Egyptian ancient architecture

2. • Narrow stretch of fertile and arable land
along the Nile
• Beyond riverbanks, barren desert and
rugged cliffs prevented attack from invaders
• Mediterranean and Red seas
• Climate spring and summer
with brilliant sunshine
• After death, a persons soul went on to enjoy eternal
life in kingdom of the God Osiris - imagined this
kingdom as a perfect version of Egypt
• Pharaohs were buried, bringing with them the things
they might need in the afterlife, even living people
• Wished for a fine burial, embalmment and funeral rites,
and a permanent tomb or "eternal dwelling"
• Dead body had to be preserved to house the spirit
• Remove insides, dry out the body, filled with linen,
masked and bandaged

3. ANCIENT KINGDOM ( 1ST – 10TH DYNASTY )
Development of two types of tombs
Mastaba
Pyramid
MIDDLE KINGDOM ( 11TH – 17TH DYNASTY )
Important Personalities
MENTUHETEP II
SENUSRETS
AMENEMHAT I
NEW EMPIRE ( 18TH – 30TH DYNASTY )
Important Personalities
THOTMES 1
HATSHEPSUT
THOTMES 1V
AMENOPHIS III
RAMESES I
RAMESES II
THE PTOLEMAIC PERIOD
Important Personalities
PTOLEMY II
PTOLEMY III

4. Due to the scarcity of wood, the two predominant building
materials used in ancient Egypt were sun-baked mud bricks
and stone, mainly limestone, but also sandstone and granite
in considerable. Stone was generally reserved for tombs and
temples, while bricks were used even for royal palaces,
fortresses, the walls of temple precincts and towns, and for
subsidiary buildings in temple complexes.
• Flat roof to cover and exclude heat
• No windows
• Spaces were lit by skylights, roof slits and clerestories
• Use of batter walls which diminish in width towards the
top for stability
• Unbroken massive walls, uninterrupted space for
hieroglyphics
• use of torus mouldings
• mouldings such as gorge
or hollow and roll

5. CAPITALS & COLUMNS
• Bud & Bell Capital
•Volute Capital
•Hathor – Headed
Capital
•Polygonal Columns
•Palm type Capital
•Osiris Pillars
•Papyrus Capital
•Square Pillars

6. ORNAMENTS
• Lotus Papyrus & Palm – for “
fertility”
• Solar Discs & Vutures w/ wings –
for “ protection ”
• Spiral & feather ornament – for “
eternity ”
• Scarab or sacred beetle – for “
resurrection”

7. • Rectangular flat-topped funerary mound, with
battered side, covering a burial chamber below
ground
• First type of Egyptian tomb
• Developed from small and inconspicuous to
huge and imposing.
Parts:
• Stairway with 2 doors: one for ritual, second was a
false door for spirits
• Column Hall
• Offering Chapel
• Serdab (contains statue of deceased)
• Offering room with Stelae (upright stone slab with
name of deceased inscribed)
• Offering table
• Sarcophagus – Egyptian coffin

8. The most famous surviving examples of
monumental architecture in Egypt. The word
'pyramid' actually comes from the Greek word
'pyramis' which means 'wheat cake'. Sides are
facing the cardinal points meeting at an apex.
Parts:
• Pyramid Entrance and Descending Corridor
• The Subterranean Chamber
• Grand Gallery
• Escape Shaft
• The Middle, or Queen's Chamber
• The Queen's Chamber Shafts
• The Upper or King's Chamber

9. 1. STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER
- can be found in Saqqara necropolis
- built by Imhotep, the first recorded architect
- 62 meters high
- evolved from 6 mastabas
- cladded with polished limestone
2. MAIDUN PYRAMID OF SNEFERU
- can be found in necropolis of Dashur 40
kilometers south of Cairo
- 65 meters high

10. 4. RED PYRAMID OF SNEFERU
- largest of the 3 main pyramid in Dashur,
necropolis
- named for the rusty reddish hue of its red
limestone stones
- 104 meters high
- also known as Shining Northern Pyramid
3. BENT PYRAMID OF SNEFERU
- can be found in necropolis of Dashur 40
kilometers south of Cairo
- The lower part of the pyramid rises from the
desert at a 54-degree inclination, but the top
section is built at the shallower angle of 43
degrees, lending the pyramid its very obvious
'bent' appearance. This is to make the pyramid
lighter and prevent it from collapsing.
- 105 meters high
- cladded with polished limestone

11. 3. The Giza Pyramid complex
-were built in the Fourth Dynasty, testify to the
power of the pharaonic religion and state. They
were built to serve both as grave sites and also as
a way to make their names last forever. The size
and simple design show the high skill level of
Egyptian design and engineering on a large scale.
-The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau,
on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt.
- Equilateral sides faces the cardinal points.
-This ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the
Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid
and the Pyramid of Cheops), the somewhat smaller
Pyamid of Khafre (or Kephren/Chefren), and the
relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure (or
Mykerinus/Mycerinus), along with a number of
smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens"
pyramids, and the Great Sphinx.

12. a. PYRAMID OF THE CHEOPS OR KHUFU
(146.4 mts. High & ( 750 sq. ft. ) the biggest
pyramid and the plan is two times the area of
the famous “ St. Peter Basilica in Rome”.
-base is 230.25 mts.

