Daniel Partiyeli
Walter Myers
Art History 1
July 31, 2014
Everyday Belief
Ever since the beginning of time, we have asked one another what happens when we pass away. There are many explanations for this question, but one of the most believed common ideology between the monotheistic religious world is people go to Heaven and spend their days enjoying the happiness of the afterlife. Over the course of the last few millennia, people have held the concept of death to great standards, as if is a second life, and built magnificent tombs and mosques that incorporate the way people on Earth view how death and the afterlife is proceeded. The Pyramids of Gizeh, The Tomb of Leopards and the Dome of the Rock all show the capabilities of what magnificent …show more content…
Like the Egyptian tombs, the Etruscan tombs show a similar references and unique differences that follow Egyptian ideology. A similar idea is the representation the Etruscans used to go into the afterlife. When the Egyptians used Re, the sun god, the Etruscans had, “The three-headed dog Cerberus, guardian of the gate to the Underworld” (Kleiner 149). The belief that an immortal figure played a major part in both of the lives of the Egyptians and the Etruscans embodies the fact that a high figure had to let you into the afterlife, whether it was the pyramid that was raised to the sky, or a three-headed dog that brought you inside. Another similarity that the Egyptians and the Etruscans had were the belongings that they brought with them into the tombs. The layout of the tomb where, “The stools, mirrors, drinking cups, pitchers, and knives effectively suggest a domestic context, underscoring the connection between Etruscan houses of the dead and those of the living,” (Kleiner 149) shows us that the Etruscans believed that they can take their earthly possessions with them to the afterlife and be able to use them for eternity with complete happiness. A difference of the tombs, however, would be their beliefs in human values. The tombs, “accommodated several generations of a single family,” (Kleiner 149) …show more content…
Unlike the tombs of the Egyptians and the Etruscans, which only portray a true death, or in other words, the actual death of people, the Dome of the Rock gives the feeling of how ascending to Heaven might feel like. One feeling of ascending is the dome of the building. Just like the Egyptians’ pyramid shape, the dome, “rises from a huge platform known as the Noble Enclosur,” (Kleiner 262) where the size of the edifice brings up the spirits and joy of the Muslims who pray inside the building. Another feeling of ascending is the location of the building itself. Underneath the building, “Adam was buried and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac,” (Kleiner 262) with the believed first man to be made by God and Abraham, the father of Yishmael, who is known to be the father of the Arabs. Just like the Etruscans, the couples of the most known people in the world were buried together and stayed together until the afterlife. But the biggest reason why the Dome is significant to Islam is the rock that made it so famous. The rock, “that gives the building its name also later came to be identified with the spot from which Muhammad miraculously journeyed to Heaven and then, in the same night, returned to his home in Mecca,” (Kleiner 262) a holy object that people pray upon so that when Muslims die, they can feel what may have been the
Walter Myers
Art History 1
July 31, 2014
Everyday Belief
Ever since the beginning of time, we have asked one another what happens when we pass away. There are many explanations for this question, but one of the most believed common ideology between the monotheistic religious world is people go to Heaven and spend their days enjoying the happiness of the afterlife. Over the course of the last few millennia, people have held the concept of death to great standards, as if is a second life, and built magnificent tombs and mosques that incorporate the way people on Earth view how death and the afterlife is proceeded. The Pyramids of Gizeh, The Tomb of Leopards and the Dome of the Rock all show the capabilities of what magnificent …show more content…
Like the Egyptian tombs, the Etruscan tombs show a similar references and unique differences that follow Egyptian ideology. A similar idea is the representation the Etruscans used to go into the afterlife. When the Egyptians used Re, the sun god, the Etruscans had, “The three-headed dog Cerberus, guardian of the gate to the Underworld” (Kleiner 149). The belief that an immortal figure played a major part in both of the lives of the Egyptians and the Etruscans embodies the fact that a high figure had to let you into the afterlife, whether it was the pyramid that was raised to the sky, or a three-headed dog that brought you inside. Another similarity that the Egyptians and the Etruscans had were the belongings that they brought with them into the tombs. The layout of the tomb where, “The stools, mirrors, drinking cups, pitchers, and knives effectively suggest a domestic context, underscoring the connection between Etruscan houses of the dead and those of the living,” (Kleiner 149) shows us that the Etruscans believed that they can take their earthly possessions with them to the afterlife and be able to use them for eternity with complete happiness. A difference of the tombs, however, would be their beliefs in human values. The tombs, “accommodated several generations of a single family,” (Kleiner 149) …show more content…
Unlike the tombs of the Egyptians and the Etruscans, which only portray a true death, or in other words, the actual death of people, the Dome of the Rock gives the feeling of how ascending to Heaven might feel like. One feeling of ascending is the dome of the building. Just like the Egyptians’ pyramid shape, the dome, “rises from a huge platform known as the Noble Enclosur,” (Kleiner 262) where the size of the edifice brings up the spirits and joy of the Muslims who pray inside the building. Another feeling of ascending is the location of the building itself. Underneath the building, “Adam was buried and where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac,” (Kleiner 262) with the believed first man to be made by God and Abraham, the father of Yishmael, who is known to be the father of the Arabs. Just like the Etruscans, the couples of the most known people in the world were buried together and stayed together until the afterlife. But the biggest reason why the Dome is significant to Islam is the rock that made it so famous. The rock, “that gives the building its name also later came to be identified with the spot from which Muhammad miraculously journeyed to Heaven and then, in the same night, returned to his home in Mecca,” (Kleiner 262) a holy object that people pray upon so that when Muslims die, they can feel what may have been the