Egyptology | Chapter 2: Architectural Foundations
The Emergence of Egyptology and Ancient Egyptian Architecture: Dwellings
Important Dates in the Emergence of Egyptology
| Event | Year (AD) |
|---|---|
| King Charles excavated two archaeological sites south of Naples; the artifacts found were the first spark of interest in ancient civilizations and the competition to collect and preserve antiquities in palaces or museums. | 1748 |
| Light began to be shed on Egypt's monuments and civilizations with the publication of parts of the book Description de l'Égypte by the French Expedition scientists. | 1798 |
| Discovery of the Rosetta Stone. | 1799 |
| The beginning of fierce attacks on Egyptian monuments by Europeans seeking to acquire and obtain Pharaonic antiquities. | Early 19th Century |
| Decipherment of the Rosetta Stone by the French scholar Champollion. | 1822 |
| The beginning of interest in Egyptian antiquities by Muhammad Ali Pasha, who ordered the collection of some of them in the Ezbekiya Garden as a first nucleus for the Egyptian Museum; this collection was moved to Bulaq during the reign of Khedive Ismail. | 1849–1854 |
| Establishment of the Egyptian Antiquities Service by Auguste Mariette. | 1858 |
| Establishment of the first Egyptian Museum (1858 AD), and the emergence of scientific societies for Egyptian antiquities in London and Cairo. | 1858 |
| Royal decree issued to register all of Egypt's monuments. | 18/12/1881 |
| Law issued stating that all existing and future antiquities are state property. | 1883 |
| Decision issued banning any private excavation without permission from the Museum Director (the museum was then under the Ministry of Public Works), and all findings considered state property in exchange for an amount covering excavation costs; despite this, some began excavating without state permission. | 27/11/1891 |
| Penal decree issued during the reign of Abbas Hilmi II against anyone excavating without permission. | 18/12/1817 |
| Law issued during the reign of King Fuad I (1918–1936) stating: Entries of churches and monasteries with moveable historical value, as well as any antiquity from the beginning of the Islamic era until the death of Muhammad Ali, are classified as antiquities if they hold artistic or historical value. | 1918 |
| Law issued making the Coptic Museum, affiliated with the Hanging Church, state property; no right to donate, exchange, or sell pieces from the museum except with state permission. | 1931 |
| Law issued dividing Egyptian antiquities into two groups: 1. Antiquities before the Christian period. 2. Antiquities from the beginning of the Christian era until the end of the reign of Ismail. | 1951 |
| Law issued making the Antiquities Service an independent institution managing Egyptian museums (Egyptian, Greco-Roman, Coptic, Islamic). | 1951 |
| Establishment of a center for recording antiquities; its task was to record monuments as they were, initially for the Nubia region before it was flooded, then expanded to cover all of Egypt's monuments. | 1956 |
| Issuance of Law No. 117 of 1983 for the protection of antiquities (still in effect). | 1983 |
Ancient Egyptian Architecture (1): (Dwellings - Temples)
Architecture in any place or time reflects the conditions of the environment in which it arises, as well as the worldly and religious thought of that nation. It is also an expression of economic capabilities, administrative capacity, and human experience.
Looking at the nature of the Egyptian land, it is clear that the smaller part is a small strip suitable for agriculture extending along the Nile River, while the larger part is desert land interspersed with some plateaus and highlands. The plateaus provided Egyptian architecture with various types of stones: limestone, sandstone, marble, granite, basalt, alabaster, and others. The Egyptian deserts provided some metals, such as copper, gold, and silver. Egypt also provided clay, silt, and mud for manufacturing mud bricks. As for wood, Egypt produced only types of trees that do not provide high-quality wood as much as they provide wood suitable for simple construction and fuel purposes, such as sycamore, acacia, doum palm, etc. High-quality wood, such as cedar, was imported from Lebanon.
Architecture is influenced by the prevailing climate. The climate in Egypt was largely stable, with moderate temperatures most of the year, though heat could intensify in summer or cold in winter nights. Rainfall is known to be scarce, especially in Upper Egypt. The year-round bright sunshine was a major factor in architecture, leading to simplicity in design and reliance on light from doors, ceiling openings, courtyards, and open corridors. The thickness of the walls built of mud brick expressed the concern to achieve a balance between temperatures inside and outside. The lack of rain led to flat roofs, and high temperatures led to not using burnt (red) brick, which does not provide the required humidity inside the structure.
Religious belief had a great impact on Egyptian architecture. The Egyptian's belief in an eternal life after death made them build structures of the temporary first life from material that does not withstand the passage of time (mud brick). Thus, the worldly structures remaining are very few compared to the religious structures (temples and tombs) that the ancient Egyptian built from stone to have a permanent character.
The planning of worldly structures (dwellings, administrative, and military structures) expressed their functional role through the administrative thought adopted by the ancient Egyptian, and also expressed the economic situation (prosperity or collapse). The planning of religious structures clearly expressed the religious functional role of the structure in terms of the number and size of scenes and texts to be recorded, and in terms of the quantity and type of rituals practiced there.
Possession of administrative and technical experience greatly affected architecture. Fortunately, the ancient Egyptian possessed great patience and unyielding will to reach their goals to a degree close to perfection. A close look at the structures and arts they left behind confirms the Egyptian's keenness to perform their work and complete it with high mastery.
Ancient Egyptian architecture can be divided by functional role into two types:
1. Worldly Architecture: Serves the purposes of worldly life, which may be civil (palaces, dwellings, administrative and service structures) or military (forts, fortresses, walls, towers, etc.).
2. Religious Architecture: Serves the purposes of the other life, such as temples, tombs, shrines, etc.
Because dwellings—despite their rarity—represent the most important types of worldly architecture, I have chosen to shed light on them.
Dwellings
Every settlement site in Egypt from prehistoric times throughout ancient Egyptian history included a city for the living and another for the dead. While evidence of dwellings for the living is hardly mentioned compared to the city of the dead, it is worth briefly noting what remains. Since prehistoric times, we have models of dwelling ruins in the civilizations of Merimde Beni Salama, Badari, Nagada, and others. The Egyptian Museum and others hold mud models of dwellings from this period. The pyramid complexes, especially on the Giza plateau, preserved mud-brick dwelling ruins for workers and craftsmen who participated in building the pyramids or served the rituals conducted there.
Dwellings were built of mud and tree branches, then mud brick later. We have a clear example from the Twelfth Dynasty in the Lahun area (where the pyramid of King Senusret II was built), represented by the "Lahun" village, which covers an area of about 350 square meters, surrounded by a thick mud-brick wall, divided into districts with narrow streets separating the houses. The village included poor dwellings (for workers and craftsmen), medium-level ones (for officials), and luxurious ones (for senior state officials).
Module Key Takeaways
- The emergence of Egyptology was shaped by pivotal events from 1748 to 1983, including the discovery and decipherment of the Rosetta Stone by Champollion, the establishment of the Egyptian Antiquities Service by Auguste Mariette, and the creation of the first Egyptian Museum.
- Ancient Egyptian architecture was profoundly influenced by environmental factors (climate, available materials like stone and mud brick), religious beliefs in the afterlife that dictated the choice of building materials, and the administrative and technical expertise of the ancient Egyptians.
- Dwellings were constructed from mud brick and organic materials, with surviving examples such as the Lahun village revealing clear social stratification through housing types for workers, officials, and senior state officials.