The general characteristics of Temple Architecture Essay

The general characteristics of Temple Architecture - Essay Example One of the key characteristics of ancient temple architecture was their dedication to a deity. Most of the ancient temples were built as a dedication to the gods that were worshipped in those times. The Roman temple of Fortuna Virilis is also referred to as the temple of Portumnus because it was in dedication to the Roman god Portumnus, the god protector of the harbors and trade at sea (history of roman). The Greek temple of Poseidon in Paestum, Italy was also a dedication to the Greek sea god, Poseidon and even had a massive statue of him in its main hall (Cape Sounion,2008). While the temple of Amenhotep was largely a dedication to his father amen, the northern part of it was dedicated to the Egyptian god Osiris (Andrews, 2005). The Mesopotamian white temple was built at a very high place, on the ziggurat platform, because the people of Mesopotamia believed that it was in high places that their god would visit the earth (Sumerian Art). Thus as part of their architecture, most of th ese temples had statues that represented the deities to which they had been dedicated All temple architecture was inspired by religious beliefs but perhaps none portrays this so much as the Egyptian Temple designed by Amenhotep the third during his reign. This is the largest temple to ever be built in Egypt. It boasted 385,000 square meters coverage and was built in such a manner that it could flood when the waters of the Nile rose, leaving only the inner part dry. This was based on the religious belief that when the water level went down, the re-emergence of the temple would signify a sort of rebirth of the world, like in the time of creation (Andrews, 2005). The Greek Poseidon temple was also based on the religious belief that since Poseidon was the sea god and the temple was located near waters then it would only be fitting to dedicate it to the sea god in order to win his favor (Cape