Egyptian Architecture

Ar. Maria Lourdes T. Rigunay, UAP

3200BC 1AD

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
3200BC

1AD

Egypt is known as the Land of the Pharaoh

Pharaohs

were rulers of Egypt who was deified as gods. They influenced the life of the people and its architecture.

EGYPTIAN GEOGRAPHY

A narrow strip of fertile, alluvial soil along the Nile with barren land, rugged cliffs and arid desert plateau. The Nile is considered as the lifeblood of Egypt it being used as trade route, means of communication.

The overflowing and fertilizing waters of the Nile made the desert useful. Most cities started to grow along its banks.

EGYPTIAN GEOLOGY
Stones such as limestone, sandstone, alabaster, granite, quartzite and basalt were used for construction.

These made many monumental structures durable. The gigantic scale was due to the methods of quarrying, transporting, raising enormous blocks of stone into position.

Sun-dried bricks were reinforced with palm and papyrus leaves.

Its exposure to sunlight made it stronger.

EGYPTIAN GEOLOGY
Timber was used for boats (acacia), mummy cases (sycamore), logs for roofing (date palm).

Palm leaves, reeds and rushes were used to frame or reinforce mud-brick construction.

Mat from leaves was used for panels, partitions and fences.

EGYPTIAN CLIMATE

There are only two seasons: spring and summer. Snow was unknown; storm and rain are rare thus contributing to the preservation of buildings. Brilliant sunshine resulted in the simplicity in design. Interiors were lighted through doors and roof slits, thus there were no need for windows. Unbroken massive walls allows for hieroglyphics or pictorial representations of religious ritual, historic events and daily pursuits. Roof drainage was not important thus they used flat roof of stone to cover buildings and exclude heat.

EGYPTIAN HISTORY AND SOCIETY

The inflexible rule of the pharaoh determined the social and individual conditions of the people.

Pharaohs were considered as gods, demi-gods, mystery priest, builders but rarely are fathers of their people.

Craftsmanship was highly developed like weaving, glass blowing, pottery turning, and metal working, making musical instruments, jewelry and furniture. There was a pursuit of learning in astronomy,

OLD KINGDOM

NEW KINGDOM

Egyptian Architecture

DYNASTIES: KINGDOMS

KINGDOMS

According to Manetho, early Egypt is composed of 30 dynasties divided into the following kingdoms:
Old Kingdom

1st 10th dynasty 3200-2130BC 11th-17th dynasty 2130-1580BC 18th-30th dynasty 1580-332BC

Middle Kingdom

New Kingdom

3200-2130BC (1st 10th dynasty)

OLD/ANCIENT KINGDOM

OLD/ANCIENT KINGDOM

A period of mastaba and pyramid building

OLD/ANCIENT KINGDOM
Archaic Period 1st-2nd dynasty where Menos formed Memphis as capital and civilization progressed, art of writing and hieroglyphics developed. Tombs were of the mastaba type

OLD/ANCIENT KINGDOM
Old Kingdom 2nd - 5th dynasty where Thebes was the chief city. The royal mastaba evolved towards the true pyramid, shown by the step pyramid of the Pharaoh Zoser of Sakkara.

Pyramid of Djoser Very first of any of the pyramids built in Egypt, built during the Old Kingdom's 3rd Dynasty. 254 feet tall, with seven steps. Djoser ruled about 2668-2649 BC Built for Djoser by master architect Imhotep

MEIDUM, THE BENT PYRAMID

SPHINX

The Sphinx located on the Giza plateau, was carved on the 4th dynasty by pharaoh Chephren or Khafre

Carved out of the native bedrock has the body of a lion and Pharaoh Chephren's face Became associated with the Egyptian god Harmakhis

OLD/ANCIENT KINGDOM
1st Intermediate period 6th-10th dynasty Where the royal pyramid fully evolved in the culmination represented by the Great Pyramid at Gizeh by Pharaoh Cheops, Chephren and Mykerinos.

OLD/ANCIENT KINGDOM

The most famous pyramids in Egypt are the Pyramids of Gizeh, built more than 2,000 years B.C. to shelter and safeguard the souls of Egyptian pharaohs.

2130-1580BC (11th-17th dynasty)

MIDDLE KINGDOM

MIDDLE KINGDOM

A period where temples and pyramids where built by different pharaohs.

