II. The origin of architecture in the era of the primitive communal system. The birth of architecture
There were no skyscrapers in the ancient world, but tall buildings were. Some of them were built in order to perpetuate the glory of the ruler; scientists still argue about the appointment of others.
"Public Hill"
Height: up to 9 m
Construction time: 9,000 BC
Place: 15 kilometers northeast of the city of Urfa (Sanliurfa), Turkey
“Göbekli Tepe” is the name of this place in Turkish. The oldest and unique temple for its time, the construction of which began in the Middle Stone Age. About twenty round buildings, stone benches, sculptures of wild boars and foxes, columns from 3 to 9 meters high. A thousand years later, it was deliberately covered with sand. Huge heavy blocks were within the power to build an already organized society.
Jericho tower
Height: 8 m
Construction time: 8000 BC
Place: Jericho, Palestine
Huge for its time tower in the Jericho wall. Jericho is the most ancient city on the ground. It has been continuously inhabited since almost the 10th millennium BC. BC, although the earliest settlement was more of a large village. The purpose of the tower is not entirely clear. It could be used for intimidation and represent the first castle in history.
The Pyramid of Cheops
Height: 146 m
Construction time: from 2540 BC before 2850 BC according to various estimates
Place: El Giza, Egypt
The Pyramid of Cheops (the full name of the pharaoh is Khnum-Khufu) is the only surviving one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Its full name is Akhet-Khufu ("Horizon of Khufu"). It was built on a hill and faced with white limestone, shining peach in the sun. The top was crowned with a gilded stone - a pyramidion. The entrance was sealed with a large granite slab, which the Baghdad caliph Abdullah al-Mamun could not move, who made a new entrance, through which the path to the pyramid is still open today.
Nurag Su-Nuraxi
Height: about 20 m.
Construction time: 17th century BC
Place: commune of Barumini, about. Sardinia, Italy.
Nuraghi are megalithic towers found on the island of Sardinia, built in the 2nd millennium BC. e. Their number throughout the island reached 20,000. The towers could serve as an overview of the surroundings, defense and control over trade routes. At this time, Sardinia, according to ancient legends, could be inhabited by the tribes of Corses, Iolai and Balars. Which of these tribes built the towers is unknown. The builders could also be the "peoples of the sea", who more than once attacked the Egyptian kingdom.
The largest known nuraghe is Su-Nuraksi, whose height could reach 20 meters. The building had no foundation and was supported only by the mass of stones at the base. A fortified settlement was located next to it - about 50 round huts, which were a single complex.
Babylonian ziggurat Etemenanki
Height: 91 m
Construction time: 18th century BC, reconstruction in the 7th century BC
Place: outskirts of Al-Hilla city, Iraq
Translated from Sumerian, Etemenanki means “the house of the foundation of heaven and earth” or “the house where the heavens meet the earth.” It is this ziggurat that is most often associated with the legend of tower of babel. It already existed in the 18th century BC. during the reign of Hammurabi, but after that the temple tower was rebuilt several times after the destruction.
The latest reconstruction made the tower one of the tallest and most grandiose buildings. ancient world. The ziggurat consisted of 7 tiers, on the last of which the temple was located. The construction was started by the architect Aradaheshshu during the reign of Esarhaddon, and the ziggurat was completed under Nebuchadnezzar II, 100 years later.
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus
Height: 46 m
Construction time: 359-353 B.C. e.
Place: Bodrum, Türkiye
The first "mausoleum" and "wonder of the world". It is named after the Carian king Mausolus. In honor of him, this tombstone was built by his wife Artemisia III of Caria. The mausoleum was crowned with about 330 statues, and it had the shape of an almost regular square in plan, which was atypical for Greek architecture. It stood for one and a half thousand years and was destroyed during an earthquake.
The Colossus of Rhodes
Height: 36 m
Construction time: 292 - 280 BC e.
