Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Corbel arch
open-in-new
<h2 id="use-in-historical-cultures">Use in historical cultures</h2> <p>Corbelling is a technique first applied by the ancient Egyptians and <a href="/facts/Chaldea/T03FU73T">Chaldeans</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> </p> <h3>Ireland</h3> <p>The <a href="/facts/Newgrange/hnSHHIA9">Newgrange</a> passage tomb, built sometime between 3200 and 2500 BC during the <a href="/facts/Neolithic_Europe/rK7oRvBP">Neolithic</a> period, has an intact corbel arch (vault) supporting the roof of the main chamber. </p><p>The medieval buildings of the monastery at <a href="/facts/Skellig_Michael/jICjoxkw">Skellig Michael</a> are also constructed using this method. </p> <h3>Ancient Egypt</h3> <p>During the <a href="/facts/Fourth_dynasty_of_Egypt/ulSR5wLR">Fourth Dynasty</a> reign of <a href="/facts/Pharaoh/y0WMWYHK">Pharaoh</a> <a href="/facts/Sneferu/2IEVzL1Y">Sneferu</a> (c. 2600 BC), the <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egypt/BDsEGK4g">Ancient Egyptian</a> <a href="/facts/Pyramid/76Qx8TLD">pyramids</a> used corbel vaults in some of their chambers. These <a href="/facts/Egyptian_temple/AFFpWDUP">monuments</a> include the <a href="/facts/Meidum/VyXh9pX0">Meidum Pyramid</a> (around 2600 BC), the <a href="/facts/Bent_Pyramid/GkB7UUB5">Bent Pyramid</a> (c. 2600 BC) and its satellite pyramid, and the <a href="/facts/Red_Pyramid/mGEnGNBt">Red Pyramid</a> (c. 2590 BC). The <a href="/facts/Great_Pyramid_of_Giza/7p5HrMFb">Great Pyramid of Giza</a> (c. 2580–2560 BC) uses corbel arches at the Grand Gallery. The Egyptians discovered the principle of the <a href="/facts/True_arch/t9L51pqn">true arch</a> early on, but continued to use the corbel arch in many buildings, sometimes mixing the two in the same building. In particular they avoided the true arch in temples as long as these were constructed,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> preferring rectangular openings with a straight <a href="/facts/Lintel/JtoKkefa">lintel</a>. </p> <h3>Ancient Mediterranean (Near East, Europe)</h3> <p>Corbel arches and vaults are found in various places around the ancient Mediterranean. In particular, corbelled burial vaults constructed below the floor are found in <a href="/facts/History_of_the_ancient_Levant/jccwq1U0">Middle Bronze II-III</a> <a href="/facts/Ebla/GqvmoDgH">Ebla</a> in Syria, and in <a href="/facts/Tell_el-Ajjul/Ghh7YUHH">Tell el-Ajjul</a>, <a href="/facts/Tel_Hazor/9reLhbAB">Hazor</a>, <a href="/facts/Tel_Megiddo/ys0Tu3fe">Megiddo</a> and <a href="/facts/Ti%27inik/CKWv9Amx">Ta'anach</a> in <a href="/facts/Canaan/PyX3f92e">Canaan</a> (today's <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> and <a href="/facts/Palestine_(region)/HxMSPazK">Palestine</a>).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Ugarit/Sf1o8AuK">Ugarit</a>, an ancient port city in northern <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a>, also has corbelled structures. </p><p><a href="/facts/Nuraghe/8TYhzNPJ">Nuraghe</a> constructions in ancient <a href="/facts/Sardinia/7GGJNHCx">Sardinia</a>, dating back to the 18th century BC, use similar corbel techniques. The use of <a href="/facts/Beehive_tomb/5WfmbLId">beehive tombs</a> on the <a href="/facts/Iberian_Peninsula/ztFXI8zt">Iberian Peninsula</a> and elsewhere around the Mediterranean, going back to 3000 BC,[<i>dubious – discuss</i>] is also similar. </p> <h4>Hittites (Anatolia)</h4> <p>The <a href="/facts/Hittites/jqG8LbLK">Hittites</a> in ancient <a href="/facts/Anatolia/vMkrLrPr">Anatolia</a> were also building corbelled vaults. The earliest ones date to the 16th century BC. </p><p>Some similarities are found between the Hittite and Mycenaean construction techniques. Yet the Hittite corbelled vaults are earlier by about 300 years.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h4>Greece (Mycenaean, Classical, Hellenistic)</h4> <p>Greece has a long list of surviving or archaeologically studied corbelled arches and vaults used for bridges and a multitude of other structures, dating from the <a href="/facts/Mycenean_Greece/gMAaS0jY">Mycenean</a> and <a href="/facts/Minoan_civilization/bBEWlPrP">Minoan</a>, the late <a href="/facts/Classical_Greece/WoUfexFx">Classical</a>, and the <a href="/facts/Hellenistic/q6BgQsaF">Hellenistic</a> periods.