ABHISHEK K. VENKITARAMAN IYER

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

HUMAN SETTLEMENTSLECTURE 3

EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

EGYPTIANCIVILIZATION

The E

xte

nts

of

Egyp

tian C

iviliz

ation

NORTH CITY

CENTRAL CITY

SOUTH SUBURB

All the main settlements developed in a linear pattern along the River Nile, which was the primary resource.

Just as life arose from the waters of theprimeval sea, so the waters of

the Nile gave birth to the pharaonic

kingdom. A gift to the people of Egypt

Its flood plain was an extensive oasis, a

magnet for life -- human, plant

and animal. Humans were drawn therebecause they could grow crops and settle

into permanent villages. The annual

flooding of the Nile deposited nutrient rich

silt on the land, creating all the ingredients

needed to support life and the growth of a

great civilization.

The settlement of a town had to take two

main considerations into mind The

proximity to a water source and the height it

was built above the flooding of the Nile.

NEW LANDMARKS IN ARCHITECTURE AND CITY

PLANNING

Social structure

Influenced the city planning

EGYPTIAN TOWN PLANNING

SECURITY

ECONOMICS

ELEVATIONS, KEPT ABOVE THE SLOWLY RISING PLAINS.

WHEN OLD HOUSES CRUMBLED, NEW ONES WERE BUILT ON TOP OF THE DEBRIS.

THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON UNTIL RECENT TIMES, WHEN THE YEARLY

INUNDATIONS WERE STOPPED BY THE ASWAN DAM.

Didnt continue to occupy the same site -> paucity of urban remainsNo economic necessity, to take advantage of the enormous economic capital

investment of walls

Each successive Pharaoh had the freedom to spend his reigning life

on earth preparing his tomb for after-life.

Less time to settle down in each place

Most permanent building materials were used in temple or tomb construction

The regularity and richness of the annual Nile River flood, coupled with semi-

isolation provided by deserts to the east and west, allowed for the

development of one of the world's great civilizations.

Akhenaten chose a magnificent site for his new residence city and religious

centre in middle Egypt at Akhetaten, 'the Horizon of the Aten' (modern Amarna),

Here was unlimited building space on a wide crescent-shaped plain running 6

miles or so (10 km) north to south by up to 3lf2 miles (5 km) east to west. Only a

narrow strip of cultivation existed by the river, but on the

opposite bank lay a great fertile plain 12 miles (20 km) across before the desert

on the west side was reached.

This could form the farmland for the city, a royal garden estate, and was included in

the geometrically precise tract of land delineated by the fourteen great rock-cut

boundary markers.

The urban area proper was a ribbon development along the east

bank of the Nile.

PLANNED CITY :- AKHETATEN(Modern name: AMARNA)

PLANNED CITY :- AKHETATEN(Modern name: AMARNA)

Public open spaces had trees

Inhabitants often had their own private

garden plots.

Boundaries had empty space.

Was abandoned after government

edifices had been erected.

These formed the town centre

The residential areas were north-east and

south-west of them.

Workmen had to live in crowded flats of

60 m, or 100 m

THE BEGINNINGS Amarna is the modern name for the city built by

Akhenaten, a Pharaoh of the

18th dynasty of ancient Egypt.

reign around 1350 BCE (1353

to 1336 BCE, Freed 1999:13).

Amarna is located as seen on the map above--

on the Eastern side of the Nile

Akhetaten was hastily

constructed and covered an

area of approximately 8

miles (13 km) of territory

on the east bank of the

Nile River; on the west

bank, land was set aside to

provide crops for the city's

population. The entire city

was encircled with a total

of 14

boundary stelae detailing

Akhenaten's conditions for

the establishment of this

new capital city of Egypt.

