For the Western-minded person, a column is an un-animated vertical support for a beam or a roof. To this mindset, columns may look pretty, with pretty column tops and decorations that have a variety of design styles.
The columns in the Egyptian temples were not just supporting structures. Columns, like the rest of the features in the temples, were part of the organic form and function of these sacred places. They were covered with corresponding colored decorative paintings to highlight their organic function.
The Ancient Egyptians’ mastery of the vertical principle was manifested, among other things, in the long lines of their lofty pyramidal towers, their obelisks, and the lengthy columns that extended up the whole front of their buildings prior to their existence anywhere else.
The Western mindset, so obsessed with the “evolution” of everything, looks at types of columns as a progression/ evolution from a simple square to a fancy round style.
Yet, the fact of the matter is that even nowadays we see all shapes of columns utilized for various locations and reasons. The same thing was true in Ancient Egypt, where all types were used—and there was no artificial, so-called “evolution”.
Throughout the Egyptian monuments we find the manifestation of the vertical principle being disclosed in all types of supporting columns.
From the advanced design of twin columns—as in Saqqara:
Or increasing the column design capacity by giving it a lateral [wall] support—as in Saqqara.
From the simple square in the elegant Hatshepsut Temple
to the polygonal form in the same temple—
and by simply using the multiple flat facets of the polygonal form by hollowing the flat faces into grooves, resulting in a fluted column.
Egyptian Doric columns can be found at the southern buildings, in Saqqara.
Free-standing supporting “Doric” columns are found in the tombs of Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt which are dated to the Middle Kingdom Era, thousands of years before it was found in Greece.
Then we have the simple, round, free-standing supporting columns in the tombs of the Pyramid Age at the Giza Plateau.
And at the glorious hypostyle hall at the Karnak Temples in Luxor:
And then we have the most sophisticated columns, with convex, reeded cross-sections.
– Some had the same width/diameter.
– Others with variable width/diameter.
In summary, pillars/columns in Ancient Egypt, as well as our ‘modern times’, may be:
– Free-standing or engaged.
– Supporting (weight bearing) or carrying no bearing weight
– Interior or exterior (facade). Just like today, walls could be used between them to enclose an area.
– Columns could act
– individually or
– in twin-form, or with a partial wall, so as to reduce their effective lateral length
Columns in Egypt varied in size from the huge to elegant slender Egyptian columns known as reeded columns.
Columns in Egypt can be categorized according to two main variables:
A. Cross-Section
1. Square – which was also the basic shape of all other different shapes.
2. Polygonal – created from a square
3. Fluted (concave) – created from a polygonal
4. Simple Round – created from a square
5. Reeded/Bunch (convex) – created from a square
B. Vertical Configuration
1. Same width/diameter throughout the length of the column
2. Variable width/diameter throughout the length of the column
The Egyptian column was constructed of several pieces; but it consisted of half (not of whole) drums, with the joint placed alternately one way and the other; each two at right angles with those next to, below, and above them.
A-1. The Square Pillar
Square pillars are found in the earliest constructed porticoes and in the peristyles of the old temples. Practically all tomb chapels since pre-dynastic times had a typical pillared rooms with such square pillars.
Square-shaped pillars were utilized sometimes in combination with a statue of Osiris. This form is commonly known as a “Osiride pillar”. Such a form is found as far back as the times of the Middle Kingdom and consisted of engaged statues of Osiris, usually on the pillars’ front surfaces.
The square configuration was the basic shape for the outlines of all other different shapes.
A-2. Polygonal X-Section
The first stage in the formation of the polygonal and circular fluted column is accomplished by cutting off the four corners of a square pillar. The square shape was therefore converted into an octagonal shaft. The resulting eight sides were again subdivided into 12, 16, 20, and 32 sides.
A-3. Fluted (Concave) X-Section
The multiple flat facets of a polygonal cross-section were thereafter hollowed into grooves, resulting in a rounded, fluted cross-section. The Egyptian fluted Doric shafts can be found at the southern buildings in Saqqara.
There is no doubt that the Egyptians were fashioning Doric columns 2,000 years before the Greeks, as evident throughout Egypt and as found, for example, in Saqqara’s Zoser Complex, at both the ‘southern’ and ‘northern’ buildings. Just beyond the Heb-set Court lie the Southern Buildings (distinguished from the set of buildings just beyond them, known as the Northern Buildings).
The Northern Building, with its fluted/Doric columns, is similar to its southern counterpart except that the columns are shaped like stalks of an open blossom and carved on the façade. These reproduce an opened stalk with extreme fidelity and beauty, even to the point of reproducing in stone the softened triangle of the actual stalk and the thickening of the stem above the ground line before it tapers delicately to the bud in flower.
In addition to the fluted Doric columns of 4,500 years ago in Saqqara, we find them used in other places throughout Egypt, such as the Middle Kingdom era’s tombs of Beni Hassan, as evident in the columns at the outer court of Khnumhotep tomb (#3).
