tour 2 of 14
Egypt in the Old Kingdom
Faience tile from the Step Pyramid of Djoser
While brick remained the basic building
material of structures for living in, whether palaces or the houses
of the ordinary people, stone was gradually introduced for temples
and the tombs of royalty and the élite. Of the new stone
structures, most striking were the massive stone pyramid complexes
built as burial-places for the king and his royal
family.
The earliest
pyramid (and the world's first monumental structure in
stone) was the Step Pyramid built by the royal architect Imhotep
for King Djoser in the Third Dynasty (about 2686-2613 BC). It
comprised six steps reaching a height of 63.7 metres. It was also
the first royal tomb to receive some form of decoration. This tile
was one of many which decorated the entrances to rooms in a maze of
corridors within the pyramid. The rooms and tiled areas were
mirrored in an underground area in the southern part of the pyramid
complex, known as the 'South Tomb'. This was not in
fact used for burial, but built as a symbolic representation of
southern
Egypt.
Approximately 36,000
tiles of this type were used in these two tomb areas. They were
made to resemble the reed matting of the king's palace at
Memphis. Reeds had symbolic meaning in ancient Egypt; they grew out
of the waters from which the world was created. Furthermore, the
blue-green colour of faience was associated with re-birth and new
life.