A Conceptual Framework for Conserving Architectural Heritage in Graeco-Roman Egypt: A Goals-and-Applications Approach

Abstract

In Graeco-Roman Egypt, rulers shared the tradition of rebuilding structures. A great deal of attention was paid to conservation to preserve the characteristics associated with these buildings as perceived by the Egyptians. Conservation programming was implemented to achieve different political, economic, and cultural objectives. In this chapter, we examine the concept of conserving architectural heritage at that time by employing historical methods to study the historical environment of that era. We also use descriptive methods to study the conservation program applied by the rulers then. This is followed by an analytical study of the historical and archaeological specifics, and finally, a deductive method is used to indicate the outcomes and key findings. Moreover, the chapter outlines a theory for reviving the past through architectural heritage conservation in an analogous way to Graeco-Roman Egypt. Finally, the chapter ends with the main finding that reconstruction as a means of architectural conservation was a strategy perused in Graeco-Roman Egypt to serve political rather than cultural or religious goals. In addition, compared with contemporary reconstruction projects, the concepts are totally different. Architectural conservation today is primarily linked to cultural purposes and the desire to preserve the past rather than achieve political goals.