[IARC BLOG]: September 2010

Below are some major ideas from what we can see today of the Ancient Egyptian, Grecian, and Roman structures and artifacts.

The permanence of Egyptian architecture is astounding, as its monumental presence can still be on looked 5000 years after when we believe structures like the pyramids existed. In a society focusing on the eternal after life though, it makes sense to some degree that we still have evidence of their presence today. The main lessons are the preservation of the building, which holds simple principals like stacking, developed to be able to penetrate the sky in an attempt to reach the heavens on earth. The post-lintel system also used by the Egyptians carried in through in not only holding up their structures, but also filtering light, and in turn controlling temperature through the development of the column. (Example: Hypothstyle hall) Scale-wise the ancient structures were massive using mainly stone. Artifacts left behind like furniture were made out of wood protected and existing today perhaps only because of the lasting structures that preserved them.

The Grecian culture focused on finding the perfect balance and order. More stylized columns were developed out of stone to support the post-lintel system seen in many of the monumentally scaled temples. (Example: Parthenon) The study of mathematics is evident in their building seen in their attempts to achieve this perfect balance and order, especially through proportions. The corner columns of various temples are even thicker than others to create the illusion of balance from the perspective of an on looker coming up to the temple. The Greek art preserved today shows much more humanistic figures than Egyptian art but still was used partially to depict actions and stories.

Ancient Rome took the Greek structures they observed and garnished and advance d many of the forms. A great example of this would be the more elaborate of the column orders; the Corinthian. The Romans achieved many feats such as the arch, which changed architecture then forward. Focusing on symmetry, balance and order, the immense scaled temples, bathhouses, basilica, coliseum, aqueduct, domes, markets, and villas are all productions of a culture seeking perfection. Artwork found in the form of mosaics was often colorful and meant to advertise, tell stories, and hold symbolism.

1. Throughout my years in school I have never heard the idea that Greek architectural elements, when broken down and examined closely could represent symbols of sacrificial practice. However, this is not to say in any way that this proposition should not be entertained as valid given Hersey’s argument. In his opinion, just about everything in the Greek temple as we know it holds a symbolic undertone dealing with the process of a sacrificial ritual. He cites the tryglyph as representing the 3 different parts of the femur (a bone kept after the sacrifice), the wrapping around the base of columns meant to represent how the sacrificial animal’s feet were bound with rope, moldings and ornamentation representing teeth, and the list goes on, as just about every element represents a part of the body. With no previous experience upon considering this notion before, it is problematical to determine whether Hersey’s argument is in fact valid. Textbooks such as Roth’s Understanding Architecture only touch upon the concepts of Greek architecture being a balance between lift and load (vertical and horizontal elements), action and rest, all sculpted to perfection using the best materials available. Although looking at elements such as the capital of a Greek column (ionic and Corinthian to be more specific) and viewing them as head garlands, hair and horns is a fairly reasonable thought to entertain given my own previous knowledge, or lack there of-Greek sacrifice. Perhaps one of the more convincing arguments Hersey proposes is that tracholion and hypotrachallon derive from the Greek word for throat. Hersey notes that the head/skulls of the sacrificial victims’ were possibly exhibited atop wooden columns. One could see upon their reading alongside visual components that the capital of the Ionic column for instance could have been more than merely crafted scrolls and curls, representing the horns of an animal sitting atop the column for display given my knowledge that pagan religions were not necessarily foreign to the practice of ritual sacrifices. When reading Hersey’s arguments given the visual components he provides, it is not difficult to acknowledge his propositions as quite possibly valid, despite the fact that without any other research on the madder it is challenging to determine the true validity of his argument.

2. As the result of today’s quick and easy access to information, many times invalid or misinterpreted information is conveyed without a second glance to the concern of the true accuracy of the gathered “facts”. People do not inspect the information they happen upon as closely as what is necessary, possibly because the word is written. Upon creating a context involving people, places and things, a sense of actuality is often taken too seriously even without multiple sources on the given subject to truly establish its validity. In the case of the character of Carson in McCaulays Motel of the Mysteries, a story is recited that is entertaining, but lacks the cultural context given its topics needed in order to be recognized as valid. To avoid such shaky territory one cannot simply rely on merely one source of information, especially from the Internet that spans such a wide web of “facts”. In order to create a valid argument, one must avoid the gaffe first by using multiple sources, moreover sources from all different mediums, including recognized books and journals, in addition to Internet research.

