| Title |
A Study of Temporality in the Architecture of Ancient Egypt |
| Abstract |
This study is concerned with the temporality of Egyptian architecture. It aims to demonstrate that how 'time' has been played a significant role as a design factor in the epoch of Ancient Egypt, mainly in terms of the "off-cardinal" orientation. It is striking that, whild the cardinal orientation was canonically adapted for the tomb(pyramid) architecture, most Egyptian temples were used to be oriented in accordance with tilted angles from the cardinal points. Since the Egyptians believed the immortal life of post-mortem, some heavenly bodies were conceived as living deties. According to the Egyptian religion, the solar disc itself was identified with the incarnation of the Sun God, Pharaoh, and some particular stars with other gods or goddesses, due to their astronomical significance. If we take this into our considerations, it is possible to assume that the axes of solar and stellar temples were so closely associated with the movement of the Sun and the stars that the alignment or orientation of temples may have been decided in order to monitor such deified heavenly bodies. Some solar and stellar temples are examined here in the lights of both primitive time-reckkoning and the symbolism of Egyptian religion. |