ANCIENT EGYPT:
Structural Conservatism &
Material Extravagance
The Nile River Valley
• due to basic human
needs for sustenance it
is no surprise the Nile
River Valley developed
as it did:
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–
–
–
–
water
fertilization
transportation
building materials
aesthetic inspiration
mastaba
Old Kingdom (2680–2181 B.C.)
•sepulchral structure built above ground
•elaboration of pre-dynastic burial-pit & mound form
•generally rectangular in plan with a flat roof and inwardsloping walls
• built of brick and faced with limestone slabs
• angle of repose—natural “structure” of earth when piled
• battered—or has a slope
Pyramids of Giza
Structural Conservatism
• Skiomorphosis - describes that process
whereby a form is invented in one
material as a response to the physical
properties of that material and then
transferred to another material whose
properties do not demand that form.
Segregation of Classes
• Division of class
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Royalty
Military
Laboring class
Merchant class
• Segregation of
residential districts
Temple Complex at Karnac
Trabeated Construction
Lintel: Horizontal Element
Post: Vertical Element
Battered Wall
Cavetto Cornice
Temple of Edfu:
The Main Pylon/Gate
Obelisk
Temple of Amon at Karnac
Path or Axis
Temple of Amon at Karnac
Axial
Planning
Additive
Construction
Hypostyle Hall: Nature’s Grid
SUN
NILE
Hypostyle Hall
Lotus Flower
Capital
Clerestory
Latin: hypo-inside, style-column
hierarchy of society (statues and restricted spaces) fused
in architecture
The Dense Forest
Applied
Polychromy
HIEROGLYPHICS
Bas (Low) Relief Carving
Incised Carving
Arab World Institute
Notre
Dame
Jean Nouvel, Paris France, 1983-87
Light Sensitive
Windows
Jean
Nouvel’s
Hypostyle
Hall
Interior of Nouvel’s Hypostyle
Interior of Arab World Institute
INTERIORS
• Egyptian Pyramids
– Eternal
• Egyptian Villas and Palaces
– Absence of ceremony and its effect on
the interior
– Symbolic journey of life
– Importance of the hearth
– Movable furniture
– Ephemeral
Model of a Villa of an aristocratic family at Te El
Armana, 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom
(reconstructed from archeological evidence)
Walls were
a canvas
for carving
or painted
murals.
Wooden
shutters or
grilles for
windows.
Plan of a Villa of an aristocratic family at
Te El Armana, 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom
(reconstructed from archeological
evidence)
Sun-baked
earthen
floors
cooler than
having
textiles.
Egyptian Furniture
Products of the Vernacular
• Products for ordinary people
• Local materials
• Priority of function
Products of the High Style
• Products for the elite
• Extravagant materials
• Followed them to the
afterlife
Alabaster
Lamp
Diagonal Struts
Wrapped Joints
table and oil lamps, Old Kingdom
Wood Joinery
Bedroom Suite of Queen Hetepheres, c. 2300 BCE Wood
encased in gold; loose cushions covered in cotton, painted
leather, metallic cloth
Folding Bed, Middle Kingdom
Headrest from the tomb of Tutankhamun,
c. 1352 Often wrapped in linen
Lotus
Blossom
Reeds
Zoomorphic
furniture
Impost
Block
The
Discovery
of King Tut’s
Tomb by
Howard
Carter
(1922)
The Antechamber
(Evidence of trade; Greek artifacts found in tombs)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/3499/MUMMY.HTM
Burial Chamber Entrance
An Unbroken Seal
The Primary
Sarcophagus of King
Tutankhamen
http://www.thebanmappingproject.com/
Stool from the tomb of Tutankhamun, c. 1352 BCE
• Seating
– Stool
Painted and Guilded Stool, 18th dynasty
• Seating
– Stool
– Chair
• Seating
– Stool
– Chair
– Arm chair
Arm Chair from the
tomb of Tutankhamun,
c. 1352 BCE
• Seating
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Stool
Chair
Arm chair
Throne
Use of textiles on furnishings:
1. Loose cushion
2. Pads or rolls of fabric secured over the
back and seat of chair
3. Leather (cowhide or goat skin) as
collapsible sling
Shrine Shaped Box, Old Kingdom
Chest on Legs, Old Kingdom
Egyptian Decorative Arts
Ivory hunting dog
Late Dynasty 18, 1400-1350 B.C.
Ivory, tinted red inside mouth and black around
eyes and on undersides of paws, l. 7 1/8 in.
Hippopotamus
Thebes, area of Deir el-Bahri, Dynasty 18, ca.
1450 B.C.
Painting on limestone, 4 11/16 x 4 1/8 in.
Cat
Ptolemaic Period, 305-30 B.C.
Bronze, h. 11 in.
Prancing Horse, New Kingdom, late Dynasty 18, probably
reign of Amenhotep III, ca. 1391–1353 B.C.
Egyptian
Ivory, garnet inlay; L. 6 in. (15 cm)
Make-up Palettes in the form of Turtles, Old Kingdom
Pectoral of Princess Sithathoryunet Lahun
Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret II, ca. 1897-1797 BCE
Gold, carnelian, feldspar, garnet, and turquoise; l. 3 1/4 in.
Egyptian Revivals
• The first occurs in the early 19th
century due to Napoleon’s
campaigns in Egypt and the
resulting Descriptions of Egypt.
• The second is concurrent with
Carter’s discovery of King Tut’s Tomb
in the early part of the 20th century.
Clock, 1808, Benjamin Vulliamy
Black Marble and Ormolu
Grauman’s
Egyptian Theater
Egyptian
Theater
Boise, Idaho