Essay Example on The Magnificence of Pyramids: Timeless Testaments of History

Introduction

A pyramid is a magnificent stone structure that arises out of the desert sands. Pyramids have captured people’s attention around the globe from ancient times in history. Most pyramids were established for religious functions, with the Egyptians being one of the first civilizations to believe in the concept of eternity (Rubik, 2016). Most pyramids have stood the test of time, and regardless that their outer limestone layers have been passed into dust, they still stand. Some pyramids like the Egyptian and Mayan pyramids have experienced a distinction in construction times, but again, they share some connection, even though they also come from distinct cultures. This essay focuses on comparing and contrasting and the construction, function, and symbolism of the Mayan and Egypt pyramid structures by identifying their similarities and differences.

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Similarities

Construction

The shape of most pyramids can be dated back in their evolution, basically through a consideration of the world's initial pyramid royal tomb called Djoser's Step Pyramid (Rubik, 2016). The stone architectural design that was tiered and constructed from limestone resembled the Mayan and Egyptian pyramids. The pyramid building dedicated missions were demonstrated through the techniques of transporting construction materials away from the quarry to the building site. In Egypt, pyramids, quarry stones were moved by workers who teamed up to utilize ropes, sledges, and rollers. Studies suggest that the Giza pyramids in Egypt were constructed through shipping necessary supplies. On the arrival of materials from the quarry, the stone would be transported to the top of the pyramid (Magli, 2016). The most visible similarities between the Mayan and Egypt pyramids are the tall, extremely elevated monumented structure with sloping sides.

Function

Pyramid towns in Egypt and Mayan were founded to provide officials, craft specialists, and the overall workforce with ritual centers, hospitals, accommodation, and farms. The Mayan workforce lived in ceremonial centers at the time of construction. Several forms of hierarchy including the king’s priesthood formed the kind of power in the construction sites and these powers were held even in the lower classes; the association of political and economic authority provided for power to flow from the periphery to the core, through ideological procedures to the religious-secular spheres (Aimers & Rice, 2006).

Since social nobilities had formed a cultural belief system that the divine king would keep order in the world and that without the heavenly king, there would be tearing apart of everything, this concept encouraged individuals to continue with their efforts in establishing these pyramids with the architecture power, construction techniques, and the constructor of the pyramid separating the two societal classes of the upper level and lower class, thus establishing an association of dependence that benefitted the nobles.

Symbolism

The Egyptian pyramids straight sidedness reflect the rays of the sun while the tiered side of the Mayan pyramid is similar to that of the mountains (Allen & Der Manuelian, 2005). Both the sun rays in Egypt and the mountains in Mayan were entirely sacred. Sun rays functioned to begin a voyage towards heaven, while mountains were staircases that allowed for the Mayan's to ascend to heaven (Aimers & Rice, 2006). People in Egypt worshipped the sun god as a vital force of natural existence, believing that there was the continued existence of people after death; they also held in the concept of eternity in their funerary and religious ideas.

Both pyramids represented a human encounter with the primary belief of social nobility and a divine king. Mayan leaders and Egyptian leaders benefited from the afterlife. The workforce in both pyramids represented power, resources, and movement to other villages, in this case, to the Giza pyramid structure and Mayan ritual center that was powered by the divine king (Magli, 2016).

Differences

Construction

In Mayan, construction techniques incorporated a structure of positioning the outer stonework together, which allowed cement in the form of liquid to be flowed into the openings to dry, and to hold the stone together (Aimers & Rice, 2006). There was gradual establishment of stone casting, and also a wall rose, with the cement to harden in each sequence of developed layers; this method was essential for allowing the capacity to shape and form distinctive monuments with decorative stone cuts better. Egyptian pyramids utilized more straightforward types of construction equipment, including wooden frames, hammers, rubble filling material, and gypsum that contained properties that were less binding as compared to Mayan cement (Allen & Der Manuelian, 2005). The Egyptian system of construction incorporated exterior blocks of stone that were fixed together carefully without motor, and they contained liquid cement with rubble that made wooden concealing necessary. The other casing stone was established increasingly with spouting cement in each interval as the wall rose, so that the cement hardened in a chain of developed layers. This method experienced advancements in time with the benefit of shaping and forming unique pyramids that were artistic.

