A
wall is a structure, usually taller than it is thick, and wider than it is tall.
Walls usually have one of three major functions:
1. To keep things out, like rain, foxes or barbarians
2. To keep things in, like heat, geese or East Germans
3. To keep things up, like roofs.
Less common uses include: to provide a platform for the pasting of posters or writing of grafitti, to serve as an improvised urinal on the side of buildings, and to be something marines have to scale in their annual physicals. Walls also are commonly used in many languages as metaphors to describe protection, separation, insularity or exclusion.
Ever since Humans moved out of caves and then discovered they actually don't like their neighbours, people have been erecting walls for centuries. although unlike most other engineering activities wall-building technology has not changed much. Ur started off with mud and pise (a form of clay); other civilisations have used granite, lime , wood, bamboo, shale and any other material found locally in abundance that could be used to build a strong, solid wall. The latest major innovation has been concrete , invented by Joseph Monier and patented in 1867, which has been improved on ever since (cf reinforced concrete).
Famous Walls
Hadrian's Wall (aka Vallum Hadriani)
Location: from Wallsend to Solway Firth's shores (120 kms)
Built: 122-132 AD
Materials: limestone and turf, depending on location.
Patron: Emperor Hadrian
The Upper Germanic Lines (aka Rhatian Limes)
Location: Katwijk, the Netherlands (near the North Sea coast) to Kelheim, Germany (568 kms). Initally built as two separate walls, which were later joined together.
Built: 12 AD
Abandoned: third century AD+ (defeated by Germanic tribes)
Materials: Limestone
Patron: Emperor Augustus
The Great Wall of China (aka Fortress of 10,000 Li)
Location: from Lop Nur in Xinjiang to Shanhai Pass in Manchuria , China (6,352 kms)
Built: progressively from 208 BC. Last wall built in the reign of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty 1368-1640 .
Materials: limestone, granite, rammed earth or fired brick, depending on location.
Patron: originally the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
Aurelian Walls
Location: surrounding Rome (21 kms)
Built: 270-273 AD
Abandoned: 1870 (defeated by Bersaglieri's army)
Materials: brick, white stone
Patron: Emperor Aurelian.
Anastasian Wall (aka: Anastasius Suru or the Long Walls of Thrace)
Location: from Silvri near the Sea of Marmara to Evcik l'skelesi near the Black Sea in Turkey (56 kms)
Built: late 5th century.
Abandoned: 7th century (repeatedly defeated by Huns, Bulgars and other invaders)
Material: Limestone
Patron: Emperor Anastasius I.
Berlin Wall (aka Die Berliner Mauer or The anti-Fascist Protection Barrier)
Location: Surrounding West Berlin (155 kms)
Built: August 11, 1961
Demolished: 1989+ (defeated by German protestors)
Materials: originally a mere wire fence; concrete barriers were added in 1965, and in 1975 the full monty of bunkers, anti-vehicle barriers, watchtowers and 45,000 reinforced concrete barriers was finally added.
Patron: Walter Ulbricht.
Moroccan Wall
Location: along the Moroccan-controlled portions of Western Sahara (2,500 kms).
Built: 1983 - 1987.
Materials: sand and stone walls, with fences, berms and landmines.
Patron: government of the Kingdom of Morocco.
Other walls famous for their aethetic, cultural or historic properties include:
Vietnam Veterans Memorial, in the National Mall inWashington DC, United States of America. Built in
The Green Monster, in the Fenway Park baseball stadium in Boston, United States of America, a 37 foot green wooden fence built in 1912. Famous for foiling many a Red Sox slug.
The Wailing Wall, alongside the western side of Temple Mount in West Jerusalem, built in 19BC.