Place: Rhodes, Greece
Rhodes in ancient times was a large and rich city. Therefore, he could afford to live in the literal sense "in a big way." huge statue Helios, only a few could grasp the thumb, was built by the ancient Greek architect Chares. The lack of money allocated for the construction forced him to get into heavy debts, and, ruined, he committed suicide.
The statue took 500 talents of bronze and 300 talents of iron (more than 20 tons). The colossus stood for only 65 years. After the earthquake, the clay statue covered with iron and bronze fell, and lay in a broken form for about a thousand years, until the Arabs sold its parts.
faros lighthouse
Height: 135 m
Construction time: 3rd century BC e.
Place: Alexandria, Egypt
The lighthouse of Alexandria was built by Sotrates of Cnidus in just 5 years on the island of Pharos near Alexandria. It consisted of three marble towers: rectangular, octagonal and cylindrical. After its construction under the first Ptolemies, Egypt truly became a country of giant buildings. The light from the lighthouse was visible at a distance of more than 50 kilometers. Survived two earthquakes in the 7th and 14th centuries, after which it was finally destroyed. On the remains of the lighthouse, the Mamluk Sultan erected a fortress in his honor.
Coliseum
Height: 50 m
Construction time: 80 AD e.
Place: Rome, Italy
Colosseum comes from the Latin word colossus- "huge". According to one version, the name arose as a tribute to the memory of the Colossus of Nero located on this site - a huge (37 m) statue that crowned the complex of the Golden House - the emperor's palace. Vespasian decided to get rid of the old cult and strengthen his own. About 100,000 prisoners brought to Rome took part in the grandiose construction. Due to an earthquake in the 14th century, it collapsed South part, after which the Colosseum became a source of building materials for other buildings in Rome.
Stupa of Kanishka
Height: from 128 to 168 m according to various estimates
Construction time: 2nd century AD
Place: near Peshawar, Pakistan
The Kushan kingdom, founded by immigrants from China - the Eastern Sarmatians (Yuezhi), became the "golden mean" of the ancient world both directly (in terms of wealth) and in figuratively. Greco-Buddhism, an oriental religion saturated with Hellenistic culture, became widespread in it.
According to the description of Chinese travelers, the stupa built in honor of the Kushan king exceeded 400 chi (128 m) in height, there were gold and silver umbrellas at the top, and the relics of the Buddha inside. Size data vary, but the stupa could be equal to or exceed the height of the pyramid of Cheops. There are many Buddhist legends and predictions associated with the stupa. It was destroyed by Muslim conquerors in the Middle Ages and has not survived to the present day.
Location: Cholula de Rivadabiya, Mexico
tallest building Ancient America and the largest pyramid in the world. Built in ancient Teotiukan. The temple dedicated to the god Quetzalcoatl was built over 12 centuries by the pre-Aztec culture until it became the largest religious center. Today it is a tetrahedral overgrown hill, a small part of which has been recreated in its original appearance.
era architecture primitive communal system
The beginning of construction activity dates back to the Paleolithic era and is associated with the first human experience in building a dwelling with the help of primitive stone tools. In areas where there was a tree, dugouts were usually built, covered with twigs and branches, as well as free-standing gable or conical huts.
The origin of architecture, apparently, should be attributed to the Late Paleolithic, when construction from a purely technical activity, solving utilitarian tasks, gradually began to turn into a more complex activity, aimed at satisfying the primitive spiritual needs of people. Aesthetic understanding of the simplest structural systems and their elements is associated with the beginnings of tectonic thinking, and in the subsequent development of a certain ideological and figurative content, it marked the beginning of artistic and technical construction, that is, architecture in the full sense of the word. With the time of the late Paleolithic, the emergence of a completely new sphere of human activity, the fine arts, was also associated.
