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Chapter 2
The Art of
Mesopotamia
and Egypt
Water and waterways made agriculture and a
settled way of life possible. Tribes came together
and formed the first cities close to the great rivers.
The important trade of metalworking
evolved in Mesopotamia about 1,000 years
before it did in Europe.
Similarities between the Egyptian and Mesopotamian cultures:
•Agriculture was the basis of wealth
•Kingship became the dominant form of government
•People worshiped many gods
•The rulers closely identified with the gods
•Society became complex and hierarchical
Because of the
growing
complexity of
society,
writing
developed…
first with
pictographs,
and then into
complex
cuneiform or
hieroglyphic
signs.
A powerful cluster
of cities in the
south of
Mesopotamia
became known as
Sumer. They are
credited with many
“firsts” including
the wagon wheel
and the plow, and
developing the
cuneiform system
of writing.
The most imposing architecture of Sumer were the
ziggurats…stepped pyramidal structures with a temple or shrine on
the top.
Temple complexes stood in the center of each city.
Such temples were known as “the offering table of heaven” or “the
waiting room of the gods”, but we know nothing of the rituals
performed in them.
Sculpture done
during this period
was associated with
religion. Large
statues in temples
were objects of
devotion.
Small votive figures were
placed in shrines. An
inscription might read “one
who offers prayers”.
Artists became
accomplished in many arts:
music, oral storytelling
(which became literature),
sculpture and architecture.
An example of their skill is
a Bull lyre-a kind of harpfrom a royal tomb.
Its medium is wood, gold,
lapis lazuli, and shell.
Page 42
The iconography of the sound box
panel is illustrating the Epic of
Gilgamesh. (page 43)
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a 3,000
line epic poem written 700 years after
the harp was decorated.
We can analyze the iconography of
Sumerian works of art because of
written clay tablets and decorated
seals found in Sumer.
Cylinder seals secured and identified documents and signified
property ownership.
Stele of Naramsin
c. 2254-2218 BCE
Stele of Hammurabi
c. 1792-1750 BCE
The word “stele” means
an upright stone slab.
Though often used to
tell a story, the Stele of
Hammurabi was used to
record laws and
penalties.
At the top of the stele,
Hammurabi is shown
confronting the sun god,
patron of law and
justice.
At the same time that city-states began to develop in Sumer, a rich
civilization in the Nile valley of Egypt also began to develop.
Upper and lower Egypt were unified around 3150 BCE, and Egypt
was conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE.
Palette of Narmer, c. 3150-3125 BCE. Slate, height 25”.
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Egyptian history is
divided into three
periods:
Old Kingdom,
Middle Kingdom and
New Kingdom.
After Alexander
conquered Egypt,
there were 15 Greek
rulers named Ptolemy.
Rome conquered
Egypt in 31 BCE, and
Cleopatra became the
last Ptolemaic ruler.
In the OLD KINGDOM, the
mastaba was the first step in
the development of the
pyramid.
These structures
tended to be grouped
together in a
necropolis-literally a
city of the dead-at
the edge of the
desert, on the west
bank of the Nile.
This pyramid is King Djoser’s stepped pyramid, designed by
Imhotep, in the necropolis of Saqqara. It differs from the ziggurat in
materials used and its purpose.
1. Made of stone, not mud
brick
2. No ramps
3. It protects a tomb, is not a
temple
Egypt’s most
famous funerary
structures are
the three great
pyramids at
Giza.
The oldest and
largest of the
three was the
tomb of King
Khufu, and was
originally the
height of a
modern 48-story
sky scraper.
Khafra wears the traditional
royal costume: a short kilt, a
false beard symbolic of kingship,
a linen headdress with the cobra
symbol of the sun god, Ra.
Symbols of united Egypt, the
lotus and papyrus decorate the
throne.
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In three dimensional
sculpture, Egyptians were
capable of carving lifelike
figures. Nevertheless, a
rigidly frontal concept
continued to control
sculpted forms… they did
not want to make something
with fragile arms and legs,
and the stone they used was
very hard.
The figure conveys a strong
sense of dignity, calm, and
above all, permanence
This double portrait was found
in a funerary temple. The figures
are carved from a single block
and are joined by the queens
symbolic gesture of embrace.
The king is depicted according
to cultural and political
ideals…as an athletic, youthful
figure with one foot extended
and his arms straight at his
sides with fists clenched. The
queen takes a smaller step
forward beside him.