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>The ruins of ancient <a href="/facts/Mycenae/FXGtmBkF">Mycenae</a> feature many corbel arches and vaults, the <a href="/facts/Treasury_of_Atreus/cJu7guFU">Treasury of Atreus</a>, built around 1250 BC, being a prominent example. The <a href="/facts/Arkadiko_Bridge/mmdvo4MH">Arkadiko Bridge</a> is one of four Mycenean corbel arch bridges, which are part of a former network of roads, designed to accommodate chariots, between <a href="/facts/Tiryns/xws15PvM">Tiryns</a> and <a href="/facts/Epidauros/atmeojER">Epidauros</a> in the <a href="/facts/Peloponnese/o56B4jsB">Peloponnese</a>, in <a href="/facts/Greece/lqHw8bTB">Greece</a>. Dating to the Greek <a href="/facts/Bronze_Age/c09qWcTt">Bronze Age</a> (13th century BC), it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use. </p><p>The well-preserved Hellenistic <a href="/facts/Eleutherna_Bridge/zAsyrN8p">Eleutherna Bridge</a> on <a href="/facts/Crete/VSqxTU9u">Crete</a> has an unusually large span of nearly 4 metres.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> A second nearby bridge, which had survived until the late 19th century, is tentatively dated to the late Classical period.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> </p> <h3>Maya civilization</h3> <p>Corbeled arches are a distinctive feature of certain <a href="/facts/Pre-Columbian/0Ntjleee">pre-Columbian</a> <a href="/facts/Mesoamerica/cFjUFklr">Mesoamerican</a> constructions and historical/regional <a href="/facts/Architectural_style/l3lsePBu">architectural styles</a>, particularly in that of the <a href="/facts/Maya_civilization/JMynpRSR">Maya civilization</a>. The prevalence of this spanning technique for entrances and vaults in <a href="/facts/Maya_architecture/PKmCdd2Y">Maya architecture</a> is attested at a great many <a href="/facts/List_of_Maya_sites/UDxud2XF">Maya archaeological sites</a>, and is known from structures dating back to the <a href="/facts/Mesoamerican_chronology/8xNnpP70">Formative</a> or Preclassic era. By the beginning of the Classic era (ca. 250 <a href="/facts/Common_Era/e5DpqUoe">CE</a>) corbeled vaults are a near-universal feature of building construction in the central <a href="/facts/Pet%C3%A9n_Basin/TARKWoeQ">Petén Basin</a> region of the central Maya lowlands.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h3>India</h3> <p>Before the true arch was introduced in <a href="/facts/Indo-Islamic_architecture/kNW7twFM">Indo-Islamic architecture</a>, almost all the arches in Indian buildings were either <a href="/facts/Trabeated/qkFbJoa6">trabeated</a> or corbelled. In North India in the state of <a href="/facts/Orissa/ofAWpAgu">Orissa</a>, "the later temples at <a href="/facts/Bhubaneswar/IPgpYJ0B">Bhubaneswar</a> were built on the principle of corbelled vaulting, which is seen first in the porch of the Mukteswar [a temple said to epitomize North Indian architecture, circa AD 950] and, technically speaking, no fundamental change occurred from this time onwards."<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> </p><p>The earliest large buildings of the <a href="/facts/Delhi_Sultanate/19oLzpBF">Delhi Sultanate</a> established in 1206 after a Muslim invasion used Indian workers used to <a href="/facts/Hindu_temple_architecture/YsV4AJuH">Hindu temple architecture</a>, but the patrons were used to <a href="/facts/Central_Asia/rB8k0CyT">Central Asian</a> styles that used true arches heavily. Corbel arches, the largest of exceptional size, were used in the massive screens in front of the <a href="/facts/Qutb_complex/6VpDYa3G">Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque</a> in <a href="/facts/Delhi/Xa6CKgnf">Delhi</a>, begun in 1193, and the <a href="/facts/Adhai_Din_Ka_Jhonpra/4tz2z0Bb">Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra</a> mosque, <a href="/facts/Ajmer/WKnU2sUp">Ajmer</a>, <a href="/facts/Rajasthan/rC0MvrRD">Rajasthan</a>, c. 1229. These are examples of <a href="/facts/Islamic_architecture/AI0CuqTL">Islamic architecture</a> drawing on Persia and Central Asia, where builders were well used to the true arch, that stick with the corbelled arch that Indian builders were used to.