The pylon

The second hall The hypostyle hall The sanctuary

The courtyard The sacred lake

MIDDLE KINGDOM

Menhutep II Led a progressive recovery of political stability and mastery of the arts. Built terraced mortuary temple at Dor el-Bahari which combined a small solid pyramid raised on a high base with a rock-cut tomb deep into the base of a sheer cliff.

MIDDLE KINGDOM

Amenemhet I Consolidated the administrative system Surveyed the country and set boundaries for provinces Carried out irrigation and re-opened quarries Restored temples of the Great Temple of Karnak

MIDDLE KINGDOM

Senusrets I Erected the Heliopolis (earliest known large obelisks)

MIDDLE KINGDOM
Amenemhet III Fostered art and industry and irrigated the Fayum and built the Labyrinth

1580-332BC (18th-30th dynasty)

NEW KINGDOM

NEW KINGDOM
Thothmes I Began additions to the temple of Ammon, Karnak, which is considered as the most imposing building in Egypt. The first pharaoh to be buried in the rock cut corridor Tombs of the Kings in the Theban Mountain.

NEW KINGDOM

Queen Hatshepsut

Patronized arts of peace Re-established religious rites and built the funerary temple of Der-el-Bagari.

NEW KINGDOM
Amenophis III Built the greater part of the Temple of Luxor Added the pylons and sphinxes at Karnak Erected the colossi at Memnon

NEW KINGDOM
Rameses I Began the great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak Seti I Restored many monuments and built the Temple of Abydos, his own sepulcher at the tombs of the Kings.

NEW KINGDOM
The Colossi of Memnon

Two colossal statues of Amenhotep III [ca 1386-1349 BC] placed at the entrance of his mortuary temple. Each was carved from a single block of stone, stands 68 feet high and weighs 70 tons.

NEW KINGDOM
Rameses II (The Great) Built the Rock Temples of Abu Simbel, the Hypostlye Hall at Karnak and the Ramesseum at Thebes.

COLONIZATION

COLONIZATION
PTOLEMAIC PERIOD (33230BC)

Alexander the Great rescued Egypt from the Persians and founded Alexandria as capital became the center of Greek culture Gen. Ptolemy brought in Greek customs and methods of government but temples were built of the native type and native art.

ROMAN PERIOD (30BC395AD)

A phase of prosperity Christianity spread and temples were converted to Christian use or became merely relics of the past.

Byzantine period was when the changes of Empire in Egypt influenced politics and art. Christian churches were erected in Byzantine style. The later periods, Egypt came under the Arabs, French, British protectorate, LATER and later presided by a sultan and in 1922 became an independent state. PERIODS (395640AD)

Egyptian Architecture

RELIGION AND ARCHITECTURE

EGYPTIAN RELIGION
Monotheistic in theory but polytheistic in practice. They worshiped natural gods, heavenly bodies and animals as personifications of gods.

EGYPTIAN RELIGION: KEYNOTES

Awe and submission to the great power represented by the sun Belief in the future state, making dwelling houses as temporary lodging and tombs as permanent abode No division between gods and kings Supremacy of the gods in the hidden world Powers of priests were in touch with both worlds.

GODS AND GODESSES

Osiris chief god; a man god who died and rose again; god of death. Isis wife of Osiris, goddess of fertility Horus sky god Hathor goddess of love Set god of evil Serapis bull god

GODS AND GODESSES

Theban Triad
Amon Sun god Mut Wife of Amon and mother of all things Khon son of Amon and Mut; Moon god

Memphis Triad

Ptah creator Sekhmet goddess of war Nefertem son of Ptah and Sekhmet

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER
The keynote to the architectural character was: Simple, massive and monumental Impressive by its solemnity and gloom Solidity, suggesting its intention to last eternally

METHOD OF CONSTRUCTION
Columnar and trabeated Massive funerary monuments and temples were built of:
stone

using post and lintel construction columns carry the stone lintels supporting a flat roof roof or ceiling supported by rows of columns received light from clerestories

BATTER WALLS

One of the principal characteristics of Egyptian architecture Made use of sun dried mud-brick diminishing course by course towards the top with inward inclination towards the top.

The use of the characteristic Egyptian gorge cornice or kheker cresting, which was the result of the pressure of the roofs against the top of the wall reeds.

HIEROGLYPHICS

The use of surface decoration derived from the practice of scratching pictures (hieroglyphics) on the early mud-plaster walls were common, thus there was no projecting ornaments.

COLUMNS

The leading external features of Greek architecture, are NOT used externally in Egyptian buildings, which normally have a massive blank wall crowned with the characteristic "gorge" cornice of roll and hollow moulding.

