Hey everyone!
Today, I'm going to be explaining the history of Ancient Egypt's architecture.
If you have any questions, please ask them after the video.
Let's start off from the beginning.
Ancient Egyptians relied on the Nile River a lot.
Every year, the Nile would flood and bring in healthy nutrients to the soil,
creating fertile land that was good for farming.
However at some times, the Nile would also flood the Ancient Egyptians' homes,
which were made out of papyrus reeds and mud, forcing them to rebuild them.
So, they build houses out of mud bricks.
To make these bricks, they molded the mud to a shape.
Then, they let them sit in the sun until they dried.
The average house was fairly small, with only a couple windows and furniture.
In the summer, people would sleep on their flat roofs when it was too hot inside.
The Egyptians' homes can be damaged. Their religious buildings, though, had to be permanent.
Back then, Ancient Egyptians believed to have an eternal afterlife.
So, Egyptians had to find a way to protect the dead pharaohs
from grave robbers and from any kind of damage.
Therefore, came the mastaba.
A mastaba is a square, flat-topped mound
with an underground burial chamber and the pharaoh's belongings or offerings stored above it.
This is Djoser of Dynasty III.
And, this is Imhotep, vizier, or cheif advisor, and architect of Djoser.
Imhotep was to design a tomb for Djoser's eternal home.
So, Imhotep placed 6 mastabas, one on top of the next,
creating the first Egyptian pyramid standing about 200 ft tall.
It really wasn't a pyramid because it didn't have complete sloped sides connecting the base to the tip.
Instead, it's considered to be a Step Pyramid.
It resembled a staircase for the King to climb after his death on his way to Ra, the sun god.
This is Snefru.
He build his first pyramid at Dahshur,
or at least he tried to.
Snefru tried building a true pyramid when it caved in because of its steep slope,
which was originally 55 degrees.
This ended up being known as the Bent Pyramid, the first real pyramid.
Snefru's son, Khufu, whose full name was Khnum-Khufwy,
meaning "Khnum Protects Me"
which in my opinion, sounds a bit creepy...
Back to the topic, Khufu learned from his father's mistakes and built the Great Pyramid at Giza,
which remains today as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
It stood about 481 feet tall, making it the tallest man-made structure in the entire world.
Until the Eiffel Tower was built.
There has been an estimated at least 2.3 million limestone stones
that have been used in the construction of the Great Pyramid of Khufu.
It was originally covered in smooth, white slabs of limestone,
but they were later removed to build the city of Cairo.
The second pyramid at Giza was built by Khufu's son Khafre.
This pyramid is only a bit smaller than the Great Pyramid.
Khafre is also responsible for the creation of the Great Sphinx,
which is adjacent to his pyramid.
The third belonged to Menkaure. His pyramid was only one-tenth the size of the Great Pyramid,
making it the smallest of the three.
During the Middle Kingdom, the building of pyramids continued,
although they weren't very well constructed,
so not many Middle Kingdom pyramids survived.
The pyramids that did survive include the Pyramid of Amenemhat at Hawara
and Sesostris III's Pyramid at Illahun.
A few temples were excavated during this time,
although very few of them survived too.
Egyptians built temples as homes for the gods.
Inside the temples, rituals were performed in hopes for the gods to protect Egypt from chaos.
By this time, Egyptians stopped building pyramids.
No one knows why, but it meant that Egyptians started to worship the gods rather than their kings.
The Egyptians started to build more and better temples.
The largest temple of all of Egypt is the Temple of Amun-Re at Karnak.
Some famous temples include:
The Temple of Hatshepsut,
The Ramesseum,
Medinet Habu,
The Luxor Temple,
Abu Simbel, and many more.
The inside of a temple included inner chambers
and a sanctuary which had a statue of the god the temple was build for
at the center of the temple.
This is where the high priests would hold rituals and give the god offerings.
These sacred building could only be entered by the priests.
Other buildings would be outside the inner chambers
and the entrance to the temple often had tall pylons that were used as guardians to the temple.
So, the pharaohs no longer build pyramids.
But, that didn't mean that they stopped burying the deceased pharaohs.
Instead, they were buried in tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
Well, maybe not all of them.. (Ramses VIII)
The most famous tomb in the Valley of the Kings is the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen,
or as most people call him, King Tut.
Eventually, the late period begins,
when Egypt was conquered by the Assyrians and the Persians.
Then, by Alexander the Great and the Greeks,
when Alexandria was the new capital of Egypt.
Finally, the last pharaoh, Cleopatra VII, dies and Ancient Egypt ends.
So there you have it!
The timeline of Ancient Egypt's architecture.
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And if you didn't, then please leave a like.
Anyways, goodbye!