THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[J., 



rodotus informs us that King Cheops put a stop to all other works 

 until the huiklin^ of liis irreat i)yramid should he completed ; 

 ]n(»,00() men were unceasinijly employed, and relieved every three 

 montlis hy an eipial numher, and that twenty years were occupied 

 in its erection ; he also g-ives us an account of the quantity of 

 radishes, onions, and garlic consumed hy the workmen (prohatily 

 their only wajres) ; on these were expended IGOO talents of siher, 

 or. in our money, ahout eiijhteen]>ence a-year for each workman, 

 'i'his informatioii Herodotus -rained fnmi the hierodyphic inscrip- 

 tion that still existed on the side of the pyramid in his day. There 

 is now no douht tliat tlie pyramids were intended as sepulchres. 

 Queen Nitocris erected the smallest of the three near Memphis, 

 and cased it witli red pranite from Syene. In the valley of Sai;- 

 garah, thirty pyramids still exist, and there are traces of many 

 more. 



Both in the plain and on the heights ahove Thehes, are many 

 remains of small crude hrick pyran\ids, in one of which is tlie most 

 ancient arch yet disc<ivered — its date is given as lol-O ii.c. Tlie 

 Egyptians, constant and inflexihle in all th;it bore upon religious 

 forms, observed in the construction of their temjdes the same 

 immutahle rules : these edifices, therefore, only differ one from 

 another in size and extent. The principal characteristics of Egy|)- 

 tian architecture are vastness, simjilicity, and angularity; forming 

 a style so stupendous, and so calm in its massive gi'andeur, that 

 these monuments ahove all others have heen able to defy the 

 ravages of time, and still strike the beholder with admiration and 

 wouder. Inability to combine solidity with lightness, ])robably 

 produced the massive exterior walls, sloping from the base up- 

 wards; but while the exterior had always a pyramidal form, the 

 interior wall was vertical, — thus giving a greater thickness at the 

 base than towards the summit. Another peculiarity is the profu- 

 sion of columns which would necessarily result from the mode of 

 rooting, the roofs being formed by huge blocks of stone stretching 

 from column to column, always perfectly flat, and without pedi- 

 ment: therefore, when halls of great size had to be roofed, it could 

 only be done by ]ilacing rows of cidnmns in the interior, to sup])ort 

 the horizontal blocks, — a method that injured the effect, and 

 greatly interfered with the space. 



The great temples of Egypt were not like those of Greece and 

 Rome — a comidete structure composed of one order — but rather an 

 assemblage of porticoes, courts, vestibules, galleries, and halls, 

 united together within an inclosure: each one of these parts was 

 generally independent of the rest, was ornamented by columns of 

 a peculiar form, and in its dimensions had no reference to the other 

 portion of the building. The sacred inclosure was surrounded by 

 a wall (as before mentioned), and was planted with jialms and 

 flowering shrubs. From tiie entrance gateway to the first pylon 

 was a (laved avenue, called a dromos, ornamented with rows of 

 sphinxes or colossi: from the first pylon we are led to another, and 

 sometimes even to a third ; these pylons were huge jiyraniidal 

 towers in pairs, with a gateway between; these were the bulwarks 

 and watchtowers. The entrance doors were elaborately decorated; 

 and staircases were formed in the thickness of the gateway walls, 

 leading to the flat roof of the tower; they ascended in a direct 

 line, from one landing-place to the next, and each landing-place 

 was lighted by small windows or loop-holes. The space between 

 the pylons formed vast galleries or halls. After these we reach 

 the pronaos, and sanctuary or adytum; freipiently, also, there were 

 chambers surrounding the adytum, serving as residences for those 

 who had charge of the temple and the sacred animals. At the 

 posticum there was sometimes another large hall, probaldy serving 

 as a hall of justice; and Diodorus Siculus informs us that the 

 sacred writings were kept in an apartment in the temple. The 

 halls and vestilmles were lighted from the top; the roof over the 

 centre part was raised above what may be called the side aisles, 

 the spaces between the necessary supporting blocks being left 

 open, or fiUed-up by a stone grating, — thus producing a solemn 

 twilight, which must have been both imposing and refreshing after 

 the glare of tlie scorching sun and blinding sand. I must not omit 

 to mention one great singularity of construction, which is, that the 

 inner apartments of the temple regularly diminished in size: thus, 

 the pronaos was smaller than the vestibule, and the adytum than 

 the ]ironaos. The side walls gradually slojied inwards, the ascent 

 of tlie ground was formed by shallow steps, and the descent of the 

 roof concealed by massive transverse architraves; thus the sanc- 

 tuary, to which the priests only were admitted, apjieared to the 

 w<irslii]ipers not small, but distant. This plan is most strikingly 

 ainiarciit in the temple of Omboo. 



The shafts of the columns are either polygonal or circular; it 

 docs not appear that the Egyptians had any fi.\ed proportions. 



The columns were always massive, and those in the great hall at 

 Karnac are II feet in diameter; owing to the buildings being so 

 much choked up with sand, it is difficult to ascertain the exact 

 height, but the loftiest columns (those of Luxor), probably do not 

 exceed 5(i feet. The polygonal columns are the most ancient; 

 those of IJeni-Hassan and Kalapshe may be of doubtful origin, 

 though the shafts of the latter excavation have received a more 

 undoubted Egyptian character from the stripe of hieroglyphics 

 extending from base to capital in each shaft. The oldest purely 

 Egyptian form resembles a bundle of reeds bound together with 

 cords; the capital is formed by the bulging out of the reeds, as 

 would naturally result from the pressure of a superincumbent 

 weight; the shafts are compressed at the base, as if the reeds were 

 more tightly bound. 



The capitals do not vary so much in form, as in ornament; they 

 are generally vase-shaped, or present a graceful curve — perhaps 

 imitated from the palm branch. These capitals are the first traces 

 we discover of imitative taste, the decorations being exclusively 

 copied from indigenous plants, and representing the delicate leaves 

 and blossoms of the lotus, the palm, vine, or papyrus (as shown 

 in the opposite page). Other capitals were surmounted by heads 

 of the goddess Isis, supporting a miniature adytum, as at Dendarah 

 and I'hiloe. 



Isis Capital. 



The capitals of the columns in a hall or gallery, though symme- 

 trii-al in form, were frequently infinitely varied in ornament, as in 

 the temples of Edfou, Esnce, and Philoe. Though, on account of 

 the accumulation of sand, the bases of the columns are no longer 

 visible, it may be conjectured, from the narrow intercolumniations, 

 that they either had none or stood upon a simple plinth, as in some 

 of the excavations. The profile of the entablature is little varied; 

 the general crowning member is a large bead and cavetto, as shown 

 in the engraving of the pylon of Thebes. Sometimes the frieze is 

 sculptured, sometiines plain, or carved with hieroglyphics. 



