HSAR 01 – Egyptian Architecture Reviewer

Influences on Egyptian Architecture

Climatic · Religious · Social & Political · Historical

☀️ Climatic Influence

Environment Shapes Form

Warm, sunny climate — storms and rain are rare
Flat roofs with thick stone slabs — good preservation
No windows — light entered via doors & roof slits
Massive walls without openings — protect from fierce desert sun
Simplicity in construction — protection from heat but no need to guard against inclement weather

⚱️ Religious Influence

Life After Death

Pyramids built — belief in life after death & preservation of the body
Herodotus: dwelling house = temporary lodging; tomb = permanent abode
Priesthood had almost unlimited authority
Religion is monotheistic in theory, polytheistic in practice

👑 Pharaoh's Role

Divine Builders

Seen as gods dwelling on earth
Sole masters of the country and inhabitants
Initiated design, financing, quarrying, transport, labor
Builders and leaders of all construction

🏛 Social/Political Influence

Government Hierarchy

Monarchy — form of government
Pharaoh — King, ruler, highest priest
Vizier — King's most powerful official
Chancellor — controls royal treasuries & granaries
Chief Steward — King's personal estate & household
Nobles → Soldiers/Officials → Craftsmen → Slaves

🏗 Architectural Character

Three Core Qualities

Simplicity
Monumentality
Solidity / Massiveness

📐 Structural System

Construction

Post & Lintel / Columnar / Trabeated system
Battered Wall — inclination from base to top of façade
Thickness: 9 to 24m at temples
Unbroken massive walls — uninterrupted space for hieroglyphics
Roof lit by skylights, roof slits, clerestories

Decorations & Ornaments

🔤 Hieroglyphics

Sacred Carvings

Formal writing system combining logographic and alphabetic elements. Cursive hieroglyphs used for religious literature on papyrus and wood.

🌺 Common Ornaments

Symbolic Meanings

Lotus, Papyrus & Palm — fertility
Solar Discs & Vultures with wings — protection
Spiral & feather — eternity
Scarab / sacred beetle — resurrection

🚪 False Doors

Niches for Offerings

Found in tombs and temples for the dead
Given the form of doors
Offering slab with real or symbolic food
Decorated with names/titles of grave's owner

〰️ Mouldings

Decorative Profiles

Gorge and Hollow Moulding — inspired by reeds
Torus mold

Historical Periods & Key Pharaohs

Old Kingdom · Middle Kingdom · New Kingdom · Ptolemaic Dynasty

Period	Dynasties	Dates (BC)	Capital	Key Development
Old Kingdom	I–X	4777–2821	Memphis	Mastabas & Pyramids
Middle Kingdom	XI–XVI	2821–1738	—	Rock-Cut Tombs; Hyksos invasion
New Kingdom	XVII–XX	1738–950	Thebes	Grand temples at Karnak, Luxor, Abu Simbel
Ptolemaic	—	After 950	Alexandria	Lighthouse; Temple of Serapis

Old Kingdom · 1st–10th Dynasty

Djoser

First pharaoh to order construction of a pyramid — the Step Pyramid at Saqqara.

Old Kingdom · Djoser's Court

Imhotep

Djoser's vizier. Considered the earliest known architect. Designed the Step Pyramid — oldest surviving masonry structure in the world.

Old Kingdom

Snefru (Sneferu)

Built the Bent Pyramid (lower at 54°, upper at 43°). Also constructed the Red Pyramid of Dahshur — first successful true smooth-sided pyramid.

Old Kingdom

Khufu (Cheops)

Sneferu's son. Built the Three Great Pyramids of Gizeh. King's Chamber: 10.5m × 5m × 6m high. Area ~13 acres (twice St. Peter's, Rome).

Middle Kingdom · 11th–16th Dynasty

Mentuhotep II

Founder of the Middle Kingdom. Developed the 3rd type of tomb — the rock-cut tomb.

Middle Kingdom

Amenemhet I

Initiated the foundation of the Great Temple of Ammon, Kharnak — grandest of all temples.

Middle Kingdom

Senusret I (Senwosret)

Erected the earliest known obelisk.

New Kingdom · 17th–20th Dynasty

Thutmose I

First king to drastically enlarge Temple of Ammon; constructed the hypostyle hall using cedar wood.

New Kingdom

Hatshepsut

Queen of Egypt. Built the famous funerary temple at Mt. Der El-Bahari — closest Egypt came to Classical architecture. Designed by Senenmut.

New Kingdom

Thutmose IV

Responsible for cleaning sand from the Great Sphinx of Giza — oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt.

New Kingdom

Amenophis III (Amenhotep III)

Erected the Colossi of Memnon — one of the wonders of the world.

