History of Art

The Image of the Human Being Unfolding in Time

Aims:
 To explore the history of art from its beginnings to the Renaissance.
 To consider how the image of the human being has been portrayed and developed.
 To allow students to consider how human consciousness has changed and developed over
time and how this is revealed in the history of art.
 To allow students to experience working with some of the key motifs and images found in
art from different times.

Basic content:

Week 1
 In the beginning, there was art.
 Prehistoric consciousness expressed in frozen movement.
 Unity of spirit and nature in consciousness of artist.
 Ancient Chinese four spirit animals
 Ancient near East
 Egypt – intro and statues

Week 2
 Egypt - Mastaba development – pyramid – obelisk
 Writing and hieroglyphs
 Sphinx
 Near Eastern art
 Crete
 Greek archaic
 Greek statue
 Greek temple and pillar
 Centaur image
 Terracotta army
 Buddhist art
 Roman art – Early Christian

Week 3
 Medieval life, work and architecture
 Medieval religious art and mosaic
 Early Renaissance – Giotto and perspective
 Middle Renaissance – life and consciousness
  High Renaissance – the glory of man

Guiding questions
 What is art and what story does its history tell?
 Can we know what it was like, once upon a time, long, long ago? Once upon a time, when
we all lived in the forest and no-one lived anywhere else…
 Can we think like a person in the past?
 In the beginning, was there art?
 When the first human stood, how did they feel?
 What changed when humanity stood and developed an inner world?
 How did humanity deal with death and separation from its early home?
 What price do we pay when we leave the forest?
 How does an Egyptian statue look at the world?
 How much of the human being is in the sphinx?
 Why did the human being write?
 What did the Greeks think of life?
 How did we defeat the centaurs?
 How did humankind perfect the inner life?
 How did the Christ event affect human consciousness?
 What do the great monuments of Gothic architecture tell us about the development of
thinking?
 What did medieval artists say about their connection to the spirit?
 How does the use of perspective change the way we represent the world?
 What was the source of the change of consciousness we see in Renaissance art?
 What effects did this change have on art and culture?
 What does the glory of the High Renaissance tell us about the purpose and potential of the
human being?

Key Images:
 Sprayed hand stencil
 Venus of Willendorf
 Four sacred animals – China: Neolithic tomb/jade dragon
 Harappa unicorn
 Hunters – Catal Hoyuk
 Kephren
 Scribe
 Osiris painting
 Sphinx
 Block figure
 Akhenaton and family
 Bull dance
 Archaic boy
  Centaur – West Pediment – Temple of Zeus
 Venus de Milo
 Theseus/Medusa
 Charioteer
 Terracotta army
 Indian Yakshi
 Stupa
 First Buddha

Rhythmic and Experiential Content:

 Poem: Before the beginning of time

Lesson Plans:
Week 1
Day 1:

At the dawn of human consciousness there was art.

We go inside our head to form an image or memory,
which separates us from the world – in a similar way
to going inside a cave and drawing a picture.

Introduction:
Once upon a time, long, long ago, when we all lived in the forest and no-one lived anywhere else…
Look at images and video clip from Lascaux cave.
Experience of going into cave. Importance of artificial light. Difficulty and danger.
Animal species not related to hunting. Symbolic images too – similar to ideograms of early scripts.
Very few human forms. Early animal figures not closed; monochrome. No obvious development in
this art.
Experience of going into cave – connection to standing up and seeing world face to face – becoming
separate.
Look at images of earliest known art:
 Finger flutings:
 Hand stencils:
 Venus figures:

Activity:
Make pigments. Use for hand stencils and cow image.
(If time - make copy of Neolithic ‘Venus’ figure.)

Thursday:

The human being emerges slowly from sacred

animal forms, with the focus on the eyes and head in
sculpture and the whole form in drawing.
Recall:

 When did people first walk on the earth? What was the world like?
 What are the first kinds of art we know about?
 Why did people do this – can we know?
 What was the experience of going into a cave?
 Why did these people go to all that trouble?
 What do we see in the images?
 What happens when you spray around your hand?
 What is the main focus of the earliest art?
 Are the ‘Venus’ figures a real person?
 Where do we see the human being?

