Ancient civilization and geotechnical engineering

Ancient civilization
&
Geotechnical Engineering
collected by
Ing. Jaafar Mohammed
2013 - 2014

Abstract
Geotechnical engineering is one of the oldest
engineering types which deals with the ancients
civilization and can provide effective tools for
evaluating the methods used in the construction of
historic monuments, determining the reasons for the
destruction of some, as well as providing rational
explanations for the survival of others to this present
day.
Mesopotamia (MEHS•uh•puh•TAY•mee•uh). The
word in Greek means “land between the rivers.”
The rivers framing Mesopotamia are the Tigris
(TY•grihs) and Euphrates (yoo•FRAY•teez). They
flow southeastward to the Persian Gulf.

Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians,
Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions.
Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex which
included other buildings. The precursors of the
ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the
Ubaid period during the fourth millennium BC. The
earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early
Dynastic Period. The latest Mesopotamian ziggurats
date from the 6th century BC. Built in receding tiers
upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the
ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-
baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with
facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were
often glazed in different colors and may have had
astrological significance. Kings sometimes had their
names engraved on these glazed bricks.

The number of tiers ranged from two to seven. It is
assumed that they had shrines at the top, but there is
no archaeological evidence for this and the only
textual evidence is from Herodotus. Access to the
shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one
side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to
summit. The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places
for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed
to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had its
own patron god. Only priests were permitted on the
ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their
responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their
needs. The priests were very powerful members of
Sumerian society.

How did the ancient Mesopotamia build the
Ziggurat ?
This question has been the subject of speculations
throughout the ages. There have been many and
varying theories about the Great Pyramid’s
construction techniques in particular. In fact, no
certain conclusions have ever been reached in this
regard even with the modern investigations.

Introduction
The birth of civilization on the Iraqi some 4000 or
5000 years ago on the ancient Mesopotamian. It has
been shown that the oldest sites located to the North
of the Iraq by some thousands of years the sites in
Mousel which were traditionally considered the birth
place of civilization in Iraq. While the early world
cultures never attained the levels of the ancient
Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations, the
expertise and skill shown in the building of large
structures, the organization of labour, artistic merit,
and political system demand a favourable comparison
with their Old World contemporaries. The ancient
Ziggurat of Ur, as the oldest civilization in Iraq.

Ancient Babylonia - The Ziggurats
One of the most important aspects of Babylonian religion and
tradition, and probably the best known, is the ziggurat.
Ziggurats were huge "stepped" structures with, on their
summit, far above the ground, a temple. This Temple would
have been to the city god. The city ziggurat would easily be
the most conspicuous building in the city, towering above any
visitors coming to their city. Therefore the ziggurat was not
just a religious center but also a center of civic pride. The
ziggurats were built on an immense scale. In the time of
Hammurabi they would sometimes reach the height of 150
feet.
Around the base there might be more temples or in some
case accommodation for priests.

A ziggurat "to build on a raised area" is a temple tower
of the ancient Mesopotamian valley and Iran, having
the form of a terraced pyramid of successively
receding stories.
Ziggurats were a form of temple common to the
Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians of ancient
Mesopotamia.The earliest examples of the ziggurat
date from the end of the third millennium BCE and the
latest date from the 6th century BCE.
Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or
square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal
structure. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the
ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside.
The facings were often glazed in different colors and
may have had astrological significance.

Unfortunately, not much of even the base is
left of this massive structure, yet
archeological findings and historical accounts
put this tower at seven multicolored tiers,
topped with a temple of exquisite proportions.
The temple is thought to have been painted
and maintained an indigo color, matching the
tops of the tiers. It is known that there were
three staircases leading to the temple, two of
which (side flanked) were thought to have
only ascended half the ziggurat's height.

