EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION (3000 B.C.—395 A.D.)

3100-2750 B.C. : EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD(Dynasties I and II) King Narmer united Egypt. Recorded his deeds on Narmer palette.

2750-2250 B.C. : OLD KINGDOM First step pyramid at Saqqara. The Pyramids at Giza are built.

2250-2025 B.C. : FIRST IMTERMEDIATE PERIOD(Dynasties VII - X) Civilization progressed leading to introduction of Gods. Period of unrest and famines. Pyramids Robbed

2025-1627 B.C. : MIDDLE KINGDOM (Dynasties XI - XIII) Capital of Egypt moved to Thebes. Hyskos invade. Pharos stop building pyramids. Kings are buried in rock-cut tombs.

1648 – 1539 B.C. : SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (Dynasties XIV - XVII) Nilometer for keeping track of height of river for farming.

EGYPTIAN CIVILISATION

1539 – 1070 B.C. : NEW KINGDOM (Dynasties XVIII - XX)Idea of one God(sun God) was proposed by Amenhotep.Temples built at Luxor.Tutankhamen rules.Old Gods return.Temples built at Abu Simbel.

1070 - 653 B.C. : THIRD INTERMEDIATE PERIOD(Dynasties XXI - XXV)Amen-Ra becomes king of the Gods.King David unites people.

664 – 332 B.C. : LATE PERIOD(Dynasties XXVI - XXXI)Libyan and Nubian pharos rule.

332 – 30 B.C. : PTOLEMAIC PERIODAlexander the Great conquered Egypt and founded city of Alexandria.

30 B.C. – 395 A.D. : ROMAN PERIODThe Roman Emperor Octavian conquered and ruled Egypt.

GEOGRAPHY•Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeastern

Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River, reaching its greatest extent in the second millennium BC, during the New Kingdom.

• It stretched from the Nile Delta in the north as far south as Jebel Barkal at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile.

• The geographic range of ancient Egyptian civilization included, at different times, areas of the southern Levant, the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea coastline, the Sinai Peninsula, and the oases of the Western desert.

•The NILE RIVER , the longest river in the world (6,650 kilometers), flows north from the heart of Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.

•Its flood plain was a magnet for life -- human, plant and animal.

•Humans were drawn there because they could grow crops and settle into permanent villages.

•For centuries, THE NILE RIVER FLOODED THE VALLEY, enriching the land with a thick layer of alluvial soil.

• Flooding occurred from July to September as the result of the tropical rains in the Ethiopian tableland.

•The river attained its highest level in October, then began to recede to its lowest point sometime between April and June.

TRANSPORTATION:

•The Nile River was the highway that joined the upper Egypt and lower Egypt. Until the nineteenth century, travel by land was virtually unknown.

THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ECONOMY

RESOURCES PRESENT IN EGYPT:• Grain, Wheat, Beer, Wine, flax and hemp,

papyrus were cultivated.• Bricks, oil were manufactured.• Rocks, metals, salt were mined locally in Egypt.

TRADE WITH COUNTRIES:The trade took place with• Nubia(to the south) • Kush(south-west)(Namibia)• and Punt(south-east)(Somalia)• Across the Sinai desert(north east)• Arabia to the Horn of Africa• Persia and India. • Retenu (north east)(Canaan and Syria)• Transport with the help of ships

TRADE

RESOURCES IMPORTED:• Wood: Cedar wood, different varieties of

hardwood, i.e. ebony, and fragrant wood.• Mines: invasion with other countries

increased copper and gold mines.• Metal: Tin, Asiatic copper and bronze alloy.• Animal products: Ivory, ostrich feathers and

eggs, leopard and lion skins. • Animal: Horses & Hyksos, a horned breed of

cattle, sheep, chickens.

RESOURCES EXPORTED:• Agricultural produce: grain, dates.• Raw materials like gold and precious

stones artifacts.• Sarcophagi and statues, amulets,

rings, scarabs, beads, torch holders.• Weapons, jewelry, mirrors.

• The economy of pharaonic Egypt : specialized bureaucracy.

• The wealth of the economy: natural resources.