Although NOT found in the
Giza pyramids, paintings
and relief sculpture was
often found in the tombs of
wealthy people.
In these tomb paintings,
people with lower rank
could be depicted more
realistically.
People of high rank had to
be presented in a more
formal way.
In Ti Watching a
Hippopotamus Hunt, we see
the dead man, Ti, going about
the duties and pleasures of his
earthly life.
The hunt for the Hippopotamus
was more than just sport. The
animals tended to wander into
fields and destroy crops.
Also, the companions of Seth,
the god of darkness, disguised
themselves as Hippo’s.
So, this art work also tells the
story of the triumph of good
over evil.
• At the end of the Old Kingdom,
Egypt was split into Upper and
Lower Egypt again.
• When reunited, the Middle
Kingdom began.
• Provincial governors took over
more of the control of Egypt:
-defense of borders
-control of water
-agricultural wealth and trade.
In the Middle
Kingdom, art begins
to show some human
emotions in
portraiture.
Senusret III was a
dynamic king who
did much to further
the united Egypt in
the word.
He is portrayed here
as a man wise in the
ways if the world, but
lonely, saddened, and
burdened by his
responsibilities.
Head of Senusret III, Dynasty 12, c. 1836-1898 BCE.
Yellow quartzite. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art,
Kansas City Missouri.
In contrast, this very formal and unemotional funerary stele shows a
family all in white linen and green jewelry, sitting by a table heaped
with very unrealistic food heaped on it!
We don’t know how the Egyptians viewed the artist. But we do
know that the desire for clarity was present in all Egyptian art, even
the jewelry, as is shown in this funerary pectoral.
Here, there are two coiled cobras of the sun god Ra, and two Horus
god falcons supporting a cartouche (an oval tablet enclosing the
hieroglyphs of the kings name). The cobras wear the ankh, symbol of
life, and the figure holds the symbol for “millions of years”.
During the New Kingdom, Egypt prospered both politically and
economically. It was during this time that the kings began to call
themselves “pharaoh”, which means “great house”. It was also
during this time that some large building projects were done.
Funerary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri. C. 1478-1458 BCE
During the reign of
Akhenaton, many large
temples were built. The
largest remaining are the
temples at Luxor and Karnak.
The veneration of the
traditional Egyptian deities
was interrupted briefly during
the reign of the unusual ruler
Amenhotep IV.
This king founded a new
religion founded on the belief
in one god.
The life giving sun
disk was the one god,
Aten.
Amenhotep changed
his name to Akhenaten
(One Who is Effective
on Behalf of Aten)
During the reign of
Akhenaten, he
emphasized the
principle of “divine
truth”. This influenced
Egyptian art to
become more realistic.
This sunken relief of Akhenaten exemplifies the new style. In this
relaxed pose, the King and Queen are playing with their children, and
the unusual physical characteristics of the King are revealed.
Note
the
sun.
Akhenaten was actively supported
by his wife, Queen Nefertiti, and
his mother Queen Tiy
When Akhenaten died, his new
religion only lasted a few years.
The tomb of King Tutankhamun, found
in 1922, was the first untouched
Egyptian tomb found in modern times.
The kings body lay inside three nested
coffins inside the sarcophagus. The inner
most coffin was solid gold.
Judgment Before Osiris, illustration from the Book of the Dead,
c. 1285 BCE. Painted papyrus. The British Museum, London.
Families would commission artists to paint scrolls that had magical
spells or texts to help the dead survive the tests they would go through
to get to the afterlife.
In this scroll, a man named Hunefer is being led through the trials to
the afterlife. To the far left Hunefer is being led by Anubis to the
place where his heart will be weighed against a feather. Then, we see
Hunefer with the god Horus before the throne of Osiris. In the top
register, we see Hunefer kneeling before the gods of Heliopolis, a
sacred city of the sun-god Ra.
Egypt's Late Period saw the country and its
artists in the service of foreigners.
The Ptolemies regained control of Egypt
after Alexander the Great died in 323 BCE.
In 30 BCE, when the last Egyptian ruler,
Cleopatra VII, died, the Romans added
Egypt to it’s empire.
In this Sphinx of Taharqo, we see
how the different cultures adapted
Egyptian styles of art and sculpture.