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Implementation of Art on Vernacular Architecture in Ancient Nubia -Egypt
Article · May 2017
DOI: 10.17758/EAP.EAP517018
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Abstract— Vernacular Architecture considered as the simple
form of architecture that covers all of the human needs according to
their culture. This type of architecture specifies the concept of design
that is based on using the utilized building and construction material
in native architecture.
This paper will focus on the concept of art that went parallel to the
buildings' design concept by using colors and symbols on the facades
and in the interior spaces, which had strong relationship to the
natives believes, social life, religion, culture, traditions, utilizing
materials, and resources that are common and prevalent in the site.
The paper will also highlight the concept(s) of Art, and its
application on the Nubian buildings’ facades to complete the
shelters’ design according to their consideration, and how it was
effectively used in design, in which it was originated when people
used the native and natural resources and materials to design their
shelters, taking into consideration people response not only to the use
of the prevalent materials, but also to the culture, believes, climate,
and design considerations.
Keywords— Vernacular Architecture- Native Materials- Building
Response - Native Architecture- Design Considerations.
I. INTRODUCTION
Vernacular architecture is the simplest form of addressing
human needs, is seemingly forgotten in modern architecture.
However, due to recent rises in energy costs, the trend has
sensibly swung the other way. Architects are embracing
regionalism and cultural building traditions, given that these
structures have proven to be energy efficient and altogether
sustainable. In this time of rapid technological advancement
and urbanization, there is still much to be learned from the
traditional knowledge of vernacular construction. These low-
tech methods of creating housing which is perfectly adapted to
its locale are brilliant, for the reason that these are the
principles which are more often ignored by prevailing
architects.
Vernacular architecture originated when mankind was
forced to make use of the natural resources around him, and
provide him-self shelter and comfort which is responsive to the
climate, a shield from the elements. It is a pure reaction to an
individual person’s or society’s building needs, and has
allowed man, even before the architect, to construct shelter
according to his circumstance.
Such simple traditions have long been regarded as
Department of Architecture and Interior Design, College of Engineering,
Prince Sultan University
backward, and have been replaced by half-digested, largely
inappropriate architectural values. Work in vernacular
architecture are often expressed in a technical language, and
published in unaccessible places. Those who write about
buildings do not always relate their detailed findings to wider
issues. It is no accident that the aspect of the subject best
known among historians is the ‘great rebuilding’, because
articles inventing and revising that idea were published in a
mainstream historical journal, and because the central concept
is readily grasped, and can be linked with other trends of the
period.
The question of intent in vernacular architecture now
becomes most important and the artifact itself used simply as a
means of attaining insight into a given society. Seeking the
reasons why vernacular builders created structures in certain
forms, using certain methods, inquiries turn towards the
understanding of culture. In doing so, revelations are
uncovered pertaining to all aspects of vernacular design.
At present such an enquiry is frustrated because many
studies of vernacular architecture do not make a strict
distinction between the rural and urban location of the
buildings, and there is a shortage of studies which set out
explicitly to investigate urban buildings. The opportunity
undoubtedly exists because so many timber-framed buildings
survive in towns, and there are many regions, such as the
south-east, where there are sufficient buildings visible in town
and country to make a comparison possible.
II. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The paper will focus on the use of the Art in the residential
units interior and exterior, and will identify the reasons behind
using colors and symbols. Moreover, analyze their relation to
their believes and habits, in addition to specify the materials,
techniques, and its background, which was taken from Ancient
Egypt, since the Nubians were the old tribes founded at that
time.
III. CASE STUDY: NUBIAN VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE
In earlier Egyptian texts, Nubia is mentioned as the land of
Cush. It was through this land that Egyptians obtained
products of the Sudan like ebony, ivory, leopard skins and a
variety of resins. Its people had for millennia inhabited the
middle reaches of the Nile and their traditional ways of life
were based on agriculture, fishing, transporting goods up and
Implementation of Art on Vernacular
Architecture in Ancient Nubia -Egypt
Dina Howeidy PhD., FHEA
5th International Conference on “Advances in Engineering and Technology” (AET-17) May 2-3, 2017 at Pattaya (Thailand)
https://doi.org/10.17758/EAP.EAP517018
172
down the Nile, virtually unchanged until the Aswan Dam was
built.
