2011 AR 103

History of

Architecture
CLASS 10

Nipun George
SCMS School of Architecture, Karukutty, Kochi.

MODULE 2

a. Neolithic Age / Bronze Age

5500 BC 2700 BC

PREDYNASTIC PERIOD IN EGYPT,

EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS

5000 BC 3000 BC

YANGSHAO CULTURE & CHINESE BRONZE AGE

4000 BC 3100 BC

URUK PERIOD, ZIGGURATS

3300 BC 1300 BC

INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION MOHENJO DARO &

HARAPPA

3200 BC 1500 BC

EUROPEAN MEGALITHIC TOMBS, STONE

CIRCLES,STONE HENGE

b. Iron Age 1300BC 0AD

MESOLITHIC AGE
20,000 BC 9000BC

PALEOLITHIC AGE

9000 B.C.
BRONZE AGE
3000 BC 1300 BC

20,000 B.C.

NEOLITHIC AGE
9,000 BC 3000BC

3000 B.C.
IRON AGE
1300 BC 0 A.D

MODULE 1
MODULE 2

1300 B.C.

MODULE 3

0 A.D
2014 A.D

800 A.D

PreDynastic Period in
EGYPT
5500 BC 2700 BC

 The predynastic period shaped by its stable

climate and the dominance of Nile.
Nile valley one of the richest ecological
niches.
North of Cairo Delta was wellwatered, lush,
fertile.
Settlement took place in the head of the delta
as well as along the river banks
Temperature did not exceed 38 degrees, and
humidity perfect for wide range of plants.
The deserts rich in natural building stone and
shielded it from external influences.
Nile river excellent means of internal
communication.

 Predynastic Period The period between the

Early Neolithic and the beginning of the
Pharaonic monarchy starting with King
Narmer.
The Predynastic Period is generally divided
into 2 based on their regions
1. Lower Egypt
2. Upper Egypt
The vast majority of Predynastic archaeological
finds have been in Upper Egypt the silt of the
Nile River was more heavily deposited at the
Delta region, completely burying most Delta
sites.

1. LOWER EGYPT
a) Faiyum A
Culture 5200
BC

b) Merimde
Culture 5000
4200 BC

c) El Omari
Culture 4000
BC onwards

d) Maadi Culture
38003200 BC

Contemporary
Weaving is
People lived in Lived in huts with Naqada I and
evidenced for
small huts.
II phases in Upper
the first time
The pottery is Egypt.
undecorated
undecorated.
People of this
pottery and had
Copper was
period(unlike
stone tools.
Stone tools known the
later Egyptians)
include small
pottery is simple
buried their dead buried their
flakes, axes and and undecorated.
very close to,
dead within the sickles.
and sometimes
settlement and
People lived in
inside, their
produced clay
Metal was not small huts, partly
settlements.
figurines.
known.
dug into the
ground.
The first
Egyptian lifesize
The dead were
head made of
buried in
clay
cemeteries

1. UPPER EGYPT
a)Tasian Culture 4500 BC
Notable for producing the earliest blacktop
ware, a type of red and brown pottery that is
painted black on the top and interior
The handles on pottery evolved from
functional to ornamental

b) Badarian Culture 4400 4000 BC

Followed theTasian culture but so similar
that many consider them as one continuous
period.
The Badarian Culture continued to produce
the kind of pottery called Blacktopware (albeit
much improved in quality).
The primary difference is that Badarian sites
use copper in addition to stone and are thus
chalcolithic settlements and not Neolithic.

c) Naqada I 4000 3500 BC (or Amrasian

Culture)
Blacktopped ware continues to appear, but
white crossline ware, a type of pottery which
has been decorated with close parallel white
lines being crossed by another set of close
parallel white lines, is also found at this time
attest to increased trade between Upper and
Lower Egypt at this time.

