Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

ARCHITECTURE

Science, art, or profession of designing and constructing buildings, bridges, etc. Architecture is the practice of combining construction and art in order to produce “beauty with purpose.” The architect’s synthesis of creative imagination and technical skill produces structures of interest, unity, power, and convenience. When we look at a building, monument, or tomb, we are examining its art as well as its structure.

Special types of architecture are mentioned in Scripture, including houses, structures in particular cities, and, of course, the temples. All were influenced by the empires that dominated Israel at the time. It is therefore important to examine the architecture of empires associated with Bible history to understand the architecture of Palestine.

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• Sumerian Architecture

• Egyptian Architecture

• Assyrian and Hittite Architecture

• Greek Architecture

• Roman Architecture

• Palestinian Architecture

Sumerian Architecture

Architecture was first developed by the Sumerians, a people of non-Semitic origin. They may have settled on the island of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf a thousand years before moving northward to the mainland. From the beginning of their culture the Sumerians regarded architecture as an important artistic endeavor. It found its fullest expression in the building of temples. The Sumerian ziggurat, or staged tower, became Mesopotamia’s most distinctive contribution to architecture, both secular and sacred. The ziggurat has often been likened to a medieval European cathedral, the highest point of which might appear to be reaching upward to God as an expression of human religious aspirations. That, however, was not the concept the Sumerians held in building their shrines. For them, the ziggurat, standing on its mound or platform, represented a concentration of natural, life-giving forces. The god had already come down to his house, and it was the worshiper’s duty to commune with him there.

By 2000 BC a Mesopotamian temple area commonly housed the ziggurat, several storehouses, shrines, workshops, and living quarters for priests. The ziggurat usually consisted of three stages: the inner walls of sun-dried mud brick, the outer walls of baked brick set in bitumen. The upper levels were reached by flights of stairs or ramps, and sometimes a small shrine to a local deity topped off the uppermost stage. In addition to devising decorated walls and columns, Sumerian architects discovered how to employ arches, domes, and vaults to give the impression of grandeur and space.

Sumerian domestic architecture was quite mixed in style. Most city houses were two-story dwellings built on three sides of a square, with the opening facing away from the narrow streets. Homes of the wealthy might contain 20 rooms; some included servants’ quarters. Indoor bathroom facilities were connected by means of drainpipes to an underground cesspool. Many houses had a family burial vault in the basement. There seems little doubt that the Akkadians, Hittites, Egyptians, and Greeks all benefited in various ways from the architectural innovations of Sumer.

Egyptian Architecture

The Egyptians achieved the most lasting architectural forms ever attempted by any civilization, and much of their architecture has been preserved. Such forms included temples, tombs, and pyramids. Huge stones to build those structures had to be brought from distant quarries. The Egyptians made use of slave labor and built their structures in honor of their rulers.

The outstanding examples of Egyptian architecture are the pyramids, virtually all of which were constructed in the Old Kingdom period (c. 2700–2200 BC). The Sumerian principle of the recessed niche was employed to accommodate the enormous stresses of stone masonry. Without that technique it would have been impossible to construct such a huge edifice as the Great Pyramid, the estimated weight of which is almost six million tons (5,448,000 metric tons). The Great Pyramid is one of the most perfectly oriented buildings on earth, being just a few seconds of one degree short of true north-south orientation. Many of the huge blocks of stone were cut and fitted together so accurately that it is impossible to insert the edge of a sheet of paper between them. The pyramids were meant to serve as tombs for the remains of the persons who ordered them constructed, but the structures themselves have become monuments to human creativity.

The major architectural style of the Egyptians was “post and lintel,” with horizontal crosspieces resting on columns. As a result, buildings of any size became a forest of columns. Wall surfaces were covered with carvings, paintings, and hieroglyphics. Temples were planned on a long axis with almost perfect symmetry. The structures seem designed for imperial pageants and other ceremonies staged to impress the people with the power and authority of their rulers.

