The first significant settlements developed as result of the earliest Middle Eastern civilisations around agricultural communities in the three river valleys of:

• Mesopotamia, in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (Sumerian).
• Nile River Valley (Egyptian).
• Indus River Valley (Harappan).

Other significant civilisations developed around settlements in the Americas particularly in Mesoamerica:

• Aztec and Mayan settlements in Mexico, and Inca in Peru.

In Asia, the most significant settlements were established in:

• China as a result of warring tribes along the Yellow and Yangtze rivers.

Earliest settlements tended to occur as a result of natural unplanned processes in an organic manner with agricultural farming as the catalyst for settlement.

From a global perspective, we can trace these different civilisations and their symbolic early built developments in different natural climatic environments often driven by reference to shared mythical concepts.

I.3.1.1 Neolithic Age 10 000–3000 BC – Mid East and Europe

• Tell, Abu Hureyra, Euphrates 10000 BC
• Village and settlement.
• Jericho, Judaea 7500 BC
• Fortified stone settlements, walls and tower.
• Çatalhöyük, Anatolia and Göbekli Tepe, Turkey 6000 BC
• Rectangular cells of Neolithic mud‐brick dwellings on a mound as defensive settlement in central Anatolia.
• Eridu, Mesopotamia 6000 BC
• First settlement and shrine in marshland in Mesopotamia.
• Danube river gorges, Europe 5000 BC
• Settlements along the river and at Eythra on the White Elster river, Neolithic settlements developed with walls and timber longhouses.
• Carnac, Brittany, France 3500 BC
• Rows of menhir long stones and standing stones.
• Stonehenge, England 3000 BC
• With its unique site and adjoining river and multiple burial mounds, the theories concerning hauling, erection and placement of the massive bluestone, sarsen stones and lintels are now evolving of the creation of the symbolic stone circle and set stone to a line due east aligned with the rising sun on mid‐summer solstice day.
• Brodgar Ring and Skara Brae, Orkney, Scotland 3000 BC
• Stone circles, burial mounds and clustered stone cells.

I.3.1.2 Bronze Age 3000–1000 BC – Europe and Mid East

• Uruk and Ziggurat of Ur, Mesopotamia 3000 BC

  The walled city of Uruk was built on the flat lower Tigris and Euphrates river valleys, in Mesopotamia. Devoid of mountains, the stepped ziggurat temple of Ur was built symbolically in Babylonian times to connect the earth with the sky with massive fired brick walls and ascending stairway reaching towards the sun.

• Mohenjo‐Daro and Harappa, Pakistan 2500 BC

  In the Punjab in the Indus River Valley, as a centre of trading, the quite complex developments of courtyard houses with mud brick walls and streets were created in the lower town to protect the settlement from inundation, and with higher internal defensive citadel.

  Besides these settlements in Sindh, in Gujarat settlements were developed including buildings, infrastructure and reservoirs.

  Besides these river valleys in Asia, around the Mediterranean there were several areas of development usually focused on the coast or river valleys. For example:

• Valley of the Kings and Tombs, Egypt 3000–1500 BC

  Earliest evidence exists of tombs upstream at Abydos in the Old Kingdom in 3000 BC near the river, and mastabas where sarcophagi were buried underground.

  Beyond the ‘Old Kingdom’ capital city of Memphis in the lower Nile at Giza, the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs in the Nile River Valley were constructed in cut stone below the great pyramids.

  The stepped pyramids of Giza – one of the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’ and still remaining – and the three majestic pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure along with the Sphinx were sheathed originally in white limestone, with formal triangular planes of the tetrahedron rising up into the sky. Buried beneath are the tombs of ancient Egyptian kings and queens in chambers, within the pyramid, along with mortuary temple and access causeway.

  King Zoser's mortuary stepped pyramid was built at Saqqara (2750 BC) near Cairo in the ‘Middle Kingdom’. In the Middle Kingdom, rural settlements were built using sun‐dried bricks. At Amarna, the Great Palace was built in mid‐Egypt. The village and houses at Deir el‐Medina were established to accommodate the workmen building the tombs at the Valley of the Kings.

  Upstream Thebes (modern Luxor) became the ‘New Kingdom’ capital of Egypt, with royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings (Western Thebes) and of Queens.

  To the west of the Nile at Deir el‐Bahari were the tombs and Temple of King Mentuhotep and Queen Hatshepsut rock cut into the cliffs (1500 BC).

