Ancient Africa

The architecture of Africa, like other aspects of the culture of Africa, is exceptionally diverse[clarification needed]. Many ethno-linguistic groups throughout the history of Africa have had their own architectural traditions. In some cases, broader styles can be identified, such as the Sahelian architecture of an area of West Africa. One common theme in much traditional African architecture is the use of fractal scaling: small parts of the structure tend to look similar to larger parts, such as a circular village made of circular houses.[1]
The Great Pyramids of Giza are regarded as one of the greatest architectural feats of all times, and one of Seven Wonders of the 'Ancient World'.

As with most architectural traditions elsewhere, African architecture has been subject to numerous external influences from the earliest periods for which evidence is available. Western architecture has also had an impact on coastal areas since the late 15th century, and is now an important source for many larger buildings, particularly in major cities.

African architecture uses a wide range of materials. One finds structures in thatch, stick/wood, mud, mudbrick, rammed earth, and stone, with a preference for materials by region: North Africa for stone and rammed earth, West Africa for mud/adobe, Central Africa thatch/wood and more perishable materials, East Africa varied, Southern Africa for stone and thatch/wood. A wall in North Africa might be built of stone or rammed earth, in West Africa mud/mudbrick, in Central Africa wood, Southern Africa wood or stone, and East Africa all.

Egypt

The Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential civilizations which developed a vast array of diverse structures encompassing ancient Egyptian architecture. The architectural monuments, which include the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx of Gizp, are among the largest and most famous.

Greece

Architecture was extinct in Greece from the end of the Mycenaean period (about 1200 BC) to the 7th century BC, when plebian life and prosperity recovered to a point where public building could be undertaken. But since many Greek buildings in the colonization period (8th - 6th century BC), were made of wood or mud-brick or clay, nothing remains of them except for a few ground-plans, and almost no written sources on early architecture or descriptions of these embryonic buildings exist.

Common materials of Greek architecture were wood, used for supports and roof beams; plaster, used for sinks and bathtubs; unbaked brick, used for walls, especially for private homes; limestone and marble, used for columns, walls, and upper portions of temples and public buildings; terracotta, used for roof tiles and ornaments; and metals, especially bronze, used for decorative details. Architects of the Archaic and Classical periods used these building materials to construct five simple types of buildings: religious, civic, domestic, funerary, or recreational.

Incan

Incan architecture is the most significant pre-Columbian architecture in South America.
The Incas inherited an architectural legacy from Tiwanaku, founded in the second century B.C. in present day Bolivia. The capital of the Inca empire, Cuzco, still contains many fine examples of Inca architecture, although many walls of Inca masonry have been incorporated into Spanish Colonial structures. The famous royal estate of Machu Picchu is a surviving example of Inca architecture. Other significant sites include Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo. The Incas also developed an extensive road system spanning most of the western length of the continent.

Babylonia

Babylonia was a civilization in Lower Mesopotamia (central and southern Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (fl. ca. 1696 – 1654 BC, short chronology) created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad. The Amorites being a Semitic people, Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, and retained the Sumerian language for religious use, which by that time was no longer a spoken language. The Akkadian and Sumerian cultures played a major role in later Babylonian culture, and the region would remain an important cultural center, even under outside rule.

The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 20th century BC. Following the collapse of the last Sumerian "Ur-III" dynasty at the hands of the Elamites (2002 BC traditional, 1940 BC short), the Amorites gained control over most of Mesopotamia, where they formed a series of small kingdoms. During the first centuries of what is called the "Amorite period", the most powerful city states were Isin and Larsa, although Shamshi-Adad I came close to uniting the more northern regions around Assur and Mari. One of these Amorite dynasties was established in the city-state of Babylon, which would ultimately take over the others and form the first Babylonian empire, during what is also called the Old Babylonian Period.

Mayan

The Maya had advanced architecture for their time. Also there were large, but not too tall buildings. Here are some facts on these buildings.

Maya pyramids were made of limestone. These hard-to-climb buildings had temples on top. Mayan V.I.P.s (like priests and rulers) were buried under these temples, basically right inside the pyramids. The first large pyramid built by the Mayans was made between 600 b.c. and 400 b.c.

There were large but low buildings. These were homes to nobles and other important people. On the top of these structures were roof combs. Roof combs went from the high point of the roof. Roof combs made the building seem taller.

Decorating these architectural wonders were murals in the inside of the structures, and carvings outside. Some of the carvings were called friezes. They also carved stone statues called stela. The stelae are records for historical events, including dates in heiroglyphics, and monuments honoring important people. They carved these scuptures without metal tools. They used stone tools instead.

The Art History Archive

Reaching for the Sky

Even at an early stage mankind strove to build higher and higher. We build on a ridiculous scale and spend thousands or millions of hours of labour on a single piece of structure, which may or may not be prone to earthquakes and other ravages of time.

Some of our most impressive structures are actually incredibly old and difficult to determine the precise dates they were built.

We still don't have a clue how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built, or its precise purpose. Despite what you may have heard, no mummy has ever been found in the Egyptian pyramids, they were all found in the Valley of the Kings. So the true meaning of the pyramids is actually a mystery.

As is the technology used and the matter of how multiple cultures in Africa, the Middle East and Central America all built pyramids around roughly the same time. The matter has had archeologists both professional and amateur alike scratching their heads and theorizing why and how this could have happened.

Why do we aspire to such grand heights? Ego perhaps.

In some cases we might not have much choice but to build upwards if the population grows very dense and land close to water and food is scarce.

We thrive in some of the most inhospitable places on the Earth, and always we build upwards.

There is no precise beginning for the history of architecture either. Our earliest buildings date from either the end of the last ice age or during the ice age, which was only 10 to 15 milleniums ago.

Likewise, there was no precise ending of the ice age. We presume it phased out slowly, but it could have changed quite quickly in a matter of decades or years. We really don't know. It was a time of dramatic changes, massive floods and earthquakes.

Such dramatic earthquakes that people in two separate parts of the world (Egypt and Bolivia) started building earthquake resistant structures that still stand today. Elephantine Island in Egypt and the Ruined City of Tiahuanacu in Bolivia used identical techniques to securely fasten the stones in their buildings and make the overall structure more impervious to time.

Pyramids are the prime example of that pioneering human spirit to build something indestructible, and the earliest pyramids are not Egyptian, but were instead built in Mesopotamia and Zimbabwe.

The fact the people of Zimbabwe started building pyramids first is incredibly interesting. Africa was after all the birth of civilization. It is there we find the oldest surviving structures and the beginning of our aspiration to build higher.

The Greeks spoke of Mount Olympus and strove to emulate the gods by building on top of mountains.

The peoples of the Middle East built massive Ziggurat step pyramids and inspired the story of the Tower of Babel.

We can only assume that the early people who built towers of stone in Zimbabwe had some kind of religious or even scientific reasoning behind what they were building.

When we talk of such structures we cannot ignore the scientific aspect. These were obviously cultures with an interest in engineering, science and exploring the boundaries of what they could build.

Regardless of whether it was a temple, a palace, a coliseum for games, an amphitheatre for dramatic performances and politics, there was always that underlying engineering and creative spirit.

All they needed in truth was the hands to carry the stones, the tools to cut the stones, the brilliance of their engineers and above all else:

The will to build it.