Ibrahim Fahmy says in his book values (Nuba land of
perfume and gold) that the word Nubia is still the subject of
different scientists, and still its history and origin of language
the subject of a difference, too, was the first to launch spell the
name of this country are the ancient Egyptians, the basic
principle is the ancient Egyptian derivative of the word for
word (NOP or Nobu) in the sense (gold), and are intended to
(the country's gold), since the seizure was an old mine for the
precious metal.
Nubian people are an ethnic group; they considered as one
of the most ancient people all over the world, their civilization
started more than 8.000 years ago. They lived in the southern
Egypt and north Sudan. They had their own culture, language
and the Egyptian civilization started from Nubian lands.
Nubians used to live around the stretch of the Nile about 350
km upstream of the Old Aswan Dam in the reservoir area. In
Egypt the representatives of the first group are the (Kunuz)
occupying the northern region of Nubia, while the (Fadigga)
group who dwell in the southern region of Egyptian Nubia.
For hundreds of years, the Nubians experienced a slow
peaceful life in their country between the first and third
cataracts of the Nile. In 1964, they were forced to leave their
villages and were relocated to new ones designed and built by
the government.This sudden change in their environment
affected the way they had lived for hundreds of years.
A. The Location
The Dwellings extended along the Nile at irregular intervals
in a staggered line more or less parallel to the river following
the natural contours of the ground. The Orientation throughout
Nubia, principal entrances to the houses faced the river,
whether they were on the west banks of the Nile. On
approaching the front of a dwelling, towards the main entrance
and threshold, a person had his back to the river.
Nubian vernacular architecture continued to be ignored by
the rest of the world until 1963, when the region was to be
flooded for the third time. (The first was after the British built
the original dam, known as the khazan Aswan in 1898. The
second time the dam was elevated in 1933, and the third time
was the construction of the High Dam itself in 1964). Then,
they rebuilt all their villages on their own, with their own
precarious means, giving them a chance to show the world
potentialities of man when he is given the chance ( Hassan
Fathy).
Fig. 1: The Location of the Nubian Land and Dwellings
B. Design Considerations
The clear definition for the design considerations is the
general characteristics of design that can affect the design and
it is process. The Design considerations were taken from the
perspective of the impact of the aesthetics values on the
Nubian vernacular architecture.
Sociological: Social life is very important to the Nubians,
they have special traditions some of it is related to the Nile
river before the movement, the Nubians were also inspired in
their art by the Nile river, for example some of their wedding
traditions were related to it, Moreover, the females’ role in the
community is very big, and the house consider as the palace
for them were they accept visits and guests and according to
the culture it has to be clean and decorative and the visitor will
find that the buildings presents a feeling of harmony and
practicality.
This sociologic facet of architecture is present in a material,
a color scheme, an architectural genre, a spatial language or
form that carries through the urban framework. The way
human settlements are structured in modernity has been vastly
unsystematic; current architecture exists on a singular basis,
unfocused on the connectivity of a community as a whole.
Climatic: The original Nubia is the dry hot land of about
123,000 square kilometers between the city of Aswan and
northern Sudan. Much of this land now lies beneath the waters
created by the High Dam Reservoir (Lake Nassar/Lake Nubia).
Aswan is in a dry, temperate zone which enjoys a very mild
climate in winter, making it a favored winter resort since the
beginning of the nineteenth century. It rarely rains, although
torrential downpours occur every four or five years. The
prevailing winds are from the northeast. Sandstorms come
from the west during spring but last only a couple of days. In
winter the temperature ranges from a maximum of 26°C to a
minimum of 10°C, with a humidity maximum of 56 per cent.
In the summer months the temperature can reach 42°C,
becoming mild at night at a minimum of 26°C. The humidity
in May goes down to 7 per cent.
