Anatolian art and architecture

Introduction
Pre-Hittite period
- Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods
- Early Bronze Age
- Middle Bronze Age
Hittite period
Urartu
Phrygia

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Two large stone lion sculptures flank the entrance of the Lion Gate at Hattusa, with ancient stone walls and blue sky in the background.

At a Glance

Anatolian art and architecture summary

Related Questions

How did Anatolian Seljuq madrasahs transform the traditional courtyard plan?
How did Assyrian merchants introduce cuneiform writing to Anatolia?
How did Byzantine art spread to Italy, Sicily, Russia, and eastern Europe?
How did Byzantine church mosaics represent the hierarchy of the universe?
How did Early Bronze Age pottery styles change across Anatolia?
How did Hagia Sophia combine a rectangular interior effect with a nearly square plan?
How did Hittite art change in the Syro-Hittite city-states?
How did figurines from western Anatolia differ from those made in Cappadocia?
How did squinches and pendentives allow a dome to rest over a square room?
How did stone sculpture decorate Seljuq buildings in Konya and Sivas?
How did the Hittites use Hattusa’s landscape to defend their capital?
How did the pendentive improve on earlier methods of supporting domes?
How did the village houses at Hacılar show early architectural symmetry?
How did trade contribute to economic growth in Early Bronze Age Anatolia?
How was the Chalcolithic fortress at Mersin designed for defense?
How was the circular city of Zincirli fortified?
How was the largest temple at Hattusa arranged?
How were houses at Çatalhüyük built and entered?
How were the fortification walls of Hattusa constructed?
What archaeological evidence suggests warfare in Early Bronze Age Anatolia?
What features made up a bit hilani palace unit in Syro-Hittite architecture?
What materials and decorative features were used inside Hagia Sophia?
What objects were found in the royal tombs at Alaca Hüyük?
What role did painted tiles play in Seljuq art in Konya?
What sculptures decorated the gates of Hattusa?
What types of pottery and figurines were found at Hacılar?
What was the Turkish triangle in Anatolian Seljuq dome construction?
What were sculptured orthostats used for in Syro-Hittite buildings?
When did cremation burials first appear in southeastern Anatolia?
When did the potter’s wheel become common in Anatolia?
When did written history begin in Anatolia?
Where is Anatolia located within modern Turkey?
Where was Christ Pantocrator usually placed in a Byzantine church’s decoration?
Which Anatolian cities contain important Seljuq monuments?
Which metals and materials did Early Bronze Age Anatolian craftspeople use?
Which prehistoric periods came before the Bronze Age in Anatolia?
Which regions of Anatolia had distinct Early Bronze Age cultures?
Which types of vaults and domes were used by Seljuq builders in Anatolia?
Who designed Hagia Sophia and when was it completed?
Who is shown in the famous Yazılıkaya relief of a king protected by a god?
Why did Anatolia become a crossroads between Asia and Europe?
Why did Byzantine mosaics often use gold backgrounds and frontal figures?
Why do scholars debate whether Indo-European speakers entered Anatolia around 2450 BCE?
Why do some Seljuq architectural carvings in Anatolia show human and animal figures?
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Why were domes important in Byzantine church architecture?
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History The Ancient World

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External Websites

The Met - The Art of the Seljuq Period in Anatolia

Anatolian art and architecture

Written by

Seton H.F. Lloyd

Professor of Western Asiatic Archaeology, University of London, 1962–69. Author of Early Highland Peoples of Anatolia; Ancient Turkey.

Seton H.F. Lloyd

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Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Anatolian art and architecture, the art and architecture of ancient Anatolian civilizations. Anatolia is the name that is currently applied to the whole Asian territory of modern Turkey. Its western half is a broad peninsula connecting the continent of Asia with Europe. Because the country lacks geographic unity, its component regions being widely differentiated in climate and economy, early students of antiquity doubted the probability of its ever having acquired an overall cultural identity and...

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