To learn about history, we look at the traces people have left on the earth and
we ask ourselves questions: why did they make this or do this in this way. We
want to understand reasons for things; however, people do not think in the
same way about things.
(If time - discuss: How do your parents ideas differ from yours? How have
views about technology, lifestyle changed in a short time?)

Key question:
What was the first art in the world?

(Give pointers: answer the question from your own ideas but use what you
have learnt; try to use examples from what you see or do; try to let the ideas
flow freely; there are no right or wrong answers.)

Images:
Look at images of Neolithic Chinese burial and dragons.
Creation myth and four sacred animals. Qulin and invention of writing. Fuxi as
half-dragon. Dragon in Neolithic Britain and other cultures. Vermillion bird
and phoenix. Animals not beneath us – rather our focus.

Bull lyre from Ur – Gilgamesh hero with animals. Look at images of hunters
from Catal Hoyuk and Damaidi and plaster statues from Jericho and Sumeria.
Three quarter view in art showing not realistic form but idea of person.
Attention on death and burial and importance of skull. Large eyes, small arms.

Activity:
Draw statue. White on black.
Friday:

From the tomb to the pyramid to the obelisk, we see

how the Egyptians connected physical death to
humanity separating from the gods.
The image of the sphinx shows a development from
the divine creature, where man is beginning to free
himself.

Recall:
 What powerful sacred animals do we see in the history of art?
 How should we think of them?
 Were these animals copies from the real world?
 Where did people find these animals?
 What is the relationship of man to the world of the divine animals?
 What do we see in the first representations of the human body?

Key question:
 From sacred animals to human being: what were the first human
bodies in art?
Images:

Look at images of how the tomb developed in Saqqara, as the pyramid, in the
sun temples and obelisks and finally the rock tombs. There is a sacred path
into the deep darkness of the inner world, where the gods are found. The
pyramid is a crystal, enclosing something deep within. Mathematical order and
perfection means this architecture can be heard, like divine music.
Look at sphinx images. Is it the same as the divine animals?

Activity:
Drawing of sphinx/pyramids

Week 2
Mon:

Egyptian drawing and painting shows that they are

not representing the physical world, but still a
movement from sound to image.
Egyptian statues show they are firmly on the earth,
but guided from the heavens.

Recall:
 What did the Egyptians build first?
 How did it change?
 How would the pyramids have looked in the
desert?
 Why did the Egyptians go to all this trouble?
 What can we see in the image of the sphinx?

Key question:
Pyramid design and writing
Images:
Look at Egyptian relief carving, drawing and painting.
Notice lack of perspective and depth; combination
front and side view; no differentiation of left and
right; sizes relative depending on importance.
These figures do not occupy real space. They are an
idea of something, not an attempt to copy reality.

Look at images of Egyptian statues.

Whether seating or standing their gaze is fixed on
infinity. Khephren image; we see him guided by
falcon form – Horus: sun god. Striding figures fixed
on unmovable path.
Activity:
Drawing of Khephren statue.
Tue:
The Greek temple is an external experience, at home
in its location, meant to be walked around and
looked at by everyone – a beautiful home for the
gods, as are we.

Recall:
 What are the main features of Egyptian
statues?
 What are they looking at?
 Do these statues have a personality or show
feeling?

Key question:
What are the main features of art in Egypt? (Pyramid,
temple, pictures, sculpture) What do they tell us about
the thinking of the Egyptians?
Images:
Look at Greek temples and columns. Centaur battle from the temple of Zeus.

Activity:
Drawing – krater image: centaur

Wed:

The Greek statue is completely in the real world and

at peace with this.

Recall:
 What is new in the Greek temple?
 How do people experience it?
 What feeling does it create?

Key question:
What is the experience of a Greek temple?

Images:

Look at the Greek statue from archaic through its

development. Notice how it is at rest inwardly but
can walk around in the real world. It is really present
in space and can be viewed from any angle, free from
constraint or boundary of form.

Activity:
Draw Greek statue
Thu:

The Greek image of the perfect human form reaches

India and merges with the Buddhist image of the
perfect idea.
Recall:
 Experiences of the Greek statues.
 How does the sculptor feel about art?
 What rules does he follow?
 Where must you look from?
 How would this statue feel?

