COURSE CODE : AR 1109

COURSE TITLE: HISTORY THEORY & CRITICISM - I

Presentation Prepared by Redesigned and Voice-over by
Kumar Vyomkesh Kailash Maliah
Assistant Professor- Senior Scale Assistant Professor- Senior Scale
B.Arch, MCP B.Arch, M.Arch (Advanced Design)
 UNIT – II
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION:
Focus:
Geographical and Climatic Conditions. Early Political and Socio-Cultural Situations and
Architectural Influences, Different Material availability, Various construction techniques, Built
spaces and Building typologies, Principles of Town Planning.
 MAP OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

As other Early civilizations, Egyptian

Civilization also flourished in the banks of a
River. It is famously called as the ‘Gift of
River Nile” Reference: https://www.edcowny.org/documents/
 MAP OF ANCIENT CIVILIZATION - Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a civilization of

ancient North Africa, concentrated
along the lower reaches of the Nile
River, situated in the place that is now
the country Egypt.

Reference: history.com
 TIMELINE - ANCIENT EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

1. Prehistoric Period, B.C. 23000-4777.

2. The Ancient Empire (Dynasties I.-X.), B.C. 4777-2821. The capital being at Memphis, the tombs of this period are at
Abydos, Nakadeh, Memphis, Sakkara, Gizeh and Abusir.
3. The Middle Empire (Dynasties XI.-XVI.), B.C. 2821-1738. A prosperous period which includes the dynasties of the ‘Hyskos’
or shepherd kings.
4. The New Empire (Dynasties XVII.-XX.), B.C. 1738-950. This period had Thebes as the capital, and many imposing
buildings were erected at Karnac, Luxor, and elsewhere.
5. Period of Foreign Domination (Dynasties XXI.-XXV.), B.C. 950-663.
6. The Late Egyptian Period (Dynasties XXVL--XXX.), B.C. 663-332. This period includes the Persian Domination.
7. The Graco-Roman Period, B.C. 332-A.D. 640: i. Alexander the Great and Ptolemaic Period, B.C. 332-30. ii. The Roman
Period, B.C. 3O-A.D. 395. iii. The Byzantine Period, A.D. 395-640.
8. Medieval Egypt (Mahomedan Period), A.D. 640-1517.
9. Modern Egypt (Turkish Domination), A^. 1517 to the present time.
O ve r v i ew o f A n c i e n t E g y p t i a n C i v i l i zat i o n
TIME PERIOD: 3150 – 653 BC.

LOCATION: Along the river Nile up to the Mediterranean Sea

and spread over Sahara dessert.

POLITICS:
• The areas were unified into one territory by the first
Pharaoh around 3000 BCE.
• Pharaoh was considered part God himself.
• The Pharaoh had absolute power over all political and
religious decisions in the country, including complete
control over the army.
• They favoured the execution of monumental works more
than anything else.
• The period of unification in Egypt can be split into three
different kingdoms; the Old, Middle, and New.
• Memphis was the capital of the Old Kingdom, while
Thebes was the capital of the Middle and New Kingdoms.
Economics

ECONOMICS:
• Trading system based on grain and coins
made of silver and copper.
• Trade routes were developed between
neighbors like Nubia and Canaan.
• Good timber was obtained from
Lebanon.
• Minerals such as obsidian and lapis lazuli
were imported from Anatolia and
Afghanistan.
S o c i a l H i e ra r c hy o f A n c i e nt E g y p t i a n C i v i l i z at i o n

