Ancient Egyptian Architecture

Ancient egyptian architecture is hailed as some of the most interesting architecture of the Ancient World.

Pyramids

The true pyramid exist in Egypt only. The pyramids had square plans and were usually of stone. The were triangular sides made to face the cardinal directions. Pyramids were the symbol of Ra. They were built so that when a pharoah died it would be easy for them to get to the sky as a spirit because the pyramids were build so tall. The true pyramids came about around 2680 B.C. and was used and liked up until the 6 dynasty, 2420-2258 B.C. Pyramids as tombs were abandoned because they became "Billboards", if you will, for tomb robbers. Soon there were very few belongings in the immense figures. So, egyptians began using hidden, underground tombs to bury the dead pharoahs in, for example, King Tuts took archeologists forever to find.

Interesting Pyramids

The most famous pyramids in Egypt are those of the Gizeh plateau. The largest of the 3 pyramids is the great pyramid, Pharoah Khufu's(Cheops') tomb. Can you believe that the great pyramid is 13 acres in area(base), and 482 feet high?! Another one of the most interesting architectural advances is the wonderful sphinx.

 

Sphinx

The sphinx is a wonderful structure of stone. The sphinx is created after a women pharoah's head on a cat's body. The sphinx is 241 feet long and at some points 65 feet high, and, unlike the pyramids, was constructed of living stone. The sphinx faces straight to the east (towards the equinox). The sphinx was built about 2500 BC. Built in the way of a cat, the sphinx is remarkable.

Pharoah's Houses

Houses of the Pharoah were extremely large, in fact, the name pharoah came from words that meant "Great House" (per aa). The houses would often have a lot of marble, for instance, marble pillars, they often had stone as well. There would be all kinds of "Arcitectural Treasures" in the humungous houses. Modern day mansions are not far off from the Egyptians palaces.

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