HISTORY “WRITTEN” IN STONES

10 Monumental buildings and historical cities

/aspa.papadimitriou

1. Sphinx of GizaA limestone statue of a couchant sphinx

(a mythical creature with a lion's body and a

human head) that stands on the Giza Plateau on

the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt.

It is the oldest known monumental sculpture

(73 m long and 20.21 m high) and it is commonly

believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians

of the Old Kingdom during the reign of the

Pharaoh Khafra (c. 2558–2532 BC).

There is a story that a

cannonball fired by Napoleon’s

soldiers hit the nose and

caused it to break off, but this is

not historically accurate

2. StonehengeA prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England. It is believed that it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC, but probably by several distinct tribes.

While many modern scholars now agree

that Stonehenge was once a burial

ground, many of them also believe that

it served other functions too

(ceremonial site, a religious pilgrimage

destination, a memorial erected to

honor etc.).

The most common theory of how

prehistoric people moved megaliths has

them creating a track of logs on which

the large stones were rolled

along. Another theory involves the use

of a type of sleigh running on a track

greased with animal fat.

In 1620, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, dug a large hole in the ground at the center of

Stonehenge looking for buried treasure.

3. Petra (Raqmu)

A historical and archaeological city in

southern Jordan, half-built and half-carved

into the rock. Established possibly around

312 BC as the capital city of the

Arab Nabataeans, who were nomadic Arabs.

The proximity of Petra to the regional trade

routes, helped Nabataeans in becoming a

major trading hub, thus enabled them to

gather wealth, until the roman occupation in

106 A.D.

Petra got its name from the Greek

word “petra” which means “rock”. Its

other name is Al-Batra in Arabic, but Petra

is more popular.

4. Great Wall of ChinaIt is a series of fortifications made of stone,

brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-

west line across the historical northern borders of China. It has a long history —

more than 2,300 years.

Around 220 B.C., under the Qin Dynasty, sections of earlier fortifications were joined

together to form a united defence system against invasions from the north.

Construction continued up to the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), when the Great Wall

became the world's largest military structure.

The official length of the “Long Wall” is 21,196.18 km and its highest place 14 m, but it is a

myth that it can been seen from space by the human eye.

5. Parthenon

The largest Doric Greek temple of the Greek

goddess Athena on the hill of the Acropolis at

Athens, Greece. It was built in the mid-5th

century BC in the Age of Pericles and its massive

foundations were made of limestone, and the

columns were made of Pentelic marble. The

name Parthenon refers to the cult of Athena

Parthenos (“Athena the Virgin”).The temple was

unprecedented in both the quantity and quality

of architectural sculpture used to decorate it.

In 1801–03 a large part of its sculpture was

removed, with Turkish permission, by the

British nobleman Thomas Bruce, Lord Elgin,

and sold in 1816 to the British Museum

in London.

6. Great Zimbabwe (Monomotapa)It is a ruined city in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe

and its construction began in the 11th and continued until the 15th century A.D.

Great Zimbabwe is believed to have served as a royal palace for the local monarch. One of its most

prominent features were the walls, some of which were over 5 m. high. Eventually the city was abandoned and fell into ruin. We unfortunately know little of the history of Great Zimbabwe or its builders, however,

most evidence suggests that they were a Shona people who migrated from the south.

The name "Zimbabwe" derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of

Shona as "large houses of stone" (dzimba = plural of imba, "house";mabwe = plural of bwe,

"stone")

7. Angkor Wat

It is a temple complex in Cambodia and the

largest religious monument in the world. It was

built by the Khmer King, Suryavarman II, in the

early 12th century in Yaśodharapura, the capital

of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and

eventual mausoleum. At first it was dedicated

to Vishnu but gradually was transformed from a

Hindu center of worship to Buddhism, which

continues to the present day.

It is designed to represent Mount Meru,

home of the devas (deities) in Hindu

mythology.

8. TeotihuacanIt was the largest urban center of Mesoamerica

(over 150,000 inhabitants at its peak) some 50 km north-east of modern Mexico City. It is thought to have

been established around 1st century AD and may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th

centuries AD.

The holy city of Teotihuacan is characterized

by the vast size of its monuments laid out on

geometric and symbolic principles. Its early

history is quite mysterious, and the origin of

its founders is uncertain as the city was

already in ruins by the time of the Aztecs.

Possible inhabitants of Teotihuacan are the

Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups.

Scholars have also suggested that

Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state.

Teotihuacan (“ the birthplace of the

gods”) was mysteriously

abandoned in c. 700 A.D and was

left sacked and burnt.

9. MoaiThey are monolithic human figures

carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter

Island in eastern Polynesia between the

years 1250 and 1500 AD. Moai statues

were built to honor chieftain or other

important people who had passed away.

They were placed on rectangular stone

platforms called ahu, which are tombs

for the people that the statues

represented.

In the years after the European arrival

in 1722 all of the moai, that had been

erected on ahu, were toppled forward to

where their faces were hidden or in

such a way that their necks broke.

10. Machu PicchuIt is an Incan citadel set high in the Andes Mountains in Peru. It was built around 1450, at the height of the Inca Empire but it was abandoned an estimated 100 years after its construction, probably around the time the Spanish began their conquest of the mighty pre-Columbian civilization. Although it was located only about 80 kilometers from the Inca capital in Cusco, for centuries Machu Picchu stayed

hidden to the world. The Spanish conquistadors never found it and so did not plunder or destroy it and the Incas who knew the location of Machu Picchu, eventually forgot it after the abandonment.

Machu Picchu is a mysterious wonder. A city of stone built without the aid of wheels or iron

tools. This is the best example of Inca engineering. More than 600 terraces prevent the city

from sliding down the mountain.

1. Sphinx of Giza http://podroze.gazeta.pl/podroze/51,114158,12204707.html?i=2

2. Stonehenge http://www.history.com/topics/british-history/stonehenge

3. Petra (Raqmu) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra

4. Great Wall of China http://feelgrafix.com/823569-great-wall-of-china-pictures.html

5. Parthenon https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parthenon.JPG

6. Great Zimbabwe http://everythingzimbabwe.co.zw/2015/06/23/great-zimbabwe/

7. Angkor Wat https://www.lonelyplanet.com/cambodia/travel-tips-and-articles/77381

8. Teotihuacan https://www.audleytravel.com/mexico/places-to-go/teotihuacan

9. Moai https://soramerikab.wordpress.com/2015/05/28/paskeoya%F0%9F%90/

10. Machu Picchu http://www.machupicchu.org/ruins/

Image Sources