humanities (1) report

3200 B.C. – FIRST CENTURY A.D.

INTRODUCTION

MAP OF ANCIENT EGYPT

GEOGRAPHICAL >>

Egypt consists of a narrow strip of fertile, alluvial soil along both banks of the NILE, flanked by shelves of barren land and rugged cliffs, beyond which lie arid, desert plateau.

GEOLOGICAL >>

pyramid

copper

stone

tin

Gigantic scale

CLIMATIC >>

Egypt has only TWO seasons, SPRING and SUMMER. The climate is warm; snow is unknown, rain is rare and thus contributed to the preservation of buildings.

*The ROOF was not an important consideration, and flat roofs of stone slabs sufficed to cover the buildings, and exclude the heat.

HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL >>

The Egyptian civilization is among the most social and industrial conditions in Egypt were largely determined by the inflexible rule of an omnipotent government, which while employing large staffs of trained craftsmen continuously, levied vast armies of laborers for the erection of monumental buildings when the annual floods made agriculture impossible. Prisoners of war were also turned on to the same work.


Craftsmanship was very highly developed, particularly in the royal workshops, and the Egyptians attained great skill in weaving , glass blowing, pottery-turning, metal-working and in making musical instruments, jewelry and furniture.


The kings of ancient Egypt are known as PHARAOHS, are silhouetted against the mysterious desert background; sometimes they appear as GODS and DEMI-GODS , often as mystery PRIESTS, generally as BUILDERS, but rarely as fathers of their people.

RELIGIOUS >>

The religious rights of the Egyptians were traditional, virtually unchangeable, and mysterious. The religion was MONOTHEISTIC in theory , but POLYTHEISTIC in practice through the cult of many gods representing natural phenomena and the heavenly bodies, such as sun, moon, and stars, and by the worship of animals as personifications of gods.

In EGYPT there was no dividing line between gods and kings; no need for the doctrine of the divine right of the kings; for kings were ranked, both by themselves and by their people, as actual divinities.

*The religious attitude is typified in the two predominant types of buildings, the SOLEMN & MYSTERIOUS TEMPLES of the GODS and the ENDURING PYRAMIDS of the early kings

GODS OSIRIS

GOD OF DEATH

GODS

GODDESS OF MOTHER-HOOD,MAGIC & FERTILITY

ISIS

GODS

THESKY-GOD

HORUS

GODS

GODDESS OF LOVE

HATHOR

GODS

GODDESS OF EVIL

SET

GODS

THE BULL-GOD

SERAPIS

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER >>>

The surface decoration of the masonry walls is also held to have been derived from the practice of scratching pictures on the early mud-plaster walls, which manifestly did not lend themselves to modeled or projecting ornament, though their flat and windowless surfaces were eminently suitable for relief and explanatory hieroglyphs.

HIEROGLYPHICS

ARCHITECTURAL CHARACTER >>> Egyptian columns have

distinctive character and a very large proportion of them plainly advertise their vegetable origin, their SHAFTS indicative of bundles of plant stems, gathered in a little at the base, and with capitals seemingly derived from the lotus bud, the papyrus flower or the ubiquitous palm. Papyrus

bud

Papyrus budPapyrus bud

LOTUSFlower/ design

LOTUSFlower/

design

LOTUSFlower/

design


Egyptian monumental architecture, which is essentially a COLUMNAR and TRABEATED style, is expressed mainly in pyramids and other tombs in temples.

<- TRABEATED

<- COLUMN


DOORWAY IN PYLON

HOSIRIS PILLARS


Egyptian temples approached by impressive avenues of SPHINXES – or mythical monsters each with the body of a lion and a head of a man, hawk, ram, or a woman-possess in their massive pylons, great courts, hypostyle halls, inner sanctuaries and dim secret rooms.

SPHINX 73.15 M. LONG20.12 M. HIGH


PYLON- monumental gateway to an Egyptian temple consisting with slanting walls flanking the entrance portal, covering a burial chamber below ground.


WHOLE IMAGE OF PYLON

PYRAMIDS

PYRAMIDS

The Pyramids of Giza are the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt. These massive stone structures were built around 4500 years ago on a rocky desert plateau close to the Nile.The pyramids epitomize ancient Egypt, yet the biggest were constructed during a short span of time early in a civilization that was to last almost three millennia

PYRAMIDS

. The first large pyramid in Egypt was the Step Pyramid for the king Djoser. Essentially six stacked mastabas (tomb structures) of decreasing size, it was a major achievement and is the world's oldest known monumental stone structure. It was built at Saqqara, about 15 kilometers from Giza.

