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In architecture, a hemispherical structure evolved from the arch , forming a ceiling or roof.
Domes first appeared on round huts and tombs in the ancient Middle East, India, and the Mediterranean in forms, such as solid mounds, adaptable only to the smallest buildings. The Romans introduced the large-scale masonry hemisphere. A dome exerts thrust all around its perimeter, and the earliest monumental examples (see Pantheon ) required heavy supporting walls. Byzantine architects invented a technique for raising domes on piers, making the transition from a cubic base to the hemisphere by four R. Buckminster Fuller , is fabricated of lightweight triangular framing that distributes stresses within the structure itself.
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{{link=Dome of the Rock">Dome of the Rock
salt dome
Teapot Dome scandal