Religion was the basic unifying factor and source of unity between Mesopotamia and Egypt. The nature evidently explained the divine forces in work and every person in these two societies worked towards the goal of serving the gods. In Mesopotamia, the Sumerians had a sole believe that the laws guiding them descended from the gods to the ruling kings. These kings then administered the laws to the people with the core support of the priests. The priests then revealed the will of the gods to the kings and the people.
Art and religion are like one thing for the artists make statues which the Egyptian subjects worship. The sole aim of art was to represent the relationship between the gods, humanity and most importantly the relationship between the gods and the rulers. In Mesopotamia, Ziggurat gave the basic architectural understanding experience in which the subjects must use to seek wisdom from the gods. In Egypt, the statutes depicted and emphasized the divine grander of the pharaohs.
The rulers were viewed as kings or political leaders and were chosen by the gods. Respect and service was given to them without question in both Mesopotamia and Egypt. The pharaoh was seen as an incarnation of Horus. The high priest was the second most powerful person in Egypt then the lesser priests after him .
Men and boys in the ancient Greece participated a lot in war. In order to stand the long distance walk and the hardships involved, they put up public gymnasiums where they could train and relax. They believed that a healthy body was very important thus sport could be the option and a good preparation tool for war. This sport is different from the modern one in that it was only held in Olympia unlike today, it only allowed the people of Greek descent as participants, but today it is diverse, only men could compete in this games but today women participate as well, and they were religious sly meant to honor the Greek gods unlike today. The ancient Greeks cannot approve the modern Olympics because it violates the rules of the game, it is now meant for leisure unlike the ancient ages when it was for honoring the gods, it now involves women and worst of all it involves people from all over the world unlike the ancient where the Greeks only participated.
Milau Bridge in South France is the highest and strong bridge in the world. It crosses river Tarn and is designed by Lord Foster (architect) and completed in 2004.it stands 984 feet tall with 36000 tones weight. Ancient architectural structures in Greek are the Acropolis, which is high above the city on a very natural distinction. Others are the designs of the island of Aegean, the theatre and temple of Apollo in Delphi .
The similarities that exist between the ancient and modern architecture is the use of the round columns, use of the eagle symbol and resting of slabs on top of the columns. The building materials of limestone, concrete and marble are still used in the modern construction. There are no much differences only that in the modern, the use of electronic designing is mostly used, use of ultra sound to detect cracks and non completeness in a construction, use of the GPS in putting the structures accurately in place unlike the past.
The U S Supreme court is the best example of the modern architecture that is much influenced by the roman architecture. This building has the characteristics of the Roman Temple. It is raised on a podium like the Roman temple; it is approached by a classy formal front staircase exactly as the temple. Looking at the exterior of the court, it is dressed in the white marble like most of the buildings in Rome . This echoes the roman architecture and authority if the Greek.
The roman roads connected military bases in Rome, connected cities and major towns. These roads were basically used for movement of the armies during the times of war, movement of the civilians, movement of the war officials and the carriage of official communications between points. These roads served a very important role in the communication network .
The Muslim art is a product of the lands previously under the rule of Muslim culture and the services designed to serve the Muslims in their religion and way of living. The Muslim art has undergone various changes and positive developments over ages. A basic example of Islamic art is the calligraphy. Another example of a contributory art to architecture is the preference of covering surfaces with various patterns that are composed of geometric basics.
Crusades are a series of war between the Christians and the Muslims in different states. There were eight crusades in number. Namely, the principal crusades comprising of the first four crusades and the minor crusades which comprised of the last four crusades. The children’s crusade was in addition to this eight and other several expeditions which were much insignificant in number and result. The first crusade succeed recapture Jerusalem in 1099 in that the crusades built homes for themselves on the way to middle east ,the second failed due to poor leadership , the third succeeded in that there was a peace negotiation between Lionheart and Saladin, and the Christian pilgrims were allowed, the fourth resulted in a conflict between the Catholics and the orthodox Christian hence failing, the fifth was successful in that the city of Damietta was captured by Leopold and Andrew II, the sixth ended with a peace treaty that gave Christians authority over sites like Jerusalem, the seventh and eight failed due to the death of Lous as the leader, the ninth crusade failed in that king Edward returned home on hearing the death o his father thus frustrating it.
The crusades have great impact on the modern day world. In the Middle East, we still experience the same, there is evident conflict between churches i.e. the Catholic Church and the orthodox churches still exist. Although the crusades are not taught churches, their impact can still be felt. The disparity and distance created between the Catholic Church and other churches created in this time can never be erased although the Catholic Church has apologized for the wrongs did when people were killing others for the sake of their religion.
Reference
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Douglas J. Brewer, E. T. (2007). Egypt and the Egyptians. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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Markus Hattstein, P. D. (2013). Islam: Art and Architecture. London: h.f.ullmann.
Procter, G. (1999). History of the Crusades: Comprising the Rise, Progress and Results of the Various Extraordinary European Expeditions for the Recovery of the Holy Land from the Saracens and Turks. New York: Keystone Publishing Company.
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