Comparison Essay

One of the first towns in the world, Cata Hayuk, dates back to 6500 BC.

At that time, there were 6000 people living in Catal Huyuk.

The majority of the homes in Cata Hayuk were built with mud brick and were built right up against one another.

People used to enter through the roof-mounted hatches because the houses lacked even doors.

It was assumed that building entrances on the roof would be safer than those intended for the walls. Since most of the houses were build touching one another, the roofs were mainly used as the walking streets. With this particular design approach, houses were not incorporated with chimneys and windows too did not have pane glasses. Instead of chimneys, houses used to have holes in the roofs for releasing smokes. The interior of the houses was well plastered. The walls were also painted murals of animals and people. Since the access to the houses were through the holes in the ceiling. Accessing these holes were possible through the use of exterior and interior ladders incorporated with the buildings.

As mentioned before, the ceiling openings or holes are the only sources for ventilation of the houses. It is through these openings that fresh airs get into the house while the smoke escapes through. Every house had plastered interiors, which are characterized by steep stairs or squared off timber ladders. These steep stairs or squared off timber ladders were built on the southern wall of the room to create space where ovens and cooking earth were placed. Every main room was used as an area for daily activities, including cooking. The raised platforms that were built along the house walls were used as facilities for sleeping, sitting, and working as well. In that case, the interior walls of the houses were well-plaster to a smooth finish.

Figure 1: Illustration of the houses in Catal Huyuk Town

Palace of Minos is one of the known archaeological sites across the globe. It is located in the Crete Island of the Mediterranean Sea. In the Middle Bronze age, Palace Minos was the center of the social, political, and culture of the Minoan. Though Minoan culture was founded in the early 2400 BC, some of its power has not greatly diminished. What remains important about Palace Minos is the cultural heart that describes the Greek myth.

Palace of Minos is also known as Knossos site. The site was discovered by Minos Kalokairinos in 1878. Also, the excavations of the site were started in 1900 by Sir Arthur Evans and his partners and team members continued with the excavations for 35 years. Since the discovery, Palace of Minos has undergone history of its own, including rediscovery and excavations by tourism, education, and archaeologists. The site has also been used as occupations for government headquarters. It was occupied by the governments who were fighting over the control of the Mediterranean Sea in the last two world wars.

The architectural features of Palace of Minos are determined by time. Currently, the visible features are the accumulation the features that existed in many centuries ago. These are the features, which have proven to be dominant. In that case, Palaces of Minos has not depicted accurately the way it was some centuries ago. Furthermore, the appearance of its features has been reconstituted with the modern materials. In that case, a custom was started with the effort of preserving Palace of Mino's site from decaying and torrential winter rain. According to the archeological perspective, by referring the site as Palace and Knossos is rather ambiguous. Unlike the Catal Hayuk (Turkey), Palace of Minos was not just used as a place for residency. It contained some rooms that were suitable for royal family. For that reason, the site was also used as a monarchy residence.

Figure: 2A section of the building feature of Palace of Minos

Figure 3: Architectural view of the Palace of Minos

The Parthenon versus Temple of Appollo

The Parthenon is an octastyle Doric temple that is incorporated with ionic architectural features. According to the design of many common Greek temples, Parthenon construction is surrounded by many columns carrying an entablature with them. The building has eight columns at both ends and seventeen on both sides. In that case, there is the aspect of double row columns at the building either ends. The colonnade of the Parthenon surrounds the inner masonry structure known as the cella, which can also be two different compartments. Also, the gable of the building is finished using a triangular pediment that was originally replaced by the sculpted figures.

According to the stylobate dimension, the dimensions of Parthenon base area are 228 by 101 ft. On the other hand, the dimension of the cella part was 97.8 by 63.0 ft. In the peripheral end, the dimensions of the Doric columns are the 6.2ft for diameter and 34ft for height. However, the corner columns have a little larger diameter. In that case, the Parthenon is regarded as one of the finest Greek Architecture. It enjoys the repute of being the flawless Doric temple to be built by the Greek. Despite the aspect of in antiquity, the architectural refinements of the Parthenon remain legendary. This is also contributed by the subtle correspondence that exists between the stylobate curvature and the naos walls, which are tapered. The stylobate also acts as the platform on which the columns can stand on. In several designs, the stylobate has slightly parabolic and upward curvature, which is suitable for shedding rainwater and at the same time reinforcing the temple against earthquakes.

Figure 4: View of the Parthenon Temple

The dimensions of stylobate of Temple of Appollo is 55.36 by 21.47m with squat columns that are in the six by seventeen arrangement. The temple also represents the transition that was experienced in the West Greek between the temples that had wooden structure and the ones that were built using the stones having continuous colonnade and hexastyle front. The perimeter of the temple also surrounds the naos and pronaos. However, the naos is divided into three aisles and two internal colonnades of slender columns. At the end or back of the naos, there is a closed space known as an adyton. Unlike Parthenon Temple, Appollo Temple was constructed using forty-two monolithic columns, which were transported by the sea to the construction site.

Figure 5: View of the Temple of Appollo

The Second Temple Jerusalem (Israel) Versus Ziggurat Complex (Ur)

According to history, the second temple of Jerusalem was constructed in the 515 B.C.E. Later on; its refurbishment was done Simon the Just (Yohanan) in 200 B.C.E. However, he concentrated in the refurbishing process and not the modification of the basic structure. The second temple has two courtyards, which have dimensions of 750 by 150 feet. The outer courtyard has at least four gates on the walls. One of these gates faces the street. On the other hand, the inner courtyard has two gates. The courtyards are also surrounded by various chambers. Most of the chambers were in the outer courtyard but were later used for storage vessels, tithe, and equipment.

Figure 6: View of the Second Temple of Jerusalem

Ziggurat Complex (Ur) was built by the ancient Babylonians, Sumerians, Eblaites, and Assyrians, specifically for the Elamite religion and Mesopotamian religion. Every ziggurat was part of the complex. The early ziggurats were started as platforms with rectangular, square, or oval shapes. They are also similar to the mastaba-like structure, which has a flat top. Unlike the Second temple, the cores of the ziggurats are made up of the sunbaked bricks while the firebricks are arranged to face outside of the ziggurats. Also, the facings of the ziggurats are glazed in different colors thus creating the astrological significance. Most of the Kings usually have their names engraved in the glazed bricks. Though many archeologists have made us believe that ziggurats are used to support a shrine, the myth is not true because there is no physical evidence to prove so. However, the textual evidence and fractions of the remaining heights can bring some facts to the table.

Figure 7: View of the Ziggurat Complexs