The upper, opening within from the first chamber, at some height above
the floor, does not reach the exterior surface, but ends suddenly
against the unpierced outside casings. This peculiarity is explained by,
and in turn gives weight to, the statement that this pyramid, as
originally built by Mykerinos, was considerably smaller than it is at
present, measuring, according to the end of the unfinished upper
corridor, 54.86 m. on the side of the plan, and 42.20 m. in vertical
height. Nitocris, the last queen of the sixth dynasty, prepared the
pyramid to serve also as her own monument by adding courses of stone
which increased these dimensions to 117.29 and 66.75 m. respectively.
But as the original entrance, by the prolongation of its inclined line
outward, would thereby have opened much too high above the ground, a new
corridor beneath the first was rendered necessary. The second chamber,
which probably once contained the sarcophagus of the queen, was found
entirely plundered. The third and lowest, better protected, had been
opened; but in it there still remained in position a magnificent coffer
of basalt. The exterior of this sarcophagus was sculptured with
lattice-work in imitation of a palace-like structure with portals.
Fragments of the wooden coffin, with carved hieroglyphics, once within
it, and of the mummy itself, were flung about the room. The sarcophagus,
of the greatest value as illustrating the architectural forms of its
time, sank in the Mediterranean with the ship which was carrying it away
to England. The mummy and the lid of the coffin are in the British
Museum. Hieroglyphics upon the latter designate the venerable remains as
those of King Menkera, the same Mykerinos whom Herodotos, following
traditions of the Egyptian priests, mentions as one of the best rulers
of the land. The stone ceiling of the Mykerinos chamber was at first
thought to be vaulted, it having the form of a low pointed arch. This
peculiarity proved, however, to be due to a hollowing-out of the
inclined gable blocks.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.--Section of the Great Pyramid of Saccara.]
[Illustration: Fig. 4.--The Pyramid of Meydoun.]
Princes and princesses of these early dynasties appear to have been
buried in smaller pyramids, like those which stand in groups of three
near the first and third great pyramids of Gizeh. Prominent subjects
were allowed to take a place in the royal necropolis; but their pyramids
were always truncated, in form resembling the Egyptian footstool--the
pyramidal point remained the peculiar privilege of the kings. It appears
to have been customary to commence all these structures with a few large
terraces of masonry, which were not fully developed into the perfectly
pyramidal structure until the last stones, the revetments, were put in
place. These terraces generally had vertical sides. Occasionally this
construction was varied by being formed with sloping sides, which
repeated the obtuse ascending angle of the footstool, so that the
separate steps, elsewhere with a vertical rise, were here somewhat
inclined. It is not certain whether the absolute pyramidal form was
always intended to be carried out upon the completion of these latter
monuments. The examples of the inclined terraces which have been
preserved rather seem to show that various attempts were made to develop
architecturally upon the exterior the peculiarity of its inner
construction. The arrangement and line of the kernel were more or less
strictly adhered to, so that the last course of facing-stones showed the
original angle of the interior masonry. The increasing of the terraces
by successive courses--coats, as it were--seems to have been generally
continued as long as the reign of a Pharaoh would permit. The layers,
when inclined, were most numerous at the foot of the pyramid, decreasing
in number as they ascend, that the mass might not take the proportions
of a tower. This manner of building is displayed by the section of the
first pyramid of Saccara (_Fig._ 3.), which, if the courses had been
continued in equal number, would have reached a height of at least one
hundred and fifty meters, instead of the 57.91 m. effected by its
terrace-like contractions. The pyramid of Meydoun shows that this
contraction did not necessarily take place in regular and equal steps.
(_Fig. 4._) There the layers were added, without decreasing in number,
to a considerable height, when the structure was quickly completed by
broad and low terraces. Similar to this must have been those pyramids
which ended in a platform and served as the mighty pedestals of colossal
figures, described by Herodotos as existing in Lake Moeris. A remarkable
variation from these forms is finally to be noticed in the stone pyramid
of Dashour. (_Fig._ 5.) Rising at first with steep inclination, 54° 14´,
it changes its slant at half-height to reach, with a smaller angle, 42°
59´, a more rapid conclusion. This artistically unfortunate form seems
to have been owing to a change of plan during the execution of the work;
it was doubtless originally designed to have been finished like the
pyramid of Meydoun. It is hardly necessary to seek the origin of the
double angle in the analogous obtuse termination of Egyptian obelisks.