COLUMNS
Early period columns were often made from one large monolithic block Later periods columns were usually built up in sectional blocks Vegetable origin the shafts of bundles of plant stems gathered at the base Principal motif was derived from the lotus bud, the papyrus flower, or the palm

COLUMNS

Placed close together to support the heavy stone entablature above Brightly painted and elaborately carved

Above the capital, a low abacus usually connected the column to the architraves placed above it.

Capital, the top of the column, had a plant theme. At the transition of the capital to the shaft, five bands might be found representing the lashing which held together the bundle of stems of which the earliest columns were made. Bundles of papyrus stalks used as supports in mud huts were transformed into the majestic carved stone papyrus columns and capitals of the temples.

PAPYRUS COLUMN: SMOOTH SHAFT, OPEN CAPITAL

PAPYRUS COLUMN: BUNDLED SHAFT, CLOSED BUD CAPITAL; AKA CLUSTERED COLUMN

LOTUS COLUMN: LOTUS AND VOLUTE CAPITAL

LUXOR TEMPLE

LOTUS COLUMN

PAPYRUS COLUMN: SMOOTH SHAFT, CLOSED SINGLE BUD CAPITAL ( SEEN ALSO AT LUXOR TEMPLE) PAPYRUS COLUMN: SMOOTH SHAFT, OPEN BELL CAPITAL; AKA OPEN PAPYRUS COLUMN

KARNAK TEMPLE

Palm column at Edfu Hypostyle Hall

Palmette column at Edfu Temple of Horus

Top (broken): palm leaves Center: Palmette

Papyrus column
Open capital

EDFU, PHILAE

Composite capital
2 papyrus species: Eight plants of the common Cyperus papyrus (above) alternate with eight of Cyperus alopecuroides (below)

Bundled papyrus stalks with lotus blossoms (volutes)

Dendur Temple, Nubia, Edfu Temple of Horus, Philae Temple of Isis

Bundled papyrus stalks (painted red, largest), palmettes, and closed buds (lotus?)
Edfu

PAPYRUS COLUMNS

COLUMNS
Hathor-headed Capitals formed of heads of the goddess supporting the model of a temple front at Philae Temple of Isis Birth House colonnade

ROOFS

Flat Made from flat reed and mud

DECORATIONS
Characteristic of Egyptian art: Simple but symbolic Small number of moldings were employed A sense of general uniformity and the absence of change Use of bright colors and relief Use of conventionalized carvings and paintings

TYPES OF DECORATIONS
Zigzag or chevron Lozenges or diamondshaped parallelogram Rope and feather Continuous coil spiral Diaper pattern Quadruple spiral Vulture Winged disk with globe Cobra or ureans Beetle or scarab Human head (Head of Hathor) Lotus Palm Papyrus

GEOMETRIC
1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

Zigzag or chevron Lozenges or diamond-shaped parallelogram Rope and feather Continuous coil spiral Diaper pattern Quadruple spiral

ANIMAL
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Vulture symbolizes protection and material care, usually found on the ceilings, cavetto cornices and gateways. Winged disk with globe used for jewelries and head dresses Cobra or ureans symbolizes death and sued as decorative elements for the friezes of the cavetto cornice Beetle or scarab a purely ornamental motif and usually place on mummy cases; symbolizes creation of life and death. Human head (Head of Hathor) used as column capital

BUILDING TYPES

Tombs

Temples

Obelisks

Sphinxes

Dwellings

MASTABA
A rectangular flat-topped, funerary mound, with battered sides covering a burial chamber below ground with the following provisions: Serdab a completely enclosed room where the head of a statue of the deceased is contained Stele an upright stone slab inscribed with the name of the decease, funerary texts and relief carvings intended to serve in the event of failure in the supply of daily offerings. It is found in the offering room.

ROYAL PYRAMID

A massive funerary structure of stone or brick with a square base and four sloping triangular sides, oriented on the cardinal point, meeting at the apex

PARTS OF A PYRAMID Offering chapel with a stele Mortuary temple for the worship of the dead and deified pharaoh Raised and enclosed causeway leading to the valley building Valley building in which embalmment was carried out and interment rites performed.

ROCK HEWN TOMB

A type of tomb serving the nobility rather than the royalty. The sides of the mountain were cut and a small chapel is excavated with chambers descending several hundred feet inside the cliff.

