ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Nubia were the three civilizations that made up the ancient world of the Middle East from 5,000 BC - 656 BC.  Even though they were all separate in an assortment of advancements, they all were interrelated with military, cultural and commercial implications.  Our focus will be directed towards Ancient Egypt with its impressive monuments and colorful characteristics.

Ancient Egypt: 2650 BC - 1070 BC

This period is divided into the Old
Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New
Kingdom.  With its geographic location
being close to the Nile River and
surrounded by the Sahara Desert, Egypt was a major world power during this time period.  In addition, architecture had shed a new light at an unprecedented scale that was likely thanks to their strong centralized power.






Artifact and architecture preservation was possible because of the climate and their religion.  The area had minimal rainfall and little variation in climate. With their religion being so centralized around death and the afterlife, objects that were represented and appreciated by the individual were included in his or her tomb and served to comfort them and to supply them with the essentials in their afterlife.  Thanks to this practice, one of the oldest pieces of furniture on record is wooden.  This played a huge role in historians understanding life during this time period.

Architecture

THEN:

The Old Kingdom was the age of the pyramids.
Massive compilations of workers and slaves worked obscene hours to build these massive triangular
structures out of block-cut stone, a material that
Egypt had an abundance of.

NOW:

The Musee du Louvre in Paris, France has an exquisite glass pyramid that represents the same elements as the Egyptian pyramids.  The pyramid and its underground lobby was completed in 1989 with four small decorative pyramids adjacent to each tip of the main structure

THEN:

During the New Kingdom, the reign of Ramesses II brought a different style of architecture to the community.  Ramesseum in the Valley of Thebes is Ramesses II's memorial pylon temple with hypostyle halls.  He also was in charge of the Temple of Abu-Simbel, a rock-hewn structure with four monumental statues of himself over 65 feet high.

NOW:

Modern Greek Style Architecture holds the same hypostyle elements of the ancient temples in the New Kingdom.  It has modernized the construction by using concrete for the columns and roof as well as expanded the use of different interior materials to make the end result aesthetically pleasing.

Furniture

THEN:

The age of art and architecture achievement flourished during the New Kingdom.  Tutakkhamen was the only royal tomb that was completely intact after all these years.  Being a pharaoh, a wealth of furnishings and artifacts were discovered.  Furniture was rare, but made to use mostly in travel.  A fold-able wooden bed was found in his tomb, along with many other wooden furniture pieces.

 NOW:

It is customary for hotels to have the option of another bed per each     customer's request.  These roll-away beds are extremely portable and  offer easy mobility with wheels and the bi-fold design.