Ancient City-States: Architecture, Art, and Civilization

Introduction: The First City-States

This essay examines the cultural contributions of the first city-states in the history of ancient civilization, surveying advances in architecture, arts and letters, astronomy, governance, and urban planning in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome — from the Bronze Age to the early Christian Empire.

Ancient Mesopotamia: Sunlight, Structure, and Civic Foundations

The Mesopotamian cities of Babylon, Jericho, and Ur emerged from newly sedentary agricultural communities, and their extensive record of complex private and public civic foundations reveals a wide range of structural compositions. The stability of fixed domestic locations near the fields gradually gave rise to towns, cities, laws, and government, which in turn promoted the proliferation of civic projects. Perhaps the first truly sustainable communities in the human record, Mesopotamia's semi-arid climate supported long-term construction of dwellings, temples, and seats of government through the use of mixed building materials drawn from the natural environment (Maddison).

Reliance on sunlight was integral to the Mesopotamian experience. The incorporation of natural light into architectural planning is evident in residential housing at ancient Ur, where analysis of light in the environment demonstrates both functional and symbolic manipulation of the sun's seasonal presence in architectural form. The shift in natural light conditions over the course of the year would have carried important meaning within Mesopotamian cities, given the essential value of sunlight for illuminating the living and public spaces where everyday activities were conducted. This is particularly true given that strong summer sunlight imposed significant limitations on human activity. The symbolic and religious significance of solar light in temple architecture is equally pertinent and was already present at this early stage (Belmonte).

Ancient Egypt: Monuments, Mythology, and the God-King

The orientation of pyramid and obelisk architecture is frequently discussed in relation to the shifting quality of light from sunrise to sunset. The zodiacal light, commencing in the morning twilight in the east and setting in the west, moves simultaneously across the horizon and the pyramid's surfaces. Pharaohs, architects, astronomers, and laborers alike were collectively contributing to a kind of solar pillar — one that paralleled the link between the ruler, his or her people, and the afterlife (Belmonte). The alignment of stones is sometimes even attributed to astrological influence. Egypt's interest in harnessing natural sunlight while also sheltering from its summer intensity is similar to that seen in Mesopotamian architecture, including its use of radial arches, columns, and vaults.

The impetus behind the pyramids seems quite clear. A highly complex vision of the afterlife is depicted in the decorative programs of royal tomb architecture. The content of those compositions — while belonging more properly to art history than to the archaeology of construction — is key to interpreting the power of Egyptian belief, as pharaohs, queens, and consorts are referenced in mythological passages drawn from the Egyptian Book of the Dead (Dimock). As an encasement for rulers, the pyramid ensured the protection of their earthly bodies during their ascension with the spirit Ra to their rightful place among the divine. The internal chamber was large enough to hold the requisite representations of the deceased's possessions.

Specific depictions of ancient burial practice are also preserved in the well-maintained civic and funerary architecture of Egypt. Statuary that merges human and divine form — anthropomorphic representations of gods and goddesses — was clearly a favored commodity of the ruling class. By fusing the ruler with the afterlife, the monuments were in such great demand that the cultural emphasis on monumental construction gave rise to a thriving class of craftsmen. Ancient Egypt was, in essence, a cosmological civis: fit for a God-King.

Conclusion

The final chapter of the Roman Empire saw a general shift away from the high realism of Republican Rome toward spiritual inquietude, as public dialogue gave way to the leadership of Christ and a turn toward reflective inner life. Exalted Roman rule under Christ culminated in Justinian's dominion in Constantinople. Cathedral architecture and interior design moved toward abstract aesthetic composition, which influenced the forthcoming Islamic period and marked the final transformation of the ancient civic tradition.

Belmonte, Juan Antonio. "From the Atlas to the Caucasus: The Other Side of the Mediterranean Before Islam." Archaeoastronomy 15 (2000): 78.

de la Croix, H., and R. G. Tansey. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. New York, NY: Harcourt and Brace, 1980.

Dimock, Wai Chee. "The Egyptian Pronoun: Lyric, Novel, the Book of the Dead." New Literary History 39.3 (2008): 619–643.

Maddison, Angus. "The Contours of World Development." The World Economy. OECD, 2010. Web.

Penrose, F. C. "The Orientation of Greek Temples." Nature 48.1228 (1893). Print.