The classical civilization of Rome, Greece, and Africa used art for ceremonial purposes. The three classical civilizations used sculptures for prayer, murals for entertainment, and masks for ceremonial dances. In Rome the great sculptor Phidias carved a sculpture of Athena, looking like a warrior. He put it in the Parthenon where they prayed and worshipped gods and goddesses. In Greece murals showed scenes of daily life with lots of colors. Wrestling pictures were put up at wrestling matches and religious pictures were put up at religious ceremonials. One mural shows Zeus as a strong and mighty man holding a thunderbolt. In Africa masks with different types of faces and colors on them were symbolized as a link between the living and the dead. Mostly people at ceremonial dances wore masks and people who performed dances called upon ancestral spirits to help the community. One mask called the buffalo mask is a large mask with different shades of brown, big eye holes, and a long snout. The three classical civilizations used different types of art for different types of ceremonials.
The classical civilization of Rome, Greece, and Africa used architecture for ceremonial purposes. The three classical civilizations used the colosseum for entertainment, the Parthenon for prayer, and mosques for prayer. In Rome the colosseum was made of stone in a circular shape. On the inside there is a ring full of sand. The colosseum was used for entertainment when men fought each other to please the crowd. In Greece the Parthenon was a rectangular shaped building surrounded by columns. It was made with marble and iron. It was a sanctuary for prayer in religious ceremonies. In Africa the Mosque at Timbuktu was made by a Spanish architect. It was made of hard dry stone. It was used as a school, trade center, and for religious ceremonies. The three classical civilizations used different buildings, shapes, and size for different types of ceremonies.