Waterhouse, Percy Leslie: The story of architecture throughout the ages: an introduction to the study of the oldest of the arts for students and general readers (London: B. T. Batsford, 1924)

L
EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE.
The earliest men of whom any traces exist were
cave-dwellers ; and it has been well said that
the father of all architecture was he who first
discovered that he could build a wall by the
simple process of piling one stone upon another.
This new idea was followed by the introduction
of carpentry, the use of the pier and the lintel,
and the many other improvements which went
to make true architecture.
A complete story of Architecture would there-
fore cover almost as great a period of time as
the story of man himself. Unfortunately, the
efforts of our earlier ancestors in this field have
entirely disappeared. It was not until man, in
the course of civilisation, became a mighty
builder, and not that only, but a builder in
materials of an impeiishable nature, that he
was able to leave behind him monuments to tell
the story of his life to future ages. Thus it
comes about that it is impossible to trace the
growth of the art from its earliest beginnings,
and to follow its development as it grew in
importance. The oldest memorials of which we
have records—the tombs and temples of ancient
B I