Egyptian Art: Architecture - Summary

The Egyptian people who settled more than 3000 years ago around the Nile River Valley were the creators of one of the most original and powerful cultures in history. Next, in this lesson from a TEACHER we will show you a brief overview of what Egyptian art is related to. refers, specifically of the architecture so that they get an idea of ​​the monumentality of this civilization. We start with a abstract architecture of egyptian art so that you understand, better, the cultural legacy of this great civilization.

Index

1. Egyptian Art: Architecture - Materials
2. Main characteristics of the architecture of Egyptian art
3. The most important buildings of Egyptian art
4. Egyptian art: Egyptian architecture by periods

Within this abstract architecture of egyptian art We will begin by talking about the materials that were used the most, which was almost always the stone, except during the predynastic period when adobe and wood were used.

The fact of using the stone was a real sacrifice since they had to go to the quarries of Aswan and Nubia and then they were transported by the river. However, it compensated them since by means of this material they symbolized immortality and in turn allowed them to make colossal constructions. The stone used to be arranged symmetrically and in this way erecting walls with buildings with rectilinear profiles and without projections.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we will discover a list with the most important Egyptian gods.

Egyptian architecture is of the architrave or lintelled type, that is to say, based exclusively on horizontal and vertical lines, thus giving rise to flat and straight forms, perhaps to evoke in it the straightness of the solar rays. This type of architecture will be covered with flat roofs that will force the number of supporting elements such as columns to be multiplied.

The columns remind us above all of the vegetal forms. They are gigantic columns, in which drums were attached one on top of the other, either with a smooth shaft or with reliefs, and topped with capitals that can be: lotiformes, papiriformes, palmiformes, campaniforme or hatoric.

Colossalism

Egyptian architecture is very disparate in relation to its function. There was no need for temples as large as that of Karnak, or tombs as large as can be seen with the pyramids of Gizeh. What happened was that Egyptian man was obsessed with survival and the existence of supernatural forces, both concepts were given such attention with these constructions and hence they deliberately surpassed the human scale.

We continue this abstract architecture of egyptian art speaking, now, of the most important buildings within this culture. The tombs stand out as symbols of eternal life and the temples.

Mastaba

It is shaped like a truncated pyramid, and its plan is usually rectangular, it consists of a series of chapels and chambers. They are the first tombs that began to be built in Egypt, and from here the pyramids derived. Over time these were reserved to bury officials and nobles.

Pyramid

It has its antecedent in the stepped pyramids and they present a pyramidal shape with a square base. It is made of perfectly carved stone blocks and consists of a series of galleries and vents. Among the most important spaces, the king's chamber, the camera of theQueen, the chamber of thetreasures and the Ka stay (where the stature of the pharaoh was put and it was believed that the pharaoh took refuge in it after his death). The aim of the pyramids was to preserve and protect the bodies of the pharaohs for eternity.

The egyptian temple

It is not a public building and is dedicated to the contemplation and adoration of God and Pharaoh. It consists primarily of an avenue of sphinxes that acclimate the faithful to enter a sacred space; then we find an obelisk that is a monolith topped in a pyramidal shape.

Upon reaching the building itself, we find two access walls called pylons that are carved in talud, that is, they are wider below and taper upwards and symbolically they are believed to represent Isis and Osiris.

Later you enter an open colonnaded room, called the hyper room. Then you go into a closed colonnaded room, which is called the hypostyle room. Finally, we come to the most sacred part of it, where the boat room and a small sanctuary are located. In these temples, as one advances towards the interior, the height decreases and the ventilation is carried out by means of small skylights (lattices).

We finished with this abstract egyptian architecture talking about the different periods in which this type of art is divided:

Ancient empire (2600 a. C. until 2100 BC C.)

Its capital was in Memphis and in this phase the great funeral complex of Sakarat, where the most important thing is the stepped pyramid, commissioned by Pharaoh Zoser and whose architect was Imhotep. It also highlights the Gizeh funeral complex, the most representative of this period. They are about tThree stone pyramids built for the pharaohs Cheops, Khafren and Menkaure.

Smaller mastabas appear around this set, where the officials of the pharaohs would be buried. Of these three pyramids, the largest of them is that of Cheops, considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It is 160 meters high and has a square base of 250 meters per side.

Middle kingdom (2040 a. C. - 1,650 a. C.)

Period during which the urban planning of the city ​​of Thebes.

New kingdom (1,552 - 1,070 BC)

In this empire the Karnak Temple, dedicated to the God Amon. The temple is built in a space that measures approximately 140m2. Its most distinguished and notable room is the hypostyle room whose ceiling rests on 122 columns over 21 meters high, arranged in nine rows.

Also highlight the Abu Simbel Hypogeum, which is excavated in the slope of a mountain in Nubia and represents four seated colossi of Pharaoh Ramses II, each one 30 meters high.

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