During the Neolithic period, more advanced stone tools appeared, and the material possibilities of man increased significantly. During this period, a dwelling made of wood took the form of a relatively large rectangular building, the walls of which were a wattle fence on log posts. A similar dwelling was found on the territory of the USSR in the Dnieper region in the Trypillia settlement of Kolomiyshchina-1 (III - II millennium BC). Large houses up to 30 m long and 150 m2 in area were located in two concentric circles: large houses were located along the outer circle with a diameter of 170 m, and small houses were located along the inner one. This settlement is one of the earliest examples of a regular organization of a residential complex, taking into account the characteristics of community life and defensive functions.
The most developed type of buildings of the Neolithic period were buildings built on wooden piles, which were usually erected over rivers and lakes in swampy areas. The spread of this type of settlements is explained by defensive considerations, as well as the convenience of fishing in reservoirs. Pile structures are found in Central Europe, they were also found on the territory of the USSR. In a pile settlement on the river. Modlon in Vologda region(II millennium BC), a number of houses were placed on a log flooring, supported by piles by means of girders. The walls were erected from vertically placed poles intertwined with rods. The middle poles were higher than the others and had a fork at the ends, on which the ridge run of a sloping gable roof was strengthened. The roof was made of birch bark, pressed down with stones, the floor was covered with clay.
IN bronze age metal tools made it possible to sharply increase labor productivity. By this time, megalithic structures, which originated in the late Neolithic era, were widely used - buildings made of large stone blocks, slabs, and vertical supports. The purpose of these structures was mainly associated with religious rites and memorable events. Among the megalithic structures preserved in various places the globe, including on the territory of the USSR, there are three main types: menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs.
Menhirs are vertically placed stones, sometimes reaching very large sizes. These are ritual monuments or monuments erected alone or in groups. Sometimes menhirs are found in combination with dolmens - structures of several vertical stones supporting a horizontal stone slab. Dolmens served most often as burial chambers and at the same time as tombstones.
Menhirs sometimes reached 20 m in height and 300 tons in weight. Dolmens were originally small in size - about 2 m long and about 1.5 m high, but later they were given big sizes and sometimes they arranged an approach to them in the form of a stone gallery.
The most complex type of megalithic structures is the cromlech.
Cromlech in Stonehenge (England) - a circle with a diameter of 30 m from vertically placed stones, covered with horizontal slabs. Inside - two rings from not big stones, A
between them - high blocks with slabs placed in pairs, organizing the center of the space. A clear compositional idea with symmetry, rhythm and subordination of elements has already appeared here.
special attention log buildings deserve, in particular - burial mounds - a common type of memorial structures. Their prototype was residential log houses. During the construction of the barrow, first a powerful frame with a wooden floor was built in the pit, inside which a second chamber was arranged for burial. The chambers were blocked by rolls of logs coated with birch bark. Backfilling with earth formed a mound, often of considerable height. An example of a log mound is the Pazyryk mound in the Altai Mountains.
Along with memorial and ritual buildings, at the later stages of the development of primitive society, new type architectural structures - stone and wooden fortresses.
The so-called cyclopean fortresses are characteristic, the walls of which are lined with huge blocks of stone. In areas poor in stone, but abundant in forests, settlements spread - "fortifications", fortified with log fences, earthen ramparts and ditches. Initially, the fortresses had one defensive wall, later a second wall could be built inside the fortress around the citadel - the seat of the leader of the community and the tribal nobility.
With the division of labor and the separation of craft from agriculture, the contradictions of tribal society become more acute. With the advent of private property, property differences become more and more significant. The importance of slave labor is growing. All this leads to the disintegration of the tribal system, the emergence of an early class society, and the appearance of the first slave-owning states.
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The first rudiments of art, in principle, can be seen in the work of even primitive man. In those days, people were already trying to find ways to reflect their idea of the world and the beautiful. According to archaeologists, the first monuments related to fine arts- graphics, sculpture, painting - originated in the Paleolithic era.
Of course, the first drawings were very primitive: prints of a human hand, "macaroni" - wavy lines squeezed out by fingers, contours of the heads of animals. Showing himself in the sculpture of later periods, man also depicted animals, displaying their character and habits.