ROCK HEWN TOMB

Bani Hasan 39 tombs of great provincial family which consists of a chamber behind a porticoed faade

ROCK HEWN TOMB

Tombs of the Kings, Thebes Corridor type, where stairs, passages and chambers extend into the mountain side and below the valley floor. It serves only for the sarcophagus and funerary deposits. The mortuary temple stood completely detached.

BUILDING TYPES

Tombs

Temples

Obelisks

Sphinxes

Dwellings

TEMPLES

Used for mysterious rites and priestly processions wherein only kings and priest may pass through

TYPES OF TEMPLES Mortuary Temple Cult Temple

MORTUARY TEMPLE

For ministrations to deified pharaohs

CULT TEMPLE

For the popular worship of the ancient mysterious gods

PARTS OF A TEMPLE

Entrance pylons massive slopping towers fronted by an obelisks (pennon poles) Hypaethral court a rectangular palisaded court surrounded on three sides by a double colonnade Hypostyle hall a pavilion, a pillared hall, a covered structure or a columned vestibule in which the roof rests on columns Clerestory a device used by the Egyptians to light the interior of the hypostyle hall. The roof on the center aisle was raised over the side aisle so that light is admitted through an opening over the roofs of the aisle. Sanctuary (chapels) surrounded by passages and chambers used in connection with the temple service Rooms for priests

Pylon

Hypaethral Court

TEMPLES
Temple of Amon, Karnak Grandest example of Egyptian temple and planning. Amenemhat commenced the planning.

KARNAK
Name of a long-used Egyptian temple near Luxor, the largest of the religious sanctuaries in Thebes. The earliest form of Karnak dates to the Middle Kingdom; it was dedicated to the deity Amun-Re during the rule of 12th dynasty (c. 2000 BC) Pharaoh Senwosert I. Expansions to the site continued throughout Egyptian dynastic history, including extensive additions during the 18th and 19th dynasties of the New Kingdom. The temple fell into disuse during the Ptolemaic period.

TEMPLES
Temple of Khonsu, Karnak A cult temple with a most typical plan:

Avenue of sphinxes Obelisks Grand entrance pylon Hypaethral court Hypostyle hall Sanctuary, chapels High girdle wall

TEMPLES
Ramesseum, Thebes by Ramesses II Typical mortuary temple of the New Kingdom

TEMPLES
Great Temple, Abu Simbel Most famous rock hewn temple by Ramesses II with his 65 high colossal statue

TEMPLES
Great Temple, Abu Simbel

MAMMISI TEMPLE
Small shrines dedicated to the pries of the Goddess Isis which became the prototype of Greek temple. These are sanctuaries perpetrating the traditions of the divine birth of a Pharaoh. Best example if the Temple Island of Elephantine

PARTS OF A MAMMISI TEMPLE

Birth house small chamber or room which contains the statue of Isis with an altar surrounded by colonnade or portico of pillars, partly concealed by a low wall and rose on a podium and approached by a flight of steps from one end. Cyptoporticus - a low wall

BUILDING TYPES

Tombs

Temples

Obelisks

Sphinxes

Dwellings

OBELISKS

Huge monolith, square in plan and tapering to it sacred part, the electrium-capped pyramid at the summit. The sacred symbol of the sun god Heliopolis. It usually stood in pairs outside temple entrances. The height is from 9-10D at the base with the four side cut with hieroglyphics.

BUILDING TYPES

Tombs

Temples

Obelisks

Sphinxes

Dwellings

SPHINXES
Mythical monsters with a body of a lion and head of a man, hawk or ram. Best example is the Great Sphinx at Gizeh, which represented god Horus and is 65 high 150 long, partly rock and partly masonry

ANDROSPHINX
Human-headed

CRIOSPHINX
Ram-headed

HERIOSPHINX
Hawk-headed

BUILDING TYPES

Tombs

Temples

Obelisks

Sphinxes

Dwellings

DWELLINGS
Wealthy lived in palaces or villas General population lived in row houses built of sun-dried mud bricks (chopped straw mixed with sun-dried mud) covered over with a thin layer of plaster. One or two storey high were built to a simple, square design, with a flat roof Topped by a terrace where the inhabitants could sit and enjoy the cool, fresh, evening air

DWELLINGS
Flat or arched ceilings and a parapet roof Rooms looked toward north facing a court Rooms small and dark, with narrow windows and low ceilings Had a central hall, living rooms with clear storey, reception suite, service and private quarter Cellars for storage

Shukran!
Egypt in Crisis!

Thank You!