New Kingdom · 19th Dynasty

Ramesses I

Founding pharaoh of 19th Dynasty. Son Seti I started the great hypostyle hall of Temple of Ammon, Kharnak.

New Kingdom

Rameses II (Ramesses the Great)

Finished the Hypostyle Hall; built the Rock Temple at Abu Simbel (4 colossal seated statues façade); built the Remission, Thebes.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

Ptolemy II

Built the Pharos of the Light House (Lighthouse of Alexandria).

Ptolemaic Dynasty

Ptolemy III

Founded the Great Temple of Serapis at Alexandria.

Ptolemaic Dynasty

Cleopatra VII

Last ruler of Egypt before it was annexed as a province of Rome.

Three Types of Tombs

Mastaba · Pyramid · Rock-Cut Tomb

🔲 Type 1 — Mastaba

The Bench Tomb

Arabic: "bench" — rectangular flat-roofed superstructure
Earliest type of tomb (Old Kingdom)
Outer Chamber — offerings, walls with festal scenes
Serdab — inner secret chamber with statues of deceased
Shaft/Well — leads down to sarcophagus chamber
Sarcophagus — underground chamber containing mummy's coffin
Stele — upright stone slab with name of the dead
Example: Mastaba of Seshemnefer IV at Giza
Mastabat al-Fir'aun — Bench of the Pharaoh; tomb of Shepseskaf, last of 4th Dynasty

🔺 Type 2 — Pyramid

Royal Tombs of the Kings

Evolved from Mastaba
Four sides facing the cardinal points
Made by ~100,000 men for 100 years
Faces are equilateral triangles meeting at a point
Governing idea: immortality through mummy preservation
Three subtypes: Step, Bent, Slope (True) Pyramid

⛰️ Type 3 — Rock-Cut Tomb

Hewn into the Mountain

Cut deep into mountain rock
Burial chamber cut into living rock, usually on hillside
Common for wealthy in ancient times
Developed by Mentuhotep II in Middle Kingdom
Examples: Valley of the Kings (Thebes), Tombs at Beni Hasan
Abu Simbel: twin temples carved from mountainside by Ramesses II

Pyramid Details

Step Pyramid · Saqqara

Step Pyramid of Djoser

Six mastabas of decreasing size stacked atop one another
Built by Imhotep
Oldest surviving masonry building structure in the world
Located at Saqqara

Bent Pyramid · Dashur

Pyramid of Sneferu

Lower part: 54° inclination
Top section: 43° inclination
This difference gives the obvious "bent" appearance
Second pyramid built by Sneferu

Meidum Pyramid

Egypt's First Straight-Sided

Called el-heram el-kaddaab — "False Pyramid" in Egyptian Arabic
Unusual appearance compared to later pyramids

Red Pyramid · Dahshur

North Pyramid

Largest pyramid at the Dahshur necropolis
Made of red limestone
Third largest Egyptian pyramid
Believed to be Egypt's first successful true smooth-sided pyramid
Originally cased with white Tura limestone

Pyramids of Gizeh

Three Great Pyramids

Pyramid of Cheops/Khufu — largest
Pyramid of Chepren/Khafre — second
Pyramid of Mykerinos/Menkaure — smallest
Square in plan; area ~13 acres (twice St. Peter's, Rome)
King's Chamber: 10.5m × 5m × 6m high
Chamber covered: 5 tiers of great stone beams, vault above

Tombs at Beni Hasan

Rock-Cut Group

39 rock-hewn tombs in Upper Egypt
Carved into limestone hills on East Bank of Nile
Tomb of Khnemhotep: two sixteen-sided columns
Considered a prototype of the Greek Doric order
Columns are slightly fluted with an entasis

Abu Simbel Temple Complex

Temple of Ramses II & Temple of Nefertari

Twin temples carved from mountainside during Ramesses II's reign
Entrance forecourt → imposing façade with four colossal seated statues
In 1960s — dismantled and relocated to save from rising Aswan Dam waters
UNESCO campaign; position relative to sun and planets was maintained

Egyptian Temples

Sanctuaries only Kings and Priests could penetrate

Parts of an Egyptian Temple

Part 1

Pylons — The Gateway

Monumental gateway — slanting walls flanking entrance portal
Mirrored the hieroglyph akhet "horizon" — two hills between which the sun rose and set
The place of re-creation and rebirth
Often decorated with scenes emphasizing king's authority
Entrance Pylon — massive sloping towers fronted by obelisks

Part 2

Hypaethral Court

Large outer court open to the sky
First interior space after the pylon

Part 3

Hypostyle Hall

Pillared hall — roofs rest on columns
Most famous: Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak (started by Seti I, finished by Rameses II)
Thutmose I constructed first hypostyle hall using cedar wood

