Notes

The height of a ziggurat was a symbol of the temple’s proximity to the heavens. The massive scale and number of buildings on the heights of the Acropolis demonstrate the pride of the Athenians and their dedication to the gods.
Mesopotamian temples were situated atop a ziggurat—a pyramidal form consisting of a series of stepped platforms.
The Acropolis was a symbol of the splendor of Athens. Several temples, including the Parthenon, are built on the hilltop.
We usually think of columns as functional, but they can also be purely decorative—for example, the columns on the Arch of Titus in Rome
Egyptian funerary sculptures were meant to last forever, so they had few projecting parts that could break.
Hellenistic Greek sculptures have action poses that break into the viewer's space and demand an emotional response
Egyptians artists used a grid system to determine body proportions. Greek sculptors, such as Polykleitos, used a fixed unit of measurement such as the subject's head.

Egyptians showed figures with body parts in their most recognizable positions. Roman figures are posted more realistically and shaded to create the appearance of form.
Artists make relief sculptures by carving into a flat surface, creating areas that are raised above and recessed below the surface.

Mesopotamian sculptors carved in low relief. The figures do not project very far from the flat surface.

Egyptian sculptors carved in sunken relief and low relief. Sunlight raking across the surface creates dark shadows that outline the sunken figures.

Greek sculptors carved both low and high reliefs. In this low-relief sculpture from the Parthenon frieze, the figures project higher from the surface than the low-relief sculptures of Mesopotamia.

Roman sculptors of the Arch of Titus used high relief. Some figures are so deeply undercut that parts have broken off. Dramatic shadows emphasize the three-dimensional forms.