HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

A corbel arch (or corbeled / corbelled arch) is an
arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vau ...
-like construction method that uses the
architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...
technique of
corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
ing to span a space or void in a structure, such as an entranceway in a wall or as the span of a bridge. A corbel vault uses this technique to support the superstructure of a building's roof. A corbel arch is constructed by offsetting successive horizontal courses of stone (or brick) beginning at the springline of the walls (the point at which the walls break off from verticality to form an arc toward the apex at the archway's center) so that they project towards the archway's center from each supporting side, until the courses meet at the apex of the archway (often, the last gap is bridged with a flat stone). For a corbeled vault covering, the technique is extended in three dimensions along the lengths of two opposing walls. Although an improvement in load-bearing efficiency over the
post and lintel In architecture, post and lintel (also called prop and lintel or a trabeated system) is a building system where strong horizontal elements are held up by strong vertical elements with large spaces between them. This is usually used to hold up ...
design, corbeled arches are not entirely self-supporting structures, and the corbeled arch is sometimes termed a false arch for this reason. Different from "true" arches, "false" or corbelled arches are built of horizontally laid stones or bricks, not of wedge-shaped
voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. T ...
s converging towards, and being held together by a central keystone. Unlike "true" arches, not all of the structure's tensile stresses caused by the weight of the superstructure are transformed into compressive stresses. Corbel arches and vaults require significantly thickened walls and an
abutment An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining wal ...
of other stone or fill to counteract the effects of
gravity In physics, gravity () is a fundamental interaction which causes mutual attraction between all things with mass or energy. Gravity is, by far, the weakest of the four fundamental interactions, approximately 1038 times weaker than the stro ...
, which otherwise would tend to collapse each side of the archway inwards. Some arches use a stepped style, keeping the block faces rectangular, while other form or select them to give the arch smooth edges, usually with a pointed shape.


Use in historical cultures

Corbelling is a technique first applied by the ancient Egyptians and
Chaldea Chaldea () was a small country that existed between the late 10th or early 9th and mid-6th centuries BCE, after which the country and its people were absorbed and assimilated into the indigenous population of Babylonia. Semitic-speaking, it was ...
ns.


Ireland

The
Newgrange Newgrange ( ga, Sí an Bhrú) is a prehistoric monument in County Meath in Ireland, located on a rise overlooking the River Boyne, west of Drogheda. It is an exceptionally grand passage tomb built during the Neolithic Period, around 32 ...
passage tomb, built sometime between 3200 and 2500 BC during the
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...
period, has an intact corbel arch (vault) supporting the roof of the main chamber. The medieval buildings of the monastery at Skellig Michael are also constructed using this method.


Ancient Egypt

During the Fourth Dynasty reign of
Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until th ...
Sneferu Sneferu ( snfr-wj "He has perfected me", from ''Ḥr-nb-mꜣꜥt-snfr-wj'' "Horus, Lord of Maat, has perfected me", also read Snefru or Snofru), well known under his Hellenized name Soris ( grc-koi, Σῶρις by Manetho), was the founding phar ...
(c. 2600 BC), the Ancient Egyptian
pyramid A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...
s used corbel vaults in some of their chambers. These monuments include the
Meidum Pyramid Meidum, Maydum or Maidum ( ar, ميدوم, , ) is an archaeological site in Lower Egypt. It contains a large pyramid and several mudbrick mastabas. The pyramid was Egypt's first straight-sided one, but it partially collapsed in ancient times. ...
(around 2600 BC), the
Bent Pyramid The Bent Pyramid is an ancient Egyptian pyramid located at the royal necropolis of Dahshur, approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo, built under the Old Kingdom Pharaoh Sneferu (c. 2600 BC). A unique example of early pyramid development in Egy ...
(c. 2600 BC) and its satellite pyramid, and the Red Pyramid (c. 2590 BC). The
Great Pyramid of Giza The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient Worl ...
(c. 2580–2560 BC) uses corbel arches at the Grand Gallery. The Egyptians discovered the principle of the true arch 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, preferring rectangular openings with a straight
lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of ...
.