d) Naqada II 3500 BC 3200

BC (Gerzean Culture)
that the foundation of
Dynastic Egypt was laid
pottery was painted mostly in
dark red with pictures of
animals, people, and ships, as
well as geometric symbols that
appear derived from animal
Use of Marl stone
Metalworking was also found
farming along the Nile now
produced the vast majority of
food

 stopped building with reeds and began mass

producing mud bricks
The first tombs in classic Egyptian style were
also built, modeled after ordinary houses and
sometimes composed of multiple rooms.
Art forms entered Egypt during this period,
indicating contacts with several parts of Asia

PROTODYNASTIC PERIOD 3200BC 3000 BC

During the Protodynastic Period(Naqada III)
(32003000 BC), moved toward political
unification, leading to a truly unified state.
During this time, the Egyptian language first
being recorded in hieroglyphs.
Egyptian settlements in southern Israel
during the Protodynastic Period functioned as
colonies.
State formation began during this era rise of
small citystates along the Nile.
Centuries of conquest (Upper Egypt) to three
major states:Thinis, Naqada, and Nekhen.
Narmer the last king of the period known to
unite both Lower & Upper Egypt.

EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD (ARCHAIC) 3100BC

Follows the unification of Lower and Upper
Egypt c. 3100 BC.
It is generally taken to include the First and
Second Dynasties, lasting until 2686 BC
The capital was Memphis.
The distinctive hallmarks of ancient Egyptian
civilization, such as art, architecture and many
aspects of religion, took shape during the Early
Dynastic period.
Funeral practices for the peasants different
from rich.
The Mastabas which became the burial place
for rich.

EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS 3100BC

The ancient pyramidshaped masonry
structures located in Egypt.
About 138 pyramids in Egypt (as of 2008)
Built as tombs for the Pharaohs and their
consorts
Mostly during the Old (26862182 BC) and
Middle Kingdom (20001700 BC)
The earliest known found at Saqqara,
northwest of Memphis the Pyramid of Djoser
(2630 BC2611 BC) (Third Dynasty).
Designed by the architect Imhotep
The most famous Egyptian pyramids are
those found at Giza, near Cairo.

 Imhotep first to stack mastabas on top of

each other creating an edifice composed of a
number of "steps" that decreased in size
towards its apex.
The result was the Step Pyramid of Djoser
Designed to serve as a gigantic stairway
soul of the deceased pharaoh could ascend to
the heavens.
Giza Pyramids built during the absolutist
period of Pharaoic perid
Later pyramids were smaller, less wellbuilt
A burst of pyramidbuilding occurred in
Sudan.

THE PYRAMID SHAPE

The shape of pyramids represent the primordial
mound from which earth was created.
Representative of the descending rays of the sun.
Pyramids were faced with polished, highly reflective
white limestone to give them a brilliant appearance
from a distance.
Pyramids were burial monuments but could also be a
type of "resurrection machine."
Pyramid may be the means to launch the deceased
pharaoh's soul directly into the heavens
All Egyptian pyramids built on the west bank of the
Nile, which as the site of the setting sun

THE PYRAMIDS AT GIZA

25892500 BC

 Giza is the location of the Pyramid of Khufu (also

Great Pyramid" ,"Pyramid of Cheops") the somewhat
smaller Pyramid of Khafre the relatively modestsized
Pyramid of Menkaure , along with 3 numbers of smaller
satellite edifices known as "Queen's pyramids" and the
Great Sphinx.
Khafre's pyramid retains part of its original polished
limestone casing, near its apex.
It appears larger than the adjacent Khufu pyramid
more elevated location, and the steeper angle of
inclination but smaller in both height and volume.
Several cemeteries, a workers' village and an industrial
complex were also present

 the Great Pyramid was covered by casing stones

formed a smooth outer surface today it is the
underlying core structure.
Varying scientific and alternative theories about the
Great Pyramid's construction techniques.
Most accepted hypotheses it was built by moving
huge stones from a quarry and dragging and lifting them
into place.
Three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid.The
lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the
pyramid was built and was unfinished.
The Queen's Chamber and King's Chamber are higher up
within the pyramid structure. Also present Grand Gallery.
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt
known to contain both ascending and descending
passages.

