The ancient Egyptians first lived in houses made out of reed. They later went on to use unbaked mud brick, which was even used to build palaces. They started to construct buildings from stone around 2,700 B.C. and within half a century, they were building pyramids. Large houses, temples and tombs were built in a similar way, with a main court, hall and private rooms.
Buildings in ancient Egypt
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the most famous structure of Ancient Egypt and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This pyramid was finished around 2450 B.C. and was built for Pharaoh Khufu.
The Luxor Temple was constructed approximately 1400 B.C. and is a large ancient Egyptian temple complex. Sandstone blocks were used to construct the temple and large amounts of the structure are still intact.
The Step Pyramid of Djoser was the first pyramid the Egyptians built, about 4,700 years ago. The pyramid has six layers, one built on top of the other. Tunnels were built beneath the pyramid that forms a labyrinth about 3.5 miles long.
Interesting facts
- Much of ancient Egyptian art was created in secret as it was too powerful to be viewed by the general public.
- Few people were ever mummified in ancient Egyptian history and only the priests were allowed to see them.
- Many of the temples contained enormous statues of the pharaoh.
- A lot of the architects from ancient Egypt are unknown and remain anonymous.