Those at Beni Hassan are 3’-4′ in diameter, and 16’ 8.5” high. They are carved with 16 elegant faces or grooves along its shaft. These fluted columns, along with the capitals and abacus, are exactly the same as the popularly-announced Doric Order of Greece, preceding it by at least 1,500 years.
The wrongly-called Greek Doric columns were actually fashioned in Egypt at least two thousand years before they were copied by the Greeks. It was doubtless from this and other old monuments throughout Egypt that the Greeks borrowed their Doric shaft.
A-4. Simple round X-Section from square are found in mastabas and tombs in Giza, Saqqara, and elsewhere in Egypt more than 5,000 years ago.
A-5. The Reeded X-Section—convex with same diameter or varying diameter. Beautiful reeded columns are to be found as far back as the Old Kingdom era at Zoser complex. The Ancient Egyptian reeded columns were an imitation of columns made of bound bunches of reeds.
It should be noted that the ‘reeded’ x-section is more difficult to form because of its convex style as compared to the concave indentation of the ‘Doric’ shaft—especially when the reeded-type column varies in width. Reeded-type columns must also be pre-designed, based on knowledge of circle properties and its equal divisions.
The most elegant of the water-plant columns are those in the tombs of Beni Hassan, where they were used contemporaneously with the polygonal and fluted order.
The above were a general characterization of the various shapes and forms. The Egyptian utilized these forms in a wide range, from simple to more stylized applications in varying degrees of stylization from a simple painting to body formations. All such stylizations were consistent with the main objective/function and were intended to enhance and amplify each’s function.
6.4 Capitals of Columns
Columns and their capitals, like the rest of the features in the Egyptian temples, were part of the organic form and function of these sacred places.
The Egyptian
s had two principal types of capitals for their columns:
– The closed bud, and
– The open blossom.
The closed bud is always found in outer courts and away from the central axis of the inner temple.
The open blossom—wide bell-shaped capitals representing the opened umbel of the plant—is always found in the temple central areas. The blossom signifies the renewal of life.
The open blossom form always relates to renewal (rebirth), as is the case with the neter (god) Nefer-Tum. The Ancient Egyptian texts describe Nefer-Tum as being born anew each morning from the lily.
As far back as 4,400 years ago, we read in the commonly known Pyramid Texts, addressing the Pharaoh Unas:
“Rise like Nefer-Tum from the lily and to come forth on the horizon every day”.
Plant forms symbolize life and regeneration, and the flowering top of the plant/column symbolizes this perpetual renewal/creation.
Also, Egyptians show numerous stylized forms of each theme of capital forms, each with its corresponding floral motifs, such as a modified form of the later type being the peculiar inverted campaniform capital of the tent-pole column. These tent-pole-type columns were used in stone as well as in wooden applications to support light structures such as tents, shrines, kiosks or ships’ cabins, since the Old Kingdom era. They are also prominently found in the festival hall of Tuthomosis III (1490-1436 BCE) at Karnak.
Another variation of the two principled types is the Egyptian Doric capital, which is a slight modification of the Egyptian water-plant column.
As the illustration shows, once the upper part of the water-plant is removed and the top slab is brought down, the result is the shape of the Doric capital.
The water-plant capital with the blossom and bud, as well as the palm-tree column, were all in use at least as early as the 6th Dynasty (2323–2150 BCE).
It should also be noted that the circlet around the neck of the early Greek column is very similar to the much older Egyptian bands tied round the cluster of water-plants.
An Abacus is a slab forming the uppermost part of the capital of a column. A capital, resembling a bunch of flax or other flowers, is also represented in early Ancient Egyptian paintings, supporting wooden canopies.
Hathoric/Sistraform Capital
Hathoric columns are found as far back as the Middle Kingdom era and usually consisted of a shaft surmounted by a capital bearing the features of the cow-headed netert (goddess). Sistrum columns are also associated with Hathor, and they represent in their shafts and capitals the handles and rattles of the sistrum—the principle attribute of this netert (goddess).
In temples that relate to Hathor, the Egyptians used the so-called Hathoric/Sistraform capital which are found in temples before the time of the New Kingdom. The upper part of the pillar is adorned, in very low relief, with a face recognizable by the two cow’s ears as that of Hathor, in some Egyptian sanctuaries, as a pillar carved in this fashion.
Hathoric/Sistraform capitals can later be seen at several Egyptian temples, such as:
i. Hatshepsut temple on Luxor’s west bank,
ii. Nefertari temple at Abu Simbel
iii. Dendara Temple
—-
The above is a general characterization of the various shapes and forms. The Egyptian utilized these forms in a wide range from simple applications to more stylized applications in a varying degree of stylization from a simple paintings to body formations. All such stylizations were consistent with the main objective/function and were intended to enhance and amplify each’s function.
The design of capitals in Ancient Egypt was based on 1:2, 1:4, and 5:8 Neb (Golden) triangles, as shown later in this book.
