Prehistoric to Egyptian Architecture PDF

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1 Introduction to the History of Architecture  DEFINITIONS: History - A systematic, often Society – An enduring and cooperating chronologicalnarrative of significant events as large-scale community of people having relating to a partic...

HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE 1 Introduction to the History of Architecture  DEFINITIONS: History - A systematic, often Society – An enduring and cooperating chronologicalnarrative of significant events as large-scale community of people having relating to a particular people, country, or period, often including an explanation of their causes. common traditions, Institutions, and identity, whose members have developed History of Architecture – A record of man's effort collective interests and beliefs through to build beautifully. It traces the origin, growth interaction with one another and decline of architectural styles which have prevailed lands and ages. Culture – thee integrated pattern of human Prehistoric – Of pertaining to, or existing in the knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors built up time prior to the recording of human events by a group of human beings and knowledge of which is gained mainly through transmitted from one generation to the archeological discoveries, study, and research. next Civilization – An advanced state of human society marked by a relatively high level of Style – A particular or distinct form of cultural, technical, and political development. artistic expression characteristic of a person, people, or period  DEFINITIONS: Expression – the manner in which meaning, Mesolithic – Middle Stone Age, a spirit, or character is symbolized or prehistoric period from c.8300 to 4000 BC, communicated in the execution of an artistic between the Paleolithic and Neolithic, work during which use of the axe became Stone Age – the earliest known period of human widespread and principal tools were struck culture, preceding the Bronze Age and the Iron from stone. Age and characterized by the use of stone implements and weapons. Neolithic – of or pertaining to the last phase of the Stone Age, characterized by Paleolithic – Old Stone Age, a prehistoric period the cultivation of grain crops, from c.600 000 to 8000 BC, predating the domestication of animals, settlement of Mesolithic period and characterized by the rise to villages, manufacture of pottery and dominance of the human species, Homo sapiens, textiles, and use of polished stone during which the first implements were struck implements, thought to have begun from stone c9000-8000BC  INFLUENCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARCHITECTURE: - New Stone Age, a prehistoric period in Europe from Religious - No organized religion c.4000 to 2000 BC, after the Mesolithic, during which the use of clay became widespread and the principal - The dead are treated with respect which tools were finished by grinding. can be seen in their burial rituals and monuments Historic Styles of Architecture Social - political "The particular method, the characteristics, manner of Historical - Direct human ancestors design which prevails at a certain place and time.“ evolved in Africa from 2.3 million years ago Six Influences of Architecture: - Homo h abilis , Homo erectus, Homo Geographical sapiens, Homo sapiens sapiens. Geological - The success of the human race was largely due to the development of tools Climatic – people in warmer climates needed little made of stone, wood, bone clothing while those in colder climates took protection in caves or animal hides over wooden poles  CULTURAL STAGES Stone Age Paleolithic (Old Stone Age) ▪ Used stone and bone as instruments ▪ Livelihood from hunting and food gathering ▪ Learned to make fire ▪ Lived in caves and rock shelters  CULTURAL STAGES Stone Age Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) ▪ Fashioned stone tools like the bow ▪ Made body coverings from animal hides ▪ Made the canoe for fishing ▪ Built huts from bones, animal hides, reeds and grass  CULTURAL STAGES Stone Age Neolithic (New Stone Age) - human beings settle down to the business of agriculture, instead of hunting and gathering, permanent settlements become a factor of life and story of architecture can begin. ▪ Polished stone tools for grinding, cutting and chopping ▪ Development of pottery ▪ Agriculture ( wheat and barley) and domesticated animals ▪ Sew clothing from animal hides using fish bones as needles ▪ Built huts of stones and mud with thatched roofing ▪ Practiced burial rituals and built tombs  CULTURAL STAGES Bronze Age - A period in the ancient and prehistoric cultures of the Near East and Europe from 3500 to 800 BC during which forging technology for rudimentary implements etc. in bronze was first developed, running concurrently with the Stone Age.  