Editing Architecture of Mesopotamia (section)

==Houses==
[[File:Mesopotamian spirit house 1 REM.JPG|thumb|Terracotta model of a house from [[Babylon]], 2600 BCE, [[Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum]], [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], California|307x307px]]
The materials used to build a Mesopotamian house were similar but not exact as those used today: [[Reed (plant)|reeds]], [[Rock (geology)|stone]], wood, [[ashlar]], mud brick, mud plaster and wooden doors, which were all naturally available around the city,<ref>{{Cite book|author=Nicholas Postgate, J N Postgate|title=Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History|year=1994}}</ref> although wood was not common in some cities of Sumer. Although most houses were made of [[mudbrick]], mudplaster, and [[Populus alba|poplar]]. Houses could be tripartite, round, or rectangular. Houses had long-roofed central hallways, courtyards, and storeys. Most houses had a square centre room with other rooms attached to it, but a great variation in the size and materials used to build the houses suggest they were built by the inhabitants themselves.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Balter|first1=M.|year=1998|title=The first cities: Why Settle Down? The Mystery of Communities|url=http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/282/5393/1442|journal=Science|volume=282|issue=5393|page=1442|doi=10.1126/science.282.5393.1442|access-date=2010-04-17|s2cid=129902105|url-access=subscription}}</ref> The smallest rooms may not have coincided with the poorest people; in fact, it could be that the poorest people built houses out of perishable materials such as reeds on the outside of the city, but there is very little direct evidence for this.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Susan Pollock|title=Ancient Mesopotamia|year=1999}}</ref> Houses could have shops, workshops, storage rooms, and livestock in them.

Residential design was a direct development from [[Ubaid house]]s. Although Sumerian [[cylinder seal]]s depict [[Mudhif|reed house]]s, the [[courtyard house]] was the predominant typology, which has been used in Mesopotamia to the present day. This house called ''[[É (temple)|é]]'' ([[Cuneiform]]: {{cuneiform|4|𒂍}}, {{sc|e₂}}; [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]]: {{Transliteration|sux|e₂}}; [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]: {{Transliteration|akk|bītu}}) faced inward toward an open courtyard which provided a cooling effect by creating convection currents. This courtyard called ''tarbaṣu'' (Akkadian) was the primary organizing feature of the house, all the rooms opened into it. The external walls were featureless with only a single opening connecting the house to the street, movement between the house and street required a 90° turn through a small antechamber. From the street only the rear wall of the antechamber would be visible through an open door, likewise there was no view of the street from the courtyard; this is because the Sumerians had a strict division of public and private spaces. The typical size for a Sumerian house was 90 m<sup>2</sup>.<ref name="Bryce-2009" />

=== Construction  ===
Simple houses could be constructed out of bundles of reeds which would be tied together, and then inserted into the ground. More complex houses were constructed on stone [[Foundation (engineering)|foundations]], with the house being made out of mudbrick.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hunter|first=Nick|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FXyoDwAAQBAJ&q=Houses+in+Ancient+Sumeria&pg=PA32|title=Daily Life in Ancient Sumer|date=10 September 2015|publisher=Raintree|isbn=978-1-4062-9864-2|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Mark|first=Joushua J|date=14 March 2018|title=Mesopotamia|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/Mesopotamia/|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]}}</ref> Wood, ashlar blocks, and rubble were also popular materials used to make houses.<ref name="Gates-2011" /> The mudbrick was made from clay and chopped straw. This mixture was packed into molds and then left in the sun to dry. They used [[Earthen plaster|mud plaster]] for the walls, and mud and poplar for the roof. In the Ubaid period houses would be [[fire clay]] pressed into the walls. Walls would also have artwork painted on them. Roofs could also be made planks of palm tree wood which would be covered in reeds. The top of the roof would be connected to the house through brick or wood stairs. Baked bricks were very expensive, and thus they were only used to make luxurious buildings. Doors and door frames were made from wood.<ref name="Nemet-Nejat-1998">{{Cite book|last=Nemet-Nejat|first=Karen Rhea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lbmXsaTGNKUC&q=Furniture+in+Ancient+Sumer&pg=PA124|title=Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia|date=1998|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-29497-6|language=en}}</ref> Sometimes Doors were made from ox-hide. Doors between houses were often so low, that people needed to crouch to walk though them. Houses would usually have no windows, if they did it would be made of clay or wooden grilles. Floors would usually be made of dirt. Mesopotamian houses would often crumble. Houses needed to be repaired often.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Black|first=Jeremy A.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1W2mTtGVV4C&q=Houses+in+Ancient+Sumeria&pg=PR42|title=The Literature of Ancient Sumer|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-929633-0|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Stone|first=Elizabeth C|title=Nippur Neighborhoods.|publisher=[[University of Chicago]]|year=1987|isbn=0-918986-50-8}}</ref>

