HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

I. Pre-historic architecture
Three primitive types of human dwellings (three germs Tumuli - burial mounds; probably the prototypes of the
of later architectural developments): pyramids in Egypt and of the beehive huts in Wales,
○ Caves - earliest form of human dwellings Cornwall, Scotland and Ireland
○ Huts
○ Tents

Prehistoric remains of archeological interest:

○ Monoliths - single upright stones; menhirs (in
Western France)
○ Dolmen - (dol = table + maen = stone); 2 or more
upright stones supporting a horizontal slab
○ Chromlech - (chrom = bent + leac = flat stone); 3 or
more upright stones, capped by an unhewn flat stone

Stonehenge, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, 1550 BCE

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II. Egyptian architecture
Egypt - “land of the Pharaohs”; Kemi: ancient name, the
black land
A. Influences
 Geographical - narrow strip of fertile, alluvial soil
along both banks of the Nile bordered by the sandy
desert
- Nile river: trade and communication route
 Geological - natural products: timber, brick, clay
and stone
- Stone: limestone, sandstone, alabaster, syenite or
granite, basalt and porphyry - materials chiefly
employed for constructive and decorative
architectural work
- Country was poor in metals
-Limestone (north, Mokattam hills); sandstone
(central districts); red granite or syenite (south,
Aswan)
- Sun-dried and kiln-burnt bricks: for houses and royal
palaces
- Timber: acacia (boats); sycamore (mummy cases);
date palm (fruit is staple food; also used in roofing)
 Climatic - 2 seasons (spring and summer)
- Unbroken massive walls: protection from sun and
uninterrrupted surface for hieroglyphics
- Light reached interior through doors and roof slits;
no windows
 Religious - close relation between religion and
architecture
- Monotheistic in theory but polytheistic in practice
- Egyptians submit to the great power represented by
the Sun
- Dwelling house: temporary lodging; tomb:
permanent abode
- Egyptian outlook: hope of eternal life; supremacy of
the gods in the hidden world; tyranny of kings in the
seen world; power of the priests in touch with both
worlds
- Osiris: chief worship; man-god who died and rose
again; the god of death
Theban Triad:
- Ammon: sun-god
- Mut: wife of Ammon; mother of all things
- Khons: son of Ammon and Mut; moon-god
Memphis Triad:
- Ptah: creator
- Sekhet: fire goddess
- I-em-hetep: medicine god
Other gods:
- Osiris: god of the dead
- Isis: wife of Osiris
- Horus: god of the rising sun
- Hathor: goddess of love
- Set: dread god of evil
- Serapis: bull-headed god representing the strange
cult of the sacred bulls
HOA: Pre-Historic and Egyptian Architecture
 Social - centralised, despotic government: slave
labor
- Craftsmanship was held in high esteem: weaving,
glass-blowing, pottery-turning, metal-working and
making musical instruments, jewelry and furniture
- Pursuit of learning: astronomy, mathematics,
philosophy
- Egyptian literature preserved in papyri made from
the pith of the papyrus plant
- Pharaohs: kings of ancient Egypt; sometimes
appear as gods or demi-gods, often as mystery
priests, generally as builders, invariably as despots
(ruler or person who holds absolute power), but never
as fathers of their people
Egyptian Dynasties
1. Ancient Kingdom (Dynasties I - XI)
- Menes: first dynastic king; founded Memphis
- Dynasty III: progress of civilization; built living-
houses out of brick and mastabas (tomb-houses that
were made to take the body at full length);
hieroglyphics was developed; from mastabas to
pyramids for kings
- Dynasty IV: building of pyramids: Seneferu (Medum
and Dashur); Cheops (the Great Pyramid); Chepren
(second pyramid at Gizeh); Mykerinos (third pyramid
at Gizeh)
- Dynasty V: Pyramid of Unas at Sakkara
- Dynasty VI: Pyramid of Pepi I at Sakkara
2. Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XII - XVIII)
- Amenemhat I: Dynasty XII; brought social order out
of anarchy; made survey of the country; set
boundaries to the provinces; carried out irrigation;
worked the quarries at Tura; restored the temples;
founded the Great Temple at Karnak
- Amenemhat III: man of many parts; probably built
the Labrynth
3. New Empire (Dynasties XVIII - XXX)
- glorious alike in the arts of peace and war
- Amasis I: founder
- Thotmes I: additions to the Temple of Ammon,
Karnak; first Pharaoh buried in the Tombs of the Kings
in the Theban Mountains
- Hatshepsut: “Queen Elizabeth of Egypt”; patronised
the art of peace; terraced Temple of Der-el-Bahari
- Thotmes III: one of the greatest Pharaohs; famous
for foreign wars and home reforms; rebuilt and
decorated many temples
- Thotmes IV: cleared away the sand from the Great
Sphinx
- Amenophis III: built the Temple at Luxor; dignified
that temple at Karnak by pylons and sphinxes; erected
the famous Colossi of Memnon
- Amenophis IV: founded his capital at Tel-el-Amarna
with a great palace and a temple to the sole god Aten,
whose symbol was the solar disc
- Rameses I: founder of the 19th dynasty: most brilliant
epoch of Egyptian art; commenced the Great
Hypostyle Hall at Karnak
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 - Seti I: carried on wars without temple building
within; built his Great Temple at Abydos and his own
sepulchre among the Tombs of the Kings
- Rameses II: “The Great”; “Pharaoh of the
Opression”; exploited Israelites to build store cities;
Rock Temple at Abu Simbel, Hypostyle Hall at
Karnak, Ramesseum at Thebes
- Remeses III: religious devotee
- 26th Dynasty: period of of good government and
trade prosperity; revival of the art of the early period
- Psammetichus I: immigration of Greeks who
brought in new ideas
- Necho: attempted a canal between Red Sea and the
Nile but was completed by Darius
4. Ptolemic Period (BC 332-30)
- Alexander the Great: rescued Egyptians from their
oppressors; hailed as the “son of Ammon”; founded
Alexandria (capital of Egypt and center of Greek
culture)
- Ptolemy II: Pharos (light-house)
5. Roman Period (BC 30 - AD 395)
- Egypt under Caesar entered another phase of
prosperity
EXAMPLES
The Great Sphinx, Gizeh
- most famous of all the mystery-laden monuments of Old Egypt; carved out of limestone
- form of a semi-recumbent lion with the head of a man, probably representing Horus, god of the rising sun
- Androsphinx: head of a man, body of a lion
- Heiraosphinx: head of a hawk, body of a lion
- Criosphinx: head of a ram, body of a lion
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6. Later Periods (AD 395 to the present day)
a) The Byzantine Period (AD 395 - 640)
- Egypt was ruled by Eastern Roman Emperors
- Christian churches were erected in the Byzantine
Style (domed churces side by side with trabeated
Egyptian temples)
b) Egypt under the Arabs (AD 640 - 1517)
- Mahometan religion
 Historical
- historical events are recorded in temples; social
events are recorded in tombs
B. Architectural Character
- Primitive: puddled clay and reeds; sun-baked bricks
- Egyptian “gorge” cornice: produced by the pressure of the
flat clay roofs on the wall reeds
- Battered wall: to avoid vertical external face to their walls
- Egyptian columns: vegetable origin; shafts curved inwards
at the base, like the sheathed stalk of a papyrus or lotus
plant
- Brick vaults
- Method of construction: Columnar and trabeated
- Character: Simplicity, monumentality, massiveness
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TOMBS
a. Royal Pyramids
- Pyramids of Gizeh: form one of the several groups within - Pyramid of Chephren (Khafra): retains outermost casing
the necropolis of the ancient capital city of Memphis of limestone at its topmost portion
- The Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu): 482 ft high, 760 - Pyramid of Mykerinos (Menkaure): smallest
square feet in plan; more than twice the area of S. Peter,
Rome; four sides face the cardinal points; nearly
equilateral triangles which make an angle of about 52
degrees with the ground