CULTURAL STAGES Iron Age - A prehistorical or historical period, running concurrent with the Bronze Age from c.1200 BC to 1 AD, during which implements were forged from iron  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES Constructive Principles Dwelling Structures ▪ Post and Lintel (Trabeated) Primitive Dwellings - mostly had one room, ▪ Arch and Vault development of more complex civilizations led to ▪ Corbel and Cantilevered division of the room into ▪ Trussed smaller ones for eating, sleeping, socializing, development of agricultural Classification of Early Known civilizations made people Types of Architecture want to settle down, live in communities ▪ Dwellings 1. Rock Shelter - a shallow ▪ Religious Monuments cave like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff ▪ Burial Grounds  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES 2. Rock Caves 3. Cliff Dwelling - the general archaeological term for 3 Stages of the Evolution of Cave the habitations of prehistoric peoples, formed by using niches or caves in high cliffs. a. Natural Cave - Ancestral Puebloans (Anasazi) people of the b. Artificial Cave southwestern United States c. Cave above the ground  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES Beehive Hut (clochan) ; an Early Christian drystone 4. Tents and Huts - made from tree barks, animal dwelling used by monks in Ireland and the Scottish skins, and plant leaves. Huts are usually made up of reeds, bushes and wattles. Western Isles, constructed in the shape of a beehive with corbelled vaulting. Hut – a small, simple dwelling or shelter, esp. one of natural materials  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES Wigwam - rush mats over a wooden frame, with Trullo - a dry walled rough stone shelter with animal skin door corbelled roof. Done by dabbing dry roughly plastered walls  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES Tepee - conical tent with poles as framework and bark or animal skins  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES Hogan - primitive Indian structure of joined logs Nigerian hut - with mud walls and roof of palm leaves  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES Igloo - Innuit (Eskimo) house constructed of snow Sod house - a house built of strips of sod, laid blocks with an entrance tunnel. Made of hard like brickwork, and used esp. by settlers on the packed snow blocks built up spirally Great Plains when timber was scarce.  STONE AGE: DWELLING STRUCTURES Yurt – a circular, tent like dwelling of the Mongol Catal Huyuk , Turkey – a Neolithic settlement in nomads of central Asia, consisting of a cylindrical Anatolia, dated 6500 - 5000 B.C. One of the world’s wall of poles in a lattice arrangements with a conical earliest cities. They were rectangular single roomed roof of poles, both covered by felt or animal skins with mud plastered wall and floors. Access was by ladder from the roof. There were no roads but everybody walked on each other’s roof.  STONE AGE: RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS Classification of Megalithic Religious Menhir - a prehistoric monument consisting of an upright Structures megalith, usually standing alone but sometimes aligned with others. Arranged in parallel rows, sometimes reaching several Megalith -large stone used to construct miles and consisting of thousands of stones a structure either alone or together with other stones, utilizing and interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement. – A very large stone used as found or roughly dressed, esp. in ancient construction work 1. Monolith - a single block of stone of considerable size, often in the form of an obelisk or column. Isolated single upright stone also known as “ menhir ”.  STONE AGE: RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS 2. Dolmen – a prehistoric monument consisting of two or more large upright stones supporting a horizontal stone slab, found esp. in Britain and France and usually regarded as a tomb  STONE AGE: RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS 3. Cromlech – a circular arrangement of megaliths enclosing a dolmen or burial mound.  STONE AGE: RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS 4. Trilithon – two upright megaliths supporting a horizontal stone. Also called trilith 5. Stone circle or Stone Row – made up of 3000 stones spaced upright (e.g. Stonehenge, located at Wiltshire and on Salisbury Plain) Stonehenge – a megalithic monument erected in the early Bronze Age c2700 B.C. on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England, consisting of four concentric rings of trilithons and menhirs centered around an altar stone: believed to have been used by a sun cult or for astronomical observation  STONE AGE: RELIGIOUS MONUMENTS 6. Tumuli/Barrow – earthen mounds used for burials of several to couple hundred of ordinary persons. 