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Egypt
Isolated, introspective,
homogeneous, unified –
pretty much for 3000 years
Protected by mountains,
dessert, sea from invaders
Dependable flooding of Nile
egypt slideshow from web
Built in the Old Kingdom (2700-2185 B.C.E.), the pyramids at Giza attest to
the power invested in the Pharaoh. Unlike the Sumerian kings, the
pharaoh was considered a god and his survival in the afterlife was linked to
the health and prosperity of his people.
3100 BCE Egypt King
Narner’s Palette
Pre-dynastic – to 2700 BCE
Unification of Kingdoms
under Menes, the king of
Upper Egypt.
Khan Academy
3100 BCE Egypt King Narner’s Palette Pre-dynastic – to 2700 BCE
Unification of Kingdoms under Menes, the king of Upper Egypt.
Unification of Egypt
Pre-unification
Isis and Osiris myth
Egypt Site
Egypt History Outline
lecture on Egyptian myth
What are the stylistic similarities between the Narner artist and the Naram-sin
artist. How do both demonstrate the importance of religion in establishing
political power?
Egyptian Religion similar to Mesopotamian
Creation myth said the earth rose like a platform out of the water
Many gods – Polytheistic
Sky gods, Earth gods – creation, fertility
Each ruler favored one god, so certain deities were associated with individual
rulers. Each city or village had its preferred deity.
Differences between Mesopotamian and Egyptian Religions
Pharaoh was god (Mesopotamian ruler was simply a man)
Idea of afterlife dominates Egypt, cult of Osiris, resurrection (Mesopotamian view
of afterlife was dim or non-existant)
Old Kingdom 2700-2181 BCE
King Menkure and His Chief Queen
2525 BCE
Removed from tomb at Giza- burial chamber in Valley Temple
Mortuary portrait avoiding any hint at human frailty
Static, timeless. Idealized portrait.
Purpose, to supplement the embalmed corpse.
Canon of proportions: rules for depicting the figure that were
followed for thousands of years.
Role of Mathematics in determining visual representation
Magic!
Heilbrun Timeline
Witcombe Art History Resource
Harvard
What’s in a measurement?
The ancient cubit- astrological, body-based?
Menkaure with Hathor and Bat
The Egyptian “Canon” relied on a
grid system that determined the
ratio of head to body 1:7, arm to
body, torso to body, etc.
The Archaic Greeks used a similar
system, probably derived from that
of the Egyptians.
Kouros
New York Kouros 615-590 BCE
Old Kingdom
Prince Rahotep and Wife Nefrot
2580 BCE
Excavated from a mastaba at
Meidum
Pyramid at Meidum
originally built in Third
Dynasty
Continued by Sneferu
of the 4th. The
architect was a
successor to the
famous Imhotep, the
inventor of the stone
built pyramid.
Old Kingdom
Prince Rahotep and Wife Nefrot
2580 BCE
Old Kingdom
Prince Rahotep and Wife Nefrot
2580 BCE
Left [1] King's Son of his Body, Ra-Hotep [2] General of the Army Expedition [3] Supervisor/Overseer of the
Works Right [1] King's Son of his Body, Ra-Hotep [2] Elder of the Chamber, Unique one of the Shepenty(?), [3] Great
Prophet (Priest) of Heliopolis, unique one of festival, craftsman of the Ames sceptre
Ti Watching a
Hippopotamus Hunt
Tomb of Ti, Saqqara
2500-2400 B.C.E.
BBC Pyramids and
Mastabas
Giza
King Khafre 2544 BCE
Old Kingdom
Seated Scribe
from Saqqara 2510-2460 B.C.E.
Louvre
painted limestone 21”
Old Kingdom
Seated Scribe
from Saqqara 2510-2460
B.C.E. Louvre
painted limestone 21”
Middle Kingdom ca. 2050-1800 BCE
•Shaken by civil unrest, art becomes
more inward and brooding/ lost regal
divinity of Old Kingdom.
•Sculptures seem to shrink inward,
rather than stride forth.
•Ra and Osiris take precedence over
other gods; cult of Osiris/dead –
sculptures take on mummy shape
•Wall painting developed as
independent art
Head of Senusret III Middle Kingdom
Head of Senusret III Middle Kingdom
Great military leader, expansion into Kush
Metaphysical, introspective. Heilbrunn timeline
New emphasis on the gravity of the king’s responsibility, rather than on the infallibility
Middle Kingdom
Colossal statue of Mentuhotep II,
Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 11, ca.
2051–2000 b.c.
Osiris Cult
Capital moved to Thebes
Beni Hasan, Tomb of Knhumhotep III 2131-1785 B.C.
