Egyptian Archaeology. Gaston Maspero

      Fig 11.–View of mansion from the tomb of Anna, Eighteenth Dynasty.

      Sometimes it was surmounted by only one or two of the usual Egyptian ventilators; but generally there was a small washhouse on the roof (fig. 9), and a little chamber for the slaves or guards to sleep in. The household fire was made in a hollow of the earthen floor, usually to one side of the room, and the smoke escaped through a hole in the ceiling; branches of trees, charcoal, and dried cakes of ass or cow dung were used for fuel.

      The mansions of the rich and great covered a large space of ground. They most frequently stood in the midst of a garden, or of an enclosed court planted with trees; and, like the commoner houses, they turned a blank front to the street, consisting of bare walls, battlemented like those of a fortress (fig. 11). Thus, home-life was strictly secluded, and the pleasure of seeing was sacrificed for the advantages of not being seen. The door was approached by a flight of two or three steps, or by a porch supported on columns (fig. 12) and adorned with statues (fig. 13), which gave it a monumental appearance, and indicated the social importance of the family.

      WALL-PAINTINGS, EL AMARNA.

      Fig. 12.–Porch of mansion, second Theban period,

      Fig. 13.–Porch of mansion, second Theban period.

      Sometimes this was preceded by a pylon-gateway, such as usually heralded the approach to a temple. Inside the enclosure it was like a small town, divided into quarters by irregular walls. The dwelling-house stood at the farther end; the granaries, stabling, and open spaces being distributed in different parts of the grounds, according to some system to which we as yet possess no clue. These arrangements, however, were infinitely varied. If I would convey some idea of the residence of an Egyptian noble,–a residence half palace, half villa,–I cannot do better than reproduce two out of the many pictorial plans which have come down to us among the tomb-paintings of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The first (figs. 14, 15) represent a Theban house. The enclosure is square, and surrounded by an embattled wall. The main gate opens upon a road bordered with trees, which runs beside a canal, or perhaps an arm of the Nile. Low stone walls divide the garden into symmetrical compartments, like those which are seen to this day in the great gardens of Ekhmîm or Girgeh.

      Fig 14.–Plan of a Theban house with garden, from Eighteenth Dynasty tomb-painting.

      In the centre is a large trellis supported on four rows of slender pillars. Four small ponds, two to the right and two to the left, are stocked with ducks and geese. Two nurseries, two summer-houses, and various avenues of sycamores, date-palms, and dôm-palms fill up the intermediate space; while at the end, facing the entrance, stands a small three-storied house surmounted by a painted cornice.

      Fig 15.–Perspective view of the Theban house, from Eighteenth Dynasty tomb-painting.

      The second plan is copied from one of the rock-cut tombs of Tell el Amarna (figs. 16, 17). Here we see a house situate at the end of the gardens of the great lord Aï, son-in-law of the Pharaoh Khûenaten, and himself afterwards king of Egypt. An oblong stone tank with sloping sides, and two descending flights of steps, faces the entrance. The building is rectangular, the width being somewhat greater than the depth. A large doorway opens in the middle of the front, and gives access to a court planted with trees and flanked by store-houses fully stocked with provisions.

      Fig 16.–Part of the palace of Aï, from tomb-painting, Eighteenth Dynasty, El Amarna.

      Two small courts, placed symmetrically in the two farthest corners, contain the staircases which lead up to the roof terrace. This first building, however, is but the frame which surrounds the owner's dwelling. The two frontages are each adorned with a pillared portico and a pylon. Passing the outer door, we enter a sort of long central passage, divided by two walls pierced with doorways, so as to form three successive courts. The inside court is bordered by chambers; the two others open to right and left upon two smaller courts, whence flights of steps lead up to the terraced roof. This central building is called the Akhonûti, or private dwelling of kings or nobles, to which only the family and intimate friends had access. The number of storeys and the arrangement of the façade varied according to the taste of the owner. The frontage was generally a straight wall. Sometimes it was divided into three parts, with the middle division projecting, in which case the two wings were ornamented with a colonnade to each storey (fig. 18), or surmounted by an open gallery (fig. 19).

      Fig 17.–Perspective view of the Palace of AT, Eighteenth Dynasty, El Amarna.

      The central pavilion sometimes presents the appearance of a tower, which dominates the rest of the building (fig. 20). The façade is often decorated with slender colonnettes of painted wood, which bear no weight, and merely serve to lighten the somewhat severe aspect of the exterior. Of the internal arrangements, we know but little. As in the middle-class houses, the sleeping rooms were probably small and dark; but, on the other hand, the reception rooms must have been nearly as large as those still in use in the Arab houses of modern Egypt. The decoration of walls and ceilings in no wise resembled such scenes or designs as we find in the tombs.

      Fig 18.–Frontage of house, second Theban period.

      The panels were whitewashed or colour-washed, and bordered with a polychrome band.

      Fig 19.–Frontage of house, second Theban period.

      Fig 20.–Central pavilion of house, in form of tower, second Theban period.

      The ceilings were usually left white; sometimes, however they were decorated with geometrical patterns, which repeated the leading motives employed in the sepulchral wall-paintings. Thus we find examples of meanders interspersed with rosettes (fig. 21), parti-coloured squares (fig. 22), ox- heads seen frontwise, scrolls, and flights of geese (fig. 23).

      I have touched chiefly upon houses of the second Theban period,7 this being in fact the time of which we have most examples.

      Fig 21.–Ceiling pattern from behind, Medinet Habû, Twentieth Dynasty.

      The house-shaped lamps which are found in such large numbers in the Fayûm date only from Roman times; but the Egyptians of that period continued to build according to the rules which were in force under the Pharaohs of the Twelfth, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties.

      Fig 22.–Ceiling pattern similar to one at El Bersheh, Twelfth Dynasty.

      As regards the domestic architecture of the ancient kingdom, the evidences are few and obscure. Nevertheless, the stelae, tombs, and coffins of that period often furnish designs which show us the style of the doorways (fig. 24), and one Fourth Dynasty sarcophagus, that of Khûfû Poskhû, is carved in the likeness of a house (fig. 25).

      2.–FORTRESSES

      Most

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Seventeenth to Twentieth Dynasties.