HISTORY

Until the 19th century, buildings of over six storeys were rare, as having great numbers of stairs to climb was impractical for inhabitants, and water pressure was usually insufficient to supply running water above 50 m The tallest building in ancient times was the 146 m Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt, built in the 26th century BC. It was not surpassed in height for thousands of years, the 14th century CE Lincoln Cathedral being conjectured by many to exceed it. The latter in turn was not surpassed until the 555-foot (169 m) Washington Monument in 1884. However, being uninhabited, none of these structures actually comply with the modern definition of a skyscraper. High-rise apartments flourished in classical antiquity. Ancient Roman insulae there and in other imperial cities reached 10 and more storeys., several emperors attempted to establish limits of 20–25 m for multi-storey buildings, but met with only limited success. Lower floors were typically occupied by shops or wealthy families, the upper rented to the lower classes. Surviving Oxyrhynchus Papyri indicate that seven-storey buildings existed in provincial towns such as in 3rd century CE Hermopolis in Roman Egypt.