EGYPTIAN

ARCHITECTURE
MODULE 3 (PART 1)

PREPARED BY : MYANN DIOSO

EGYPTIAN
3000B.C. - 200 A.D

● A PREOCCUPATION WITH
ETERNITY AND AFTERLIFE
● HIGH LEVEL OF
ARCHITECTURE AND
ENGINEERING SKILLS
● CHARACTERIZED BY AXIAL
PLANNING OF MASSIVE
MASONRY TOMBS AND
TEMPLES
EGYPTIAN
3000B.C. - 200 A.D

● USE OF TRABEATED
CONSTRUCTION WITH
PRECISE STONEWORK,
AND THE DECORATION OF
BATTERED WALLS WITH
PICTOGRAPHIC CARVINGS
IN RELIEF
EGYPT, ca. 3RD CENTURY B.C
GREEK HIERO ‘HOLY’ AND
GLYPHO ‘WRITING’. IN THE
ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
LANGUAGE, HIEROGLYPHS
WERE CALLED MEDU NETJER,
‘THE GODS’ WORDS’ AS IT
WAS BELIEVED THAT WRITING
WAS AN INVENTION OF THE
GODS.
Egyptian (3000 B.C. - 200 A.D.)
● A preoccupation with eternity and the afterlife dominated the building of these
funerary monuments and temples.
● Demonstrates high level of architecture and engineering skills.
● Characterized by the axial planning of massive masonry tombs and temples,
the use of trabeated construction with precise stonework, and the decoration
of battered walls with photographic carvings in relief.
Egypt, ca. 3rd Century B.C.
Egypt’s possession of the Nile was the immense

Advantage, not only on account of its value as a

trade route, and as means of communication, but

also because its waters were fertilizing agents

that made desert sands into fruitful fields.

RELIGIOUS STRUCTURES
Saqqara, Egypt
Mastaba
● A tomb for nobility or members of the royal family.
● Made of mud brick, rectangular in plan with a flat roof and sloping sides, from
which a shaft leads to underground burial and offering chambers.
Luxor, Egypt
Temples
● An edifice or place dedicated to the worship or presence of a deity.
Kinds of Temple
Cult Temple Mortuary Temple

● An ancient Egyptian temple for the ● An ancient Egyptian temple for offerings
worship of a deity. and worship of a deceased person, usually
a defied king.
Karnak Temple Complex
Luxor, Egypt

When Amun-Re, the god of the sun and the

heaven became the national deity during the
period of the New Kingdom, at least a dozen of
temples were built in his honor.

One of the main components of this

political/religious landscape was the temple
complex of Karnak.
Karnak Temple Complex. Luxor, Egypt
(Reconstructed Model)
Avenue of Sphinxes
● Leads to a tall portal guarded by a
towering pylon.
● Sphinx - a figure of an imaginary creature
having the body of a lion and the head of a
man, ram or hawk.
Egyptian Sphinxes
Obelisk
● An Egyptian monolithic four-sided standing
stone, tapering to a pyramidical cap (a
pyramidion), often inscribed with
hieroglyphs and erected as a monument.
Pylon
● A gateway guarding a sacred precinct
consisting of either a pair of tall truncated
pyramids and a doorway between them,
often decorated with painted reliefs.
Hypostyle Hall
● A large hall having many columns in rows
supporting a flat roof, and sometimes a
clerestory.
Hypaethral Court
● Part of a classical temple that is wholly or
partly open to the sky.
Mammisi
Dendera Temple Complex.
Dendera, Egypt

● Birth-house; a small Egyptian side temple,

kiosk or tent shrine to celebrate the place
where the god of the main temple was
born, or where the goddess bore her child.
Barque Temple
● A room or building in which the image of
the Pharaoh or deity was revered.
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
Deir el Bahari, Egypt. Senmut

● Queen Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple

played a key role in the processional
events as the temporary resting place for
the barque during the Beautiful Feast of
the Valley.
● Located in the Valley of the Kings, which
was to become the main burial place for
the Egyptian royalty.
Rock-cut Tomb
● A tomb hewn out of native rock, presenting only an architectural front with
dark interior chambers, of which the sections are supported by masses of
stone left in the form of solid pillars.
Abu Simbel
● The facade, carved directly into the
sandstone cliff, takes the form of a pylon
and is dominated by four colossal seated
figures, 22 meters tall, all portrayals of
Ramesses.
Pyramid
● A massive masonry structure having a rectangular base and four smooth,
steeply sloping sides facing the cardinal points and meeting an apex.
● Used in Ancient Egypt as a tomb to contain the burial chamber and the
mummy of the pharaoh.
● Orientation: sides facing the cardinal points.
Imhotep
● The first architect recorded in history.
● Designed the Saqqara complex and
Stepped Pyramid of Djoser.
Pyramid
The Egyptian pyramids of the Giza
Necropolis

