03 egyptian architecture

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AR 223/AR 3163 Polytechnic University of the Philippines

Arch. Ticao College of Architecture and Fine Arts

Egyptian Architecture (3200 BC to the 1st Century) A. INFLUENCES:

I. Geographical and Topographical Influences:

Called the “Land of the Pharaohs”

Egypt is located in the Middle East, crossroad between Africa and Asia Minor.

Bounded by: N – Mediterranean Sea S – Sudan W – Libya E – Red Sea, Saudi Arabia

“NILE, THE LIFE OF EGYPT“

Irrigation turned desert lands into fruitful fields

Its gentle current was favorable for navigation

Trade and commerce prospered along its banks

Early Egyptian civilization had its birth along the Nile

Important religious structures like tomb pyramids and temples for the gods were built in strategic places along the banks of the Nile.

II. Climatic Factors:

Two seasons: summer at the Delta with thunder storms and spring

Because of intense heat during summer: 1. Simplicity of design in structures 2. Sufficient light reached the interior through doors and roof slits 3. No need for windows which results from an unbroken massive walls (protection

from intense heat) 4. During inundation (July – October) the ground could not be tilted, it is this time

that the soil was made available for building work. 5. Roof drainage was not an important consideration. They use flat roofs (stone

slab) for edifices.

III. Geological (Materials) Influences:

Stones (chief material with abundant supply) 1. Limestone (from Tura, Ma‟sara, Mokattam Hills) 2. Sandstone 3. Alabaster 4. Granite (hardest stone) - rey grey(syenite) 5. Quartzite 6. Basalt Quarrying was done by: copper tools, wood wedge, hard balls of dolerite, drilling and sawing.

Clay with chopped straw (sundried bricks)

Timber 1. Acacia tree for boat making 2. Sycamore – for making mummy cases 3. Date Palm Trees – staple food but leaves were used for roofing

IV. Religious Influences:

1. Monotheistic in theory but Polytheistic in practice Gods are in triads (heavenly bodies, natural phenomena)

1. Theban Triad: 1. Ammon (Sun God) 2. Muth (Wife of Ammon – mother of all things) 3. Khons (son of Ammon & Muth – moon god)

2. Memphis Triad: 1. Ptah (a creator) 2. Sekhmet (goddess of war) 3. Nefertem (son of Ptah and Sekhmet

2. Beliefs:

hope of eternal life;

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supremacy of gods in the hidden world;

omnipotence of the kings in the seen world (preplanned tombs);

powers of priests – in touch with both worlds 3. Existing buildings are religious and sepulchral in nature

o Made use of strong materials and located at important places. o Method of construction showed skilled craftsmanship

V. Social Influences:

1. Pharaohs acted as gods, priests and builders 2. Government was autocratic 3. Slaves were prisoners of war and forced to work during inundation months 4. Large members of staff (trained craftsman) were employed continuously 5. They engaged in jewelry making, weaving, pottery, literature on papyrus leaves

VI. Historical Influences:

1. Ancient Kingdom (Dynasty 1 - X) 3200 – 2130 B.C. a. Archaic Period (I II)

Unification of the lower and Upper Egypt by MENES

Hieroglyphics were developed

Mastaba type of tombs

b. Old Kingdom (III VI)

Memphis as capital

Egypt attained its first and highest climax □ Huge pyramids and elaborate tombs □ Mastaba evolves towards a true pyramid □ Step pyramid of Pharaoh Zozer at Sakkara □ Royal pyramid evolved:

c. First Intermediate Period (VII X)

Marked by wars (dark ages of civil wars) between petty kings and later against the Asiatics

2. Middle Kingdom (Dynasty XI - XVII) 21311500 B.C. a. Middle Kingdom (XI – XII)

Mentuhetep II reigned

Marked by prosperity Amenemhat I – Temple of Karnak

Largest obelisk of Senusret in Heliopolis

Open fronted tombs at Beni-Hasan were built b. Second Intermediate Period (XIII- XVII)

Asiatics infiltrated the Eastern Delta

(Hyskos who introduced chariots and horses)

They conquered Lower Egypt but was recovered by Pharaoh Amasis I 3. New Kingdom (XVIII - XXX) 1500 – 332 B.C.

a. New Kingdom (XVIII XIX)

Thebes was established as capital

Temple of Ammon Karnak by Thotmes I

Queen Hatshepsut built the terrace funerary Temple at Del-el-Bahari

Amenophis III built Temple at Luxor

Ramses II built the Rock Temples at Abu-Simbel and finished the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak

b. Period of Decadence (XXI XXIV)

Invaded by the Assyrians c. Late Period (XXIV XXX)

Invaded by the Persians and became its province for 1 century 4. Ptolemic Period 332 - 30 B.C.

