The Buildings of Civilization A functional building is a combination of balance, form, construction, and duration. Monuments, buildings of great significance, combine the aspects of function with inspiration and insight towards the civilization that built and used it. Today, ancient monuments lure people into their presence with their antiquity, yet they certainly were not built to serve as eye-candy for people thousands-of-years into the future. Rather, such monuments had then-modern purposes, all of which provide a lot of significant information pertaining to the civilization responsible for them. The Pyramids of Egypt, the Greek Parthenon, and the Roman Colosseum all provide modern civilizations with insight into their respective civilizations.
The Pyramids reflect the mentality of Ancient Egyptians towards their Pharaoh. The physical construction was extensive, and "that the Egyptians could have dragged, hoisted, and stacked these weighty stones with such precision is miraculous."ÃÂ Many citizens, out of devotion to their pharaoh, put a lot of time, effort, and strength into completing the pyramids.
Parthenon from west
All Giza Pyramids in one shot. Русский: В...
Picture of Parthenon I took in late afternoon. Fra...In some cases, the reported amount of workers exceeds one-hundred-thousand men, and even though modern Egyptologist Zahi Hawass believes "that [the] permanent and temporary workmen who worked at building the pyramid were 36,000,"ÃÂ the amount of people who went into construction is numerous, as is the amount of time devoted to completion. Each pyramid took approximately fifteen to thirty years to complete, which is a considerable amount of time, even when one considers that the workers worked only a few months a year, during the flood of the Nile. In certain pyramids, such as that of the Great Pyramid of Khufu, both the architect and the workers made extra efforts to protect the pharaoh's mummified body and possessions. Construction plans changed in the midst of production, incorporating hidden passages throughout the pyramid. The amount of work that...