The Pyramids at Giza in plan

Bent Pyramid of Sneferu, Dahshur

Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu), Section

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Stepped pyramid of Djoser, Saqqarah, Egypt
- Pyramid of Zoser (Djoser): stepped pyramid; significant historical turning point in ancient Egyptian funerary
monuments, revolutionizing stone archiecture and royal burials; reign of King Netjerykhet or Djoser; six stacked mastabas;
architect: Imhotep

Unfinished Osirian statues at Djoser Entrance at Djoser Complex

Entrance of the Complex

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TOMBS
b. Mastabas c. Rock-hewn tombs
- “bench” in Arabic - Tombs at Beni Hasan: form a remarkable group cut in the
- rectangular, flat-roofed structures with sides sloping at rock
an angle of about 75 degrees
- tomb-houses that were made to take the body at full
length
- Three parts:
-(1) outer chamber: where offerings were placed to the
Ka or “double”; decorated with festal and other historical
scenes
-(2) serdab: inner secret chamber; contains statues of the
deceased members of the family
-(3) chamber of the sarcophagus: chamber containing
the “coffin” reached by an underground shaft

- Mastaba of Thi, Sakkara: Thi: royal architect and

superintendent of the pyramids

- Tombs of the Kings, Thebes: form a contrast with the

pyramids; cut deep into the mountain rock; consists of
chamber connected by passages, and were intended only
for the reception of the royal sarcophagi; important:
Rameses III, IV and IX, and Seti I

TEMPLES
- sanctuaries into which only kings and priests penetrated - Temple of Khons, Karnak: usual type characterized by
- primarily used for mysterious rites and priestly entrance pylons, courts, colonnades, halls, and priests’
processions chambers, all enclosed by a high girdle wall; built by
- only kings and priests may pass the hypostyle hall Rameses III
- built by the king as a pledge of his piety and as an
offering to the gods - Great Temple of Ammon, Karnak: grandest of all
Egyptian temples;
Parts of the Egyptian Temple: - commened by Amenemhat then added by the kings of
- Pylon: entrance/gateway in Egypt; massive sloping the Ptolemic period;
towers fronted by obelisks - connected with the Temple at Luxor by an avenue of
- Hypaethral court: large outer court open to the sky; sphinxes;
surrounded on three sides by a double colonnade - has six pylons
- Hypostyle hall: a pillared hall in which the roof rests on
the columns; light was admitted by a clear-story formed
by the increased height of the columns of the central aisle
- Sanctuary: usually surrounded by passages and
chambers used in connection with the temples
- Avenue of Sphinx: where mystical monsters were placed

