and vigor — all these
created a rich and sumptuous appearance; but it was the effect
of temporary barbaric splendor, rather than monumental en-
durance. In sculpture, while the human figure was poorly exe-
cuted, the representation of animal life was superb in its realism,
full of life and movement, always forceful, always impressive.
The handicrafts reached their climax in the work of the engraver,
the lapidary, and the bronze worker, whose sense of decoration
and technical skill are seen in the silver vessels, the early Baby-
lonian seals, and the Assyrian bronzes.
D. PERSIAN
539-331 B.C.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The end of the Assyrian power and the establishment of the
Chaldean had been brought about by the combined efforts of the
Semitic Chaldeans and the Medo-Persians. The latter were an
Aryan people who had moved southward from the grasslands
of central Asia, and had gradually built up an empire on the
mountainous plateaus east of the Valley of the Two Rivers.
They had brought with them from their original home a beauti-
ful conception of religion, recognizing the struggle of good and
evil and the ethical value of right conduct as seen in the writings
of their great prophet, Zoroaster. About 550 b.c., Cyrus, a
Persian vassal of this Median Empire, threw off the yoke and
with his powerful archers and daring horsemen swept over
western Asia, swiftly conquering from the Persian Gulf to the