7. Passage grave – a megalithic tomb of Neolithic and early Bronze Ages found in the British Isles and Europe, consisting of a roofed burial chamber and narrow entrance passage, covered by a tumulus: believed to have been used for successive family or clan burials spanning a number of generations WEST ASIATIC ARCHITECTURE 4000 B.C. – 641 A.D.  INFLUENCES: Geographical Mesopotamia included Babylonia, Assyria, West Asiatic Architecture flourished and Persia, Sumer and Akkad, corresponding to modern-day Iraq, north-eastern Syria, developed in the Twin Rivers Tigris and southeastern Turkey and south-western Iran. Euphrates, also known as Mesopotamia. It Babylon was the capital of ancient of Babylonia in refers to Persia, Assyria, and Babylon. The southern Mesopotamia now the modern Iraq. fertile plains between the twin rivers were given the name Mesopotamia – mesos Geological (middle) and potamos (river) Due to floods and heavy rains, it resulted in the conversion of its earthen into clay to produce bricks Known as the “cradle of civilization” in Assyria and Babylon due to rare experience of rain in Persia, they use timber and colored limestone. Mesopotamia is also part of what is known the Fertile Crescent because of the irrigated Climatic farmlands. Mesopotamia experience floods and heavy rains that have resulted in the building of Ziggurats in Persia. Mesopotamia, now known as Iraq, has no They have dry and hot climate w/c resulted in natural barriers. building open type temples.  INFLUENCES: Religious Social and Political Mesopotamians were superstitious, believers of Babylonians among the 3 were considered symbolism and believers of genies and demons. extraordinary because they achieve highest Persian were believers of good and evil. They believe degree of civilization. Assyrian and Persian that good usually triumphs in the end. believe in military superiority thus manifested in their buildings. Historical King Hammurabi was the 6th Babylonian king to 5000 BC to 641 AD write the first code of laws in human history – Hammurabi’s Code 3 periods: Cuneiform script in clay tablets is one if the - Mesopotamian (Babylonian or Chaldean) earliest known form of written expression. - Assyrian Assyria was the ancient name for the northeastern part of modern Iraq and was named - Persian after its original capital, the ancient city of Assur. **records in cuneiform written on clay tablets Persia, now known as Iran was once a major empire of superpower proportions.  ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER: 1. Massiveness ▪ copper, tin, lead gold, silver imported ▪ only material readily available was clay, soil 2. Monumentality ▪ bricks made of mud and chopped straw, sun-dried or 3. Grandeur kiln-fired Construction System: Columns: ▪ No columns due to lack of stone Babylonian and Assyrian: Roof and Ceiling: Arcuated type of construction: arch, vault and flat strips, buttresses with glazed tile adornment - usually flat - some domes Wall: Persian: ▪ burnt brick for facing or for load bearing walls Columnar and trabeated with flat timber roof ▪ white-wash was common (colored only ziggurats) sometimes domed Orientation: Materials used: ▪ oriented with four corners towards cardinal points - reeds, rushes - timber is imported ▪ arranged around large and small courts  PERIODS: SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE ▪ 4500 B. C. ▪ Walls were thick to compensate the ▪ The transition from prehistory was made weakness of mud. They were reinforced around 4500 B. C. with the rise of the with buttresses. Spaces were narrow Sumerian civilization. The major cities were: because of the walling material. - Kisha ▪ Buttresses and recesses also relieve the - Urukand monotony of the plastered wall surfaces. - Ur ▪ Façade of buildings were white washed ▪ The Sumerians were the first civilization to and painted to disguise the lack of make conscious attempt of designing public attraction of the material buildings. ▪ Temples was their major building type ▪ Mud was their building materials. Mud was formed into brick, sun dried and built into massive walls.  PERIODS: SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE CITIES Cities were enclosed in walls with ziggurat temples and palaces as centers of the city, fabric of the city is made up of residences mixed with commercial and industrial buildings. The houses were densely packed with narrow streets between them. Streets were fronted by courtyard houses of one story high.  