Middle Stone Age - Mesolithic
During this period of time, images become more colorful, compositions consisting of several figures begin to be created. As a rule, they display life, battles or hunting. A person begins to realize his place in the world, trying to reveal the patterns of life.
Neolithic - new stone age
Primitive people began to master the sculptural skill. An example of ancient sculptures are " stone women”, found on the territory of the northern Black Sea region. Architecture in this period of time is still underdeveloped, but artistic crafts appear, which have become the prototype of the future decorative art.
Bronze Age and architecture
Approximately 3000 years before our era, man begins to pay special attention to architectural features buildings. The so-called architecture of large stones, or megalithic architecture appears: dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs. The reason for the construction of such buildings is the development of religious ideas of ancient man.
Dolmens, menhirs, cromlechs
Menhirs were called stone pillars which were up to 20 meters high. An example is Zorats-Karer, found in Armenia, or the Karnak stones excavated on the territory of French Brittany.
Most of all, architectural art was manifested in dolmens - cult, often burial, structures, consisting of 2-4 vertically arranged slabs, covered with a horizontal slab. This is how the main components appeared architectural structure- ceilings and supports.
The Cromlech is a more complex structure, most famously located in Wilshire, England. This is Stonehenge, the construction of which dates back to around 2000 BC. It is assumed that this is a cult building dedicated to the sun.
Cromlech Stonehenge in the UK
In the era of savagery, primitive man, overwhelmed by the difficulty of fighting nature, in search of protection from the weather and from enemies, at first used only what he found in nature suitable for shelter: overhanging mountain ledges, caves, grottoes, etc. Only at a certain stage in the development of methods and tools of labor did man begin to build artificial dwellings: wind barriers, huts, dugouts, semi-dugouts, and, finally, above-ground dwelling houses. One of the oldest types stone buildings are structures built of large stone blocks or slabs, called megalithic (from the Greek megas - large, cast - stone). Among them are: menhirs, dolmens and cromlechs.
Menhirs are single large boulders, dug into the ground with their lower part in the form of a pillar. There are many menhirs and dolmens in France. On the territory of the USSR, menhirs are found in the Caucasus and Siberia. There are especially many menhirs in the Khoshun-Dash tract
It is believed that the menhirs marked the burial place of significant persons - the ancestors or leaders of the tribes.
Dolmens are a chamber consisting of several vertically stacked stone blocks, which are horizontally covered with one or two stone slabs. Dolmens are usually considered tombs; it was established, however, that some dolmens served as housing. It is possible that they began to use them as a dwelling later. Many dolmens have been preserved in the North Caucasus. The most difficult of megalithic buildings are cromlechs - a ring-shaped fence of one or more rows of menhirs. Alleys of stones usually lead to large cromlechs. The largest and most complex of the cromlechs is the so-called Stonehenge. Stonehenge has some artistic significance, it has a geometric correctness of construction and a large scale of huge well-crafted stone pillars and stone beams that unite each pair of pillars. Cromlechs already had religious appointment, probably being a place of worship for the annually resurgent power of the sun.
Strongly expanded tribal associations caused the appearance of huge collective dwellings and large tribal settlements. Such are the settlements of the Trypillia culture, widespread mainly on the territory of the right-bank Ukraine along the course of the lower and middle Dnieper, Bug and Dniester. The settlements of the Trypillia culture consisted of large (from 70 to 140 m2) and small (20-30 m2) dwellings, located more often in concentric circles, with free space in the center. It is possible that rituals were performed on it.
Such, for example, are the settlements of the Dyakovo type, widespread since the second half of the first millennium BC, in the region of the middle and upper Volga, along the Oka and in the upper reaches of the Dpepr.
The monuments of Scythian architecture in the south of the USSR include a group of underground-type dwellings (Varvarov settlement near the city of Nikolaev, on the Bug River), built in the 4th-3rd centuries. to p. e. The Scythians were also aware of log buildings, which is proved by the numerous burial log cabins in the Scythian burial mounds. The Scythians also created large burial mounds, often surrounded at the base by a stone ring, and divided inside into several parts. The Scythian tribes had a relatively highly developed art. In a later time, the Scythians also created significant cities.