Ancient Mediterranean (Near East, Europe)

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 Middle Bronze II-III
Ebla Ebla ( Sumerian: ''eb₂-la'', ar, إبلا, modern: , Tell Mardikh) was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. Its remains constitute a tell located about southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh. Ebla was an important center t ...
in Syria, and in
Tell el-Ajjul Tall al-Ajjul or Tell el-'Ajul is an archaeological mound or '' tell'' in the Gaza Strip. The fortified city excavated at the site dates as far back as ca. 2000-1800 BCE and was inhabited during the Bronze Age. It is located at the mouth of Wad ...
, Hazor, Megiddo and Ta'anach in
Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
(today's
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and Palestine).
Ugarit ) , image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg , image_size=300 , alt = , caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit , map_type = Near East#Syria , map_alt = , map_size = 300 , relief=yes , location = Latakia Governorate, Syria , region = ...
also has corbelled structures.
Nuraghe The nuraghe (, ; plural: Logudorese Sardinian , Campidanese Sardinian , Italian ), or also nurhag in English, is the main type of ancient megalithic edifice found in Sardinia, developed during the Nuragic Age between 1900 and 730 B. ...
constructions in ancient
Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label= Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, aft ...
, dating back to the 18th century BC, use similar corbel techniques. The use of
beehive tomb A beehive tomb, also known as a tholos tomb (plural tholoi; from Greek θολωτός τάφος, θολωτοί τάφοι, "domed tombs"), is a burial structure characterized by its false dome created by corbelling, the superposition of s ...
s on the
Iberian peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, def ...
and elsewhere around the Mediterranean, going back to 3000 BC, is also similar.


Hittites (Anatolia)

The
Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (c. 1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-cent ...
in ancient
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
were also building corbelled vaults. The earliest ones date to the 16th century BC. Some similarities are found between the Hittite and Mycenaean construction techniques. Yet the Hittite corbelled vaults are earlier by about 300 years.


Greece (Mycenaean, Classical, Hellenistic)

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 Mycenean and Minoan, the late Classical, and the
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
periods. The ruins of ancient
Mycenae Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. ...
feature many corbel arches and vaults, the
Treasury of Atreus The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large ''tholos'' or beehive tomb constructed between 1350 and 1250 BC in Mycenae, Greece.Wace, A. J. (1940). The Treasury of Atreus. ''Antiquity, 14'', 233. ISSN 0003-598X The tomb was used for an ...
, built around 1250 BC, being a prominent example. The
Arkadiko Bridge The Arkadiko Bridge or Kazarma Bridge is a Mycenaean bridge near the modern road from Tiryns to Epidauros on the Peloponnese, Greece. Dating to the Greek Bronze Age, it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use today and the o ...
is one of four Mycenean corbel arch bridges, which are part of a former network of roads, designed to accommodate chariots, between Tiryns and Epidauros in the Peloponnese, in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
. Dating to the Greek
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
(13th century BC), it is one of the oldest arch bridges still in existence and use. The well-preserved Hellenistic
Eleutherna Bridge The Eleutherna Bridge is an ancient Greek corbel arch bridge near the Cretan town of Eleutherna, Greece. A similar second bridge standing a short distance south of it collapsed toward the end of the 19th century, with only very few traces rema ...
on
Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
has an unusually large span of nearly 4 metres. A second nearby bridge, which had survived until the late 19th century, is tentatively dated to the late Classical period.


Maya civilization

Corbeled arches are a distinctive feature of certain
pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. Wit ...
n constructions and historical/regional
architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...
s, particularly in that of the
Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, ...
. The prevalence of this spanning technique for entrances and vaults in Maya architecture is attested at a great many Maya archaeological sites, and is known from structures dating back to the Formative or Preclassic era. By the beginning of the Classic era (ca. 250 CE) corbeled vaults are a near-universal feature of building construction in the central
Petén Basin The Petén Basin is a geographical subregion of Mesoamerica, primarily located in northern Guatemala within the Department of El Petén, and into Campeche state in southeastern Mexico. During the Late Preclassic and Classic periods of pre-Col ...
region of the central Maya lowlands.


India

Before the true arch was introduced in Indo-Islamic architecture, almost all the arches in Indian buildings were either trabeated or corbelled. In North India in the state of
Orissa Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of S ...
, "the later temples at
Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar i ...
were built on the principle of corbelled vaulting, which is seen first in the porch of the Mukteswar temple said to epitomize North Indian architecture, circa AD 950and, technically speaking, no fundamental change occurred from this time onwards." The earliest large buildings of the
Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).
established in 1206 after a Muslim invasion used Indian workers used to
Hindu temple architecture Hindu temple architecture as the main form of Hindu architecture has many varieties of style, though the basic nature of the Hindu temple remains the same, with the essential feature an inner sanctum, the '' garbha griha'' or womb-chamber, whe ...
, but the patrons were used to
Central Asia Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes the fo ...
n styles that used true arches heavily. Corbel arches, the largest of exceptional size, were used in the massive screens in front of the
Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque The Qutb Minar complex are monuments and buildings from the Delhi Sultanate at Mehrauli in Delhi, India. Construction of the Qutub Minar "victory tower" in the complex, named after the religious figure Sufi Saint Khwaja Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki ...
in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
, begun in 1193, and the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque,
Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "' ...
,
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern ...
, c. 1229. These are examples of
Islamic architecture Islamic architecture comprises the architectural styles of buildings associated with Islam. It encompasses both secular and religious styles from the early history of Islam to the present day. The Islamic world encompasses a wide geographic ...
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. It took almost a century from the start of the
Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).
in 1206 for the true arch to appear. By around 1300 true domes and arches with
voussoir A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault. Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. T ...
s were being built; the ruined Tomb of Balban (d. 1287) in the Qutb complex in Delhi may be the earliest survival.Harle, 425


