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The history of Bodrum, known as Halicarnassus or Halicarnassos goes back to the 13th century BC. Excavaties reveal the 5000 year old history of this town. Many civilisations found their home here. Carians for excample, Homer tells in his Ilia, that the Carians helped to defend Troya.
Heredotus, known as the father of history, was born in Bodrum in 484 BC.- and he said that Bodrum had been founded by the Dorians. The next settlers were Carians and Lelegians. In the 6'th. century BC., the region came under Persian rule. Its most brilliant period was around 353. BC. when it was the capital of the Satrap of Caria (In this century it was famous for its trade, sailing and boatbuilding.) Artemisia who was a warrior-woman played a significant role in the protection of the Asian Union and she achieved fame by adopting a stance against Rhodes as the Admiral of the Carian fleet in 480 BC.
The Mausoleum is Bodrums oldest antiquity and was built by Artemisia II in honour of her husband King Mausolos. It became one of the wonders of the ancient world, Mausoleum still is the general term for a large tomb. The entire structure stood at over 50 meters in height. The first reliefs from the Mausoleum reached the British Museum in London in 1846, these included frescos and other objects.
Bodrums first remembered literary character was Cevat Sakir, known as the 'Halicarnassus Fisherman' asked for the return of the Mausoleum parts to Bodrum in a letter adressed to the Queen of England, saying that such exquisite works of art were not finding their true place under the foggy and grey sky of London. The letter he received in response stated as following: "Thank you for reminding us of the matter, We have painted the ceiling where the Mausoleum is located in blue."
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A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
The Temple of the Warriors is one of the most impressive structures at Chichén Itzá. It may be the only known late classic Maya building sufficiently big enough for really large gatherings. The temple consists of four platforms, flanked on the west and south sides by 200 round and square columns. The square columns are carved in low relief, with Toltec warriors; in some places they are cemented together in sections, covered with plaster and painted in brilliant colors. The Temple of Warriors is approached by a broad stairway with a plain, stepped ramp on either side, each ramp has figures of standard-bearers to hold flags. A chacmool reclined before the main entrance. On the top, S-shaped serpent columns supported wooden lintels (now gone) above the doorways. Decorative features on the head of each serpent and astronomical signs are carved over the eyes. On the top of each serpent head is a shallow basin that might have been used as an oil lamp.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
Constructed by created by North African Berber communities, in the 11th century, the Nalut Kasr is a tourist destination, and has been abandoned since the 60s
© Eric Lafforgue
Akhenaten (pronounced /ˌɑːkəˈnɑːtən/;[1] often also spelled Echnaton, Akhnaton, or rarely Ikhnaton; meaning Effective spirit of Aten) was known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV (sometimes given its Greek form, Amenophis IV, and meaning Amun is Satisfied), a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, ruled for 17 years and died in 1336 BC or 1334 BC. He is especially noted for abandoning traditional Egyptian polytheism and introducing worship centered on the Aten, which is sometimes described as monotheistic or henotheistic. An early inscription likens him to the sun as compared to stars, and later official language avoids calling the Aten a god, giving the solar deity a status above mere gods.
