Ancient Africa - Nile River Culture and the Pyramids

1. Ancient Africa - Nile River Culture and the Pyramids

2. I. Cultural and environmental determinants of Egyptian architecture A. Characteristics of Egyptian politics, climate, religion, and landscape (compared to Mesopotamia) 1. The Middle East with Egypt and the Red Sea

3. I. A. . . . religion King’s burial in Mesopotamia King’s burial in ancient Egypt Mudbrick royal tomb at Ur Great Pyramids at Giza

4. I. A. 1. Landscape+Architecture Pay special attention to Egypt’s innovations in landscape/architecture relationship Egypt – Nile River Valley 2. Nile River, Egypt

5. I. B. The world’s earliest stone architecture Nile River in Upper Egypt

6. I. B. 2. What was the cultural significance of stone in Egyptian architecture? I. B. 1. Which buildings were constructed in stone? mudbrick stone Temple of Re at Heliopolis The “Bent” Pyrmaid, Dahshur, Egypt, ca. 2600 bc Town of El-Kahun Royal palace at Tell Amarna

7. I. C. Vernacular building traditions and the look of Egyptian stone architecture. battered walls 1. gorge cornice mudbrick house in Yemen today ancient Egyptian model of a tall house ¾ round molding

8. I. C.1. Does Egyptian architectural form derive from symbolism or techtonics? ≠ form material model of an Egyptian hut shrine

9. Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom 2600 bc 2500 bc 2030 bc 1550 bc 1400 bc King Zoser’s Mortuary Complex Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut Temple of Amon, Luxor Great Pyramids, Giza (mortuary complex)

10. II. Egyptian funerary architecture: transforming the space of fear and death

11. II. 4. Zoser’s Pyramid & Mortuary Complex, Saqqara, Egypt, c. 2680 B.C. King Zoser (r. 2687-2668 bc)

12. II. A. Religious context: What is the king’s relationship with the sun god (Re) in life and death? Ka – a vital force emanating from the god to his son the king Statue of Zoser in the serdab Zoser’s Mortuary Complex

13. II. A. 1. What was orientation of Zoser’s Mortuary Complex? Zoser’s Mortuary Complex

14. II. B. Landscape: King Zoser’s Mortuary Complex as funerary architecture II. B. 1. Why were geographical and architectural realities represented symbolically in the complex as an eternal landscape of Egypt? 3. Zoser’s Mortuary Complex

15. II. A. Zoser’s Step Pyramid mastaba Mastaba of Queen Herneith, Saqqara, 1st Dynasty (3100-2890 BC)

16. II. C. Major parts of the complex and the vernacular origins of their architecture: 1. What vernacular materials were transformed into stone? Step Pyramid of Zoser Giza (Chephren’s Pyramid)

17. II. C. 1. Walls of Zoser’s Mortuary Complex

18. II. C. 2. colonnaded entrance hall bundled reed column Step Pyramid of Zoser

19. II. C. 2. Zoser’s Mortuary Complex clerestorey illuminates the interior

20. II. C. 3. Heb-Sed Court with sham temples Zoser’s Mortuary Complex – Heb-Sed Court reconstructed sham temples on Heb-Sed Court

21. II. C. 3. Heb-Sed Court with sham temples Zoser’s Mortuary Complex curved hoops of matting bundled reed columns imitation woodfence

22. II. C. 3. a. Heb-Sed Court with sham temples Zoser’s Mortuary Complex reed columns w/ saddle capitals

23. II. C. 4. North and South sham palaces – symbolic, not practical, use of plant forms Zoser’s Mortuary Complex chapel next to north sham palace

24. II. C. 4. North and South sham palaces - symbolic, not practical, use of plant forms in building Zoser’s Mortuary Complex south sham palace - lotus columns north sham palace - papyrus columns

25. II. D. 1. What does the hieroglyphic signature of architect Imhotep tell us about the status of architects ? II. D. Theory: Who or what is the source of the architectural ideas that brought Zoser’s Mortuary Complex to fruition? Imhotep’s list of titles: Chancellor of the King of Egypt, Doctor, First in line after the King of Upper Egypt, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary nobleman, High Priest of Heliopolis, Builder, Chief Carpenter, Chief Sculptor and Maker of Vases in Chief. hieroglyphic signature of Imhotep in Zoser’s pyramid

26. III. Great Pyramids at Giza: An Abrupt Change in Site Design 6. Great Pyramids at Giza, Egypt, 2570-2500 B.C.

27. III. A. Site Design: What is unprecedented in Egyptian culture in the relationship between architecture and landscape at Giza? Great Pyramids at Giza

28. III. A. 1. What is an explanation for the bond to landscape in terms of ritual? Great Pyramids at Giza

29. III. A. 2. The tripartite sequence of elements in the landscape-embracing design Great Pyramids at Giza mortuary temple causeway valley temple

30. III. A. 2. a. valley temple (and sphinx) Great Pyramids at Giza (Chephren’s Valley Temple)

31. III. A. 2. b. mortuary temple Great Pyramids at Giza (Chephren’s Mortuary Temple)

32. III. A. 2. c. pyramid (tomb) Great Pyramids at Giza (Chephren’s Pyramid in foreground)

33. III. A. 2. c. pyramid (tomb) Giza (Cheops’s Pyramid) Saqqara (Zoser’s step pyramid)

34. III. C. Aesthetic revolution: a new architectural language at Giza 1. What forms replaced references to natural forms and vernacular architecture at Giza? non-referential representational forms abstract, pure geometrical forms Zoser’s Mortuary Complex Giza (Chephren’s Valley Temple)

35. III. C. 1. non-referential forms = timeless = radical break with past 7. or 3. Zoser’s Step Pyramid at Saqqara Giza

36. III. C. 1. Great Pyramids at Giza

37. III. C. 2. not included in 2011

38. III. D. Political context: Why do we see these architectural changes at Giza now at this particular moment in Egyptian history? Great Pyramids at Giza Temple of Amon-Re at Heliopolis