Engineering An Empire- Egypt

"5000 years ago, in an age when greece and rome were but a distant dream the egyptian civilization conceived the impossible and built the unimaginable" History Channel.

First ever damn built in the history of mankind in the city of memphis, capital city under the rule of Menes the first pharaoh of Egypt's first dynasty.

For now let's discuss their most important achievement, the Pyramid:

Height of dying! A lavish tomb built centuries ago-

Mastaba :

Before the pyramid, there was the mastaba. Mastabas are flat roofed structures with outward sloping sides that are typically rectangular. Used mainly in the 2nd dynasty, like pyramids, they were used to bury the social elite. Mastabas were typically made of mud dried bricks. The area surrounding the Nile was the source of most of these bricks.

Mastabas served a similar religious purpose in comparison to pyramids. They were probably built to imitate the ordinary dwellings of the archaic period.
These structures are frequently found in the area’s surrounding larger pyramids. Several can be found around the Step Pyramid. Also like the pyramids, mastaba had underground passages where the body of the pharaoh would be placed after mummification .
This could also be the start of the tradition of leaving a room filled with goods that would help the deceased with their afterlife.

The Step Pyramid:

The first known pyramid is the tomb of the Pharaoh Djoser. It was built during the 3rd dynasty under the rule of Djoser. His rule lasted between nineteen and twenty-nine years. The structure originally started out as a Mastaba but was expanded during construction. It is believed that it was expanded a total of six times, one for each step.

In its final form, it stood at a height of two hundred feet. It was made up of six separate mastabas of decreasing size stacked on each other. This is what gives the structure its name “The Step Pyramid”. The pyramid is inside an elaborate enclosure, which is just as much of an architectural foot as the pyramid itself. The entire complex is made primarily of limestone, and is one of the first examples of complex stone architecture in human history. The complex has the largest amount of underground tunnels of any of the pyramids. It’s not clear if the if the structure was originally was intended to be a pyramid, although the fact that the original mastaba was square instead of rectangular indicates that it’s a possibility that it was planned from the beginning. The primary designer of the step pyramid is thought to be Imhotep, although it’s interesting that he is never actually credited in Egyptian history as the architect. This may be because of the fact that Egyptians did not see art as the work of a singular person. The complex would be the precursor to the pyramids that would be built during the 4th, 5th, and 6th dynasties. Unfortunately the complex has never been seen by the western world in its full glory. By the time it was seen by Napoleon in 178 it had already been robbed of most of its limestone. The sketches that appear in his chronicle History of the Expedition show the Step Pyramid as it appears today. Many of the buildings surrounding the pyramid have been dismantled and there has been significant erosion on the structure itself.

The Three Pyramids of Sneferu :

The Step Pyramid would be the first and biggest step in the direction of the large and smooth sided pyramid that we commonly think of. Following on the lead that Imhotep set, the pharaoh Sneferu would begin work on not one, but three separate pyramids. Almost 8 million tons of stone were used in the construction of these three pyramids. (Romer 2007, p. 264) This is one of the largest stone projects to have ever taken place in human history. The first of these projects would be the Medium Pyramid. Located thirty-five miles south of the Djoser Step Pyramid, it is named after the small town it is located near. Like the Djoser Pyramid, it would also be constructed of layered mastabas.

Unlike Djoser, there was not a large complex of buildings built around the feature. The pyramid was built without the plan for an enclosure, which made expansion much easier. It had a total of eight steps, and reached a height of two hundred and seventy feet. The project took roughly fifteen years to complete. It’s debated whether construction of the site was started by Huni, but as his name doesn’t appear anywhere on the site, most Egyptologists attribute the building to Sneferu. The next pyramid to be built would be the Bent Pyramid. Unfortunately, a few unforeseen fundamental flaws would keep the structure from ever being completed. It would also happen to be an extremely innovative and would influence the future of all constructed pyramids. The weight of the pyramids and the shifting sands underneath would cause uneven pressure to be placed up on the base. This caused sinking along the base. Measures were taken to try to save the structure, and these would help in the planning and execution in the building of the Great Pyramid. This pyramid is most well known for it’s bent shape. The architects found that the pyramid was built at too sharp of an angle and tried to lessen it to spread out the weight of the object. This gave the pyramid a slanted shape at it's top, which is it's strongest identifying feature. The third pyramid built under the rule of Sneferu would be the Red pyramid. The amazing thing is that it was built in roughly eleven years. It was a culmination of all the skills learned from building the Medium and Bent Pyramids. It was slanted at forty-five degrees to allow even pressure to be spread out upon a wide base. It’s estimated that forty thousand workers worked on the Red Pyramid when it first started construction.