Akhenaten tried to bring about a departure from traditional religion, yet in the end it would not be accepted. After his death, traditional religious practice was gradually restored, and when some dozen years later rulers without clear rights of succession from the Eighteenth Dynasty founded a new dynasty, they discredited Akhenaten and his immediate successors, referring to Akhenaten himself as "the enemy" in archival records.[5]
He was all but lost from history until the discovery, in the 19th century, of Amarna, the site of Akhetaten, the city he built for the Aten. Early excavations at Amarna by Flinders Petrie sparked interest in the enigmatic pharaoh, which increased with the discovery in the Valley of the Kings, at Luxor, of the tomb of King Tutankhamun, who has been proved to be Akhenaten's son according to DNA testing in 2010 by Zahi Hawass of Cairo.[6] Akhenaten remains an interesting figure, as does his Queen, Nefertiti. Their modern interest comes partly from his connection with Tutankhamun, partly from the unique style and high quality of the pictorial arts he patronized, and partly from ongoing interest in the religion he attempted to establish. Wikipedia
Neues Museum: Berlin
A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
Adjacent to the Temple of Warriors at Chichén Itzá are long colonnaded halls lined with benches. This colonnade borders a large adjacent court, combining civic, palace, administrative and market functions, and it is very Toltec in construction, quite similar to Pyramid B at Tula. Some scholars believe this feature, when compared to Puuc style architecture and iconography such as seen at the Iglesia, indicates that the Toltec replaced the religious-based leaders for warrior-priests.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, depicted in this hand-coloured engraving by Martin Heemskerck, was built about 353 bc. The mausoleum was a huge marble tomb built for King Mausolus of Caria in Asia Minor.
In 377 BC Halicarnassus was the capital of a small region and kingdom in the coast of Anatolia. In that year the ruler of the region, Hecatomnus of Milas, died and left the control of the kingdom to his son, Mausolus. Hecatomnus, a local satrap under the Persians, took control of several of the neighboring cities and districts. After Mausolus and Artemisia, he had several other sons and daughters: Ada (adopted mother of Alexander III of Macedon), Idrieus and Pixodarus. Mausolus extended its territory as far as the southwest coast of Anatolia. Mausolus and Artemisia ruled from Halicarnassus over the surrounding territory for twenty-four years. Mausolus, although descended from local people, spoke Greek and admired the Greek way of life and government. He founded many cities of Greek design along the coast and encouraged Greek democratic traditions.
Mausolus decided to build a new capital, a city as safe from capture and as magnificent as any to be seen. He chose the city of Halicarnassus. If Mausolus' ships blocked a small channel, they could keep all enemy warships out. He started to make of Halicarnassus a capital fit for a warrior prince. His workmen deepened the city's harbor and used the dredged sand to make protecting breakwaters in front of the channel. On land, they paved squares, streets and houses for ordinary citizens, and on one side of the harbor they built a massive fortress–palace for Mausolus, positioned for clear views out to sea and inland to the hills — places where enemies could attack.
On land, the workmen also built walls and watchtowers, a Greek–style theatre and a temple to Ares, the Greek god of war.
Mausolus and Artemisia spent huge amounts of tax money to embellish the city. They commissioned statues, temples and buildings of gleaming marble. In the center of the city Mausolus planned to place a resting place for his body after his death. It would be a tomb that would forever show how rich he and his queen were.
In 353 BC Mausolus died, leaving Artemisia broken-hearted. It was the custom in Caria for rulers to marry their sisters. Such incestuous marriages kept the power and the wealth in the family. As a tribute to him, she decided to build him the most splendid tomb, a structure so famous that Mausolus's name is now the eponym for all stately tombs, in the word mausoleum. The construction was also so beautiful and unique it became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Soon after construction of the tomb started Artemisia found herself in a crisis. Rhodes, a Greek island at the Aegean Sea, had been conquered by Mausolus. When the Rhodians heard about his death, they rebelled and sent a fleet of ships to capture the city of Halicarnassus. Knowing that the Rhodian fleet was on the way, Artemisia hid her own ships at a secret location at the east end of the city's harbor. After troops from the Rhodian fleet disembarked to attack, Artemisia's fleet made a surprise raid, captured the Rhodian fleet and towed it out to sea. Artemisia put her own soldiers on the invading ships and sailed them back to Rhodes. Fooled into thinking that the returning ships were their own victorious navy, the Rhodians failed to put up a defense and the city was easily captured, quelling the rebellion.
Artemisia lived for only two years after the death of her husband. The urns with their ashes were placed in the yet unfinished tomb. As a form of sacrifice ritual the bodies of a large number of dead animals were placed on the stairs leading to the tomb, then the stairs were filled with stones and rubble, sealing the access. According to the historian Pliny the Elder, the craftsmen decided to stay and finish the work after the death of their patron "considering that it was at once a memorial of his own fame and of the sculptor's art."
Enormous burnt-brick entryway located over the main thoroughfare in the ancient city of Babylon (now in Iraq). Built about 575 BC, it became the eighth fortified gate in the city. The Ishtar Gate was more than 38 feet (12 metres) high and was decorated with glazed brick reliefs, in tiers, of dragons and young bulls.
Floor mosaic in the Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina, Sicily that dates from the late 3rd and early 4th century AD. The unique feature of this villa are it's well preserved mosaic floor, over 50 rooms of them. Its decorative mosaics are exceptional for their artistic quality and invention as well as their extent, making it the richest, largest and most complex collection of late Roman mosaics in the world. The Villa Romana del Casale is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
This mosaic is from the master bedroom.
In 377 B.C., the city of Halicarnassus was the capitol of a small kingdom along the Mediterranean coast of Asia Minor. It was in that year the ruler of this land, Hecatomnus of Mylasa, died and left control of the kingdom to his son, Mausolus. Hecatomnus, a local satrap to the Persians, had been ambitious and had taken control of several of the neighboring cities and districts. Mausolus in his time, extended the territory even further so that it finally included most of southwestern Asia Minor.
Mausolus, with his queen Artemisia, ruled over Halicarnassus and the surrounding territory for 24 years. Mausolus, though he was descended from the local people, spoke Greek and admired the Greek way of life and government. He founded many cities of Greek design along the coast and encouraged Greek democratic traditions.
Then in 353 B.C. Mausolus died, leaving his queen Artemisia, who was also his sister (It was the custom in Caria for rulers to marry their own sisters), broken-hearted. As a tribute to him, she decided to build him the most splendid tomb in the known world. It became a structure so famous that Mausolus's name is now associated with all stately tombs through our modern word mausoleum. The building was also so beautiful and unique it became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Artemisia decided that no expense was to be spared in the building of the tomb. She sent messengers to Greece to find the most talented artists of the time. This included Scopas, the man who had supervised the rebuilding of the Temple to Artemis at Ephesus. Other famous sculptors such as Bryaxis, Leochares and Timotheus joined him as well as hundreds of other craftsmen.
The tomb was erected on a hill overlooking the city. The whole structure sat in an enclosed courtyard. At the center of the courtyard was a stone platform on which the tomb itself sat. A staircase, flanked by stone lions, led to the top of this platform. Along the outer wall of this were many statues depicting gods and goddess. At each corner stone warriors, mounted on horseback, guarded the tomb.
At the center of the platform was the tomb itself. Made mostly of marble, the structure rose as a square, tapering block to about one-third of the Mausoleum's 140 foot height. This section was covered with relief sculpture showing action scenes from Greek myth/history. One part showed the battle of the Centaurs with the Lapiths. Another depicted Greeks in combat with the Amazons, a race of warrior women.
On top of this section of the tomb thirty-six slim columns, nine per side, rose for another third of the height. Standing in between each column was another statue. Behind the columns was a solid block that carried the weight of the tomb's massive roof.
The roof, which comprised most of the final third of the height, was in the form of a stepped pyramid. Perched on top was the tomb's penultimate work of sculpture: Four massive horses pulling a chariot in which images of Mausolus and Artemisia rode.
Soon after construction of the tomb started Artemisia found herself in a crisis. Rhodes, an island in the Aegean Sea between Greece and Asia Minor, had been conquered by Mausolus. When the Rhodians heard of his death they rebelled and sent a fleet of ships to capture the city of Halicarnassus. Knowing that the Rhodian fleet was on the way, Artemisa hid her own ships at a secret location at the east end of the city's harbor. After troops from the Rhodian fleet disembarked to attack, Artemisia's fleet made a surprise raid, captured the Rhodian fleet, and towed it out to sea.
