When you think of an ancient Egyptian temple like Karnak… it’s not easy to imagine it without thinking of its colonnaded halls… is it?
One of the most beautiful and impressive aspects of architecture that comes to mind when you think of any Egyptian temple are the spectacular columns, which resemble groves of stone. These columns, especially at Karnak and Luxor, dwarf human beings and bear inscriptions, carved reliefs, and a majesty of weight unequaled anywhere else in the world. Most people who have any interest in the ancient Egyptians will immediately identify the form of the Lotus and Papyrus style columns, but in reality no fewer than 30 different column forms have been isolated from temples of various periods!
The columns had a special meaning for the Egyptians, since they represented the expanses of nature. The columns allude to the times when vast forests dotted the land, forests that disappeared as the climate changed and civilization took its toll on the Egyptian environment. They also represented the reed swamps of the Nile. The columns were introduced to simulate nature and re-identify man with the earth. The columns from the first attempt are still visible on the Step Pyramid at Saqqara, but they are coupled columns, attached to the walls for support and incapable of supporting themselves. Imhotep designed rows of such pillars at the entrance of various buildings and incorporated them into the corridors of the sanctuary of Djoser (2600 BC).
In the Fourth Dynasty (2575-2465 BCE), masons experimented with columns as a separate architectural entity. In a royal tomb built at GIZA during the reign of Khufu (2551-2465 BC), limestone columns were used effectively. In the tomb of Sahure (2458-2446 BC) from the Fifth Dynasty, the columns were made of granite, demonstrating a more confident style and level of skill.
Wooden columns adorned a site in the reign of Kakai (2446-2426 BC) in that same dynasty, and another king of the royal line, Nisuerre (2416-2392 BC), had stone columns installed limestone in its Abusir necropolis complex.
At Beni Hasan, in the 11th Dynasty (2134-2140 BC), local nomarchs, or provincial chiefs, built their own tombs with wooden columns. The same type of columns were installed in the tombs of the Twelfth Dynasty (1991-1773 BC), but they were made of wood on stone bases. With the arrival of the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC), the columns became part of the architectural splendor that marked the capital of Thebes and the later capital of Per-Ramesses in the eastern delta. Extensive colonnades stood on terraces or in the recesses of temples, opening onto courtyards and sanctuaries.