This Really Old House: Domestic Architecture of Ancient Egypt

THIS REALLY OLD HOUSE

Domestic Architecture in Ancient Egypt

Dedicated to my Dad

What is a house in Ancient Egypt?

• A building in which people live • Dwelling Place • Residence • Refuge • Retreat


Socially: • The ancient Egyptian house was defined by

a set number of often closely related individuals (a household), who lived and worked together.

Architecturally: • Usually implies the differentiation of an

“inside” from an “outside.”


Spatially: • a house is the entire space used by the

household (a functional definition) • a house is a piece of land delineated by an

enclosure wall (implying a legal definition) • a house is a building comprising a set of

rooms serving a set number of individuals as living space

Egyptian House

• pr : “house” in Egyptian • focuses on the house as something from

which its inhabitants “come forth” (pri)

Early Archaeology of the House

• Early excavations – Kahun (now called Illahun) by William M.

Flinders Petrie from 1889 to 1891 – Tell el-Amarna by Ludwig Borchardt from

1913 to 1916 • Scientific exploration of town sites was

initiated in the 1960s – Tell ed-Dab’a by Manfred Bietak – Elephantine by Werner Kaiser at Elephantine

This Really Old Houses: Domestic Architecture in Prehistory

• Merimde • el-Hammamiya • Omari • Maadi • Hierakonpolis

Maadi c.4,000-3,200 BC

Houses: 1. subterranean cut from rock

(Maadi-Palestinian type house) 2. surface oval huts (Faiyum-type) 3. rectangular style house

(possibly animal pens?)

Hierakonpolis c. 4400 – 3400 B.C. • HK 29: The

Burnt House

Hierakonpolis c. 4400 – 3400 B.C.

• Locality HK11.

Really Old Houses: Domestic Architecture in the Old Kingdom

• Urban – Elephantine – Hierakonpolis

• Priests' Settlements

– Sneferu at Dahshur – Menkaure at Giza – Neferirkare Kakai at

Abusir – Pepy II at Saqqara – Userkaf at Abusir – Khentakawes at Giza

Elephantine

Khentkawes Town (KKT)

KKT House E

69

68

71 73

76

77

80

79

70

KKT House E

This Really Old Houses: Middle Kingdom

• Illahun • Dahsur • Abydos • Medamud • Kasr el-Sagha • Fortresses in Nubia:

Buhen, Mirgissa, Askut, Shalfak, Uronarti, Semna, and Kumma)

Middle Kingdom House: Type One at Uronarti

Middle Kingdom House: Type Two at Dahsur

Middle Kingdom House: At Illahun

Workers Houses at Illahun

Illahun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxLyc3ae8R8



Larger houses at Illahun

Entrance Reconstruction of a Large House at Lahun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNSolyaptuo



Middle Kingdom House: Type Three at Tell ed Dabˊa

Middle Kingdom House: Type Four at Elephantine

Middle Kingdom House Models

This Really Old House: New Kingdom

• Amarna • Deir el-Medina • Elephantine • Malqata • Medinet Habu • Sesebi • Tell ed-Dabʿa • el-Lisht

Ricke’s Interpretation of Spatial Use in a New Kingdom Home

• A semipublic zone

• A central zone

• A private zone

• Size maters:

• 40–60 metres squared (135–200 square feet)

• 90–130 metres squared (300–430 square feet)

Simple Household at Deir El-Medina

Large House at Amarna

Amarna Workermen’s Village

Simple Household at Amarna

Size of House in Amarna

Roman Egypt House at Karanis

Final Thought of Home

This Really Old House: Domestic Architecture of Ancient Egypt

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