Archaeological Map of Iraq by Entidhar Al-Taie, Nadhir Al- Ansari, Sven Knutsson

Ancient Mesopotamia
By Ivo Herle

Excavation and preservation
The remains of the ziggurat were first described by William
Kennett Loftus in the early 19th century. The first excavations at
the site were conducted by John George Taylor in the 1850s,
leading to the identification of the site as Ur. After World War I,
preliminary excavations were performed by Reginald Campbell
Thomson and Henry Hall. The site was extensively excavated in
the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley by appointment of the
University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and the
British Museum in the period of 1922 to 1934.
The remains of the ziggurat consist of a three-layered solid mass
of mud brick faced with burnt bricks set in bitumen. The lowest
layer corresponds to the original construction of Ur-Nammu,
while the two upper layers are part of the Neo-Babylonian
restorations. The façade of the lowest level and the monumental
staircase were rebuilt under the orders of Saddam Hussein.

The ziggurat was damaged in the First Gulf War in
1991 by small arms fire and the structure was shaken
by explosions. Four bomb craters can be seen nearby
and the walls of the ziggurat are marred by over 400
bullet holes.

Etemenanki, the name for the structure, is Sumerian and
means "The Foundation of Heaven and Earth." Most likely
being built by Hammurabi, the ziggurat's core was found to
have contained the remains of earlier ziggurats and
structures. The final stage consisted of a 15 meter hardened
brick encasement constructed by King Nebuchadnezzar.
It has been suggested that the ziggurat was a symbolic
representation of the primeval mound upon which the
universe was thought to have been created. The ziggurat
may have been built as a bridge between heaven and earth.
The temples of the Sumerians were believed to be a cosmic
axis, a vertical bond between heaven and earth, and the
earth and the underworld, and a horizontal bond between
the lands. Built on seven levels the ziggurat represented
seven heavens and planes of existence, the seven planets
and the seven metals associated with them and their
corresponding colors.

Campbell further explores the geometry of the ziggurat and its
philosophical and spiritual repercussions. According to
Campbell, ziggurats first appeared during a sudden scientific
and philosophical golden age where such other discoveries
were made such as the invention of the wheel, the discovery
of the calendar and astronomy, as well as the invention of the
written word. For Campbell these are all related.
The Earth needs 365 days to make a single revolution around
the Sun, which is also an approximation of the number of
degrees in a circle. Ziggurats, like all pyramidal structures,
have a square base which could be encompassed within a
circular area. The square base theoretically represents the
additional five days. The five days can be seen in the four
points of the square as well as the fifth point in the middle,
which is the point of the square's equilibrium as well as the
point of equilibrium of whatever circle that encompasses it.

The Two Rivers
1. Euphrates
2. Tigris
 The river comprises the land of Sumer, Akkad and occupied
successively by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians and
Persians.
 The world's oldest civilization, Mesopotamia, was built by the
Sumerians on the fertile land between the rivers Tigris and
Euphrates, 5000 years ago.
 The Sumerians invented cuneiform characters, and built city
states. This is the ancient city of Ur, built around 2000 BC, by Ur
Nammu, the founder of the third Ur dynasty.
Cuneiform - the oldest writing known to mankind; An
ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia and
Persia. Ur - An ancient city of Sumer located on a former
channel of the Euphrates River (Birthplace of Abraham).

Massive architecture
 Mud brick construction set with clay mortar.
 Heavy walls articulated by pilasters and recesses and faced with
glazed bricks.
 Columns were rare.
 Small and infrequent windows.
 Actuated architecture system.
• Doorways were spanned by double semi circular arches.
 Buildings were designed for both internal and external effects.
 Roofs were burnt brick vault.
 Mouldings were rare.
 Temples:
 Principal Building type.
 Tripartite Plan.
o The standard and basic layout of Mesopotamian cult structures.
o Originally employed in ziggurats of Sumer.

Sumer
An ancient region in southern Mesopotamia, where a
number of independent cities and city-states were
established as early as 6000 BCE.
Major cities and archaeological sites:
I. Eridu
II. Uruk
III. Ur
IV. Lagash
V. Kish
VI. Nippur
ARCH. JAYSON BRAZA PORTEM, UAP

The Assyrians (4000 BC to 612 BC)
The most important cities of Assyrian kingdom were Assyria
(built on the projection of rock limestone), Kaleh and Nimrod.
The kings of this kingdom were interested to build those cities
and fortified them by walls and high defence towers as well as
the construction of palaces, temples and ziggurats from stone
material. The buildings were characterized by the carved the
winged bulls and winged lions from stone, inscriptions and
writings. The city of Dor-Churkin (Khorspad) was almost
square in shape 1760 m * 1675 m, having thick walls 66.7m
which made it like a fort [Seton, 1993]. On both side of each
door, there were eruptions winged. This is evidence on the
evolution of greatness of architecture and construction at the
time (Figure 6).