This pyramid of Dashour is further remarkable on account of its
magnificent revetment of polished Mocattam limestone, which is almost
entirely preserved.
There is as great a difference in the material as in the form of the
pyramids. As early as the third dynasty King Asychis (Asuchra) built a
pyramid of what Herodotos terms Nile mud; that is to say, of sun-dried
bricks. It is not improbable that the great pyramid of Dashour may be
identified with this. Besides this peculiarity of material, it is of
unusual construction, not having been immediately built upon the natural
ground, but standing on a thick layer of sand, which, enclosed by
retaining-walls, forms an excellent foundation.
[Illustration: Fig. 5.--Southern Stone Pyramid of Dashour.]
One of the group of pyramids at Abousere is built of rubble-stones,
quarried from the high plateau of the desert itself, and roughly
cemented with Nile mud. The builder of this irregular masonry held it
the more necessary to insure the ceiling of his grave-chamber with the
greatest care, and three gables of stones, 10.90 m. long and 3.66 m.
thick, provide a resistance as sufficient against the imposed mass as
does the sixfold roofing of the King’s Chamber at Gizeh. (_Fig._ 6.) The
exterior layers were carefully constructed of blocks from the quarries
of Tourah. Immense dikes, forerunners of our modern causeways, led from
these quarries to the buildings at Abousere. Although intended only for
the conveyance of materials, they were yet so firmly built that they
exist at the present time. Egyptian wall-paintings show in the clearest
manner the transportation of colossal monolithic statues along these
ways upon sledges, either moved upon rollers or dragged over an oiled
slide, as in _Fig._ 7. The pyramid of Illahoun, like the northern
pyramid of Dashour and others, is built of brick; its masonry was
additionally strengthened by walls of stone, the thickest being upon the
diagonals of the plan. The pyramid of Meydoun is built of alternate
horizontal courses of variously quarried stone. The following are the
most important pyramids still standing, with their dimensions in meters:
--------------------------------------+----------+---------+
Name of Pyramid. | Original | Present |
| Height. | Height. |
--------------------------------------+----------+---------+
1. Great pyramid of Gizeh | 148.21 | 137.34 |
2. Second pyramid of Gizeh | 139.39 | 136.37 |
3. Northern stone pyramid of Dashour | 104.39 | 99.49 |
4. Southern stone pyramid of Dashour | 103.29 | 97.28 |
5. Pyramid of Illahoun | ---- | 39.62 |
6. Pyramid of Meydoun | ---- | 68.40 |
7. Northern Pyramid of Lisht | ---- | 20.85 |
8. Pyramid of Hovara | ---- | 32.31 |
9. Northern pyramid of Lisht | ---- | 27.31 |
10. Southern brick pyramid of Dashour | 81.46 | 47.55 |
11. Great pyramid of Abousere | 69.39 | 49.99 |
12. Third pyramid of Gizeh | 66.83 | 61.87 |
13. Northern brick pyramid of Dashour | 65.25 | 27.43 |
14. Great pyramid of Saccara | 61.06 | 57.91 |
15. Pyramid of Abou-Roash | ---- | ---- |
--------------------------------------+----------+---------+
--------------------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
Name of Pyramid. | Side of Plan. | Angle of Ascent.|
| | |
--------------------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
1. Great pyramid of Gizeh | 232.56 | 51° 52´ |
2. Second pyramid of Gizeh | 215.09 | 52° 21´ |
3. Northern stone pyramid of Dashour | 219.28 | 43° 36´ |
4. Southern stone pyramid of Dashour | 187.93 | {above 54° 14´ |
| | {below 42° 59´ |
5. Pyramid of Illahoun | now, 170.69 | ---- |
6. Pyramid of Meydoun | now, 161.54 | 74° 10´ |
7. Northern Pyramid of Lisht | now, 137.16 | ---- |
8. Pyramid of Hovara | 116.92 | ---- |
9. Northern pyramid of Lisht | now, 109.73 | ---- |
10. Southern brick pyramid of Dashour | 104.39 | 57° 20´ |
11. Great pyramid of Abousere | 109.60 | 51° 42´ |
12. Third pyramid of Gizeh | 77.04 | 51° 10´ |
13. Northern brick pyramid of Dashour | 104.34 | 51° 20´ |
14. Great pyramid of Saccara | E. × W. 120.02 | 73° 30´ |
| N. × S. 107.01 | |
15. Pyramid of Abou-Roash | 104.39 | ---- |
--------------------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
The Nubian pyramids on Mount Barkal and in Meroe, far more numerous than
those of Lower Egypt, have lost much of their interest since
investigations have shown that the civilization of Egypt and the
prototypes of monumental art did not descend from Nubia, as was at first
supposed, but arose in the delta and advanced up the stream.
