Essay Sample on Preserving Cultural Identity: The Vital Role of Cultural Maintenance

Introduction

Culture is among the most and highly valued dimensions in many societies. Culture determines the way of life of the members of a specific organization. It involves learning, communication, as well as the preservation of the materials and other things that define the culture of a community. Maintenance of cultural information and other materials is vital as the generations that follow get to know about the culture before they were born. Preservation of cultural elements and artifacts is critical and can be done in a variety of ways. Among the methods of preserving culture is the artwork. The artwork is among the most imperative techniques as it creates a visible picture, image, and objects that are easy to comprehend, making it one of the most reliable sources of cultural information (Neumuller, Reichinger, Rist, and Kern, 132). Architecture is part of the artwork that plays a crucial role in the preservation of cultures as it involves the creation of items such as buildings and other structures. The artwork is essential in the maintenance of culture for the generations to come. the Egyptian Pyramids are forms of visual artwork which are essential in maintaining the culture of the Egyptians.

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The Egyptian pyramids are among the most famous and renowned structures in the world. These structures are imperative in the culture and the history of the Egyptians as it holds specific and most important information about ancient Egypt and the people who were in existence during those times (Morenz 13). The structure contains unique places in the minds of the people of Egypt, the nation itself, and the Christians as it has been attributed to several issues that transpired during the times when Christian believe the Israelites were held captive in this country during the reign of King Pharaoh (Frigant 21). Apart from that, the structures are significant to the country as they attract many tourists from various parts of the world, which earns the significant country amount of revenue for its growth. This paper will, therefore, dig critically into these structures about their significance, how they came into being as well as other information concerning them.

The famous Egyptian pyramids were built long ago when Egypt was among the wealthiest and most civilized nations in the world (Frigant 21). These pyramids are among the most magnificent human-made structures which place Egypt high in the map of the world regarding architecture and artwork. The massive structures were made during the beginning of the reigns of the ancient kingdoms headed by Pharaoh. They reflect his enormous role as the king in the fourth century marking some of the oldest world structures, which is in existence (Morenz 13). It was during this century that the country was enjoying tremendous economic development and stability, and the kings were ranked highly and with unique positions in society. And due to this, the Egyptians believed that when the kings would die, their spirits would become gods who were responsible for protecting them. Among others, this was a reason why they built the pyramids where they would preserve the dead body of their king (Frigant 23).

After dying, the king's body would be mummified and everything that belonged to the king would be buried with him. This was a sign of respect and care for his spirit to make it happy as it was believed to turn into gods that would protect the Egyptians. Among the things that the kings were buried with included gold items, food, furniture and other things that the Egyptians would offer to him. Moreover, the kings would be buried together with his relatives, their officials as well as the priests. As a result, they needed huge places to bury the king alongside all the items he owned and they believed that he needed to continue with his life well even after his death and the idea of a structure was conceived. To accommodate all these items and people, a huge pyramid was built to provide place for them all and to be the new home for the dead king to continue enjoying life well in accordance to the culture of the Egyptians who were in existence during this time. For this reason, the pyramids were holy and most respected place by the people and therefore became areas of great value.

It is believed that over 2.3 million blocks of stones were used to build one of the famous pyramids in Egypt that is called Khufu's Great Pyramid. The blocks of rocks that were used we massive and had an average weight of over 2.5 tones each (Verner 14). It is said that the slaves who were held in Egypt from Israel and other Egyptian natives who were laborers in farms built the pyramids, which they did due to force that was directed on them by the Egyptians (Walz and Cuno 20). The evidence on who made historians discovered the pyramid. They found skeletons that were dug from the area. One of the greatest Greek historians, Herodotus, provides that the construction of the monument took around 20 years to complete with about 100000 men as laborers (Verner 15). The vast number of workers and the many years they used to build it are indicators of how massive the structure was. This was later challenged by archeologists who, based on their pieces of evidence suggested that the workforce might have been estimated around 20000, which is still a considerable number (Verner 15)

As such, the pyramids hold a strong history of Egypt and remain to be among the most well-known structures in the world. The pyramid of Khafre is the second-largest and tallest in Egypt, which has the tomb for Pharaoh (Verner 17). This pyramid is unique as it has the Great Sphinx in the inner side. The Great Sphinx, a statue of a guardian curved using limestone, characterized by the head of a man embedded in the body of a lion. During the ancient world times, the statue emerged the largest ever curved as it had a length to around 240 feet and a height of approximately 66 feet (Verner 17). The pyramid was a valuable structure due to the Great Sphinx as people would congregate to worship it as an image of a local god of Horus. The monument was a great place of worship hence a sacred place for the Egyptians.

The pyramids have significance in Egypt as the structure of their ancient cultural heritage, which contains rich history and the value that the Egyptians had for their king as they were built as tombs for the kings who served Egypt (Morenz 15). Some of these pyramids, such as that of Khafre was a worshiping place hence a holy place. They are, therefore, areas that paint an image of an influential culture of the ancient Egyptians, which attracts many people in learning about them. Their uniqueness places the nation high in the map of the world's most beautiful structures that are in existence (Morenz 15). Additionally, they are signs of the contributions that the Egyptians and other foreigners made to show their respect for their kings. However, they are signs of slavery that took place in Egypt. The pyramids those days were constructed by slaves who were oppressed and forced to work.

The Egyptian pyramids are among the most renowned structures in the world, which put the artwork high in the world. They preserve a lot of history about the ancient Egyptians and the contributions they made to the architectural field. The pyramids remain an outstanding structural work in the world. People in the world learn about the culture of the Egyptians from them as they were built many years ago. Their existence today paints an image of their strength and how art contributes to the preservation of culture. Art is indeed the right way as it can remain in place for several years, like the pyramids, which are hundreds of years old and still in existence. Any time the people see them, they know the culture of the ancient people of Egypt. Therefore, artworks are significantly endorsed by people in the world as an excellent way of preserving their cultures. This is due to their ability to remain in existence for long periods.

Work Cited

Frigant, Vincent. Egyptian pyramid or Aztec pyramid: How should we describe the industrial architecture of automotive supply chains in Europe?. No. 2011-27. Groupe de Recherche en Economie Theorique et Appliquee, 2011.

Neumuller, Moritz, et al. "3D printing for cultural heritage: Preservation, accessibility, research and education." 3D Research Challenges in Cultural Heritage. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2014. 119-134.

Morenz, Siegfried. Egyptian Relgion. Routledge, 2013.

Verner, Miroslav. The pyramids. Atlantic Books Ltd, 2014.

Walz, Terence, and Kenneth M. Cuno, eds. Race and slavery in the middle east: histories of trans-Saharan Africans in nineteenth-century Egypt, Sudan, and the Ottoman Mediterranean. Oxford University Press, 2010.