Chapter One- Time Travel to the Egyptian CultureThe farthest back that I was able to travel was to the Egyptian culture, one of the first civilizations here on Earth. While in Egypt I had the opportunity to see what I believe is one of the most extraordinary pieces of architecture, the Great Pyramids of Giza (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 24. Figure 1.20), being built. It is an experience that I will never forget. Many of us have seen pictures or even had the chance to visit these pyramids but to have the chance to see them built was a rare opportunity that gave me insight into the purpose of the pyram ...view middle of the document...
As I said earlier, I had the opportunity to see the pyramids constructed. "They were an extraordinary accomplishment of engineering. The pyramids were in a triangular shape which symbolized the falling rays of the sun." (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 24). The stones that the pyramids were built of were solid limestone. Workers labored long hours for the pharaohs cutting the limestone, marking them to show where they would be placed on the pyramids, floating them across the river, dragging them up ramps, and finally placing them with "mathematical precision so that the corners were aligned towards the North, South, East, and West." (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 24). The inside of the pyramids were constructed "of a system of corridors that lead to the burial chamber." (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 24).Art from previous civilizations influenced the building of the pyramids. As we see in the arts of previous cultures the people used whatever materials were available to them depending on where they were located. They did not trade for other countries' materials or go searching for other materials. They used whatever materials were close at hand. Again, in previous cultures we see that the arts were heavily influenced by religion, rituals, and religious beliefs which are also evident in the pyramids. The pyramids are related to artwork within the Egyptian civilization as well. They are similar to the Stepped Pyramid of Zoser (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 23. Figure 1.19) which was also built to appear to be closer to the gods and to heaven. The pyramids are related to the Great Sphinx (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 25. Figure 1.21) in that the Great Sphinx "guards the Pyramid of Chefren" (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 24). The painting of Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 26. Figure 1.23) shows that the "pharaoh stood back and watched the hunt, telling his servants what to do, rather than participating in the hunt." (Benton, J and DiYanni, R. (2008) Arts and Culture: An Introduction to the Humanities. Third Edition. Chapter 1, Pg. 24). This is similar to the pyramids because the pharaohs did not build the pyramids themselves but they had laborers to do the work for them and they just stood back and directed what work was to be done and delegated the tasks. The pyramids still have meaning and value in modern-day cultures in t...
