Egyptian Temples

In Egypt in the New Kingdom impressive rock temples were hewed from cliffsides, the finest being the great temple of Abu-Simbel constructed by Ramses II. In the developed structural temples of Egypt a doorway, flanked by monumental towers or pylons, led to an unroofed open court, generally surrounded on three sides by a colonnaded passage. Beyond the court lay the majestic hypostyle hall and a variety of chambers preceding and surrounding the holy of holies. From the temple entrance to this innermost sanctuary the various units diminished progressively in size and height, while the direct outside light was also reduced. The typical temple later accumulated additional pylons, courts, and rooms, the entire group being enclosed by a massive wall. Only monarchs and priests had access to the chambers beyond the hypostyle hall. The New Kingdom was the most active period of temple construction, although the grandest temple, that of Amon at Al Karnak, was begun much earlier.

Babylonian and Assyrian Temples

In the ancient Babylonian and Assyrian periods of W Asia the temple, or ziggurat, was a square pyramidal structure about 300 ft (90 m) high built up in successive, inclined terraces, sometimes as many as seven; with accessory buildings it was enclosed by walls. At its summit was a chamber that served both as a shrine and for astronomical observations. Glazed colored bricks faced the walls.

Jewish Temples

The temple of Solomon at Jerusalem, the only known monumental structure of the ancient Hebrews, consisted, according to biblical descriptions, of entrance pylons, courts, and a naos, a large rectangular chamber, giving entrance to the holy of holies, which housed the Ark of the Covenant. Its several destructions and reconstructions (one by Herod in 20 B.C.) have rendered unrecognizable any remains of the original edifice. The workmanship, characteristically Phoenician, was of stone, timber, and metal. The temple of Herod, to which Jesus went, was destroyed A.D. 70; its ruins have symbolized to the Jews their dispersion.

Greek Temples

The Dorian immigration (before 1000 B.C.) was a prelude to the building of Greek temples, at first made of timber and sun-dried brick. The superb stone and marble buildings on a defined floor plan were achieved in the middle of the 6th cent. B.C., although the most perfect examples, like the Parthenon (5th cent. B.C.), came later. The Greek temple customarily stood in a temenos, or sacred enclosure, along with accessory shrines, colonnades, and buildings housing the temple treasures. It was built not as a place for assembled worship but as the dwelling for the deity, whose colossal sculptured representation was placed in the naos, and illuminated by the daylight entering through the tall entrance portal. In larger temples, to support the roof lintels, two interior rows of columns divided the naos into nave and side aisles.

Roman Temples

The Roman temple, while based upon the Greek type, retained elements from Etruscan architecture, as in its deep front portico and its elevation upon a high base, or podium, whose wings extended forward to flank the broad entrance steps. The Maison Carrée at Nǐmes, France (1st cent. B.C.), the best-preserved Roman temple, is the common pseudoperipteral type, with engaged columns or pilasters attached to its walls. Unlike the long narrow Greek naos, the Roman cella was nearly square in plan. Of the polygonal and circular temples the circular pantheon at Rome (2d cent. A.D.) with its magnificent dome is the most remarkable. Many temples, particularly those of the Eastern colonies, as at Baalbek in Syria, had magnificent settings of entrance courts enclosed by colonnades.

Indian Temples

In India the most ancient remaining temples are the rock-hewed monuments of the Buddhist period (c.255 B.C.-c.A.D. 300); important groups exist in W India, east of Mumbai. The typical interior is a vast cave divided by lavishly sculptured rock piers into nave and aisles; the sculptured facade, hewed from the cliff face, has a single huge opening to admit light. The principal Indian temples are gradual accretions around a sacred site, forming a religious center comprising shrines, cells for priests, and accommodations for pilgrims. The expression of symbolism is of paramount importance in both structure and ornaments.

Far Eastern Temples

In China the characteristic temple differs from the form of a dwelling only in its size and richness. Besides the temple a Buddhist monastery includes a relic shrine, a pagoda, a library, and quarters for the monks. In Japan the temple harmonizes with the picturesque landscape in which it is set, with architectural emphasis on an unsymmetrical grouping of torii (sacred gateways), shrines, pagodas, and terraces.

Further Reading

See also Greek architecture; Roman architecture; Indian art and architecture; Chinese architecture; Japanese architecture; pre-Columbian art and architecture.

Edifice constructed for the worship of a deity. Features commonly include a sanctuary and an altar. Ancient Egypt had two kinds of temple: mortuary temples for the cults of dead kings, with a chapel in which offerings were presented, and cult temples that held images of deities. The cult temple typically included a massive pylon entrance with a court leading to a hypostyle hall and, at the heart of the temple, a shrine for the cult image. Most Classical Greek temples were rectangular and built of marble or other stone on a low stylobate (stepped platform). A gable roof was supported by columns, with a portico at each end (amphiprostyle temple), a colonnade extending all around (peripteral temple), or a double line of columns all around (dipteral temple). An inner cella housed the image of a deity, and an altar stood outside the temple. Roman temples were profoundly influenced by Greek style, but the altar was inside the temple and the colonnade was often reduced to a row of engaged columns. Hindu temples vary regionally, but generally consist of a towering shrine and a columned hall surrounded by an elaborate wall. Buddhist temples range from half-buried sanctuaries with richly carved entrances to single carved towers or statues. The Chinese and Japanese Buddhist temple is typically a one-story building of richly carved, painted, or tiled timber constructed around an atrium used for worship, though towering pagodas were sometimes built as temples over a shrine. In the Americas, Inca and Mayan temples were constructed of stone, often richly carved; they were generally stair-stepped pyramids, with the shrine at the top. Seealso synagogue.

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Buddhist complex near Nara, Japan, comprising the oldest known wood buildings in the world. The temple was founded by Prince Shōtoku in 607 during the Asuka period, destroyed by fire in 670, and reconstructed circa 680–708. It retains the chū-mon (middle gate) of the roofed cloister enclosing the rectangular temple precinct, a five-storied pagoda, and a kondō (main hall).

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