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• Ramses' temple was cut into the face of the cliff, before which is a
rock-cut terrace.
• At the top of the pylon, above the cornice, is a row of baboons, who, as
Watchers of the Dawn, are shown with their hands raised in adoration of
the (rising) sun.
• The Egyptians believed baboons played a role in helping the sun god Ra
defeat the darkness of night and so were believed sacred to the worship of
the rising sun.
The actual interior of the
temple is inside the cliff in the
form of a man-made cave cut
out of the living rock (cf. The
Sacred Cave).
• A Grand Hall which is 57 feet high and 52 feet wide and was cut from
the rock. It is supported with eight pillars with statues of Ramses 2
with the shape of Osiris.
• The statues on the north side of the hall wear the Double Crown,
while those on the south the White Crown of upper Egypt.
The walls are decorated in relief
• Hypostyle hall - It is cut from the rock, and supported
by six pillars bearing the head of the goddess Hathor.
Architectural Ideas
• Believed a dead
person needs all
her/his worldly goods
• Tomb usually packed
w/ all the treasures of
dead person
• If anything cannot be
provided, it is painted
on the walls of the
tomb
Historical Background
Social Characteristics & Beliefs
Architectural Ideas
• Tombs also have
charms to protect
dead person & her/his
property
• Dead buried in cities
of the dead, called
Necropolis located in
desert
Architecture of the Civilization
Introduction
• Snefru’s 2nd
pyramid--north
pyramid--is place he
was buried
• Low pitch of 43°
instead of 52°
making it look
stunted
• A true pyramid has
an incline angle of
52°
Early Kingdom Tomb
The Pyramids at Giza
• Construction of a true
geometrical pyramid
achieved during reign
of Cheops, son of
Snefru
• Located at Giza
• Called Great Pyramid
because of size
• The pyramid is 482’
high on a plan 760’
square
Early Kingdom Tomb
The Pyramids at Giza
• Two additional
pyramids built at Giza
• 2nd largest in the center
built by Chefren, the
son of Cheops
• 3rd and smallest built
by Mykerinus, son of
Chefren
• The three together are
referred to as the
Pyramids at Giza
Early Kingdom Tomb
The Pyramids at Giza
• Great pyramid
unique internal
arrangement
• First: a chamber
built below base of
pyramid
• Another chamber
built above it known
as queen’s chamber
• Larger burial
chamber known as
the king’s chamber
built center of
pyramid
Early Kingdom Tomb
The Great Pyramid Cheops
• This is designed to
make it difficult for
robbers to determine
where a dead person
is buried
• A dead pharaoh or
nobleman is buried in
one of the many
underground rooms
• Once the burial is
finished, the entrance
is sealed permanently
and hidden from
everybody
Materials, Const. & Systems
Materials
1925
restoration
The Sphinx
?
Review of Architectural Principles
Culture
- Nile - source for all life
-East bank: land of the living
-West bank: land of the dead
- Mystery of sun, moon, stars, futility & grave
- Complex hierarchy of gods
- Service to religion: made their art & architecture
Religion
- Survival after death depended on preservation of body
-At day of resurrection, "Ka" entered dead
- “Good Burial" became obsession - mummification an art
Burial
- Impregnable tomb - the basis for Egyptian architecture
- Man mummified and buried w/wives & possessions
- Tombs to be durable and "look" durable - monolith
MAJOR WORKS
Major Works
Old Kingdom 3200 - 2258 BC
1. Mastabas
2. Stepped Pyramid of Zozer @ Saqqara by Imhotep 2650 BC
3. Great Pyramids @ Giza Cheops (Khufu) 2575 BC
Chephren (Kafra) 2530 BC
Mykerinus (Menkaura) 2500 BC
Team Prompts 2
1. Discuss the significance of the Nile river in the development of the
Egyptian civilization.
2. What was the significance of -- and discoveries at -- Kom el-
Ahmar (Greek name: Hierakonpolis) 'the Red Mound'.
•FOR FULL CREDIT, BE SPECIFIC IN CITING EVIDENCE/SUPPORT FROM THE READING.
Important
Notes Below…
EACH PROMPT RESPONSE SHOULD BE A MINIMUM OF FOUR
COMPLETE AND DETAILED SENTENCES, FILLED WITH SPECIFICITY
FROM THE SOURCES AND REFLECTING INSIGHT AND ANALYTICAL
THOUGHT…NOT MERELY SUPERFICIAL GENERALITIES…THANK YOU!
Farming in the Nile floodplain
Egyptian
Drawings of Two
Different Tribes of
Sea People
• Form and Function of the Temple
• The New-Kingdom was a period of extensive
building activity and many temples were
dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun,
Khonsu, and Mut .
• Every deity is associated with a fixed ho e
and that the important god and the capital
city are associated - which during the New-
Kingdom was Thebes or the city of Amun .
the great temple of Horus of Behdet at Edfu
Egyptian temple architecture points to a procession in four
steps, moving from light, tall & flat to dark, small & raised :
Peristyle courtyard : is a great open space, inundated by sunlight, with
in its middle a square altar : the first stone or the beginning of the
divine transformation - as the temples of Abu Simbel and Dendera
show, this court may be totally absent, underlining its "outward" and
"open" character - in Edfu, its walls relate the story of the donation of
the land to the temple and the defeat of Seth by Horus.