Summarizing what has been said, it is important to note that during the period of the primitive communal system, some elementary structures were created: a wooden frame made of racks covered with wattle, a hipped ceiling and log cabins made of logs with a gable covering.
At the end of this period, man learned to use natural, and then rough-hewn stone and raw brick for laying walls. The creation of early types of structures laid the foundation for the gradual formation of architecture.
Along with architecture, decorative as well as fine arts appeared very early.
Origins of architecture
Construction is one of the most ancient types of human activity, which means that already many millennia ago the foundations of everything were laid. further development architecture.
The prehistoric period, based on the use of various materials and techniques for making tools, is usually divided into the following main stages: stone (ancient stone age - paleolith And new stone - Neolithic), bronze And iron century. At the same time, it is very difficult to clearly define their boundaries, since the development of human society has always been uneven.
The surviving remains of human settlements indicate the existence of various ways of life of people in different areas the globe and at different stages of human history.
The discovered dwellings of the early period of the Upper Paleolithic are roughly oval dwellings with one hearth. Most often, these are dugouts, a large number of which were found in different regions CIS (left-bank Ukraine, Dnieper basin, areas of Bryansk, Voronezh, Irkutsk, etc.). Also in the Late Paleolithic era, there were more elongated and larger dwellings, made of oval dugouts, as if attached to each other, with several hearths. At the end of the Late Paleolithic, temporary hunting camps and seasonal camps arose. In addition to dugouts, semi-dugouts and ground dwellings with a frame made of bones of large animals, temporary dwellings, huts were built.
In the Neolithic, the so-called. period of the "stone axe", already built semi-dugouts, dwellings made of wood, reeds, twigs and clay. The most developed type of buildings of the Neolithic period - pile buildings- buildings based on wooden piles, which were usually erected over rivers and lakes in wetlands. The spread of this type of settlements is explained by defensive considerations, as well as the convenience of fishing in reservoirs. Piled buildings were erected in different territories, in Central Europe, in the CIS, also the so-called community houses(this type of dwelling - "pueblo" until recently existed among the American Indians). Closed dwellings of this type, inaccessible from the outside, were built in other parts of the world, where a stone polished ax was used. The main building material was wood. It is noteworthy that in the large dwellings of the centric plan, several household hearths were arranged and one large one in the center - for ritual purposes. Subsequently, detached places of worship - altars, and premises - temples. ()
IN northern Italy settlements were discovered (approximately 1800 BC) of a peculiar nature: on pillars, platforms arranged in a circle were arranged, on which huts were placed. A wooden fence was erected around the village and a moat was dug, filled with water.
Ancient fortified settlements dating back to the seventh to sixth millennium BC have been discovered in Anatolia. e. (Ch'atal Huizek, Mersin, Hasilar). Only from the middle of the third millennium BC. e. Neolithic culture from the Aegean region extends to the northern and Western Europe along natural paths - the Danube with its basin and the Mediterranean Sea. ()
The beginning of architecture as an art manifested itself when not only the laws of necessity, but also the laws of beauty began to operate in construction. In the Bronze Age, in the middle of the second millennium BC. e. almost everywhere in Europe modern Spain, France, northern Europe, Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Belgium), and in China, Korea, India, along the coast mediterranean sea, in Tunisia, Egypt and many other countries, erected monumental stone structures from huge boulders - menhirs, dolmens, cromlechs, cyclopean fortresses and settlements - the so-called megalithic architecture(Greek medas - large + lithos - stone). The purpose of these structures was mainly associated with religious rites and memorable events.
Menhirs- these are vertically placed, usually unprocessed stones of considerable height, ritual monuments or monuments, they designated places of public ceremonies. Menhirs were placed singly or in groups, in some cases in long rows ("alley" of menhirs in Brittany). Sometimes the tops of the menhirs end with the image of a head. Menhirs sometimes reached 20 m in height and 300 tons in weight. Sometimes menhirs are found in combination with dolmens.
