The builder has truly marked the progress of civilization by his noble works. For instance, from the ancient on thru the middle ages to the fifteenth century the architect was the director of works, hence governed the other arts, such as sculpture and painting.
Construction combines the most material and at the same time most ideal of arts.
You measure the culture of a race of people or nation by its surviving structural ruins. History can be traced back seven thousand, even eight thousand, years by the tombs and temples of Babylon and Egypt. Beyond that is either sheer speculation or somewhat nebulous archaeological research. The accomplishments of the ancient builders are even more remarkable when considered in conjunction with the fact iron for tools did not come into use until 1100 B. C. Bronze tools used may have been hardened to a point unknown to modern industry. We now use either the contract system of building or supervised day labor, as opposed to the slave labor of most of the ancients, the tribute, contract, and military labor of the Romans, and the voluntary religious labor of the monastic age.