4.12: Conclusion and Contrast

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For the ornate marble and stone buildings, elaborate sculpture, bronze tools, and weapons, the trade routes over land and sea grew, and control of a specialized material added economic advantage. The Phoenicians controlled the production of the color purple, while the pure white marble was quarried from mountains in the Aegean. Artisans incorporated the different materials and areas within a culture became known for a uniquely designed vessel or innovative shape of a weapon, or new methods to stack stones in ever-larger buildings. During this period, the language developed into symbols allowing information to be recorded. Linguistic symbols were incorporated into the artwork, identifying a ruler, incising a saying, or painting a story.

Contrasting the Buildings of Early Civilizations

Civilization	Building	Construction Material	Decorations
Middle/New/Late Kingdom Egyptian Dynasties	Temple of Karnak and the Valley of the Kings	Stone blocks, stacked sandstone, cut into hillsides	Carved scenes, painted, low relief carvings
Aegean	Palace of Knossos	Stone floor, stacked stone support, wood frame, plastered	Elaborate frescos Red columns Elaborate throne room
Assyrian	Temple of Ashur	Mud brick on quarried stone foundation	Low relief carvings
Babylonian	Etemenanki Tower	Unknown	Unknown
Persians	Persepolis	Limestone blocks, mud brick, wooden lintels	Low relief carvings, statues, elaborate stairways, stone columns
Phoenicians	Amrit and Olympic Stadium	Carved from bedrock, stacked stone	Carvings
Etruscans	Tarquina and Cerveteri Cemetery	Cut rock in hillsides and stacked stone	Painted with frescos
Shang and Zhou Dynasties	Shaobei Dam	Earth	Packed earth, blocks
Late Jomon Period	Sannai-Maruyama	Wood beams, posts, supports, thatched roofs	None known
Chavin	Chavin de Huantar	Stone blocks	Low relief carvings
Olmec	La Venta	Stone blocks	Carved sculptures
Early Pre-Classic Mayan	La Blanca	Stone blocks	Carved sculptures

1. Select three cultures and define how they moved the raw materials for the structure.

2. How did the cultures in the Western Hemisphere carve into the hard stone?

3. What is the Hypostyle Hall and how was it constructed?

4. How did the Etruscans paint the frescos?