Egyptian Architecture

Mastaba

flat-roofed, rectangular structure with sloping sides, constructed out of mudbricks or limestone

Funerary

monuments, often for royalty or important figures

Pylon

two massive, tapered towers flanking a central, lower doorway

Obelisk

tall, slender, four-sided monolithic stone pillars, tapering to a pyramidion (a small pyramid-shaped top)

Axial Plan

symmetrically organized along a horizontal axis

Capital

decorative element at the top of the column that transitions to the structure

Peristyle Courtyard

courtyard enclosed by colonnades

Sanctuary

a “holy of holies” and inner sanctum in a temple of temple complex

Hyppostyle

rows of columns supporting a roof or ceiling

Sacred Lake

used for purification by priests, used by boat processions as well

Stela

stone slab marking a commemorative event, marking a grave, or indicating a sacred place of note