Primarily, we employ a wider variety of building materials and manipulate them more effectively; secondly, our structures are more communal, and a reflection of our cultural sentiments and finally, our constructions employ better techniques and organization. For the purpose of this presentation I have gathered extensive information of both Olmec and Egyptian architecture, so you can judge for yourselves, who are the greatest architects, the Egyptians or the Olmecs.
Our earliest attempts at pyramids were actually not much more than simple sarcophaguses, built solely to protect dead bodies from exposure to the elements. We label this primitive version as mastabas. From this we evolved to the step pyramid, the first of which was built by King Zoser in 2600BCE. It rose to about sixty meters in height and exhibited a series of descending platforms. This design, however was quickly abandoned. Within a century the first straight-sided pyramids evolved. They were, as you know, the famed Giza Pyramids located on the west bank of the Nile. One hundred and forty meters high with a base covering over five hectares, the largest pyramid in all Egypt was built by the Pharaoh Khufu. Consisting of over two million limestone blocks, each weighing in at an average of 2.3 metric tons, the Pyramids of Giza are an architectural marvel, hosting a small shrine and a collection of expertly carved columns. Herodotus tells us it took 100,000 workers toiling for twenty years to complete the largest of the three. This location also features the Great Sphinx - seventy-three meters long and twenty meters high, the Great Sphinx possesses a human head atop the body of a lion.
The history of Olmec architecture is fairly vague due to a lack of information. We do know however, that early in the piece they erected a few homes, but they weren't terribly successful, consisting of only mud and sun-dried clay. The earliest, permanent indication of their existence is the 16,500kg Colossal heads that have been located along the Mexican coastline. They exhibit many distinct characteristics that help us define which of the buildings in Central America are a product of the Olmecs, or should I say, the remains of their products. They developed a bad habit of mutilating every building they constructed, but that will be extended upon later.
We utilize a variety of building materials. For example, we import limestone from Tura, granite from Aswan, copper from Sinai and cedar for the boats. Our most prolific quarry is situated in Aswan, and we have often had to cover distances of over eighty kilometres. This is not the only location we derive materials from. The temples of Karnak, Luxor and Medinet Habu and the Ramesseum for example relied on the banks at Silsila between Edfu and Kom Ombo. We cut sandstone and bronze using copper chisels struck with wooden mallets.
Nearly all Olmecan structures are constructed entirely of basalt from Tuxltas. Historian Arthur Cotterell states that "it did not prove to be a successful method nor was it copied" (Cotterell 1980:322). They do use a variety of different stones and a series of bones, unfortunately, however, this is restricted to the arts. Some stunning works went into anthropomorphic axes, however these were used more in ceremony than in practise. That was another thing the Olmecs lacked - the artistic imagination to develop originality and uniqueness. All Olmec temples follow the same pattern and adhere to the same dimensions of 6 - 8 meters high and 460 meters long. We, on the other hand, have no two pyramids alike. Each interior design is unique, just look at the Giza Pyramids. The largest Olmec centres at La Venta, San Lorenzo and Veracruz were constructed using basalt columns. Basalt, as we know since we use it ourselves, is an igneous rock, which is definitely not capable of withstanding the test of time. Their earliest tool was using fire to mould wood, but they abandoned this because it was unpredictable and unreliable.
Our building projects are community events, even a source of revenue in our economy. Some people are very attached to the idea that only slaves construct the pyramids. The fact is, that slaves could never perform such a massive task alone. A priest is needed to determine which way is north, as this is the direction our pyramids must face. Architects spent years planning the layouts of pyramids, and messengers monotonously relay back and forth from the pharaoh to the designers to the quarries and priests and temples in order to co-ordinate when, where and how everything would take place.
It was the mathematician, usually a philosopher that marked the dimensions and determined the lengths, widths and depths of each side. A myriad of artists, painters, sculptors and drawers were required to decorate the interior. In addition to all this there were stone cutters, surveyors, masons, foremen and mortar makers. It has been said "These farmers and local villagers gathered at Giza housed to work for their god kings, to build their monuments to the hereafter. This would ensure their own afterlife and would also benefit the future and prosperity of Egypt as a whole. They may well have been willing workers, a labor force working for ample rations, for the benefit of man, king and country" (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/explore/builders.html).
Hence, the entire process was quite communal, involving and uniting people from all facets of the social hierarchy. Modern Egyptologists such as Mark Lehner believe that it required 20,000 men to build a pyramid.
Our constructions involve better techniques and organization than the Olmecs. For example, when we cut out slabs to be inserted into walls and columns they are carefully measured adhering to the conventions of symmetry using the unit called the Royal Cubit, equal to 52 centimetres long. The Olmecs aren't nearly so sophisticated, simply practising a vague and unreliable 'guess and check' system. Consequently, the edges of their buildings were often jagged and disjointed. The Olmecs also have large rectangular monoliths, sixteen in all. When you consider that we have thirty-five pyramids alone, you can appreciate how much more productive Egyptian civilization is. Even if they were able to assemble these primitive structures they often destroyed them shortly after. Some ritualistic activity I'm led to believe, but what a waste of time and resources! The purpose of our architecture is to help preserve things, not leave them in a worse condition than they were originally.
We build ramps that enable us better access to the higher sections of infrastructure. The craftsmanship exemplified in our structures is made possible by a series of innovative tools such as the square and plumbline. Only a minority of structures standing in Egypt haven't been elaborately decorated by the finest artists we have to offer. These embellishments are not only aesthetically pleasing but they represent religious and cultural sentiments. The interior of our buildings usually feature hieroglyphics, which act as a permanent record of significant historic events both factual and mythical. These are nearly always accompanied by pictorial images to enhance them. Olmecs do not do this to the same extent.
Mark Lehner is a great admirer of Egyptian building techniques, he says "you can only get about four or five, six guys at most working on a block, say two on levers, you know, cutters and so on. And you know, you put pivots under it and as few as two or three guys can pivot it around if you put a hard cobble under it. There are all these tricks they know." We are renown for glorifying the afterlife. We decorate every tomb so our descendents will know they must glorify it as well. This is not the only thing architecture glorifies. As Michael McKinnon demonstrates in this small excerpt, we Egyptians take our architecture pretty seriously.
Our architecture has been a constantly evolving phenomena, emerging from the primitive mastaba to these spectacular masterpieces that stand as secure and timeless as the Nile River itself. Only Egyptians can fully appreciate the elegance of a silhouetted structure framing a moonlit sky, appearing to connect the earth with the heavens. The Olmecs have their own ingenuity and expertise in different areas, however, when it comes to architecture we surpass them. This is due to the fact that we employ a wider variety of building materials and manipulate them more effectively; secondly, our structures are more communal, and a reflection of our cultural sentiments and finally, our constructions employ better techniques and organization.
What will become of the Olmecs? Some philosophers predict their descendants will be obliterated in an event known as the Spanish acquisition in the early 1500's. This will never happen of course, but the dawning of a new millennium is fast approaching, and we will have to wait and find out, thank you.