=== Design ===
[[File:Eridu_temple_7.png|thumb|Large buildings, implying centralized government, started to be made. [[Eridu]] Temple, final Ubaid.]]
In the [[Ubaid period]] houses would be tripartite homes. They had a long roofed central hallway with smaller rooms connected to it on either of its sides. It is possible that the central hallway was used for dining and communal activities. There was variety in Ubaid houses. Some houses contained richer artifact assemblage than other houses. Ubaid houses could also be interconnect with other houses. The architecture of Ubaid houses is indistinguishable from Ubaid Temples.<ref name="Ur-2014">Ur, Jason. 2014. [https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/12490321/Ur%202014%20CAJ%20Households%20and%20the%20Emergence%20of%20Cities.pdf?sequence%3D1 “Households and the Emergence of Cities in Ancient Mesopotamia]." Cambridge Archaeological Journal 24 (02) (June): 249–268.</ref> During the [[Uruk period]] houses had various shapes. Some houses were rectangular, others were round. Some houses in Mesopotamia had only one room, while others had many rooms. Occasionally some of these rooms would serve as basements. In the [[4th millennium BC|3000's BCE]], courtyards were introduced to Mesopotamia. Courtyards would become the basis for Mesopotamian architecture. These court yards would be surrounded by thick walled halls.<ref name="Ur-2014" /> These halls were probably reception rooms for guests. It is likely that most houses had an upper storey. The upper storey might have been used dining, sleeping, and entertaining, and might have also housed the bedrooms.<ref name="Gates-2011">{{Cite book|last=Gates|first=Charles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nT70dCn-I9kC&q=house|title=Ancient Cities: The Archaeology of Urban Life in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, Greece and Rome|date=21 March 2011|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-136-82328-2|language=en}}</ref> People would plant vegetables or perform religious rituals on their roofs.<ref name="Nemet-Nejat-1998" /> Ground floors would be used to for shops, workshops, storage, and livestock.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Museum|first1=British|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdlhaAfK1sYC&q=Houses+in+Ancient+Sumeria&pg=PA148|title=Dictionary of the Ancient Near East|last2=BIENKOWSKI|first2=ed|date=2000|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-3557-9|language=en}}</ref> One room was usually a [[sanctuary]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Reade|first=J. E.|date=1973|title=Tell Taya (1972-73): Summary Report|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4199963|journal=Iraq|volume=35|issue=2|pages=155–187|doi=10.2307/4199963|jstor=4199963|s2cid=129389899 |issn=0021-0889|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

=== Furniture ===
{{Main|Ancient furniture#Mesopotamia}}
In ancient Sumer, houses contained elaborately decorated stools, chairs, jars, and bathtubs. Wealthier citizens had toilets and [[Drainage|proper drainage systems]].<ref name="Gates-2011" /> It is possible some houses had altars in the center of the houses.<ref name="Ur-2014" /> These altars could have been dedicated to the [[List of Mesopotamian deities|gods]], but they could have been dedicated to important people.