PERIODS: SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE TEMPLES AND HOUSES - The houses streets were usually punctuated by narrow openings that serve as entrance to houses. - Temples were the principal architectural monuments of Sumerian cities. Temples consists of chief and city temples. PERIODS: SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE White Temple – Uruk – 3000 B. C.  PERIODS: SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE ▪ Uruk was a major Sumerian city by 330 B.C. Uruk is also known as Warka in Arabic. It is an example of earliest development of Sumerian temples and Ziggurat. ▪ The temple is place on a great mound of earth called Ziggurat, rising more than 12 meters above ground. The ziggurat and temple are built with mud bricks. The temple is rectangular in shape. ▪ Series of staircases and stepped levels lead worships to the entrance of the temple. The temple was plastered white externally, making it visible for miles in the landscape PERIODS: SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE GREAT ZIGGURAT (UR)  PERIODS: SUMERIAN ARCHITECTURE ▪ Ur was a Sumerian city located near the mouth of the Euphrates river. It was constructed of mud bricks reinforced with thin layers of matting and cables of twisted reeds. The Great Ziggurat was located as part of Temple Complex. ▪ The temple sits on a three multi-tiered ziggurat mountain. Access to the temple is through triple stairways that converge at the summit of the first flatform. The temple is usually accessed only by the priest , were gods are believed to come down to give instructions. The people believed that climbing the staircase of the ziggurat gives a holy experience. ▪ The chief temple was also used as a last line of defense during times of war.  PERIODS: BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE 2300 B.C. ▪ After the fall of Nineveh and the end of the Assyrian civilization, focus of Mesopotamian civilization shifted to Old Babylon. A new dynasty of kings, including Nebuchadnezzar, revived Old Babylonian culture to create a Neo-Babylonian civilization. Old Sumerian cities were rebuilt. The capital Old Babylon was enlarged and heavily fortified. ▪ New buildings were built. The traditional style of Mesopotamian building reached its peak during the period. ▪ Traditional building was enhanced by a new form of façade ornament consisting of figures designed I colored glazed brick work.  PERIODS: BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE City of Babylon - The city of Babylon is shaped in the form of a quadrangle sitting across and pierces by the Euphrates. - The city was surrounded by a fortification of double walls. These has defensive towers that project well above the walls - The walls also had a large moat in front, which was also used for navigation. The length of the wall and moat is about five and a quarter miles. The city had a palace located on its Northern side on the outer wall.  PERIODS: BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE Ishtar Gate (575 B.C.) - Originated a procession street that cuts through the city raised above the ground to the tower of Babel. The procession street enters the city through the famous Ishtar gate. The gate is built across the double walls of the city fortification. The gate had a pair of projecting towers on each wall. - All the facades of gates and adjoining streets were faced with blue glazed bricks and ornamented with figures of heraldic animals-lions, bulls, and dragons. These were modelled and relief and glazed in other colors. None of the buildings of old Babylon has survived to the present age.  PERIODS: BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE Hanging Gardens of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar’s Palace - Nebuchadnezzar’s palace covered a land area of 900 feet. It had administrative offices, barracks, the king’s harem, private apartment all arranged around five courtyards. The palace is also praised for its legendary hanging garden. - This is recorded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but exact knowledge of the nature of this garden is not known. The legendary tower of Babel located at the end of procession street is mentioned in the Christian bible. PERIODS: BABYLONIAN ARCHITECTURE  PERIODS: ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE - 1859-626 B.C. Principal cities: ▪ Nineveh ▪ Dun ▪ Khorsabad ▪ Nimrud ▪ Assur - The Assyrians were great warriors and hunters, and this was reflected in their art. They produced violent sculptures and relief carving in stone that was used to ornament their houses. During the Assyrian periods, temples lost their importance to palaces https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tizdco2i85w  PERIODS: ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE - Palaces were raised on bricks