PYRAMIDS

KING DJOSER/ZOSER

PYRAMIDS IMHOTEP

Egyptian architect, chief magician at the Pharaoh's court, vizier, sage and astrologer.About 100 years after his death, he was elevated to a medical demigod. About 2000 years later, he was elevated to a full deity. Imhotep is together with Amenhotep the only Egyptian humans ever defined as full gods.

PYRAMIDS

The greatest achievements of the pyramid builders were the Pyramids of Giza, built near the capital city of Memphis for the fourth dynasty kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure who ruled through 2589-2504 BCE. But pyramid building soon waned as the power and prosperity of the kings of Egypt weakened with the end of the Old Kingdom.

PYRAMIDSTHE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest of the pyramids of ancient Egypt. Khufu ruled about 2589-2566 BCE when the Old Kingdom of Egypt was nearing a peak of prosperity and culture. His pyramid is astonishing for both its size and mathematical precision.

PYRAMIDS THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

Map of the Giza necropolis

PYRAMIDS THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA

From an entrance just above the base of the Great Pyramid, a cramped Ascending Passage climbs for 36 meters up through the solid stone core to a towering Grand Gallery. This climbs another 46 meters to reach the King's Chamber and an empty sarcophagus in the heart of this colossal pyramid. The enormous weight that bears down on the King's Chamber is dissipated by a series of ingenious stress-relieving chambers and massive granite beams built above it.

PYRAMIDS INSIDE THE PYRAMID OF KHUFU

PYRAMIDS INSIDE THE PYRAMID OF KHUFU

The Ascending Passage Grand Gallery

The King's Chamber in the heart of the Great Pyramid holds an empty stone sarcophagus.

The people of ancient Egypt believed that death on Earth was the start of a journey to the next world. The embalmed body of the king was entombed underneath or within the pyramid to protect it and allow his transformation and ascension to the afterlife, and a place among the gods.Each of the Giza Pyramids formed part of a pyramid complex that included an adjoining mortuary temple where rituals for the dead king and for the Egyptian gods may have been carried out. A causeway ran to a lower temple near the Nile floodplain that acted as an entrance to the complex. The complex around the Great Pyramid of Khufu also included three minor pyramids for his queens, pits for funerary boats and numerous mastaba tombs for the royal family and officials.

PYRAMIDS Purpose of the Egyptian pyramids

One of several cedarwood boats buried close to the Great Pyramid of Khufu. They may have been used during Khufu's funeral, or intended as solar boats to transport the king in the afterlife.

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 workers built the Pyramids at Giza over 80 years. Much of the work probably happened while the River Nile was flooded.Huge limestone blocks could be floated from quarries right to the base of the Pyramids. The stones would likely then be polished by hand and pushed up ramps to their intended positions.

PYRAMIDS How Pyramids were made?

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 workers built the Pyramids at Giza over 80 years. Much of the work probably happened while the River Nile was flooded.Huge limestone blocks could be floated from quarries right to the base of the Pyramids. The stones would likely then be polished by hand and pushed up ramps to their intended positions.It took more than manual labor, though. Architects achieved an accurate pyramid shape by running ropes from the outer corners up to the planned summit, to make sure the stones were positioned correctly. And priests-astronomers helped choose the pyramids' sites and orientations, so that they would be on the appropriate axis in relation to sacred constellations.

PYRAMIDS How Pyramids were made?

TEMPLES

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

Temples were found everywhere in ancient Egypt as a place to worship their endless pantheon of major and minor gods, and to worship their pharaoh as their god. Each city had a temple built for the god of that city, which acted as a cosmic center by which men had communication with the gods.

Not for public worshiping. Only the Pharaohs as the priest, and the one

he appointed as substitute, are allowed into the innermost chamber and perform the rituals inside.

Types of Temples Mortuary temples

-Built to honor a deceased pharaoh and often worship them as a god.

Cult temples-For the popular worship of the

ancient and mysterious gods.

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

Examples:

The Great Temple of Ammon, Karnak-the grandest of all Egyptian temples, was not built upon one complete plan but owes it size, disposition and magnificence to the work of many kings.

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

TEMPLE OF AMMON,KARNAK

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

Hypostyle Hall

The Great Temple of Abu-Simbel- is one of the rock-hewn temples at this place commanded by the indefatigable Rameses II.- also known as the “Temple of Rameses”.-they finished constructing it after 20 years.- 36m(119ft.) wide, 32m(105ft.) high, and the statue in front of the temple, the Colossus Statue of Rameses II, measures 20m(65ft.) high.