Fig. 2: Example of the Nubian Dwellings Floor Plans
Source:http://mamdouhsakr.blogspot.com/2015/03/traces-of-vibrant-
vernacular-nubian.html
C. Cultural
The challenging task of resolving the demand of shelter for
the growing urban population, and solving the environmental
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crises of 21st century, it seems more than ever necessary to
look into the application of vernacular knowledge in creating
the kind of architecture and urban environment that are
sustainable and culturally appropriate. The houses of old
Nubia reflected the Nubians' world view and way of living.
The displacement villages designed and built by professional
architects reflected another world view based on their beliefs
and social class. The design of the displacement villages did
not respect the Nubians' way of living and view of the world.
This forced many changes on the Nubians' way of living and
everyday life experience.
Fig. 3: The Decorative Elements
Fig. 4: The Use of Symbols and Colors
IV. THE USE OF MATERIALS
The native architecture for the Nubians in the villages were
inspired by the Nile river, they used the mud as bricks in the
building constructions and as finishing materials, with barrel
vaulted roofs and domes for air circulations, and when the
family expands they extend the main building design and new
spaces will be added for more rooms.
Houses Nubian built of adobe any mud bricks because the
mud is not heated and is not affected by heat dramatically, as
well as there must be domes over each house and function of
these domes is the distribution of the sun's heat so as not to be
perpendicular are kept on a horizontal surface Transmits all
the heat inside the house, but rounded idea Let's assume that
raining and in front of you Petain one surface flat horizontal
and the other surface is dome-shaped, not necessarily rain
water Satkhozn on the surface horizontal while the water fall
over the dome would make him "ski" and drops to the right of
the dome and its left, and the same idea talk with sunlight.
The technology of making mud brick is inherited from
ancient times in Egypt. Inhabitants in choose the best soil for
mud brick casting. There are common places they tend to go
and get the mud from. They are nearby their farm lands on the
periphery of the town. They choose these locations because
they are places where grazing animals are taken every day to
graze. As a result, the soil is full of animal manure. Moreover,
it is far from the farming land, where the upper layer of the soil
is salty or recently affected by fertilizers. The process starts by
adding water to the soil to achieve the proper consistency,
plasticity and workability. Straw and dung are added to
increase malleability and impermeability. Finely chopped rice
or wheat straw is mixed with the mud to act as shrinkage
compensator and for reinforcement. This helps the entire mud
brick block to dry evenly from inside and from outside. It also
increases compaction, which reduces cracks and keeps the
brick more solid.
The process starts by adding water to the soil to achieve the
proper consistency, plasticity and workability. Straw and dung
are added to increase malleability and impermeability. Finely
chopped rice or wheat straw is mixed with the mud to act as
shrinkage compensator and for reinforcement. This helps the
entire mud brick block to dry evenly from inside and from
outside. It also increases compaction, which reduces cracks
and keeps the brick more solid.
V. THE USE OF COLOR & SYMBOLS
The Ancient Egyptian system of color symbolism was
mostly, but not entirely consistent throughout all regions and
time periods. Colors, meanings for colors, and artistic
conventions relative to color were revised or added to this
system at various points of Ancient Egyptian history. During
the Amarna Period, for example (which will not be covered
further in this article), many of the preexisting conventions of
color symbolism were altered significantly, in order to more
fully break away from “the old religion.” Only the more
important, consistent rules of color symbolism and lasting
additions to them will be discussed in this article, and must be
taken under the advisement of these caveats. Ancient Egyptian
artists gave their Nubian neighbors from the South dark brown
or pure black coloration, as we would expect most African
groups to be portrayed in any art form.
This system initially consisted of four basic color-concepts:
green, red, black, and white. In Old Egyptian (the stage of
Egyptian language spoken from about 2600 BCE to 2000
BCE), they are called wadj, dešr, kem, and hedj. These were
colors derived from mineral pigments, which had been used
since Prehistory. Blue (khesbedj / irtiu) and yellow (khenet)
enjoyed differentiation and development somewhat later on.