Key question:
What is new in the Greeks image of the human?

Images:
Early Buddhist art from stupa to Gandhara and Gupta
Buddha images.

Activity:
Drawing/sculpture of Buddha image.
Fri:

The birth and death of the Christ creates a new way

of thinking and a new experience of art.

Recall:

Key question:

Images:

The Roman arch, architecture, achievement; the

Christ event; the catacombs and early Christian art.

Activity:
Drawing: The Good Shepherd.

Week 3
Mon:

Recall:

Images:
Tue:

Recall:

Images:

Activity:
aDraw Caryatid.

Wed:

The Greeks loved and celebrated life, but death was

dark and frightening.

Recall:
 What is new in the Greek temple?
 How do people experience it?
 What feeling does it create?

Key question:
What is the experience of a Greek temple?

Images:
Look at images of burial stele and the afterlife.

Activity:
Draw burial stele image.
Thu:
The centaur and the Charioteer
Fri:

Week 4
Mon:

China – The last emperor

Recall:

Key question:

Images:
Tue:

India – Yakshmi

Recall:

Key question:

Images:

Activity:

Wed:

Buddha image

Recall:

Key question:

Images:

Activity:

Notes
 Experiencing activity of prehistoric art? Dark room?
 Story/myth as bridge to early human consciousness.
 Cultural / temporal differences of how we view a subject – Maori chief
China
In Chinese art the physical body plays small part – nudes practically unknown. Appreciation rather
of texture of materials or brush stroke. Illusion plays no part. All art has simultaneous existence –
copy was never despised.

Pottery and jade carving since Neolithic times. Forms represented –four supernatural assistants: the
dragon, the vermilion bird (phoenix), the tiger, and the tortoise. Many ritual vessels cast in bronze,
very sophisticated technique. Some vessels given forms of owls, elephants, and rhinoceroses.
During Chou (1000 – 200 BC) period animal forms disappeared – monsters become stylised.

Chou period – Confucius: 551 – 479, importance of being in harmony with will of heaven, morality,
cultivation of spirit. Intellectualism of earlier beliefs. Code of ethics, ordered life.

Taoism – individualistic, submission to Tao, universal principle. Mystical harmony with inner nature.
Passive, simple life.

Dragon – king of animals, holds pearl in mouth symbolising sun, royalty. Nine varieties.

Man always a part of nature, never central. Nature explains man.

Tiger – west, courage, energy, strength, cunning, fire, heat, wind. Balances dragon – east, rivers,
mists.

Four assistants of creator: dragon; vermilion bird (royal symbol, appears in peace and plenty);
unicorn (gentle, joy, birth or a ruler); tortoise (longevity and wisdom).

Buddha: right hand raised, left hand pointing down.

Bronze: T’ao-t’ieh (ogre mask) – mythical earth demon? ‘The true origins of the art remain a
mystery. It is almost as though the secret of fashioning bronze was given the Shang by the gods
themselves.’ Later deterioration of quality – more decorative.

Discovery of An-yang sites in 1929. Evidence of oracles on bones or shells. Royal funerals –
sacrificial offerings. Warrior society. Rammed earth foundations. Many bronze weapons. Bronze
monster masks.

Around 5th C. BC human figures appear in tombs – realistic.

Calligraphy???

Art is a means of divining the truth of the universe, of being in harmony with creation. The artist
must inject into his work the life breath of objects. “Likeness can be obtained by shapes without
spirit; but when truth is reached, spirit and substance are both fully expressed.”

Architecture: structures on platforms and walls around cities. Walls did not support the roof. Red
pillars. Glazed roof tiles, greens, blues and yellows.

earliest recorded appearance of the Ch'i lin was to a legendary Chinese sovereign called Fu Hsi c.
2900 BC. As the story is told, Fu Hsi was sitting on the bank of the Yellow River one day near the
end of his life. He was thinking about mortality and trying to think of a way he could record his
thoughts for following generations (writing had not yet been invented). Suddenly a Ch'i lin rose
out of the river and came toward him. On its back it carried certain magical sigils from which Fu
Hsi was able to devise the first written Chinese language. Over time the script has evolved so
naturally that today's readers of modern Chinese are still able to understand something written
2,000 years ago. The signs which had inspired Fu Hsi are called the Pa Kua, or eight trigrams. They
are a symbolic combination of broken and unbroken lines and form the basis not only for Chinese
writing, but also for the philosophic and divinatory systems known as the I Ching, or Book of
Changes. Fu Hsi is one of four men given credit for authoring this work, along with King Wen, the
Duke of Chou and Confucius.