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

The Great Temple of Abu-Simbel

Temple of Khons (Cult temple)-It is dedicated to the moon god Khonsu.- The gateway of this temple is at the end of the avenue of sphinxes.

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

Temple of Khons (Cult temple)

TOPVIEWTOPVIEWTOPVIEWTOPVIEW

TOPVIEW

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

SIDEVIEW

OBELISKS-called TEJEN in the sacred language of the ancient Egyptians, was a term which was synonymous with "protection" or "defense." The needle of stone had the

function of perforating the clouds and dispersing negative forces that always threaten to accumulate,

in the form of visible storms or invisible ones, and was placed over the temple as a symbol of a petrified ray.

-it is usually stood in pairs astride temple entrance, are huge monoliths square on plan and tapering to an electrum-capped pyramidion at the summit, which was the sacred part. They have a height of nine or

ten times the diameter at the base, and the four sides are cut with hieroglyphics.

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

OBELISK

INTRODUCTIONThe history of Pharonic Egypt spans nearly 3 millennia, starting

around 3100 BC. Major accomplishments were achieved during 3 periods: the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms which lasted roughly 500 years (2700-2200 BC), 200 years (2000-1800 BC), and 500 years (1600-1100 BC). These periods were interrupted by intermediate periods where loss of central authority or foreign invasion led to decline.

The ancient Egyptian civilization changed dramatically over

these 1600 years, and many of these changes are reflected in how the tombs of the Kings and Queens, Nobleman, and Workers were built and decorated.

TOMBS

The Royal Tombs The mastaba was the earliest and simplest tomb structure. It consisted of a

single elevated platform and was built of mud-brick. These structures were not particularly elaborate and were not decorated.Meaning "house for eternity" or "eternal house"

The above-ground structure was rectangular in shape, had sloping sides, a flat roof, was about four times as long as it was wide, and rose to at least 30 feet in height. The mastaba was built with a north-south orientation. This above ground structure had space for a small offering chapel equipped with a false door to which priests and family members brought food and other offerings for the soul of the deceased. A second hidden chamber called a "serdab" from the Persian word for “cellar, housed a statue of the deceased that was hidden within the masonry for its protection. High up the walls of the serdab were small openings. These openings “were not meant for viewing the statue but rather for allowing the fragrance of burning incense, and possibly the spells spoken in rituals, to reach the statue.

TOMBS

The Tombs of the Noblemen The noblemen (the ranking government officials) and high

priests had decidedly more modest tombs. In the Old Kingdom, while pyramids were being built for kings, the noblemen were buried in mastabas. These mastabas were decorated with non-religious scenes depicting the daily life and official duties of the Association of afterlife in the company of Gods was reserved for the kings. The noblemen's tombs served more as a place where offering for the deceased can be made

TOMBS

The Tombs of the Workers A special type of tombs known from the New Kingdom are those of

the workers who built the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Although these were people of limited resources, they were well-equipped and skilled in tomb building. Because of their valued contribution to the royal families and noble elite to tomb construction, they were permitted to build their own "house of eternity". The tombs of the workers were notably more modest than those of the kings or noblemen - typically 1/5 the size of the noblemen's tombs which themselves were 1/5 the size of the kings. In architecture, a crypt meaning concealed, private is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics.

TOMBS

Egyptian sphinxesThe largest and most famous is

the Great Sphinx of Giza, sited at the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River and facing due east (29°58′31″N 31°08′15″E). It is also from the same dynasty. Although the date of its construction is uncertain, the head of the Great Sphinx now is believed to be that of the pharaoh Khafra.

The Great Sphinx has become an emblem of Egypt, frequently appearing on its stamps, coins, and official documents.

THE SPHINX

Carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau, the Sphinx is truly a mysterious marvel from the days of ancient Egypt. The body of a lion with the head of a king or god, the sphinx has come to symbolize strength and wisdom.

From the north side profile of the Sphinx reveals the proportion of the body to the head. It would appear as though the head is small in proportion to the body. Because of the changing dessert terrain, the body of the Sphinx has been buried several times over the past several thousand years. Most recently n 1905, the sand has been cleared away to expose the magnitude and beauty of the entire Sphinx. The paws themselves are 50 feet long(15m) while the entire length is 150 feet(45m). the head is 30feet(10m) long and 14feet(4) wide.

THE SPHINX

THE SPHINX

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