platforms, and their ▪ Stone reliefs of two winged bulls with human heads principal entrance ways were flanked by guardian flanked the entrance figures of human headed bulls or lions of stone. ▪ The walls were decorated with long rows of bas-reliefs - Their halls and corridors were lied with pictures and inscriptions carved in relief on stones slabs up ▪ The palace is approached at ground level through a walled citadel. Within the citadel is found the main to 9 feet high. palace, two minor palaces and a temple dedicated to - The interiors were richly decorated and luxurious. Nabu. He walls of cities were usually strengthened by many towers serving as defensive positions. ▪ The main palace was set on a platform located on the northern side of the citadel all the buildings within the citadel were arranged around courtyards. ▪ The palace was arranged around two major courtyards about which were grouped smaller courtyards. ▪ The palace consisted of large and smaller rooms with the throne room being the largest. The building was decorated with relief sculpture and glazed brick PERIODS: ASSYRIAN ARCHITECTURE  PERIODS: PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE 550-330 B.C. Their architectural solutions were a synthesis of ideas gathered from almost all parts of their empire and from the Greeks and Egyptians. Their materials of construction was also from different locations. Materials included mud-brick from Babylon, wooden roof beams from Lebanon, precious material from India and Egypt, stone columns quarried and carved by ionic Greeks. Despite sourcing materials and ideas from different areas, their architecture as original and distinctive in style.  PERIODS: PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE Palace of Persepolis 522-486 B.C. Persian architecture achieved it greatest monumentality at Persepolis and was constructed as a new capital for the Persian empire. It was surrounded by a fortification wall. The site was more than half covered by buildings the palace consisted of three parts: - An approach of monumental staircase, gate ways and avenues - Two great state halls towards the center of the platform - The palace of Xerxes, the harem, and other living quarters at the south end of the site. Structurally, the building relied on a hypostyle scheme throughout. Some of the spaces were very big and generally square in plan. The spaces were enclosed by mud brick walls. The most impressive aspects of the palace was the royal audience hall.  PERIODS: PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE The monumental entrance to Persepolis is also one of the unique aspects of the palace. The monumental gateway ensure a dramatic entry to the palace. It was heavily adorned with relief sculpture ornamenting its stairway. The relief structure addresses different themes relating to the role of Persepolis as the capital of the Persian empire. In some places, the sculpture shows delegates from the different parts of the Persian bringing gifts and rare animals to the king during celebrations. Tripylon or Central Palace  PERIODS: PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE In some palaces, royal guards and nobles of the imperial court are shown. Elsewhere, the king is seen in conflict with animals or seated beneath a ceremonial umbrella. Some columns supporting the halls of the great halls have survived. The mud brick fabric of the palace and its enclosing walls have perished completely. Only the sculptures which adorn doorways or windows and openings and the relief ornamenting its entrance way remain Audience Hall (apadana) of Darius and Xerxes  PERIODS: PERSIAN ARCHITECTURE Construction was started by Xerxes and completed by his son Artaxerxes I by the end of the fifth century BC. Its eight stone doorways are decorated on the south and north with reliefs of throne scenes and on the east and west with scenes depicting the king in combat with monsters. Two colossal stone bulls flank the northern portico. In the beginning of Xerxes's reign the Throne Hall was used mainly for receptions for military commanders and representatives of all the subject nations of the empire. Later Hall of 100 Columns or the Throne Room of Xerxes the Throne Hall served as an imperial museum. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34oQfaJiy7w EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE 3200 B.C. – 30 B.C.  INFLUENCES Geographical Materials used are: - Known as the Land of Pharaoh and Desert 1. Stone – abundant building material Land. The Nile River is their means of exception temples and pyramids – soft communication, highway, and lifeline. Egypt’s stone – limestone, sandstone, alabaster; greatest wealth was its fertile soil. hardstone – granite, quartzite, basalt, porphyry - Nile River is the life of Egypt they used it for irrigation to turn desert lands into fruitful 2. Sand Dried bricks – made up of clay and fields. Its gentle current was favorable for chopped stone for pyramids and temples navigation. The trade and commerce prospered along its banks. 