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Old 16-07-15, 13:27   #1
Piega
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Default Revelation Analyzed...

As for me personally the Last Revelation is the most interesting Tomb Raider game I got this idea to analyze its locations and where the creators got inspired from.
I will see how far I will come in doing this as the game is huge and varied in locations. All of the text is combined information I found on the internet and is adjusted accordingly.
I will post random things from the game but we start with the opening of it:

The Title Flyby



I always wondered what that mysterious structure in the middle of the mosque's courtyard should be as you dont see it in the game itself. Only pieces of this flyby you can play in the extra Times Level.
Well it is the Qubbat al-Khazna meaning the "Dome of the Treasury". It is an old structure located inside the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria.
Octagonal-shaped and dome-capped, it rests at lofty height upon eight recycled Roman columns in the west of the mosque’s courtyard.



The Qubbat al-Khazna, also known as the “Bayt al Mal”, “The House of Money”, was commissioned by the governor of Damascus, Fadil ibn Salih, in 789 CE.
There is no entrance to the building. The only access is by means of a ladder to one small side window. In the title flyby however it has four windows and the mozaik tree texture on it.
The Qubbat al-Khazna is truly a “moneybox” in its form and original function.



As its name would suggest it was designed to serve as a treasury. It held the charitable endowments of the mosque’s trust.
Beyond its physical inaccessibility, the building’s eightfold exterior also symbolised the eight categories earmarked for the distribution of the mosque’s funds.
These were: the poor, the destitute, the bankrupt, travellers and the disabled, tax collectors, converts to Islam and non-Muslims who refrained from fighting,
ransom for captives and lastly, the cause of Allah.

There is much more to tell about this structure and if interested be free to look it up. What makes me wonder, why did they choose this "Dome of the Treasury" for the title flyby?
This structure is in Syria and not in Egypt! Maybe they used it because of its iconic status or it just fitted the games style. Anyway it is a good opener for the game that grabs your attention.
Similar gorgeus structures that could have been used are the ones from the Mosque of Sultan Hasan (left) or the one from the Citadel (right). Both are builded in the city of Cairo.



The Catacombs

The Catacombs of Last Revelation is inspired by the real Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa that lies in the district of Karmouz to the east Alexandria. The Arabic name translates to English as “the mound of potshards”,
referring to the broken dishes and plates that marked the area before the tombs were discovered below. There is a lot of pottery to be shot in the catacombs wich sometimes offers you ammo.
This extensive complex of impressively decorated tombs dates from the Roman Era and are considered as one of the “Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages”.



The tombs at Kom Al-Shuqafa are thought to have originally belonged to a single wealthy Roman family that began using it for burials around the 2nd century AD. However, the complex was significantly expanded
and it was used though the 4th century AD. It contains a large number of graves, including a mass grave of animal and human remains that is attributed to a mass execution carried out in Alexandria by
the Roman Emperor Caracalla in 215 AD. So when you shoot skeletons again be sure they are the executed ones! The tombs are organized around a central spiral staircase that leads down through several levels.
The third lower level is still flooded today, but in the accessible areas the walls of the tombs are extensively decorated. They display an unusual fusion of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian iconography.



In Egypt in the early centuries AD, the Roman Empire was in control, so the influences of ancient Egypt and Greek culture, were due to the legacy of Alexander and the Ptolomies.
The figures carved into the walls of the tomb often combine the forms of ancient Egyptian gods with Roman and Greek dress or creatures from Greek and Roman mythology
with pharaonic symbols. Because of this the Alexandria areas are the most distinctive part of the game that stands out from only the Egyption themed ones. Espacially the Lost Library level
but later more about this beauty .



On September 28, 1900, the Catacombs were discovered by accident. A donkey lost its footing and fell in through an access shaft. Excavators had been searching for the
Catacombs since 1892 but had no luck until the donkey had his mishap.



One Greek mythology to be found in the catacombs of Core Design is Medusa. She is scattered around the whole area on walls and ceilings!

The representation of Medusa was to protect the tomb.
Medusa was a monster, one of the Gorgon sisters and daughter of Phorkys and Keto, the children of Gaea (Earth) and Oceanus (Ocean).
She had the face of an ugly woman with snakes instead of hair; anyone who looked into her eyes was immediately turned to stone.
Her sisters were Sthenno and Euryale, but Medusa was the only mortal of the three.



She was originally a golden-haired, fair maiden, who, as a priestess of Athena, was devoted to a life of celibacy. However, after being wooed
by Poseidon and falling for him, she forgot her vows and married him. For this offence, she was punished by the goddess in a most terrible manner.
Each wavy lock of the beautiful hair that had charmed her husband was changed into a venomous snake. Her once gentle, love-inspiring eyes turned
into blood-shot, furious orbs, which excited fear and disgust in the mind of the onlooker, whilst her former roseate hue and milk-white
skin assumed a loathsome greenish tinge.

