Pyramids

King Snefru's bent pyramid King Khufu's great pyramid, impressive as it is, was not the first pyramid to be built. His father, king Snefru, built a number of impressive pyramids himself. While none of the Egyptian pyramids constructed under the reign of Snefru are as tall or large as the Great Pyramid at Giza; they did contribute to the perfection of the Egyptian pyramids.

One of the most profound mysteries relating to the ancient world of Egypt regards why was the sphinx made. No one seems to be quite sure why this great statue was constructed, however; theories abound. It is believed to have most likely been constructed during the Fourth Dynasty. Located in the same proximity as King Khufu's Great pyramid, many scholars have hypothesized that the Sphinx was constructed in order to guard the great pyramid. The ancient Egyptian pyramids served a multitude of purposes. They were primarily used as the burial tomb of the royal family, consisting of the pharaoh, his queens and offspring.

Palaces

Knossos Palace Knossos is the most famous of the palaces of the Minoan civilization. It was destroyed possibly by a volcanic eruption about 1450 BC. The ancient Knossos was the hub of the Minoan Civilization which imposed the Aegean 4000 years ago. According to mythology, the palace was the seat of the king Minos. It is also connected with intriguing legends, such as the myth of the Minotaur in the Labyrinth under the Palace, and the story of Daidalos and Ikaros. Minos Kalokerinos did the first excavations of the site in 1878. The old (first) palace was built around 2000 B.C. but it was completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1700 B.C. The new (second) palace was built immediately on the ruins of the old one and it was more complex in plan, like a labyrinth. In the middle of the 15th century B.C. when the Achaeans from the Greek Mainland conquered Crete it was partially destroyed. The palace was finally destroyed again by fire (Santorini Volcano) in the mid-14th century B.C. Sir Arthur Evans managed to extensively reconstruct the Palace of Knossos.

Persepolis

Now an archaeological site in Iran, the ancient city of Persepolis (Persian: Takht-e Jamshid or Takht-i Jamshid, "Throne of Jamshid") was founded by Darius I in 518 BC as the capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. On an immense half-artificial, half-natural terrace, the great king created an impressive palace complex inspired by Mesopotamian models. The importance and quality of the ruins at Persepolis led to its recognition by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The site of Persepolis is characterized by a large terrace with its east side leaning on the Kuh-e Rahmat (Mount of Mercy). The other three sides are formed by a retaining wall, varying in height with the slope of the ground from 13 to 41 feet (4 to 12 m). On the west side, a magnificent double stair in two flights of 111 easy stone steps leads to the top. Persepolis is located about 32 miles (51 km) northeast of Shiraz in the region of Fars in southwestern Iran, near the confluence of the small river Pulvar (Rudkhaneh-ye Sivand) with the Rud-e Kor.

Elliptical vault

The earliest example known of a vault is that found under the Chaldaean ziggurat at Nippur in Babylonia, ascribed to about 4000 B.C., which was built of burnt bricks cemented withclay mortar. The earliest tunnel vaults in Egypt are those at Requagnah and Denderah, c. 3500 B.C.; these were built in unburnt brick in three rings over passages descending to tombs: in these cases, as the span of the vault was only 6 ft., the bricks constituting the voussoirs were laid flatwise, and adhered sufficiently to those behind to enable the ring to be completed without other support; in the granaries built by Ramessu II., still in part existing behind the Ramesseum, at Thebes, the span was 12 ft., and another system was employed; the lower part of 1 For the form of safe so called Safes. In full scale, on a leveled whitewashed rock surface near the entrance to the tomb of Ramesses VI in the Valley of the Kings, is the drawing of an ellipse intended to guide in the construction of the vault of the tomb. From this drawing the stonecutters could easily take the measures and transfer them to their working place at the roof of the burial chamber.

Parthenon

The Parthenon is a temple of the Doric order with eight columns at the faade, and seventeen columns at the flanks, conforming to the established ratio of 9:4. This ratio governed the vertical and horizontal proportions of the temple as well as many other relationships of the building like the spacing between the columns and their height. The Parthenon (Greek: ) in Athens is the most famous surviving building of Ancient Greece and one of the most famous buildings in the world. The Parthenon has stood atop the Acropolis of Athens for nearly 2,500 years and was built to give thanks to Athena, the city's patron goddess, for the salvation of Athens and Greece in the Persian Wars. The building was officially called theTemple of Athena the Virgin; "Parthenon" comes from the Greek wordparthenos, "virgin." Throughout its long life, the Parthenon has functioned most importantly as a Greek temple, but has also been a treasury, a fortress, a church, and a mosque. Today, it is one of the most recognizable icons and popular tourist attractions in the world.