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Chapter 27 History History Humanities (4)
For the architects of Athens' Golden Age, the mastery of geometry was a magical discovery that revealed the glories of nature. The Acropolis of Callicrates and Ictinus is a starting celebration of their new intellectual power. The Acropolis shows a maturity of Greek mathematics and also an appreciation of geometrical ideas. This is a work of utmost importance in that it lays the foundations of logic into mathematics and enables us to use this as a tool to explore the unknown. Every detail of the Acropolis, its masonry, sculptures and painted decorations were to be the finest ever created.
Vocabulary
vessel ["ves? l] n. ship, container

inevitable [in"evit? bl] adj. inevitable, unavoidable

omen ["? um? n] n. omen, sign;
vt. Prediction, there is a precursor to...

alliance[? "lai?ns] n. alliance, union, marriage
undisputed ["?ndis"pju:tid] adj. Indisputable, undisputed, unquestionable
monumental ["m?nju"ment? l] adj. Immortal, monumental, very
sculptor [sk? lpt? ] n. Sculptor

Exceed [ik"si:d] vt. surpasses, surpasses;
vi. more than others
maturity [m? "tju?riti] n. Mature, mature, complete
Practice
1. The boldness and ambition of the Acropolis was funded by a .

2. The Acropolis was to be the master stroke of power brokering.

3. Phidias' profession is ．

4. They were guided by a set of codes and principles dictated by the art of .

5. The Acropolis lays the foundations of into mathematics.
Translation
The bold idea and ambition to build the Acropolis came out of a tumultuous battle, a battle that decided the fate of Greece.In 480 BC, the unstoppable Persian army conquered Athens, and Athens was razed to ruins.On the vast ocean, 800 Persian warships chased and beat the Greek warships, and the Greek warships, which were far behind in number, retreated step by step.On the eve of the inevitable imminent battle, the owl symbolizing Athena, the patron goddess of the Greeks, appears flying in the night sky.Encouraged by this auspicious omen, the Greek navy was so motivated that it defeated the Persian fleet in one fell swoop at the Battle of Salamis.In a naval battle with a great victory in history, the Greek army defeated the invading Persian army by sinking 200 enemy ships and losing only 40 of its own.The unexpected victory brought new stability to Athens and its allies.Greece entered a golden age.

The city-states of the Aegean formed the Delian League to permanently defend Greece from the clutches of Persia and its new independence.A man named Hercules became the leader of Athens by popular expectations.His ambition was clear: to make Athens a political and cultural center, effectively creating an Athenian kingdom.The Acropolis of Athens was built under the vigorous planning of Hercules. It is of great significance and declares the dominance of Athens in the new world order.

In 447 BC, he devoted himself to building a new empire, from amassing wealth to building civil engineering.He invited three extraordinary artistic geniuses - the sculptor Phidias, the architects Estinus and Calicratis.Together they envisioned how the temple and public spaces would come together, and decided to follow the classical design, but break through in scale and aesthetics.Amazingly, they had neither building plans nor blueprints like we have today, but built according to a set of symbols and rules of geometry.

The architects of the Golden Age in Athens believed that mastering geometry was the magic to unearth the beauty of nature.The Acropolis gave Callikratis and Estinus the opportunity to display their outstanding intellect and skill.The Acropolis shows the Greeks' proficiency in mathematics and their respect for geometry.This engineering is so crucial that it laid the foundation for the introduction of logic into mathematics, allowing future generations to explore the unknown world.In every detail of the Acropolis, no matter the masonry technology, carving art or painting decoration, it is unprecedentedly exquisite.

Exercise
1.The bold idea and ambition to build the Acropolis came from a battle.

2.The Acropolis was built under the great planning of the emperor.

3.Phidias' profession is.

4.They work according to a set of symbols and rules.

5.The Acropolis laid the cornerstone that would introduce mathematics.