Inscriptions prove these pyramids to be some three thousand years
younger than those of Memphis, dating them at as recent an epoch as the
beginning of the Christian era. They are generally grouped in an
extended necropolis, and differ from those of the ancient kingdom by a
steeper angle of elevation, by a roundel-moulding upon the angles, and,
above all, by much smaller dimensions.
Though the truncated pyramidal form, as has been seen in a number of
tombs at Gizeh, was not excluded from the funeral architecture of
Egyptian subjects, it was never general. Rock-cut tombs were much more
customary. The upright cliffs which border the banks of the Nile led
naturally to such a formation, and in their sides are excavated caverns
of very different dimensions, from the prevalent small, square chambers,
with a narrow entrance high above the level of the valley, to the most
extended series of rooms. These tombs were commonly decorated by mural
paintings alone, but occasionally by carved architectural details, which
always represent a wooden sheathing of slats or lattice-work. The larger
chambers, even of the most primitive period, have the roof supported by
square piers.
[Illustration: Fig. 6.--Section of the Middle Pyramid of Abousere.]
It is from these piers that the Egyptian columns seem to have
originated, dividing from the outset into two classes and developing in
different directions.
One class of columns arose from chamfering the corners of the square
pier, this support being thus transformed into an eight-sided, and, when
the proceeding was repeated, to a sixteen-sided, shaft. The first phase
of change, with its octagonal plan, was simple and advantageous--a
predominance of vertical line was secured to the support, as well as
greater room and ease of passage to the chamber. The second, the
sixteen-sided figure, offered but few new advantages; on the contrary,
the play of light and shade between the sixteen sides and angles was
lost in proportion as the edges became more obtuse and less visible. As
the sleek rotundity of an absolutely cylindrical shaft was not
desirable, the blunt angles of the sixteen-sided prism, of rather coarse
stone, were emphasized to avoid the disagreeable uncertainty which is
felt when the plan is undecided between a polygon and a circle. This was
effected by channelling the sides, making the arris more prominent and
giving a more lively variation of vertical light and shade. The pier
thus maintained, in some degree, its prismatic character while
approaching the cylinder, and the channelled column arose.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.--Transport of a Colossus. Egyptian
Wall-painting.]
[Illustration: Fig. 8.--Section and Plan of the Northernmost Rock-cut
Tomb at Beni-hassan.]
Rock-cut tombs of the twelfth dynasty (2380-2167 B.C., according to
Lepsius) situated at Beni-hassan, and part of the necropolis of the
ancient Nus, a city early destroyed, show the polygonal pier in the two
phases of eight and sixteen sided plan. The most northern of these has
the octagonal unchannelled pier in the vestibule, and the sixteen-sided
channelled column within. Only fifteen channels are executed on the
latter, the sixteenth side being left plane for the reception of a
painted row of hieroglyphics. Both exterior and interior shafts have a
base like a large flat millstone, which projects far beyond the lower
diameter of the column, its edge being bevelled inward. A square abacus
plinth is the only medium between shaft and ceiling, the two columns of
the vestibule lacking even this. A full entablature did not exist in the
interior, as a representative of the outer edge of roof and ceiling
there would naturally have been out of place. The northernmost tomb has
no distinct entablature carved upon the exterior; but its neighbor
(_Fig._ 9.) shows, cut from the solid rock, a massive horizontal
epistyle above the columns, and upon this the projecting edge of the
ceiling, which appears to consist of squarely hewn joists. Lattice-work
was found represented upon the stone sarcophagus of Mykerinos. Here the
model of a wooden ceiling is truthfully imitated upon the rock. As, in
the flat coverings of rainless Egypt, roof and ceiling appear one and
the same, this entablature has but two members--epistyle and cornice;
while the frieze, in Greek architecture the representative of a
horizontal ceiling beneath the inclined roof, does not here exist.