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p><p>It took almost a century from the start of the <a href="/facts/Delhi_Sultanate/19oLzpBF">Delhi Sultanate</a> in 1206 for the true arch to appear. By around 1300 true domes and arches with <a href="/facts/Voussoir/uNmV8wma">voussoirs</a> were being built; the ruined <a href="/facts/Tomb_of_Balban/rU9xLY03">Tomb of Balban</a> (d. 1287) in the <a href="/facts/Qutb_complex/6VpDYa3G">Qutb complex</a> in Delhi may be the earliest survival.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <h3>Indonesia</h3> <p>The <i><a href="/facts/Candi_of_Indonesia/0YGr5Hpl">candi</a></i> or temples of <a href="/facts/Indonesia/vQnWU3IW">Indonesia</a> which were constructed between 8th to 15th century, made use of corbel arch technique to create a span opening for gate or inner chamber of the temple. The notable example of corbel arch in Indonesian classic temple architecture are the arches of <a href="/facts/Borobudur/bFIDmw2M">Borobudur</a>. The interlocking andesite stone blocks creating the corbel arch, are notable for their "T" formed lock on the center top of the corbel arch. </p> <h3>Cambodia</h3> <p>All the temples in <a href="/facts/Angkor/3K1HuI4Q">Angkor</a> made use of the corbel arch, between the AD 9th and 12th centuries. </p> <h2 id="gallery">Gallery</h2> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Catenary_arch/0Xw4G3TH">Catenary arch</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Parabolic_arch/qTTaAeWc">Parabolic arch</a></li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Michael_D._Coe/osKysSTC">Coe, Michael D.</a> (1987). <i>The Maya</i> (4th edition (revised) ed.). London: Thames & Hudson. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0-500-27455-X.</li> <li>Harle, J.C., <i>The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent</i>, 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art, <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 0300062176</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.builderbill-diy-help.com/masonry-glossary.html">An illustrated glossary of the terms used masonry construction.</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Nakassis (2000), p. 364 <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Wilkinson, John Gardner, The Architecture of Ancient Egypt; ... with Remarks on the Early Progress of Architecture, Etc, 1850, Internet Archive <a href="https://archive.org/details/architectureanc00wilkgoog/page/n51" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/architectureanc00wilkgoog/page/n51</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Suzanne Richard (2003), Near Eastern Archaeology: A Reader. <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=khR0apPid8gC&pg=PA108" target="_blank">https://books.google.com/books?id=khR0apPid8gC&pg=PA108</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Maner, Ç. (2012), Corbelled Vaults in Hittite and Mycenaean Fortification Architecture <a href="https://www.academia.edu/5830496" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/5830496</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Nakassis(2000), pp. 363–364 <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Nakassis, Athanassios (2000). "The Bridges of Ancient Eleutherna". The Annual of the British School at Athens. 95: 353–365. doi:10.1017/s006824540000472x. JSTOR 30103440. S2CID 112648240. Retrieved 25 August 2020. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30103440" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/30103440</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Nakassis, Athanassios (2000). "The Bridges of Ancient Eleutherna". The Annual of the British School at Athens. 95: 353–365. doi:10.1017/s006824540000472x. JSTOR 30103440. S2CID 112648240. Retrieved 25 August 2020. <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/30103440" target="_blank">https://www.jstor.org/stable/30103440</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Coe (1987), p.65. <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Michael Edwardes, Indian Temples and Palaces, London: Hamlyn, 1969, p. 95. <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Harle, 421-425 <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Harle, 425 <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>