According to legend, the land was swept by a great flood and only Fu Xi and his sister Nüwa
survived. They retired to Kunlun Mountain, where they prayed for a sign from the Emperor of
Heaven. The divine being approved their union and the siblings set about procreating the human
race. In order to speed up the process, Fu Xi and Nüwa used clay to create human figures, and with
the power divine entrusted to them made the clay figures come alive.

In the beginning there was as yet no moral or social order. Men knew their mothers only, not their
fathers. When hungry, they searched for food; when satisfied, they threw away the remnants.
They devoured their food hide and hair, drank the blood, and clad themselves in skins and rushes.
Then came Fu Xi and looked upward and contemplated the images in the heavens, and looked
downward and contemplated the occurrences on earth. He united man and wife, regulated the
five stages of change, and laid down the laws of humanity. He devised the eight trigrams, in order
to gain mastery over the world.

— Ban Gu, Baihu tongyi[2]

Fu Xi taught his subjects to cook, to fish with nets, and to hunt with weapons made of iron. He
instituted marriage and offered the first open-air sacrifices to heaven. A stone tablet, dated 160
CE, shows Fu Xi with Nüwa.Traditionally, Fu Xi is considered the originator of the I Ching (also
known as the Yi Jing or Zhou Yi), which work is attributed to his reading of the He Map (or the
Yellow River Map). According to this tradition, Fu Xi had the arrangement of the trigrams (八卦
bāgùa) of the I Ching revealed to him supernaturally. This arrangement precedes the compilation
of the I Ching during the Zhou dynasty. He is said to have discovered the arrangement in markings
on the back of a mythical dragon horse (sometimes said to be a turtle) that emerged from the Luo
River. This discovery is said to have been the origin of calligraphy. Fu Xi is also credited with the
invention of the Guqin, together with Shennong and Huangdi.
The Terracotta Army or the "Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses", is a collection of terracotta
sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of
funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the
emperor in his afterlife, and to make sure that he had people to rule over.

The figures, dating from 3rd century BC, were discovered in 1974 by some local farmers in
Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province, near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
(Chinese: 秦始皇陵; pinyin: Qín Shǐhuáng Ling).

The figures vary in height according to their roles, with the tallest being the generals. The
figures include warriors, chariots and horses. Current estimates are that in the three pits
containing the Terracotta Army there were over 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots with 520 horses
and 150 cavalry horses, the majority of which are still buried in the pits.[1] Other terracotta
non-military figures were also found in other pits and they include officials, acrobats,
strongmen and musicians.

In addition to the warriors, an entire man-made necropolis for the Emperor has also been found
around the first Emperor's tomb mound. The tomb mound is located at the foot of Mount Li as an
earthen pyramid,[6] and Qin Shi Huangdi’s necropolis complex was constructed as a microcosm of his
imperial palace or compound. It consists of several offices, halls, stables and other structures placed
around the tomb mound which is surrounded by two solidly built rammed earth walls with gateway
entrances

According to historian Sima Qian (145–90 BC), work on this mausoleum began in 246 BC soon after
Emperor Qin ascended the throne (then aged 13), and the full construction later involved 700,000
workers.

Sima Qian, in his most famous work, Shiji, completed a century after the mausoleum completion,
wrote that the First Emperor was buried with palaces, towers, officials, valuable artefacts and
wonderful objects. According to this account, there were 100 rivers simulated with flowing mercury,
and above them the ceiling was decorated with heavenly bodies below which were the features of
the land.
India
Kinnaras are one of the exotic tribes of Ancient India mentioned along with Devas (including Rudras,
Maruts, Vasus and Adityas), Asuras (including Daityas, Danavas and Kalakeyas), Pisachas,
Gandharvas, Kimpurushas, Vanaras, Suparnas, Rakshasas, Bhutas and Yakshas. They along with
others, were inhabitants of the Himalaya mountains. The people of the Gangetic Plain looked upon
them with wonder and considered them as super-human.

