History of architecture | WORLD architecture

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE
Pre–3100 BC: The Nile civilization

GEOGRAPHICAL INFLUENCE

Fig 2. Date Palm

CLIMATIC INFLUENCE

• Climate is equitable and of warm

temperature, snow and frost being wholly
unknown, while storm, fog and even rain
are rare, which accounts to a large extent
for the good preservation of the temples
• Structure has no downspout, drainage, and
gutters due to absence of rain.

RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE
Fig 1. Egyptian Civilization

• Egypt consists of a sandy desert with a strip

of fertile country on the banks of Nile
• Egypt was the only nation of the ancient
world which had once easy access to
Northern or Mediterranean Sea, as well as
to the Eastern, or Arabian Sea, or by the
way of the Red Sea

MATERIALS ABUNDANT

• Stone – abundant building material except

on temples & pyramids
• Soft stone –limestone, sandstone, alabaster
• Hard stone – granite, quartzite, basalt
porphyry Fig 3. Egyptian Gods and Goddesses
• Sundried Bricks – made up of clay &
chopped stone for pyramids & temples. • Pyramids were built because they believe
in life after death & for the preservation of
• Date Palm – for roofing materials
the dead body.
• Acacia– for boat
• Sycamore – mummy cases

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• Priesthood was powerful, possessed of • Development of two types of tombs:

almost unlimited authority and equipped - Mastaba
with all the learning of the age. - Pyramid
• The religious rites were traditional,
unchangeable and mysterious • Imporatant Personalities:
• They are monotheistic in theory & - Djoser – first pharaoh to order the
polytheistic in practice construction of a pyramid (Step
• Herodotus mentions that they looked upon Pyramid)
the dwelling house as a mere temporary - Imhotep – Djoser’s vizier. Considered
lodging, the tomb being the permanent by some to be the earliest known
abode. architect
- Sneferu – constructed the Bent Pyramid
• Egyptian gods and goddesses: - Khufu – Sneferu’s son, the pharaoh who
- Amun-Ra – chief god built the Three Great Pyramids of
- Rah – symbol of the sun, hope for Gizeh
eternal life
- Atum – world creator
Middle Kingdom (11th-16th Dynasty)
- Osiris – god of the dead
- Isis – wife of osiris
- Horus – sky god, also reincarnation of
“Ra” himself
- Set – dread god of evil, brother of
pleasure
- Anubis – jackal headed god of death
- Ptah – god of craftsmen
- Serapis –bull god

HISTORICAL INFLUENCE

Fig 5. Hyksos Invasion

• A prosperous period in which much

building was carried out
• Hyksos Dynasty – shepherd kings
• Important Personalities:
- Mentuhotep II – founder of the Middle
Kingdom. He also developed the 3rd
type of tomb rock–cut tomb.
- Senuseret – erected the earliest known
obelisk
Fig 4. Old Kingdom
- Amenemhet I – initiated the foundation
of Great Temple of Ammon Kharnak,
Old Kingdom (1st to 10th Dynasty) grandest of all temples

• Capital being at Memphis

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New Kingdom (17th – 20th Dynasty)

Fig 7. Social Class Pyramid

Fig 6. New Kingdom Painting
• Pharaoh - King of Egypt, ruler, highest
• This period had Thebes as the capital, and priest in Egypt
many imposing building were erected at • Son of Pharaoh – normal successor to the
Karnak, Luxor and elsewhere throne
• Important Personalities: • Vizier - King’s most powerful official
- Thuthmose I- began the additions to the • Chancellor -he controls the royal treasuries,
Temple of Ammon, Kharnak. granaries, & supervises the census
- Hatshepsut – queen of Egypt, famous • Chief Steward - in charge of the King’s
for her funerary temple at Mount Der- personal estate & household
El-Bahari.
- Thuthmose IV – the one responsible for
the cleaning away of sand from the
Sphinx
- Amenophis III – erected the Colossi of
Memnon, one of the wonders of the
world.
- Rameses I – began the construction of
the Great Hypostyle Hall, at Kharnak
- Rameses II – finished the construction
of the Hypostyle Hall, & erection of the
Rock Temple at Abu-Simbel, and the
Remission, Thebes.

The Ptolemaic Period Fig 8. The Pharaoh Distinction

• Important Personalities Social Ranks

- Ptolemy II – built the Pharaohs or the
Light House
- Ptolemy III – founded the Greatest
Serapeum at Alexandria.
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL INFLUENCE
• Monarchy - form of government
• Noble Families – royal throne with his
family
• Soldiers, Viziers, Chancellors, Chief
Stewards – next to leaders
• Fishermen, Craftsmen, Merchants, etc. -
ordinary Egyptians
• Slaves - lowest form

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ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER Important Parts of Mastaba

- Outer Chamber - where offerings were
• Simplicity placed. Its walls are decorated with
• Monumentality representations of festal and other
• Solidity / Massiveness scenes.
- Inner Secret Chambers/Serdab – inner
SYSTEMS OF CONSTRUCTION
chamber containing the statues of the
• Post & Lintel deceased member of the family
• Columnar Or Trabeated - Shaft/Well – leading to the chamber
containing the sarcophagus of the
FEATURES OF EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE mummy
- Sarcophagus – chamber containing the
coffin reached by an under ground
shaft.
- Stele- is the upright stone slab
containing the name of the dead found
in the mastaba