Middle Kingdom
Beni Hasan, Tomb of Knhumhotep III 2131-1785 B.C.
Middle Kingdom
Beni Hasan, Tomb of Knhumhotep III 2131-1785 B.C.
Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
reliefs from tomb of Ptah-hotep
Sakkara
Stylized figures with all body parts
showing
Lady Sennuy
Wife of Provincial Governor
Discovered in Sudan
Middle Kingdom
Lady Sennuy
Wife of Provincial Governor
Discovered in Sudan
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom -1552-1079
•Cosmopolitan Era- thriving arts
•Period of expansion, enslave the
Nubians to the south.
•Rein of Hatshepsut, female
pharaoh
•Akhenaten’s revolution –
Henotheism, Aten is chief and only
god to be worshipped – supposed
passion for things as they are, but
art tended to be a caricature of life,
overly sentimental. King let empire
disintegrate while he meditated.
Statue of Hatshepsut as King
New Kingdom. 1473-1458 B.C.
Statue of Hatshepsut as King
New Kingdom. 1473-1458 B.C.
Temple of Hatshepsut New Kingdom 1490 BCE
Temple of Hatshepsut New Kingdom
Memorial Depicting Senmut
Steward and Architect for Hatshepsut
Block statues were introduced in the
Middle Kingdom
The block is to be “read” as the knees
in a pulled up position
These statues were almost always
male, and always non-royal
The position signifies patience
Senmut and the daughter of
Hatshepsut
Head of Akhenaten
1350-1340 BCE
Akhenaten’s revolution –
Henotheism, Aten is chief and only
god to be worshipped – supposed
passion for things as they are, but
art tended to be a caricature of life,
overly sentimental. King let empire
disintegrate while he meditated.
Amarrah Revolution Caryatid of King Akhenaton from karnak. Expressionist distortion,
the bowing of art to the imagination of one man. Akhenaten and his family. Attempt at
naturalism – caricature, sentimentality.
Head of Akhenaten
1350-1340 BCE
Akhenaten, Nefertiti, and the Royal Princesses: sunk relief fragment
from Tell el-Amarna, ca. 1350 B.C.
Major challenge to the orthodox canon of Egyptian art
Intimacy, domesticity, expressionism, emotion.
The ideals of strength,
spirituality and timelessness
are replaced in the
revolution of Akhenaten with
Grace
Beauty
Charm
Model of Head of Queen Nefertiti: 1340
BCE New Kingdom
Ramesses II Temple at Abu Simel – in Nubia. Kings continued to build vaster and more
grandiose temples. Ramses is considered by many the Pharaoh of the Biblical Exodus.
Aftermath of Akhenatun revolution. Best known through Tut-ankh-amon’s tomb.
Return to orthodoxy, rejection of Aten cult.and the rehabilitation of Amen at Thebes.
Another industry existed with providing copies of Books of the Dead. Scribes
worked from master copies. The decease is to the left in a gesture of greeting.
The scribe is the figure to the left of the scales(Thoth), on which the heart of
the deceased is weighed. Osiris sits in judgment. If she fails the test, the
“great devourer” will eat her heart. She utters a negative confession: “I have
not lied, I have not stolen, I have not had sexual relations, etc.
O my heart that I received from my mother, my heart that I have had since birth,
my heart that was with me through all the stages of my life,
do not stand up against me as a witness! Do not oppose me at the tribunal!
Do not tip the scales against me in the presence of the Keeper of the Balance! You are my ka of my body,
you are the creator god Khnum who makes my limbs sound. Go forth to the Hereafter...
BBC British Museum exhibit
The ancient Egyptians believed that in order for a person's soul to survive in the
afterlife it would need to have food and water. The opening of the mouth ritual
was thus performed so that the person who died could eat and drink again in the
afterlife.
Fowling scene; fragment of a fresco from the Tomb of Nebamun at
Thebes. 1400-1350 B.C.E. british museum film
Nebamun was an Egyptian "scribe and counter of grain" during the New Kingdom. His tomb in
Thebes, the location of which is now lost, featured the famous Pond in a Garden false fresco
painting.
Nebamun's name is translated as "My Lord is Amun" and he is thought to have lived c. 1500 bce.
The paintings were hacked from the tomb wall and purchased by a British collector who in turn
sold them to the British Museum in 1821. The collector died in poverty without ever revealing the
source location of the paintings. The depictions are highly symbolic and thematically related to a
joyful afterlife.
Hunting scene from the tomb of Nebamun. Figures no longer within register, allowed to break
into the band of hieroglyphics.
History of the World in 100 objects
History of the World BBC