In particular, the word Kinnara (literally means "what human?" in Sanskrit) is related to the word
Kimpurusha (meaning "what man?" i.e. hermaphrodite, half man-half woman). Legends have it that
the original Kinnaras were the troops of Ila, the unfortunate King who was transformed into a
woman by means of a curse. Later he/she became a wife of the divine hermit and god of the planet
Mercury, Budha, while his former soldiers were turned into kinnara by the hermit Budha.

Kinnaras were mysteriously linked with horses. Puranas mention them as horse-headed beings.
Puranas mention about an Asura with a horse head, who was known as Hayagreeva (which in
Sanskrit means the horse headed one; Haya = horse and greeva = head) This Asura was killed by an
incarnation of Lord Vishnu, who took the similar form of a horse-headed human figure.

The epic Mahabharata mentions Kinnaras, not as horse-headed beings but as beings who were half-
man and half-horse i.e. like a Centaur.

The Kinnari, (usually spelt 'Kinnaree' as noted below) (Thai: กินรี ) in Thai literature originates from
India, but was modified to fit in with the Thai way of thinking. The Thai Kinnari is depicted as a young
woman wearing an angel-like costume. The lower part of the body is similar to a bird, and should
enable her to fly between the human and the mystical worlds.

The most famous Kinnari in Thailand is the figure known as Manora (derived from Manohara), a
heroine in one of the stories collected in "Pannas Jataka" a Pali tome written by a Chiangmai
Buddhist monk and sage around AD 1450-1470. This is supposed to be a collection of 50 stories of
the past lives of the Buddha, known to Buddhists as the Jataka. The specific tale about Manora the
Kinnaree was called Sudhana Jataka, after Prince Sudhana, the bodhisattva who was also the hero of
the story and the husband of Manora.
Prehistoric Art
Why art? – not out of boredom or in leisure. 2million examples of prehistoric art catalogued – from
40,000 years ago; the beginning of Upper Paleolithic or Human Revolution – until 8,000 BC (Ice age).

Only hard arts survive – dance, song, music definitely existed. All kinds of surfaces, media have been
used. Full sculpture present from beginning, springing from nowhere. Engraving and jewellery. Did
not progress from simple and crude to more advanced.

Art implies that form and activity have been informed by a conscious content greater than the
resulting sense-perceptible outcome. Conscious activity and intent. Joseph Beuys: Art is nature
imbued with consciousness. Can be a means to understand nature. Expresses symbolic meaning –
akin to language related to specific people, time. We don’t understand but realise it would have
been understandable.

Discovery of prehistoric art happened at same time as birth of modern art. Paul Klee: Art does not
show the visible, but makes the invisible visible. Art is a way of seeing. To understand we must
imitate their gesture, activity – creation of the work may have been as important as end result.

Ancient mythology kept traces of earlier states of consciousness. Early humans experienced world
as animate, imbued with being. Life has individuality, in man, beast, plant, phenomena of nature –
permeated with spiritual content, language of spirits in the wind – intensely alive.

Standing up, we look out and so separate from the world. Create inner mental pictures – symbolic
representations. Moving out of the savannah faced a new world, felt separate to it. Conscious of
death, funeral ritual. Mother and infant laid on wing of a swan.

Signs and symbols left behind to make conscious connection to place – reunite with spirit through
inner link. Often using natural feature with small modification. Many locations very difficult to
access. Flickering lights would have created sense of movement. Many pigments would not have
been seen in cave – unless vision was different. Artificial light very important. Cave art represents
breakthrough not only into darkness of earth but also inner realms of soul.

Necessary to form inner mental pictures. Animal species can be identified from cave art. Not only
outer animals but abstract images – expression of inner experience?

Finger flutings earliest art activity – some showing figures. Sense of touch – boundaries of self.

Hand stencilling very widespread. Sprayed through bird bones. Blending wall and hand – hand
leaves space behind. Unity formed and then divided – place retains outer, person takes inner part,
with colour as reminder.

Earliest animal figures rarely closed –monochrome. Later show some perspective and movement.
Very sophisticated animal carvings – no evidence where this skill came from. Strongest, largest
animals most common. Mammoth, cave lion. All contain notches, lines, not connected to natural
markings.

