Editing Column (section)

==== Egyptian ====
{{main|Ancient Egyptian architecture#Columns}}
In [[ancient Egyptian architecture]] as early as 2600 BC, the architect [[Imhotep]] made use of stone columns whose surface was carved to reflect the organic form of bundled reeds, like [[papyrus]], [[Nymphaea|lotus]] and [[Palm tree|palm]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Rosalie |last2=Baker |first2=Charles |date=2001 |title=Ancient Egyptians: People of the Pyramids |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegyptians0000bake/page/23 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientegyptians0000bake/page/23 23] |isbn=978-0195122213 }}</ref> In later Egyptian architecture faceted cylinders were also common. Their form is thought to derive from archaic reed-built shrines. Carved from stone, the columns were highly decorated with carved and painted [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphs]], texts, ritual imagery and natural motifs. Egyptian columns are famously present in the [[Great Hypostyle Hall]] of Karnak ({{circa|1224 BC}}), where 134 columns are lined up in sixteen rows, with some columns reaching heights of 24 metres.

One of the most important type are the papyriform columns. The origin of these columns goes back to the [[5th Dynasty]]. They are composed of lotus (papyrus) stems which are drawn together into a bundle decorated with bands: the capital, instead of opening out into the shape of a [[Campanula|bellflower]], swells out and then narrows again like a flower in bud. The base, which tapers to take the shape of a half-sphere like the stem of the lotus, has a continuously recurring decoration of stipules.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="170px" caption="Examples of Egyptian columns">

The grammar of ornament (1868) (14587326250).jpg|Illustration of papyriform capitals, in ''[[The Grammar of Ornament]]''
Lepsius-Projekt tw 1-2-108.jpg|Illustration of various types of capitals, drawn by the egyptologist [[Karl Richard Lepsius]]
Mammisi Philae2.JPG|Columns with [[Hathor]]ic capitals
The double row of columns with papyrus bundle capitals - The Court of Amonhotep III - Luxor Temple (14075179947).jpg|Papyriform columns of the [[Luxor Temple]]
</gallery>