The E

xte

nts

of

Am

arn

aNORTH CITY

Royal Residences

CENTRAL CITY

Administration

and religious

area

SOUTH SUBURB

Residential

Suburbs

MAIN CITY

Linear development along east bank of Nile

3 main routes parallel to river, connecting various

parts

7km long, 0.8-1.5 km wide overall

Unfortified city, just symbolic walls enclosing

the central temple and

palace

Since buildings were largely rectangular, there was

regularity in overall layout

without planning

Palaces and temples built to a common frontage

Residences of all types found in one quarter:

Wealthiest people selected

own house sites along

main streets, less wealthier

ones took plots behind these,

poor ones squeezed in.

PLANNED CITY :- AKHETATEN

Whole space inside the walls was occupied by

houses.

The parallel streets were about two metres wide

Whole space inside the walls was occupied by

houses.

Workers' settlement was walled in.

The temples, the palace and the royal residences,

the barracks, the offices of the administration, etc

were not surrounded by any wall

North City

Located within the North City area is the Northern

Palace, the main residence of the Royal Family.

Northern Suburb was initially a prosperous area

with large houses, but the house size decreased and

became poorer the further from the road they

were.

Central City

Most of the important ceremonial and

administrative buildings were located in the central

city. Here the Great Temple of the Aten and

the Small Aten Temple were used for religious

functions and between these the Great Royal

Palace and Royal Residence were the ceremonial

residence of the King and Royal Family, and were

linked by a bridge or ramp.

Located behind the Royal Residence was the Bureau

of Correspondence of Pharaoh, where the Amarna

Letters were found.

This area was probably the first area to be

completed, and had at least two phases of

construction.

Southern suburbs

the Southern Suburbs contained the estates of many of

the city's powerful nobles, This area also held the studio

of the sculptor Thutmose, where the famous bust of

Nefertiti was found in 1912.

Further to the south of the city was Kom el-Nana, an

enclosure, usually referred to as a sun-shade, and was

probably built as a sun-temple.,and then the Maru-Aten,

which was palace or sun-temple originally thought to

have been constructed for Akhenaten's queen Kiya.

City outskirts

Surrounding the city and marking its extent,

the Boundary Stelae (each a rectangle of carved rock

on the cliffs on both sides of the Nile) describing the

founding of the city are a primary source of information

about it.

Away from the city Akhenaten's Royal necropolis was

started in a narrow valley to the east of the city, hidden

in the cliffs. Only one tomb was completed, and was

used by an unnamed Royal Wife, and Akhenaten's tomb

was hastily used to hold him and likely Meketaten, his

second daughter.

In the cliffs to the north and south of the Royal Wadi, the

nobles of the city constructed their Tombs.

SOUTH SUBURB

Residential Suburbs

PLANNED CITY :- AKHETATEN The Egyptians rarely planned

few spaces free for the important roads of access,

Setting temple districts apart and erecting an

adobe wall around it all.

Akhetaten were at times a jumble of houses,

plot owners were not free to do as they liked.

They had to take into account their neighbours' rights

and wishes

Use of grid-iron only for a small and relatively

insignificant part of the city - example of political

expediency

The implementation of any town plan implies political

control to ensure that the inhabitants conform to its

requirements

Akhenaten could impose a plan on the

workmen, but not on his wealthy powerful

relatives and officials

CITY QUARTERS

Egyptian city dwellers had little choice about adding further storeys.

Land suitable for building

Had to be above the floodlevel of the nile

Reasonably close to the river

Many egyptians were forced to live in these crowded conditions.

At akhetaten where there was no lack of suitable land, some private homes were still built

in the same warren-like fashion.

Founded by senusret ii in the fayum

Inhabited for about a century. The outlay of the city

was rectangular

Area 350 x 400 sq m.

.

Surrounded by brick wall

Divided into two parts by another wall.

Different social classes did not live in separate city

quarters.

Rich residential area, where palatial 60 room

residences were fifty times as big as the dwellings in the

poorer half of the city.

PLANNED CITY :- HOTEPSENUSRET

PLANNED CITY :- HOTEPSENUSRET (Kahun)

THIS PART HAD ALSO A WIDE

STREET LEADING TO THE

PALACE.

THE STREETS ALL OVER THE

CITY WERE STRAIGHT LINES.

THE MAIN STREET WAS NINE

METRES .

