III. Realization ( Осмысление )

9. Read the following terms and phrases, mind their pronunciation:

ringed	отмеченный кружком, в кольцах
ancient worship	древнее богослужение
proportion generously	иметь крупную соразмерность
trilithon	трилит
enclosing circle	оградительное кольцо
sandstone	песчаник
to set in pits	устанавливать в углубления
landscaped trench	озеленённый ров
forerunner	предшественник
to express the perpetuity of the soul	выражать, изображать вечность души
the most stable of all geometric forms	самая устойчивая из всех геометрических форм
low-carved relief	низкое рельефное изображение
hieroglyphics	иероглифическое письмо
to orient to the cardinal points	ориентировать на четыре части света
overpowering pyramidal form	подавляющая форма пирамиды
proportion generously	иметь крупную соразмерность
hypostyle hall	гипостильный зал
entrance pylon	входной пилон / опора
sun-dried bricks	воздушносухой кирпич

 

10. Read the text and fill in the 3^rd column of the table “K-W-L”

Ancient structures

Somewhere, many thousands of years ago, someone built the first structure. But who this person was or how the structure was built remains a mystery. Archeologists could not determine the precise origin of construction. The emergence of architecture followed endless centuries of primitive development.

Paleolithic Age

During the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, mankind’s energy was concentrated on survival – the search for food. A primitive man lived and slept outside in the open air. His only shelter might be the bough of a tree or a natural cave, but it is clear that the earliest humans created almost nothing.

Neolithic Age

Only when man freed himself from the struggle for survival, civilization started to develop. At that time a primitive man learned to live in a permanent village as a part of a tribe. He invented many tools that made life easier and, once settled. The primitive people took shelter under trees, which inspired huts that were made of branches, reeds and mud.

Primitive hut

The tents raised on branches, became the first tents. Huts, natural caves, and tents were the three primitive types of human dwellings which inspired all later architectural development.

Megalithic structures

The Neolithic Age was also the period of megalithic (meaning: great + stone) structures which were usually erected for religious or mystical purposes. A foremost example of these impressive structures is Stonehenge[1] built in several phases on a sacred site on the Salisbury Plain[2]. Stonehenge was a highly symbolic place which was probably used for ancient worship or other mystical rites.

In form Stonehenge is a series of concentric rings of standing stones around an altar stone at the center. The first ring has a horseshoe plan of originally five trilithon s[3], and each of two upright stones is supporting a single colossal lintel. Beyond these there was first a circle of smaller uprights, sacred "blue" stones, and then an outer, enclosing circle of sandstone monoliths 13.5 feet high, which supported a continuous lintel. Beyond this a circle of small stones" were set in pits and farther out, a landscaped trench separated the site from the surrounding land. A long avenue marked by uprights sets up an axis, identified by a large stone with a pointed top.

The history of civilization – and of architecture – did not evolve at any one specific centre. Rather, it emerged simultaneously at several areas of cultural development: the river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia, the valley of the Nile in Egypt, the Indus valley in northwest India, and the Valley of the Yangtse in China. Which civilization came first, nobody knows for certain. We do know, however, that wherever people gathered in groups, some sort of architecture resulted. For our purposes, we shall pick up the thread of Western architectural development in the valley of the Nile.

Egyptian architecture

Egypt, a mysterious land of the Pharaohs, was ancient even to the ancients. It was viewed by the Greeks and Romans of 2000 years ago in much the same way as we view the ruins of Greece and Rome today.

As long ago as 5000 B.C., The Egyptians were a people already highly civilized and skilled in the arts of peace and war. The building forms that took shape in ancient Egypt were the forerunners of what the Western world calls its architectural heritage.

On the banks of the Nile Egyptians founded their cities – for both the living and the dead. On the east bank there were temples, while on the west bank there were tombs and royal pyramids.

The cliffs flanking the Nile valley provided the stone which became the primary building material of the Egyptians. The Nile also provided mud, which the Egyptians used to produce sun dried bricks. These were used to construct houses and other structures that didn’t require the permanence of tombs and temples. Timber was scarce and therefore rarely used in permanent construction.

Another force which had a powerful influence on the development of Egyptian architecture was the religious belief in life after death. This concept of everlasting life pervaded all manners and customs. To achieve the immortality of the soul, it was essential to preserve in death all that had existed in life. Thus, we find bodies kept from decay through highly skillful methods of embalming and mummification.

Once the dead body was preserved, it also had to be protected by an impregnable tomb. This was more difficult, and became one of the important principles of Egyptian architecture. The preservation of the soul involved several other common practices. Placed within the several chambers of the tomb there were sculptured effigies and an entire household of family possessions – furniture, utensils, jewellery, etc. Carved or painted on the tomb walls there were pictures of the family and servants of the dead people, while scenes of food and drink were included to nourish the soul.