KHUFU'S PYRAMID COMPLEX

Apart from the pyramid, it consists of a ValleyTemple,
now buried beneath the village of Nazlet elSamman
The ValleyTemple was connected to a causeway which
was largely destroyed when the village was constructed.
The Causeway led to the MortuaryTemple of Khufu
which was connected to the kings pyramid.
3 smaller queens pyramids associated with it and 5
boat pits ( for the pharaoh to travel after death or used in
Khufu's funeral procession across the Nile.)
The boat pits contain a ship, and the two pits on the
south side of the pyramid still contained intact ships.
Maintains a limited no. of casing stones at its base.
made of fine white limestone from nearby quarry.

INTERIOR
The original entrance to the Great Pyramid is 17 metres
vertically above ground level.
The Descending Passage 0.96 metres high and 1.04
metres wide which goes down at an angle of 26 through
the masonry of the pyramid and then into the bedrock
beneath the lower Chamber (unfinished).
At 28.2 metres square hole in the roof the
beginning of the Ascending Passage.The Ascending
Passage is 39.3 metres (129 ft) long with same width,
height slope angle as D.P.
At the start of the Grand Gallery Horizontal Passage
(1.1m high) leading to the "Queen's Chamber".
Near the chamber there is a step in the floor, after
which the passage is 1.73 metres (5.7 ft) high.

Grand Gallery
It continues the slope of the Ascending Passage, but is
8.6 metres high and 46.68 metres long.
At the upper end of the Gallery on the righthand side
there is a hole near the roof which opens into a short
tunnel by which access can be gained to the lowest of the
Relieving Chambers.
The floor of the Grand Gallery consists of a shelf or step
on either side, 51 centimetres wide, leaving a lower ramp
1.04 metres wide between them.
The Grand Gallery was connected to the King's Chamber
via the passage through Ante Chamber

Queen's Chamber
Exactly halfway between the north and south faces of
the pyramid and measures 5.75 m by 5.23 m
Has a pointed roof with an apex 6.23 metres
In the north and south walls of the Queen's Chamber
there are shafts that immediately slope upwards.
Made entirely of finished limestone blocks with a
gabled ceiling.
The walls are bare and uninscribed.

King's Chamber
The King's Chamber is 10.47 m by 5.234 m
It has a flat roof 5.974 m above the floor.
Two narrow shafts in the north and south walls
purpose of these shafts is not clear.
Entirely faced with granite.
Above the roof, which is formed of nine slabs of stone
weighing in total about 400 tons, are five compartments
known as Relieving Chambers.
The first four have flat roofs formed by the floor of the
chamber above, but the final chamber has a pointed roof.
It is provided to prevent roof collapsing under the
weight of stone above the Chamber.

The only
object in the
King's
Chamber is a
rectangular
granite
sarcophagus,
one corner of
which is
broken.
the
sarcophagus
is roughly
finished,
with saw
marks visible
in several
places.

KHAFRE'S PYRAMID COMPLEX

Consists of a Valley temple (Sphinx temple), a
causeway, a mortuary temple and the kings pyramid.
The ValleyTemple yielded several statues of Khafre.
Khafres complex contained five boatpits and a
subsidiary pyramid with a serdab.
Khafre's Pyramid retains a prominent display of casing
stones at its apex.

Sphinx
Limestone statue of a reclining sphinx (a mythical
creature with a lion's body and a human head) that
stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile
in Giza, Egypt.
The face of the Sphinx is generally believed to
represent the face of the Pharaoh Khafra.
It is 73.5 metres long, 19.3 metres wide, and 20.22 m
high.
It is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and is
commonly believed to have been built by ancient
Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of the
Pharaoh Khafra.

MENKAURE'S PYRAMID COMPLEX

Menkaures pyramid complex consists of a Valley
Temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the kings
pyramid.
Had an original height of 65.5 metres (Now 61m)
It was constructed of limestone and granite
The ValleyTemple & Mortuary temple contained several
statues of Menkaure.
The kings pyramid has 3 Queens pyramids.

How were the pyramids built?