The Jericho Tower

Maureen is often forgotten throughout the entire story of The Glass Castle written by Jeannette Walls. We are very tragically reminded of Maureen’s presence when she stabs her own mother while living in New York. Reflecting back to the beginning of the story, we can see why Maureen has a mental breakdown. She is born into a world of violence, her parents fail to care for her, and she lives her entire childhood in neglect.

The majority of ancient Egyptian structures studied by architectural historians and planners alike, were erected to honor a pharaoh or as a grand tomb for their journey through to the afterlife. Whether the structure was in the form of a temple, tomb or statue, the ritual and spiritual influence is unquestionable. The location, scale, and materials used to construct these monuments are all defining factors of how the space is used and functions.

Archaeologists and historians are yet to determine what it was used/built for, however there are multiple interpretations. Some of these interpretations include but are not limited too:

In this both heart wrenching and slightly humorous memoir, successful journalist Jeannette Walls tells the bittersweet story of her rather dysfunctional and poverty stricken upbringing. Walls grows up in a family trailed by the ubiquitous presence of hunger and broken down homes. Throughout the memoir she recounts memories of moving from one dilapidated neighborhood to another with her three other siblings, insanely "free sprinted" mother, and incredibly intelligent yet alcoholic father. The author focuses on her unconventional childhood with somewhat unfit parents much too lazy and self-absorbed to even obtain decent jobs. Although Walls's childhood gushes with heartbreaking tales of searching through dumpsters for food, she remains as

This is proof of the Sumerian architectural abilities. The architecture in Mesopotamia are considered to have been contemporary with the founding of the Sumerian cities, but there was some complexity in the architectural design during this Protoliterate period (c. 3400-c. 2900 BC). This is shown in the design of many religious buildings. Typical temples of the Protoliterate period--both the platform type and the type built at ground level--are, however, much more elaborate both in planning and ornament. The interior was decorated with cones sunk into the wall, covered in bronze. Most cities were simple in structure, but the ziggurat was one of the world's first complex architectural structures.

     Paralleling the pyramids in Egypt were the ziggurats of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia (meaning between two rivers, the Tigress and Euphrates) began making these structures around roughly 2000 BC. They were made of bricks that they produced on the building’s work site. There were sun-dried bricks to make up the solid inside of the ziggurat, and there were kiln fired bricks that made up the structures façade. These bricks were much smaller than the stones used in Egypt and also did not have to be brought from far away. Some of the ziggurats were built on top of older ones. Like Egyptian pyramids, the ziggurat was believed to be a kind of gateway between heaven and earth, but unlike the pyramids, the ziggurats where not tombs for kings. Rather they were believed to be the earthly homes of gods. Egyptians built their massive structures outside of major populated areas. But the ziggurats were in prominent areas. Cities had their own patron god or goddess (some places even had two ziggurats, one for a god of both sexes) and priests were the only ones allowed into these temples. They had the honor of catering to the needs of the gods and were powerful figures in their respective communities. Mesopotamians also built the Tower of Babel, which was supposed to have been built as bridge from earth to heaven. It was most likely located in Neo-Babylonia (home of the Hanging Gardens) and was also one of

Göbekli Tepe is a very interesting archaeological site that is located at the top of the mountain limestone ridge in Southeastern Turkey near the Syrian border (Banning 620). It is known as the earliest monumental building, or temple, that mankind has ever created and it was built even before the stage of agriculture, which dates back to some 11,600 years ago (Mann 1st page). Göbekli Tepe belongs to the PPN (Pre-Pottery Neolithic) in terms of its chronological context in world prehistory (Banning 620). In fact, the site can be divided into three different stratigraphic levels that are level 3, level 2A, and level 2B (Banning 620). Level 3 is the oldest level which appears to date back to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) (Banning 621). Each of the buildings measured 15 m by 10 m and contained T-shaped monoliths surrounded by a wall made of stone and mortar (Banning 621). Two U-stone shaped entrances could by identified in two of the buildings (Banning 621). However, the most monumental aspect of the Göbekli Tepe can be attributed to the sophisticated carvings of wild animals, such as scorpions and boars, on the pillars which appears in the pillars of level 3 and level 2A (Banning 621). Moreover, Level 2A, which dates to Middle PPNB, has smaller and more rectangular buildings than Level 3 and it contains delicately implemented tiled floors and T pillars without any decorations (Banning 621). Level 2B dates to the time between level 3 and level 2A, however,

