Ancient Architecture (History of World Architecture) [Paperback]

Seton Lloyd (Author), Hans Wolfgang Muller (Author)

Book Description

Series: History of World Architecture | Publication Date: September 15, 1991

This book traces the earliest history of architecture at its birthplace in the ancient Middle East (primarily the current Iran and Iraq) and ancient Egypt, and covers archeological sites, temples, tombs, and early dwellings - several of which have been the subject of recent news coverage on sites and treasures threatened by the Iraq war and political instability. The History of World Architecture is one of Electa's most popular architecture series, with each book in the series providing a comprehensive overview of its subject by a world-renowned expert in the field, accompanied by 200-300 black-and-white photographs, plans, and drawings and 24 colour plates. First published in the 1970s and 1980s, the Italian editions of these books remain standard reference works in architecture history and continue to sell well due to the authority of their authors, their judicious combination of text and illustrations, and careful use of accurate yet accessible terms. The English editions, after being out of print for several years, are now available again exclusively through Phaidon. The books are ideal for college-level students of architecture history, and for anyone who seeks one basic and i

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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About the Author

Seton Lloyd was the first Director of the British Institute of Archaeology at Ankara, and subsequently Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology at the University of London. He is the author of numerous books on Turkey and the Middle East, including Ancient Turkey: A Traveller's History (University of California Press, 1998), and The Archeology of Mesopotamia (W.W. Norton, 2978, rev. 1984). The late Hans Wolfgang Muller was Professor of Egyptology at the University of Munich. He established in Munich a world-renowned school of Egyptian art history and a museum of Egyptian art. He is the author of Gold of the Pharaohs (Cornell University Press, 1999), among other books. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Electa / Rizzoli; 2nd US edition (September 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847806928
• ISBN-13: 978-0847806928
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,155,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pictorial "Ferrari" of history of architecture books, August 29, 2007

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Eugene Tenenbaum "reluctant reader" (Bronx, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Ancient Architecture: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Crete, Greece (History of World Architecture) (Hardcover)

A part of the series History of World Architecture originally published by Electa in Italian in 1971-7 under a general editorship of Pier Luigi Nervi, it was translated to English and published by Abrams in 1971-80 in b&w only, but at 10 x 11 1/4 inches. Subsequently, the series was reedited, shrunk to 8 5/7 x 9 1/2 inches, and published by Electa / Rizzoli in 1985-9 with a few color photos added including each front cover. In the early 2000's, the series was reissued by Phaidon unchanged except for the front cover photo. It is a pictorial "Ferrari" of history of architecture books. Almost every page contains one or - usually - more than one illustration as photo, plan, section, elevation, axonometric view, etc. of the highest quality. They depict the best examples of topical architecture covering the most significant ones. The text was written by one of the best experts in the field. While relatively concise, it is still comprehensive and complete enough even for students of architecture.
The Abrams' edition combines Ancient and Greek Architectures and contains 525 black & white illustrations, including 179 diagrams and reconstructions.

PUBLISHER'S SYNOPSIS:

*ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE*:
(24 color and 249 black & white illustrations in non-Abrams' editions.)
Seton Lloyd and Hans Wolfgang Müller describe the beginnings of architecture in the Ancient Near Middle East and Egypt, the brithplace of Western civilisation, where the newly born science of construction merged with an emerging aesthetic practice. This book examines sites and structures from neolithic temples in Anatolia to the royal tombs of Egypt. Each page combines reconstruction drawings of site plans, building perspectives, and decorative elements with photographs of archeological sites including aerial views and details. An extensive section is devoted to Egyptian architecture from its origins to the first century AC. Also included are the first dwellings on a circular plan, dating from the 8th millenium BC in Jordan, the famous site of Catal Hayuk, the ziggurat towers of the Neo-Assyrians and Neo -Babylonians, and the Achaemenids. The book examines the theological requirements, organization, and hierarchies in the architectural practices of the era.

*GREEK ARCHITECTURE*:
(24 color and 276 black and white illustrations in non-Abrams' editions.)
This volume presents an extraordinary collection of images and covers the whole range of Greek architecture, from a thorough analysis of Minoan Crete - which marked the beginning of the history of Western architecture - through Mycenae, to the magnificence of the Doric places of worship: from the temples of Corinth, Delphi and the Acropolis to those of Magna Graecia. The book covers the birth and evolution of the doric and ionic orders, religious architecture, and the temples and structures of Classical Greece. There is a substantial section on civic architecture, which closely reflects the formation and evolution of the political community, the most original aspect of ancient Greece. Important centres outside Greece are discussed, including Agrigento and Segesta in Sicily. The final section documents the Hellenic phase, with its unparalleled innovations and its influence on the greater Mediterranean.