a) Compare the Great Pyramids at Giza to the Nanna Ziggurat at Uruk. Address how each represents the culture which produced it – specific beliefs, philosophy of life, approach to or character of design for each society – as they are expressed in morphology and organization (layout), size/scale, setting, and primary function of these structures. Then relate each structure more directly to the natural environment of the region it is set in, in terms of it’s design characteristics, features and constituent elements – which in turn could possibly be linked back to the “personality” of the culture in ways you may not have already mentioned. Be sure to mention how the culture of each society reflected the influence of its natural environment and geography; and also the idea of treating natural forms or features in the landscape as sacred and powerful, and how those forms might be symbolically involved in these two structures.