Seeing herself transformed into such a repulsive creature, Medusa fled her home, never to return. Wandering about, abhorred, dreaded, and shunned
by the rest of the world, she turned into a character worthy of her outer appearance. In her despair, she fled to Africa, where, while wandering
restlessly from place to place, young snakes dropped from her hair; that is how, according to the ancient Greeks, Africa became a hotbed of
venomous reptiles. With the curse of Athena upon her, she turned into stone whomever she gazed upon, till at last, after a life of nameless misery,
deliverance came to her in the shape of death, at the hands of Perseus.

This Greek mythology of Medusa and Poseidon is perfectly combined with the Temple of Poseidon level.



Cairo

Chambers of Tulun

The Mosque of Ahmad Ibn Tulun is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is arguably the oldest
mosque in the city surviving in its original form, and is the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area.

The mosque was commissioned by Ahmad ibn Tulun, the Abbassid governor of Egypt from 868–884 whose rule was
characterized by de facto independence. The historian al-Maqrizi lists the mosque's construction start date
as 876 AD, and the mosque's original inscription slab identifies the date of completion as 265 AH, or 879 AD.



The mosque was constructed on a small hill called Gebel Yashkur, "The Hill of Thanksgiving." One local
legend says that it is here that Noah's Ark came to rest after the Deluge, instead of at Mount Ararat.



The grand ceremonial mosque was intended as the focal point of Ibn Tulun's capital, al-Qatta'i, which served
as the center of administration for the Tulunid dynasty. The mosque originally was backed by ibn Tulun's palace,
and a door adjacent to the minbar allowed him direct entry to the mosque. Al-Qatta'i was destroyed in the early
10th century, AD, and the mosque is the only surviving structure!



There is significant controversy over the date of construction of the minaret, which features a helical outer
staircase similar to that of the famous minaret in Samarra. It is also told that using these stairs one can
climb up on a horse. Legend has it that ibn Tulun himself was accidentally responsible for the design of the
structure: supposedly while sitting with his officials, he absentmindedly wound a piece of parchment
around his finger. When someone asked him what he was doing, he responded, embarrassed, that he was designing
his minaret. Many of the architectural features, however, point to a later construction, in particular the
way in which the minaret does not connect well with the main mosque structure, something that would have been
averted had the minaret and mosque been built at the same time. Architectural historian Doris Behrens-Abouseif
asserts that Sultan Lajin, who restored the mosque in 1296, was responsible for the construction of the current
minaret.

Fun fact: not only Tomb Raider has the right to use Egypt as a source of course. The mosque of Tulun has also been used in
Serious Sam 3 although the minaret is absent from the game design. This is also actually the courtyard where Lara traps the hammer-guy.
You have to use your imagination as its totally different. Obviously you cannot compare the graphics from these games.



Inside the courtyard of the Chambers of Tulun level where you lock the hammer-guy you see several Mihrabs.
Mihrab is the name of a semicircular niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the qibla:
that is, the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca and hence the direction that Muslims should face when praying.
The use of this texture is far from realistic but he its Tomb Raider right?



Some intriguing ceiling design from the Mosque of Al-Nasir Muhammad used in Tomb Raider.




Citadel Gate

In this level you have a jump sequence on top of mashrabiyas. Mashrabiyas are projecting alone from part of the room and not reaching to
the room floor, hence allowing for a Dakkah or sitting area in front of the window. One of the major purposes of the Mashrabiya
is privacy, an essential aspect of Arabic culture. A good view of the street can be obtained by the occupants
without being seen, preserving the private interior without depriving the occupants from a vista of the public
outside. It is said that Mashrabiyas are the ornaments of the rich as it costs a lot of time and finance to produce them.



To be continued...

Last edited by Piega; 28-08-15 at 11:29. Reason: Update...
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Old 16-07-15, 13:36   #2
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Reserved for continue...
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Old 16-07-15, 13:42   #3
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an Amazing thread ! I'll definitely be checking it everyday
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Old 16-07-15, 14:22   #4
Piega
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick star View Post
an Amazing thread ! I'll definitely be checking it everyday
Thx but I think once in every two weeks will be enough
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Old 16-07-15, 15:03   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick star View Post
an Amazing thread ! I'll definitely be checking it everyday
Same, man.
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Old 16-07-15, 15:04   #6
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This is a nice thread of the locations being analyzed.
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Old 16-07-15, 16:50   #7
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The Citadel's structure looks awesome.
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Old 16-07-15, 17:48   #8
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It looks beautiful IMO.
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Old 16-07-15, 18:21   #9
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Thanks for the in depth info, it's nice having these things documented.
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Old 17-07-15, 19:10   #10
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Moarrrr! please? interesting stuff.
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