The Egyptians were a practical people and this is reflected in their astronomy in contrast to Babylonia where the first astronomical texts were written in astrological terms. Even before Upper and Lower Egypt were unified in 3000 BCE, observations of the night sky had influenced the development of a religion in which many of its principal deities were heavenly bodies.

In Lower Egypt, priests built circular mud-brick walls with which to make a false horizon where they could mark the position of the sun as it rose at dawn, and then with a plumb-bob note the northern or southern turning points (solstices). This allowed them to discover that the sun disc, personified as Ra, took 365 days to travel from his birthplace at the winter solstice and back to it. Meanwhile, in Upper Egypt a lunar calendar was being developed based on the behavior of the moon and the reappearance of Sirius in its heliacal rising after its annual absence of about 70 days.

After unification, problems with trying to work with two calendars (both depending upon constant observation) led to a merged, simplified civil calendar with twelve 30 day months, three seasons of four months each, plus an extra five days, giving a 365 year day but with no way of accounting for the extra quarter day each year. Day and night were split into 24 units, each personified by a deity.

Many Egyptian buildings were built with an astronomical orientation. The temples and pyramids were constructed in relation to the stars, zodiac, and constellations. In different cities, the buildings had different orientations based on the specific religion of that place. For instance, some temples were constructed to align with a star that either rose or set at harvest or sowing time. Others were oriented toward the solstices or equinoxes. As early as 4000 B.C., temples were built so that sunlight entered a room at only one precise time of the year.

 

Pharaoh Khufu was in charge of building the Great Pyramid. The Pyramid sat in the center of a huge area full of many different things like temples or monuments. The Great Pyramid took over 20 years to make and was built with more than 2 million blocks of stone that fit perfectly together. Inside the Pyramid was series of tunnels that lead to chambers big and small. One room had six roofs to hold up the stone above. The completed piece was a stunning piece of engineering.

Pharaoh Senusret was amazing with art, literature, and architecture. They would mine for materials like gold, copper, and gems like amethyst. With these they could design monuments and buildings. Senusret’s greatest accomplishments were in temples, shrines, and monuments. One of his greatest pieces was the White Chapel. This was an amazing structure. It was made of alabaster ( Hard, white stone ) and the chapel was thought to have a thin layer of gold. Beautiful inscriptions decorated the pillars. Almost none of Senusret’s structures survived time. Later a pharaoh took the White Chapel apart. Scientists had to reconstruct it later on.

Pharaoh Hatshepsut left behind a brilliant monument. It was a great temple at Deir al - Bahri. Some of the temple was built into a cliff above the Nile River. The entrance had 2 monuments called obelisks. The entrance also had 200 sphinx statues! Scenes from her time line were all over the walls. There were also detailed carvings as well.-Skylar

Source: History Alive - Ancient World

The sphinx’s head and bust were made of solid rock from the quarry where they got the stone for the Great Pyramid. The paws were built up with stone. It is thought a temple was designed in between the legs of the sphinx. The Sphinx’s head measured 19 feet between from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin and the circumference is 91 feet. The paws extend 56 feet. The body is 172 in length and the height from the bottom of the Sphinx to the top of the head is 66 feet. The Sphinx was carved in around 2500 B.C. It stands near three great Pyramids. In the building of the Sphinx the building crew actually had their own homes made of mud brick. It is believed that the bigger homes of the of the area were the overlookers which was normally a skilled craftsmen who sculpted the face or royal chambers on the Pyramid or sphinx.

To build the Great Pyramid egyptians had to cut over 2 million stone blocks. Over 10,000 people had to work on it. Each block itself weighed 2 to 4 tons. Then they had to be transported by big carts or other transportation like sledges. This was one of the most advanced architectures of their time and even now it is pretty advanced. No one is quite sure how the egyptians did it.  The entire structure weighs around six and one quarter million tons.-Skylar

Source: Britannica School - Technology - Sphinx

Source: Secrets of the Sphinx by James Cross Giblin

Source: Secrets of the Sphinx by James Cross Giblin

The earliest type of Mastaba had a pit cut into the desert floor. This was split up by mudbrick walls and turned into several burial chambers. Later on the tomb would be provided with a staircase leading down into the tomb. Preparations had to be made against robbers so in a lot of tombs portcullises blocked the stairway. During the Old Kingdom the storerooms were involved in superstructures with shafts that led down to the burial chamber below.

Graves have recently been found in a Cemetery U at Abydos . Some of these tombs have several chambers and are thought to belong to Dynasty Zero Kings. One tomb had originally had nine rooms but later was extended to twelve. The rooms in these tombs were filled with things like pottery vases and local origin. In one burial chamber there were traces of wooden shrine and an ivory sceptre . Some of the first tombs found of the Early Dynastic Period were found in Cemetery B. One of the most brilliant ones belonged to King Aha . This tomb seems to be extended several times. Surrounding this tomb are other subsidiary graves. Some of the remaining tombs lie to the west. They also were brick lined pits but they did have some wooden paneling.

The Step Pyramid was the first building to be completely built out of stone. The Pyramid was developed from mudbrick mastabas and a mound of sand covered the burial chamber. This may be representing the first land that appeared on the primordial ocean. This goes with our tpic because it talks about some of different mastabas from the past then you can compare this to more recent tombs and see a development.

Source- Pyramids and Tombs of Ancient Egypt, An In-Depth Guide to the Burial Sites of an Ancient Civilization, Beautifully Illustrated With Over 200 Photographs by Lorna Oakes