Assyrian and Hittite Architecture

The Assyrians followed the Sumerian pattern of temple construction but enlarged the ziggurats and added more stories. The great ziggurat at Borsippa was an outstanding example of seven-story temple construction. The foundation was about 272 feet (83 meters) square, and the building stood about 160 feet (49 meters) high. Each story was set back from the level beneath it in a terraced effect and painted with a different color of wash. Each story was intended to represent one of the planets. In accordance with later Sumerian practice the uppermost level had a small shrine built on its roof, where the god Nebo was thought to have taken up his residence. Many believe that the Tower of Babel, which God destroyed, was a ziggurat tower (Gn 11).

Assyrian royal palaces of the eighth and seventh centuries BC were large and elegant, decorated with enormous bas-reliefs depicting the king busily occupied with a variety of activities. Assyrian art was at its height in that period, and meticulous attention to detail brought a virile character to Assyrian architecture. Large stone sculptures of protective animals were stationed at entrances to public buildings. Similar statues were a feature of Hittite architecture in Anatolia, the eastern part of Asia Minor.

Hittite buildings excavated at Boghazkôy and elsewhere easily matched those of the Assyrians in extent and grandeur. Towering columns, long halls, and expansive rooms were typical of Hittite palace construction in the Bronze Age.

Hittite temple design followed what was common in Babylonia, with several buildings grouped around an open court. One difference was that the main sanctuary was approached through a series of entrances or porches extending beyond the length of adjacent buildings. The design enabled small windows to be placed at the top of the projection in order to give additional light in the sanctuary.

Greek Architecture

Architecture rose to great achievements in the Greek world. Many factors combined to produce architectural beauty that has lasted for centuries. Those factors included the climate, setting, government, and people. Perhaps the most important factor was the people, who seemed free to imagine and develop designs and structures that have continued to excite our imaginations to this day.

The Greeks strove to attain beauty in their architecture. This worthy motive found its highest expression in the fifth century BC. In the time of Pericles (461–429 BC) the Parthenon and Propylea on the Acropolis were remodeled from earlier originals, and the Erechtheum was also built there. Subsequent temples in Athens included that of Hephaestus, which was a less graceful version of the Parthenon, and the shrine of Ares. Phidias, the sculptor who designed the Parthenon, was also responsible, with his students, for much of the fifth-century BC statuary. Although the Sumerians had been the first to execute rather stereotyped freestanding stone statues, they had done so largely with theological considerations in mind. For the Sumerian sculptors, the statue had represented an individual standing before a god, ready to be judged. For the Greeks, however, the objective of good statuary was the most realistic and accurate reproduction of human anatomy possible, and like the Assyrians’, their sculptors studied anatomy. Eventually the Greeks became the world’s most proficient sculptors.

Many Greek buildings featured appropriate combinations of structure and setting. For example, theaters were built on hills so that the structure could have tiers of seats and still have a beautiful background. Marble was used extensively. Buildings were placed so that shadows added to their beauty. All that structural beauty was seen by the apostle Paul when he visited the city of Athens, but “he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city” (Acts 17:16, NLT). Many of the most beautiful buildings, such as the Parthenon, were built in honor of pagan Greek gods. In response, Paul preached his famous sermon on the Areopagus (Mars Hill), a hill that overlooked the temples of Athens.

Roman Architecture

The Romans were great builders who left their mark on the architecture of the world. Several factors influenced Roman architectural styles. First was the fact that the Romans took over earlier empires and earlier forms of architecture. Some Egyptian influence was seen, but the Greek eye for beauty and use of marble was more important. Another factor was the Roman discovery of cement made from volcanic earth which, when mixed with lime, formed a mortar of great cohesion. Cement enabled the Romans to build masonry arches without supporting columns. The effect was a sense of pomp and majesty. The use of cement also allowed the Romans to build structures of more than one story, such as the Colosseum.