Figure 6 Khorsabads palace, Temple [Rawlinson, 2011]

Environmental Challenges in Sumer
People first began to settle and farm the flat, swampy lands in
southern Mesopotamia before 4500 B.C. Around 3300 B.C.,
the people called the Sumerians, arrived on the scene. Good
soil was the advantage that attracted these settlers. However,
there were three disadvantages to their new environment.
 Unpredictable flooding combined with a period of little or
no rain. The land sometimes became almost a desert.
 With no natural barriers for protection, a Sumerian village
was nearly defenseless.
 The natural resources of Sumer were limited. Building
materials and other necessary items were scarce.

Solving Problems Through Organization
Over a long period of time, the people of
Sumer created solutions to deal with these
problems.
 To provide water, they dug irrigation ditches that carried river
water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of
crops.
 For defense, they built city walls with mud bricks.
 Sumerians traded their grain, cloth, and crafted tools with the
peoples of the mountains and the desert. In exchange, they
received raw materials such as stone, wood, and metal.
These activities required organization, cooperation, and leadership.
It took many people working together, for example, for the
Sumerians to construct their large irrigation systems. Leaders were
needed to plan the projects and supervise the digging. These
projects also created a need for laws to settle disputes over how
land and water would be distributed.

Last Babylonian times (646 BC to 539 BC)
Babylon was the capital of the Babylonian kingdom. The city was
surrounded by two walls. They were built with liben and bricks (figure
7). Ishtar was the most famous gate of the city. Its height is 14 m. The
summer palace which was referred to as “Babylon Mountain” due to its
height was built in a square shaped having an area 250m * 250m. It was
18 m above the level of the street. Construction techniques and
decorations reached its climax in the Babylonian era using glazed
bricks to decorate the walls and floors and bench throne.
The most important materials used in building palaces, temples and
other buildings were large stones of basalt and diorite and other hard
rocks. They were used in the foundations and in the work of hook and
spin. The asphalt and tar have been used to prevent the commune of
moisture in building foundation and walls, also they used lime
commune as a good cohesion to prevent moisture in the building,
foundations and walls [Mohammed Ail, 1977].

Figure 7 Plan of Babylon City and its Model [Yosaf, 1982]

The beginning of civilization started with people
living in caves in the northern part of Iraq. Then
the inhabitants lived in land and started to build
houses. These houses were of rounded shape
(figures 1) and foundations were made of natural
large stone [Seton, 1993]. After that the houses
become rectangular in shape. The materials used
for building were mainly mud and stone for
foundation. Later they used liben (mixture of clay
and remains of barley). They used long liben like
cigar in their buildings [Yuosaf, 1982].

Figure 1 Ound House [ Yosaf , 1982 ]

Ziggurat of Nanna at Ur (2300 BC)

Ziggurat of Ur in Mesopotamia
About 2500 B.C.

The houses were circular in shape and inside form
of bees cells were constructed (figure 2).
Foundation was built by stone and the walls by
mud. Clay was the main material to be used in
northern part of Iraq. In southern part of Iraq the
early inhabitants lived in huts of reeds. Then they
developed their buildings using bricks made of
mixture of mud and barely (liben). They also used
these materials in building temples. Later houses
and palaces were built with a raft (clay mixed with
straw) and villages became cities.
By Entidhar Altaie

Figure 2 Circular with bees cells house [ Secton 1993
]

At Warka age, in Eridu, some of the houses were built
with canes and papyrus and others using bricks.
Temples were built with stucco and stones. The
foundations of palaces become wide ranging from 3 m
to 3.5m. The temples were built on an artificial hill.
People learn the adobe industry [Yuosaf, 1982]. The
temples started to be built on a new type of foundation
which is terrace like of a height reaching 5 m. The
temple was built on two terraces on land furnished
with mud. The shape of terraces looks like D letter
(figure 3). The highest terrace is coated with a layer of
asphalt. During this period they started to use
decorations [Zayed, 1967; Safar et al., 1981].
By Entidhar Altaie

