Architectural patterns and Egyptian mythology in the New Kingdom

Abstract

Every society, past and present, has its own beliefs and practices including in most cases a form of religion. Religion has evolved itself through time in its form of worship, yet most humans believed there was a force that was above them. It was the belief in a religion that has led to societies believing in an afterlife and this provided a purpose for what to live for and what to aim for after one‟s death. While religion lends a set of beliefs to a society, it is mythology that explains to the people how the world was created. Ancient Egypt is one such culture where religion and mythology played a huge role in the daily life of its citizens. The purpose of this work is to show that a link existed between mythology and architecture in New Kingdom Egypt and how it developed through the period. Temples, funerary architecture and palaces were structures which were essential in the Egyptian‟s life. While at the start of the New Kingdom, the deities were seen as having the highest authority in all aspects of life, this belief was modified as time progressed. The pharaoh Akhenaten transferred some of the authority of the deities to the king as from the Amarna period onwards, they were seen on the same level. The sudden change initiated by Akhenaten led instantly to a different style in all aspects of architecture. All mythology was now linked to the Aten and Akhenaten himself, which led to a much closer visible link between architecture and mythology. While this revolution lasted only under his reign, and the old gods were later reinstated, some of these changes remained and thus the link between architecture and mythology remained stronger than it was at the beginning of the New Kingdom.