The Great Pyramid :

The largest and perhaps most famous of all the pyramids is The Great Pyramid. It is the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World. It is a masterwork of architecture and construction. It is the culmination of what was learned in all the previous pyramids. The pyramid is estimated to weigh 5.9 million tons. At it’s completion it stood just short of five hundred feet tall. Due to erosion though, it now is only roughly four hundred and fifty feet. It was the tallest structure in the world for almost four thousand years. Work on the pyramid was commissioned by the Khufu, who was a pharaoh of the 4th dynasty. It’s interior was a unique design choice, unseen in previous pyramids. Instead of a descending chamber that went beneath the structure, it is the first pyramid to have a chamber that was built into the very heart of it. It is also impressive how the pyramid was astronomically aligned. It was perfect in its placement in relation to the heavens. It required an extremely good understanding of the concepts of geometry and architecture. It’s location was carefully chosen for the hard ground underneath. The pyramid would have no chance of suffering the same fate as the second project of Sneferu. The Great Pyramid also goes to show how far along Egypt had developed societal. To feed and managed over two hundred thousand workers is no easy task. Workers would work for salary or a means to pay taxes. (Steward 1971, p. 187) Entire camps were set up along it’s base during it’s construction, and people would migrate from all over to take part in the construction of the feature. It’s a commonly held misconception that slave labour was the primary source of labour in its construction. The pyramid was surrounded by a myriad of buildings, some as tribute to the pharaoh, others as facilities and homes for the workers.

Other Achievements by the egyptians:

Buhen Fort-

Buhen was an ancient Egyptian settlement situated on the West bank of the Nile below (to the North of) the Second Cataract. It is well known for its fortress, probably constructed during the rule ofSenusret III, around the year 1860 BC (12th dynasty). The site may have been first established as an outpost in Nubia during the reign of Sneferu (4th dynasty). Graffiti and other inscribed items from the site show that the Egyptians stayed about 200 years, until late in the 5th dynasty, when they were probably forced out by immigration from the south.

Mortuary Temple Of Hatshephut :

The Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut is the focal point of the Deir el-Bahri (“Northern Monastery”) complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor (ancient Thebes).

Hatshepsut was a rare female pharoah. Her temple, known as Djeser-Djeseru("Splendor of Splendors"), was designed and implemented by Senemut, the pharaoh's royal steward, for her posthumous worship. Maatkare Hatshepsut or Hatchepsut (late 16th century BC – c. 1482 BC) was the fifth Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She is generally regarded by modern Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, ruling longer than any female ruler of an indigenous dynasty.

Hatshepsut was the daughter of Pharaoh Tuthmosis I and the wife of his successor Tuthmosis II, who died before she bore a son. Rather than step aside for the secondary wife who had borne him an heir, the plucky queen became co-regent of her stepson, the young Tuthmosis III. Soon she assumed absolute power.

To legitmize her powerful position, Hatshepsut had herself depicted with a pharaoh's kilt and beard. She was a prolific builder, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both Upper and Lower Egypt. Under her reign, Egypt's trade networks began to be rebuilt, after their disruption during the Hyksos occupation of Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period.

She is believed to have ruled from 1503 to 1482 BC. Josephus writes that she reigned 21 years and 9 months. Hatshepsut is regarded variously as the earliest known queen regnant in history, as the first known female to take the title Pharaoh, and the first great woman in history, although all of these claims have been contested.

After Hatshepsut's death, Tuthmosis III became pharaoh. Perhaps fearing a challenge to his legitimacy as a successor, he immediately chiseled all images of Hatshepsut off temples, monuments and obelisks, consigning her remarkable reign to oblivion until its rediscovery by modern archaeologists.