27,000 – many Venus/Gaia figurines. Facial features, arms minimal. Usually small size, portable. Do
not focus on sexual organs but on fecundity. Birth, nurturing etc. Beginning to use fired clay too.
Puppet like movable male figures. Carved maps of local area from concentric lines – similar to lines
in body forms. Rhythmical life energy patterns? As seen in many cases. Landscape experienced as
extension of own body.

17,000 – best known cave paintings Western Europe. Vibrant colour cannot see in reproduction.
Animal choice not related to what was in local area. Plants and trees not featured. Humans a tiny
fraction of images –females more common but most ambiguous. Ideograms appear from earliest
times, accompanying images or alone. Many images similar to forms of early scripts.

Very sophisticated carvings on spear throwers etc. of animals, shape adapted to suit material.
Broken pieces of floor paving found to have been used for carving on repeatedly. Animals very
detailed, accurate. Humans only female and abstracted, no heads, one or two lines. Not related to
practising for cave paintings.

Was this more akin to ritual than art? Totemic art – representing spiritual connection to being og
the earth. Not depictions of anything. Life was spiritual reality. Animistic – hunting connection of
vital force between animals and humans – ongoing regeneration of the world. Art was not a
communication but a way of living.

Human revolution 40,000 – still not sure how and when moderns came to Europe. Bulk of evidence,
but not all, points to ultimate origin 130,000BP in Africa.
Ancient Near East
Plaster statues from 7000BC? First large statues – Near East. Catal Hoyuk – 5750, cave art, hunting
scene. Different to prehistoric, now humans clearly represented, arrows, spears etc. Combine front
and profile view. Prepared background of plaster.

Newgrange and Sonehenge.

Egypt
Combining front and profile – not concerned with representation of body in space but true likeness.

The great pyramid of Khufu is 146.5m high and 230m wide at the base. It contains 2.3
million limestone blocks, each weighing about 3 metric tons. It was built within the 23 years
of the reign of Pharaoh Khufu, around 2550 B.C.

To put it in perspective: These pyramids were built about 400 years after Zoser’s pyramid
and at about the same time as Stonehenge.

To achieve this, they needed to put one block in position every 3 minutes, for 12 hours a day,
365 days per year, every year for 23 years. These stone blocks are not just stacked up. They
are perfectly carved and exactly aligned. Not only that. They had to be quarried, shaped and
transported at the same rate.

The sides of the pyramid are exactly aligned to the four directions. The north side faces true
north, not magnetic north, to within 1/12 of a degree.

The pyramids pose the question: ‘How was it possible’. There are many completely fruit-
loopy theories to answer this question.

My interpretation is that the architects of the pyramids, the mathematicians and priests,
specifically wanted that question to be asked. The pyramids are as much a monument to the
Pharaoh and the gods as it is to human knowledge and ingenuity.

This interpretation I base on some simple mathematical facts. (Bear with me here). The
circumference of the basis of the great pyramid is 230m x 4 = 920m. The height is 146.5m.

Divide the circumference by the height: 920 / 146.5= 6.28.

Looks familiar? It should be. 6.28 = 2 x pi

What the architect has done here is to describe circular geometry in terms of a square and a
triangle. This can only be done if your base circumference is exactly right, and the angle of
the slope is exactly right. This was no chance event. This pyramid is a temple to mathematics.
The Great Pyramid a true masterpiece and has rightly earned the title of a “Wonder”. It was
built with such precision that our current technology cannot replicate it. There are so many
interesting facts about this Pyramid that it baffles archaeologists, scientists, astronomers and
tourists. Here are the facts:

