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Architects and Artisans
Few details have survived of individual artists
and architects, as their work was mostly anonymous. Fortunately,
information can be gained from some tomb biographies in which a
man’s titles and position are recorded and, occasionally, the fact
that he was responsible for the construction or decoration of a
particular monument is noted.
There were administrators with titles such as “Chief-of-Works”; the Scribes of Thoth (the god of learning) who oversaw the building plans and programs; and technicians who executed the work. Construction and decoration of a tomb or temple was carried out by craftsmen who worked together under a master; they included quarrymen, sculptors, painters, carpenters, and metalsmiths. One particularly famous architect, Imhotep, was remembered by later generations, not for his role as the designer and builder of Djoser’s Step Pyramid at Saqqara but because he was credited with the foundation of medical science. A man of obscure origins he became Djoser’s vizier and held the titles of “Hereditary Prince,” “King’s Sealer,” and “Royal Carpenter and Mason.” He was also regarded as a sage, and in one of the Songs of Harpers the author writes, “I have heard the words of Imhotep and Hardedef, who both speak thus: ‘Behold the dwellings of those men, their walls fall down, their place is no more, they are as though they had never existed.’” Indeed Imhotep is attributed with authorship of the oldest Instructions in Wisdom (which have not survived), and he apparently advised the king successfully on many matters including actions to be taken following a seven-year period of famine. The Egyptian historian Manetho credits Imhotep with the invention of building in stone; the Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara, the world’s earliest known stone building, incorporates many architectural innovations and new building materials and techniques. This is Imhotep’s only surviving heritage, however, since the literary and medical texts attributed to him have never been discovered, and the location of his tomb remains unknown. In later years Imhotep was greatly renowned and worshiped by Egyptians and Greeks as their god of medicine. Many bronze figurines have survived from this period showing him as a seated, shaven-headed priest who holds an unrolled papyrus on his knees as the symbol of his wisdom and knowledge. All draftsmen followed the traditions that had been laid down for architectural designs and wall decorations. The “Scribe of Forms” drew up the design; one example, made of stucco on wood, preserves the remains of a draftsman’s grid with the figure of the king positioned on one side while on the other there are artist’s studies for hieroglyphs. Magic underpinned the architectural and decorative plans of any monument, and architects and designers were governed by these rules when they positioned architectural features and scenes. The construction of a temple, royal funerary monument, or nonroyal tomb was either ordered by royal command or as a favor from the king for the owners of private (nonroyal) tombs. Then the “Overseer of Works” and the master craftsmen, heeding the magical requirements and the physical layout of the land, decided upon the orientation of the monument (using astronomical observations) and determined how they would deal with any building problems; they also organized the sequence and performance of rites associated with the foundation and construction of the monument. They played both a religious and practical role, which underlined the importance of their contribution. .
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Architects and Artisans
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