The four elements of creation (the cardinal points, four sons of Horus,
the four fundamental parts of man) are encountered "in the open". The
preparatory work done here implies a superficial purification or visible
"entrance" into the mystery of transformation.
In Edfu, the physical & moral foundations of the Great Work are
represented here (the "Malkuth" of qabalah).
•Pronaos & hypostyle hall : the mysterious space of shadows,
representing the original marshes of creation and vanished forests, is
approached in two ways, first with curtain walls (pronaos) and then with
full walls (hypostyle hall) - in Edfu, scenes of offering and temple
foundation rituals cover the walls of the pronaos.
•In this Great Hall, consciousness plunged into the primordial marshes of
"green plants", representing the balancing activity of an untained,
original, "pure" living forest, the petrified image of life and eternity.
•Offering hall & ambulatory : the house or hall of offering is the first
room of the temple house (or sanctuary) - here were placed the
offerings of those who had to stay out of the temple house - it
represented a holy space between the holy of holies and the
hypostyle hall - the Ka-energies of the offerings were intended to
wake up the deity in the morning - the ambulatory was an extention
of this, covering a number of chapels surrounding the naos.
• Pylons are consistently built as two massive
trapezoid/tapering towers linked by a cornice
topped gateway and were used for sun rituals.
They represented the horizon or the sun-rise
between two mountains also speculated that
it represented a vagina with connotations of
re-birth.
• The Courtyard is usually a Peristyle court, with
a colonnade, that transitioned between the
sacred and the more public areas.
• It is the most elevated part of the temple and has the lowest roof, the
highest floor, and the least illumination.
Palm Capital
Column with Lotus Bud Capital
Drawings of the types of the architectural
capitals specific for the Ancient Egyptian
civilization.
Karnak
Karnak
• All of these buildings were covered by a large roof. Further on are the Temple
of Ramses II and the Portal of the East. To the north of Portal of the East are
the Osiris Chapels.
• The Fifth Pylon was raised by Tuthmosis II and the Seventh Pylon was raised by
Tuthmosis III. The Festival Hall is a hypostyle hall painted red to imitate wood.
It included a row of 32 pillars.
• Sacred Lake (outside the main hall) was used for purification and was regarded
as the dominion of Amon. Measuring 120 meters by 77 meters, it is
surrounded by buildings, storehouses, and priest's homes. In ancient times
there was an aviary for aquatic birds.
• Sacred ducks and geese lived in the lake whcih also provided fresh water for
purification rituals. Priests purified themselves in the morning in the waters
before going about their duties.
Luxor Temple
• The Luxor Temple is a huge ancient Egyptian temple complex
located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today
known as Luxor (ancient Thebes).
• For reasons of security the royal tombs were tunneled into the rock in the
lonely Valley of the Kings, physically separated from the temples for the
worship of the dead. It begun since 18th Dynasty and continued to 19th and
20th Dynasty.
•
The royal mortuary temples were ranged at the foot of the cliffs that run in a
line north and south, facing the fertile land and the sanctuaries on the east
bank.
Egypt II
Old Kingdom
Age of the pyramids
Old Kingdom
• Ca. 2’686 - 2’134 BC (3rd-6th dynasty)
• Egypt is truly emerging from prehistory
• Egypt extends to the first cataract
• Capital: Memphis (founded 3’100 BC)
• King considered to be a god, son of Ra
(god of the sun)
Funerary architecture
• Mastaba
• Djoser’s stepped pyramid (Saqqara, 3rd
dynasty)
• «Bent pyramid» and «Red pyramid»
(Dashur, 4th dynasty)
• «True» pyramids (Giza, 4th dynasty)
Mastaba
Djoser’s stepped pyramid
(Saqqara)
Entrance
Djoser’s pyramid complex: plan
Djoser’s
ka-statue
Dashur: Bent pyramid
Dashur: Red pyramid
Pyramids of Giza
Pyramids of Giza
• Khufu (= Cheops), 2’589-2’566 BC
• Khafre (= Chephren), 2’558-2’532 BC
• Menkaure (= Mykerinos), 2’532-2’503 BC
Khufu’s Pyramid
Khafra’s Pyramid
Menkaura’s Pyramid
Khufu’s Pyramid (2600-2500 B.C.)
Pyramid
• Pyramid: A
monument having a
rectangular base and
four triangular faces
all meeting in a single
apex, built over or
around a crypt or
tomb.
• Apex: the highest
point or vertex - the
pointed end or top
Khafra’s Pyramid (2600-2500 B.C.)
Inside Khafra’s Pyramid
Menkaura’s Pyramid (2600-2500 B.C.)
Menkaura’s Pyramid
Sphinx
• Sphinx: a • Monolith: Literally
mythological figure means “one-stone”
which is depicted mono- “one” and
as a ‘resting’ lion lith- “stone”
with a human • Being carved out of
head. one large stone
• Thought to be (Seated Buddha
temple guardians was an example
from the past
lesson)
The Great Sphinx (2600-2500 B.C.)