Figure 3 Temple in D shape [Yuosaf, 1982]

The construction material was made of square
liben 45 cm*45 cm*10 cm, this liben was made of
silt clay soil or sandy clay soil. The mortar material
was used as an adhesive for liben or brick which
was made of mixed mud with water and sometimes
straw was add in order to preserve the construction
from natural symptoms for a longer period. Tar and
asphalt were also used as plaster in the foundations
of the buildings and walls because they are
available since ancient times in Hit. In addition,
lime was used as plaster to build the foundations
and walls because it is moisture proof and it has
good cohesive features [Mohammad Ail, 1977].

The inhabitants started to build another type of high
temples which is referred to as “ziggurats”. These
buildings form an important feature of
Mesopotamia civilization. In Warka, a group of
arched complex buildings were built representing
the largest urban Sumerian engineering work were
found. They used liben (convex-straight type) in
the construction which was put in zigzag rows
(figure 4). This stage represents the end of the
pre-historical period and the bases of Iraq’s
civilization [Sousa, 1981].
By Entidhar Altaie

Figure 4 liben of convex-straight type [Seton, 1993]

Mud Brick
Mud brick was made primarily from local clay. Raw
clay absorbs water, and then cracks after drying. As a
binding agent and to provide elasticity and prevent
cracking, Sumerian builders would add vegetable
matter, such as straw, to the clay. By forcing the mud
mixture into wooden frames, the brick makers obtained
uniformly rectangular bricks. They then knocked the
molded bricks out of the frames and placed them in the
sun to bake. To erect walls, they joined the bricks
together with wet clay. One disadvantage of mud brick
is that it is not durable. The Sumerians would therefore
seal important exterior walls with bitumen, a tarlike
substance, or they would use glazed bricks.
Sometimes they covered interior walls with plaster.

The remains of a substantial structure in the center of Uruk which can claim to be
the world’s first city. Most early Mesopotamian architecture was of mud brick, a
practical, cheap, and durable material but one that produced buildings that are not
visually as impressive as the stone monuments of other regions. (Nik
Wheeler/Corbis)

Early Mesopotamian
houses had flat roofs of
mud and reeds supported
by wooden beams.
(Zev Radovan/Land of the
Bible Picture Archive)

Ruins of the important Sumerian city of Kish, whose king may have
exercised some authority over other Sumerian rulers. (Corel Corp.)

Ur city was one of the famous cities in this era and it
looks oval in shape [Bassmachi, 1972]. Its high and big
famous ziggurat was built in three layers and on the top
layer the temple was built. The ziggurat was red in
colour due to the use of grill wage from the external
sides. It was built with grilled wrapped bricks (brick
red) (figure 5) with thickness of 2.4m between the
mortar tars compatible with canes woven in thick
layers, the Inside part was built with grill wage [Port,
1997]. One of the unique characteristics of this
structure was that the walls look concave although they
were vertical .Fire was used to dry the bricks used
internally [Mohammad Ail, 1977].
By Entidhar Altaie

Figure 5 The Ur
Ziggurat and City Map
[Al Saadi, 2010]

Fig. 13· Path on south side of guard tower, showing steps of
alternate risers of stone and mud-bricks; the libn is marked with
deep grooves or finger-marks.

Comparison of slopes
Pyramid of Cheops, great Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico
By Ivo Herle

Pyramid cross-section (Meidum)
Slope of the nucleus (steps): 74, external coating walls
By Ivo Herle

Instability of the Meidum
Pyramid
By Ivo Herle

Dahshur Pyramid
Originally planed at 60 slope but poor quality of the subsoil
By Ivo Herle

Dahshur Pyramid – slippage in corridors
Punching effect, uneven settlement ; fractures and slip
By Ivo Herle

Horizontal restraint
Toe-in to rock providing horizontal restraint (Cheops
Pyramid)
By Ivo Herle

Original state (last century) before recladding with bricks. The remains of the
ziggurat consist of a three-layered solid mass of mud brick faced with burnt bricks
set in bitumen. The lowest layer corresponds to the original construction of Ur-
Nammu, while the two upper layers are part of the Neo-Babylonian restorations.
The façade of the lowest level and the monumental staircase were rebuilt under the
orders of Saddam Hussein.