Why the Great Pyramid of Giza was built is a question that has been challenging archeologists, philosophers, and historians

Let us begin by going back to a time before the Great Wall, The Great Pyramids, and even Stonehenge. A time that could not even fathom the thought of metal tools and tall buildings. This time is the Neolithic period between 3180-2500 BCE and the location is the west coast of the mainland of Orkney in Scotland. There you will find the ancient ruins of Skara Brae. During the winter of 1850 a massive storm hit the coast of Orkney. A combination of fierce winds and high tides stipped the top layer of soil from the ground to reveal the outline of an old building. Intrigued by the outlines the local laird, William Watt of Skill, started excavating the site too see what he could find. In 1868 the site was abandoned for unknown reasons and in later

“He told me that it didn’t matter whether or not walls of Jericho existed because the walls stood for the enclosures people built around there hearts when they shut out God.”

This virgin site is 180 miles away. Amenhotep wanted his city build immediately, so he can move right in. Amenhotep’s impatience challenged his engineers to invent a new way to build faster, the engineers responded with a pioneering breakthrough. Small limestone blocks cut into a standard size that could be easily carried and stacked. The blocks called talatats, by archaeologists, were an ancient precursor to today’s prefabricated building materials. The talatats were very useful and that it was very quick to put up a building. The talatat measured about 20 1/2 inches long by 10 1/4 deep by 9 1/2 high (26 x 52 x 24 cm) and weighing about 120 pounds. With the talatats, you did not have huge group of laborers pulling large blocks, it was much easier to have a large number of people each carrying one block and just use the blocks as bricks. The design of the city itself was equally ground breaking. Amarna covered 24 square miles, running 8 miles along the east side of the Nile, and 3 miles inland. Its layout, with radiate from the royal tomb like sun rays emanating from a Pharaoh’s spirit. A wide royal road that ran parallel to the river, linking the central city to the palaces and

The Freedom Tower also known as “One World Trade Center” is the tallest skyscraper in the western hemisphere, and the fifth tallest skyscraper in our planet earth. The building structure consists of 104 stories can also be described as the North Tower of the original World Trade Center. The Building location is 285 Fulton Street, Manhattan New York, United States 10007, as depicted in the map below Figure 1.

This is probably due to the following portion of the cylinder: “The population of Babylon calls blessings on my kingship, and I have enabled all the lands to live in peace. Every day I copiously supplied … geese, two ducks and ten pigeons more than the geese, ducks and pigeons …. I sought out to strengthen the guard on the wall Imgur-Enlil, the great wall of Babylon, and … the quay of baked brick on the bank of the moat which an earlier king had built but not completed, I … its work. … Which did not surround the city outside, which no earlier king had built, his troops, and the levee from his land, in/to Shuanna? … With bitumen and baked brick I built anew, and completed its work. … Great doors of cedar wood with copper cladding. I installed all their doors, threshold slabs and door fittings with copper parts.” *(British Museum)

A large pile of ancient stone is no different than a giant stack of old stone, right? To look closely into an argument, sometimes a zoomed-out perspective is needed. In this case, its important to look at every detail to find out if the construction of pyramids and cathedrals were similar or different. On one hand, there are the ancient Egyptian pyramids, construced under the authority of the pharoahs through the use of many laboring workers. On the other, there are gothic cathedrals, built over a long period of time, employing several construction methods. Through the analysis of historical accounts and evidence, it is apparent that the similarities between the Great Pyramids and gothic cathedrals greatly endorse the use of techonological systems as fuel for societies that are constantly improving.

The khans and funduqs were buildings that had combined functions of hostel and trading centre and were used mostly by traveling merchants and visitors to the city. These buildings were built mostly near the trading routes outside the city, and they required towers for extra protection, however, some of them were located inside the city and did not required to be fortified because of it. A major difference is that these buildings did not had shops in