Ancient Africa: Egyptian Temple Architecture

Old KingdomMiddle KingdomNew Kingdom King Zoser’s Mortuary Complex Great Pyramids, Giza (mortuary complex) Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut Temple of Amon, Luxor 2600 BC 2500 BC 2030 BC 1550 BC 1400 BC I. From Middle Kingdom uncertainty to New Kingdom confidence: Stone architecture for pharaohs and gods

Nile Valley in Upper Egypt I. A. Historical Context: Political power sharing: pharaohs, priests, and nobles

Middle Kingdom (ca – 1640 B.C.) A rock-cut tomb at Beni Hasan, B.C. I. B. What major change was there in Middle and New Kingdom mortuary temple design compared to Old Kingdom (Saqqara and Giza)?

Middle Kingdom Mortuary Temple of Mentuhotep, BC I. B. New Kingdom: Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple, Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, c BC

I. B. Actual burials in the Valley of the Kings Middle- and New-Kingdom mortuary temples at Deir el-Bahri Mortuary temples facing the Nile River

I. B. Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple Great Pyramids at Giza Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom Mentuhotep’s Mortuary Temple

II. Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple: innovation and tradition in Egyptian design Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple

II. A. Tradition: Queen Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple and earlier mortuary complexes 1. Major parts of the New Kingdom mortuary temple

Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple II. A. 2. How did Senmut’s design dramatize the progress of the processional ritual for Hatshepsut? Great Pyramids at GIza

II. B. Innovation: Aspects of the new temple design that could be attributed to gender Colonnades, open terraces Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple ramp to third terrace Great Pyramids at Giza Like the myrrh terraces of Punt, mythical homeland of the gods

II. B. 2. Landscape orientation Great Pyramids at GizaHatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple “welded to the rockscape as if nature were an extension of Senmut’s design” (Kostof 82)

II. B. 2. ramps up and inviews back and out Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple a framed view on the central axis

II. B. 3. Architectural language: Is it more representational (vernacular) or more abstract? Hatshepsut’s “proto-Doric” columnsColumns from Saqqara and GizaDoric columns in Greece

II. B. 3. polychrome Osiris statues with the face of Queen Hatshepsut Egyptians were the first to use stone columns not merely as structural supports but as forms connoting certain values. Hatshepsut’s Mortuary TempleOsiris

New Kingdom Temples near Thebes III. New Kingdom Temples to gods and the Elaboration of Spatial Progression Temple at Luxor Temple at Karnak

III. A. Context: Why did the truly extensive monumental temples not come about until the New Kingdom period ( BC)? displays power through gigantism Temple at LuxorTemple at Karnak

Avenue of Sphinxes Temple at Luxor III. A. What are the parts of a New Kingdom Egyptian temple in spatial progression? Temple at Luxor pylon truncated pyramidal towers flanking the entrance of a temple

East West Inner sanctuary hypostyle courtyard Temple at Luxor Phase 1 pylon Phase 2 courtyard III. A. Pylon Archaic hypostyle columned entrance (as at Saqqara)

East West inner sanctuaryhypostylecourtyard Temple at Karnak pylon The Four Characteristic Parts of an Egyptian Temple Again pylonshypostylecourtyard III. A. 1. Why do the parts of the temple often repeat themselves?

Temple at Luxor Egyptian royal palace at Amarna, c B.C. inner sanctuary hypostyle courtyard III. A. 2. What is Kostof’s approach to this spatial progression as a product of ritual? Difficulty of approach Limited or graduated access Spatial Progression

vertical wall & passage open, sunny & defined half-light, half- dark mystery small, low, utterly dark 4. hypostyle3. courtyard2. pylon5. inner sanctuary III. B. Section by section, what are the spatial/experiential qualities shaping the ritual progression and to what does each section correspond in representing the Egyptian creation myth? Luxor Edfu (Temple of Horus at Edfu)

III. B. 1. temenos wall

threshold = pylon III. B. 2. pylon Karnak Luxor

III. B. 3. courtyard Luxor

Karnak Veil of mysterious semi-darkness clerestorey III. B. 4. hypostyle hall and its clerestory

a space half filled with mass III. B. 4. a. the character of the hypostyle hall as an interior space

Spaces created by Egyptian clerestorey-lit hypostyle halls Zoser’s Funerary ComplexGiza (Chephren’s Valley T.)Karnak hypostyle hall III. B. 4. a.

III. B. 5. inner sanctuary (Temple of Horus at Edfu)

Geography and Landscape Kingship (pharaohs v. priests) Religious belief in the afterlife Symbolic architectural language Ritual