STREETS IN RESIDENTIAL

DISTRICTS AS NARROW AS 1

METRES.

STREETS HAD SHALLOW STONE

CHANNELS RUNNING DOWN

THE MIDDLE FOR DRAINAGE .

PLANNED CITY :- HOTEPSENUSRET

Uniform type of houses with no gardens

Each house has its own open court

House of ordinary workman = At

least 3 rooms + courtyard depending on status, number of rooms

increased, some even 2 floors

The whole area was covered with streets and

one-storeyed mud-brick buildings.

HOTEPSENUSRET WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM AKHENATEN'S

2 situations whereby an ancient Egyptian temple was either:

New foundation on a hitherto non-urban site and where it was to

remain the principal or even sole

reason for a settlements existence

Eg. Kahun Part of community which had other

independent bases for its economic

life

Eg. Akhenaten

PLANNED CITY :- HOTEPSENUSRET

Temple districts

Temple districts were better planned.

The outlay of individual temples was basically

symmetrical.

Walls surrounded them.

At hotep-senusret :-

a) the brick wall was on three sides of the

temple

Was 12 metres thick and lined with limestone.

Avenues leading through the city to the temple

district were wide, suitable for processions.

Temple districts The temple complexes had extensive storage space

The thickness of the brick wall lined with limestone hotepsenusret (kahun) was about 12 metres .

Its height must have been correspondingly great.

When walls were built completely of stone, their thickness could be reduced, but they were still quite massive.

Paved street five metres wide was discovered.

Pavement of streets was restricted to the temple complexes Temples were surrounded by an empty space

Over time houses were built right up to the outer temple walls. Houses decayed and were rebuilt many times , result that the ground level of the

residential area rose

The temples which, being built of stone, were not periodically rebuilt, seemingly sank into the ground.

Palaces

The whole compound was enclosed and separate from the rest of the capital,

Albeit close to suppliers of services, temples and the seat of the administration

Workers' dwellings

The houses of the workmen had two to four

rooms on the ground floor (44 and 60 m)

access to the flat roof, which was used as

living and storing space.

The houses abutting the inner wall on the

eastern side were bigger, having up to seven

rooms.

Some of the dwellings had conical granaries on

the ground floor. The doorways were arched

Traces of brick barrel-vaulting have been

found on supporting walls.

Roofs were made of wooden planks supported

by beams and plastered over with mud.

Deir-el-medina: Workers villages

The Great Houses

The Great Houses covered about

2700 m each and served as offices

and living quarters for the high

officials in charge of the construction

work and their families. There were

four almost identical houses and one

differently built one north of the street

and another three with a completely

different ground plan south of it.

After the pyramid had been built and

the officials had left, people began to

take over their houses, adapting them to

their own needs by walling up entrances

and creating new walls and passages.

The Great Houses

The layout of one of the northern Great Houses

1 Main entrance

2 Doorkeeper's lodge

3 Offices, guest rooms

4 Pillared hall

5 Private quarters

6 The mandara, i.e. reception room for strangers

7 Open courtyard

8 Best hall, with columns and tank

9 Private rooms

10 Visitors' passage to the mandara

11 Women's hall

12 Women's quarters

13 Store rooms

National capitals Memphis and Thebes National capital / administrative centres

most important towns

Memphis Capital of Northern Egypt Thebes Capital of Southern Egypt

On east bank of Nile, houses

Temple of Luxor, Temple complex at

Karnak with the great temple of

Amun (c.1991-785 BC)

Right across on west bank, was the

Necropolis of Thebes Tomb of

Tutankhamun

On the fertile west bank of Nile

Numerous temples and palaces, and

pyramid complex of Sakkara (step

pyramid os Djoser)

A B

C ED

F G H

I

J

K

L

M

NO

P

Q

R

SUT

V

XW

Y

Memphis

Thebes

Thebes. General plan showing principal

urban areas.

What was meant to be the Home for the Pharaoh after his death is One of the major tourist attractions today.

Abh i shek K .V.

Thank you