1．war　2．Heracles’　3．sculptor　4．geometry　5．logic
06 The Pyramids ancient Egyptian pyramids
Built 4 years ago, the three great pyramids at Giza, in the Egyptian desert remain the most colossal buildings ever constructed.
The pyramids were built by Egyptians under the orders of the Egyptian leader, whose title was Pharaoh. There was a sequence of Pharaohs culminating around 2615 BC, with the Pharaoh Cheops who built the biggest thing ever built, the Great Pyramuown, also known . Cheops built a pyramid 770 feet on one side and 481 feet tall. How ancient builders managed to build these massive structures has never been fully answered but the effort clearly required brains and brawn.
Was there engineering genius involved? Yes, there was. For example, when you're putting the block right at the top, how are you going to lug a block of stone that weighs several tons 480 feet up a structure? How are you going to do it, and how are you going to do it without leaving scratches on all the rest of the structure? And how many people does it take to drag a block weighing several tons 480 feet up into the sky? Approximately, 2.3 million blocks of stone were cut, transported and assembled to create the Great Pyramid.
The Pharaohs may have set out to build magnificent tombs for themselves, but in the end they created monuments to human potential. There's a universal message in the pyramids. The pyramids belong to Egypt, but the pyramids also belong to the world. That's why we can all identify the pyramids as an early monument of human greatness.
For being a man made wonder that have survived the sands of time, the pyramids rise to the number two spot.
Vocabulary
pyramid ["pir? mid] n. Pyramid, pyramid;
vi. to increase, to rise, to become a pyramid

colossal [k? "l? s? l] adj. Huge, unusual, very

Pharaoh ["fε? r? u] n. Tyrant, Pharaoh

lug [l? ɡ] n. Support, lug, ear;
vt. to pull or drag

scratch [skr? t? ] n. scratches, scratches, scribbles;

vt. Grab, scrape; dig out, scribble

approximately [? "pr? ksimitli] adv. approximately, approximately, approximately

Magnificent [m? ɡ"nifis?nt] adj. Noble, magnificent, gorgeous, magnificent

Practice
How are you going to lug a block of stone that weighs several tons 480 feet up a structure at that time?

Translation
The three Great Pyramids of Giza in the Egyptian desert were built 4000 years ago, and they remain among the most massive structures ever built.

The pyramids were built by the Egyptians at the behest of their leader, known as the Pharaoh.In a succession of pharaohs who ruled Egypt around 2615 BC, Pharaoh Cheops built the largest pyramid ever built, the Great Pyramid, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu.The Pyramid of Khufu is 770 feet long on each side and 481 feet high.How ancient builders managed to build these behemoths has remained a mystery, but it's clear that it took a lot of brains and brawn.

Was there engineering genius involved?yes, there is.Like, when you're going to put a block on top, how do you lift a block that weighs several tons to a height of 480 feet?What should be done?How to do it so as not to leave scratches on the tower?How much manpower does it take to lift a block weighing several tons to a height of 480 feet?To build the Great Pyramid, about 230 million blocks of stone were cut, transported, and stacked.

The pharaohs set out to build luxurious tombs for themselves, but in the end they created monuments to human potential.There is a common message in the pyramids, the pyramids belong to Egypt, but they also belong to the world.So we can take the pyramids as an early monument of human greatness.

Due to the vicissitudes of time, the pyramid ranks second in the list of top ten artificial wonders.

Exercise
Think about what you could do to lift a multi-ton block of rock to a height of 480 feet under the conditions of the day.

07 The Nile Valley Nile Valley
The longest river in the world, the Nile, flows through the north-western area of ​​Africa, and then into the Mediterranean Sea.
Great civilizations have always flourished alongside rivers, but the Egyptian civilization, which started on the Nile, is the most fascinating and mysterious in the history of humanity.
The Nile valley is a fertile one where there is an abundance of water and sun, elements which the ancient Egyptian believed were gods, they called the sun Amon and the Nile Apis.
Memphis was the first great capital of Egypt, united as a single kingdom in the third millennium BC But the Nile burst its banks a few centuries ago, flooding the ancient capital.
The river however has given more than it has taken, enough to make Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian say: Egypt is a gift from the Nile.
The annual floods left precious silt on the fields, a miraculous natural fertilizer which made the crops grow luxuriously.
This instrument, called a Nilometer was used by the ancient Pharaohs to establish how high the periodic floods would be. The Nilometer, on the presupposition that the harvest would be plentiful, was nothing other than a device for setting income tax level.
The date palm is without a doubt the plant which characterizes Egyptian agriculture more than anything else. The peasants use it to make roofs, to construct furniture, to weave baskets; but above all the sweetest fruit on earth grows on the palm: the date.
(End of this chapter)