Out staff of freelance writers includes over 120 experts proficient in Development of Pyramids, therefore you can rest assured that your assignment will be handled by only top rated specialists. Order your Development of Pyramids paper at affordable prices with livepaperhelp.com!
The Old Kingdom spanned five centuries of rule from the Third through to the Sixth Dynasty. According to Wilson, this went from 700 � 00 BC. During the Third Dynasty architecture and art boomed, and the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which was the world’s first building made from stone, was created. This Step Pyramid became the prototype for the pyramids that were erected at Giza in the Fourth Dynasty where Sneferu completed at least three pyramids. One of these was the first true pyramid. Also the Great Pyramid at Giza was completed, which is believed to have been constructed by Khufu. Dynasty Four lead to the worship of the sun god, Re in the Fifth Dynasty where sun temples were then created although pyramids were still constructed. The Sixth Dynasty marked the growing independence of the nobles, but declined rapidly.
The Third Dynasty marked the beginning of a new era. The beginning of the pyramids started in the reign of Djoser, the second king of the Third Dynasty. Imhotep was Djoser’s vizier and architect of the Step Pyramid complex at Sakkara. This Step Pyramid was unique as it was not a smooth pyramid, but instead had a series of mastabas built one on top of another, decreasing in size towards the top. Previous royal tombs had been made from mud bricks, but Imhotep decided to use stone as a building material. This pyramid seems to be the first building in Egypt to have been made completely from stone. The mortuary temple is located and attached on the north side of the Step Pyramid which was connected to the burial chamber by a tunnel. This temple is a large rectangular building with an entrance to the east. It also had two courts, one for Upper and Lower Egypt, and a long corridor with several rooms. The design of the Step Pyramid emphasised the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt over which the pharaoh ruled. It was also probably intended by Imhotep to be a re-creation of Djoser’s home.
The peak of the Old Kingdom was reached in the Fourth Dynasty. There had been a religious shift in this dynasty. This is shown in a number of architectural developments, such as the introduction of the true pyramid, which was a different type of pyramid complex. The Fourth Dynasty complex had changed quite differently to that of the Third Dynasty. This included one or more subsidiary pyramids, and also a causeway leading from the valley temple to the mortuary temple. Also another difference to the Third Dynasty was that the mortuary temple changed on the east to face the rising sun rather than the north.
The Great Pyramid is the largest stone building on earth, and the last surviving wonder of the ancient world. Its base covers just over thirteen acres, and it is composed of some . million blocks of granite and limestone, weighing from .5 to seventy tons apiece, which rise in two hundred and three layers to the height of a forty-story building. The Pyramid was originally covered with twenty one acres of polished, marble-like casing stones. This pyramid was built for Khufu as an eternal resting place and was a symbol of the sun god, and was believed to have been a huge representation of a sacred stone. In addition to the Great Pyramid, there were a two other large pyramids which were each constructed by Khafre and Djedefre. Although these two pyramids were very impressive, they did not match the craftsmanship of the Great Pyramid.
Custom Essays on Development of Pyramids
During the Fifth Dynasty, the solar religion was even more firmly established, when the kings built solar temples as well as pyramids. This may explain why the Fifth Dynasty Pyramids were inferior compared to their predecessors. The building effort was no longer concentrated on the building of a single pyramid and their temples. Economic and political factors may have had some importance as well. The Fifth Dynasty government seems to have been less centralised and less strong. Private tombs were no longer restricted to the vicinity of the king’s pyramid. Some private people had their tombs built in their own province and not in or near the necropolis of Memphis. The last king of the Fifth Dynasty, Unas, introduced his pyramid as the first to have been decorated with texts. These texts relate to the fate of the king in the afterlife, when he takes his place among the gods and among the stars. There was a standardisation in the building of pyramid complexes. Most kings built their pyramid complex at Abusir, near the solar temple of Userkaf, who had built his own pyramid at Sakkara. Also the pyramids were significantly smaller than those of the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty. This has often been explained by the more limited resources available to the Fifth Dynasty kings. Although most of the Fifth Dynasty kings no longer appeared to limit their building efforts to a pyramid complex and the complexes were often beautifully decorated. Despite all these changes, the Fifth Dynasty may have been closely related to the Fourth.
From a cultural point of view, the Sixth Dynasty is the continuation of the end of the Fifth Dynasty. The kings continued to commission pyramids for their mortuary cult. The pyramids and mortuary temples of this period are of a standard size and basically have the same layout. The burial chamber, antechamber and entrance corridor of these pyramids are inscribed with Pyramid Texts, following the example set by Unas of the Fifth Dynasty. Most kings of the Sixth Dynasty also chose to build their funerary monument in Sakkara and here too they were following the example of the last two kings of the Fifth Dynasty. Although the resources needed to construct the pyramid complexes of the Fourth Dynasty and the sun temples of the Fifth Dynasty contributed to the depletion of revenue in the Sixth Dynasty.
At the end of the reign of Pepi II, a decline in economic conditions was caused by excessive use of resources, decline in foreign trade and lack of rain. This went on to a decline in the prestige and status of the kings from the Fourth Dynasty, which led to independence of the bureaucracy, which was filled with men who felt they no longer owed their position to the king. This caused the king’s prestige to suffer as he failed to fulfill his duties to the people, and this led to the collapse of Old Kingdom Egypt, which brought about the First Intermediate Period.
Throughout the Third to Sixth Dynasty many changes occur to the pyramid complexes. From the original Step Pyramid complex of the Third Dynasty, to the large ‘true’ pyramids, such as the Great Pyramid of Khufu in the Fourth Dynasty. Then changes from the Fourth Dynasty to the Fifth in worship of the sun god and the finely detailed sun temples constructed dedicated to this god, which detracted from the quality of the pyramids, making them inferior to the previous dynasties efforts, which then continued into the Sixth Dynasty that finally caused the collapse of Old Kingdom Egypt.
Pamela Bradley � Ancient Egypt � Reconstructing the Past
Jennifer Lawless � Studies in Ancient Egypt � Periods and Personalities
Gae Callender � Egypt in the Old Kingdom
Zahi Hawass � The Pyramids of Ancient Egypt
Zahi Hawass - Development of the Royal Mortuary Complex - http//www.guardians.net/hawass/mortuary1.htm
Egypt, land of the Pyramids �
http//library.thinkquest.org/C011761/11.htm
Egypt, Ancient Kingdom of �
http//www.africana.com/Articles/tt_411.htm
Royal Cemeteries outside Thebes (Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom) �
http//www.thebanmappingproject.com/articles/article_..html
The Old Kingdom � 650 � 14 BC �
http//www.wsu.edu/~dee/EGYPT/OLD.HTM
Please note that this sample paper on Development of Pyramids is for your review only. In order to eliminate any of the plagiarism issues, it is highly recommended that you do not use it for you own writing purposes. In case you experience difficulties with writing a well structured and accurately composed paper on Development of Pyramids, we are here to assist you. Your persuasive essay on Development of Pyramids will be written from scratch, so you do not have to worry about its originality.
Order your authentic assignment from livepaperhelp.com and you will be amazed at how easy it is to complete a quality custom paper within the shortest time possible!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.