  The immense Temples of Amun of Amenhotep in the New Kingdom were built near Karnak, with lines of standing columns, hyperstyle hall and obelisks. These were mortuary temples. They were linked by a processional route to the Temple of Luxor at Thebes (1400 BC).

  Lower down the river Nile, the Temple of Abu Simbel, at Aswan, Lower Nubia (1250 BC), was cut into the sandstone cliffs. There is also the mortuary Temple of Ramesses built in stone at Medinet Habu at Thebes (1500 BC) and the temple complex of Philae.

  Typical walled cities constructed at this period around the east Mediterranean were:

  • Troy, Turkey 2500 BC – Walled city and gates.
  • Jericho, Judaea 2000 BC – Old walled Neolithic city.
  • Tyre, Judaea 2000 BC – Phoenician walled city.
  • Hattusa, Anatolia 2000 BC – Hittite capital fortress, Lower and Upper towns.
  • Knossos, Crete, 1500 BC.

  At Knossos in Minoan Crete, palaces were built orientated towards the sacred mountain, with bull‐horned and symbolic gateways, aligned in their relationship to nature.

• Mycenae, Greece 1250 BC

  In Greece, Mycenae is one of the most powerful natural inland sites, within the hills, like two great rising horns, which was walled and lined in cut cyclopean stone. The two major tholos tombs shaped like a beehive to Agamemnon and Clytemnestra with passageway and corbelled dome are located here. At the Lion's Gate, there is a striking elegantly sculpted triangular hollow form above the lintel.

I.3.1.3 Ancient Iron Age 1000 BC to 0 AD – Mid East

A number of significant settlements were established in this period.

• Jerusalem, Judaea 700 BC – City, Temple on the Mount, walls and fortifications.
• Nimrud, Assyria 750 BC – Citadel, ziggurat and Temple at Nabu.
• Nineveh, Assyria 700 BC – Citadel and fortified gates.
• Babylon, Mesopotamia 600 BC – Walled city and palace.

Babylon was one of the grandest walled Mesopotamian cities, with Ishtar Gate in glazed brick. Here, the Tower of Babel and the ziggurat of the Hanging Gardens (one of the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’) were understood to have been built.

• Delphi, Greece 600 BC – Temples

  Other temples for worship were built in mainland Greece, nestling in the mountain of Parnassus. The Temple of Apollo along with amphitheatre was gracefully integrated and incorporated in harmony with the natural landscape. With the Sacred Way and fine limestone walls and cyclopean masonry celebrating the heroic past, the sanctuary and tholos were neatly accommodated into the local setting surrounded by two enormous rocks as a spiritual centre of the ancient Greek world.

• Olympia, Greece 500 BC – Stadium, stoa and Temple of Zeus

  At Olympia, the Temple and Statue of Zeus (another of the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’) were created.

• Bassae, Temple of Apollo Epicurius 450 BC
• Acropolis, Athens, Greece 450 BC

  The most naturally imposing sacred site is the enormity of the limestone rock of the Acropolis, a most strikingly natural site, suited as a fortress, having only easy way of access at the Propylaea entrance at the western end.

  An imposing sight for the shrine of the Temple of Athena, the Doric Parthenon megaron is located at the upper level, with the lower‐level Agora and Sacred Way. Subsequently in 400 BC, two separate temples, the ionic Erechtheum and small Temple of Athena Nike, were added along with the Theatre of Dionysus. It is no surprise that such a monumental temple with divine proportions was built in this commanding site of the Acropolis.

• Persepolis, Persia 500 BC

  In Persia, continuing in the Assyrian traditions, the Persian Palace and Propylaea in Persepolis were built for King Darius, and the Great Hall and Gate of All Nations were built for his son Xerxes. Also, separate columned halls and Acropolis at Susa were built under the Achaemenid Empire.

• Etruria, Tuscany and Umbria, Italy 500 BC

  In Etruria, Etruscan tombs were constructed, sometimes covered by tumuli, with corbelled chambers, and cella temples were realised.

