Sacred Place
by Marcia Lee Jones
Title
Sacred Place
Artist
Marcia Lee Jones
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
True arches, as opposed to corbel arches, were known by a number of civilizations in the Ancient Near East, the Levant, and Mexico, but their use was infrequent and mostly confined to underground structures such as drains where the problem of lateral thrust is greatly diminished. A rare exception is the Bronze Age arched city gate of Ashkelon (modern day Israel), dating to ca. 1850 B.C. An early example of a voussoir arch appears in the Greek Rhodes Footbridge. In 2010, a robot discovered a long arch-roofed passageway underneath the Pyramid of Quetzalcoatl which stands in the ancient city of Teotihuacan north of Mexico City, dated to around 200 AD.
The ancient Romans learned the arch from the Etruscans, refined it and were the first builders to tap its full potential for above ground buildings:
The Romans were the first builders in Europe, perhaps the first in the world, fully to appreciate the advantages of the arch, the vault and the dome.[17]
Throughout the Roman empire, their engineers erected arch structures such as bridges, aqueducts, and gates. They also introduced the triumphal arch as a military monument. Vaults began to be used for roofing large interior spaces such as halls and temples, a function that was also assumed by domed structures from the 1st century BC on wards.
Uploaded
May 18th, 2014
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Comments (20)
Maria Hunt
I love the description -- it makes the image all the more interesting and wonderful! Thank you for this!!!
Wanda Brandon
Awesome perspective on this stunning image. voted and liked. Picked for artist of the week.
Anita Oakley
Love the length of the photograph! Feels like I'm walking under these incredibly tall arches as well....F/V