Blue and Green
''The old kingdom. A few texts describe "ideal" houses and thus are too subjectiveto be useful; all emphasise the importance of garden with fruit trees and a pond surrounded by a high wall. Such a setting was usual for suburban houses of the middle class in all periods " - 21 architecture in Ancient Egypt and the near East
Egyptians have actively planned their landscape where we see examples of planting trees not indigenous to the area, in different scale and forms. Trees have been deliberately moved from city to another to fit the planned landscape. in some cases where the new soil is not fit for the tree, parts of the old soil were to be moved to the new site to home the trees
Egyptian Garden: In the language - Colours - Forms - Revival
In the language / ϧⲉⲛ ϯⲁⲥⲡⲓ
The Egyptians had different words for different types of gardens. They classified gardens by their form, by what they grew, and by the buildings to which they were attached.3 The forms could be a piece of cultivable ground divided into squares, a park, a park with a temple and a pool, an open terraced area, and a sunken or level peristyle or atrium within a building. Gardens could also be described by the plants growing in them: vineyards, vegetable gardens, olive groves, fruit orchards, groves of incense trees, groves of trees useful for their wood, and tree-growing country in general, usually abroad. Some of the same vocabulary was used again for describing the gardens attached to buildings. Therewere gardens belonging to palaces, and tombs, to funerary domains andestates, and to private estates of the living, and gardens of particular temples, such as those of Horus at Heliopolis, Re at Hermopolis, of Sekhmet, or Osiris at the Abaton on the island of Philae.2
Ka.n.w
''Ineni, to behold his fields and his cattle that are in lower Egypt. Crossing his western garden,
refreshing under his sycamores, beholding these beautiful tall tress of his, which he planted on earth under the favor of his noble god Amun,
lord of the thrones of the two lands ......
..... 73 Sycamores; 31 Persea trees; 170 date palms; 120 doum Palms; 5 Fig trees; 3 Khatnshny?; 2 ben oil tree; 12 vines; 5 Pomegranate trees; 8 acacia trees; 16 carob trees; 5 Ziziphus trees; 5 Tiwn? trees; 1 Argun palm; 2 Myrtles; ... Jshd? trees; ...Jhw? trees; 3 Maerua trees; 9 willows; 10 tamarisks''
I saw the digging of a lake, made for himself on the west side of city and the blanks were planted with all sweeted trees." -Biography of Ineni
'Im Inneren des Hauses werden wir eine Palme Pflanzen, die Gutes gibt und Schatten spendet' Egyptian song Ahmed Munib
Colors | Ⲛⲓⲁⲩⲁⲛ
The blue of the water and the green of a garden were essential and traditional elements in the Egyptian house, repeatedly depicted in the drawings of the Egyptians.
Forms
Active Design - trail and error
Naturally, the data on this branch of architecture are scanty indeed, especially for the gardens of houses and palaces. From models of houses we know that there was at least a water tank sheltered under a canopy in the middle of the yard fronting the modest peasant house.
A happy coincidence is that a sketch of the same garden layout was found on a floor slab of the temple (see p. 54; fig. I10:1). The landscape architect had traced a fourth row of trees to the left of the ramp, to be symmetrical with the right-hand side, but he erased it subsequently when he noticed that the left portico (southern) of the temple was actually shorter than the right one.
In the temple at Hermupolis a similar garden with a central alley bordered with two rows of trees in brick rings formed the processional approach (see p. 76; fig. 30).
Different Types
Burial Garden
Interesting is the shape that the egyptian used to display the existance of lakes and palm trees which come identical to the picture below
The remains of the discovered garden in Luxor.
The scene is from the rock-cut tomb of Mayor Renni at el-Kab, who lived during the reign of Amenophis I. It shows a house-like structure used during funeral ceremonies. 1
Roof plants
In this scene the deceased ( towed in a papyrus boat ) is greeted by a priest holding a long roll who stands before two buildings, one has a central door and is topped by two small chapels with two palms, the other has a front pierced by two windows and is surmounted by four fine columns. ©kairoinfo4u
Urban Garden
In the cities, where the value of land was prohibitive, there is no evidence of any garden being grown. Occasionally a few trees were planted along the sides of the house (Tjoy), usually date palms alternating with another species, which can also be grown in brickwork containers *house from Tomb No. 254
Revival - Continuity
Lake
‘I would like every village to have its artificial lake set in the middle of a small village park.’ Hassan Fathy
Later on, we read in his book that, Hassan Fathy wanted to create a lake in the village of New Gourna. A desire that will reappear in Iraq, and will be welcomed by the Iraqi government, as Hassan Fathy was working for the Doxiadis Associates on planning for the government of Iraq.
For more on H.F. works to implement lakes in his designs Lakes and Gardens, Features that even if hard to have in each house, it still can and should be considered in planning Egyptian cities.
Garden Koisk:
Usually one roon with space for seat. Such Garden-Kiosks became a feature of Islamic gardens, and lasted into the Khedival gardens in Cairo in the 19th century.
1 Prisse d'Avennes, Atlas of Egyptian Art
2The gardens in Ancient Egypt., Alex
First Ancient Egyptian Funerary Garden Found : Encuentran el primer jardín funerario del Antiguo Egipto
Hieroglyphics and Literature Dictionaries :
Paul Dickson 2006 Dictionary of Middle Egyptian Mark Vygus Dictionary 2012
on pourrait cependant considerer comme tel la bande de terrain divisee en carres au moyen de rgoles et plantee de laitnes ? representeee chez Mererouka C'est le type deja forme du jardin potager souvent figure au Moyen Empire.
L'insription l'accompagnant l'appelle bien d'ailleurs: jardin 247 le dessin architectur
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