Artemisa put her own soldiers on the invading ships and sailed them back to Rhodes. Fooled into thinking that the returning ships were their own victorious navy, the Rhodians failed to put up a defense and the city was easily captured quelling the rebellion.
Artemisa lived for only two years after the death of her husband. Both would be buried in the yet unfinished tomb. According to the historian Pliny, the craftsmen decided to stay and finish the work after their patron died "considering that it was at once a memorial of their own fame and of the sculptor's art."
The Mausoleum overlooked the city of Halicarnassus for many centuries. It was untouched when the city fell to Alexander the Great in 334 B.C. and still undamaged after attacks by pirates in 62 and 58 B.C.. It stood above the city ruins for some 17 centuries. Then a series of earthquakes shattered the columns and sent the stone chariot crashing to the ground. By 1404 A.D. only the very base of the Mausoleum was still recognizable.
Crusaders, who had occupied the city from the thirteen century onward, recycled the broken stone into their own buildings. In 1522 rumors of a Turkish invasion caused Crusaders to strengthen the castle at Halicarnassus (which was by then known as Bodrum) and much of the remaining portions of the tomb was broken up and used within the castle walls. Indeed sections of polished marble from the tomb can still be seen there today.
At this time a party of knights entered the base of the monument and discovered the room containing a great coffin. The party, deciding it was too late to open it that day, returned the next morning to find the tomb, and any treasure it may have contained, plundered. The bodies of Mausolus and Artemisia were missing too. The Knights claimed that Moslem villagers were responsible for the theft, but it is more likely that some of the Crusaders themselves plundered the graves.
Before grounding much of the remaining sculpture of the Mausoleum into lime for plaster the Knights removed several of the best works and mounted them in the Bodrum castle. There they stayed for three centuries. At that time the British ambassador obtained several of the statutes from the castle, which now reside in the British Museum.
In 1846 the Museum sent the archaeologist Charles Thomas Newton to search for more remains of the Mausoleum. He had a difficult job. He didn't know the exact location of the tomb and the cost of buying up all the small parcels of land in the area to look for it would have been astronomical. Instead Newton studied the accounts of ancient writers like Pliny to obtain the approximate size and location of the memorial, then bought a plot of land in the most likely location. Digging down, Newton explored the surrounding area through tunnels he dug under the surrounding plots. He was able to locate some walls, a staircase, and finally three of the corners of the foundation. With this knowledge, Newton was able to figure out which plots of land he needed to buy.
Newton then excavated the site and found sections of the reliefs that decorated the wall of the building and portions of the stepped roof. Also a broken stone chariot wheel, some seven feet in diameter, from the sculpture on the roof was discovered. Finally, he found the statues of Mausolus and Artemisia that had stood at the pinnacle of the building.
Today these works of art stand in the Mausoleum Room at the British Museum. There the images of Mausolus and his queen forever watch over the few broken remains of the beautiful tomb she built for him.
Artemis is the name given to a divinity worshipped for centunes in the Mediterranean world. Kubala, recognised as Mother Goddess throughout the whole of Mesopotamia,was refered to in the Phrygian language as Kybele. The cult of the goddess had sprear from Anatolia to Mesopotamia, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine, thence to Egypt and from the Aegean Islands to Crete. It can also be traced in Greece and Italy as well as in the northern countries. This goddess, who symbolised the soil and its fruitfulness and the fertility of nature, was worshipped under various names at various times and in various places. Although there is no definite information regarding the development of this cult in Ephesus, Artemis is clearly regarded in the Homeric eulogy as an Ionian goddess.