Fig 9. The Heiroglyphics

• Battered Wall - inclination from base to

top of the façade.
• Hieroglyphics – were a formal writing
system used by the ancient Egyptians that
combined logographic and alphabetic
elements. Egyptians used cursive
hieroglyphs for religious literature on
papyrus and wood.
THREE TYPES OF TOMBS
• Mastaba- flat top or tapered (around 75
degrees slope) solid temple. These are
Tomb-houses that were made to take the
body at full length
- Tombs for noble and private individuals
Fig 10. The Parts of a Mastaba
• Pyramids – royal tombs of the kings
- Built by the kings as their future tomb.
The governing idea is to secure
immortality by the preservation of the
mummy, till that time should have
passed when according to their belief,
the soul would once more return to the
body.
- Evolved from Mastaba with four sides
facing the cardinal points, they were
made by 100,000 men for 100 years

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Fig 10. The Step Pyramid
Step Pyramid (Pyramid of Djoser), Saqqara
- Evolved from Mastaba
- This first Egyptian pyramid consisted of
six mastabas (of decreasing size) built
atop one another in what were clearly
revisions and developments of the
original plan
- The superstructure of the Step Pyramid
is six steps and was built in six stages,
as might be expected with an
experimental structure.
- Built by Imhotep, oldest surviving
masonry building structure in the
world
Fig 11. The Bent Pyramid
Bent Pyramid (Pyramid of Sneferu), Dashur
- A unique example of early pyramid
development in Egypt, this was the
second pyramid built by Sneferu
- The lower part of the pyramid rises from
the desert at a 54-degree inclination, but
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the top section is built at the shallower
angle of 43 degrees, lending the pyramid
its very obvious "bent" appearance
Fig 12. The Three Great Pyramids of Gizeh
Slope Pyramid (The Pyramids of Gizeh)
- Suare in plan, its area is about 13 acres,
twice the extent of St. Peter, Rome.
- The paces of these pyramids are
equilateral triangles laid sloping and
meeting in a point.
- Parts (king’s chamber, Queen’s
chamber, subterranean chamber, grand
gallery, airshafts)
The Three Great Pyramids Of Gizeh
Fig 13. The Three Great Pyramids (in plan)
• Pyramid of Cheops or Khufu
• Pyramid Of Chepren or Khafre
• Pyramid Of Mykerinos Or Menkaure
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Parts Of Pyramid Complex • Mortuary – built in honor of the pharaohs

• Cult – built for the worship of the gods,
only high priest can enter in both types of
temple

Parts Of An Egyptian Temple

Fig 14. Parts of the Pyramid Complex

• Elevated Causeway
• Offering Chapel
• Mortuary
• Valley Building

• Rock Cut Tomb or Rock Hewn Tomb

- cut deep into the mountain rock Fig 16. Egyptian Pylon
- burial chamber that is cut into the
• Entrance Pylon – massive sloping towers
living rock usually along the side of a
fronted by an obelisks
hill.
• Hypaethral Court – large outer court open
- It was a common form of burial for the
to the sky
wealthy in ancient times in several parts
of the world

Fig 17. Hypostyle Hall

• Hypostyle Hall - a pillared hall in which

the roofs rest on column.
Fig 15. The Tombs of the Kings in Thebes
• Sanctuary – usually surrounded by
TWO TYPES OF TEMPLES passages and chambers used in connection
with the temple service.
Temples - they were sanctuaries that only
Kings and Priests can penetrate

Pylons – An Egyptian gateway. It played a

critical role in the symbolic architecture of a
cult building that was associated with the
place of recreation and rebirth. Pylons were
often decorated with scenes emphasizing a
king's authority since it was the public face of
a cult building Fig 17. Avenue of Sphinx

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• Avenue of Sphinx – where mystical work of many Kings. Built from the 12th
monster were placed Dynasty to the Ptolemaic period.

EXAMPLE OF TEMPLES

Fig 20. Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

• Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Mt. Der–El-

Bahari
Fig 18. Great Temple of Abu Simbel - Hatshepsut’s temple is considered the
closest Egypt came to Classical
• Great Temple of Abu-Simbel architecture
- entrance forecourt leads to an imposing - Representative of New Kingdom
façade formed by a pylon carved with funerary architecture, it both
four Colossal seated statues aggrandizes the pharaoh and includes
- The twin temples were originally sanctuaries to honor the gods relevant
carved out of the mountainside during to her afterlife
the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II

Fig 21. Obelisk

Fig 19. Great Temple of Ammon Karnak
• Obelisks – are monumental pillars usually
• Great Temple of Ammon Karnak
in pairs at the temple entrances considered
- Grandest temple in Egyptian planning
the symbol of “Heliopolis” the sun god.
and was commenced by Amenemhet I
They are square in plan & stands at the ht.
- These temples were not built upon one
of 9 to 10 times the diameter of the base.
complete plan but owe its size,
The four sides tapers to the top on the form
disposition and magnificence to the
of a small pyramid.

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• Sphinx - Egyptian sphinx portrayed as a

female. When it was, it symbolized Isis
and/or the reigning queen. In Egypt the
intellectual faculties ennobled the bestial
traits present in the physical makeup of this
creature

Fig 24. Egyptian Gorge

CAPITALS & COLUMNS

Fig 22. Androsphinx

- Androsphinx, a mystical monster with a

body of a lion and head of a man

Fig 23. Heirocosphinx

- Heirocosphinx, body of a lion & head

of a hawk

Fig 23. Criosphinx

- Criosphinx, body lion & head of a ram

MOULDINGS Fig 25. Egyptian Capitals

• Gorge and Hollow Moulding - the torus

mold in Egyptian temples were used to
cover the angles.

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-End of Section-

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