Egyptian Architecture

GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITION OF THE EGYPTIANS

-Egypt is a narrow strip of land.
-most important natural feature was the trade route to the East and to the West
-Fertile lands made possible by its annual flooding
-It is along its banks the Egyptians sited their villages and started their civilizations

Nile river

-the most important natural feature was the trade route to the East and to the West

-along its banks, the Egyptians sited their villages and started their civilizations.

STONE

are used principally for building vases, personal elements

Chief stone

limestone, sandstone, alabaster, granite

TIMBER

was imported

CLIMATE CONDITION

-Two seasons - spring and summer
-The climate is warm and very little rain
-No real need for windows as sufficient light reached interiors of temples through doors and roof slits & sandstorms.
-Unbroken windowless walls provided space for hieroglyphics (pictorial representations of rituals, historical events and daily)

Spring And Summer

Two seasons in Egypt

RELIGIOUS CONDITION

-Egyptian pagans worship animals, sun, moon, the stars. They have the strong belief in future existence (life after death)

-Herodotus,”The Egyptians are religious to excess, far beyond any other race of men.”

-Deep concern for immortality
Mummification - first requirement for immortality

Mummification

first requirement for immortality

King Tutankhamen of the 18th Dynasty’s Death Mask

Only one burial place known to have remained intact

SOCIAL and POLITICAL CONDITION

-Kings of Egypt were builders and craftsmanship is highly developed.
The labor force is not a problem especially when they do not perform agriculture because of the Nile annual floods and the huge number of prisoners of war.
-Egyptians were astrologers, mathematicians and philosophers.
-Role played by size in Egyptian Artwork

Egyptian Social Hierarchy

On top - king (Pharaoh) with immediate members of his family & higher priests

-Under him - local officers , administrators and directors of public works and military

History of Ancient Egypt

1.The Ancient or Old Kingdom – Dynasties I-X 3000 - 2130 B.C.
2. The Middle Kingdom – Dynasties XI-XVII 2130 – 1580 b.c.
3. The New Empire – Dynasties XVIII-XXX 1580 – 322 b.c

The Egyptian Architectural Reality

-labor in the valley of the Nile used readily available material (reeds, papyrus, and palm branch ribs) plastered over with clay

2 FORMS OF WORK IN EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURAL REALITY

Simple stereometric surfaces or as columnar and trabeated
architecture

Architectural Character In Ancient Egyptian Civilization

-Simplicity, Massiveness, and Monumentality

Principal Structures of Ancient Egypt

-Pyramid
-Temples

Construction Systems in Ancient Egypt

-Post and lintel
- columnar and trabeated

Walls in Ancient Egypt

-Solid and usually unbroken by windows, thick, battered, and heiroglyphed

Classification of Egyptian Architecture

-Tomb Architecture
-Temple Architecture
-Obelisks
-Dwellings

Three types of tomb architecture

Mastaba
Royal Pyramid
Rockhewn Tombs

2 types of Temples

Mortuary temples
Cult temples

Mortuary temples

worship of the dead and deified Pharaohs - raised and enclosed
causeway

Cult temples

popular worship of the ancient and mysterious gods.

The Architecture of the Old Kingdom, 3000-2130 B.C.

-MASTABA
-Stepped Pyramid of Zoser, Saqqara (near Cairo), c. 2750 B.C.
-The Pyramids at Gizeh (near Cairo), c. 2700 B.C

MASTABA

-arabic for “bench”
-Ancient Egyptian rectangular flat-topped funerary mound, battered (sloping) sides covering burial chamber below the ground
-North and South – main axis
-Two false door –southernmost allowing spirit of the deceased to enter and leave at will
-A chapel with a false door for making offerings to the “ka” and the “serdab”, (chamber for the statue of the deceased)

main axis of the Mastaba

North and South Axis

Architectural form of the Mastaba

Simple stereometric mass with sloping sides

Architectural meaning of the Mastaba

aspiration for permanence, security, and the concern for the afterlife

Stepped Pyramid of Zoser, Saqqara (near Cairo), c. 2750 B.C.

