. The story of architecture: an outline of the styles in all countries. about 4000-3000 B. c, and devotedmainly to the building of pyramids; the Theban(3000-1100 B. c), to which belong the finest obelisks,temples, and palaces; and the Saite (1100-400), dur-ing which occurred an era of decline; while thefourth period, or Ptolemaic age, is marked mainly bya revival, in which, while architecture lost some ofits majesty and dignity, it gained a certain eleganceand refinement, due to Greek influence. But among the glorious despotisms which borearchitectural fruit before the date ascribed to theFloo
. The story of architecture: an outline of the styles in all countries. about 4000-3000 B. c, and devotedmainly to the building of pyramids; the Theban(3000-1100 B. c), to which belong the finest obelisks,temples, and palaces; and the Saite (1100-400), dur-ing which occurred an era of decline; while thefourth period, or Ptolemaic age, is marked mainly bya revival, in which, while architecture lost some ofits majesty and dignity, it gained a certain eleganceand refinement, due to Greek influence. But among the glorious despotisms which borearchitectural fruit before the date ascribed to theFlood, those of Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus inthe fourth dynasty deserve special attention. Not that 2 EGYPT AND NUBIA. the oldest monuments were built during the reigns ofthese kings (for the pyramids of Sakkarah, Dashour,and Medoun all date hundreds of years before thisroyal trio were born ; while Menes, the founder ofMemphis, built dikes and the Temple of Ptah somefour thousand years before the Christian era); but toCheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus we owe the prin-. FlG. i.—Pyramid cf Chei cipal pyramids of the group of Gizeh (Fig. i), whichare held the most important typical and instructivecreations of their kind throughout the land. These great masses of masonry, fifteen in number,lie on the west bank of the Nile near Cairo, with facesturned to the four cardinal points of the compass. Thethree largest bear the names oi the kings mentioned,and like all pyramids were intended as mausolea. THE PYRAMIDS. 3 Their style of architecture was either an evolu-tion from, or at least a prefigurement of, the earthmounds raised by primitive races in various parts ofEurope, some of which may still be seen near Sardisand among the tombs of the Scythian kings on thebanks of the Borysthenes. In construction they consisted of a series of step-like platforms, diminishing from base to summit, andfurnished with a casing of limestone or red granite,to fill the angles, and present four polished
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidstoryofarchi, bookyear1896