This order of architecture, called, because of the similarity of the
shaft, the Proto-Doric, was predominant in the ancient kingdom. But at
least as early as the twelfth dynasty another class of columns was in
use which had been developed in an entirely different manner. The
Proto-Doric columns originated from the mathematical duplication of the
prismatic sides and angles of the square pier; these second made the
same pier their model, but followed its painted ornament, not its
architectural form. The primitive designer enriched his work with
flowers, striving to preserve the quickly fading natural decoration by
an imperishable imitation. Many of the bands of ornament customary in
antiquity may be considered as rows or wreaths of leaves and flowers,
although often they do not betray their derivation at first sight,
because of the original imperfect representation of nature, the
subsequent strict conventionalization, and final degeneracy into
formalism.
[Illustration: Fig. 9.--Second Rock-cut Tomb at Beni-hassan.]
In Egypt, ornamental adaptations of the lotos-flowers of the Nile appear
at first in long, frieze-like rows, the blossoms being bound together by
the stems in much the same arrangement as similar decorations in
Assyria, or the better conventionalized anthemion friezes in Greece.
When this horizontal ornament was transferred to the narrow vertical
sides of a pier, it was necessary to place the flowers closely together,
to lengthen the curled stems and bind them; in short, to form of the
wreaths, which had answered for the narrow band, a bouquet better
corresponding to the tall, upright space to be filled.
Such a bunch of long-stemmed lotos-buds is shown upon the pillars of the
tombs near Sauiet-el-Meytin (_Fig._ 10.), which, certainly of the
ancient kingdom, were probably of the sixth dynasty. This bouquet may
have been as customary an ornament for the pier as the garlands of
lotos-flowers were for the frieze.
The history of architectural decoration shows that the stone-cutter’s
chisel everywhere followed in the footsteps of color. The four sides of
the pier bore the same painted flowers; if these were to be sculptured,
nothing could be more natural than to carry them from four-sided relief
into the full round, where they offered the same face to all points of
view, and transformed the painted pier into a column formed like a bunch
of lotos-blossoms. This development must have taken place early in the
ancient kingdom, for we find the floral column in the same tombs of the
twelfth dynasty at Beni-hassan which show the so-called Proto-Doric
shaft in its various phases. Form and color so work together in the
floral column as to leave no doubt of the fundamental idea having been
the bunch of lotos-buds painted upon the sides of the pier. Four stems
of rounded profile are engaged, rising from a flat base similar to that
of the polygonal column. They are tied together under the buds by
fivefold ribbons of different colors. Above these the lotos-flowers
spread from the stems, showing between their green leaves the opening
buds in narrow slits of white. The flowers of the painted bouquet
(_Fig._ 10.) are spread apart; but in the sculptured column they are
necessarily united, forming the capital. Even the little blossoms with
short stems, represented upon the painting of Sauiet-el-Meytin, are not
neglected, although the calyx itself has become much smaller, owing to
technical reasons of the execution.
[Illustration: Fig. 10.--Pier Decoration from the Tombs of
Sauiet-el-Meytin.]
Beni-hassan proves that the two orders, the channelled polygonal shaft
and the lotos-column (_Fig._ 11.), had been developed as early as the
twelfth dynasty; but as columnar architecture was not general in the
ancient kingdom, the examples preserved are isolated. The little temple
of that age discovered by Mariette Bey near the great sphinx of Gizeh
shows no trace of columns, their place being supplied by monolithic
piers. The period between the twenty-second and the sixteenth century
B.C., during which the Nile-land was occupied by the nomadic Hycsos, the
shepherd kings, enemies to all civilization, was not favorable to the
further application and development of architectural genius. The columns
do not again appear until the advent of the new Theban kingdom with the
eighteenth dynasty (1591 B.C., according to Lepsius), when they were
extensively employed, especially in temples. It was then that the
typical forms of the orders were determined. The Proto-Doric, the
channelled polygonal column of the tombs at Beni-hassan, fell into
disuse. Its simplicity suited neither the desire for richness of form,
peculiar to the later Egyptians, nor the delight in polychromatic
ornament, which found only one unchannelled strip at its disposal.
[Illustration: Fig. 11.--Lotos-column of Beni-hassan.]
The polygonal shaft received, in certain measure, a new lease of life by
the invention of a necessary part, a capital in place of the meagre
abacus plinth which had formerly been the insufficient medium of
transition between the upright support and the horizontal entablature.
