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1898 illustration of abacuses of many capitals in various styles. In architecture, an abacus (from the Ancient Greek ἄβαξ (ábax), ' slab '; or French abaque, tailloir; pl.: abacuses or abaci) [1] is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, above the bell.
(Greek: Περίστασις) A four-sided porch or hall of columns surrounding the cella in an ancient Greek peripteros temple (see also Peristyle). In ecclesial architecture, it is also used of the area between the baluster of a Catholic church and the high altar (what is usually called the sanctuary or chancel). Peristyle
The two earliest Egyptian capitals of importance are those based on the lotus and papyrus plants respectively, and these, with the palm tree capital, were the chief types employed by the Egyptians, until under the Ptolemies in the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, various other river plants were also employed, and the conventional lotus capital went through various modifications.
Tesserae of a mosaic of doves drinking at a golden basin, 1st century AD, National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy A tessera (plural: tesserae, diminutive tessella) is an individual tile, usually formed in the shape of a square, used in creating a mosaic.
Ancient Greek architecture came from the Greeks, or Hellenes, whose culture flourished on the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, the Aegean Islands, and in colonies in Anatolia and Italy for a period from about 900 BC until the 1st century AD, with the earliest remaining architectural works dating from around 600 BC.
The word abacus dates to at least 1387 AD when a Middle English work borrowed the word from Latin that described a sandboard abacus. The Latin word is derived from ancient Greek ἄβαξ (abax) which means something without a base, and colloquially, any piece of rectangular material.
The motif then spread to Persia, Egypt and the Hellenistic world, and as far as India, where it can be found on the abacus part of some of the Pillars of Ashoka or the Pataliputra capital. [4] Bead and reel motifs can be found abundantly in Greek and Hellenistic sculpture and on the border of Hellenistic coins.
A pseudoperipteros (Greek: ψευδοπερίπτερος, meaning "falsely peripteral" [1]) is a building with engaged columns embedded in the outer walls, except the front of the building. The form is found in classical architecture in ancient Greek temples, especially in the Hellenistic period.