-part of a larger mortuary complex designed by Imhotep
-enclosed rectangle (545 x 278 m) surrounded by a 10-meter high wall of limestone
-orthogonal layout not organized by means of axial symmetry

Dual function of the Stepped Pyramid of Zoser, Saqqara

-Protect the mummified king and his possessions
-Symbolize its gigantic presence; his absolute, god-like power

Architectural Form of the Stepped Pyramid of Zoser

-Important elements were mass, line, and surface

Architectural Meaning of the Stepped Pyramid of Zoser

-conveys the power and supremacy of the king

The Pyramids at Gizeh (near Cairo), c. 2700 B.C. belonged to three Pharaohs of the IV Dynasty:

1. Khufu (Greek: Cheops);
2. Khafre (Greek: Chephren) and
3. Menkaure (Greek: Mykerinus)

Royal Pyramids

-a massive funerary structure of stone and brick with a square base and four sloping triangular sides meeting at the apex.

Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops)

-Built for the fourth dynasty Pharaoh Khufu
-Oldest and largest pyramid among Giza Necropolis
-Height: 480 feet; 13 acres; 45 degrees sides; Area: 755
feet squared

Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren)

-made for the fourth dynasty Pharoah Khafre
-second largest of the Giza Pyramids
-Height: 471 feet; Area: 700 feet squared.

Pyramid of Menkaure (Mykerinus)

-built for the fourth dynasty Pharoah Menkaure
-smallest of the Giza Pyramids
-Height: 218 feet; Area: 356 feet squared.

Pyramids of Giza

-Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops)
-Pyramid of Khafre (Chephren)
-Pyramid of Menkaure (Mykerinus)

The Pyramid primary part of a complex building

Offering chapel with a stele

Stele

an upright slab carrying an inscription

Causeway

passage ceremonially connecting the Valley temple with the pyramid

Valley Building

-a temple from which embalmment was carried out and interment rites performed

The Architectural Form of the Pyramids at Gizeh

-line and the flat, smooth surface, forming a simple stereometric shape.

Architectural Meaning of the Pyramids at Gizeh

Desire for stability, safety and security; aspiration for transition and transcendence

The Architecture of the Middle Kingdom, 2130-1580 B.C.

-Rock-Hewn tombs

Rock-Hewn tombs

-type of Egyptian tombs for the nobility rather than royalty
- consists of 3 parts

3 parts of Rock-Hewn Tombs

1.Passageway
2. Ante-room
3. Sepulchral chamber

rock-cut tombs at Beni-Hasan

Most characteristic remains of rock-hewn tombs

Architectural Reality

-Fronted by a shallow-columned portico

Tombs contained the fundamental units of Egyptian architecture:

-Portico or vestibule, columned hall and sacred chamber
-Columns had no supporting function were carved from the living rock

Architectural Reality of the New Kingdom

Grandiose temples

The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir-EL-Bahari,, c. 1500 B.C.

-Noblest of the royal mortuary temples

-Replaced by a columnar and trabeated system of architecture combined with a series of open terraces

-Three colonnaded terraces connected by ramps

-Traditional parts of funerary complex—entrance, processional road, inner court, and burial chamber

Traditional parts of funerary complex

—entrance, processional road, inner court, and burial chamber

The Architectural form of The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

-Principal element - exterior architectural space not by great masses, but by walls & colonnades, made up of a columnar and trabeated system.

Architectural Meaning of The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Continuity together with progression & transition

The Mortuary Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, c. 1257 B.C.

-grandiose, superhuman scale
- used enormous sizes and repetitions
- Seated figures of Ramses II, 18.50 m high, placed four times in the temple façade

Architectural Form of the Temple of Ramses II

Exterior and interior space - gigantic pieces of sculpture of the pharaoh
-The figure-as-column is not abstract but representational

Architectural Meaning of the Temple of Ramses II

-self glorification

The temples at Karnak and Luxor have

similar plans

A typical pylon temple plan is

symmetrically arranged along a single axis

The dominating feature of the statuary-lined approach

façade of the pylon, simple and
massive with sloping walls

Temples of the Ancient gods

-The temples at Karnak and Luxor: similar plans

-A typical pylon temple plan is symmetrically arranged along a single axis.

