The document discusses the early architectural developments in Egypt and Europe. In Egypt, the earliest tombs were located at Umm el-Qaab near Abydos and anticipated the development of mastabas. The grandest early tomb was the Tomb of Hor Aba at Saqqara dating to around 3100 BC. In Europe, the earliest architectural expressions were megalithic tombs consisting of stone chambers covered by earthen mounds. These evolved into more complex structures like stone circles, trilithons, and dolmens between the 4th and 3rd millennium BC. Many of these early monuments in Europe were used for ritual gatherings and helped define social relationships.

1. History and Theory of Architecture (1) - 0902241
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Lecture 4 part 2
University of Jordan
Faculty of Engineering
Department of Architecture

2. Royal Tombs at Umm el-Qaab , Abydos ,
Egypt
The design and the decoration of
these
tombs clearly anticipates the
development of Mastaba . The
grandest was the Tomb of Hor Aba
Saqqara (3100 BC ) just outside
Memphis . Some argue that the
complex niche pattern in the walls
represented wooden or reed
construction ; others have suggested
an influence from Mesopotamia or
the Near East .
Umm al-Qa’ab
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3. In the early stage of Egyption culture , there
was no temple architecture such as one
might find in China . Architecture played the
role of defining the interface between life
and death for the members of the elite .
Entombing the “house “ at the scale
of the landscape was he structure’s
outside shape . 8% of queen
Merneith’s Mastaba was nothing
more than a dark mass of walls and
spaces linking these two scales . The
architect's job was to bring the inner
and outer manifestations of the
ruler’s death into unity .
Umm al-
Qa’ab
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4. Plan of the Cemetery at Umm al-Qa'ab
The Tomb of Den as it appears today
Subsidiary Graves of the Tomb of Aha
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5. European development
European’s complex geography of
shorelines, rivers and mountain ranges
made it unlikely that it would arrange itself
into a single civilization unit like those in
Egypt , China and India . Furthermore ,
because of the difficulties of transplanting
grain northward into different climatic
regions .
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6. Europe was fully settled around 3500 BC .
Because European cultures developed
without the history of agricultural
domestication , their focus was not on family
matriarchal histories through which such
knowledge was , by necessity , handed down
, but on the clans that could pull communities
together for defense or war to overcome
obstacles and define their relationships to
the outside world .
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7. Barrow Tombs
The first architectural expressions
were Tombs, which preserved the
memories of clan lineages and
served as places for gathering ,
trade and ritual . The Portuguese
tombs , which are among the oldest.
Consist of chamber built of stone
slabs approached through narrow
passageway . These tombs are
therefore often referred to as either
chamber tombs or passage graves .
They were covered by an artificial
mound of earth or stone called “ a
barrow “ and were sometimes
fortified by retaining walls .
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8. The ceiling of some of the chambers were corbelled with
stones placed farther and farther towered the center of
the space till they meet at the top . An example of this
can be found in the passage grave on lle lounge , south
Brittany, France .
This model is based on published archeological
research of a megalithic wedge shaped tomb in Ireland
dating to circa 2000 BC.
Made with a molded polyurethane foam base and a
lightweight resin cast removable roof. It is
approximately 12" in diameter and 4" high.
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9. Stone Circles
In England , toward the end of the fourth
millennium BCE , land overuse ,famine or
plague put a dent in the development of
more complex social organizations .
Tombs were blocked up and abandoned .
During the late stone age and early
Bronze Age , the climate in England
would have been warmer than its today .
Farming was therefore possible in more
places 2000 BCE than 2000 CE .
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10. The earliest circles ranged in size from
18 to 30 meters in diameters , whit the
stone standing shoulder to shoulder .
The architectural expression of the
circles isn't uniform . They could be
round or oval , they could have
concentric embankments of stone
circles
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11. A new generation of tomb structures , called
COVES . Appeared . They consist of three upright
slabs set in the configuration of U facing east ,
open to the sky , and often surrounded by circular
embankments and stone circles
Trilithon : A structure consisting of
two upright stones supporting a
horizontal lintel .
Dolmen : A burial tomb consisting of
three or more upright stones and one
or more capstones
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12. A cluster of early Bronze
Age sites exist across the
English channel , on the
southern coast of Brittany at
the base of the peninsula .
But circular structures are
not unknown in Europe ,
were uncommon .
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13. At the village of Menec , north of
the town of Carnac , is a large
cromlech of closely placed
stones . Leading to this stone
circle is an impressive ritual road
, 100 meters wide and 1165
meters long , formed almost
1100 standing stones “ or
menhirs “ in eleven rows . They
were meant to follow the
movement of the moon and stars
“ not the sun “
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