SOCIETY:
• No formal class structure developed in
ancient Egypt. Later it developed as
follows:
• Bureaucrats were in charge of tracks of
land on which poorer people or farmers
lived.
• The bureaucrats were considerably richer
than the peasants.
• Farmers were taxed by the bureaucrats.
• Peasants made up a large portion of the
population.
• All foreigners were considered enemies.
 O ve r v i ew o f A n c i e n t E g y p t i a n C i v i l i z at i o n
HUMAN INTERACTIONS:
• The Nile River flooded the fields every year at the same time after harvesting season, and
when it receded, it left behind a fine silt.
• This silt is the reason farmers in Egypt were able to grow plants even in the harsh Egyptian
climate.
• Domesticated animals were used to pull plows.
• Crops like barley were planted because they would withstand the harsh sun.
• Irrigation canals were dug from the river to the fields.
• Grain and other non-perishable goods were stored for drought.
• Dikes were built on the sides of the Nile to protect villages and farmland from over-flood.
• Papyrus plants that grew on the coast was used to make sails, ropes, and paper.
• They were also hunters and fishermen.
• Specialized in crafts such as tool-making, architecture, and trades.
• The Egyptians developed stone tools, and made bricks out of mud and clay, but there was
not much bronze or any type of metal.
• The creation of the Pyramids, Sphinx, and other fantastic temples represented the amazing
advances in technology and science, and also the art.
C u l t u ra l O ve r v i e w

CULTURE:
• People believed that life was made up of continuous cycles, like the
flooding of the river.
• Their religion was based on nature around them, and the Pharaoh was
their link to the gods.
• Prepared for the afterlife; those who could afford it were wrapped in linens
(called mummification) and buried in elaborately decorated sarcophaguses
within tombs filled with their possessions and wealth.
• The Pharaohs were buried beneath the most elaborate archaeological
tombs, i.e., Pyramids,
• The walls in the tomb were painted in famous Egyptian art and can be seen
in modern Museums on tiles and pottery.
• The writing system developed - called Hieroglyphics - consisted of
pictograms and some phonetic syllables.
• Women had more rights than their Mesopotamian counterparts. They
were able to own business and were not bound to men.
R E L I G I O US B E L I E FS

RELIGION:
• A close connection between religion and architecture.
• The priesthood was powerful, possessed of almost unlimited authority, and equipped with all the learning of
the age.
• The religious rites were traditional, unchangeable, and mysterious.
• A very high degree of learning in astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy.
• The remains of their literature have been preserved in the papyri.
• A multiplicity of gods was created by personifying natural phenomena, such as the sun, moon, and stars, as well
as the brute creation.
• Strong beliefs in a future state ; hence preservation of the dead, and the erection of such everlasting
monuments as the Pyramids.
Architecture and
Building materials
ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES:
• Tombs
• Temples
• Mastabas and Pyramids

AVAILABLE BUILDING MATERIALS:

• Mud, reeds, palm trunks, bricks and stone, mainly
Limestone (in northern region).
• Sandstone and granite was available in abundance in
central and southern regions respectively.

A very distinct reminiscence of the primitive reeds tied

together at intervals, and crowned with the lotus bud, is found
in the later granite column and capital.
Pre and early dynastic Egypt (5500-3050 BC)
MAIN FEATURES:
• Different tribes evolved and hence cultures developed.
• Naqada culture had developed as a very strong civilization.
• Made high quality ceramics, stone tools, and used copper.
• Leaders of Naqada had complete control of the people and resources of the Nile
valley.
• Manufactured societal personal-use items, such as combs, small statuary,
painted pottery, high quality decorative stone vases, cosmetic palettes, and
jewellery made of gold, lapis, and ivory.
• Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into
a full system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language.

ARCHITECTURE: Royal tombs of first dynasty

• Simple brick-lined rooms.
• Wooden roof.
• Foods, wines bearing official seal were kept for after life.
• 3 chambers for family members.
• 9 other chambers for servants.
Early Dynastic Period
(3050-2686 BC)

MAIN FEATURES:
• Capital city was at Memphis.
• Large work force having a population of several millions.
• Abundance of stones like, Red granite, white marble, black
basalt and sand stone.

