Man is an instinctive monument builder. Trace the lineage of any ethnic group to its origin and you will find continuous evidence of monument building along the way. Those same tools and skills used to design and create the implements essential to man's welfare and protection were soon also used to build monuments to those who were at the forefront of such advancements. The beauty, quality, form, and permanence of such ancient memorials will vary widely. However, evidence that man is an immutable erector of monuments is unearthed with regularity at the site of every archaeological dig in any age or land.

Why is the desire to build monuments so deeply ingrained in man? What instinctive intuition impels him to erect memorials? The answer is found in the very definition of the word "monument". That English word stems from the Latin word "monere", which means, "to remind".

Men always have and always will build monuments for one basic and unalterable reason - they want to remind present and future generations of the accomplishments of generations past. A monument, great or small, is nothing more than the thoughtful act of one man or group, to perpetuate the memory of loved ones who precede him or them. Thus, a monument is a lasting way to say; "I care"!
Although man's aim was always the same in building monuments, the results of his efforts to memorialize the past have been as varied as his advancement and culture. Man's monument building efforts are always limited by three factors; the materials available to him; the tools at his command, and most importantly, his knowledge and skill at using both the tools and the materials.

The record of each civilization's achievements and position in history is found primarily in its monuments. If any civilization possessed the materials, tools and skills for erecting enduring monuments it is usually seen by history as an advanced culture. To the degree that the civilization lacked any of these key factors, its place in history is either diminished or totally lost.

Some primitive cultures lacked all three essentials in monument building. Although stone or the materials for bronze making were available to them, they possessed neither the tools nor skills to utilize such constituent elements. Thus, their monuments were made of wood, bone, hides, native rocks, etc. Time quickly reclaimed them. The natural stones, unlettered and unshaped, now lie silently amid thousands of others, mutely concealing the story they have to tell. Evidence still abounds that such tribes possessed that innate desire to erect monuments and did so to the extent of their knowledge and abilities.

Although we are prone to look toward Europe, Africa or the Middle East for examples of primitive monument building efforts, some of the best specimens still exist are to be found all across the southland, right here in the United States. On many a knoll, often shaded by overhanging cedars, one finds a small cluster of jagged, unmarked rocks, standing or leaning like weary sentinels against the march of time. The thoughtless onlooker is oblivious of them. The casual observer wonders for a moment and then moves on. The thinker sees them for what they are - monuments to the dead of southern slaves who possessed the materials, enduring rock, but lacked both the tools and the skills to build monuments, which would perpetrate, the memory of loved ones. Most slaves could neither read nor write. Thus, they were incapable of etching a name or date on stone. Even in those rare cases where such talents existed, slaves were still wanting in tools and skills to use them. Occasionally one finds a mossy rock on which the simple word "Joe" or "Tom" is crudely scratched in misshapen letters. Admittedly, such crude slabs are poor specimens of monument building. However, each uncarved pillar, marking a nameless grave, bears corroborative testimony that man is an incurable monument builder.

Civilizations have been judged by their monuments. Ancient Greece is remembered as a nation of thinkers and builders. Phoenicia is seen as a land of merchants and seamen. Historic Egypt is recalled as a country of power, which looked to countless gods for its growth and protection. The Roman Empire is viewed as a realm of grandeur, built and sustained by military might. What created and maintains these images? The monuments left by each people. True, existing writings of each age abet these conceptions of the ways of each people, but the typical person visiting these venerable lands forms his opinion by studying their monuments, not their writings.
A monument need not be covered with hieroglyphics to proclaim the skills of its people. Its very form and existence speak volumes. Men may argue the purpose behind the building of the deathless Pyramids of Giza, but none can view these awesome structures without admiring the wisdom and talents of their builders. Sections of the graceful columns on the monuments to the Roman gods at Baalbek were so well shaped and fitted that a knife blade still cannot be slipped between them, even after two thousand years of battering by wars, earthquakes and the ravages of time. The gods they were erected to commemorate have long since been discredited. However, each passing century attests the adroitness of the hands that built them. Were it not for the enduring nature of the crypts and obelisks built to honor the memory of their dead, we would know far less about the times of the Persians, the Babylonians or other such perished peoples. The mallet and chisel of long-forgotten and never acclaimed monument builders today herald the glory of the pasts of many lands, while the works of their lauded writers and philosophers lie silent in the dust, along with their authors.

The Role of Rock in Monument Building

Rock has served as the building blocks of most monuments of antiquity that still endure. Even the original meaning of the words "rock" and "stone" bear witness to this fact. A basic meaning for the Hebrew word for rock is "strength". The word "stone" in that ancient tongue means "to build". Men of all ages and civilizations have sought and used rock of varying types as the material that could best be shaped to the desired form, reflect the distinctive gracefulness desired, and most importantly, endure the remorseless ravages of time and the elements. In order to achieve the desired shape and stability, rock with distinctive characteristics and appearance was brought from far away lands. Granite and marble, sought for their beauty and durability, were commonly used as facing materials. Limestone, with high quantities of magnesium carbonate and quartz, was used both as the basic building stone and for facing. Alabaster, a hard calcite, translucent and often banded, was prized by the Egyptians. In fact, the Egyptians named “alabaster” for their goddess Baste. The original word for this distinctive crystalline form of natural calcium carbonate was "alabaste", meaning vessel of Baste in that ancient tongue.

Rock has helped form civilizations because of these changeless and highly desirable characteristics:
1. Rock endures. Few natural elements possess the staying power of stone.
2. Rock is an abundant material. It is found in some form in all parts of the earth.
3. Rock can be shaped. Once shaped, the elements have minimal effect on it.
4. Rock possesses a unique, natural beauty. The banding in native stone can be dressed to reflect a perpetual charm.
5. Rock is the slate board of history. On it, each generation has etched its achievements, real or imagined.
6. Rock is transportable. It can be transported with a high degree of imperviousness to climatic change.

There is no wonder that cities of stone, such as enchanting Petra, continue to awe visitors of every age.

Importance of Sculpturing, Symbols and Lettering

A rock is an uninteresting, natural element until shaped or lettered by skilled hands. Michelangelo converted common marble into priceless masterpieces. Unknown and unsung artisans turned the barren and unsightly acropolis in ancient Athens into a pinnacle of perfection by shaping the stately Parthenon and its surrounding buildings. If the southern slaves, previously mentioned, had possessed the tools and skills to shape and letter those silent stones, they would tell us much of that ugly period in our history.

Symbols speak as eloquently as words, and in the limited space of a monument, they speak far more succinctly. Study the monuments of Greece, Rome or Babylon and you will find them richly adorned with meaningful symbols. Many of these symbols, in almost their original form, are still used on monuments today. A carved rope proclaims the continuity of life in a way words could never do. The olive branch symbolizes peace in any tongue or age. The lily was used to signify happiness and bliss by ancient peoples. The meanings of words undergo constant change. The connotation of a symbol survives the erosion of time.

Mausoleums

Although monuments have been used primarily to mark the site of a body or bodies interred in the earth, local ground conditions, native customs or the special desires of surviving loved ones created the custom of above ground burial. Such practices originated with the rich or with royalty. However, in some parts of the country, above ground burials are the rule, rather than the exception.

Such above ground structures for the interment of the dead are known as mausoleums or mausolea. This name was given to all above ground tombs or crypts because of the fame of the huge tomb of that type built for Mausolos, satrap of Caria, who died about 353 B.C. and was buried in a vast, ornate above ground crypt in Halicarnassus, capital o f the ancient region of southwestern Asia Minor.

Monuments of Metals

Many ancient monuments were also made of metal, especially bronze. Perhaps the most famous of all metal monuments was the Colossus of Rhodes, a towering bronze statue which served as a monument to Apollo. This colossal acrolith stood at the entrance to the busy harbor of Rhodes. Its height is believed to have been almost one hundred and twenty feet. Such a massive monument, towering over one of the world's busiest seaports, soon caused it to be acclaimed as one of the wonders of the ancient world. It awed travelers for years with both its beauty and its size. It was brought down by an earthquake in about 227 B.C. The metal was cut up, sold, and transported to all parts of the Mediterranean world.

Metal was used for many smaller and lesser known monuments. It was also often used in combination with various forms of rock. We sense the role metals have played in the monuments of the past when we study the earliest Biblical records. Genesis 4:22 records that Tubalcain was"an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron". Artifacts unearthed by the spades of today's archaeologists attest these early skills in metals.

A Monument is only as Strong as its Foundation

Any monument, metal or rock, is only as enduring as its foundation. The sites of many ancient civilizations are littered with the shards of broken monuments, destroyed because their foundations failed. A giant, monolithic monument to Cheops still lies prone in the sands of old Memphis, in Egypt. The ruins of fallen monuments to past kings are to be found in the agora of old Athens, the Valley of the Kings, etc. Each fallen piece of some well-formed memorial cries out that the foundation determines the life span of any monument.

Thus unknown but talented builders of the Pyramids of Giza were fully aware of the importance of a good foundation. Today's remains of that ageless monument to Cheops still towers over the barren landscape ten miles west of the modern city of Cairo. Although surrounded by similar monuments to Mykerinos and Kephren, it rises to the height of a modern forty story building and dominates the scene. It contains more than two and a half million blocks of granite and limestone, each weighing from two to seventy tons apiece. These rise heavenward in two hundred and one stepped tiers to add an enchanting attraction to the cloudless blue of those Egyptian skies. But these millions of stones, far more than have been used in all the chapels, churches and cathedrals built in England since the time of Christ, would not be scattered all over the landscape if the builders had not given serious thought to the foundations. The base of the Pyramid of Cheops alone covers thirteen acres, and area roughly equal to seven downtown blocks in modern New York City. This vast base is level to within a fraction of an inch, after all these centuries.

