EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTERISTICS:

1. ROOFING MATERIALS & SHAPES

- Reeds
- Papyrus
- Palm branch ribs
2. CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS:
- Timber
- Stone
- Sun- dried mud brick
3. WALLS
4. BRICKS VAULTS
5. MASONRY WALL DECORATOIVE HIEROGLYPHS
6. DECORATIVE ELEMENTS:
- Gorge cornice
- Kheker frieze
7. EGYPTIAN COLUMNS
8. EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS
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Location:
Primitive Architecture in the valley of Nile

1. Roofing Materials:
a. Reeds
b. Papyrus
c. Palm Branch Ribs

Reeds Papyrus Palm Branch Ribs

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Roof Shapes:

Round shelter Rectangular shelter

with Domical Roof with flat roof
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2. Construction Materials:
a. Timber
b. Stone
c. Sun-Dried Mud Bricks

Timber is limited resources and had become scarce as

construction materials.

Timber
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2. Construction Materials:
a. Timber
b. Stone
c. Sun-Dried Mud Bricks

Rubble Stones
Stone was not much employed except as Rubble stone; used as stiffening or foundation to
solid mud walls.
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2. Construction Materials:
a. Timber Properties:
1. Size: 356mm L x 178mm W x 102mm THK
b. Stone
2. Very long lasting
c. Sun-Dried Mud Bricks

Sun-Dried Mud Bricks

Sun-dried mud bricks as a wall is widely used.

Mixture:
Mud from Nile river mixed with chopped straw or sand and thoroughly matured by exposure to the sun
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3. Walls

Batter Wall

For stability, wall diminished course by course towards the top due to shrinkage and expansion of the soil
caused by the annual inundation.

The inner face of the walls had to be straight/vertical for convenience.

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4. Brick Vaults

There are brick vaults as early as the beginning of the Third Dynasty. Frequently. The arch rings were built
in sloping coursed, so that no centering or temporary support was needed, and usually there were two or
more arched rings arranged concentrically, the one lying upon the other.
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5. Masonry Wall Decoration / Wall Sculptures

The surface decoration of the masonry wall is held to have been derived from the practice of scratching
pictures on the early mud-plaster walls. It is called Hieroglyphs.
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6. Decorative Elements 1. Gorge cornice

2. Kheker frieze

Egyptian ‘Gorge’ Cornice is the pressure of the flat reed-and-mud roof against the tops of the wall reeds.
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6. Decorative Elements
1. Gorge cornice Frieze – is along and narrow sculptural band that runs along
2. Kheker frieze the middle of an Entablature

Kheker Frieze is decorative motif common in ancient Egyptian architecture. Its consists of rows of knots in
decorative carved or painted friezes around the upper edges of buildings.
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7. Egyptian Column
Egyptian Columns have a distinctive character, and a very large portion of them plainly advertise their vegetable
origin, their shafts indicative of bundles of plant stems, gathered in a little at the base, and with capitals seemingly
derived from the lotus bud, the papyrus flower, or the ubiquitous palm.
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7. Egyptian Column
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8. Egyptian Monumental Architecture

Egyptian monumental architecture, which is essentially a columnar and trabeated style, is expressed mainly in
pyramids and other tombs and in temples.

Egyptian temples approached by impressive avenues of sphinxes – mythical monsters, each with the body of a lion
and the head of a man, hawk, ram or woman – possess in their massive pylons, great courts, hypostyle halls, inner
sanctuaries and dim, secret rooms, a special character.

Sphinx Doorway in Pylon Osiris Pillars

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TOMB ARCHITECTURE
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LET’S WATCH THESE

VIDEOS….
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DYNASTY 1 : MASTABA IN SAKKARA NECROPOLIS

Saqqara is one of the best known, as well as oldest, dynastic necropolis in Egypt. It is popular among
tourists, but many of them may never visit, or even know about its oldest royal tombs. These are what
were once believed to be the 1st Dynasty tombs of the largely legendary founders of Egypt, but their
burials lack the grandeur of other monuments in the vicinity, and now many scholars believe that these
tombs, while dating to the 1st Dynasty, were probably those of high officials rather than the kings
themselves.

3-DISTINCT TYPES OF MASTABA

ACCORDING TO CLASS IN THE SOCIETY

1. Royalty or High Ranking Officials

- Large, Shallow rectangular pits hewn out of the bedrock and divided by cross-walls into a series of
chambers. There was a central chamber that was the actual burial chamber that housed the
sarcophagus surrounded by provisions on pottery and alabaster dishes; chests and boxes containing
clothing, jewelry and games; and funerary furniture. The surrounding chambers were storerooms
for various reserve provisions for the afterlife. One was usually reserved entirely for the storage of
food and another for wine jars stacked in rows and sealed with clay.
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3-DISTINCT TYPES OF MASTABA

ACCORDING TO CLASS IN THE SOCIETY

2. The second class of tomb was built by retainers and artisans.

Constructed in long lines adjoining one another close to the royal tombs, their occupants were probably
dependents in the household of the king, or craftsmen in the various arts and industries. It is very possible that
they were buried near their kings in order to serve him in death as they did during his life. These tombs are
oblong pits or chambers where the bodies, wrapped in linen, were placed. Around them dishes containing food
and jars of wine, as well as the tools of their trade were also included in the burial. The pits would then be roofed
over with timber and a low, rectangular superstructure was build of rubble.

3. The poorest of the lot, the working class and peasant people.

They had very simple graves not much different than those of the Predynastic Period. These tombs consisted of an
oval or oblong pit where the body was placed, sometimes on a reed mat, in contracted position and surrounded by
their earthly possessions. These pits were then roofed with branches and matting to hold the mound of sand and
rubble that was piled above it.
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DYNASTY 1 : MASTABA IN SAKKARA NECROPOLIS

MASTABA OF AHA