3. Date palm – for roofings Geological 4. Palm leaves – roofing materials Narrow stretch of fertile and arable land along 5. Acacia – for their boats the Nile river. Beyond river banks, barren desert 6. Sycamore – mummy cases and rugged cliffs  INFLUENCES Climatic Pharaohs: - Spring & summer - gods dwelling on earth - Structures have no downspout, drainage, - sole masters or the country and its gutter due to absence of rain. No windows inhabitants to cut heat penetration and sandstorm. - builders and leaders Historical - initiated the design, financing, quarrying - 3200 BC to 1 AD and transporting of materials, organization of labor and construction itself - one of the most ancient - 30 dynasties started from third millennium - unified under a centralized omnipotent BC to Roman Period. Egypt was part of authority of the pharaoh (king) Persian Empire for 2 centuries, before the invasion of Alexander the Great.  INFLUENCES 1. Ancient Kingdoms – 1st – 10th Dynasty – - Thotmes IV – the one responsible for the development of 2 types of tombs: Mastaba cleaning away of sand from the Sphinx and pyramid - Amenophis III – erected the Colossi of 2. Middle Kingdom – 11th – 17th Dynasty – Memnon, one of the wonders of the world. important personalities: rd Mentuhetep II – developed the 3 of the tomb rock-cut - Rameses I – began the construction of the tomb; Senusrets – erected the earliest Great Hypostyle Hall at Kharnak known obelisk at Heliopolis; Amenemhat I – founded Great Temple of Ammon Kharnak, - Rameses II – finished the construction of the grandest of all temples Hypostyle Hall and erection of the Rock Temple at Abu-Simbel and Remission, Thebes 3. New Empire (18th – 30th Dynasty) 4. The Ptolemaic Period - Thotmes I – began the additions to the temple - Ptolemy II – built the Pharaoh or the Light of Ammon, Kharnak House - Hatshepsut – queen of Egypt, famous for her funerary temple at Mt. Der-El-Bahari  INFLUENCES Society: Religion - Monarchy – form of government - cult of many gods representing nature: sun, moon, stars, animals - architects, engineers, theologians, masons, sculptors, painters, laborers, peasants, - gods needed a presence and dwelling on earth to prisoners be effective - weaving, glass-making, pottery, metal, jewelry - Egyptians wished for a fine burial, embalmment and funeral rites, and a permanent tomb or "eternal and furniture dwelling“ - astronomy, mathematics, philosophy and - afterlife - life and house on earth is temporary, the music tomb is permanent - agriculture, writing and construction - Pyramids were built because of belief in the afterlife and for the preservation of the dead body. Pharaoh is - literature and history written on papyrus and not only king but also god both political and religious stone tablets ruler, when he dies he becomes Osiris, god of dead. They’re monotheistic in theory and polytheistic in practice – Mummification & temple of gods  ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER ▪ Characterized by the axial planning of Materials ▪ monumentality massive masonry tombs and temples, stone: ▪ immortality the use of trabeated construction with precise stonework, and the decoration of ▪ abundant in variety and quantity ▪ symmetry in plan battered walls with pictographic carvings ▪ for monuments and religious buildings ▪ simplicity in a relief. ▪ durability of stone is why monuments still exist to this day ▪ solidity ▪ Preoccupation with eternity and the ▪ softstone: limestone, sandstone, alabaster ▪ grandeur afterlife dominated the building of these funerary monuments and temples ▪ hardstone: granite, quartite, basalt ▪ permanence imported metals and timber mud bricks: for houses, palaces indigenous date palm logs, leaves, reeds, rushes ▪ for sustenance and eternal enjoyment of the deceased Ancient Egyptians didn’t use mortar, so the stones were carefully ▪ traditional, mysterious, unchangeable cut to fit together Construction System Features of Egyptian Architecture: - columnar and trabeated (seen in pyramids, tombs, Batterwall – inclination from base to top of the façade temples) Hieroglyphics – use as ornaments, pictures and writings from the walls  ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER Roof and Ceiling: Columns ▪ roof was not an important consideration Types of columns: ▪ flat roofs sufficed to cover and exclude heat ▪ Square pillar Wall: ▪ Polygonal column ▪ batter wall - diminishing in width towards the top ▪ Palm-type column ▪ for stability ▪ Bud-and-bell column ▪ thickness: 9 to 24m at temples ▪ Foliated capital column ▪ unbroken massive walls, uninterrupted space for hieroglyphics ▪ Hator-headed column Openings: Osiris pillar ▪ no windows Capitals: ▪ skylights, roof slits, clerestories ▪ Lotus, papyrus, palm ▪ Bundle of steams-shaft  ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER Decorations: ▪ cornice and mouldings: "gorge" or "hollow and roll" was inspired by reeds ▪ torus mouldings ▪ hieroglyphics: pictorial representation of religion, history and daily life ▪ derived from the practice of scratching pictures on mud-plaster walls ▪ avenue of sphinxes: rows of monsters (body of lion, head of man, hawk, ram) ▪ leading to monuments ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER  ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER Some ornaments: ▪ quadruple spiral ▪ continuous coil spiral ▪ lotus and papyrus ▪ rope and paterae ornament ▪ grape ornament ▪ rope and feather ornament ornaments painted on walls: ▪ solar disc and vulture with spread wings Orientation: ▪ scarab, symbol of resurrection ▪ sides face cardinal points ▪ papyrus, lotus and palm symbolizing fertility ▪ theological concepts determined site ▪ grapes symbolize eternitya location, lay-out, materials  EXAMPLES Mastabas first type of Egyptian tomb from small and inconspicuous to huge an imposing rectangular flat-topped funerary mound, with battered side, covering a burial chamber below ground 2 doors: ▪ one for ritual ▪ second false door for spirits  EXAMPLES Mastaba at Zoser Funerary Mastaba at Giza Mastaba of Thi-Sakkara Complex, Saqqara - 4th dynasty Mastaba of Aha-Sakkara  EXAMPLES Pyramids massive funerary structure of stone or brick Slope square plan and four sloping triangular sides meeting at the apex types: Step Bend  EXAMPLES Pyramid Complexes buildings: Slope ▪ offering chapel (north or east side) ▪ mortuary chapel ▪ raised and enclosed causeway leading to west ▪ valley building for embalmment and internment rites ▪ immense use of labor and materials ▪ built in layers, like steps ▪ filled with packing blocks, finished with finer limestone Tomb Complex of Zoser at Saqqara ▪ 2.5 ton blocks hauled up by use of ramps  EXAMPLES Bent pyramid, Rhomboid 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 Bent Pyramid at Sneferu  EXAMPLES Pyramids at Gizeh ▪ finest true pyramids ▪ built 4th dynasty ▪ equilateral sides face cardinal points Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu) ▪ 230.6 m side, 146.4 m high ▪ 13 acres footprint Pyramid of Chephren (Khafra or Khafre) ▪ 216 m side, 143 m high Pyramid of Mykerinos (Menkaura) ▪ smallest of the three ▪ 109 m side, 66.5 m high  EXAMPLES Rock-cut or Rock Hewn Tombs ▪ built along hillside ▪ for nobility, not royalty Tombs of the Kings, Thebes Tombs at Beni Hasan  EXAMPLES Pylons ▪ monumental gateway to the temple consisting of slanting walls flanking the entrance portal Temple of Isis, Philae  EXAMPLES Temples - where only kings can penetrate 2 types of temple: Mortuary Temples ▪ worship/ in honor of pharaohs ▪ developed from the offering chapels of mastabas Cult Temples - worship/ in honor of god Parts: ▪ entrance pylon ▪ large outer court open to sky (hypaethral court) ▪ hypostyle hall ▪ sanctuary surrounded by passages ▪ chapels/chambers used in connection with the temple service  EXAMPLES Great Temple of Ammon, Karnak, Thebes  EXAMPLES Temple of Khons ▪ typical temple: pylons, court, hypostyle hall, sanctuary, chapels all enclosed by high girdle wall Mammisi ▪ avenue of sphinxes and obelisks fronting pylons Temple - prototype of Greek temple EXAMPLES Temple of Ammon, Luxor  EXAMPLES Great Temple of Abu-Simbel ▪ example of rock-cut temple ▪ by Rameses II ▪ entrance forecourt leads to imposing pylon 36 m wide and 32 m high ▪ 4 rock-cut collosal statues of Rameses sitting over 20 m high  EXAMPLES Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri  EXAMPLES Obelisks ▪ upright stone square in plan, with an electrum-capped pyramidion on top ▪ sacred symbol of sun-god Heliopolis ▪ usually came in pairs fronting temple entrances ▪ height of nine or ten times the diameter at the base ▪ four sides feature hieroglyphics  EXAMPLES Dwellings: Fortresses ▪ made of crude brick ▪ mostly found on west bank of Nile or ▪ one or two storey high on islands ▪ flat or vaulted ceilings ▪ close communications with other ▪ roof deck with parapet and loggia (gallery fortresses behind open arcade or colonnade) ▪ columns, beams, doors, windows made of ▪ headquarters & largest fortress timber ▪ main wall: 4.8 m thick and 11 m high ▪ central hall or living room with high ceiling and clerestory ▪ projecting rectangular towers for reinforcement ▪ 3 parts: reception suite on north side, service quarters and private quarters EXAMPLES Fortress of Buhen