One of the constant attributes of the goddess is the number three. Artemis is regarded as virgin, wife and mother. "The whole of nature was subject to this primitive goddess. It is by her orders that the earth brings forth fruit and flowers. She rules the elements, the air, the earth and the sea. She governs the life of the animals, she tames the wild beasts and prevents their extinction .... She assists in birth. Homer calls her "the goddess of wild animals". Artemis became the tutelary goddess of Marsilia, Carthage and the cities of the Near East. As the ruler of civilisation she wore a head-dress crowned with city towers. Each year, she was celebrated almost everywhere in great festivals as the fertility goddess and granted innumerable prayers. She was described as the "bee goddess" and on one side of the Ephesus coins was to be found the queen bee as the symbol of Artemis. The hymn written by Callimachos to Artemis ends with a sentence describing the Amazon dance. "Let no one refrain from the annual dance of Artemis". The annual festival of Artemis lasted for a month, during which time people came pouring into Ephesus from the four corners of the known world to take part in the entertainments, dances and commercial activities."
The first temple dedicated to Artemis was completed in 625 B.C and destroyed during the Cimmerian invasions.
According to Pliny, this imposing building was destroyed and rebuilt nine times. This archaic building possessed marble columns, some of which were donated by Croesus, King of Lydia. An older building was unearthed with the same plan and dimensions, remains from which are now preserved in the British Museum. Three other floors belonging to the old building were unearthed by David George Hogarth, who was in charge of the excavations carried out here in 1904-1906 on behalf of the same museum. The coins discovered in the lowest floor date from the 6th century B.C. The later Artemision was built in 564-540 B.c. The most distinguished artists and architects of the day, Scopas, Praxiteles, Polycleitos, Phidias, Cresilas, Cydon and Apellas, combined to produce a magnificent building four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens. Appeles was responsible for the picture "Aphrodite Anadiomene" within the temple. According to Pliny's Naturalis Historia, this was an Ionic temple measuring 200 x 425 m with 127 columns reaching a height of 20 m.
Regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the building is said to have been destroyed by a madman by the name of Herostratos who burned down the temple in order to immortalise his name. Alexander the Great, on his way to the Persian campaign, offered to defray the expenses of the restoration of the building provided he might be permitted to make the dedicatory inscription in his own name, but the Ephesians declined the offer on the grounds that it was not fitting for a temple to be dedicated to two gods, thus refusing the offer without hurting his pride. The new temple, built in the years 334-260 B.C., was the largest Greek temple then in existence.
It was erected on the foundations of the older temple and was thus exactly the same size, but owing to the marshy nature of the land it was raised on a crepidoma of sixteen steps. It lay on an east-west axis on a peninsula surrounded on three sides by the sea with sacred harbours, allowing ships to be moored directly to the steps of the temple. The architects of the first building built by Croesus were Chersiphron and Metesenes, while Critocrates and Gritocrates are said to have been the architects respocible for the 4th century B.C. building. The temple was detroyed by the invading Goths in 262 A.D. and never rebuilt. The Temple of Artemis was a prototype of the Ionic style. The Artemision was first and foremost a religious institution. A large number of priests and priestesses lived in the temple. Coins were minted there, credit given and a type of banking carried out.
Festivities were held in May each year' to celebrate the birthday of the goddess. Until the spread of Christianity and monotheism, Ephesus was a place of pilgrimage. Moreover, all sorts of criminals and wrong-doers found sanctuary in the temple, whose sanctity was respected by all the rulers of Western Anatolia. When St Paul arrived in Ephesus preaching a belief in one god, he was confronted by the Ephesians chanting their slogan "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians", but when, in the Christian era, the worship of their goddess was finally prohibited, they transferred some of the attributes of Artemis to the Virgin Mary.
Excavations:
The first temple was unearthed in excavations carried out on behalf of the British Museum in 1869-74 by J.T.Wood, who was employed at that time on the construction of the railroad. A corner of the temple was discovered in 1869. The finds were transported first to Izmir then via Venice to London. At the present day the most important of the finds from the temple are preserved in the British Museum. According to old sources some of the architectural elements from the temple were employed in the construction of the basilica of Ayasofya.