1. The pyramid is estimated to have around 2,300,000 stone blocks that weigh from 2 to
30 tons each and there are even some blocks that weigh over 50 tons.
2. The Pyramid of Menkaure, the Pyramid of Khafre and the Great Pyramid of Khufu
are precisely aligned with the Constellation of Orion.
3. The base of the pyramid covers 55,000 m2 (592,000 ft 2) with each side greater than
20,000 m2 (218,000 ft2) in area.
4. The interior temperature is constant and equals the average temperature of the earth,
20 Degrees Celsius (68 Degrees Fahrenheit).
5. The outer mantle was composed of 144,000 casing stones, all of them highly polished
and flat to an accuracy of 1/100th of an inch, about 100 inches thick and
weighing approx. 15 tons each.
6. The cornerstone foundations of the pyramid have ball and socket construction capable
of dealing with heat expansion and earthquakes.
7. The mortar used is of an unknown origin (Yes, no explanation given). It has been
analyzed and its chemical composition is known but it can’t be reproduced. It is
stronger than the stone and still holding up today.
8. It was originally covered with casing stones (made of highly polished limestone).
These casing stones reflected the sun’s light and made the pyramid shine like a jewel.
They are no longer present being used by Arabs to build mosques after an earthquake
in the 14th century loosened many of them. It has been calculated that the original
pyramid with its casing stones would act like gigantic mirrors and reflect light so
powerful that it would be visible from the moon as a shining star on earth.
Appropriately, the ancient Egyptians called the Great Pyramid “Ikhet”, meaning the
“Glorious Light”. How these blocks were transported and assembled into the pyramid
is still a mystery. - http://www.gizapyramid.com/general.htm
9. Aligned True North: The Great Pyramid is the most accurately aligned structure in
existence and faces true north with only 3/60th of a degree of error. The position of
the North Pole moves over time and the pyramid was exactly aligned at one time.
10. Center of Land Mass: The Great Pyramid is located at the center of the land mass of
the earth. The east/west parallel that crosses the most land and the north/south
meridian that crosses the most land intersect in two places on the earth, one in the
ocean and the other at the Great Pyramid.
11. The four faces of the pyramid are slightly concave, the only pyramid to have been
built this way.
12. The centers of the four sides are indented with an extraordinary degree of precision
forming the only 8 sided pyramid, this effect is not visible from the ground or from a
distance but only from the air, and then only under the proper lighting
conditions. This phenomenon is only detectable from the air at dawn and sunset on
the spring and autumn equinoxes, when the sun casts shadows on the pyramid.
13. The granite coffer in the “King’s Chamber” is too big to fit through the passages and
so it must have been put in place during construction.
14. The coffer was made out of a block of solid granite. This would have required bronze
saws 8-9 ft. long set with teeth of sapphires. Hollowing out of the interior would
require tubular drills of the same material applied with a tremendous vertical force.
15. Microscopic analysis of the coffer reveals that it was made with a fixed point drill that
used hard jewel bits and a drilling force of 2 tons.
16. The Great Pyramid had a swivel door entrance at one time. Swivel doors were found
in only two other pyramids: Khufu’s father and grandfather, Sneferu and Huni,
respectively.
17. It is reported that when the pyramid was first broken into that the swivel door,
weighing some 20 tons, was so well balanced that it could be opened by pushing out
from the inside with only minimal force, but when closed, was so perfect a fit that it
could scarcely be detected and there was not enough crack or crevice around the
edges to gain a grasp from the outside.
18. With the mantle in place, the Great Pyramid could be seen from the mountains in
Israel and probably the moon as well.
19. The weight of the pyramid is estimated at 5,955,000 tons. Multiplied by 10^8 gives a
reasonable estimate of the earth’s mass.
20. The Descending Passage pointed to the pole star Alpha Draconis, circa 2170-2144
BCE. This was the North Star at that point in time. No other star has aligned with the
passage since then.
21. The southern shaft in the King’s Chamber pointed to the star Al Nitak (Zeta Orionis)
in the constellation Orion, circa 2450 BCE The Orion constellation was associated
with the Egyptian god Osiris. No other star aligned with this shaft during that time in
history.
22. Sun’s Radius: Twice the perimeter of the bottom of the granite coffer times 10^8 is
the sun’s mean radius. [270.45378502 Pyramid Inches* 10^8 = 427,316 miles]
23. The curvature designed into the faces of the pyramid exactly matches the radius of the
earth.
24. Khufu’s pyramid, known as the great pyramid of Giza, is the oldest and largest, rising
at 481 feet (146 meters). Archaeologists say it was the tallest structure in the world for
about 3, 800 years.
25. The relationship between Pi (p) and Phi (F) is expressed in the fundamental
proportions of the Great Pyramid.
The Parthenon

Continued from page 1

As a post and lintel temple, the Parthenon presents no engineering

breakthrough in building construction. However its stylistic conventions
have become the paradigm of Classical architecture, and its style has
influenced architecture for many centuries after it was built.