• Agriculture: Grain, vegetables & fruit.• Rearing of cattle, goats, pigs and fowl, in

addition to fishing.• Mining of gold, bronze and copper.• Manufacturing of stone and wood.• Human power and animal energy were

used.• Wind, fire and sun were additional sources of energy.• The raw materials consumed and sold.• Tax levied on the goods increased the

income.• Military invasions.

ECONOMY

RELIGION

• Egypt straddles two regions, Africa and the Middle East.

• “Melting Pot,“ of races.

• Egyptians were neither "black" nor "white“

• Egyptians did not make racial distinctions butrather ethnic distinctions based on nationality.

• Egyptians were in contact with people of various races and nations.

FOUR PEOPLE OF THE WORLD: SYRIAN, NUBIAN, LIBYAN, AND EGYPTIAN.

• Religion developed from pagan religions of the settlers.

• Polytheistic religion-anamorphic gods and nature spirits.

• Vast pantheon-over 700 gods.

AMUN –RA: GODS AMUN AND RA COMBINED

DIVINE KINGSHIP• Divine Kingship-Pharaoh was not only the King

(political ruler) but also a god.• The Pharaoh was associated with Horus.• Due to their beliefs, the Pharaoh held an immense

power.

LIFE AFTER DEATH• Egyptians believed that a new, eternal life awaited

people after death.• Belief stemmed from the story of Ra the sun god’s

rebirth everyday. • Belief led to the development of elaborate mortuary

cult and extensive funerary architecture.

THE BOOK OF THE DEATH• Book of Coming Forth by Day• Negative confession .• It contained hymns to gods.• Quality depended on buyer’s wants and capacity to afford

The social arrangement was in the form pyramid:-

PHARAOH AND ROYAL FAMILY SITS AT THE TOP

VIZIERS AND PRIESTS

SCRIBES AND NOBLEMEN

CRAFTSMEN AND DANCERS

LABORERS AND PRISONERS OF WAR (LARGEST GROUP)

• A woman's role in Egyptian society was of a mother and wife.

• Egyptian women could have their own businesses, property.

• They could rule the country.

• HATSHEPSUT -First women to hold the rank of pharaoh.

• Egypt treated its women better than any of the other major civilizations of the ancient world

• Goddess Isis –one of the important deities of the ancient world (worshipped throughout Egypt).

WOMEN OF ANCIENT EGYPT

BUILDING MATERIALS

MUD BRICKS• Mixture of mud, straws and stones• Poured in wooden frames or shaped into bricks • left to harden in the sun

LIMESTONE• Grades of limestone from the core to the exterior• Later the limestone was cut in small blocks

deducing the time of transportation and labour.

BASALT • Used for flooring

GRANITE• Used for monolithic obelisk• used on inner walls

Large labour workforceBelieved in human power over machinery

TOOLS TO CUT THE BLOCKS Ropes, copper pickaxes and chisels, granite hammers, dolerite and other hard stone tools.

• Construction of ramps may depend on the room available. • General design of ramp systems may have varied simply due to necessity.

LIFTING DEVICES

Ramp on pyramid Stone block on sled Pouring water to Rocking a lubricate block into position

WOODEN CRANE THEORYWooden crane with a counterweight on one end may have been used to lift the blocks from one level to the next.

THE PULLEY AND FULCRUM THEORYInvolves the use of pulleys to hoist the blocks up the ramps and fulcrums to manipulate the blocks into place.

OTHER THEORIES OF CONSTRUCTION

SHORT WOODEN SCAFFOLDRAMPS

OBELISK

• Erected in honour of the sun god Re• Earlier as the centre of the sun temple• Later found standing in pairs by temple entrances

MATERIALS USED•Monolithic square stone pillars ending in a point •Tips covered with gilded copper sheets

Base plate of the obelisk with a groove

TOOLS USED • Shaped and carved with

the help of dolerite hammer stones.

TOWN PLANNING

• Ancient Egypt never developed any major cities.

• Nile valley constituted a continuous inhabitable area.

• Few places had any advantages over others.

• The cities that did emerge were wither the result of the need for effective administration, or the clustering of facilities around an important religious center.