Other colors such as gray, pink, orange, and brown, while they
clearly could be created by combining the basic pigments and
were used in Egyptian art, did not achieve the importance of
the preferred, “pure” basic colors. These “secondary colors”
were categorized under the major color-concepts they most
closely resembled. White was not a commonly used color for
the complexions of the deified deceased, or the Gods. In the
same way that silver and electrum (an alloy of gold, silver, and
copper) were considered by Ancient Egyptians to be essential
5th International Conference on “Advances in Engineering and Technology” (AET-17) May 2-3, 2017 at Pattaya (Thailand)
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equals to gold in the realm of precious minerals, in the two-
dimensional realm white could take the place of yellow.
Most of the symbols used in the facades were used based on
believes, cultural, social, religious, physiological.
TABLE I
SHOWS THE CONCEPT OF USING SYMBOLS
TABLE II
THE COLOR CONCEPT IN THE NUBIAN CULTURE
VI. DISCUSSION
To allow the practice of self-help housing and participatory
modes of development is only sensible and timely for many
communities in need of shelter, since the know-how to build
shelter effectively with regard to local materials and
technology at hand are available to people and are much
affordable. Government authorities should set up a self-help
building advisory service in the communities to encourage
higher standards of construction.
The vernacular buildings provide us with a large repository
of natural and cultural heritage that illustrate a genuine and
symbiotic relationship with the spirit of a particular place. This
relationship that is mediated through knowledge and values
can be valuable lesson for the mainstream architecture of 21st
century.
5th International Conference on “Advances in Engineering and Technology” (AET-17) May 2-3, 2017 at Pattaya (Thailand)
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VII. RESULTS
The design and art should represent in the vernacular
architecture cover the aspects of the community, it focuses on
the religion, climate, social, and culture to achieve sustainable
human settlements. Vernacular Architecture allows the
practice of self-help design and housing and Interior
Architectural spaces’ development especially for the
communities in need of shelter, since the know-how is clear
and the local materials and technology are available to those
natives and affordable. Governments should set up services
such as advisory for the self-help design and build to
encourage the natives to solve the population extension
problem and other problems as sustainability, using different
flexible designs, and public service specify the budget.
REFERENCES
[1] Asmaa Abd-Elgawad Elsebae, Characterized of Nubian Architecture
and Folk Art to Discover Creativity of the Designer, International
Journal of Social Sciences Arts and Humanities AsmaaAbd-E Elsebae
Vol.2 No. 4 ISSN: 2321 – 4147
[2] B. A. Kazimee, Learning from vernacular architecture: sustainability
and cultural conformity, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the
Environment, Vol 113, © 2008 WIT Press.
[3] Christopher Dyer, “HISTORY AND VERNACULAR
ARCHITECTURE”.
[4] Dabaieh, Marwa, “Earth Vernacular in the Western Desert of Egypt”, In
Markku,VERVADOC RWWW2002- LUND UNIVERSITY- 2013
[5] EDWARDS, SARAH VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE AND THE 21ST
CENTURY, ARCH DAILY, 2011.
[6] El-Hakim, Omar: (2008), Nubian Architecture, The Egyptian
Vernacular Experience, Dar Al-kutub, Egypt.
[7] Hoskins, W.G., 1953. ‘The Rebuilding of Rural England, 1570-1640’,
Past and Present 4, 44-59; Machin, R., 1973. ‘The Great Rebuilding: A
Reassessment’, Past and Present 73, 33-56.
[8] Mahgoub ,Yasser, “The Nubian Experience: A study of the Social and
Cultural
Meanings of Architecture “- Doctoral dissertation –University of
Michigan-1990
[9] Mark W. Gibson,” Rediscovering the Vernacular”, for the degree of
Master of Architecture, Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and
State University, September 2000.
[10] Riad& Abdel Rasoul: (2007), Old Nubia in pictures, Life of the Nubian
Society before Relocation, Ein for human and social studies.
[11] Supriya Chawla, Article”The Nubian People and Culture”, Oasis
Magazine Articles
[12] Wilkinson, Richard H. Reading Egyptian Art – A Hieroglyphic Guide
to Ancient Egyptian Painting and Sculpture. London: Thames &
Hudson Ltd, 1992.
WEBSITES
1-http://www.altareekh.com/article/view
2-http://ar.mideastyouth.com/?p=33194
3-https://warboar.wordpress.com/2014/03/23/color/
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