Houses
The average family’s house was constructed from bricks. These bricks were made using a mixture of mud and straw and which were then baked in the hot desert sun. The architecture of these ancient Egyptian homes was simple and often comprised of two storeys – the upper storey housed the family while the lower one was used to store crops. Windows were covered with reed mats to keep out dust and flies.
Wealthier families could afford to have homes built from stone which were sturdier and lasted much longer. These houses were often constructed around a central courtyard which, on occasion, contained beautiful gardens.
All houses in Egypt had flat roofs and this area also used as part of the family’s living quarters.
The best examples of houses of the ordinary worker in ancient Egypt can be seen at the modern Deir el-Medina. This is where the craftsmen and artists who constructed the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings lived for more than 500 years. Similar villages were situated around the Giza pyramids, where the people who were responsible for the cult of the dead king lived.
The town at Deir el-Medina was a walled settlement of about 70 houses. The village had one entrance only with a central street and narrow houses on both sides. These houses had four rooms; one behind the other. The front room often had a mud-brick raised dais or bench decorated with figures of the benevolent god Bes. The second room was larger with storage space under the floor, whereas the third one also served as a storage area. The last room was open to the sky and could have been the cooking area.
Temples
The ancient Egyptian temple formed the focus of a great cluster of buildings and estates at the centre of each community. It was not a place of worship for the common people. It housed the statue of a specific god to whom offerings were made daily, and only the pharaoh and the priests could enter the temple. The estates surrounding the temples were managed from here, and they employed many local people.
At the front of each temple, stood a massive pylon (Greek = doorway/gate). Often obelisks and colossal statues of the kings, who built the temple, were placed in front of the pylons.
The front courtyard (one or two) stood open to the sky, with columns with lotus or papyrus capitals, around the sidewalls.
Beyond the open court(s), a doorway leads into a roofed, columned hall, the hypostyle hall. The only light within the hypostyle hall came through clerestory bars.
The outer wall of an Egyptian temple was always rectangular, but the rooms within become progressively smaller. Deep in the heart of the temple was the sanctuary – standing at the highest and deepest point. It was here where the statue of the god stood within a shrine or naos.
Few remaining temples date from before the New Kingdom. The majority that are visited today date from the Graeco-Roman Period or the New Kingdom. Many kings also contributed to one specific temple for sometimes as long as 2000 years, extending and rebuilding all the time. The Graeco-Roman temples are also in a much better condition than the earlier temples, although the paintings and reliefs on the walls were very often damaged by the first Copts, and later inhabitants of villages inside these temples.
One of the most beautiful temples of the Graeco-Roman Period is the temple of the Isis of Philae. The temple was reconstructed on the island of Agilkia to protect the temple buildings from the rising waters of the High Dam. It still functioned as an Egyptian temple for many years after a Roman decree closed all other the temples. Even after Christianity came to the area, local Nubians continued to worship Isis here. The last recorded hieroglyphs were written here in 394 CE. Even Napoleon’s presence was recorded.
Some other notable temples that remain today are:
Edfu Temple: Considered the best preserved cult temple in Egypt, it is dedicated to the god Horus.
Karnak Temple: Know to the ancient Egyptians as Iput-Isut, “the most esteemed of places”, this complex comprises of three different temples – the most majestic being the Precinct of Amun. It is situated in the city of Luxor.
Abu Simbel: This awe-inspiring temple was completely buried under fine sand until its rediscovery by a Swiss explorer in 1813. The building of Lake Nasser in the 1960’s threatened its existence and UNESCO undertook a colossal project to save it by moving it 210m above the original site, piece by piece.