World’s Most Amazing and Fascinating Buildings in Early Civilizations
Some Egyptian architects today are also building vaulted structures out of sun-dried bricks. The buildings stay cool and the materials do not damage the environment.
World’s Most Amazing and Fascinating Buildings in Early Civilizations
By Mr Ghaz, November 13, 2010
World’s Most Amazing and Fascinating Buildings in Early Civilizations
More than 5,000 years ago, a great civilization developed in Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers then spread eastward along the north coast of the Indian Ocean. The Egyptian civilization develop beside the River Nile soon after. People traveled between the two areas and brought new ideas and inventions with them. Egypt had many workers and plenty of stone, and the Egyptians built huge pyramids and temples using simple tools and techniques. As they did not have the wheel, 20 men pulled each stone to the pyramid on a wooden sledge. Both stone and wood were scare in Mesopotamia. The people there invented new materials such as bricks moulded from clay and baked in an over or dried by the sun. They then built wheeled carts to transport the bricks.
The Pyramids of Giza
These three pyramids were built more than 4,500 years ago as tombs for Egyptian pharaohs. The largest of the three, the Great Pyramid of Pharaoh Khufu, contains nearly two-and-a-half million stone blocks.
The huge columns of Egyptian temples still stand like stone forests in the desert above the banks of the Nile. This complex at Karnak was built over a period of 1,200 years. Here a statue of a pharaoh and his daughter stands outside the temple.
Ishtar Gate
In the sixth century BC, King Nebuchadnezzar built a road called the Processional Way. This road led from his palace in the city of Babylon, the main city of Mesopotamia, to a ceremonial hall for New Year’s celebrations. The Processional Way passed through the city’s double walls at the Ishtar Gate.
Parade of Lions
Every animal lining the walls of the Processional Way was brick, cast from special moulds so that the bodies curved out from the wall. Each of the lions was made up of 46 specially moulded and glazed bricks.
Glazed Bricks: The bricks on the walls were painted with a glasslike mixture then baked to produce glowing colors.
The symbols of the Babylonian storm or weather god Akkadian Adad, decorate the Ishtar Gate.
An arched vault: The passage through the gate was 4 m (13 ft) wide, which was only possible because it was covered by an arch.
Inventing the Arch
A stone laid across on open space like a doorway is brittle and will break if a heavy weight is placed on it. To avoid this, the supports of ancient stone buildings were set close together. Mesopotamians invented the arch so they could build wide, open rooms. Bricks or small stones set in a curve form an arch. The weight of each stone pushes it against the next until one pushes against a thick wall, called a buttress. The buttress presses the stones together and holds the arch in place. A vault is a ceiling built with arches.
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Thanks for sharing
I wish buildings like this were still made, they feel much better than modern buildings.
These ancient architects and builders put some modern ones to shame. A wonderful post.
Christine
great share
Amazing architectural designs and structures
Splendid and wonderful structures on Earth. 
Awesome share more….
Wonderfully done. Thanks for the read.
Monica.
Great writing. I like this
Those ancient architects and carftsmen did beautiful work. Thank you also for the explanation of how the arch works.
another well-penned article with great photos.
Great share.
fascinating