In some stories, people say that the Hanging Gardens went hundreds of feet into the air, but through archaeological explorations people now think were probably weren't that big. The ancient city of Babylon, which was under King Nebuchadnezzar II, must have been a wonder to a travelers. In 450 B.C., a historian named Herodotus wrote, "In addition to it's size, Babylon surpasses any city in the known world." Herodotus said the outer walls were 80 feet thick, 320 feet high, and 56 miles in length. He said that it was wide enough for a four-horse chariot to turn. Fortresses and temples containing immense statues of solid gold were inside the inner walls.
Above the city was the famous tower of Babel, which was a temple to the God Marduk. It looked like it reached the heavens.
Archaeological examination has found that some of Herodotus's claims (the outer walls seem to be only 10 miles long, and not nearly as high) might not be true. But his story does tell us how cool the features of the city appeared to those who visited it.
Accounts indicate that King Nebuchadnezzar built the garden. He ruled the city for 43 years starting in 605 B.C. According to accounts, the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzer to cheer up his homesick wife. Where she came from, there was green grass and mountainous plains. She found the dry, flat ground of Mesopotamia depressing. The King wanted to recreate her homeland.
Babylon rarely got rain and for the gardens to survive, it would have to have been irrigated by using water from the Euphrates River. People would have probably had to lift water very far into the air at each level. A chain pump was probably used to help. A chain pump is two large wheels on top of each other. Buckets are hung on a chain that connects the wheels. The bucket goes into the water then comes up and goes into a new pool.The empty buckets go back into the water to be refilled. The water at the top is then emptied through into a channel gate that is like a artificial stream to water the gardens.
Construction of the garden wasn't only complicated by getting water to the top, but also by having to avoid having the water wreck the foundation once it was released. Stone was difficult to get in Mesopotamian. Most of the buildings in Babel used brick.
The Punic-Libyan Mausoleum of Massinissa, King of Numidia, an ally of the Romans during the Third Punic War, 3rd century B.C. In 1842, Sir Thomas Reade, British Consul in Tunis, heard about the bilingual inscriptions (Numidian and Latin) on the mausoleum; he came to remove the inscriptions for the collection of the British Museum but in the process destroyed the whole tower mausoleum. In 1921, a French archaeologist rebuilt the mausoleum though the archaeologically important inscription remains in the UK.
The best-known zone of Sacsayhuaman includes its great plaza and its adjacent three massive terrace walls. The stones used in the construction of these terraces are among the largest used in any building in prehispanic America and display a precision of fitting that is unmatched in the Americas.
A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
At the end of the Colonnaded Street and next to the Qasa Al-Bint are the ruins of a large Greco-Roman gate. Called Hadrian’s Gate by some and the Temenos Gate by others, this ceremonial entrance to the sacred section (temenos) of town once had three impressive arches. Notice the square ornamental reliefs. They are Nabataean motifs. This suggests a period of architectural if not political compatibility between the two empires during the early 2nd century annexation of Petra to the Romans.
A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
The Temple of the Warriors is one of the most impressive structures at Chichén Itzá. It may be the only known late classic Maya building sufficiently big enough for really large gatherings. The temple consists of four platforms, flanked on the west and south sides by 200 round and square columns. The square columns are carved in low relief, with Toltec warriors; in some places they are cemented together in sections, covered with plaster and painted in brilliant colors. The Temple of Warriors is approached by a broad stairway with a plain, stepped ramp on either side, each ramp has figures of standard-bearers to hold flags. A chacmool reclined before the main entrance. On the top, S-shaped serpent columns supported wooden lintels (now gone) above the doorways. Decorative features on the head of each serpent and astronomical signs are carved over the eyes. On the top of each serpent head is a shallow basin that might have been used as an oil lamp.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
Ancient Ruins in Greece
As a reminder, keep in mind that this picture is available only for non-commercial use and that visible attribution is required. If you'd like to use this photo outside these terms, please contact me ahead of time to arrange for a paid license.
