Ancient Egyptian City Build -- AAKHUTRA

On Mai 27th 2017 I started building an Egyptian city that I named Aakhutra - the Horizon of Ra. I did this in creative build mode. The point is that one day, when the city is ready with its basics, it becomes a multiplayer co-building effort.

Situation:
1) I started a flat world without plants or dungeons.
2) There is a river running through along the city.
3) The city is located on the eastside of this river.
4) The westside is only meant for construction of tombs and necropolises.
5) There is a large wall enclosure around the city.
6) The extra-muros part of the city is bordered with stelae/boundary stones within which in future co-building efforts the construction of buildings is subjected to certain rules (as in reality).

So far I have constructed:
1 central city square bordered with a city garden palace and a throne palace; 5 temples (of which 2 enormous ones); 3 kiosks; 2 markets; several big obelisks; a royal palace & servants quarters; a harbor connected to the river with a canal; a city foundry; a boea (a sort of parliamentary building) joined with a hall of laws (laws/rulesets on actual display) and a treasury; a giant enclosure wall with internal stairs - this is the city part.

So far the necropolis counts 2 mastaba's, 3 large pyramids (1 has a huge necropolis around it) and a small sanctuary. The first pyramid I made was built on top of a mountain structure in order to be able to build faster. But this isn't exactly a handy way. So the two other pyramids are solid builds. All tombs contain hidden chambers and subterranean rooms.

Houses are not yet built, except for one house that needs to function as some sorts of exemplary build for other houses. A street pattern was layed out with the building plots in between numbered and measured. Currently there are 39 empty building plots within the city walls ready for house construction.

I also included some large "secret" in the city. I think it is well hidden, and if explored and found, it will lead to another "lost black pyramid" somewhere in the worldmap, but extremely far away. So, there are also hidden structures inside other parts of the city, which puzzle together in order to solve "the secret".

Here are some screenshots I made of the building process. There is currently a tour video of the city online on YouTube. There will be more video's soon about other aspects of this city build.

So, I hope everyone will one day enjoy this city construction as much as I do

Thanks botckikii!

As I told in my first post, there are quite some hidden structures in the necropolis (tombs etc), but also in the city. I was thinking that some kind of mystic element/hidden secret inside the map would in the future encourage people to take part in this map

Here are some screenshots of some of these hidden structures:

Thanks lostinthewood for your input.
I am admittedly somewhat hesitant to introduce pictures in this map, because I have experienced with other maps that pictures tend to drastically slow down a map and worsens any possible lag, depending on the machine you're playing it on. The map of this city currently sits at 39MB. So I guess that number will drastically increase over time once more buildings/builders are being introduced. So, I don't want to compound that with pictures - however nice those would make it.

Quote from angriff

I just built a Gate like Ishtar on my server and wanted to put the drawings on it instead of just fancy tiles.

That's a nice gate, angriff. As I explained earlier in this thread I don't want to make this map too heavy by adding pictures/posters in it. The map is becoming quite big already (around 40MB), and I can imagine some computers won't run it soo smoothly...

Speaking of numbers, I did a quick measuring of some of the large structures in this city map, just to give you an idea

The largest pyramid (for now) measures 74x74 blocks. I forgot to measure its height, but I guess it's around 50 blocks. It's a solid structure, so that's a lot of blocks to put into.
The necropolis enclosure around this pyramid is 201x101 blocks, with a thickness of around 5 blocks.

The city temple measures 77x168 blocks and 24 blocks tall. That was a big temple until I built another one on the north side of the city measuring 166x161 blocks, 28 blocks tall.

The city walls currently measure 376x606 blocks. Now, I'm planning a vast enlargement on the north side of the city, which would make the total city wall measure 526x1206 blocks. The walls are about 14 blocks high and around 8 blocks thick, so again, that's a lot of blocks, because they are solid structures.

That new temple complex is now completed by the way, so here are some more screenshots of it:

Quote from lostinthewood

Really fantastic work. I am envious

I appreciate the appreciation, lostinthewood

It's all built using nothing but stock items. I don't use any special rotations for arches etc. It's all very straight forward. It only requires imagination and a lot of time Anyone can do this.

Quote from angriff

I noticed the roof lines.. I really like that inverse arch.. really looks good

Thanks.
The cornice as it is called is a vital part of the whole... without it, the buildings wouldn't have that "Egyptian look" They would also seem incomplete. It's purely a matter of visual balance. The same goes for the tallness of the pillars - they must be at least 8 blocks tall in order to look balanced with that cornice which almost always is exactly 2 blocks high on top of epistyles/architraves. Pillars less than 8 blocks just don't look right. They would look to be toppling over. But the taller the pillars, the more it becomes necessary to make them thicker, either by doubling them or by adding half-pillars, so-called pilasters. Here a quick screenshot I made to prove my point. The pillar on the left just isn't right:

Last couple of days I added some elements throughout the city.

On a still empty strip between the river and the first building in the city, I built this square with slightly raised terraces overviewing the river:

Next I added a small city temple sitting in a small rivercurve:

And finally I started construction on the 4th pyramid which is now the biggest of all: 100x100 blocks, 51 blocks tall. It's a solid structure, so that's around 166'000 blocks. It took me a full day and a half to build The entrance is still visible leading to a subterranean section and a two-chamber structure inside the pyramid:

I still plan a large necropolis enclosure around it, measuring 150 x 250 blocks. The layout can already be seen in several of these pictures.

Quote from angriff

You should get a map of the real things inside and put that in as a suggestion. Possible putting the posters up with the paintings on the inside.

You lost me here... You mean I should put a map as a poster on the wall inside so that visitors won't get lost?

Quote from angriff

Anyway really cool stuff. I am building Pharos on my server but scaled a bit. The only I dont like for such massive and tall structures they dont render very far away. You can be almost within throwing distance and they are not showing.

Thanks I'm curious about your attempt at the Pharos. Any pictures yet?

Another "small" update With the 4th pyramid exterior ready I now also finished the interior/subterranean structure:

As previously said, I now also expanded the existing city wall up north with another 150x600 block wall extension. Gatehouses are not yet ready.

Further I also installed some of the stelae/boundary stones which now define the eastern city boundary:

With this city now doubled in size, I also updated the city map. Some areas are still blank.

Quote from angriff

Ground View of Pharos on my server Angriff's Lair. Stairs to the top and walls.

Looks great so far, angriff! What are its dimensions? (ground and future height) Round structures are a pity they cannot be built in Rising World with the stock building blocks (I won't install any addons or so - I want to keep this map fully stock)

Pyramids usually don't have any paintings/hiëroglyphs (except for Teti's if I'm not mistaken).
I'm not going to introduce posters in the map because it would make the file too heavy in the future

Also another update from me: I completed the new necropolis around the already finished 4th pyramid: