Mushdamma (Mushdam, Mušdam(m)a or Mušdam) is the Divine Architect of the Mesopotamian ancient world. His epithet šidim gal den-líl-lá-ke4 means Great Builder of Enlil, one of the primordial gods of Mesopotamia.
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Enki, god of water, music, wisdom, creation and creators, and sometime younger brother of Enlil, gives Mushdam his deific abilities and titles. The myth Enki and the World Order explains part of Mušdam's role.
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"He tied down the strings and coordinated them with the foundations, and with the power of the assembly he planned a house and performed the purification rituals. The great prince put down the foundations, and laid the bricks.
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Enki placed in charge of all this him whose foundations once laid do not sag, whose good houses once built do not collapse, whose vaults reach up into the heart of the heavens like a rainbow – Mušdama, Enlil’s master builder."
Enki and the World Order, lines 341–8
Enki and the World Order describes the organization of the earthly realm and the roles of the Gods. It's considered one of most complex Sumerian texts in mythology.
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At first the patron of masons and masonry, Mushdam cedes this role to the god Kulla and concentrates on the mastery of architecture. Kulla's symbols include the pick-axe, and he's the deity of the brick mold. In the first millenium BCE they're joined by Isimud.
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Mushdam relates to building plans and drawings (blueprints); design, esoteric and functional properties of buildings. He gives advice or guidance for construction. Like any other activity in Mesopotamia, brick-making, structural planning and masonry are governed by gods.
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Incantations, ritual sacrifice and blessing of the site precludes digging or building activity. The site is surveyed with invocation of Nisaba, goddess of surveying, accounting and first deity of writing.
Scribes also receive the role of architects. They might draft and manage construction for the government, nobility, or royalty. Their patron goddess Nisaba is later replaced by the male scribe god Nabû.
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Architectural developments such as indoor plumbing, such as fountains, running water and toilets, appear in Mesopotamia between 3200 and 1500 BCE. Other house features include gardens, decorative trim, terraces and spacious inner courtyards.
Even for a single-room dwelling, the people undertake similar rituals as royals and the wealthy. The earth is purified and/or the existing building cleansed. Gods of protection and building renovation are invoked and praised before, during and after the building process.
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Building challenges include the basic sociopolitical form of the Sumerian city-states and independent kingdoms. Standardized systems across the nation are difficult to implement.
The natural environment defines a site for building. It should be atop a hill or slope to avoid rainwater draining into the structure. Some buildings are constructed into naturally occurring stone walls or cliffs to take advantage of the coolness of the earth on hot arid days.
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Astrology is often used to pinpoint an auspicious location for palaces and shrines. The latter is also determined by the proximity of water. Like many ancient groups the Mesopotamians believe in the spiritual qualities of water.
Water relates to dreams and dream interpretation, another thriving activity in ancient Mesopotamia. King Gudea of Lagash, a Sumerian city, commissions massive inscribed cylinders for a temple to Ninurta as he was bidden to do so in a dream.
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Due to mystic and transcendent associations, water and water sources are fortuitous near tombs, a necropolis or founding of a city. The site of the spiritual Hittite center Yazilikaya is chosen due to its natural rock formations and the presence of a water spring.
Organized religion increases its power in Mesopotamian affairs of state. Priests can have influence in the way a structure or city plan is created, even if the buildings aren't part of a sacred complex.
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Burial of the dead must be taken into account. In Neolithic times the deceased are desiccated for a period in the sun, then brought into the house. Bodies are buried beneath floors and behind walls.
Shaft pit burials become more popular and change with Mycenean influence. The body is laid in a pit at the bottom of a shaft.
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Shaft graves grow more elaborate over time, leading to the creation of burial tombs with evidence of rituals and funerary offerings, and grave goods from gold to shaving razors.
Builders have to know their craft. Laws referring to masonry in the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1750 BCE) are particularly rigid. If a building falls and kills the owner, the builder is killed. If the house falls and kills the owner's son, the the son of the builder is killed.
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In the later Roman era the builder of a stone arch is expected to stand beneath it. This verifies its solidity and subsequently the skill of the maker.
In Mesopotamia building is a constant activity. The Sumerians build the first large-scale palaces and temples. They introduce urban planning, the arch, canals and aqueducts, landscaped gardens, and architectural ornamentation.
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Sumerians use the Sexagesimal or Base 60 building system, which divides measurements into units such as three, six and twelve. This system descends to the later Babylonians who are also famed builders.
They should be. With Babylon as one of most-sacked cities of the ancient world, builders, architects, masons and engineers get a lot of practice.
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Babylon goes through waves of greatness, first rising in the Hammurabi period c. 1770 - 1670 BCE, and again in the Neo-Babylonian era c. 612 - c. 320 BCE. It's the first city to reach a population of 200,000.
The style of a Sumerian temple describes the fundament of ancient world cosmology. The world is a disc of land surrounded by a salt water ocean. These float on a third ocean of fresh water, the Apsu or waters of creation.
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Above them are the heavens which regulate time. Joining the three levels is a world mountain forming a line or stem, or axis mundi, through the center of the earth.
The temple and priests are part of the axis mundi, a meeting place between gods and mortals. The sanctity of high places as meeting points between realms is a feature of pre-Ubaid (c. 5500 BCE) belief evident in the Near East back to the Neolithic age.
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The plan of the temple is rectangular with corners pointing in cardinal directions. These symbolize the four rivers. Each river flows from the mountain to one of the four world regions.
This orientation allows priests to use the temple roof as an observatory for astrology and timekeeping. The temple is built on an earth terrace. The terrace represents the sacred mound of primordial land 'dukug' or 'pure mound' which rises from the water during creation.
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Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, and Assyrians are all ziggurat-builders. The earliest examples of the ziggurat were raised platforms from the Ubaid period, during the fourth millennium BCE.
The latest date from the 6th century BCE. The top of the ziggurat is flat, unlike most pyramids. The step pyramid style begins near the end of the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2900 BCE).
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Mesopotamia holds abundant precious archaeological history. Stories are told through mythology, music, art, trade, literature, grave goods and the artifacts of daily life.
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