As ruínas da Babilônia estão a 160 km a sudoeste de Bagdá. Foto Google Earth.
A Babilônia está situada numa vasta planície, uma cidade imensa em forma de quadrado cujos lados medem 22 quilômetros, com uma circunferência de uns 73 quilômetros. O Eufrates corre pelo meio da cidade, dividindo-a em duas partes. O muro chega à água em ambos os lados, há outra muralha em cada margem. Há muitas casas de três ou quatro andares. As avenidas e ruas são retas, e para cada uma das ruas havia um portão de bronze pelo qual podia-se chegar ao rio. (Heródoto, Histórias, I ).
A Walking Tour of Chichén Itzá: Chichén Itzá, one of best known archaeological sites of the Maya civilization, has a split personality. The site is located in the northern Yucatan peninsula of Mexico, about 90 miles from the coast. The south half of the site, called Old Chichén, was constructed beginning about 700 AD, by Puuc Maya emigres from the southern Yucatan. The Puuc built temples and palaces at Chichén Itzá including the Red House (Casa Colorada) and the Nunnery (Casa de las Monejas). The Toltec component of Chichén Itzá arrived from Tula about 950 AD and their influence can be seen in the the Osario (the High Priest's Grave), and the Eagle and Jaguar Platforms. Most interestingly, a cosmopolitan blending of the two created the Observatory (the Caracol) and the Temple of the Warriors.
Photo taken in February 1986 on Kodachrome 64 film with a Minolta SLR camera and Vivitar 70-150 zoom. Scanned 2005. Photo by: Jim Gateley. Text Copyright 2006: archaeology.about.com/mbiopage.htm used with permission. A list of references used for this project is available for further reading on Chichén Itzá.
Localização: Na antiga ilha de Faros, agora um promontório na cidade de Alexandria no Egito.
Dimensões: desconhecido x desconhecido x 117 m (largura x profundidade x altura)
Função da Construção: Construção Naval (há teoria que dizem que era militar também)
Civilização Construtora: Macedônica
Anos de Existência: 1750 anos
Material Predominante: Rochas
Commissioned in 299 BCE by king Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt, the Lighthouse of Alexandria was built by an architect named Sostratus; it was finished in 279, when Ptolemy II Philadelphus was on the throne. The monument is often called Pharos, after the island on which it was erected. It consisted of three main
elements:
A square base 56 meters high;
An octagonal middle 28 meters high;
A circular top of perhaps another 28 meters; the total was more than 100 meters.
Although it was originally just a high tower that made the port of Alexandria visible from far away, at some time in the first century BCE, it was converted into a real lighthouse, so that sailors could benefit from it by night as well. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1326. The sequence (square, octagonal, circular) has inspired more recent towers.
The golden statue of Puxian Pusa or Bodhisattva Samantabhadra at the Golden Summit (Jin Ding) of Emei Mountain (Emei Shan) in Sichuan Province of China in the early morning.
As 14 salas da ala sul do Museu de Pérgamo em Berlim são dedicadas a esta coleção, que contém muitos exemplos importantes de arquitetura, relevos e objectos menores, provenientes da Suméria, da Babilónia e das regiões assíria e do Norte da Síria -Leste da Anatólia, que hoje incluem o Iraque, a Síria e a Turquia.
Uma das maiores atrações situa-se ao longo do eixo principal de uma seção do museu, onde os visitantes podem atravessar e maravilhar-se com as famosas reconstruções dos brilhantemente coloridos monumentos da Babilónia: Os Leões da Via Processional, a Porta de Ishtar e a fachada da sala do trono do rei Nabucodonosor (604-562 a.C.); partes dos edifícios foram recriadas nas suas dimensões originais remontando meticulosamente os inúmeros pedaços de tijolos partidos achadas nas escavações; ao longo das paredes, leões, touros e dragões simbolizam os deuses principais da Babilónia.