The Four Ancient Civilizations That Used Masonry Masonry is one of the oldest techniques used to make permanent

shelters for human beings. When people learned to cultivate the land to produce crops, they began to build settlements near this agricultural land. At that time, they realized that their dwelling units would need to be strong enough to bear the extreme climatic conditions like storm, blizzards, torrential rains, e.g. and prevent them from the attack of wild animals and enemies. This thought encouraged them to construct masonry buildings. With the passing of time, people constructed much architecture in honor of others, community baths, amphitheaters and more. The Pyramids of Egypt, the Tajmahal of India, the Coliseum of Rome are some examples of excellent masonry works. There are four earliest civilizations that made major breakthroughs in the techniques of constructing grand architectural monuments. These were the Egyptian civilization, Indus valley civilization, Mesopotamian civilization and Andean civilization of coastal Peru. The people of these civilizations constructed structures using various technical methods. According to historians, the Pyramid of Egypt is the oldest construction made by mortar. About 6000 years ago, the Egyptians first made mortar from mud and clay. They used Gypsum mortar to bind the limestone block. However, this mortar did not work well due to the presence of a high level of water and humidity. Within a short period, Egyptians discarded this mortar due to its unsatisfactory performance. They developed a new kind of mortar by burning limestone. Burnt limestone mixed with water produce the material that binds the stone strongly. Egyptians used the materials to construct the wonderful Pyramids. The people of other regions used bricks instead of stones. The Mesopotamians used clay to bind the bricks. The people of the Indus valley used lime mortar combined with sand to bind the burnt bricks. They also used bitumen mortar for the construction of floor. Later on, the masons used terracotta, paneled stone carving and other types of designs to ornate the exteriors of the structures. In the ancient period, the Romans developed the quality of limestone mortar by adding pozzolans with burnt limestone. Pozzolan contains volcanic ash or brick dust. The hydraulic property of the mixture is capable of hardening the mortar under the water. This type of mortar shows the properties of cement. The Greeks also used this mortar to construct the aqueducts and other water- resistant structures. However, this technique was lost and in the year 1756 James Smeaton of Italy rediscovered it. It was known as natural cement or Italian cement. This mixture was used to build the Eddystone Lighthouse.