Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Part I Proportions in ancient Egyptian architecture
- Part I Ancient Egyptian sources: construction and representation of space
- Introduction to Part II: Tradition and variations in ancient Egyptian art and architecture
- 3 Documents on the planning and building process
- 4 Foundation rituals
- Conclusion to Part II: From the plan to the building
- Part III The geometry of pyramids
- Conclusion to Part III: Interpreting the slope of pyramids
- An overview
- Appendix: List of Old and Middle Kingdom true pyramids
- Bibliography
- Index
3 - Documents on the planning and building process
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 February 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- List of abbreviations
- Part I Proportions in ancient Egyptian architecture
- Part I Ancient Egyptian sources: construction and representation of space
- Introduction to Part II: Tradition and variations in ancient Egyptian art and architecture
- 3 Documents on the planning and building process
- 4 Foundation rituals
- Conclusion to Part II: From the plan to the building
- Part III The geometry of pyramids
- Conclusion to Part III: Interpreting the slope of pyramids
- An overview
- Appendix: List of Old and Middle Kingdom true pyramids
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Architectural drawings
Representations of buildings and working drawings
Representations of buildings are frequently found in Egyptian art, and in many cases they provide a large amount of information about lost evidence, such as constructional details, overall appearance, function and internal arrangement of space. They sometimes may be the sole clue to the existence of totally destroyed buildings, but often they are not definitive. In many cases the doubts and questions generated by alternative interpretations must remain unanswered.
At first sight, Egyptian representations may seem rather complicated, but they were just based on different graphic rules in comparison with our modern conventions. We use partial representations, as in perspective, where a single point of view is privileged, while the Egyptians preferred to adopt for each object its best point of view, so that nothing could be lost, covered or misunderstood because of an incomplete visual. This is the reason why, for example, they represented the human body in positions which would be difficult to assume, but in which every single part could be perceived from its clearest point of view. The front view of the torso combined with the lateral view of head, arms and legs sometimes produced two-dimensional representations not easy to decipher. In the pose of worship, for example, the two arms were generally represented as if they were raised at different levels, even if in three-dimensional statues they appear to be held at the same height.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt , pp. 96 - 147Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004