The Parthenon is a large temple, but it is by no means the largest one in Greece. Its aesthetic
appeal emanates from the refinement of many established norms of Greek architecture, and
from the quality of its sculptural decoration. The Parthenon epitomizes all the ideals of Greek
thought during the apogee of the Classical era through artistic means. The idealism of the
Greek way of living, the attention to detail, as well as the understanding of a mathematically
explained harmony in the natural world, were concepts that in every Athenian’s eyes set them
apart from the barbarians. These ideals are represented in the perfect proportions of the
building, in its intricate architectural elements, and in the anthropomorphic statues that
adorned it.

Some of these details were found in other Greek temples while some were unique to the
Parthenon. The temple owes its refined appeal to the subtle details that were built into the
architectural elements to accommodate practical needs or to enhance the building’s visual
appeal.

The fact that there are no absolute straight lines on the Parthenon bestows a subtle organic
character to an obvious geometric structure. The columns of the peristyle taper on a slight arc
as they reach the top of the building giving the impression that they are swollen from entasis
(tension) - as if they were burdened by the weight of the roof; a subtle feature that allots
anthropomorphic metaphors to other wise inanimate objects.

The peristyle columns are over ten meters tall, and incline slightly towards the center of the
building at the top (about 7 cm), while the platform upon which they rest bows on a gentle
arc which brings the corners about 12 cm closer to the ground that the middle.

The architects of the Parthenon appear to be excellent scholars of visual illusion, an attribute
undoubtedly sharpened by years of architectural refinement and observation of the natural
world. They designed the columns that appear at the corners of the temple to be 1/40th (about
6 cm) larger in diameter than all the other columns, while they made the space around them
smaller than the rest of the columns by about 25 cm. The reason for this slight adaptation of
the corner columns is due to the fact that they are set against the bright sky, which would
make them appear a little thinner and a little further apart than the columns set against the
darker background of the building wall. The increase in size and decrease of space thus
compensates for the illusion that the bright background would normally cause.

These subtle features set the Parthenon apart from all other Greek temples because the overall
effect is a departure from the static Doric structures of the past, towards a more dynamic form
of architectural expression. Moreover, the intricate refinements of the forms required
unprecedented precision that would be challenging to achieve even in our time. But it was not
mere grandeur through subtlety that the Athenians desired. It is evident that they sought to
out-shine all other temples of the time through the lavish sculptural decoration of the
Parthenon, and its imposing dimensions. The doors that lead to the cella were abundantly
decorated with relief sculptures of gorgons, lion heads and other bronze relief ornaments.

The Athenian citizens were proud of their cultural identity, and conscious of the
historical magnitude of their ideas. They believed that they were civilized
among barbarians, and that their cultural and political achievements were bound
to alter the history of all civilized people. The catalyst for all their
accomplishments was the development of a system of governance the likes of
which the world had never seen: Democracy.

Democracy, arguably the epitome of the Athenian way of thinking, was at center stage while
the Parthenon was built. This was a direct democracy where every citizen had a voice in the
common issues through the Assembly that met on the Pnyx hill next to the Acropolis forty
times per year to decide on all matters of policy, domestic or foreign.

The fact that common people are depicted as individuals for the first time at the Parthenon
frieze was owed to the fact that for the first time in history every citizen of a city was
recognized as a significant entity and a considerable moving force in the polis and the
observable universe.

Parthenon Facts

 Year Built: 447-432 BCE

 Precise Dimensions:
o Width East: 30.875 m
o Width West: 30.8835 m
o Length North: 69.5151 m
o Length South: 69.5115 m
 Width to Ratio: 9:4
o Width to height Ratio (without the Pediments): 9:4
 Number of stones used to built the Parthenon: Approximated at 13400 stones.
 Architects: Iktinos and Kallikrates
 Parthenon Cost: 469 talents
 Coordinates (of Plaka area just below the Acropolis): 37° 58'N, 23° 43'E