The art and architecture of Chaldea

Chaldean architecture changed little over the centuries, and throughout their history, they only ever changed minor aspects of it. Rows of tall, slender columns were always a dominant feature, as was lush and colorful interior decoration, and massive statuary flanking important entryways.

The Chaldeans liked to build on a massive scale, and they preferred clean, slightly rounded lines and shapes. Their houses were large, and contained spacious living rooms, as well as tall, arched hallways. Their roads and squares were paved with such consummate skill that some of them still see everyday usage.

The Chaldeans preferred to build with large, square-cut slabs of white rock. While ordinary houses tended to be constructed using locally available rock, statues and monuments were crafted out of marble, which Chaldeans considered the noblest of materials.

When colonizing new lands, the Chaldeans routinely sent architects and craftsmen who co-operated with local workers on town centers. These centers of integration and civilization always included a large square, a town hall, and a villa for the Chaldean governor.

Statues and symbols

Instead of warrior-kings with drawn weapons, Chaldean statues often depicted bearded philosopher-kings holding scrolls. Their ideal was the learned man or woman who brought civilization to barbarian tribes and this is reflected in the statues they left behind. Many statues also show the Chaldean river-goddess Eanna, who is usually depicted wearing a tiara and carrying a staff or rod symbolizing rulership.

Chaldean men commonly wore their beards in fine braids, and tended to wear tunics in summer, light robes in winter. Chaldean women wore their hair long and unbraided, and tended wore tunics that were colorfully decorated along broad hems. A period of warm summers and mild winters coincided with the Chaldean golden age, and they rarely needed the kind of heavy winter clothing that is worn in Mercia today.

The most commonly found symbol on Chaldean buildings and monuments is the Wave of Eanna, which consists of three wavy lines in a horizontal row. Sometimes the Wave is depicted above a wheat sheaves or an open book. The jagged, many-pointed Star of Ashur is also quite common in Chaldean ruins, especially in what were the heartlands of the fallen civilization.

Read about a typical Chaldean dungeon