Aerial photograph of a ziggurat, showing the complex of
support buildings that once surrounded it

Its remains were excavated in the
1920s and 1930s by Sir Leonard
Woolley. Under Saddam Hussein in
the 1980s, they were encased by a
partial reconstruction of the façade
and the monumental staircase. The
ziggurat of Ur is the best-preserved of
those known from Iran and Iraq,
besides the ziggurat of Dur Untash
(Chogha Zanbil).[citation needed] It
is one of three well preserved
structures of the Neo-Sumerian city of
Ur, along with the Royal Mausolea
and the Palace of Ur-Nammu (the E-
hursag).

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List of Internet links
https://www.bookiejar.com/Content/Books/7ccbe2a1-12a9-41fa-a3ff-0f8ebaf40ef6/8481_r1/26319/www.gutenberg.org@files@26319@26319-
h@arch1-1.html
http://www.karakalpak.com/anctopraq.html
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http://historyofrchitecture.blogspot.cz/2010/12/mesopotamian-architecture.html
http://www.mesopot.com/default/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=249%3A2011-11-16-08-00-30&catid=39&limitstart=3
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/map_sites/hist_sites.html
http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Rechov.html
http://zigurrat.eigenstart.nl/
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http://www.ancientmesopotamians.com/ancient-mesopotamian-sculptures.html
http://www.grabung-halaf.de/currentarchitecture.php?l=eng
http://www.chaldeansonline.org/telkeppe/
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http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1105651
https://www.etsy.com/market/assyrian
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http://wanderingsintheancientworld.weebly.com/ancient-egypt.html
http://mrjensensclass.wikispaces.com/Assyrians
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http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaThe_Ziggurat.htm
http://fontes.lstc.edu/~rklein/Documents/neobab.htm
http://www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaThe_Ziggurat.htm
http://www.bible-history.com/

List of Internet links
Arabic links
http://www.adnan11.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-8884.html list of Iraqi Government’s
http://www.mesopot.com/old/adad5/fahrast5a.htm …..
http://forum.sedty.com/t220845.html
http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%85%D9%85%D9%84%D9%83%D8%A9_%D8%B3%D8%A8%D8%A3
http://alghzil.com/vb/threads/4063-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AA-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85-
%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%81%D9%8A-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-
%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A
http://earth-arch.blogspot.cz/2012/04/307.html
http://www.iraker.dk/irakfoto/ur/ur.htm
http://ahusenawe.blogspot.cz/
http://farahe.wordpress.com/2014/01/25/%D8%A7%D9%88%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9/
http://www.shatelarab.com/thread257235.html
http://khabour.com/ara/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=679&Itemid=104
http://www.egyptarch.net/books/qudsbreviewtc.htm
http://www.tunisia-sat.com/vb/showthread.php?t=1873373 …maps
http://alghzil.com/vb/threads/4063-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%88%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AA-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%D9%8A%D9%85-
%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%87-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85-%D9%81%D9%8A-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-
%D8%A8%D8%B9%D8%AF%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%8A
http://www.annabaa.org/nbanews/2010/07/345.htm
http://placeandsee.com/dur-kurigalzu
http://www.ahlalanbar.net/showthread.php?t=86945
http://www.dorar-aliraq.net/threads/66223-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AE-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B2%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-
%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%82
http://www.nasiriyah.org/ara/post/24000/%D9%88%D9%81%D8%AF-%D8%AD%D9%83%D9%88%D9%85%D9%8A-
%D9%8A%D8%AA%D9%81%D9%82%D8%AF-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B9-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B2%D9%82%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%83%D9%86%D9%8A-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%AB%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D9%81%D9%8A-
%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B5%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%E2%80%93-%D8%AA%D9%82%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%B1-
%D9%85%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1

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