• There were many specialized cities such as those based on trade.

• Others, for example, were made up of artisans, craftsmen and workers related to various royal projects.

SETTLEMENT PATTERNS

• Most cities grew organically around administration, the clustering of facilities, an important religious center or construction site.

• Only few of the cities were planed and organized.

• Planned cities were created as tributes by the Pharaoh to the Gods or as monuments to their greatness

IMPORTANT CITIES Amarna (Akhetaten) Maadi, MEMPHIS Thebes

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THEBES Capital of ancient Egypt, Thebes lied on the east side of the Nile, in the centre

of today's Egypt, 700 km south of modern Cairo,Luxor and Karnak now lies where Thebes once was.

Thebes has some of the best preserved monuments of Ancient Egypt, even if the old settlement is now covered by modern houses.• The Temple of Amen-Karnak.• Colossi of Memnon, • The Ramesseum of Ramses 2,• The temple of Ramses 3, and the temple of Queen

Hatshepsut• The necropolis.

MEMPHISCity of ancient Egypt, situated on the west

bank of the Nile, 25 km south of today's Cairo.

Memphis was strategically located at the apex of the Nile Delta and is counted for being the first imperial city in world history.

The necropolises further north of Memphis are the most impressive remains from this period, involving the Pyramids at Giza and at Saqqara

AMARNA(AKHETATEN)

• Capital of Ancient Egypt 1348-1336 BC.

• Akhetaten, as it was called, was built on virgin soil

• Estimated Population-20,000 to 50,000

• The layout -divided into 3 areas, with:-the main temple and -the royal palace in the middle. -three city quarters laid out for development.

ZONING OF CITIES

THE CENTRAL CITY

The central city houses-The Royal Palace -The Great Temple (The Per-Aten), -Various official buildings (police, taxes, etc.)

•Layout radiates from the royal tomb like sun rays emitting from the sun.•Illuminated a certain spot on the desert at sunrise.

•Residential areas away from the Royal Tomb•Compared to the central city suburban settlements was made organic•Orientation of the houses parallel to the River Nile•remarkably uniform residences

The residential areas consist of -the North City or Suburb,-the Main or South City, -the worker's village.

peasants would have lived in simple mud-brick homes

GROWTH OF THE RESIDENTIAL AREAS• Spaces between the earliest large houses was gradually filled up with smaller clusters of homes

craftworkers lived in one- or two-storey flat-roofed dwellings made of mud bricks.

SERVED AREA

SERVICE AREA

PLAN OF A VILLA IN AMARNA

A villa from the city of Amarna

TEMPLES

LAYOUT :complex plan - courts, halls and chambers with the sanctuary deep inside the temple.

ROOF: Flat stone roof - columns closely packed to support roof.

FACADE :All columns are concealed inside the external walls.

SECTION : Raised flooring and lowered roofs deeper inside the temple, with the sanctuary having the highest ground level and the lowest roof.

LANDSCAPE : The external wall resembled a fortress isolating the temple from its surroundings which symbolically, represented the forces of chaos and evil

WORSHIP :An Egyptian temple was not a place of public worship.

1- PYLONS: Large gates of the temple, carved and painted with scenes of the Pharaoh, gods and goddesses.

2- OUTER COURT: Large open Hall, with decorated walls. It was for transitional purpose, serving as an interface between the outside world and the sanctified regions deeper within the temple.

3- Hypostyle Hall: Large colonnaded hall entirely roofed except for the central aisle which was lit by windows. the capital of the massive column often in the shape of the papyrus Flower.

FIVE COMPONENTS OF EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

4- SANCTUARY: The sanctuary was the most special and important part of the temple. It was a very dark and relatively small room. In the middle of the sanctuary stood the shrine with the statue of the god.

5- Sacred Lake: Most temple precincts included a sacred lake.

FIVE COMPONENTS OF EGYPTIAN TEMPLES

•The temple of Luxor is close to the Nile and parallel with the riverbank. King Amenhotep III who reigned 1390-53 BC built this beautiful temple

•The court of Amenhotep III lead into the Hypostyle Hall, which has 32 papyrus columns, arranged in four rows of eight columns. It was also known as the hall of appearance.