Symbolism

As compared to pyramids in Egypt, Mayan pyramids were established on the same site, and another pyramid was established on top of the older pyramid. Egyptian pyramids operated in such a way that only the king and priesthood were allowed to climb the stairs that represented both the sacred ground and divine king. In Mayan pyramids, monumental stairs and hallowed enclaves sat on top of the stairs and were dedicated to the deity ritual worship and ancestry (Aimers & Rice, 2006). This was not the case in Egyptian pyramids. In Mayan, rituals were vital in the eyes of the citizen, and the entire community looked forward to such events to offer their sacrifices. In Egypt, the pharaonic rituals conducted included more mystery, and only the nobles and the death cults were allowed to participate during such ceremonies in the tomb; hence, the community was segregated (Allen & Der Manuelian, 2005).

Function

Another distinction between the two pyramids is their architectural art that demonstrates their distinct earthly views. Mayan pyramids had high spirited paintings with multiple colors and locales that depicted sacrificial, ritual, and religious activities (Aimers & Rice, 2006). The inventive illustration of hieroglyphics and personage figures at these sites were in the view of the public. Artistic forms and monuments functioned to express power and religion physically. The activities of the whole nation were concentrated in this architecture. The pyramids held the consciousness of and the public of Mayan.

Egyptian pyramids, on the other hand, were adorned artistically, but paintings were only inside the royal tomb. The function of the Mayan pyramid was to be viewed by the entire society for the benefit of all, while the Egyptian art kept the deceased Pharaoh safe in the eternity afterlife (Allen & Der Manuelian, 2005). Upon completion of the pharaonic burial rites in Egypt, all security components were placed in a place with the entrance hidden by a stone slab, which was similar to the pyramid wall. The pyramid was not just a tomb, but it was a site of Pharaoh's spiritual transfiguration, the take-off to heaven and rebirth, and his residence beyond his ruling of the people in his time. Unlike in Egyptian pyramids that were tombs, the Mayan pyramids functioned as places for rituals and sacrificial offerings to ancestors utilized in the day to day spiritual existence of the people.

Conclusion

The comparison and contrasts that exist between the Egyptian pyramids and the Mayan pyramid construction cultures resulted from the basic features of ideologies within states and functions based around the economic and secular authority of the nobles at the top who looked out for individuals beneath them. The secular power received backups from religious notions primarily on the concept of a divine ruler that lived as an illustration of the gods and maintained order in the universe that was not supposed to be broken by chaos from gods with malice. Pyramids in both Egypt and Mayan functioned as monumental architectures of authority that allow the cycle of forced resources to flow from the center to the creation of associations of dependence, ruled by the central authorities.

References

Aimers, J. J., & Rice, P. M. (2006). Astronomy, ritual, and the interpretation of Maya" E-group" architectural assemblages. Ancient Mesoamerica, 79-96. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26309364

Allen, J. P., & Der Manuelian, P. (Eds.). (2005). The ancient Egyptian pyramid texts (No. 23). Brill. https://books.google.co.ke/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bI47YJQY_K8C&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=+Egyptian+pyramid+structures&ots=xmg1sVeNOE&sig=Wuz1_qb22CU1MVCRKyMGO7fa5Mw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Egyptian%20pyramid%20structures&f=false

Magli, G. (2016). The Giza ‘written landscape and the double project of King Khufu. Time and Mind, 9(1), 57-74. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1751696X.2016.1142291

Rubik, B. (2016). Interactions of pyramidal structures with energy and consciousness. Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, 12(2), 259-275. http://cosmosandhistory.org/index.php/journal/article/view/565