Indonesia

The '' candi'' or temples of
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
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 Borobudur. The interlocking andesite stone blocks creating the corbel arch, are notable for their "T" formed lock on the center top of the corbel arch.


Cambodia

All the temples in Angkor made use of the corbel arch, between the AD 9th and 12th centuries.


Gallery

File:Santa antine (14).JPG, Arches at
Nuraghe Santu Antine Santu Antine ("Saint Constantine"), also known as Sa domo de su re ("The house of the king" in the Sardinian language) is a nuraghe (ancient megalithic edifice built by the Nuragic Civilization) in Torralba, one of the largest in Sardinia. It ...
, Sardinia, 19-18th centuries BC File:Entrance to a tunnel - Takht Bai.jpg, Doorway of Indo-Parthian Buddhist monastery at Takht-i-Bahi,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
, c. 3rd century AD File:Palenque Arch Hall.jpg, Corbelled hallways in the Palace at Palenque (5th-8th c.
Maya city Maya cities were the centres of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. They served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide.Sharer & Trax ...
),
Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
File:Billbeee-borob.jpg, Stone corbelled arches at Borobudur (9th century AD) in Java, Indonesia. Note the "T"-shaped central stones. File:Billbee-ubud.jpg, Brickwork corbelled arch at
Ubud Ubud is a town on the Indonesian island of Bali in Ubud District, located amongst rice paddies and steep ravines in the central foothills of the Gianyar regency. Promoted as an arts and culture centre, it has developed a large tourism industry ...
in Bali, Indonesia File:Billbee-my-son.jpg, A brick corbelled arch disintegrating slowly at
Mỹ Sơn Mỹ Sơn () is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples in central Vietnam, constructed between the 4th and the 14th century by the Kings of Champa, an Indianized kingdom of the Cham people. The temples are dedicated to the wor ...
(4th-14th c. Hindu temples) in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...
File:The corbel span of Spean Praptos.JPG, The corbel span of
Spean Praptos Spean Praptos ( km, ស្ពានប្រាប់ទិស, also known as Kampong Kdei Bridge ) on the road from Angkor to Phnom Penh, Rooney, 2005, pp.391-392 Cambodia, used to be the longest corbeled stone-arch bridge in the world, with mor ...
, 12th-century Cambodia File:Temple Entrance at Siem Reap.jpg, Stone corbelled gateway arch to walls of
Angkor Thom Angkor Thom ( km, អង្គរធំ ; meaning "Great City"), alternatively Nokor Thom ( km, នគរធំ ) located in present-day Cambodia, was the last and most enduring capital city of the Khmer Empire. It was established in the late twe ...
(12th-17th c. city) in
Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
File:Konark_Sun_Temple_Front_view.jpg , Stone corbelled arch in the 13th-century
Konark temple Konark Sun Temple is a (year 1250) Sun temple at Konark about northeast from Puri city on the coastline in Puri district, Odisha, India.India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
File:Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra (literally "shed of 2½ days").jpg, Screen of the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque (c. 1229),
Ajmer Ajmer is one of the major and oldest cities in the Indian state of Rajasthan and the centre of the eponymous Ajmer District. It is located at the centre of Rajasthan. It is also known as heart of Rajasthan. The city was established as "' ...
, India; Corbel arches, some cusped. File:Tomb of Altamash.jpg, Mausoleum of Iltutmish, Delhi, by 1236, early Indo-Islamic architecture


See also

* Catenary arch *
Parabolic arch A parabolic arch is an arch in the shape of a parabola.Article about parabolic arch by The Free DictionaryParabolic arch , Article about parabolic arch by The Free Dictionary accessdate: March 2, 2017 In structures, their curve represents an effi ...


References

* *Harle, J.C., ''The Art and Architecture of the Indian Subcontinent'', 2nd edn. 1994, Yale University Press Pelican History of Art,


External links


An illustrated glossary of the terms used masonry construction.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbel Arch Arches and vaults Maya architecture Architectural elements History of construction