ARCHITECTURE:
• 41 meters high Obelisk near Aswan.
• Material used is Red Granite.
 Mastabas
• Probably derived from rude heaps of stones
piled up over earlier mummy holes.
• These were rectangular structures, with
sides sloping at an angle of 75 degrees, and
having flat roofs.
• They were divided into three parts:
I. The outer chamber, in which were
placed the offerings to the ‘Ka’,
having its walls decorated with
representations of festal and other
scenes.
II. Inner secret chambers, known as
the ‘serdabs’, containing statues of
the deceased, and members of his
family.
III. A well of great depth, leading to
the chamber containing the
sarcophagus with its mummy.
Early Dynastic Period
(3050-2686 BC)
MORTUARY COMPLEX OF DJOSER:
• Stepped pyramid
• The pyramid temple is situated at the north side of the
pyramid, whereas in later pyramids it is on the east side.
• One niched enclosure wall 277 X 544 meter precise,
whereas later pyramids have two enclosure walls.
• Orientation to 4 cardinal points.
• Light Tura limestone 10.5m high.
• The wall is interrupted by 14 doors, however only one
entrance.
• Roofed colonnade.
• Fluted columns.
Early Dynastic Period
(3050-2686 BC)
 Mastaba of Thy, Sakkara
• Well preserved and restored.
• Thy was a royal architect and manager of pyramids in fifth
dynasty.
• It consists of a small vestibule, beyond which is a large court where
offerings to the deceased took place, and from which a mummy
shaft led through a passage to a tomb chamber.
• The masonry of this tomb is carefully jointed and covered with flat
reliefs.
• The principal reliefs are in a second tomb chamber, 22 feet 9
inches by 23 feet 9 inches and 12 feet 6 inches high.
• These reliefs represent harvest operations, shipbuilding scenes,
scenes representing the arts and crafts of the period, the
slaughtering of sacrificial animals, and Thy himself sailing through
the marshes in a boat with a surrounding papyrus thicket.
Tombs during
Middle Empire

• In the Middle Empire tombs were either of the Pyramidal form, as at Abydos, or were rock-cut, as in the vertical cliffs
bounding the Nile valley.
 Architectural Evolution
• Mastabas are improved burial structures of tombs from the
grave mound of the pre-dynastic period.
• Early mastabas from the First Dynasty, were crude brickwork
with the use of the Egyptian way of bonding.
• Brick-lined and wooden roofed substructures gave the grave a
more durable structure.
• The exterior of the mastabas were nearly straight and vertical,
only a five degree angle.
• A superstructure of Zer, the improved mastaba is a structure of
adding layers of brickwork around the base.
• The layered mastaba lead to the step form pyramid, the Step-
Pyramid of Djoser.
• The Step Pyramid of Djoser is a six stepped layered mastaba.
• It is enclosed by a 30 foot wall that included courtyards,
temples, and chapels covering close to 40 acres. Pharaoh
Djoser’s burial chambers are underground, hidden in a maze of
tunnels.
 Pyramid at Meidum
• Influenced by the Step Pyramid of Djoser.
• Built by Pharaoh Snefru for himself.
• It is known to be the first Egyptian pyramid with an above ground burial chamber.
• The structure of this pyramid represents the efforts to raise the chamber to be closer to the sun god Ra.
• Another part of this pyramid was the interior structure of arch-like walls within the burial chambers, which could have been
accessed through a sloping shaft.
• However, the Meidum Pyramid didn't have proper friction holding it down, and it collapsed.
 Bent Pyramid, Dashur
• Pharaoh Snefru relocated to Dashur and attempted to build
his second tomb.
• This had two chambers with separate entrances.
• While building, a miscalculation or lack of stability lead the
upper half to bend or change angle, thus getting the name of
'Bent Pyramid'.
• This structure is considered to be the first attempt at the
classic shape of a pyramid we now know today.
• Due to the structure, Pharaoh Snefru ordered for a third
pyramid and sent workers to finish his first pyramid
Meidum.
• The third pyramid of Pharaoh Snefru, the North “Red”
Pyramid, is a single tomb with two smaller chambers where
he is believed to be buried.
• North 'Red' Pyramid is known to be the first 'True' pyramid to
have been built which sets the pattern for future pyramids.
 Sphinx

• An Egyptian Sphinx had the

head of a king, a hawk, a ram,
or more rarely a woman, on
the body of a lion.

• The Great Sphinx, which

represents a recumbent lion
with the head of a man, was
excavated in 1816 in Pyramid
complex of Gizeh, near Cairo.

• It is 65 feet high by 188 feet

long, the face is 13 feet 6 inches
wide, and the mouth 8 feet 6
inches long.
Thank You.
P r e s e n t a t i o n P r e p a r e d b y :
P r o f . K u m a r V y o m k e s h

R e p r o d u c e d b y :
P r o f . K a i l a s M