Types of temples in ancient Egypt
- spread of the formal temple
Barry Kemp has proposed a chronological sequence for understanding the form
of temples as they expanded over time (Kemp1989:
65-107). This sequence is not universally accepted, and the nomenclature not
yet stable. Nevertheless the Kemp sequence offers an archaeologically grounded
introduction to the variety of form to be expected
at all periods. The focus of the sequence is the expanding reach of the central
state, expressing unifying kingship and religion with the aid of formal art
and hieroglyphic script. As in house types, there may be a shift in dominant
mode from circle to rectangle (as much as, or concomitant of, a shift from brick
to stone).
- circular form (Kemp 'Preformal') - absence of right angle, absence of hieroglyphic
script, absence of formal art
- early rectilinear form (Kemp 'Early Formal') - right-angled, mainly brick-built,
limited hieroglyphic inscription/formal art
- all-stone rectilinear (Kemp 'Mature Formal') - right-angled, all stone,
increase in proportion of surface inscribed with hieroglyphs/formal art
- all-decorated rectilinear (Kemp 'Late Formal') - right-angled, all stone,
massive increase in deployment of hieroglyphic script/formal art to cover
most surfaces
Although there is a clear development over time, it may be advisable to avoid
using periods to name each phase, because this chronological sequence does not
present discrete blocks of time, and the surviving material may be misleading,
as the forms of temples from the centres of Egyptian kingship do not survive
(Memphis, Iunu/Heliopolis). For the general
trend across time, note the following:
- Circular forms survive from periods earlier than the earliest surviving
rectilinear temples, in some cases directly beneath them (Hierakonpolis,
Medamud).
- Early rectilinear temples illustrate the intervention of the central state
(kingship) in urban centres far
from the residence and burial place of the king; the reign of Senusret
I saw a particular expansionist period in temple-building on this plan,
as for example at Thebes (main temple of
Amun), Medamud and Koptos.
- In the surviving record, all-stone rectilinear temples are characteristic
of the New Kingdom, with a concentration of building in the long reigns of
Thutmose III, Amenhotep
III and Ramesses II
- All-decorated rectilinear temples represent the farthest extreme in the
spread of hieroglyphic script and formal art to every corner of a temple,
most clearly in the late Ptolemaic and early Roman Period structures at Denderah,
where the Hathor temple has decorated chapels on its roof, decorated stairways
to the roof, and decorated cellars; the project of all-encompassing decoration
becomes visible in the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, and is resumed in force under
the Thirtieth Dynasty, but most of the surviving material dates to the Ptolemaic
and Roman Periods. The trend is anticipated in the Theban temples of the New
Kingdom, and it is possible that there was already extensive inscription covering
temples at Memphis and Iunu/Heliopolis;
therefore, the form should be used to name each phase, rather than the date
of the best-preserved examples.
The 'reading of the temple' has been applied mainly
to temple structures representing phases 3 and 4 above.
See the list of provinces of ancient Egypt
for note of the surviving record for temples in the principal cities of each
province.
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