In the region, a number of historic developments were constructed as follows:

• Paestum, 500 BC
• Two massive classic Doric temples of Hera and Athena were built at Paestum.
• Carthage, Tunisia 500 BC
• At Carthage, the Phoenician city and port were constructed and further developed with later settlements by the Romans.
• Petra, Jordan 250 BC – Rock‐cut buildings are found in the local rock.
• In Europe, in this period, a number of hillforts were built and settled, for example:
• Maiden Castle, Dorset, England 500 BC – Iron Age hillfort and fortifications.
• Wayland's Smithy, England – Long barrows.
• Bibracte, Burgundy, France 300 BC – Oppidum and fortification.
• Navan Fort, Armagh, Ireland 300 BC.
• Ephesus, Turkey 550 BC
• At Ephesus, the Temple of Artemis (Diana), another of the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’, was planned.
• Pergamon (modern Bodrum), Turkey 350 BC
• The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was another of the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’.
• Rhodes, Greece 300 BC
• The Colossus statue at Rhodes at the entrance to the harbour was also another of the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’. Also, the Theatre of Epidaurus in Greece was another marvellous site.
• Alexandria, Egypt 250 BC
• The Ptolemaic City, Graeco‐Roman temple at Edfu and ancient Library and Lighthouse (Pharos – another of the ‘seven wonders of the ancient world’) were all realised at Alexandria.

  Sadly, none of these ancient wonders still remain.

• Antioch, Turkey, capital of the Seleucid Empire
• Rome, Italy 70 AD
• In the imperial cities in the Roman period, typical urban settlement developed around the public forum, with basilica, temples and baths, and houses were located in surrounding areas.
• Formal layouts were developed on a grid basis with infrastructure of roads and water supply determining the key ordinances of the city.
• In Rome, key public monuments were the elliptical Colosseum (70 AD), the temples, forum, amphitheatre, Circus Maximus and baths.
• There are similar sites in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Mediolanum.

I.3.1.4 Early Age 0–1000 AD – Europe and Mid East

Certain significant developments in this period can be cited, driven by Byzantine ecclesiastic forces as follows:

• Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, Turkey 500 AD – domed and half domed with pendentives, city walls and gates.
• St. Catherine's Monastery, Sinai 500 AD.

  Romanesque churches and vaulting. Monasteries for monks and nuns were developed with their characteristic cloisters, church, refectory and chapter house.

  In the Ottoman Empire, many Mosque building complexes were realised with typically domed mosques and minarets in the Külliye, with Qibla wall and mihrab in the Islamic mosques and shadirvan fountains and octagonal pavilions in the courtyard.

• Baghdad circular city, AD 750 and Abbasid Samarra 850 AD – Great Mosque of Al‐Mutawakkil with spiral minaret.
• Gur/Perozabad, Sasania, Persia 300 AD – planned walled circular town and ‘qanats’ for irrigation.

Under the Roman Empire, key settlements were developed for example in the west at:

• Britannica – Camulodunum, Eboracum, Londinium, Verulamium, Vindolanda, etc.
• Gallia – Nimes, Maison Carrée, Pont du Gard and amphitheatre, Argentoratum, Lugdunum, Massalia, etc.
• Germania – Colonia Agrippinensis, Moguntiacum, etc.
• Hispania – Córdoba, etc.

Also, there were settlements in North Africa (Leptis Magna), Turkey (Ephesus, Smyrna), Syria (Palmyra) and Israel (Caesarea).

Additionally, indigenous settled developments took root in Russia, in the Steppes, in the Urals, and to the east where nomadic tribes had roamed.

I.3.1.5 Mesoamerica to 1500 AD

Besides the essentially European civilisations, all regions have had different experiences in their own man‐made developments in different natural contexts. In Mesoamerica or Central America, we find early examples:

• Caral Valley, Norte Chico, Peru – 2000 BC – Great Temple
• Maya, Tikal, Guatemala 500 BC

  Mayan temple monuments with high elevated tombs reaching symbolically to the clouds.

• Monte Albán, Mexico 500 BC–500 AD

  Valley of Oaxaca, Zapotec Great Plaza and temples.

• Teotihuacan, Mexico, 250 AD

  In Mexico, the three Mayan pyramid temples of the Sun and Moon and the Feathered Serpent (Quetzalcoatl), Teotihuacan, stepped slope and panel pyramidal temples in the foothills of the Mexican mountains, were built and aligned for the sunset summer solstice.

• Huacas de Moche, Trujillo, Peru 500 AD

  Settlement and adobe temples in the Moche River Valley.

• Copán, Honduras 600 AD

  Mayan temples and tombs.

