Built for Eternity

Before my book on mausoleums Going Out in Style: The Architecture of Eternity was published in 1997, I was known as “America’s most noted photographer of historic architecture.” My title was due in large part to three books on Victorian architecture, two books on Arts and Crafts architecture and numerous magazine assignments documenting historic architecture inside and out. My interest in funerary art and architecture, and mausoleums in particular, was a natural progression. Mausoleums, to put it simply, are the most unspoiled resource of historic architecture. If you want to see pure examples of a style of architecture, journey to a cemetery and study its mausoleums.

Unlike residences and commercial buildings that usually have a finite lifespan, mausoleums are essentially built for eternity. In the course of my architectural studies, I decided to research the age of the oldest buildings in the world. Scholars may debate what constitutes a building, but the oldest man-built structure in the world is generally recognized as Barnenez, a “passage grave” in what is now the Brittany region of northern France. Barnenez dates to around 4850 BC.

Looking down the list of oldest structures, almost all of them are some sort of tomb, usually in the form of a tumulus which from a distance often looks like a symmetrical round hill. At the center of many tumuli is what can best be described as a rough-cut mausoleum (also known as a dolmen, chamber tomb, cist, and more). After the mausoleum was constructed, layers of stone and earth were piled above and around it. Generally, a passageway was constructed to allow access.

Again, whether these tumuli can be called buildings is debatable. However, the oldest structure in Africa is definitely a building. It also holds the distinction of being the first large-scale cut stone building in the world and the world’s first building designed by an architect. That’s a lot of firsts. Not surprisingly, it is a mausoleum style tomb.

The Pyramid of Djoser (also known a Zoser) was constructed from 2667 to 2648 BC in Egypt about a dozen miles south of modern day central Cairo. The Pyramid of Djoser was originally clad in polished white limestone and rose to a height slightly over 200 feet. The tomb was built for King Djoser and was designed by Imhotep, who is widely regarded as the world’s first architect. Indeed, Imhotep wrote what amounts to an encyclopedia of architecture that served as a reference manual for generations of Egyptian architects who followed him.

Nowadays, architects continue to design tombs and mausoleums. They can thank Imhotep for not only being the alpha funerary architect, but also for being the alpha architect.

If you ever pooh-pooh the importance of mausoleums, tombs, and funerary art, consider that the backbone of Egypt’s $11 billion plus tourism industry is centered on the Sphinx and Pyramids at Giza, the Pyramid of Djoser, the Valley of the Kings (King Tut and others), Abu Simbel, and the Karnak Temple Complex. All of them are tombs or memorial structures. They are built for eternity.

Text and copy © Douglas Keister Visit Doug’s Author Page

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