13. b. PYRAMID OF CHEPHREN or “Khafre”
( 143.50 mts. high ) & (705 sq. ft. ) in plan.
- It has the impression of appearing taller by
building it on a site with a foundation 33 feet
higher than his father‘s.
- Base is 215.50 mts.

14. c. PYRAMID OF MYKERINOS or “Menkaura “
(65.5 mts. high) & (215 ft. high).
-base is 108.5 mtrs.
- Smallest of the three pyramids

15. d. SPHINX – is a mythical creature which has a
body of a lion and a human head.
- is carved out of sandstone & its body is 200’ long and
65’ tall. The face is 13’ wide & it was buried in the desert
sand until a Pharaoh of the 5th dynasty excavated it. The
pyramid is widely considered to be a depiction of royal
power of the Pharaoh.

16. • is a burial chamber that is cut into the rock usually
along the side of the hill.
• it is a common form of burial for the wealthy/
nobility
Tomb of Beni Hasan
Tombs of the Kings, Thebes

17. 2 TYPES OF TEMPLE
Mortuary – built in honor of the Pharaohs
Cult – built for the worship of the gods, only
high priest can enter in both types of
temple.
PARTS OF AN EGYPTIAN TEMPLE
Entrance Pylon – massive sloping towers
fronted by an obelisks known as gateways
in Egypt .
Hypaethral Court – large outer court open
to the sky
Hypostyle Hall - a pillared hall in which the
roofs rest on column.
Sanctuary – usually surrounded by
passages & chambers used in connection
w/ the temple service.
Avenue of Sphinx – where mystical monster
were placed.

18. PYLON
OBELISK
SANCTUARY
AVENUE OF SPHINX
HYPOSTYLE HALL

19. 1. GREAT TEMPLE OF AMMON, KARNAK
- temple building was begun in the 12th dynasty (1991-1785
BC) and was continued over centuries. With an area of
about 100 h, Karnak is the largest and probably also the
most impressive temple complex in the world. The main
temple in the heart of the complex is dedicated to God
Amun and was built in the 18th dynasty (1552-1306
BC) The gem of Karnak however is the famous and well
preserved hypostyle hall (columns hall) with its 134
columns - a masterstroke of ancient Egyptian architecture
under Setos I and Ramses II (19. dynasty, 1306-1186 BC
- avenue of ram-headed sphinxes leads the visitor towards
the main entrance of the temple. Monumental Pylons, of
a height of more than 40 m, colossal statues such as those
of Ramses II, the gigantic obelisks of the Hapschepsut
and above all the gigantic columns of the famous
hypostyle hall – which reach at the middle road a height
of 24m.

20. 1. GREAT TEMPLE OF AMMON, KARNAK

21. 2. TEMPLE OF LUXOR
- The temple of Luxor was erected in the very heart of the
ancient city of Thebes. It is consecrated to God Amun
and connected to the Temple of Kamak by a 1.84 ml (3
km) long processional way, which Amenophis III lined
with ram headed Sphinxes, like those still to be seen in
Kamak.
- The temple of Luxor is much smaller than that of Kamak;
however it is also magnificent and of majestic beauty. As
in Kamak, a monumental entrance gate leads into a
large courtyard beyond which is a hypostyle hall with
gigantic columns, followed by the actual sanctuary, to
which only pharaohs and priests were allowed
access. Colossal statues, as well as fascinating reliefs
with hieroglyphic inscriptions and graphic
representations, tell of the heroic deeds of the Pharaohs
and the history of Egypt.
- The temple building dates back to the XVIII. Dynasty (1567-
1320 BC) or earlier and was continued over centuries. In
the course of the time, it reached a dimension of almost
284 yd (260 m)! In the present temple building
Amenophis III (1402-1364 BC) and Ramses II (1279-1213
BC) were essentially involved, but also also Hatshepsut,
Tuthmose III and other pharaohs left behind their traces.

22. 2. TEMPLE OF LUXOR

23. 2. THE GREAT TEMPLE OF ABU SIMBEL
- It is one of the rock- hewn temples at this place
commanded by the indefatigable Rameses II. An
entrance forecourt leads to the imposing façade, 36 m
( 119 ft. ) wide and 32 m ( 105 ft. ) high formed as pylon,
immediately in front of which are four rock-cut seated
colossal statues of Rameses, over 20 m ( 65 ft. ) high.
- complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968, on an
artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the
Aswan high dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was
necessary to avoid their being submerged during the
creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir
formed after the building of the Aswan high dam on the Nile
River.

24. 2. TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT
- The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Der – el
Bahari is quite interesting as it consists of 3 terraced courts cut
out of the rock & connected by a ramp.
The upper court if flanked by 2 sacrificial halls, while on the
central axis is the sanctuary, cut deep into the rock.
The fluted columns with square capitals are fore runners of the
Greek columns & the walls have fine relief sculptures.
- Hatshepsut's chancellor, royal architect Senenmut oversaw
construction.

25. • monumental gateway to the temple consisting of
slanting walls flanking the entrance.
PYLON
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

26. DWELLING
DWELLINGS
• Made of crude brick
• One or two storey high
• Flat roof deck 3 parts:
• Reception suite on north side - central hall or
living room with high ceiling and clerestory
• Service quarters
• Private quarters
FORTRESSES
• Mostly found on west bank of Nile or on islands
• Close communications with other fortresses
Fortress of Buhen
• Headquarters & largest fortified town near Nubia
• From here they could trade and invade lands to
the south
FORTRESS