Building between the Two Rivers: An Introduction to the Building Archaeology of Ancient Mesopotamia

Contents

Preface ;
Building archaeology: goals and methods ;
Building archaeology ;
The building survey and stratigraphy ;
Direct and indirect sources ;

The Mesopotamian context ;
Land use and water management ;
Urbanisation and city planning ;
Ancient cartography, topography and surveying ;
Commissioners, designers and builders ;
Ancient building crafts and technology ;

Building materials ;
Building materials: general characteristics ;
Earth architecture ;
Stone ;
Mortar ;
Bitumen ;
Wood and reeds ;
Metals ;
Claddings and decorations ;

Architectural elements ;
Load-bearing structural systems: general features ;
Walls ;
Arches, vaults and domes ;
Pillars and columns ;
Openings ;
Staircases ;
Domestic and urban structures for water management ;
Pavements, ceilings and roofs ;

Building types ;
Ziggurats and temples ;
Palaces ;
Fortifications ;
Houses, storage- and workplaces ;
Roads, streets, bridges ;
Infrastructures for the water management ;
Gardens and orchards ;
Portable shelters ;
Funerary buildings ;

Conclusions ;
Appendix: the methods of building archaeology – (Piero Gilento) ;
What is and what does ‘building archaeology’ deal with? ;
Architectural stratigraphy ;
What is a Stratigraphic Building Unit (SBU)? ;
What stratigraphic relationships exist between the SBUs? ;
Typology and chronotypology in building archaeology ;
How to work ;
Web resources ;

Thematic bibliography ;
The Mesopotamian context ;
Building materials ;
Architectural elements ;
Building types ;

Bibliographic references ;
Chronological table ;
Glossary and analytical index ;
Illustration credits

About the Author

Stefano Anastasio is an archaeologist who specialises in the Ancient Near East. He is currently storehouse-keeper of the archaeological deposits of the Superintendency for Archaeology, Arts and Landscape in Florence. He is also currently working on the implementation of the new Photo-Archive for the Archaeological Conservation Centre of the Superintendency ;

Piero Gilento is an Associate Researcher at the Research Unit UMR7041-ArScAn (France), co-director of the French archaeological mission in northern Jordan, and Principal Investigator of the ACTECH project founded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowship.

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