Column History

Egyptian temples have always evoked its principal architectural achievement, the column. In the earliest parts of Egypt’s long history, columns were often made from one large monolithic slab of stone. However, this ceased when later periods columns were usually built up in sectional blocks. These sectional blocks were then first shaped and then smoothed from the top down. They were then generally painted, and afterwards, were so complex that it became increasingly difficult to tell that they were not cut from a single piece of stone.

The stone columns of Egypt were often large shafts of sandstone, decorated with multicolored painted depictions in painted, carved relief, and are still some of the most remarkable architectural elements in Egyptian structures. The columns shafts were often copies in stone of supports made from plants that might have resembled either a shaft or a bundle of stems of smaller diameter. The shape of the top of the column, also known as the capital, also had a plant theme, and at the alteration of the capital to the shaft, five bands might be found representing the lashing that held together the bundle of stems of which the earliest columns were made. Above the capital a low abacus usually linked the column to the architraves that were placed above it.
The importance of column position

As a matter of fact, a column’s type was usually dictated by the column’s position within the temple. As a result, most temples in fact utilize more then one design. “Bud” style columns were most often used in the outer temple courts, particularly away from the middle axis of the inner temple. However, “Open” style capitals were most often found in the temples middle areas. Yet, over time and into the late antiquities period, there was considerably more variation in these themes. In the Greco-Roman period, column styles became especially varied, and many Egyptian designs were exported to Greece and Rome, where they underwent additional evolutionary changes.