The houses were built of unburned brick, made from a heavy clay, mixed
with a little sand and chopped straw; this was shaped into oblong slabs
which were dried in the sun. Bricks of ordinary size measured 8-2/3 in.
x 4-1/3 in. x 5-1/2 in., the large ones were 15 in. x 7 in. x 5-1/2 in.
There were special marks to indicate where they were manufactured; some
came from the royal works, some from private shops. The foundations of
the buildings were not deep; the walls were whitewashed, or painted in
bright colors; the floors were of brick or flagging, or simply of
hardened earth; the roof was flat, with a framework of palm branches
covered with a coating of earth sufficiently thick to prevent the
infiltration of the rain. The dwellings of the wealthy lords were
usually erected in the centre of a garden, or of a cultivated court, and
occupied a considerable space. The entrance was announced by a colonaded
porch or a pylon, and the interior was like a small city,--the dwelling
in the background, with the granaries, stables, servants' quarters and
out-buildings disposed here and there about the enclosure.
In the more important palaces, the dwelling of the master stood in the
centre of a rectangular court, the sides of which, on the right and
left, were occupied by the storehouses.
Like all other peoples of antiquity, the Egyptians were obliged to
protect their towns from the incursions of enemies.
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