Tombs And Temples Essay -- essays research papers

What are some major architectural structures of Ancient Egypt? There are many amazing sites of architecture in Egypt from ancient times. Many have been discovered, but there are still ones being discovered and excavated today. Pyramids, tombs, and temples are the main structures still standing that can be seen today. The first tombs of the pharaohs were large, unimpressive, bunker affairs called mastabas. A mastaba (Arabic for "bench") is a low rectangular structure which was built over a shaft which descended to the burial location. They were made from sun dried mud bricks and most have long since crumbled to dust. This all changed around 2630 BC with the creation of the step pyramid. The Step Pyramid was designed for King Djoser ,of the 3rd dynasty, by his vizier, Imhotep. The pyramid is located in Saqqara, the main necropolis of Memphis. The Saqqara pyramid has a series of six levels of stone decreasing in size as they ascend to about 200 feet/60 meters in height. The Step Pyramid originally began as a mastaba, and it has been visualized as a series of mastaba shapes, decreasing in size, stacked one on top of another. The surface was originally encased in smooth white limestone which must have caught the sun light and reflected its rays. It has the distinction of being the site of the first large stone structure built in the world. The place where humans began to strive for the impossible, where the imagination gained the power to transform reality. Some of the loveliest works of art ever seen can be found at Saqqara, in the tombs of the nobles. The limestone walls are delicately incised with myriads of animals, fish, birds, insects, vegetation and people - hunting, herding and farming. Some of the forms still retain their original paint, after 4,500 years! The quality of these compositions demonstrates that the Egyptians had attained, at an early stage, an artistic culture of a very high order. Cattle Crossing is an etching made from sketches done at Saqqara. The medium of etching, itself a process of erosion, seems well suited to capturing the time worn quality of the relief carving. The person responsible for the step pyramid, Imhotep, is credited as being the inventor of building in stone and was a man of many talents - Architect, physician, master sculpture, scribe, and astronomer. He must be the first true genius in recorded history and t... ...ed these. Dendara was also used as a healing centre and in the grounds stands an ancient hospital along with a sacred lake. After visiting Dendara one gets a feel for the layout of other temples along the Nile and in the minds eye it is possible to reconstruct the really huge design of buildings like Karnak. What really grabbed my artistic attention among all this magnificence was a small detail. The place sings with the music of birds. Hundreds of them roost in small cracks and hollows in the walls seeming to contemplate their carved likeness in the hieroglyphic reliefs. There is one other thing that stirs the imagination, the building bares the name of the famous Cleopatra and her son, whose father was Julius Caesar. It is possible that these celebrate personalities climbed the same stairs and contemplated, on high, the same landscape which stretches for miles below. In Summation, some of the most precious examples of architecture from the ancient world are of the ancient Egyptians. Although the ancient Egyptians lived in a primitive world, they proved to have great knowledge for building lasting structures that would forever have a unique and majestic influence on the world.