The Golden Crescent, 1953

many have come to see the golden Crescent lands around the Mediterranean in Egypt if you had come 6,000 years ago there would have been no airplanes no ocean liners no motion picture cameras to record such as you see here but had you come then you otherwise would have seen little change yes for 6,000 years Egyptians have been using the same devices despite the crude and laborious methods of ancient Egyptians their pharaohs have been called the greatest builders in history today after thousands of years immense pyramid piles of stone upon stone remains scattered along the Nile for a distance of 50 miles the largest of these was constructed of over 2 million hand-cut limestone blocks each one averaging 2 and 1/2 tons in weight 100,000 men labored for 20 years to construct this fortress tomb designed to protect the Pharaohs body so that he as a representative of his race might come in mortal the Sphinx together with the pyramid are perhaps the best-known symbols of ancient Egypt the Great Sphinx of Giza is the most celebrated unlike other massive Egyptian works the Sphinx was not built of stone but carved from one solid outcropping of rock only the feet are of added brick on the face the inscrutable smile shows the damage done when Muslim fanatics tried to destroy the colossal statue because they disbelieved in craven images from years of antiquity the Colossus has been expression of man's ambition for greatness here in the desert sands of Egypt one sees first examples of a colossus these were constructed four thousand years before New York Statue of Liberty or Peru's Christ of the Andes contrasting the great masses of the Colossus Sphinx and pyramids Egypt's pharaohs through their ministers of works erected other forms of mass construction here we see such examples row upon row of poised figures symbolizing protective God's which stand guard over broad avenues leading to mystic shrines and temples of worship as far back as history knows the Egyptians were abstention ears able to build in stone with the knowledge of geometry and the aid of bronze saws and chisels they fashioned pillars supporting walls and carved into them symbolic designs and hieroglyphic writings these carvings have aided students of Egyptology in their search for the story of life which grew from the lands of the Nile many thousands of years ago Kings of ancient Egypt had greater preoccupation with life after death than with life on earth because of this they had their likenesses carved into lasting stone many examples remain in our scene in column decoration in line with the kingly preoccupation of the hereafter Nobles of the time assisted their likenesses with shrines and temples these temples in turn signified the preservation of body and soul for eternity the ancient effort for eternal preservation has left us indisputable proof that man over 4,000 years ago developed architectural forms which are basic in the building construction of modern times the post and lintel construction which you see here in the form of columns supporting stone slabs is a building principle which may be observed in any and all modern structures of today you see it in windows doorways ceiling and roof supports thus out of the ancient past Egypt through its preoccupation of Kings has left an influencing mark which still continues an achievement toward eternity around the golden Crescent and to the north of Egypt lies Greece here out of the cradle of civilizations from the next step of man's rise in cultural achievement beginning 2,000 years before Christ the Greeks were adding to the Egyptian architectural form this was in a refinement of proportion and symmetry an ideal of serenity and poise emerged from earlier achievements of mass developed by the ancient inhabitants of the Nile like the Egyptians before them the Greeks put symbols of their gods and noble achievements into the decoration of buildings the basic form of construction remained as the post and lintel multiple columns supported the roof in such numbers that great open spaces as found in modern auditoriums did not exist interior space found its greatness in length rather than breadth perhaps the most generally known architectural development of the time was the three Greek orders they are called the Doric Corinthian and the ionic a distinctive feature of the ionic order is the spreading scroll shaped capitals which you see forming the tops of these supporting columns its origin is sometimes explained as having been inspired from nature such as the swirl of a ram's horn or nautilus shell this is the forerunner of the modern veranda balcony or just plain front porch its architectural beauty is unsurpassed and is known to all who have seen it as the porch of the maidens the earliest order developed by the Greeks and the one most used building is the Doric exemplified here you see it in the capitals topping the shafts as a form of simple projecting curved mould today the ancient glory of Greece is a ruin though the columns shattered my time and foreign hands no longer support roofs against natural elements the orders ionic Doric and here the leafy Corinthian have lived through the centuries with an imperishable spirit and despite the broken columns remain a masterpiece of proportion and continuing around the Mediterranean we negotiate the boot of Italy and arrive in ancient Rome Rome was the great intermediary the bridge over which past the rich contributions of Egypt and especially Greece to form the structure of our modern living in architectural forms Rome blended the achievements of the past into a style compatible with a more advanced and complex civilization here in the Colosseum we observe the massiveness of the Egyptians thus three of the Greeks and something else they arch other than the massive oval shape of the structure itself the arch is the dominating feature the Romans did not invent the arch they developed it as in most cases they were not originators but practical imitators in this case they brought the top lock or Keystone principle through a series of changes to a full architectural expression in the vaults and domes of their monumental building the Romans were never content with basics they drove themselves always to additions built in the form of a modern football stadium but located in the garden of Nero's golden house this great amphitheater required over 150 years to complete it is a four-story stone mammoth with tariffs on tier of marble seats which accommodated 80,000 people the counterpart of modern plumbing existed and it is said that during special occasions perfumed water was carried through conduits and sprayed under pressure over the spectators gladiatorial contests in the Colosseum were most popular the cruel and bloody spectacle of these game have no exact comparison in the history of any other civilization the Colosseum symbol of the might ingenuity and folly of the ancient Roman Empire it has been said that Pompeii of the Roman Empire has stirred more imaginations than any other place on earth it lay buried for fifteen centuries after its final destruction in 79 AD following Pompey's discovery 200 years of constant digging have yet to uncover the full area of the city among these ruins are found special interest for those concerned with the evolution of church architecture the original building probably begun in the second century before Christ was an enormous uncovered area surrounded by a covered portico later to roof over the central portion high columns of brick were built thus forming what became the nave of the early Christian Basilica with side aisles and from raised platforms of magistrates the chancel of the church developed Roman architecture reached the highest point of development in its forums a roughly square or oblong area in which was displayed the greatest public building and monument aggregation of ancient times here the Greek the Egyptian and entire golden Crescent influences were blended into a form which has survived through the centuries as a distinct architectural style the triumphal arch invented by the Romans stood throughout the Empire in ancient times as a monumental reminder of the power and greatness of Rome even today modern structures of the same design the Arc de Triomphe in Paris the Marble Arch in London and the Washington Arch in New York City stand as contemporary reminders that basic architectural forms have changed very little since the centuries dating before Christ