The Unbreakable Mirror: STONE WALLS

The Unbreakable Mirror: STONE WALLS

Besides being one of the first man-made structures and providing safety and shelter; could the stone walls be the unbreakable mirrors reflecting the humankind and the humanity?

Stone walls have existed long before the glazed mirror. For tens of thousands of years, they have been an essential piece of our living spaces. Perhaps that’s why we take them for granted. We walk past them. But perhaps if we face them for a moment, we’ll see that like the surface of still water or a mirror, stone too tells us stories of our past.

Let’s look at that mirror together and take an expedition trip towards a world mapped with stone walls.

 

Sturdy Witnesses of the Past

It is known that the very first walls were built by our ancestors with stone masonry. But do not underestimate this primitive “first wall”, for stacking stone upon stone was milestones that lead the way to the first settlements and constructions.

So let’s take it from the beginning: We’re going to Göbeklitepe in Şanlıurfa, 12 thousand years back in time… It was stone that put our history into writing, and carried them to our day. Several obelisks surrounded with stone walls have changed everything we know about the Neolithic age. For those who want to know more about the details:

https://www.stonewrap.com/en/blog-posts/stones-that-changed-history-gobeklitepe

 

Theopatra Cave

Göbeklitepe carries the oldest traces of humanity yet discovered; there is only one place that precedes it: A stone wall in Greece.

The namesake cave in Theopatra, is a 130 thousand year-old ruin. The cave hosts world’s oldest limestone wall built way back in 21,000 BC. It’s fair to say that the olden stone walls in Göbeklitepe and Theopatra carry the knowledge of our shared ancestry.

 

Wall to Wall, Land to Land

It’s possible to walk around the world, solely stepping on stone walls. Because regardless of the geography, humans have sheltered themselves, their belongings and livestock between stone walls.

The Great Wall of China is one of the biggest and oldest stone walls known to man. If it wasn’t for this 8.851 kilometer long stone wall, the borders on our maps might have been drawn differently.

The stone walls built with the Cyclopes technique in the city of Rajgir in India is one of the oldest examples of its kind. Rajgir is also the living proof that walls know no border. Because the walls of the same technique can be found in Hittite, Greek and Persian architecture as well. In this technique, stone walls are built by big stone blocks interlocked together in such a way that no grout is necessary. Would you like to take a look at the best examples of this method? Check out our article here:

https://www.stonewrap.com/en/blog-posts/looking-for-a-stone-mason-find-an-incan-one

 

Walls Built With Belief

No conversation about history is complete without touching on faith. Stone walls, the mirrors of humanity, carry clues about the historic beliefs as well. The Wailing Wall in Jerusalem or the oldest city walls west of Jordan River, The Wall of Jericho are both mentioned in the Holy Scriptures.

The 11.000 year-old Eriha Tower which hasn’t been demystified yet is the world’s first skyscraper to some, and an ancient observatory to others. Just like the Mithras Temple in Diyarbakır:

https://www.stonewrap.com/en/blog-posts/magnet-of-anatolia-mithras-temple

 

A World of Stone

You can add as many stops as you want to your world tour: The Wall of Ston in Croatia which was originally well over 7 kilometers, Aurelian Walls that meander the 7 hills of Rome or the Great Wall of Zimbabwe which carries the title for the biggest structure of the Sahara may be some good additions to your expedition. 

Stone walls, the iconic symbols of the human heritage… Although the civilizations that built them have perished, or some of them were left incomplete, they keep on carrying the reflections of our past to our day. With a little information and imagination, travelling through time on the backs of stone walls is as easy as pie.

Stone walls speak plenty about the identity of a city, a building or even just a room. Because they reflect not only the past, but the now and the future too. Check out our catalogue in order to enrich your living spaces with the unbreakable mirrors of time:

https://www.stonewrap.com/en/products/stone

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