Art History: Compare and
Contrast Temple of Ramses II and Parthenon
The temple of Ramses II and Parthenon are
two well known architectural structures in the art history of Egypt and Greek
respectively. The great temple of Ramses II is a rock-cut situated within the
ancient Ybsambul or Wawat, in Nubia adjacent to the Sudan border, which is
approximately three hundred kilometers from Swan. Initially, the great temple
was carved out from the mountain rocks right on the west bank of the river Nile
in between 1274 BC and 1244 BC, identified as of Abu Simbel complex. It was
dedicated to the defined Ramses II as Ptah, Amun, and Horakhty, though Ptah was
kept in darkness because it was an underworld-associated god.1 The
temple of Ramses II is artistically designed with four large statues of Pharaoh
of the New Kingdom dynasty of ancient Egypt on the front.3Parthenon
temple is the dominating architectural structure on the Acropolis hill, in
Athens. The temple was named Acropolis after the hill. The temple was initially
constructed in the mid of 5th century 490BCE after which it was
dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the then Greek goddess.2 As a great
architecture in the art history and most visited archeological divine site in
Greece, the temple of Parthenon is regarded as a symbol of the culmination of
the Doric order development, which is the simplest in form of the three main
classical order of the Greek architecture.4 In other words, being
architectures built and archived in a common ancient period in the art history,
the temple of Ramses II and Parthenon have certain similarities as well as
differences in terms of artistic and sculpture makings in the features. Therefore,
this paper compares and contrasts the temples of Ramses II and Parthenon by
identifying and analyzing both the artistic differences and similarities
between them ever observed in the art history.
Comparison
To compare, both of the temples of Ramses
II and Parthenon are probably some of the most famous in the ancient complexes
of Egyptian and Greece religions. Both temples of Ramses II and Parthenon were
constructed at the onset of civilizations, which started at around the same
times. For instance, the construction of temple of Ramses II begun very early
in the rein of Ramses II, that is, by around 1264 BC.5 The temples
were similar in the sense that they are all characterized by the representation
of socio-religious stratification as they all bear the sculptures of the high
most figures in the religious and social history of Egypt and Greece. For
example, the temple of Ramses II does not only strategically portrays the large
vertical statues of the most important gods of the New Kingdom dynasty, e.g. Re-Harakhte
(Heliopolis, the sun god), Amun-Re (the mighty god of Thebes), Ptah (Memphis,
the creator god), and Pharaoh Ramses II but is dedicated to them as well1.
Similarly, the temple of Parthenon was wholly dedicated to the great famous
Greek goddess, Athena and subsequently named after the cult of the Athena
Parthenos. Athena is regarded as the city's patron.6
Additionally, even though the two temples
bear different structural appearances but they are both designed with artistic
impressions for worship, praying, immolation et cetera. This similarity
suggests that religion is the architectural design basis and anchor for both of
the two temples and that Egypt and Greece have common, close, and same
religious aspects and cultures. Another interesting similarity is that both
temples are designed in such a way that they try to conform, in their special artistic
structures, to the religious practices and beliefs, and in harmony to the nature.
The construction of both temples has been based on a strict geography and
mathematical rules. Mathematics is technically applied to achieve symmetrical
design for the temples of Ramses II and Parthenon. Notably, the numbers phi and pi are greatly integrated into the design and building of both
temples, which are believed to emulate the earth’s spherical nature. However,
the Greece mostly copied from Egypt the mathematical and geographical pattern
used in the design and construction of the temple of Parthenon.
To add to the similarities, various
religious undertones were apparently captured in both temples of Ramses II and
Parthenon to a common orientation towards certain stars.2 For
instance, the temple of Ramses II bore great religious significance for the
Egyptians as it is composed of various pylons, courts, carvings, and large
statues of great people in the kingdom. Similarly, for the Greece, Parthenon,
known as Acropolis, played the same significance since Parthenon sculpture is
considered as the pinnacle of the sculptural development for the ancient Greece.3
Moreover, both of the temples represent the most marvelous and gigantic artistic
complex ever erected in the art history of Egypt and Greece. Overall, one
common aspect of the temples of Ramses II and Parthenon is that they are both
extremely lavish and large pieces of ancient architecture that were designed to
portray the grandeur of the mighty Pharaoh and Athena respectively. Both
temples are designed with special internal apartments, known as the inner courts,
believed to be the actual daily dwelling
places for the gods and goddess.
Contrasting
In contrast, just like other Egyptian
arts, the temple of Ramses II followed very strict law such that sculpture
figures and carvings used for the design were extremely large with
expressionless plump lines and heads of gods or goddess statues. By that, there
were no elements of emotional expression in their faces, and symmetry was the
major area of focus in the design of Ramses II temple and its sculpture as well
as other structures housed within. Emotional expression symbolized the
celebration of the victory achieved by Ramses II against the Hittites in the
Kadesh battle in the 1274 BC.1 On the other hand, the design and
construction of the temple of Parthenon had some elements of reality in the
makings. Unlike the Ramses II temple, the architecture of the entire temple and
its component arts were quite natural. The housed statues, e.g. that of goddess
Athena, clearly explored proper human anatomy capturing each and every organ,
muscles, and expression. Moreover, the functionality of each apartment of the
temple, as well as the emotional expressions, was well written on the temple
walls and faces of the statues, carving et cetera. However, the large statues, vertical
pylons, and carving within the Parthenon temple were not designed based on any symmetry
order.