Alexander the Great rescued Egypt from the Persians

Alexandria became the capital

Temples along the Nile river (lower) were built 5. Roman Period 30 B.C. 395 A.D.

Constantine declared Christianity as its religion

Temples were converted to churches

Marked a death blow to Egypt‟s indigenous and traditional architecture

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6. Later Periods 395 A.D. to present 21311500 B.C.

Byzantine Period

Constantinople – churches were built

Arabs invaded Egypt and Moslem religion was adopted under the Ottoman rule

MANETHO was commissioned by King Ptolemy to write Egypt‟s history.

B. ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER

1. MONUMENTALITY – large scale and grandeur 2. MASSIVENESS – solidity 3. SIMPLICITY

I. Important Features: 1. Use of hieroglyphics 2. Battered walls 3. Traveated post and lintel construction 4. Use of stones, bricks for walls 5. Use of reeds, papyrus, palm branch ribs plastered with clay for fences, dwellings. 6. Egyptian ornaments 7. Egyptian columns have a distinctive character

Use of vegetable origin, shafts indicative of bundles of plant stems with capitals derived from lotus bud, papyrus flower or ubiquitous palm.

Shaft

Base

Capital

Column - relatively long slender structural compression members such as post, pillar or strut usually vertical, supporting a load

1. Hathoric column

2. Column with composite bell-shaped capital

3. Tentpole column

1. Hathoric column 2. Column with composite bell-shaped

capital 3. Tentpole column

Shaft

Base

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II. Architectural Structures and Examples

A. TOMBS 1. MASTABAS - rectangular flat roof structure with sides sloping at an angle of

75 O

Arabic word for bench

a. Stairway Mastaba

• Has two doors, one is a true door for daily offerings while the false door is used by the spirit of the dead.

• Presence of porticullises - shafts providing air for people before the burial.

b. Second Type Mastaba • Provision of an offering chapel

c. Third Type Mastaba • Several groups of rooms are contained • Serdab and other rooms contain the stelae

Examples:

1. Mastaba at Aha, Sakkara 2. Mastaba K.I. at Beit Khallaf 3. Mastabas at Gizeh (second type) 4. Mastaba of Thi, Sakkara

Thi – famous royal architect and superintendent of pyramids

2. ROYAL PYRAMIDS - not isolated structures but part of a whole complex a. STEP PYRAMID – steps like tiers edges and sides

Step Pyramid of Djoser (Zoser) , Sakkara c. 2630 B.C. (204 ft./61.2 m) – world‟s first large scale monument in stone built by Imhotep

b. BENT PYRAMID – with slopes, the lower portion having a steeper slope (54o 15‟) and upper portion in a shallower slope 43 o

Parts of a Mastaba: 1. Chapel 2. False door 3. Shaft into Burial or Main

Chamber 4. Serdab (inner chamber)

placement of the statue of decease

5. Burial chamber (main chamber) location of the sarcophagus

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c. SLOPE PYRAMID – 52o slope more or less

Pyramids of Pharaohs of the 4th Dynasty, Giza 1. Khufu (the Great Cheops), ca. 2550 B.C. 480 ft/146 m high and 756

ft./230.6 m. square on plan oldest and largest made of limestone masonry

2. Khafre (Chephren), ca. 2520 B.C. , 470 ft/ 143 m. 3. Menkaure (Mykerinus), 356 ft/109m.

Composition of a TRUE Pyramid: 1. Mortuary temple or Offering chapel – with stelae usually on the east side and

occasionally on the north 2. Causeway – passage connecting a valley temple with a pyramid 3. Valley temple – used for the worship of the dead

SECTION OF THE PYRAMID OF KHUFU

Silhouette with original

facing stone

Thieves tunnel

EntranceGrand galleryKing’s Chamber

So-called Queen’s chamber

False tomb chamber

AirshaftsThieves tunnelThieves tunnel

Ascending Corridor

Section, Pyramid of Khufu

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3. ROCK - CUT TOMBS - private tombs hollowed out of the living rock at remote sites fronted by a shallow columned portico

B. TEMPLES:

1. Cult Temples – built for the worship of the gods 2. Mortuary Temples – built in honor of the pharaohs 3. Mammisi Temple – small shrines dedicated to the rites of the goddess ISIS.