-The dominating feature of the statuary-lined approach - façade of the pylon, simple and
massive with sloping walls

- An avenue of recumbent animals, followed by two obelisks, and, next to the pylon, the
colossal statues of the pharaoh

- Open colonnaded court followed by the Hypostyle Hall, roof was supported by massive
columns

The Temple of Amun at Karnak, c. 1300 B.C.

-Hypostyle Hall, built by Ramses II in front of a temple (1530 B.C.)

Entrance pylon at the Temple of Amun built by Ramses I.

-Capitals of the higher central columns- bell-shaped; shorter columns - bud-shaped capitals

-column shafts are smooth not fluted

Capitals & Columns at the Temple of Amun

-Lotus bud, palm, open papyrus bud, papyrus flower

Hypostyle Hall

-pillared hall with ceiling resting on the columns

Architectural Form of the Temple Amun-re

-line or horizontal axis

Architectural Meaning of the Temple of Amun-re

-Continuity -receives a gigantic, superhuman expression
-reflects self-esteem of Ramses II, bordered on megalomania

Architectural Form of Amon-Mut-Khonsu, luxor

-The corridor axis dominates the plan makes the temple not so much a building

Architectural Meaning of the Temple of Amun-Mut-Khonshu

Path-fundamental symbol of Egyptian culture and life (inspiration from the Nile River)

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERS
OF EGYPT CIVILIZATION

1. Batter wall
2. Walls – Hieroglyphics
3. Capitals – vegetable origin
4. Columnar and trabeated
5. Avenues line with sphinx and obelisk

Obelisks

-sacred symbol of the sun god heliopolis, usually stood in pairs astride temple entrances , huge monoliths square on plan & tapering to an electrum-capped pyramidion at the
summit.
-Have nine or ten times the diameter at the base and four sides are cut with
hieroglyphics.

Dwellings

-one or two storey high with flat or arched ceiling and a parapeted roof partly occupied by a loggia.

Loggia

- a colonnaded space within the body of a building but open to the air on one side, often at an upper story overlooking an open court.

Concept of Loggia

-Columns and beams, doors and window frames made from timber

- Central hall or living room raised sufficiently high

- First floor were only partial

-Three fundamental parts – reception suite (cooler north side of house) , service and
private quarters

Fortress of Buhen

-largest stronghold fortress.

Batter

-sloping wall, wall that recedes as it rises

Pyramid

-a structure with a square base and 4 sloping triangular walls that meet in an apex

Sphinx

-a statue, creature having the male human head and a body of lion, situated along the avenues leading to temples and pyramids

3 distinction of Sphinx

-Androsphinx
-Heiraeosphinx
-Criosphinx

Androsphinx

-sphinx with a head of a human

Heiraeosphinx

-sphinx with a head of a hawk

Crio-sphinx

sphinx with a head of ram

Crio-Sphinx

-A ceremonial processional of stone crio-sphinxes led to the entrance of the temple,
providing a symbolic escort to those entering, and allowing a transition to the spiritual
realm. This sphinx depicted the pharaoh protected between the paws of a ram-headed
lion – the ram being a manifestation of Amun

OBELISK

-monumental four-sided tower usually monolithic and tapering to a pyramid tip.

TRABEATED

systems using beams and lintel top support an opening

COLUMNAR

-system using columns or posts

HYPOSTYLE

=a large space with a flat roof supported with rows of columns.

Theban Triad of Egyptian Religion

-Amun (Sun God)
-Mut (wife)
-Khonshu (son and Moon God)

Memphis triad of the Egyptian Religion

-Ptah (creator)
- Sekhment (goddess of war)
- Nepertem (son)

Osiris

god of the dead

Isis

wife of Osiris

Horus

god of the Sky

Hathor

goddess of love

Set

god of Evil

Scrapis

bull god