6.5 Porticoes and Peristyles
Porticoes and peristyles were used by the Egyptians over 5,000 years ago, and were a constant part of hundreds of tombs. Chapels. and temples throughout Ancient Egypt since its remotest history.
Portico is defined as a porch or covered walk consisting of a roof supported by columns, often at the entrance or across the front of a building. Colonnade has been used in Egypt since its earliest history.
Such an architectural feature was the typical entry form for mastabas, rock-hewn tombs, etc., as shown here in Giza tombs (Old Kingdom Era):
In Beni Hasan (Middle Kingdom Era):
in the New Kingdom Era at the Hatshepsut Temple, which shows square and polygonal shafts in the porticos:
Peristyle is defined as a row of columns forming an enclosure or supporting a roof; or any area or enclosure so formed as a court.
Again, we find such an architectural feature throughout all eras of Ancient Egyptian history and in all Egyptian regions.
6.6 The Organic Colonnades
We have addressed columns as individual item(s) above. Here we will give some examples of groups of columns (colonnades) in various parts and times in Ancient Egypt.
1. At Saqqara
There are forty columns in the colonnade at the Pyramid Complex of Zoser. Originally, the colonnade was roofed in. The roof over the shorter end columns formed a long, T-shaped gallery. The columns of the colonnade are popularly called fluted, which is technically incorrect. They are reeded or fasciculated, which varied in width between top and bottom.
These columns are peculiar in that they are attached to the main wall by connecting masonry. To suggest that the connecting walls were needed because the Egyptians lacked the technical capability to design freestanding columns is incomprehensible. It is difficult to imagine that the Egyptians, with their innumerable innovations at Saqqara, would be incapable of building a rather elementary freestanding column, if they wanted to.
This form of design at Saqqara allows for more efficient design. On an aesthetic level, it provides beautiful cubical areas.
The number game here is fascinating, as they relate to Osiris. There are 40 columns in total. Most of them have 17 stalks. Towards the end, the double freestanding columns at the western end have 19 stalks.
The number 17 represents the day Osiris died. The number 19 represents his resurrection in the western skies.
As the colonnade progresses west, the distance between the columns also narrows. With the superb Egyptian knowledge of harmony and proportion, there must be a deeper purpose to this narrowing than sheer artistry.
2. At the Karnak Temple
a. Grand Hypostyle Hall
The grand Hypostyle Hall is the structure that, along with the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, has won universal recognition as one of the world’s greatest architectural masterpieces. Here, in this Hypostyle Hall, all aspects of creation—religion, philosophy, science and art—are realized in the stones. The result, aesthetically, is overpowering.
There are seven rows of nine columns on each side of the double row of six higher columns in the center. This emphasis upon six, seven, and nine is found nowhere else in Egypt. Seven, the number of process and growth, is multiplied by nine. Nine, the Ennead, is a reiterated theme of Ancient Egypt. The Great Ennead is responsible for bringing the Universe into being, and sustaining it.
Nowhere in the world is there a more eminent or nobler architectural conception, or one carried out with such superior effectiveness, than the Hypostyle Hall at the Karnak Temple.
b. The Festival Temple of Twthomosis III
The columns here are tapered in reverse; narrower at the bottom than at the top. The style of these columns, together with their capitals, are shaped in reversed calyxes, giving this temple a special, tent-like effect.
3. At the Luxor Temple
a. The Colonnade of Amenhotep III consists of a double row of seven smooth-budded capital columns. Seven is the number symbolizing process. The tall, graceful columns represent clustered papyrus stalks with budded capitals.
b. The Hypostyle Hall consists of 32 densely packed columns. The paving stone of the floor at the base of the columns shows the chiseled successive phases of the moon. The moon is new, at the southernmost row of columns. The
second row shows the crescent moon. The third and fourth rows show the growing size of the moon… up to a full size.
6.7 The Obelisks
The Egyptian obelisk is made of one piece of pink granite. Like all the pink granite of Egypt, it was quarried several hundred miles to the south, at Aswan, transported several miles to the river, loaded onto a cargo ship, floated down to Luxor (Thebes), and then set up on its pedestal with perfect accuracy.
Many of these obelisks found their way to Europe and America and into their more prominent cities.
Ritual reliefs show the Pharaoh single-handedly raising an obelisk by means of a single rope tied to its upper extremity. This is, of course, symbolic. According to the famed Egyptologist Franqois Daumas, the erection of the obelisk was a symbolic reproduction of the Tet (djed) pillar, the familiar Osirian symbol standing for the backbone (support) of the physical world and the channel through which the divine spirit might rise through matter to rejoin its source.
But did the obelisk just have a symbolic function, or did it also serve a scientific function?
Having two obelisks at the entrance to the temples and having them consistently of different height and dimensions (where symmetry would seem the natural procedure) have suggested possible scientific functions.
The Ancient Egyptian Metaphysical Architecture Page 6
