EGYPTIAN ARTEGYPTIAN ART

Egyptian culture developed along the banks of the Nile river more than 3000 B.C.Religion influenced every part of Egyptian life.

Pharaohs or Egyptian rulers were worshiped as gods and pyramids were built as tombs.

Egyptians believed in life after death and preserved bodies using mumification.

Cultural Snippet

Hieroglyphics & Painting Sculpture & Architecture PotteryJewelry

Characteristics of Ancient Egyptian Art•heavily influenced by everyday life, especially religion and life after death

•not focused on exact replication, just representations

•all art looked similar to preserve a sense of stability amongst the people

•The Egyptians strictly upheld the style of frontalism, adhering carefully to stylistic rules

•the subject's head is always drawn in profile with the full eye shown

•The upper body is depicted from the front and the legs face in the same direction as the head with one foot in front of the other

•The person in the picture sits or stands stiff and rigid in a formal posture, but the face is calm and usually slightly tilted toward the sky.

Stele of NefertiabetFrom Gizac. 2590 BC (4th Dynasty)Painted limestoneH 37.5 m; W 52.5 m

•Besides pyramids and sphinxes, the Egyptians are known for hieroglyphics, or a form of picture writing. •Hieroglyphics use small pictures which represent different words, actions, or ideas. •Many ancient Egyptian paintings have survived due to Egypt's extremely dry climate. •The paintings were often made with the intent of making a pleasant afterlife for the deceased. The themes included journey through the afterworld or protective deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld (such as Osiris).•Some tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity.•Some hieroglyphs were also painted relief sculptures

Hieroglyphics and Painting

Wall painting of Nefertari

Egypt West Bank Tombs

Ancient Egyptian Architecture

Scant tree growth prevented the extensive use of wood as a building material.

•Both sun-dried and kiln-dried bricks were used extensively. Fine sandstone, limestone, and granite were available for obelisks, sculpture, and decorative uses.•All dwelling houses, built of timber or of sun-baked bricks, have disappeared

•Only temples and tombs have survived. Their walls were immensely thick and built using durable materials like stone

•The belief in existence beyond death (reincarnation) resulted in existing architecture of utmost impressiveness and permanence.

•Even during periods of foreign rule, Egyptian architecture clung to its native characteristics, adopting almost no elements or influence from other cultures.

Egypt, El Giza, Great Pyramid also known as "Pyramid of Cheops" or "Khufu's Pyramid" 2600-2480 BCE, The base of the pyramid covers about 13 acres. To build the Great Pyramid it took an about 2,300,000 dressed stone blocks (averaging 2.5 tons each) -- more than any other structure ever built. The blocks were moved on log rollers and sledges, and then ramped into place.

Photo, overview of the Sphinx

• The Sphinx is another example of a Pharaoh (Khafre) demonstrating his power.

•The massive size and the head of Pharaoh Khafre on the body of a lion was intended to demonstrate the power of the pharaoh.

•Carved from stone at the site and stands at 65 feet tall.

Pharaoh Khafre, c. 2600 B.C. Diorite. 66 inches tall.

• Of the materials used by the Egyptian, stone was the most plentiful and permanent

• Sculpture was often painted in vivid hues as well

• Cubic and frontal- echoes in its form the shape of the stone cube or block from which it was fashioned,

• The front of almost every statue is the most important part and the figure sits or stands facing strictly to the front

Ancient Egyptian Sculpture

Statues in the round usually depicted the gods, Pharaohs, or civic officials, and were composed with special reference to the maintenance of straight lines

Sculpture In the Round

Bust of Nefertiti

Seated Scribe Seated Man Sebek em hat

The Large SphinxFound at TanisPink granite

• Virtually all the wall-sculptures of the Ancient Egyptian Empire are in the form of bas-relief (low-relief)

• Relief-composition merely meant arranging the figures in horizontal lines so as to record an event or represent an action.

• The principal figures were distinguished from others by their size - gods were shown larger than men, kings larger than their followers, and the dead larger than the living.

Relief Sculpture

Ancient Egyptian PotteryPottery was used by the ancient Egyptians in much the same way we use modern kitchen containers or plastic,

Two distinct Types

Nile silt ware - Nile clay. After being fired, it has a red-brown color. This type of pottery was used for common, utilitarian purposes, though at times it might have been decorated or painted. Blue painted pottery was somewhat common during the New Kingdom (1,550-1,069 BC).

Marl Clay – made from material found around Qena in Upper Egypt. This type of pottery was usually thought superior to the common Nile mud pottery, and so it was often used for decorative and other functions.

Egyptian, Burial Mask of King Tutankhamen, gold and inlaid stones, Cairo Museum, Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian

Funerary Masks & Coffins and

Jewelry

Canopic Jars

The ancient Egyptians placed great importance on the religious significance of certain sacred objects, which was heavily reflected in their jewelry motifs

19th Dynasty inlaid diadem, or wig

Tutanhkamun lapis scarab

Tutanhkamun pendant

Ancient Egyptian Style of Art - Why it remained unchanged for over 3000 years.

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Art of Egypt

Found out more on Ancient Egyptian Art using these links:

The British Museum – Ancient Egyptian Exhibition • Ancient Egyptian Civilization