HOA 1 - Egyptian Architecture

3 Types of Ornamentation (Columns)

1. Geometric Forms
2. Animals
3. Plants

Tomb Architecture

The belief in existence beyond death resulted in sepulchral architecture of utmost impressiveness and permanence

Royal Mastaba

Tomb Architecture: broad pit below ground covered with a rectangular flat mound with sides sloping at 75 degrees

Mastaba

- Arabic word meaning "bench of mud"
- Shaft descending to the tomb chamber

Serdab

Part of a Mastaba: room for the statue of deceased

Offering room with stele

Part of a Mastaba: name of the deceased inscribed on it

Tomb shaft

Part of a Mastaba that is a slot for portcullises

Parts of a Mastaba

1. Serdab (a room for the statue of the deceased)
2. Offering room with stele (name of the deceased inscribed on it)
3. Tomb shaft (slot for portcullises)
4. Tomb chamber

Portcullises

Heavy stones are dropped through the slots to seal the chamber

Step Pyramid

Tomb Architecture: A series of successively smaller mastabas one atop of another
​

Step Pyramid of Djoser by Imhotep

A step pyramid that is the world's first largest scale monument in stone with no free standing columns. It was originally clad in polished white limestone.

Bent Pyramid

Originally planned as a true pyramid
The building's geometry was altered at a point just above half its height

Bent Pyramid of Sneferu, Dashur

Has the best preserved limestone outer sheath of any pyramid in Egypt

Tomb Architecture

1. Royal Mastaba
2. Step Pyramid
3. Bent Pyramid
4. True Pyramid
5. Rock-cut Tombs

Parts of a Pyramid

1. Offering chapel
2. Mortuary Temple (for the worship of the dead)
3. Causeway
4. Valley building (for internment & embalment)

Mortuary Temple

Part of a pyramid for the worship of the dead

Valley building

Part of a pyramid for internment & embalment

Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)

The oldest and largest (13 acres) of the 3 pyramids in the Giza Necropolis. It is the oldest of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact

Pyramid of Chephren (Khafre)

Slightly smaller than the great Pyramid of Cheops and guarded by the Sphinx believed to bear the face of King Chephren

Sphinx

A mythical monster with the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh, hawk or ram. It literally means "living image of the creator god Atum"

Pyramid of Mykerinos (Menkaura)

The smallest and last among the 3 pyramids to be built in the Giza Plateau

Building the Pyramid

Planning Process:
1. Choosing the site (facing west as portal to the afterlife)
2. Preparing the site (orienting the sides facing the cardinal points)
3. Raising the blocks

Choosing the site

Facing west as portal to the afterlife

Preparing the site

Orienting the sides facing the cardinal points

Rock-cut Tombs

burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation

Types of Rock-cut Tombs

- Hillside Tombs
- Corridor Toms

Hillside Tombs

Elaborately decorated tombs carved into the limestone cliffs

Tombs, Beni Hasan

An example of a Hillside Tomb with 39 ancient elaborately decorated tombs carved into the limestone cliffs

Corridor Tombs

Contain stairways, passageways, corridors, and burial chambers located below the valley floor.

Valley of the Kings, Luxor

An example of Royal necroplois of Ancient Egypt where the kings & powerful nobles were buried

Valley of the Queens, Luxor

An example of a Corridor Tomb where wives of Pharaohs were buried in ancient times

Temple of Architecture

- Principle of construction was post and lintel
- Light and shadow are important features in temples

In Temple Architecture, Light came through

- wall openings
- gaps between columns
- clerestory windows achieved through two roof levels

Column Shafts and Capitals Construction

- Typically formed out of stacked stone drums or half drums
- Decorative elements on shafts and capitals could be cut directly from the stacked blocks once in place

Types of Temples

1. Mortuary Temple
2. Cult Temple

Mortuary Temple

It is a type of temple used for the ministrations to defied pharaohs

Cult Temple

It is a type of temple for the worship of the ancient and mysterious gods

Parts of an Egyptian Temple

1. Pylon
2. Great Court
3. Hypostyle Hall
4. Sanctuary
5. Enclosure Wall
6. Colossal Statues of the Pharaoh
7. Obelisk
8. Avenue of Sphinxes

Pylon

It is the monumental gateway

Great Court

It is surrounded by colums

Hypostle Hall

It is a forest of columns, portraying the illusion of infinity and vastness of space

Sanctuary

It is the holiest part & accessible only to the king & high priests

Obelisk

It is a tall 4-sided narrow tapering column terminating in a pyramidion, its most sacred part

Battered walls

Walls designed with inward inclinations

Domestic Architecture

Egyptian houses are made of crude bricks, 1-2 storeys high with flat and parapeted

Characteristics of Egyptian Architecture

- simplicity
- solidity
- grandeur