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Temples, Tombs, and Building Techniques
The mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II, at Deir el
Bahri
This magnificent
building
once inspired Queen Hatshepsut in constructing her
own glorious mortuary monument, now right next to it. Includes a
detailed comparison of "model" (Mentuhotep II) and "copy"
(Hatshepsut), and a walk-around
(and above)
of 19
pictures.
A visit to the Amun Temple of Karnak
The intricate details of highly refined reliefs, combined with the
romance of palm trees under a blue sky, make a visit to this temple
un
unforgettable experience - even
for those who lack any knowledge of the history of ancient Egypt.
Although the text of this work is basically of an introductory nature, it does give
some interesting details on every page, bringing
the subject to life. The translation of several of the texts on the
ancient walls provides touching details.
But the 90 high-quality pictures are the main dish
(In PDF format, 53 pages).
Three Tombs, attributed to Amenhotep I: K93.11, AN
B and KV39
(NEW)
Amenhotep I was the second king of the 18th
dynasty, and the first to inherit his kingdom intact, after the
struggles of the Second Intermediate Period. With Amenhotep, the New
Kingdom really gets underway. But although there has been much
speculation about where his tomb might be, it has not yet been
identified to everyone's satisfaction. This study examines the claims of
three tombs that have been proposed as candidates. All important studies
of these tombs are discussed, in chronological order, starting with
those of the original excavators. Works cited are from (among others):
Howard Carter, Arthur Weigall, Elizabeth Thomas, John Romer, C.C. Van
Siclen, John Rose, Nicholas Reeves, Richard H. Wilkinson, Ian Buckley,
the Theban Mapping Project and Daniel Polz.
Two of these tombs will be found not to stand a chance, while the
third... Well, see for yourself!
(In PDF format: 83 pages, illustrated with drawings and photographs, 9
plans and 4 maps. Rather large file: 2.2 MB. A smaller file, 1.3 MB, is
available on request. It is more compressed, but with loss of quality in
the photographs as a result.)
Building in stone in Ancient Egypt, part 1: Columns
& pillars
Columns and pillars determine to a large extent the flavor of ancient Egyptian architecture. Sometimes
slender and
elegant, sometimes massive and imposing, they immediately attract our
attention. But what exactly is the difference between a column and a
pillar? How does one recognize which ones represent lotuses, and
which ones papyrus? And what is the significance of these forms?...
This article in PDF format has 31 pages, and 34 pictures.
(In the section of
An introduction to Ancient Egypt,
there is also a Visual Story in HTML ("normal"
web pages) about the same subject.
The Visual Story focuses more on the photographs, with less text.)
Building
in stone in Ancient Egypt, part 2: Bark stations
These
small, chapel-like buildings are a regular feature of many Egyptian
temples. Because of their often outstanding degree of
preservation, they provide us with excellent material for study.
Bark stations were a specialized element of procession ways. The other
elements of the procession way will
also be discussed. And we will take
a closer look at the phenomenon that prompted the building of
the bark
stations in the first place: the religious procession. This article in
PDF format has 17
pages, and 22 pictures.
(In the section of
An introduction to Ancient Egypt,
there is also a Visual Story in HTML ("normal"
web pages) about the same subject.
The Visual Story focuses more on the photographs, with less text.)
The pyramid complex of king Userkaf
The pyramid complex of this 5th dynasty king
at Saqqara is rarely visited today. It does however have
several unique features. Tracing the meaning of these "anomalies" will
help a lot in achieving an overall understanding of Old Kingdom funerary
architecture in general. This article in PDF-format includes 14 photographs - which is 12 or 13
more than any general work will have. (24 pages).
Some remarks on King Tut's
burial
"Tutankhamun was just an ephemeral king, as we can
clearly see from the size of his tomb."
"This being the burial of just an ephemeral king, you can imagine what
fabulous riches truly great kings had in their tombs!..."
Really...? (9 pages,
in PDF).
A map of the Theban Necropolis
(NEW)
There is no shortage of plans of western Thebes, but few cover the area from the West Valley until the Amun temple of Karnak.
This map shows the most important areas in the necropolis, such as the
Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens, the area with the Tombs
of the Nobles, and the location of the string of royal mortuary temples
along the edge of the cultivation. Other places indicated are El-Tarif
(11th dynasty tombs), Dra Abu en-Naga (17th dynasty royal tombs, New
Kingdom tombs of middle class officials), Deir el-Medineh (the village
of the workers who built the tombs and temples), and the "Village de
repos" or way station (a small group of houses, probably serving as a
convenient resting place for those actually working in the Valley of the
Kings). The green areas indicate the floodplain, while the yellow-orange
depict the desert.(1 page, in PDF).
The Amun temple
of Karnak: Plans of the main
axis
Today, the great Amun temple of Karnak (former Thebes)
is by far the most important and instructive surviving temple of ancient
Egypt. Most books about ancient Egyptian religion will have a plan of
it, but these are mostly copies-from-copies, and way too small. These
plans have been freshly drawn using vector techniques, which allow
limitless scaling. The plans in the PDF-files are in various scales, up
to 1:265. There is also a composite plan in 6 sheets that can be
stitched
together to form one large plan. With a 13 page introduction.
The Temple of
Luxor: Plans
If Karnak was Amun's castle, Luxor was his "house in the
country". Remarkably well preserved, it presents us with an array of
styles: the slender lines of Hatshepsut's bark station, the elegant
grace of Amenhotep III's large court, and the massive glory of Ramesses
II's colossal statues. The plans in this section are again in PDF-format,
in scales up to 1:340. With two composite plans: one of 3 pages, and 1
of 6.
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