WHITE TEMPLE

Ynarae Victoria V. Solis, Group 3

White Temple and Ziggurat, Uruk (Warka),

3500 -3000 B.C

Early Mesopotamian
Architecture

The outstanding preserved

example of early Sumerian
temple architecture is the
5,000 year old White
Temple at Uruk, the home
of Gilgamesh.
illustrate the origin of the
ziggurat, or temple-tower, in
the prehistoric
Mesopotamian temple on
its platform.

The present day appearance of

the White temple

Geographical

In the fourth
millennium BCE, the
worlds first urban
revolution took place in
Southern Mesopotamia.
There, in the fertile
valley that lay between
the Tigris and the
Euphrates rivers, the
earliest cities arose.
Uruk was the first of
these.

Geological

The Sumerians
used mud bricks
and wood
There was no
used of stone for
the building

Mud bricks and tar make up the

Ziggurat
By petcoffr Russell Petcof

Climate

Central and
Southern
Mesopotamia has
a dry climate.
The valley was
more open and
unprotected.
Fertile river valleys

Religious

They worshipped
nature gods,
namely;
Anu- the god of
sky
Enlil-the creator
and ruler of the
Earth
Ea the land of the
water, a moon
and a sun god, a

Historical

The major cultural

innovations, including
the pictographs from
which cuneiform
writing developed.
Monumental
architecture was
decorated with
mosaics of painted
clay cones also began
to appear at this time

Social and Political

Religion-determined the form of the society

The Mesopotamian city-state was under the
protection of the god of the city.
Each city state had its own local god who led
as its king.
It also had a human rulerthe steward of the
king.
The commands must be strictly followed.
Therefore, the socio political system that
grew out is Theocratic Socialism

Architectural Characteristics

The White temple of ca. 3000BC is a fine

example of an early Sumerian High
Temple
dedicated to the sky god named Anu.
The concept of the ziggurat may well
have combined two seperate functions,
The Religious and the Secular
The social and economic is the preeminence of the temple.

Architectural Characteristics

The mud brick walls were

covered on the outside with
white plaster; hence the
modern name of the building.
In addition, the exterior walls
are buttressed.
Such buttresses created a
pattern of indentions that
became a characteristic of
the Mesopotamian of
incorporating a threedimensional decoration into
brick architecture.
The platform stood 13m high

Plan, White Temple, Uruk

Architectural Characteristics

The White temple

platform had sloping
sides , three of which
had flat buttresses.
The importance of
visible ceremony is
suggested by the
ramp discovered at
the north-east side of
the platform some
distance from the
temples entrances.