• Caracol, Mayan city, Belize 600 AD – Caana temple pyramid.
• Uxmal, Yucatan, Mexico 800 AD

  The Yucatan Palaces were built in the Puuc Mayan style around raised quadrangles.

• Toltec, Chichen Itza city and Temple of the warriors 900 AD – ‘El Castillo’ stepped pyramid, pyramid and palace at Tula.
• Aztec, Tenochtitlan, Mexico, 1000 AD

  Island development and canals around Lake Texcoco in four quadrants with central temple.

• Inca, Machu Picchu, Peru 1450 AD

  In Peru, the complex granite walled city was built in the mountains on terraced hillsides with temples and residences, at Machu Picchu.

• Cuzco City – ‘Koricancha’ Temple of the Sun and polygonal stones.

I.3.1.6 North America to 1500 AD

Across America, in the plains, tribes were nomadic and portable ‘tipis’ from bison hides were used as shelter. Different types of dwellings were created by different tribes. For example:

• Pueblo Taos, New Mexico SW, 700 AD

  Timber log and clay/mud adobe buildings were built in small communities as pueblo houses.

• Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, 1000 AD – cluster of ancestral Pueblo villages, infrastructure and roads.
• Navajo, Colorado, 1500 AD

  Pit houses dug into the earth with timber supports and turf roofs, built in circular formation and inhabited by the Navajo.

  Inuit tribes further north had their own indigenous types of buildings. Others were found in the higher mountains, the Appalachians and the Rockies, to the east and west.

  Others inhabited the long river valleys, for example, the Cahokia in the Mississippi. Timber shed houses were found in the north‐west.

• Mesa Verde, Colorado – cliff dwellings.

I.3.1.7 Asia and the Orient to 1500 AD

In Asia and in India, in particular:

• Sanchi, India 500 AD – Around this period, ‘stupas’ were built as Buddhist funerary monuments for example as in Sanchi with a square dome and hemispherical domes.
• Temples, India 600 AD

  From the sixth century, with the rise of Hinduism, sculpted temples were developed in the Dravidian or Nagano style, in South India and North India, respectively.

• Chaitya hills, Ellora caves, India 750 AD

  The earliest Buddhist temples were excavated as ‘chaitya’ hills in the rocks where elaborate cave carvings and barrel vaults were found, richly adorned. The rock cut caves were formed to act as monks' cells or ‘viharas’. Others were developed along the long river valleys, such as the great river Ganges.

• Dravidian temples, India 1100 AD
• Mausoleum shrine, Multan, Punjab 1300 AD
• Tala, India 1500 AD

  In later Mughal periods, free‐standing temples in India were enclosed courtyards with ‘mandapas’ (assembly halls) and shrines. Central stupas were built. ‘Tala’ or water tanks were built as reservoirs with rectangular stepped rainwater fed pools for human cleansing.

• Vijayanagara, Vittala Vishnu Temple, India 1500 AD
• Fatehpur Sikri, Mughal palaces and diwan, 1575 AD
• Taj Mahal, Agra, India 1650 AD

  At the end of the Mughal period, this grand Islamic mausoleum was constructed in finely decorated white marble at Agra.

Further east in dynastic China:

• Shang dynasty 1600 BC

  First recorded settlements were along the Yellow River, during the Shang dynasty at modern Zhengzhou (Henan province) and Yinxu near Anyang.

• Warring States 475 BC

  Considerable walled settlements were built in this period at Linzi, Qi; Hendan, Zhao; Ying, Chu (on the lower Yangtze river) and Xiadu, Yan.

  The original Imperial City (100 BC) was laid out in a symmetrical manner on cardinal axes having gates on three sides.

• ‘Terracotta warriors’ cave at Xi'an, 300 BC
• Tang dynasty 750 AD

  On the Wei river valley, Chang'an became the most significant grid city after the Han dynasties.

  Famensi Temple near Chang'an. Qianling Mausoleum of the emperor.

  Mogao Caves, Dunhuang, Gansu – Cliff carrigs adjoining Dachuan river near the Silk Road.

• Enclosed cities, China

  Most Chinese buildings were wooden structures, rectangular and trabeated, formally grouped within courtyards. Roofs had distinctive gabled, hipped or pyramidal forms.

  The later Forbidden City in Beijing followed this plan around 1450 AD with most significant buildings in the Imperial Palace complex facing south.

