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How did the Egyptians influence Greek architecture?

How did the Egyptians influence Greek architecture? It was one of their main influences.

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  1. "The earliest known vestiges of Greek architecture, Greek sculpture, and Greek decorative art are copied from Egyptian sources... Now, at Mycenæ, near the entrance to the Treasury of Atreus, there stands the base and part of the shaft of a column decorated with a spiral ornament, which here makes its first appearance on Greek soil. This spiral (though it never achieved the universal popularity of the meander, or "key pattern," or of the misnamed "honeysuckle pattern" ) became in historic times a stock motive of Hellenic design; and all three patterns–the spiral, the meander, and the honeysuckle–have long been regarded as purely Greek inventions. But they were all painted on the ceilings of the Beni-Hasan tombs full twelve hundred years before a stone of the Treasuries of Mycenæ or Orchomenos was cut from the quarry. The spiral, either in its simplest form, or in combination with the rosette or the lotus, is an Egyptian design. The rosette is Egyptian; and the honeysuckle, which Mr. Petrie has identified as a florid variety of the lotus pattern, is also distinctly Egyptian. The historic school of Greek architecture begins at Corinth with the remains of a Doric temple dating from about 650 B.C.; and this ruin is believed to be the oldest in Greece. In its extreme simplicity of style and the inelegant strength of its proportions, it is impossible not to recognize a close but clumsy relationship to Egyptian models. Ferguson boldly asserts, indeed, that this structure is "indubitably copied" from the pillared porches of Beni-Hasan. The column of the Corinth temple is identical in design and proportions with the columns of Beni-Hasan ... but whether loftier or lower, plain or decorated, the essential principle of the Doric order is Egyptian to the last." Before this answer gets way too long, just go to the link and have a look. It's a really long webpage. But thank you for asking this question! I'm going to be reading that webpage carefully myself!
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