Consist of small chamber known as the birth house containing the statue of the goddess Isis, an altar surrounded by a colonnade partly concealed bu a crytoporticus (low wall). Prototype of a Greek temple.

Characteristics:

Egyptian temples were often approached by avenues of sphinxes.

A pair of obelisks flanked the main entrance to the temple.

Temple entrances were often accentuated by gigantic and massive pylons.

Temple walls were designed with inward inclinations called battered walls.

OBELISK – originated from the symbol of Heliopolis (the sun god).

Huge monoliths square in plan and tapering to a pyramidal summit with a metallic capping

Heigth is 9 or 10 times the diameter of the base Examples:

1. Obelisks at the Piazza at St. John Lateran, Rome

105 ft. /32 m. high originally from the Sun temple of Heliopolis 2. Cleopatra‟s Needle, at Thames Embankment, London

68 ft./32 m. high, originally erected at Heliopolis

PYLON - monumental gateway to a temple consisting of a pair of tower structured with battered walls flanking the entrance portals

Examples: 1. Pylon Temple of Horus, Edfu, c. 237 – 212 B.C. 2. Great Temple of Isis at Philae relocated on Agilkia Island

SPHINX - a mythical monster with a body of a lion, the head of a man, hawk, ram or woman

Example: 1. Great Sphinx at Giza represents the God Horus, 65 ft./ 20 m. high and

150 ft./ 45 m long partly made of living rock and masonry

Parts : • Portico or vestibule • Columned hall • Sacred chamber

EXAMPLES:

1. Tombs, Beni Hasan - 39 tombs belonging to a provincial great family

2. Tombs of the Kings, Thebes

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PARTS OF A TYPICAL PARTS OF A TYPICAL

EGYPTIAN TEMPLEEGYPTIAN TEMPLEPylon

Dim Secret Rooms

Sanctuary

Hypostyle Hall

Pylon

Obelisk

Great Court

Obelisk

Colossal statues of the Pharaohs

Colossal statues of the Pharaohs

Avenue of recumbent animals

Avenue of recumbent animals

Probable roofed areas

Examples: 1. Great Temple of Amun, Karnak (Amun, the sun god)

Evolved the indigenous design of architect Amenemhat

1,200 x 360 ft. (366 c 110 m) in area

Has six pairs of pylon

Has the famous hypostyle hall 334 x 174 ft/102 x 53 m. (3/4 area of Notre Dame, Paris) - often listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World

2. Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri Between 1490-1450 B.C.

Structure rose from the valley floor in three colonnaded terraces connected by ramps.

The terraces were gardens with frankincense trees and rare plants brought by the queen.

Hatshepsut „s birth, coronation and great deeds were represented in the relief.

3. Great Temple of Abu-Simbel, Nubia Between 1300 – 1250 B.C

Sculpted architecture of the temples of Abu Simbel were executed in homage to Queen Nofretari and Ramesses II

The conventional temple pylon was replaced by a vast façade entirely cut out of the sandstone cliff and exhibits four seated colossal figures of King Ramesses II, 69 ft/21 m. high facing the rising sun.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Books:

Palmes, J.C. Sir Banister Fletcher‟s A History of Architecture. 18th

ed.The Athlone Press, University of London. London

De la Croix, Horst and Richard Tansey. Gardner;s Art Through the Ages. Ancient, Medieval and Non-European Art. 7

th ed. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. USA. 1976.

Harris, Cyrill M. Historic Architecture Sourcebook. Von Hoffman Press, Inc. 1977

Millard, Anne and Patricia Vanags. Children‟s Encylopedia History. First Civilizations to the Fall of Rome. Usborne Publishing. England. 1993

Stierlin, Henri. The Pharoahs master- builders. Italy. 2003

DVD Sources courtesy of Archt. Nick Ramos:

Building the Great Pyramid. BBC Color 57 min. 37 sec

What the Ancient Did for Us: The Egyptians BBC, UK. Color. 59 min.

Other Sources:

Lecture in powerpoint of Archt. Ma. Vicenta Sanchez

Lecture notes of Archt. Willa Solomon

Lecture notes of Archt. Clarissa L. Avendano

History Powerpoint from the Center for the Designed Environment Professions (CDEP)

03 egyptian architecture

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