Dolmen usually consists of two or four large vertical stones standing side by side, supporting a horizontal roughly worked stone slab (Denmark, Brittany). Dolmens were originally small in size - about 2 m long and about 1.5 m high, but later they were given large sizes and sometimes they were approached in the form of a stone gallery. They are often arranged in such a way that they form long, corridor-like spaces. Dolmens served most often as sarcophagi, burial chambers for members of the family and, at the same time, tombstones.
Cromlech, the most complex type megalithic structures, were built from vertically installed stone pillars or slabs arranged in a circle, they were connected to each other by stone blocks laid on top.
An outstanding building of this kind is stonehenge near Salisbury in southern England, created, apparently, in the middle of the second millennium BC. e., probably a primitive temple or theater. This cromlech consists of massive four- and eight-meter stones, placed vertically and forming a centric composition with a diameter of 30 m. Inside there are two rings of small stones, they are surrounded by stone pillars of Stonehenge, forming several concentric circles: one - from small menhirs, the other, the central one - from huge boulders, overlapped in pairs with stone blocks. The center of the architectural composition is a rectangular slab. Stone blocks are carefully worked with stone tools, which testifies to the skill and significant level of development of people of that time, their sense of spatial composition. The purpose of Stonehenge is not completely clear. Perhaps the middle part was a sanctuary, and the central stone slab was an altar. Mass graves were found around the monument. There is an assumption that this cromlech was used for astronomical purposes; certain laws related to astronomy are observed in the composition, which, however, was often found in the architecture of ancient centuries (Egypt, Central America). Two concentric stone circle around the sanctuary are roads, paths that flow around the sanctuary. It is believed that they were intended for equestrian competitions. ()
Worthy of special attention log buildings(became widespread in the second half of the 2nd millennium BC - the beginning of the 1st millennium), in particular - barrows, - a common type of memorial structures. Their prototype was residential log houses. During the construction of the barrow, first a powerful wooden frame with a wooden floor was built in the pit, inside which a burial chamber was arranged - a log box. Sometimes the space between the two chambers was filled with stones. The chambers were covered with rolls of logs, which were covered with birch bark. Then they covered it with earth, forming a mound, often of considerable height. A stone was thrown on top of the hill.
Log dwellings were the first step towards the creation of a ground chopped wooden building; they were common among the Baltic, Finnish and Turkic tribes, as well as in the wooded regions of Central and Seven Europe. If stone and adobe houses were usually built round in plan, then from long logs laid horizontally, multifaceted buildings were obtained, which eventually transformed into one-room rectangular houses. There was a hearth in the middle, the smoke escaping through a hole in the roof above it. In front of the entrance, a "front" was often arranged. IN Northern Europe during excavations, only the foundations of such houses were found. This type of building was later called "megaron", they formed the basis of Greek architecture, incl. Greek temple .()
Along with memorial and ritual buildings at the later stages of the development of primitive society, a new type of architectural structures- stone and wood fortresses. The so-called cyclopean fortresses are characteristic, the walls of which are lined with huge blocks of stone. In areas poor in stone, but abundant in forests, settlements spread - "fortifications", fortified with log fences, earthen ramparts and ditches. Initially, the fortresses had one defensive wall, later a second wall could be built inside the fortress around the citadel - the seat of the leader and tribal nobility. In the Iron Age (first millennium BC), in the Scythian state, the Scythian city of Naples was surrounded by a powerful fortress wall made of torn stone on clay mortar. ()
Primitive architecture was the basis for the architecture of early class states ancient east.
A vivid example of the architecture of the oldest class societies that arose in Asia, Africa and other countries of the Ancient East, the geographical scope of which is very extensive, is the architecture of Ancient Egypt, which created grandiose monumental structures to the glory of the pharaohs.
