الفهرس 
Introduction to ancient architecture and columnsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In this study, we have seen the evolution and the development of columns and capitals, as one of the most remarkable of the Egyptian achievements in architecture. The capital is considered an important constructive element that played a decorative role for the columns, as the capital was the most richly and diversely decorated component of the column and, therefore, more subject to changing styles than the base or even the shaft. The two earliest Egyptian capitals of importance are those, which are based on the lotus and papyrus plants respectively, and these, with the palm tree capital, were the three main types employed by the Egyptians, until under the Ptolemies in the 3rd to 1st centuries B.C. various other river plants were also employed. The ancient Egyptian architects attempted to imitate in stone the sacred flowers and the sacred emblems of their gods in order to serve their religion. For instance, the value of the lotus and the papyrus became symbolic of the union of different regions. In addition, to the Egyptians, they signified the primitive dependence upon the life-giving vegetation arising out of the waters of the Nile, so that columns weren’t seen only as functional supports, but as symbols of growth as well.