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The Great Temple of Ammon, Karnak

Model of the Precinct

View of the sphinxes, the first pylon and the central east-
west aisle Hypostyle hall with clerestory windows

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Temple of Ammon, Luxor
- commenced by Amenophis III
- dedicated to the Theban triad: Ammon, Mut and Khons
- added by Rameses II
- foreground: ruins of the court of Rameses II with a
colonnade of lotus-bud capitals and a seated colossus of
Rameses II

Sanctuary Pylon and Obelisk of Rameses II

Sun court of Amenhotep II

The Grand Colonnade

Barque Shrine of Theban Triad

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Temple of Ammon, Der-el-Bahari Temple of Seti I, Abydos
- commenced by Queen Hatshepsut - completed by Rameses II
- consists of three terraced courts stepped out of the rock - two pylons, two forecourts, two hypostyle halls, seven
and connected by inclined planes sanctuaries
- upper court is flanked by the Sacrificial Hall with a vaulted - wing at right angles to the main structure due to the
stone roof rising ground making it difficult to continue the building
- zigzag band: usual symbol for water at the same axis

The Great Temple, Abu-Simbel The Small Temple, Abu-Simbel

- one of the most stupendous and impressive of all those
hewn out of the living rock
- Pylon: carved with four seated colossal statues of the
founder Rameses II
- vestibule has eight Osiris pillars
- sanctuary: with an altar and four seated figures of deities
- founded by Rameses II dedicated to his consort
Nefertari and Hathor
- six recesses occupied by colossal statues representing
Rameses II and his consort

The Temple of Horus, Edfu

- begun by Ptolemy III
- central intercolumnation form the portal and the narrower
spaces between the columns have low screen walls over
which light is admitted
- 12 columns at smaller hypostyle hall crowned with Hathor-
headed capitals

Hathor-headed capitals

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Temple of Isis, Philae Temple of Hathor, Dendera
- successive additions are not on the same axial line - completed during the reign of Augustus
- west of birt house: colonnaded mammisi temple dedicated - without pylons, forecourt or enclosing wall
to Hathor-Isis, and son Horus
- Kiosk: Pharaoh’s bed; erected by the Emperors Augustus
and Trajan
- submerged during a part of the year and frequently only
the upper parts of the columns are visible

Temple, Elephantine The Mammisi Temple, Edfu

- “Mammisi” temple - very typical
- small chamber (birt house) and sacred to the mysterious - similar to other temples at Philae and Dendera
rites of goddess Isis
- sometimes regarded as the prototype of the later Greek
temple

OBELISKS
- monumental pillars
- stood in pairs to dignify temple entrances
- huge monoliths, square on plan, tapering to a pyramidal
summit, with a metal capping
- height of 9 to 10 times the diameter at base
- four slightly rounded sides are cut with hieroglyphics

Cleopatra’s Needle
- the obelisk on the Thames Embankment, London
- originally erected at Heliopolis and was brought to
England from Alexandria

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COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
A. Plans
- imposing avenue of sphinx led to the main entraince,
flanked by slender obelisks which formed a strong contrast
to the massive pylons
- Courts and halls: designed to produce an impressive
internal effect
- Hypostyle hall: seemingly unlimited in size; crowded with
columns; mysteriously illuminated from above; grandest
achievement of Egyptian planning
B. Walls
- Temple walls: thick, of limestone, sandstone, or more
rarely of granite
- slope inwards or batter externally towards the top =
massive appearance
- Chief characteristics: simplicity, solidity and grandeur
C. Openings
- Colonnades and doorways: trabeated; square-headed;
spanned with massive lintels
- windows are seldom found
- pearced stone window panels of various patterns; small
slit openings in roof and walls to light rooms and staircases
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D. Roofs
- massive slabs of stone supported by outer walls and
closely spaced internal columns
- flat roofs
- used parabolic arch roof during the 12th and 19th
dynasties
E. Columns
- seldom over 6 diamaters high; appear in the form of
papyrus or lotus stalks tied at intervals by bands
- Osiris pillars: mortuary temples at Thebes; forerunner of
the caryatids
- Capitals: lotus (emblem of upper Egypt); papyrus (lower
Egypt); palm
F. Mouldings
- Gorge: consisted of the bead or roll-moulding for the
angles of buildings, and the hollow used in conjunction
with the bead; crown the upper part of pylons and walls
G. Ornament
- Solar disc and vulture with outspread wings: protection
- Scarab: sacred beetle; emblem of resurrection
- Lotus, papyrus and palm: fertility
- Spiral and feather: eternity
- Chief colors: blue, red and yellow
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