2. ▪CHARACTERISTICS OF EGYPTIAN
ARCHITECTURE
●Massive structures came to be favoured
from the Old Kingdom on.
●Mud brick was the principal
building material for domestic building.
● Stone was favoured for temples and tombs.
3. ●Features of mud
construction were
often echoed in
stone.
● For example, columns
were built to resemble
plants or bunches of
plants.
4. ● Features of mud
construction were often
echoed in stone.
● Corner detailing often
resembled bunches of reeds
used as a binding material in
mud construction.
5. FUNERARY STRUCTURES
●Egyptian aristocratic culture focussed on
preparation for life after death.
●Preservation of bodies through
mummification and providing goods for the
afterlife were considered essential.
6. MASTABAS
●Early Old Kingdom aristocratic and royal
burials were in mastabas - square or
rectangular buildings connected by shafts to
tomb chambers deep beneath the earth.
●The mastaba also housed a chapel and a
statue of the dead.
8. ZOSER’S STEP PYRAMID
● Built during the 3rd
dynasty
, Zoser’s architect,
Imhotep, added steps
above Zoser’s mastaba to
create a step pyramid -- a
stairwayto the heavens.
9. THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF
GIZEH
● These were built during the 4th dynasty.
● What remains is but a fraction of the great funerary
districtsofeach ofthae pyramids.
● Construction was hugely labour intensive -- but this was
paid labour during slow agricultural seasons, not slave
labour asiscommonlysupposed.
11. Section of Pyramid of Khufu
Relieving
Blocks
Grand Gallery
King’s Chamber
Queen’s Chamber
Thieves Tunnel
False Tomb Chamber
Entrance
12. The Great Pyramids of Gizeh
● These were buildings that housed chambers and passages,
including small air shafts that mayhavebeen used for
ventilation -- or were, perhaps, passages for the spirit of the
pharaohsto passthrough.
● Pyramid building wasabandoned during the Old Kingdom.
They provided tomb robbers with easily identifiable targets.
13. The Theban Necropolis
● Pyramidal structures were abandoned in the Old Kingdom.
● Later Pharaohs were buried in Upper Egypt across the Nile
from Karnak.
● Large concentrations of tombswere cut into cliffsides at
what are now known as the V
alleyof the Kingsand the
V
alleyofthe Queens.
15. The Valley of the Kings
● Entranceswere hidden to
protect tomb treasures
from grave-robbers.
● Over the millenniathis
hasproven largely
unsuccessful. Only
Tutenkhamen’stomb
eluded them.
16. Mortuary Temples
● Though mummies and treasures might be concealed, more
conspicuous temple structures were still required -- like
Hatshepsut’s temple near the Theban Necropolis.
17. Temples
Second Pylon
First Pylon Sacred Area
including Chapels
● These were built in the same forms aspalaces, with three
increasinglyrestricted areas.
Hypostile Hall
Entrance
18. Temples
● The entire temple wassurrounded byawindowlesswall.
● Within the temple, light and shadow were important
features.
● Walls might be blank or incised with low relief carvings.
20. Temples
● Lighting through wall openings, columns, and clerestory
windows in the colonnade, were intended to feature
particular locations. In the case ofAbu Simbel, the statures
on the wall deepest in the temple, emerged from shadowon
two daysduringthe year.
26. TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
● LIGHT & SHADOW
WERE IMPORTANT
FEATURES.
● LIGHT
CAME THROUGH:
● W
ALLOPENINGS
● GAPS BETWEEN
COLUMNS
● CLERESTORY
WINDOWS
27. IN CLOSING
● EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURESHOWED BOTH
V
ARIETY AND CONTINUITY OVER CA. 3,000
YEARS.
● WHILEDOMESTICSTRUCTURESOFMUD
BRICKHAVEBEEN OBLITERATED BYTIME,
MONUMENTALSTRUCTURESIN STONESTILL
ASTOUND VISITORSTO EGYPTTODAY
.
