Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in EgyptMaspero, G. (Gaston)
History
Manual of Egyptian Archaeology and Guide to the Study of Antiquities in Egypt
Maspero, G. (Gaston)
Art -- Egypt; Egypt -- Antiquities
Shafts of columns were regulated by no fixed rules of proportion or
arrangement. The architect might, if he chose, make use of equal heights
with very different diameters, and, regardless of any considerations apart
from those of general harmony, might design the various parts according to
whatever scale best suited him. The dimensions of the capital had no
invariable connection with those of the shaft, nor was the height of the
shaft dependent on the diameter of the column. At Karnak, the campaniform
columns of the hypostyle hall measure 10 feet high in the capital, and 55
feet high in the shaft, with a lower diameter of 11 feet 8 inches. At
Luxor, the capital measures 11-1/2 feet, the shaft 49 feet, and the
diameter at the spring of the base 11-1/4 feet. At the Ramesseum, the shaft
and capital measure 35 feet, and the spring diameter is 6-1/2 feet. The
lotus-bud or clustered column gives similar results. At Karnak, in the
aisles of the hypostyle hall, the capital is 10 feet high, the shaft 33
feet, and the base diameter 6-3/4 feet. At the Ramesseum, the capital is 5-
1/2 feet high, the shaft 24-1/2 feet, and the base diameter 5 feet 10
inches. We find the same irregularity as to architraves. Their height is
determined only by the taste of the architect or the necessities of the
building. So also with the spacing of columns. Not only does the inter-
columnar space vary considerably between temple and temple, or chamber and
chamber, but sometimes--as in the first court at Medinet Habû--they vary in
the same portico. We have thus far treated separately of each type; but
when various types were associated in a single building, no fixed relative
proportions were observed. In the hypostyle hall at Karnak, the campaniform
columns support the nave, while the lotus-bud variety is relegated to the
aisles (fig. 73). There are halls in the temple of Khonsû where the lotus-
bud column is the loftiest, and others where the campaniform dominates the
rest. In what remains of the Medamot structure, campaniform and lotus-bud
columns are of equal height. Egypt had no definite orders like those of
Greece, but tried every combination to which the elements of the column
could be made to lend themselves; hence, we can never determine the
dimensions of an Egyptian column from those of one of its parts.
[12] For an account of the excavations at Bubastis, see Eighth and Tenth
Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund, by M.E. Naville.
[13] French "Promenoir"; this is perhaps best expressed by "Processional
Hall," in accordance with the description of its purpose on p. 67.
--A.B.E.
2. THE TEMPLE.
[Illustration: Fig. 74.--Plan of temple of the Sphinx.]
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