Egyptian / Egyptian Revival Architecture
- Table of Contents .................Illustrated
Architecture Dictionary
Egyptian Columns
Egyptian Columns
Reprinted from
A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method,
by Sir Banister-Fletcher, New York, 1950, pp. 41-42; Drawings: p. 43
Columns, seldom over six diameters high, often appear in the form of papyrus or lotus stalks tied at intervals by bands.
The circular shafts curve in towards the base like sheathed stalks and sometimes stand on thick unmoulded bases which in shape somewhat resemble a Dutch cheese.
Another form of support were the Osiris pillars used in the mortuary temples at Thebes, the forerunners of the Caryatids of the Greeks, while the 6-sided columns of the Tombs at Beni Hasan are another variety.
Capitals mostly follow the forms of the lotus (emblem of Upper Egypt), the papyrus (emblem of Lower Egypt), and the palm, and are as follows:
