Egypt is the home of great temples particularly the famed stone temple of Amun Ra located in the most sandy and isolated part of the Sudan. The architecture of this building is post-and-lintel style; the evidence of this can be seen on the façade of the temple consisting of string horizontal stone framework and thick columns. The walls were enclosed, refusing any light to enter except for the small square windows. This temple has a rectangular ground plan with scattered buildings located on the left and right side of the main temple. A wide central courtyard made of stone pavements lead to the temple’s main entrance. On the either side of the gateway, two gigantic figures from the Egyptian pantheon stood guarding the square tunnel. Obelisks also stood as a landmark for the temple. Egyptian architecture designs were mostly geometric; in this case, the Temple of Amun Ra has a rectangular base and square entranceway. The simple stone carvings and the giant sculptures of the deities are the only decorations found on the building site. As a whole, the great temple of Amun Ra consists of individual buildings grouped together thereby forming a vast landscape of separate structures in one location. (Sullivan 1).
In contrast with the enclosed design of Amun Ra temple, the Renaissance church of San Pietro located in Piazza San Pietro Montorio combines the styles of the Greco-Roman architecture. Egyptian architecture was based from local designs. Unlike the local Egyptian temples, the style of the Renaissance buildings were based from numerous styles occurring from Greek and Roman buildings; hence, the Renaissance was actually a coagulation of different architecture styles combined together to form a distinct yet elaborate building design that balances symmetrical proportions and aesthetic beauty. (Arend 16-17). The Church of San Pietro in Italy was created by the Renaissance architect Bramante which emphasizes the great attributes of the best of Greek and Roman architecture. (Freiberg 151). Tall slender Doric columns stood majestically supporting the domed roof of the temple. The façade of the main temple follows a thick Romanesque architecture design of encapsulated surroundings, thick walls, narrow windows, and heavy columns. On the courtyard of the church, a small building called Tempietto stood isolated from the rest of the structure; in this building, one would see the combination of the Greek and Roman designs: the rotunda layout covered by a dome was basically a Roman style; tall and slender Doric columns supported the dome with ample space to permeate the entry of the light within the structure. As a conclusion, the Egyptian architecture is strongly local and retains its own identity while it teaches the world of its unique style while the Renaissance was a plagiarized style from the architecture of the Greco-Roman civilizations.
WORKS CITED
Arend, Nicolaas Van Den. “Architecture: Ancient and Modern.” The Sewanee Review 17.1 (1909): 14-25. Web. JSTOR.
Freiberg, Jack. “Bramante's Tempietto and the Spanish Crown.” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 50 (2005): 151-205. Web. JSTOR.
Sullivan, Elaine. Introduction. Digital Karnak: Introduction to the Temple of Karnak. By University of California Los Angeles, 2008. 1-27. Web. PDF File.
