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Results for pylon:

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propylaeum

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pl. propylaea; propylon
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: The entrance gate to a classical temenos, temple, or other sacred enclosure; the gateway that stands in front of a pylon. At the Acropolis in Athens, the monumental Propylaia (Propylaeum) was built in 437 BC on the same orientation as the Parthenon. This monumental entrance had various forms generally involving a colonnade (of four columns) positioned in front of an entrance cut into a continuous enclosure wall. The propylaeum may have columns both outside and inside the enclosure wall.

pylon

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: bekhenet
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A monumental gateway to Egyptian temples or palaces built in stone and usually decorated with relief figures and hieroglyphs. It was the usual entrance from the Middle Kingdom to the Roman period (c 2055 BC-395 AD). The Egyptians made frequent use of them, usually in the form of foreshortened pyramids to mark the entrances of tombs. A pylon consisted of a pair of massifs (massive towers) flanked by a smaller gateway. All the wall faces were inclined; the corners completed with a torus molding and the top with torus and cavetto cornice. The interior of a pylon contained staircases and chambers. Pairs of colossal statues and obelisks were often erected in front of the pylon. Pylons are the largest and least essential parts of a temple; some temples have series of them (e.g. 10 at Karnak). Rituals relating to the sun god were evidently carried out on top of the gateway.

tetrapylon

CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A building or structure with four gates.

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cavetto

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: cavetto cornice
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A hollow concave molding projecting from the tops of Egyptian cornices, pylons, altars, walls, doorways, flat-topped stelae, and false doors and whose profile is the quadrant of a circle. It was probably derived from the appearance of the tops of fronds of vegetation.

Colossi of Memnon

CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: Two colossal seated statues of Amenhotep III (1390-1352 BC), carved from quartzite sandstone, which are located at the eastern end of the site of his much-plundered mortuary temple in western Thebes; each of the figures is flanked by a representation of Tiy. The two remaining statues are 70-feet (21-meters) high, each hewn from a single block of stone. The more northerly of these was partly destroyed by an earthquake in 27 BC, resulting in a curious phenomenon. Every morning, when the rays of the rising sun touched the statue, musical sounds like the twang of a harp string were heard. This was supposed to be the voice of Memnon responding to the greeting of his mother, Eos. After the restoration of the statue by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (170 AD) the sounds ceased. The sounds had come from air passing through the pores of the stone, caused by the change of temperature at sunrise, and the masonry patching caused the singing" to cease. These statues once flanked the gateway in front of the temple pylon but now sit alone in the middle of cultivated fields."

colossus

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: pl. colossi, colossuses
CATEGORY: artifact
DEFINITION: A gigantic statue or image of the human form, usually of a king but also of private individuals and gods. They are typically set up outside the gates or pylons of temples. The term was originally applied by Herodotus to those of Egypt. The most famous is the bronze statue of Apollo at Rhodes, one of the seven wonders of the world, reputed to have stood at the entrance to the harbor and claimed by Pliny to have been 90-feet tall.

hypostyle hall

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: hypostyle
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: In temples, a columned hall or court situated between the sanctuary and the open court behind the pylon. The term comes from the Greek for under pillars". These halls are the outermost and grandest parts of the main structures of temples frequently added after the rest and often exhibit an elaborate symbolism. It was used extensively in ancient Egypt -- the Temple of Amon at Karnak -- and in Persia in the ruins at Persepolis."

Kalabsha

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: ancient Talmis
CATEGORY: site
DEFINITION: The site of an unfinished, free-standing temple in Lower Nubia, south of Aswan. Dedicated to the local god Mandulis, the complex was built in sandstone masonry and consisted of a pylon, forecourt, hypostyle hall, two vestibules, and a sanctuary. It dates to early Roman period c 30 BC, though the colony dates to Amenhotep II (1427-1400 BC).

temple

SYNONYMS OR RELATED TERMS: templum
CATEGORY: structure
DEFINITION: A building with a religious function, of various shapes and sizes. For the ancient Egyptians, it was the 'house' of a deity or deities and the most important component was the innermost cult-chamber or shrine, where the image of the deity was kept. Temples were not originally intended for worshippers, but as shrines for the gods. They consisted of the following elements: the pylon, an open courtyard with colonnades, the hypostyle hall, and the sanctuary. The sacred precinct of a town, including the temple and associated buildings, was often surrounded by a massive mud-brick wall. In the Classical world, many great temples were built. Because of the importance of temples in a society, temple architecture often represents the best of a culture's design and craftsmanship.