The Monument Building Business Today

How has time changed the monument building business? Where does the art of monument building fit in modern society? Does it offer an exciting and rewarding career and future? What skills and abilities are required to be a successful monument builder today? Any serious consideration of these basic questions leads to optimistic conclusions.

Monuments Now for the Average Person

In the not too distant past, monuments were built only for the rich and the famous. Today the burial site of the lowliest man is usually identified by some type of marker. Visit the ruins of old Jerusalem and you will be shown the sarcophagus of David or the sepulcher of other noted personages in history. But you will find no monuments to the common men of that day. They were cast into a potter's field or placed in totally unmarked graves. The monument builders of yesteryear could never have imagined a time when beautifully sculptured memorials would bear the names of ordinary men.

Today monuments are erected not only on the highest hills, to memorialize some noted person or family. Across the rolling hills and flatlands, coast to coast, one will find literally acres of monuments in every community, and that hallowed acreage grows unceasingly, year after year. In these burial grounds multi-colored markers stand like vigilant sentinels, row on row, through the long night of time. The great and the small of each age lie in neighborly peace. Seldom will the memorials themselves enable you to distinguish the boss from the worker. In the discreet blending of adamant stones there is a legitimate leveling of all mankind. The rich and royalty of the past would have marveled at the grace, beauty, and abundance of today's memorials to the average man.

Monuments are now Chosen by Individuals

Few, if any, monuments of history were planned or purchased by caring individuals. Since they commemorated the lives of only royalty or the rich they were usually planned and erected by committees, appointed by governments, or organizations. The selection of a shrine, great or small, thus became a cold, impersonal transaction, almost totally devoid of emotion or personal interest. The slave builders of the monument to Nero of Rome were far more interested in pleasing their haughty task maker than in exalting the image of a despotic tyrant.

Monument selection has now become a highly personal and sometimes emotional act. When you help a person or group select an appropriate monument you are assisting them in perpetuating the history of your area. Some men write history with pen and ink. The modern monument builder etches the history of his day on colorful pages of stone for perusal by future generations. The history writer is judged by his knowledge of events and his ability to describe them. The monument builder is appraised by his ability to create a memorial that dignifies the memory of those who have gone before. Men still photograph and revere the tombs of the famous, but that is not the bedrock of the monument building business today. For each crypt of the noted, there are thousands of memorials known only to the friends and loved ones of those buried. The business of monument building exists and flourishes today because all men, great or small, have an insatiable desire to be remembered, and the ability to erect monuments helps accomplish that purpose.

Today's Potential for Monument Building

How big is the monument building business in the United States today? As substantial as man's respect for life and care for others. How great is its future? As great as the growth of families. The monument building business is built on the rational foundation of respect for life and family. So long as modern society maintains its regard for these mainstays of civilization, the monument builder will have a solid place in the economy. It is only when a Hitler arises from a troubled society and, out of contempt for human life, incinerates the bodies of men like worthless chaff, which monument building ceases. When the minds and tongues of reasonable men are silenced by the chatter of a dictator's guns, the bodies of men are soon piled like cordwood amid the wreckage of wantonness. From this perspective those silent stones, erected by yesterday's and today's monument builders, bear mute testimony that America, as she has ever been, a land where life and family are both held precious. Let that be eroded and we lose far more than the potential for monument building.

Modern monument building is as broad based as our population. Wherever people make their homes a potential for a monument building business exists. As generations come and go, men continue to shape and letter memorials to their friends, neighbors and fellow businessmen. It is a community affair. The son of one whose name yesterday's monument builder carved into stone, becomes the one who etches the builder's name on a memorial alongside. Thus the monument building business might well be defined as the art of etching the appreciation for life and the moral values of the day on almost imperishable material as testimony to and lessons for generations yet unborn. In this sense the monument is not the objective; it is merely the vehicle for transmitting the message.

The Scope and Components of Monument Building

Today's process of monument building is no less complicated nor interesting than it was in the days of the Pharaohs. We shall never know how those ingenious master builders hoisted that massive capstone to the pinnacle of the Pyramid of Cheops, but we do know that the basic process of building a monument has been relatively unaltered by time. The desired and appropriate materials must be found in their natural habitat. Such materials must then be selected and cut for maximum beauty and efficiency. They must then be transported from quarry to a site where they can be shaped for the desired use. Where and how such materials are found and to where they are moved is always altered by time; but whether they are found in ancient Egypt or modern Vermont, it was and always will be a process of transforming native rock into the necessary blocks for the monument builder's tools.

Today such rough stone is shipped to monument manufacturers who, in turn, shape and ship to wholesalers and retailers in all parts of the country. At this point the monument building business becomes highly localized. That rough piece of cumbersome granite which was laboriously hewn from a quarry in one part of the country is transformed into a graceful and enduring memorial to some individual or family thousands of miles away. But that transformation was not the work of driven slaves, as of old. It is now the work of local businessmen, serving the monument building needs of the families in each community.