Assignment
Use Chicago Style for citations.
The essays are required to be 1500-2000 words
In this module, we are exploring the ancient cultures of Egypt, Greece and Rome. For this essay, select a monumental structure from two different cultures discussed and develops a comparison (for example from Egypt and Greece or Rome and Greece). Identify how they achieve and use monumentality in architecture and analyze how the buildings might reflect the existing political structures, social hierarchies and cultural conditions (religion) Look at the sites chosen at a large and small scale. Consult the textbook and scholarly sources you identified (check Blackboard for additional resources as well). Identify and consult at least 3 scholarly sources. Document and discuss your findings in writing (1500-2000 words). Include a bibliography and a list of image sources if they are not your own sketches. Use Chicago Style as a citation format.
Organize the essay along this outline:
1. Introduction: introduce the two buildings chosen, their site and overall use
2. Site Analysis
a. Analyze both structures and their context;
b. Describe how the urban situation is related to the political structures; Consider axiality, size and overall scale, relationships and links to an understanding of the cosmos.
3. Politics
a. Discuss the political systems and economic conditions prevalent during the time the buildings were built and how they impacted the buildings.
4. Culture
a. Identify ordering principles applied and how they relate to religious or/and political factors
5. Economy
a. What can you find out about the economic situation of the site-how does the economy support monumental architecture?
6. Summary of the findings/conclusion
Possible Building/site choices for the comparison: Ancient Egypt:
Saqqara
Pyramids and funerary temples of Giza
Kamak
Thebes
Ancient Greece:
Buildings of the Acropolis: Parthenon
Stoa of Attalos
Temple of Poseidon, Paestum (later Roman) Temple of Apollo, Delphi
Ancient Rome:
Buildings of Forum Romanum, Rome
Temple of Apollo, Pompeii
Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, Rome Pantheon, Rome.