DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.572#0046
18 ARCHITECTURE OF EGYPT. PART I.
this knowledge, derived from the existence of false
arches at Thebes, falls to the ground.* And the
numerous instances of crude brick arches, in the
tombs at Thebes, of the early times of Amunoph I,
of Thothmes III, and the Remeses, suffice to show
that the principle was known at least as early as the
commencement of the 18th dynasty, or the end of
the 16th century before our era. But the regularly
constructed arch was never admitted into Egyptian
temples; the flat roof had been established, as a
necessary feature of their sacred architecture; and
if a royal capricef occasionally chose to have a
vaulted ceiling, it was only cut into the inner sur-
face of the horizontal courses, that formed the flat
roof; the true arch being confined to houses, and
tombs. Even in Roman times, when conquered
Egypt had completely fallen, and her taste had
passed away, the universal preference for the arch
was not allowed to intrude it into her sacred edi-
fices; and prejudice forbad it even in the small out-
of-the-way temples of the Oases, except in a position
which did not interfere with the character of the
building. It may have required some time, before
the Egyptians were induced to build arches of stone;
as their quarries afforded them blocks of sufficient
length for roofing large spaces ;J at all events, there
* None of the false arches cut in horizontal stones are as old as some
true arches of crude brick, at Thebes; the age of which I have ascer-
tained from the name of Amunoph I, on their stuccoed lining. Vide
Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 318.
t Of Thothmes the Third's sister, at Day r el Bahree, Thebes (Plate 1,
fig. 14) : and of Osirei the First, or Sethos, at Abydus. (Plate4, fig. 13.)
J Some roofing stones in their large temples measure upwards of
twenty-four feet in length.
this knowledge, derived from the existence of false
arches at Thebes, falls to the ground.* And the
numerous instances of crude brick arches, in the
tombs at Thebes, of the early times of Amunoph I,
of Thothmes III, and the Remeses, suffice to show
that the principle was known at least as early as the
commencement of the 18th dynasty, or the end of
the 16th century before our era. But the regularly
constructed arch was never admitted into Egyptian
temples; the flat roof had been established, as a
necessary feature of their sacred architecture; and
if a royal capricef occasionally chose to have a
vaulted ceiling, it was only cut into the inner sur-
face of the horizontal courses, that formed the flat
roof; the true arch being confined to houses, and
tombs. Even in Roman times, when conquered
Egypt had completely fallen, and her taste had
passed away, the universal preference for the arch
was not allowed to intrude it into her sacred edi-
fices; and prejudice forbad it even in the small out-
of-the-way temples of the Oases, except in a position
which did not interfere with the character of the
building. It may have required some time, before
the Egyptians were induced to build arches of stone;
as their quarries afforded them blocks of sufficient
length for roofing large spaces ;J at all events, there
* None of the false arches cut in horizontal stones are as old as some
true arches of crude brick, at Thebes; the age of which I have ascer-
tained from the name of Amunoph I, on their stuccoed lining. Vide
Ancient Egyptians, vol. iii. p. 318.
t Of Thothmes the Third's sister, at Day r el Bahree, Thebes (Plate 1,
fig. 14) : and of Osirei the First, or Sethos, at Abydus. (Plate4, fig. 13.)
J Some roofing stones in their large temples measure upwards of
twenty-four feet in length.