EGYPT UNDER THE PHAROAHSAPAH - GARDINER CHAPTER 3-1

PP. 53-59

“Concerning Egypt itself I shall extend my remarks to a great length, because there is no country that possesses so many wonders, nor any that has such a number of works that defy description.”

Herodotus

EGPYT - BACKROUND

Backbone of Egypt was the Nile

Annual floods of the Nile River

PHAROAHS

Fertility of the lands bordering the Nile

Until 18th century Egypt was mysterious land of undeciphered writing and exotic monuments

ROSETTA STONE

THE GODS AND GODDESSES OF EGYPT

RA

OSIRIS

SETH

ISIS

HORUS

ANUBIS

THE PREDYNASTIC AND EARLY DYNASTIC PERIODS

Predynastic = prehistoric began about 3500 BCE

Upper Egypt – the south

Lower Egypt – the north/Nile Delta

Hierakonpolis = predynastic cemetery site 3500-3200 BCE

Mural paintings in tomb

Random arrangement of motifs -> neolithic

PALETTE OF KING NARMER Predynastic Egypt ends with unification of

Upper and Lower Egypt

PALETTE = stone slab with circular depression

One of earliest labelled historical reliefs

3000-2920 BCE

Records the unification of the two kingdoms

Narmer – king as supreme, alone and larger than life, divine ruler

EGYPTIAN ARCHITECTURE

A mastaba -(meaning "house for eternity" or "eternal house"), is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period. Mastabas were constructed out of mud-bricks (from the Nile River) or stone.

FUNERARY ART – dedicated to insuring safety and happiness in the next life

MUMMIFICATION AND IMMORTALITY

MUMMIFICATION AND IMMORTALITY

IMHOTEP AND DJOSER

IMHOTEP – the builder for King Djoser (r. 2630 – 2611 BCE)

First recorded name of an artist

Designed the Stepped of Djoser at Saqqara

NECROPOLIS

Function -> protect mummified king and possessions/symbolize king’s absolute and god like power

DJOSERFUNERARY PRECINCT

Immense enclosure with protective walls

Mortuary temple

Courtyards

Dummy structures

Stone columns

Columns – papyrus stalks

Capitals – papyrus blossoms

ENGAGED COLUMNS