The vegetable prototype was deserted, and a female head, or rather a
fourfold mask about a cubical kernel, crowned the shaft, being
surmounted by an ornament somewhat resembling a chapel. The column
thereby became similar to a Hermes, or to a caryatid figure of Janus
Quadrifrons, as it were. (_Fig._ 12.) But the representation of the
deity Athor had only a limited application, and seems to have prevented
the column from being generally employed.
A far wider field was opened to the floral column, which in its
architectural and ornamental development was removed further and further
from its original model. The changes were brought about in two ways, the
most direct alterations being effected by the sculptor. The four buds
and stems of the lotos-columns of Beni-hassan were increased to eight;
the latter changed their round cylinders to angular prisms, thus giving
up much of the vegetable character. The former straight and stiff shaft,
rising directly from the base, was curved near the bottom by a short
swelling, which suddenly increased the diameter. This entasis was
surrounded by a row of leaves, again characterizing the ascending bundle
as stems. Leaves were also added at the foot of the buds, these being
out of place and impairing the consequential development expressed in
the column of Beni-hassan, though corresponding well enough with the
treatment adopted for the similar enlargement at the foot of the shaft.
The four little flowers, which were tied in by the bands of the
Beni-hassan column, naturally became eight in number with the
duplication of the stems and blossoms. They were before much diminished
in size, but here became an entirely unorganic, rectangular ornament.
The binding ribbons of the neck retained their original variegated
colors; but the painting of the capital itself put aside every likeness
to the natural colors of the flower. (_Fig_. 13 _a_.)
[Illustration: Fig. 12.--Column from Sedinga.]
An entirely picturesque transformation also affected the lotos-column,
and led to the second phase of its development. The stone shaft was cut
cylindrically, the memberings being omitted and all reminiscences of
stem and bud being abandoned. The wreaths of leaves remained at the
lower end of the shaft and of the capital, as did also the binding
ribbons with the little flowers, which were still more broadened and
distorted. The rest of the column gave space for painted, or rather
coilanaglyphic, representations of devotional acts, for the cartouches
of the kings and for hieroglyphic inscriptions (_Fig_. 13 _b_.) The
capital, which had before consisted of four and of eight buds, became
consolidated to a single one; the binding ribbon of the neck was
retained without a function. It was the more natural to open the single
bud to the calyx of a flower, a graceful and satisfactory solution of
the problem which retained its sway henceforth in Egypt much as the
Corinthian capital, so nearly related in form to this Egyptian calyx,
predominated over other Roman varieties. The shaft and the ribbons
remained, as in the painted column of the Memnonium. (_Fig._ 13 _b._) So
also did the row of leaves at the base of the capital; the little
flowers were entirely omitted, and the upper part of the calyx was
thickly covered with royal seals painted between upright ornaments, so
small that their line does not affect the composition of the whole.
(_Fig._ 14.) A discord resulted from the retention of the abacus plinth
of the former bud capital in its original proportions, a defect which in
some degree defeated the æsthetic advantages of the boldly projecting
calyx as a medium between the vertical support and the horizontal mass
above it.
[Illustration: Fig. 13.--Lotos-columns from Thebes.
_a._ Sculptured Column from the Great Temple at Carnac.
_b._ Painted Column from the Memnonium of Ramses II.]
The calyx capital attained no typical and established form in Egyptian
architecture, even as the Corinthian capital received no formal
development in the Hellenic art which originated it. The decoration of
the calyx continued to offer a wide field for the inventive talent of
the Egyptian architect, which was here employed with most fortunate
results. The ruined buildings, especially of later periods, show
hundreds of different capitals, from the simplest upright forms of the
papyrus to elaborately turned and rolled leaves; these floral ornaments
being almost always composed and conventionalized with admirable taste.
A decided advance was made by separating the upper edge of the calyx,
with notches, into four large petals, although the decoration did not
have sufficient influence to affect the column as a whole. The most
satisfactory among the varieties of the floral column, and that most
thoroughly carried out, was certainly the palm; the capital of which
was characterized as a crown of leaves, and the shaft, by an imitation
of the bark, as a palm-stem. The tall leaves rendered a greater height
of the palm capital necessary; thus increased, it most closely
approached the Corinthian in beauty of outline. The division of the
great calyx into eight lobes was another result of this decoration. As
the palm capital was frequently placed among others, especially by the
Egyptians of later periods, it naturally had the effect upon the
varieties to be brought into harmony with it of lowering the necking of
their shafts in the same measure as had been necessary for itself.
(_Fig._ 15.)