Tomb Architecture

The tombs of the ancient Pharaohs took the form of the pyramid. They served to protect and express the perpetuity of the soul within. With the possible exception of the cone, the pyramid is the most stable of all geometric forms. Its great mass is the essence of permanence, and it is likely that this form was a conscious and logical selection. The walls of Egyptian tombs were generally covered with paintings or low-carved reliefs. The hieroglyphics, or symbol writing, which surrounded these pictures were usually descriptions of the person and prayers that would be helpful in the afterlife.

Temple Architecture

Egyptian temple architecture was essentially an expression in stone, and therefore, in the trabeated style, that is post-and-beam. Columns were generously proportioned and closely spaced because the stone lintels had limited spanning capability. Continuous flat slabs of stone formed the roofs of the temples.

Basically the temple plan was axially organized and consisted of three parts: a colonnaded courtyard, a hypostyle hall[4], and a sanctuary. The entrance pylon was formed by two massive towers, with battered or inclined walls which were united by a tall door. As one penetrated the building, the spaces became gradually smaller and darker until one reached the sanctuary. From the open courtyard, one entered the hypostyle hall which was lit from above clerestory openings. At the same time, the floor rose as the ceiling became lower.

Windows were virtually nonexistent for several reasons. First, the activities within the temples were mysterious and secret, not for the eyes of the average citizen. In addition, the strong light reflecting off the desert made windows unnecessary, while the desert heat and occasional storms made them undesirable. Column capitals were derived from indigenous plants, such as lotus, papyrus, and palm.

Examples

The earliest historic tombs were the mastabas [5], generally constructed for the noble men and the middle class. Small and rectangular, with battered walls and flat roofs, mastabas were faced with limestone blocks and appeared permanent.

The first pyramid-shaped tomb was built around 2700 BC at Saqqara[6]. It was the stepped Pyramid of King Zoser[7] which was, strictly speaking, not a pyramid at all, but rather a series of mastabas placed one upon another. It was built by Imhotep[8], who is considered to be the first architect in history.

The most famous royal tombs are those at Giza from about 2600 BC. The three great pyramids of Cheops[9], Chephren[10], and Mykerinus[11] were constructed in the conventional pyramid shape. The great pyramid of Cheops was the largest mass of stone ever erected by man. It covered 13 acres, was about fifty-storey high, and its sides were oriented to the cardinal points. The essential pyramidal form was overpowering and clearly conveyed the message of authority and eternity.

Egypt abounded with great temples of the priest class. The largest of these was the Great Temple of Amon (Karnak)[12] which was begun around 2000 BC. For several hundred years, it was added to by many pharaohs until it appeared as a group of temples. The mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut[13] was a departure in style. It consisted of three terraced courts cut into rock and situated at the foot of dramatically vertical cliffs.

 

11. Read the text once again and correlate (соотнесите) received information to the questions which were formulated before reading the text. Separate out the new information you have not predicted. Have you got answers to all the questions? Find answers independently and fill in the corresponding column of the table.

12. Pair work. Discuss the following: what new information have you learnt from the text?

Vocabulary Focus

13. Match the words from two columns to create a phraseand make sentences to use them in your own text entitled “A general concept of megalithic structures”. Share your ideas with the partner:

 

to erect	for ancient worship or other mystical rites
to build	plan of five trilithons
a highly	of concentric rings of standing stones
to use	in pits
to support	the site from the surrounding land
a series	for religious or mystical purposes
to set	on a sacred site
to separate	symbolic place
a horseshoe	a single colossal lintel

 

 14. Match the words from two columns to create a phrase and make sentences to use them in your own text entitled “My vision of the Egyptian architecture”. Share your ideas with the partner. (See appendix 1):

a mysterious	manners and customs
primary	a dead body
religious	sculptured effigies in the tomb chambers
to pervade	pictures on the tomb walls
to preserve	sun dried bricks
to place	building material of the Egyptians
to carve	belief in life after death
to produce	land of the Pharaohs

 

 15. Match the words from two columns to create a phrase and make sentences to use them in your own text entitled “Tomb architecture”. Share your ideas with the partner:

to take	of permanence
to protect	with paintings or low-carved reliefs
the most stable	with limestone blocks
the essence	in the conventional pyramid shape
to cover	to the cardinal points
to face	the form of the pyramid
a series	and express the perpetuity of the soul
to construct	of all geometric forms
to orient	of mastabas placed one upon another

16. Match the words from two columns to create a phrase and make sentences to use them in your own text entitled “Temple architecture and its characteristic features”. Share your ideas with the partner:

 

an expression	the roofs of the temples
to proportion	organize the temple plan
limited	from indigenous plants
to form	with great temples
axially	from clerestory openings
to derive	in stone
to abound	spanning capability
to light	columns generously

17. Group work. Prepare presentations about ancient buildings raising the following   points:

1. The first megalithic structures (form, size, building materials).

2. Ancient Egyptian architecture (general information).

3. Distinctive features of ancient Egyptian temple architecture.

4. Architectural features of Egyptian tomb architecture.