This is an ongoing investigation conducted by the author to examine how different concepts of proportion were employed by Western civilization to create "form, order, and harmony" in architectural heritage structures. The study covers the period from Antiquity to the Middle Ages and up to the Renaissance. This is indeed an enormous undertaking in view of the fact that there were so many different systems of proportion employed by such diverse civilizations that makes it impossible, if not futile to attempt to discuss the "history" of proportions in the present article. In view of these practical restrictions, this paper discusses how a particular system of proportion was applied to extant monuments constructed by the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece. Future articles will consider Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and their views towards the concept of proportion in its varied forms.
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