● The ancient Egyptians built more than 80

pyramids along the banks of the Nile near
modern-day Cairo from 2700 - 1640 B.C.
The pyramids were designed according to
the three forms:
1. Step pyramid
2. Bent pyramid
3. Straight-sided/Sloped pyramid
Step Pyramid
● A pyramid-type whose sides are stepped with tiers rather than smooth, in
Egypt predating the true pyramids; the primary existing Egyptian example is
that of King Djoser at Saqqara, south of Cairo.
Pyramid of Djoser
Saqqara, Egypt

● Built by Imhotep, architect of King Zoser;

begun as a mastaba-tomb then
successively enlarged; made of limestone;
and set within a complex of buildings.
Mortuary Complex of Djoser
● The Mortuary Complex of Djoser, located
on a slight hill west of Memphis and just to
the north of Saqqara, was enclosed by a
277-by-544 meter wall laid out in precise
orientation to the four cardinal points.
Ka statue of Djoser
● In a small chapel positioned against the
north side of the pyramid was a life-size
statue of Zoser, showing him wearing a
priest’s Sed festival cloak, a ceremonial
beard and a ritual headdress.
● Sitting in the dark chamber, he could gaze
through two small holes in the wall placed
at the statue’s eye level, through which he
could watch the ceremonies taking place
in the court.
Bent Pyramid
● An Egyptian pyramid-type in which each triangular planar surface changes
direction as it approaches the top, as in a mansard roof; sometimes also
called a blunt or false pyramid.
Pyramid of Sneferu
Dahshur, Egypt.

● Built by Sneferu (2613 - 2589 BCE) who

ruled during the Fourth Dynasty.
● Originally planned to be a towering 150
meters high. It was too bold, and the
ground gave way under part it. In an effort
to save the building, the designers added
a kink or bend to reduce the weight and
angle of the slope (from 52 to 43.5
degrees).
Sloped Pyramid
● An Egyptian pyramid-type in which four sloping triangular sides, with a fixed
angle, culminate at an apex.
● Also true pyramid.
North Pyramid of Dahshur
Dahshur, Egypt

● The first true pyramid completed in Egypt;

built by King Sneferu between 2575 - 2551
BCE.
Pyramids of Giza
Giza, Egypt

● Erected on the west bank of Nile River;

built of local stone on a core of rock with
casing blocks of limestone; 480 feet tall
with a square base measuring 756 feet on
a side.
● Khufu, Cheops
● Khafra/Khafre, Chefren
● Menkaura/Menkaure, Mycerinos
Pyramid Complex
● The ceremonial area of buildings and structures surrounding an ancient
Egyptian pyramid.
Parts of a Pyramid Complex
● Mortuary Temple - a place of worship of a deceased king or queen, especially
one adjoining a pyramid or rock-cut tomb, in which offerings of food and
objects were made. Also called funerary temple.
● Valley Temple - a temple pavilion connected via a covered causeway to a
mortuary temple at the foot of a pyramid; used for preparing the Pharaoh for
his final journey.
● Pyramid Temple - a mortuary temple connected specifically to a pyramid, or
part of an ancient Egyptian pyramid complex.
● Pyramid Causeway - a covered ceremonial route or corridor leading from a
valley temple to a mortuary temple at the foot of a pyramid, notably at sites of
the Nile valley pyramids.
Stela
● A slab stela shows a royal personage at a
funerary feast (meal) sitting next to an
offering table covered with the loaves of
bread that have been brought to him. Next
to him on the floor, on small platforms, are
containers holding incense, ointments, figs
and wine.
Why a tapering shape?
● Ancient rulers liked these artificial
mountains for their great height (allowing
them to commune with the gods) and
commanding visual presence over flat
river valleys.
● On a practical level, a pyramid
concentrates most of its building on the
lower half, so fewer stones have to be
hauled on top.
Egyptian Capitals