3. Protruding from the earth, the pyramids at Giza are massive stacks, which display the eternal life of the pharaohs Khufu, Kafre, and Menkaure. The massive scale, and visual solidity certainly demonstrate the onlooker the pharaohs’ highest rank in society, nearest of the statues of a god in Egyptian society. Rising high in verticality, these pyramids stand pointed to the heavens as to emphasize the pharaohs communication an connection with the God(s), Queen Hatshepsuts funerary temple takes on an entirely opposite approach to eternal life, laying amongst a mountain in great contrast to the tombs of the rulers before her; the pyramids that seem to penetrate the sky out of nowhere. The queen’s temple accentuates its horizontal components instead with opening aligning its front, adorned with a ramp protruding from its center. This is a sharp contrast to the pyramids that seemed to have no entrance, no deviation in form as to lessen the heaviness of the structure or welcome any onlookers. The idea that Queen Hatshepsut’s tomb is a more welcoming structure in part to its array of openings deviating the heaviness of its mass could quite possibly reflect her role as a woman in Egyptian culture as the opening s and ramp invite the viewer in awe, rather than strike their senses as the pyramids do from their impenetrable mass.

4. Although separated by the Mediterranean Sea along with a place in world history, Egyptian and Greek civilizations share many similarities that we can find in their design response, specifically in the construction of their sacred temples. As expected in different civilizations, the Egyptians and the Greeks formed entirely different cultures. We can see their cultural differing reflected in their building forms. In the words of Roth; “ The Greeks cared little for immortality on a spiritual plan, but rather, they sought to ensure their immortality in human memory, through their intellectual and artistic excellence”. In the essence of this quote, the Greeks couldn’t have been more contrasting in their values than the Egyptians, whose primary focus in life was the idea of the eternal afterlife. When analyzing the different temples produced by the separate cultures however, the Grecian Parthenon and Egyptian hypostyle hall, we can see some merging in architectural style. Looking at the plans of the tow buildings, the similarities appear at the center of the structures. Both temples include a post-lintel construction, but more importantly both the Hypothstyle hall and Parthenon include a set of parallel columns in their hearth, which lead up to a more enclosed, thus more spiritual area. Contrasting, the Hypothstyle hall includes many more columns actually encompassing the parallel set in its hearth. This aspect creates a much darker atmosphere coinciding to the differing religions of the two cultures, as the less lit of the two structures was built by the one which focused on the afterlife…a relatively dark subject. In comparison to the Grecian culture that worshipped the gods for whom hey believed to have allocated their blessings in life, the Parthenon only has two extra layers of columns filtering light from the centralized enclosure. This does not mean that this center was any less holy then that of the Hypothsyle hall, for in was supposed to lead up to a great statue of the goddess Athena who was adorned in gold. This greater amount of light was necessary in order to reflect on the statue, creating a gleaming and divine presence. As the Parthenon leads the worshipped to an enclosure of light, the Hypothsyle hall leads the worshipper to the darkest part. A last important element in this illustration is the idea of the enclosure, guarded by layers of columns. Each layer peels back a more private space cued by the columns creating a holier realm within each realm, in the case of the Parthenon a lighter space of worship, Hypothstyle hall having a darker sense of spirituality.

5. Egyptian culture kept the underlying theme of eternity throughout just about everything they left behind. In turn the pharaohs left their permanent mark on society. Thanks to this concept, we can observe the remnants of this “eternal” culture they left behind. As the pharaoh’s tomb was meant to last forever, the heavy structure consisted of what Napoleon deemed to be enough material in the three pyramids at Giza “to build a wall 3 meters high and 1 meter thick around the whole of France”. So why would the ideal of eternity not carry through as strongly in Egyptian furniture, which was constructed out of wood? Quite possibly they valued the structure more than its interior furnishings, aware that the structure would be the component of their existence that was truly eternal. One could also contemplate that the furniture was mainly meant for their time on earth and became more of an afterthought amongst the grand scale of the pyramids. The heaviness of the pyramids also maintains strength necessary to be apart of an exterior while less attention was devoted to the interior, as furnishings were less important than the enclosure itself in the afterlife.

6. Depicted on the two urns are two images portraying male dominance over women. Both of the urns show the male figure seated on a throne (maybe a king/god), while on one urn one woman and the other two women stand tending to the seated male. These illustrations certainly characterize a nurturing role of a woman and a more leadership centered role for the man. These reflections of a male dominated society can be supported as Harwood notes that males possess ownership and independence as he notes that women in Grecian culture are “their fathers or husbands property”. To delve deeper into Grecian culture these urns surely support Harwood’s claims along with contributing another piece of evidence that the Greek culture was a male dominated one.