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A Lecture On The Antiquity Of Laying Corner Stones With Religious And Mystical Ceremonies.
Bel ; an architect at the Red Mountain in tbe time of Amen-botep IV ., described as son of " the overseers of the sculptors from life men , and of the lady Ri-n-an , " described himself , " overseer of the works at the Red Mountain , ancl artist and teacher of the king himself , an overseer of tbe sculptors from life at the grand monuments of the king for the Temple of the Sun ' s disc in the town of Kuateu " ( I . Brugsch , 444 ) . Bek- ' s tombstone ivas sold at auction a few years since in Cairo to Mr .
Vassali . In another context I shall refer to its inscriptions . Semn . ut was architect in Queen Hashop ' s reign . He Avas " chief steAvard of the house " aucl " clerk of all the works , " "first of the first . " He Avas of skilful band , but as his monument says , " without the fame of proud ancestors , " or , as we Avould say , a self-made man . Amen-men-haut in tbe forty-seA'enth year of the reign of Tbutmes III .
was the master builder of the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis . He is styled "Hereditary lord and first governor of Memphis , the architect in the town of tbe sun , tbe chief superintendent of all the offices in Upper and Lower Egypt , the bead architect of the king , tbe steAvard of the king ' s palace . " Bekenkbonsu was chief in the time of Rameses Miamun . He also Avas "the hereditary lord and first prophet of Anion . " He says " I was a great
architect in the town of Anion , my heart being filled with good Avorks for my lord . " Again , " the skilled in art , the first prophet of Anion , Bekenkbonsu , he speaks thus : I performed the best I could for the Temple of Anion as Architect of my Lord , " etc ., etc . He put obelisks at the gate of the Temple . He was the president of the prophets , and bis priesthood had lasted over fifty years of his life . Levi or Lui , was chief architect to Mineptah IL , High Priest of Amon , and also treasurer , and bis son Roma succeeded him .
After the Persian conquest of Egypt , the same consideration Avas paid to the architects , and in the time of Darius I . ( 490 B . C . ) , an Egyptian , Krum-al-ra , was "Architect of Upper and Lower Egypt . " He furnishes , in an inscription published by Brugsch ( p . 299 ) , a pedigree of twenty-four generations of his ancestors who had been architects , and many of Avbom also had filled other offices of importannce . These brief references shoAV tbe distinction accorded to the Craft through
many thousands of years in the old time , and provoke the reflection that the further we go back into the records of tbe Craft tbe more brilliant its social position appears . I have already shown the kings of Egypt assisting at laying corner stones Avith mystic and religious rites—the inscriptions collated by Bruo-seh show that architecture was a valued branch of the truly royal education , and could truly , in the earliest times , be called the " tbe royal art . " Bek inscribed on bis tomb that he was teacher ot the kine- himself .
King Amen-botep III ., in an inscription ( Brugsch I ., p . 428 ) , Pharaoh himself " gave instructions and the directions , for he understood how to direct and guide the architect . " The visitor of to-day at Karnab sees the work of this king yet standing , ancl can judge for himself whether this royal master of art bad tbe skill of bis craft . Tbe gigantic statues of this king and bis Avife , known usually as the Memnon Statues , are on the opposite side of the river , the site of another
marking temple erected b y . the same monarch . These statues Avere planned and erected b y Amen-botep , chief architect , governor and secretary . Thotmes III . built about B . C . 1600 the Temple of Osiris . An inscription says , "And each one of the Temple artists knew the plan , ancl was well instructed in the mode of-carrying it out ; no one betook himself aAvay from that which it was given . him to do ( viz ., to build ) a monument to his father Osiris , and to erect in good work the inlaid mystery which none can see ancl none can declare , for none know bis form . "
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
A Lecture On The Antiquity Of Laying Corner Stones With Religious And Mystical Ceremonies.
Bel ; an architect at the Red Mountain in tbe time of Amen-botep IV ., described as son of " the overseers of the sculptors from life men , and of the lady Ri-n-an , " described himself , " overseer of the works at the Red Mountain , ancl artist and teacher of the king himself , an overseer of tbe sculptors from life at the grand monuments of the king for the Temple of the Sun ' s disc in the town of Kuateu " ( I . Brugsch , 444 ) . Bek- ' s tombstone ivas sold at auction a few years since in Cairo to Mr .
Vassali . In another context I shall refer to its inscriptions . Semn . ut was architect in Queen Hashop ' s reign . He Avas " chief steAvard of the house " aucl " clerk of all the works , " "first of the first . " He Avas of skilful band , but as his monument says , " without the fame of proud ancestors , " or , as we Avould say , a self-made man . Amen-men-haut in tbe forty-seA'enth year of the reign of Tbutmes III .
was the master builder of the Temple of the Sun at Heliopolis . He is styled "Hereditary lord and first governor of Memphis , the architect in the town of tbe sun , tbe chief superintendent of all the offices in Upper and Lower Egypt , the bead architect of the king , tbe steAvard of the king ' s palace . " Bekenkbonsu was chief in the time of Rameses Miamun . He also Avas "the hereditary lord and first prophet of Anion . " He says " I was a great
architect in the town of Anion , my heart being filled with good Avorks for my lord . " Again , " the skilled in art , the first prophet of Anion , Bekenkbonsu , he speaks thus : I performed the best I could for the Temple of Anion as Architect of my Lord , " etc ., etc . He put obelisks at the gate of the Temple . He was the president of the prophets , and bis priesthood had lasted over fifty years of his life . Levi or Lui , was chief architect to Mineptah IL , High Priest of Amon , and also treasurer , and bis son Roma succeeded him .
After the Persian conquest of Egypt , the same consideration Avas paid to the architects , and in the time of Darius I . ( 490 B . C . ) , an Egyptian , Krum-al-ra , was "Architect of Upper and Lower Egypt . " He furnishes , in an inscription published by Brugsch ( p . 299 ) , a pedigree of twenty-four generations of his ancestors who had been architects , and many of Avbom also had filled other offices of importannce . These brief references shoAV tbe distinction accorded to the Craft through
many thousands of years in the old time , and provoke the reflection that the further we go back into the records of tbe Craft tbe more brilliant its social position appears . I have already shown the kings of Egypt assisting at laying corner stones Avith mystic and religious rites—the inscriptions collated by Bruo-seh show that architecture was a valued branch of the truly royal education , and could truly , in the earliest times , be called the " tbe royal art . " Bek inscribed on bis tomb that he was teacher ot the kine- himself .
King Amen-botep III ., in an inscription ( Brugsch I ., p . 428 ) , Pharaoh himself " gave instructions and the directions , for he understood how to direct and guide the architect . " The visitor of to-day at Karnab sees the work of this king yet standing , ancl can judge for himself whether this royal master of art bad tbe skill of bis craft . Tbe gigantic statues of this king and bis Avife , known usually as the Memnon Statues , are on the opposite side of the river , the site of another
marking temple erected b y . the same monarch . These statues Avere planned and erected b y Amen-botep , chief architect , governor and secretary . Thotmes III . built about B . C . 1600 the Temple of Osiris . An inscription says , "And each one of the Temple artists knew the plan , ancl was well instructed in the mode of-carrying it out ; no one betook himself aAvay from that which it was given . him to do ( viz ., to build ) a monument to his father Osiris , and to erect in good work the inlaid mystery which none can see ancl none can declare , for none know bis form . "