Art history, ancient egypt, rome, greece, sculptures or religious architecture

Art History . Page PAGE 1

Art in Places of Worship

Religious structures like temples and churches are some of the most informative constructions of ancient civilizations . Such structures provide insight on the people who made them and their cultural and technical developments

Egyptian temples run as complex system of buildings with certain areas dedicated to specific divine beings . The construction of each designated place as a grand homely dwelling of a god or goddess connotes the Egyptian belief that heaven and earth are mirror images of each other Thus , the

ancient Egyptians built their place of worship as worthy homes of the divinities . In addition , the designation of certain areas in the ancient temple complex for pharaohs validates the fact that Egyptian rulers are considered as divine beings on earth

A good example of ancient Egyptian temples is the Temple of Karnak in Luxor . This temple complex composed of three main temples and other smaller areas is considered as the world 's largest religious structure The biggest partitions in this complex are dedicated to the gods Mut Montu and Amun while smaller temples are dedicated to Ptah , Opet and Khonsu (Dunn , 2003 . The outer and inner walls of the vast complex are covered with hieroglyphics meant to decorate as well as to record historic events . This signifies that Egyptians used art to preserve their traditions and history

The Parthenon , the temple devoted to the Greek goddess Athena , is an epitome of the Greek place of worship . It is raised on a high podium with steps running around the four sides of the temple . Like in most Greek temples , the sculpture of the divinity is located in front of the temple . Generally , the sculpture on temples located right at the top and is difficult for worshippers to view is rationalized by the fact that Greek temples are built for the pleasure of deities and not for people Moreover , the temple is constructed mainly to serve as the place of storage for the offerings made by devotees . The presence of helmets statues , wedding baskets and weapons among the ruins of Greek temples shows that religion played an important part in the lives of ancient Greeks

The presence of many and different architectural designs for the places of worship all around Rome shows that Romans tolerate many religions Like other things in this civilization , most Roman temples carry similarities with their Greek counterparts . However , the characteristic raised structure on a high podium could only be approached by steps across the front of the building in contrast to the four-sided steps of the Greek temples . This shows that Romans introduced innovations even to the well-structured constructions of the ancient Greek

The phrase art for art 's sake ' is not applicable to most ancient people and their constructions . For them , the purpose of art is directly linked to their cultural and traditional upbringings . The Egyptians used their form of writing or hieroglyphics to record their traditions and achievements and to decorate their constructions . On the...