Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 1.djvu/191

 Gp:neral Principles of Construction. — Materials. 105 its kind, thanks to the skill and tact displayed by Bramante in the management of the burnt clay which was the only material afforded him by the plains of Lombardy ; but where Bramante succeeded, less skilful artists have failed. They have demanded effects from brick which it was unable to give, with a profound discord between form and matter as a result. Of all the causes which modify the forms of architecture and determine its character, the most important is the nature, the genius, if we may say so, of the materials used. So, before we can arrive at a correct judgment of the rules and principles of any style, we must begin by appreciating and describing the materials of which it disposes. We never forget this in the case of sculpture, still less should we do so in the case of architecture, where the material is still more despotic. The materials made use of by the Egyptians were granite,^ sandstone,- and limestone.'^ A softer stone, namely alabaster, was often employed for lining."* Sandstone and limestone, especially the latter, are used nearly everywhere ; granite is of less frequent occurrence and suggests an important observation. Granite is not a sedimentary, stratified rock like limestone ; it is a material compacted in great masses, to a depth or, to speak more accurately, in a volume which is practically unlimited ; the dimensions of the stones which may be cut from these masses are therefore infinite to all intents and purposes.^ The Egyptians also made use of both burnt and unburnt brick. ^ The only granite quarries that were worked in antiquity were those of Syene now Assouan, in Upper Egypt, upon the riglit bank of the Nile. - Sandstone was chiefly obtained from two localities, Djebel-Ahmar, near Cairo, and Djebel-Silsili in Upper Egypt. 2 The Arab Chain is almost entirely calcareous. Near the sites of all the ancient cities it shows numerous excavations bearing witness to the activity of the ancient builders. The most celebrated of these quarries is that at Mokattam, near Cairo. The stone of which the body of tha pyramids is composed was drawn from it. slopes of the mountain Mahsarah, near Cairo, and the springs of the Wady-Siout, opposite the town of that name. '•' The obelisk of Queen Hatasu. at Karnak, is 105 ft. 8 in. high : the statue of Rameses II. at Thebes, on the left bank of the river, is a monolith 55 ft. 5 in. high, and weighing about 1,200 tons. [The obelisk which still remains at Syene, never having been completely detached from the rock in which it was quarried, is nearly 96 ft. high and ii fi. i^^r in. diameter at its base. — Ed.] VOL. I. p
 * The alabaster cjuarries of to-day are all in the Arab Chain, between the southern