Part 4

Sanctuary

Usually surrounded by passages and chambers
Used in connection with temple service
Innermost sacred space

Part 5

Avenue of Sphinx

Mystical monsters placed along the avenue
Androsphinx — lion body, human head
Criosphinx — lion body, ram head
Hierocosphinx — lion body, falcon/hawk head
Egyptian sphinx = shown as a man; Greek sphinx = head of a woman

Key Temples

Grandest Temple

Great Temple of Amun at Karnak

Grandest temple in Egyptian planning
Commenced by Amenemhet I
Not one complete plan — built by many kings
Built from 12th Dynasty to the Ptolemaic period

Luxor Temple

"The Southern Sanctuary"

Dedicated to the rejuvenation of kingship
Statues of Ramses II at first Pylon entrance
Avenue of Sphinxes (human-headed) once connected Karnak and Luxor
One obelisk now at Place de la Concorde, Paris

Temple of Edfu

Second Largest Temple

Dedicated to Horus — the falcon-headed god
Second largest temple in Egypt

Hatshepsut's Temple

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut · Mt. Der El-Bahari

Closest Egypt came to Classical architecture
Designed and built by Senenmut — royal steward & architect
Representative of New Kingdom funerary architecture
Aggrandizes the pharaoh + sanctuaries for gods of her afterlife

⚡ Important Feature

Obelisks

Monumental pillars, usually in pairs at temple entrances
Symbol of Heliopolis — the sun god
Square in plan; height = 9 to 10 times the diameter of the base
Four sides taper to the top in the form of a small pyramid
Senusret I — erected earliest known obelisk
Obelisk of Tuthmosis III — Istanbul, Turkey
Lateran Obelisk — largest standing ancient Egyptian obelisk, tallest in Italy
One Luxor obelisk now at Place de la Concorde, Paris
Obelisk brought to Rome by Emperor Caligula in 37 AD

Architectural Elements & Columns

Capital Types · Column Styles

Column Type	Key Feature	Notes
Plant Style (Bud/Bell)	Bundled reeds/plants; bud or bell capital	Motifs: lily, palm, lotus, papyrus; bright painted carved relief
Palmiform	Palm tree motif on capital	—
Lotiform	Simple lotus bud form; ribbed shafts = lotus stems	Used in non-secular; declined in New Kingdom
Papyriform	Resembles papyrus plant; closed (buds) or open bell-shaped capitals	In New Kingdom, shafts taper upwards with triangular stem sheaths
Campaniform	Flower-shaped capital; two styles: papyrus (Lower Egypt) & lotus (Upper Egypt)	Some circular, ribbed, or square shafts
Fluted	Bundled reeds; polygonal shaft in later periods	Early form; mostly died out by New Kingdom
Coniform	Fluted shaft + capital = conifer tree branches	Only in Djoser's Step Pyramid enclosure wall; quickly died out
Tent Pole	Stone representation of wooden tent poles	Only surviving examples at Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III, Karnak
Composite	Floral designs with multiple real/imagined plants	Common in Graeco-Roman Period; evolved further in Greece & Rome
Hathor Column	Capital = cow-headed goddess Hathor; round shaft	Non-plant style
Osiris Pillars	Engaged (attached to another element); statue of Osiris on front	Appeared in Middle Kingdom; all examples engaged

📋 Quick List — All Capitals

8 Capital Types to Know

Bud & Bell Capital
Volute Capital
Hathor-Headed Capital
Polygonal Columns
Palm Type Capital
Osiris Pillars
Papyrus Capital
Square Pillars

📐 Structural Note

Column Construction

Columns often made from one large monolithic block
Stone shafts carved to resemble bundled reeds, tree trunks, or plant stems
Decorations: bright painted carved relief

Dwellings & Fortresses

Egyptian Domestic and Military Architecture

🏠 Egyptian Dwellings

Domestic Architecture

Made of crude brick
One or two storey high
Flat roof deck
Three parts:
Reception Suite — north side; central hall/living room with high ceiling and clerestory
Service Quarters
Private Quarters

🏰 Fortresses

Military Architecture

Mostly on west bank of Nile or on islands
Close communications with other fortresses
Fortress of Buhen — headquarters & largest fortified town near Nubia
Used for trade and invasion of southern lands

📝 Quick Recall

Classification of Egyptian Architecture

Tombs — Mastabas, Pyramids, Rock-Cut Tombs
Temples — Sanctuaries (Kings & Priests only)
Dwellings — Crude brick, flat roof
Fortresses — West bank of Nile, Buhen

⚡ Flashcards

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