Religious Architecture in Ancient Egypt History Assignment (Essay Sample)

Religious Architecture in Ancient Egypt
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TIME \@ "MMMM d, yyyy" March 6, 2018
Religious Architecture in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was culturally very rich. This is most evident in their architecture, most of which was linked to the spiritual and religious aspects of their culture. A significant part of their architecture has survived the millennia in the form of temples and pyramids. All of them have some link to religious beliefs, apart from being architectural miracles. The Nile as the source of life, the sun, moon, stars, fertility and death were of religious importance to the Egyptians, and this is shown in their architectural works. The religious values and beliefs that existed in the periods when these structures came up are reflected in the architecture, making them a mine of information about the ancient Egyptian civilization.
The Egyptians had a complex hierarchy of gods, which included their ruler, the Pharaoh, and they served their gods through their architecture. Their theology was complicated and involved animal-headed gods and deified Pharaohs. However, the overbearing belief was rooted in the preservation of the dead for the afterlife. The architecture of the tomb where the preserved corpse was to be stored was influenced by that belief. However, it was only the royal, wealthy or priestly beings who could achieve immortality through such means. The tombs were ornate and expensive, and only those of means and prestige could afford them. The practice of preservation stemmed from the belief that the Ka, or the soul, would reenter the body at a later date. When such a resurrection occurred, it would be necessary that the body of the person be intact and ready. This necessitated not just preservation, but also the construction of impregnable tomb. The religious leaders of Ancient Egypt were extremely powerful and were given a lot of authority by the kings and gods. Part of this was due to the religious beliefs and the godly status of the king, and part of it was because of their monopoly on all of the knowledge of the Egyptian civilization.["Society And Social Hierarchy In Ancient Egypt". Anciv.Info. /ancient-egypt/society-and-social-hierarchy-in-acient-egypt.html, (March 7, 2018)]
The religious practices in Egypt were mysterious, tradition and unchangeable, and these were depicted in the tombs and the temples over the ages. Historians have discovered more than two thousand such rites, and these appear throughout in the architectural wonders of the Egyptians in one or the other combination. The belief in a future state is the primary reasons behind the creation of the everlasting works to preserve the dead. Two types of structures are dominant, and they demonstrate the religious attitude of the time. The first are the mysterious, but solemn and subdued temples of the gods. The second are the pyramids that serve as the tombs for the Kings, which are outrageously excessive in some cases. Apart from depicting the belief in eternal life and the power of the gods, these structures also show the tyrannical nature of the kings and the amount of power wielded by the priests.
Early Egyptian tombs, called mastabas, were not much more than mounds in the earth. The first time the shape of a pyramid came about was in the form of the tomb of King Djoser. His architect, Imhotep, designed the tomb by placing six mastabas in a stack. Each one was slightly smaller than the one below, which gave it a tapering shape towards the top. This pyramid can be seen at Sakkar on the banks of the Nile. Various rooms and passages were a part of the interiors, leading to the king’s burial chamber.["The Old Kingdom | Boundless Art History". Lumencandela. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/the-old-kingdom/ (March 7, 2018)]
However, the most famous and recognizable of these tombs is the Great Pyramid at Giza. It was built by Khufu, for his father, Snefru. It was spread across thirteen acres, and each side measured more than seven hundred feet, with the pyramid itself being 450 feet high. On an average, the blocks comprising the pyramid weigh two tons, while the largest one is almost 15 tons. King Khufu also built two other pyramids at Giza for his son, King Khafre, and Khafre’s successor Menkaure.
These pyramids were not isolated buildings, but just a part of larger complexes. This included other tombs, chapels, temples and massive walls. Some sites have also contained funerary boats, such as the one found at Giza. The texts on the pyramids do provide some information about Egyptian religion, though it is sketchy at best. However, historians are still unsure as to the actual purpose of the all the buildings in these complexes or the actual burial process. It is believed that first, the body reached the pyramid site by travelling on a boat. It was then mummified in the valley and put into the pyramid.
In the temples of ancient Egypt, the gods were shown in multiples of three. Thus, it is common to see groups of three, six, nine and twelve gods displayed together in temples. The Trinity in the religion was of Horus, Osiris and Iris. Osiris is typically shown with a flail and a royal crook, and Horus is even more easily discernible due to having a falcon’s head. The most prominent temples that the Egyptians have left behind were initially meant to be a gathering point for people where they could give offerings to the pharaohs. Specific places within the temples were made for the cults of the pharaohs who would carry out religious rites to ensure that the dead pharaohs lived on in the afterlife. There were many instances where kings and rulers broke the temples made by the previous ones. In some cases, this was done to pillage for raw material. However, mostly this was done so that the dead’s afterlife could be interrupted, or just to erase all memories of the previous ruler.
In the period of the Middle Kingdom and thereafter, the temples took on the identity that is evident in most surviving structures. They were put in massive rectangular spaces and surrounded by high walls. The entrances had two sloping towers flanking them, with a door placed in the space between them. These doors led to a vast courtyard where people used to gather. Just beyond the courtyard was the feature most familiar today – the Hypostyle Hall. This was primarily a network of pillars supporting a triangular roof. Beyond this was the sanctuary where a statue of the temple’s deity was placed, and only the high priests or the pharaoh could go to this place. The more massive temples had multiple courtyards and sanctuaries.
The temples were usually modelled on the Egyptians’ studies of the cosmos and a...