• Houses and Gardens, China

  Much diversity existed in vernacular architecture mainly in timber widely across the country, but typically courtyard developments with gable roofs are found. Alongside this, development of intricate gardens and lakes were realised to enhance the natural landscape (e.g. Summer Palace in Peking and Lingering Gardens in Suzhou).

  Other major developments were along the great Yellow river and the Great Wall of China, which was realised over several centuries (c. 1100–1600 AD) under the Qin, Han and Ming dynasties.

  Buddhist buildings with pagoda were prevalent also with characteristic hipped roofs and shaped brackets (dougong).

• In Japan, various settlements were built:
• Jōmon period, 2500 BC – Goshono pit dwellings.
• Yayoi period (200 BC–200 AD) – iron and bronze casting.
• Kofun period (250–500 AD) – large tumuli and mounds including ‘keyhole’‐shaped tombs.
• Asuka period, Buddhist temple, Nara, Japan 600 AD
  • Shinto shrines, Japan 600 AD The early Shinto shrines, built of post and lintel timber, with thatched gable roofs, were built only as temporary structures, which are replicated over subsequent generations.
  • Buddhist temples, Kyoto, Japan 1500 AD

    Buddhist temples with bilateral symmetry were developed with much decoration and elaborate supporting brackets. Symbolic and elegant pagodas were constructed to adjoin the temples and simple dry gardens laid out according to the principles of geomancy.

  • Dwellings, Japan

    In early wooden farmhouses, ‘Minka’, animals were stabled within the family dwelling. In Japan, domestic dwellings constituted timber buildings with projecting eaves, courtyard walls, movable windows, screens and partitions. Materials comprised opaque white paper screens, bamboo and wood lattice and flexible ‘shoji’ sliding screens. Teahouses with louvres, verandas, spatial hierarchy and tatami mats reinforce this tradition.

Elsewhere in Asia:

• Borobudur, Central Java 800 AD – Stupas and temples
  • Angkor Wat Temple, Cambodia 1250 AD
  • Hindu temple complex with brahmin shrine of the Khmer Empire was built in the city of Angkor. Orientated towards the west, the temple is designed as a three‐dimensional mandala of the cosmos. Also, Angkor Thom and Bayon temple with 54 towers.
• In Australia:

  Significant aboriginal developments were realised with local vernacular facilities.

• In New Zealand:

  Fortified hilltop settlements or ‘pa’ around 1500 AD.

• In Korea:

  Fortresses and tombs around Han river and Nakdong river valley.

• Bulguksa Buddhist Temple, Mount Toham 750 AD
• Royal Palace Anapji, 800 AD

  In the South Pacific, developments occurred in Samoa and Tonga and in Polynesian culture in and around the islands.

  Easter Island was populated around 500 AD.

I.3.1.8 Africa to 1500 AD

This continent has three different zones – sub‐Saharan Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa.

Once having tribes and kings (e.g., Dahomey), very different built forms evolved, as a result of different geophysical locations – in the bush, forest, river and plain. From the caves of the Rift Valley to the delta of the river Nile, alternative civilisations evolved with distinctive dwelling patterns, both circular and rectangular huts.

In the Iron Age, more recent developments arose at:

Meroë, Sudan; Jos plateau, Nigeria; Benin city, Benin; Axum, Ethiopia; Songhai, Mali; whilst earliest signs of habitation were along the Rift Valley and Southern Africa, and also in Great Zimbabwe and Timbuktu, Mali.

I.3.1.9 Europe – Mediaeval Cities After 1000 AD

A large number of mediaeval cities were settled and developed right across Europe during the first millennium, for example, at:

• Canterbury, Durham and York – England.
• Cologne, Lübeck and Munich – Germany.
• Avignon, Bordeaux and Lyons – France.
• Lucca, Pisa and Siena – Italy.
• Granada – Spain.
• Amsterdam, Berne, Lisbon, Prague.
• Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm – Scandinavia.
• Novgorod – Central Europe.

Further Reading

1. Bahn, P. (ed.) (2017). Archaeology: The Whole Story. Thames & Hudson.
2. Jones, D. (ed.) (2014). Architecture: The Whole Story. Thames & Hudson.

Photos

Ancient Buildings

Ancient Built Places and Buildings – 5000 BC to 1000 AD

Ancient Built Places and Buildings – 2500 BC to 1000 AD

^a) 7AWW = One of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.

Further Reading

1. Jones, D. (ed.) (2014). Architecture: The Whole Story. Thames & Hudson.