Roman architects used central squares or public forums in the center of their cities. Around these were built public buildings, temples, shops, and porticoes. The central square contained arches and monuments commemorating victorious emperors. The Roman concept of municipal planning was copied throughout the Roman Empire, including Palestine.

The shortage of water in a number of countries over which the Romans ruled compelled them to devise means of transporting it overland. This led to the development of the aqueduct. Roman architects were faced with the problem of maintaining a sufficient degree of slope to enable water to flow by gravity. Cemented channels supported by stone arches provided much of the solution to the problem. The architectural design of aqueduct systems remained the same throughout the imperial period. Foundation piers were spanned by round arches. A stone channel was built on top of the archway, lined with cement, and frequently covered by a curved roof.

Palestinian Architecture

For a generation the Israelites had been tent dwellers, living only semisedentary lives at best, without need of permanent structures of any kind. When the time came for them to settle down, they were handicapped by their lack of construction skills. Archaeological excavation at such sites as Shiloh, Bethel, and Debir have uncovered Israelite attempts to rebuild on earlier Canaanite foundations. Their standard of workmanship was noticeably inferior to that of the Canaanite builders, as exhibited especially in Canaanite royal cities. Until the fifth century BC, Israelite buildings tended to be small and narrow, partly because the architects had not devised any means of roofing a dwelling other than by laying beams across its width and placing a flat covering on top. The first vaulted arch in Palestine was built in the Persian period, but it was so innovative that the conservative Judeans refused to adopt it as an architectural style. Only in the Roman period did the arch and vault gain acceptance, due largely to the influence of Herod the Great.

Old Testament Architecture

Cities

In the OT era, cities were built on hills or mounds and surrounded with a wall for protection. Generally houses were placed in a random fashion with winding paths or alleys connecting them. People unable to afford city life lived in villages that surrounded the city. They would work the nearby fields and in time of danger flee to the city for protection.

Most essential to any city was an adequate water supply. For that reason cities were built on or near underground springs. Some cities used plastered cisterns and catch basins to collect rainwater to supplement the regular water supply. Underground springs were protected by stepped tunnels for access when the city was besieged.

Fortifications

During much of OT times the Israelites used the techniques of the middle Bronze Age to defend their cities. The central feature was a wall made of stone or brick, 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 meters) high. The wall was sometimes made with an artificial slope and a ditch at the bottom to fortify it against enemy battering rams.

During the Israelite monarchy, casemate walls were also built. These consisted of two parallel walls connected by a series of cross walls. The resulting rooms were then filled with dirt to give added protection against enemy battering rams (Ez 26:9). Sometimes walls 20 feet (6 meters) thick were built with overhangs so attackers could be subdued. The apostle Paul was let down off the wall of Damascus in a basket from a room in such a wall (Acts 9:25; 2 Cor 11:33).

Gates

Most city walls had two gates. One of these was for camel caravans, chariots, and larger vehicles; the other, on the opposite side of the city, was used for pedestrians, donkeys, and small animals. Many gates consisted of double doors (Is 45:1; Neh 6:1) made of wood and overlaid with bronze plating (Is 45:2). The doors were secured with horizontal bars of wood, bronze (1 Kgs 4:13), or iron (Ps 107:16) that fit into openings in the gateposts (Jgs 16:3).

The location of the gates was important to the defense of the city. Often the road leading to the gate was laid out so that attackers, who carried their shields in their left hands, would have to face the wall of the city and its defenders on their right side. Sometimes the gate was part of a large tower (2 Chr 26:9). Occasionally, steps were constructed on the inside of the tower, so that sentinels could reach the top to stand watch (2 Kgs 9:17). At other times the gate was so positioned that it turned 90 degrees between the portals, in order to prevent enemy archers from making a straight shot through the gate.

