PPT 6 - Exam 1 Flashcards
Minoan Engineering (3000-13000 BC)
Excellent Engineers
Building techniques and tools:
- similar to the Egyptians
- postal and lintel
- Materials: native stone and clay, timber for reinforcements
- windows unglazed fitted with thin semi transparent alabaster
Developed sophisticated building systems:
- water distribution systems for piping in hot and cold water
- drainage system of terra cotta piping in hot and cold water
- storm water collection and purification system made of cement-lined limestone
- hypocaust heating systems under the floor
The queens bathroom:
- bathtub and washing basins
- drainage hole in the floor connected to an underground sewage canal system which discharged into the river
Mycenaean Engineering (1600-1100 BC)
Fortification walls:
- Cyclopean masonry (used slightly adjusted huge stone blocks- mainly for interior walls
- rectangular masonry (consists of carefully cut rectangular blocks laid on one another in regular course -mainly exterior walls)
- polygonal masonry (composed of multilateral blocks skillfully fitted together like pieces of a puzzle
Underground shafts (bee-hive graves)
- more than 100 suck tombs
- construction method: cut and cover; final result - blends nicely with the topography of the area making those tombs difficult to identify
- waterproofing of the tomb: use of one or multiple layers of clay around the vault
Mycenaean Engineering cont
Roads, bridges, and culverts
- system of primary and secondary roads
- wheeled traffic, generally followed the terrain contours avoiding steep grades
- retaining walls used at the side or below to protect the road or support it
- culverts were used to allow the water to flow under the road without flooding it
- bridges were constructed to cross rivers
Bridges:
- cyclopean stone structure forming a corbelled arch
- a number of them are still used by local traffic
- arkadiko bridge or Kazarma bridge is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use
Mycenaean Engineering continued
Hydraulic works - dams - embankments
-believed that most of the work done by Hercules was on hydraulic projects
Minyans in Orchomenos- ca 1300 BC project
-oldest, most impressive land reclamation and water management system in ancient Europe
Purpose: drainage of lake copais for agriculture use
The project included:
-construction of a main canal and levees that collected the water of the rivers
-the de-sedimentation of the naturally occurring sinkholes (karsts) in the local limestone formation that leaded the water of the lake into the sea
-construction of a tunnel that had the same purpose as the karsts
-construction of canals that were used for agriculture in the plain
-construction of the fort of Gla
Dam of Tiryns:
- cyclopean walls protect the embankment intense to protect the city of tiryns from the flood waters
- irrigation channel
Mycenaean Engineering cont
Tunnels
Tunnel of Orchomenos
Tunnel of Mycenae
-entrance of the tunnel: typical corbelled arch within the city walls
-it leads to a depth of 18m below the surface outside the walls above the spring called Persia
-cistern located at the end of the tunnel, the floor of the cistern is covered with the waterproof cement to prevent seepage
-terra-cotta pipes have been found at the roof of the cistern
Greek and Hellenistic science
Greek philosophers defined the way we look at the world today
-developed mathematical approaches to describe the world
Geometry
-one of the most potent tools developed by the ancient Greeks
Physics
-Aristotle created the foundation of western philosophy
Science of mechanics
-developed by Greek philosophers, mathematicians, and physicists
Greek Engineering
City states flourished from 800 BC on
Greek sense of identity and pride grew
Created impressive, long lasting manifestations of their culture
-built on large scale
-developed public buildings
Greek Engineers
-learned from Egyptians now to design and build large buildings
-formalized the design procedures
-designed ingenious solutions to improve building procedures and quality of finished buildings
Greek Engineering cont
City planning
Hippodamus of Miletus
-considered the first architect to plan buildings and streets in a proper relationship to one another for the convenience of the people using them
Elements of a planned city:
- wide avenues and cross streets
- rectangular residential blocks
- temples, theatres, gyms, fields, monuments, open spaces
Dinocrates- greek architect and engineer
Planned and built the city of Alexandria for Alexander the Great
Latest public utilities and two main passages lined with colonnades temples and magnificent buildings
Hellenistic Engineering
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus ca 352 BC) Bodrum, Turkey
Tomb of mausolos designed by pytheos - one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world
Combined 3 traditional forms into a perfectly proportional edifice
-high pedestal
-Greek temple
-Egyptian pyramidal burial mound
Pytheos- first Hellenistic architect-engineer to school his apprentices and writer books for futures builders, they did not survive
Hellenistic Engineering cont
Pharos of Alexandria, Egypt (between 285 and 247 BC)
-marble light house planned and constructed by Sostratus
Water supply system at Pergamon, Turkey ca 200 BC
-the most impressive of the Hellenistic pressure system
