The great Pyramid of Cheops Giza necropolis has three main elements. The pyramid of Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus lie on a near diagonal axis the perfectly aligned with the North Star and perpendicular axis of the sun.
The first pyramid was the largest built for Cheops aka. Khufu. The second pharoah was Khufu' son Chephren aka. Khafre, and the third was Menkare aka. called Mycerinus. The sheer size and precision which these structures were made has caused these pyramids to be known as one of the seven wonders of the world. The Largest pyramid is 775ft by 479ft. The Pyramid of Khafte was 707ft square and 470 ft high. The side slope is 50 degrees 10 ft. The smallest pyramid measures 356ft sq. (3) Roth 196,197. Nothing in Egypt was as grand as the Pyramids of Gizu. At the end of the Fourth Dynasty pyramid building all but ended. Most of the pyramids had been broken into and robed. One a minor pharaoh who died at a young age remained in tack. His tomb was covered with debris from rocks above another pharaohs tomb King RamesII , King Tutankhaman. At the end of the fourth Dynasty there was a great upheaval in the government even the god RA was replaced with the god Ammon.
Thebes became the new city in upper Egypt. Tombs were being built as the base of the western cliff at Deir el Babri. The temple of Amon at Karnak was built.
Next to this is the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut, pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty 1503-1482 B.C. E. Hatshepsut had her chief architect Senmut build terrace mortuary chapel complex next to the tomb of her father Mentuhotep. This to serve as more than a temple of worship but as centers of learning and government. The temples were also sites of theatrical religious festivals especially and the end of harvest time. The temple of Amon after the Tenth Dynasty eventually became a major sacred site in Egypt.(3) P201-203 Roth.
Impoteh was the first recorded architecture in western Egypt he set the basis for other architects to follow. Roth p.119. Semut under Queen Hatshepsut designed her morturay temple. It is stated that loose notes have been found on ostraka, flate flakes of linstone chipped off larger building blocks,of Egyptian architect designs vignettes and more formal drawings were done in various colored inks on papyrus sheets. One of the surviving sheets shows front and side elevations sections of a shrine chest is kept in Turin Italy. P119 Roth.
I wonder if the Egyptians had not left vignettes, drawings on the walls of the temples and inside the tombs would we have known today what had occured thousands of years ago. I find this all mind boggling that one group of people in the earliest recorded history could devise such structures on a grand scale.The beauty of the sculptures of the kings and god-kings is amazing in perfection. That from the Egyptians all other cultures follow examples and expound on these structures, these buildings, cultures, knowledge, systems borrowing one from another and expanding, from the first Egyptian minds.
In our Drafting class we are learning about, drawing to scale and creating to scale as in Pat's chair. We also had to draw a section of the structure we created. We also study angles 30-60-90 degree angles in expressing plan drawings. In Design studio class we had to create a scale model of our artifact and place it in a section of the model wooden wall we created. In Design Art
class we drew vignettes of places where people gather called "Drinking while Drawing" we practiced making the people to scale in our drawings in these vignettes. The unity of all this helps me to understand how everything relates and comes together. Working in groups helps also in the exchange of ideas as we come together in unity to create artifacts and structures which roots came from those who lived before us.
Understanding Architecture, Its Elements, History, and Meaning, Leland M. Roth.pp 196-197...pp201-203
The Grammar Of Architecture, Ancient Egypt, Emily Cole p20
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