In addition, while Ramses II temple was
designed on the basis of Egyptian innovation of pi and phi mathematical
expressions emulating spherical characteristics of the earth, Parthenon temple
was designed on the basis of Pythagoras theorem with a Doric peripteral
formation. This structure implies that the temple is comprised of a rectangular
floor with a series of lowered steps in each and every side with a colonnade of
approximately 8 by 7 of the Doric column stretching all around the periphery of
the temple with the base arc of about 70 meters.4 In fact, every
entrance to the temple is supported by an additional six columns in the
front.
Additionally, whereas nudity has only been
applied to the servants and children's statues engraved and carved in walls of the
temple of Ramses II, female and male adult nudity is dominant or common in
statues engraved in Parthenon architecture. The young male people captured in
the statues as naked without any covering garments on their bodies. Moreover,
while the artistic sculptures such as statues and carvings engraved within the Ramses
II temple are fixed and static in appearances, the sculptures used in the
temple of Parthenon architecture portrays some elements of movement and action going
on. Another important difference, the architecture of the temple of Ramses II
is constructed using more of ornamental bronze and stones6 whereas,
for the Parthenon temple architecture, less durable limestone and marbles are
greatly used.
Lastly, the temple of Ramses II is
designed and constructed with a complex layout plan such that chambers, halls,
courts and the sanctuary placed within the temple, whereas, Parthenon temple
had a very simple layout plan with only a single cella e.g. Naos. Cella was
comprised of two separate rooms.6 Such simple design was attributed
to the fact that Egypt was endowed with an expert community of workers and craftsmen.3
The temple of Ramses II had a simple flat roof with columns and pylons closely
packed to offer support to the roof, however, for the Parthenon temple, it is a
terracotta roof with pitched wooden rafters and beams. Fire is regarded as the only constant hazard
that would destroy the temple such as the Venetian explosion that eventually collapsed
Parthenon.6 Moreover, the Ramses II temple has an external wall
resembling a fortress and isolates the entire temple from the surrounding that
symbolically represents the evil and chaotic forces. On the other hand, the
temple of Parthenon is designed and positioned for any maximum impact possible
within the context of setting landscape to accommodate valuable items e.g.
Parthenon frieze.2 The outer scene of the temple walls, as well as
the outer courtyard walls, indicate the war of the light forces, represented by
king Pharaoh, and subduing the darkness forces, which is represented by foreign
enemies. In addition, the scenes in the hypostyle and sanctuary walls indicate
sacred offerings to the goddess and gods.
Contrarily, for the temple of Parthenon, all sculptures and other
structural elements were painted or decorated after the pre-defined Doric and
Ionic orders and no random paintings or decorations portraying the
accomplishments of goddess, gods, kings or queens.6 Finally, the
temple of Ramses II was designed with lowered roofing and raised flooring relatively
higher in the inside of the temple, with sanctuary situated at the highest level
of the temple ground and the lowest roofing point. On the other side, Parthenon
temple was raised over designated platforms referred to as stylobate, without
internal stairs.6
Conclusion
To summarize it all, it is succinctly
clear that the temple of Ramses II and Parthenon have quite a number of
similarities and differences in art history of Egypt and Greece respectively.
Their design and construction have both tried to conform to their religious and
social architectural standard requirements. Moreover, both temples had tried
paying much attention to attaining harmony in worship practices, and religious
beliefs amongst the believers or society. The conventional sculptural design is
that of large vertical statues, and carvings symbolizing various beliefs of the
respective religions. Notably, a lot of differences have largely existed in the
landscaping, decoration, sectioning, façade, roofing, and the general layout
plan of the temples.
Bibliography
1. Mingren,
W. “Abu Simbel: This Enormous Temple of the Great Ramesses II was Buried for
3,000 years” last modified August 3, 2017. https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-africa/abu-simbel-enormous-temple-great-ramesses-ii-was-buried-3000-years-008528
2. Hannah, Robert. "Greek temple orientation: The case
of the older Parthenon in Athens." Nexus Network Journal 15,
no. 3 (2012): 423-443.
3. Binder, Andrew. "World Monuments: A Critical
Perspective for the Elucidation of Art Appreciation Instructors and
Students." Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education 14,
no. 1 (2014): 8.
4. Dafalias,
K. “The Parthenon: Facts and History” last modified July 15, 2016. https://www.visionpubl.com/en/cities/athens/parthenon-facts-history/
5. Dendrinos, Dimitrios S. "On Certain Key Architectural
Elements of the Kasta Tumulus: A Truly Ecumenical Structure Linking Newgrange,
Through Mesopotamia and Egypt to Amphipolis." University of Kansas, no.1 (2015): 1-119.
6. Cartwright, M. “Parthenon” last modified October 28, 2012.
https://www.ancient.eu/parthenon/
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