Houses

An above-average Israelite house consisted of several rooms facing an open courtyard (2 Sm 17:18). The largest room was for the family, another was for the family’s cattle, and another was used as a general storeroom. Sometimes the walls were made of stones, with the joints filled with mud. Sometimes the inside walls were plastered with mud, although more prosperous homes had cypress or cedarwood. Floors were made of clay or polished plaster stones. The flat roofs were supported by beams and made watertight with wood or brushwood. An outside stairway gave access to the roof, and some people built roof chambers that in effect made a two-story house (1 Kgs 17:19). The flat roofs of houses provided additional sleeping and recreational space for crowded households. The Mosaic law required these roofs to be surrounded by a protective parapet to prevent people falling to their deaths (Dt 22:8).

Solomon’s Temple

Probably the most important piece of Israelite architecture was King Solomon’s temple. The building was located on the site where Abraham was supposed to have offered his son Isaac (Gn 22). It took seven and a half years to build and was notable for its beauty as well as its purpose. The plan of the temple was similar to that of the tabernacle, except that the dimensions were doubled and the height was tripled. The walls were made of stone overlaid with gold (1 Kgs 6:22), with gold also covering the ceilings and floor. The partition between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place was made of gold-covered cedarwood. The entrance to the Holy of Holies consisted of a double door made of carved olive wood overlaid with gold. The doorway stood open but was veiled. Outside the temple were two courts, an inner court for the priests and an outer court for the people.

Lack of constructional expertise in Israel compelled Solomon to hire Phoenician workmen. The result was a typically Phoenician structure, the ground plan of which closely resembled that of an eighth-century BC Canaanite chapel excavated at Tell Tainat in Syria. Columns and porticoes were doubtless a feature of the temple of Solomon, though the precise function of the freestanding pillars named Jachin and Boaz is still far from certain. Carefully dressed masonry seems to have appeared in Israel initially in Solomon’s time; excellent specimens of hewn and squared stone have been recovered from Samaria. The Samaritan site, along with Megiddo, has also furnished interesting examples of a decorated pilaster capital that derived its design from Canaanite artistic representations.

When Babylon overthrew Jerusalem and leveled the city in 586 BC, the temple was plundered of its wealth and burned to the ground. After Israel returned from captivity, the temple was rebuilt, with the foundation being laid in 525 BC. However, that second temple was far less magnificent than Solomon’s and was in great need of repair by the time of King Herod of Judea (37–4 BC).

Although OT tradition gives considerable prominence to the Solomonic temple and lauds its grandeur, the building was actually an adjunct to the royal palace, serving as a chapel. Only in the postexilic period was the temple freed from royal associations to become an independent shrine where people could observe the prescribed rituals. Both pre- and postexilic temples were quite small and narrow in their dimensions, their width being limited by the length of the wooden beams available for roofing purposes. The only way such a building could be enlarged was in the usual Near Eastern manner of attaching additional rooms to the exterior.

New Testament Architecture

The architecture of NT times consisted of Greek and Roman structures, since those rulers had most recently dominated Israel. The Greek cities were architectural models, containing planned streets, arches, theaters, public baths, temples, and a central marketplace called the agora. Jewish homes, however, continued to remain small, with flat roofs over rooms facing a courtyard.

During Roman domination Herod the Great (37–4 BC) built some remarkable structures, including aqueducts, cisterns, dungeons, palaces, and whole cities (e.g., Caesarea). His greatest work was the rebuilding of the temple, a remarkable structure that took 83 years to complete. It lasted in its completed state only six years before it was destroyed by Titus in AD 70.

Herod’s temple managed to blend the old with the new. Though it appeared to embody the latest Hellenistic architectural fashions in its colonnades, marble columns, and facades, it was still firmly rooted in the traditions of Phoenicia. The Herodian structure was an enlargement, and to some extent a rebuilding, of the sixth-century BC temple. A series of courts and porticoes surrounded the reconstructed shrine, which was given an illusion of grandeur by means of an enlarged entrance. In the middle of that porch stood an enormous doorway that gave access to the much smaller inner door of the shrine itself. Unfortunately, nothing of the building itself survived the destruction of AD 70, leaving us almost completely dependent upon Josephus’s account. See City; Homes and Dwellings; Temple.