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Proportionality in Mind and Space in Ancient Egypt

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Barry Kemp  and
Pamela Rose
Barry Kemp
Affiliation:
Faculty of Oriental Studies, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DA
Pamela Rose
Affiliation:
McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, 62 Sidney Street, Cambridge CB2 3JW
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Abstract

Over the last twenty years experimental psychology has revived interest in the Golden Section, showing it to have some influence not only in visual perception but also in a certain kind of value judgement. The findings are here tested on ancient Egyptian sources, both archaeological and textual. They lead to a discussion of how Egyptian architects designed their buildings, and also to a consideration of the cognitive processes involved in modern analyses of the plans of ancient buildings by means of diagrammatic proportional schemes.

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Type
Articles
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Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , April 1991 , pp. 103 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 1991

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