•During the Christian era the temple's hypostyle hall was converted into a Christian church, and the remains of another Coptic church can be seen to the west.

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TEMPLE OF ABU SIMBEL, EGYPT

LOCATION: 180 miles south of Nubia, near the border of Egypt with Sudan ,West bank of Nile

LOCAL DEITY: Amun, Ra and Ptah

MONUMENTS: A masterpiece of Egyptian architecture, Abu Simbel is a set of two temples hewn out of rock cliffs and constructed for Ramses II and his wife Nefertari.

GRAVE PITS

MASTABA

STEPPED PYRAMID

MAIDUM PYRAMID

GREAT PYRAMID

BENT PYRAMID

4000 BC 3200 BC 2630 BC 2600 BC 2575 BC 2550 BC

EVOLUTION OF BURIAL TECHNIQUE

PREHISTORIC PIT GRAVE

•Belief in life after death.

•Buried in oval pit graves in desert cemeteries

•Underwent a natural mummification.

•Wooden and clay coffins.

•Wooden roofs and plaster or mud-brick linings and they became rectangular, sand-free tombs.

•Superstructure was a pile of stones or a low mound, marked the position of the grave.

4000 BC

•Burial chambers were gradually cut deeper until they passed into the bedrock.

•Lined with wood, their ceilings were topped with a low mound and then surrounded by a low, rectangular mud-brick building.

MASTABA ( LOW BENCH)

3200 BC

GIZA

SAQQARA

DAHSHUR

MAIDUM

Cairo

•Superstructures had space for a small offering chapel equipped with a false door to which priests and family members brought food and other offerings for the soul of the deceased.

•Superstructure was being reduced in favour of extensive subterranean storage, reached by a stairway.

•Eventually, mastaba became a solid, rubble-filled block.

Cross section revealing the shaft (A) and the burial chamber (B)

STEP PYRAMID OF DJOSER

Egypt's first pyramid

Built by: Pharaoh Djoser

Date: circa 2630 B.C.

Location: Saqqara

Height: 204 feet (62meters)

GIZA

SAQQARA

DAHSHUR

MAIDUM

Cairo

2630BC

• Extension of the mound found in mastaba tombs.

Built in stages-Started as an unusual square, solid mastaba.

• Developed into Six-stepped pyramid with a rectangular ground-plan.

• Below ground, a warren of tunnels, galleries and rooms surrounded Djoser's burial chamber.

• Around the pyramid, his mortuary complex included courts and buildings, each with its own particular function.

GIZA

SAQQARA

DAHSHUR

MAIDUM

Cairo

2600 BC

MAIDUM PYRAMID

Steps Ahead

Built by: Pharaoh Snefru

Date: circa 2600 B.C.

Location: Maidum

Height: 306 feet ( 92 meters)

• Egypt's first straight-sided pyramid.

• Started as a stepped pyramid.• Near completion the steps were

packed with stone and the whole structure was cased in finest limestone.

• Heavy outer layers eventually slid downwards (around 1550 BC)

• Leaving a square, three-stepped core standing.

• The first Egyptian pyramid with an aboveground burial chamber (just above the first step level)

GIZA

SAQQARA

DAHSHUR

MAIDUM

Cairo

2575 BC

BENT PYRAMID

First attempt at the classic shape

Built by: Pharaoh Djoser

Date: circa 2600 B.C.

Location: Dahshur

Height: 344 feet (105 meters)

• 54 degrees inclination changed to 43 degrees.

• The reduced angle brought increased stability.

GIZA

SAQQARA

DAHSHUR

MAIDUM

2540 BC

RED PYRAMID

Egypt's first “true” pyramid

Built by: Pharaoh Snefru

Date: circa 2600 B.C.

Location: Dahshur

Height: 341 feet ( 104 meters)

CAIRO

GREAT PYRAMID

Earths largest

Built by: Pharaoh Snefru

Date: circa 2550 B.C.

Location: Giza

Height: 481 feet ( 147 meters)

GIZA

SAQQARA

DAHSHUR

MAIDUM

Cairo

2550 BC

• New Kingdom Period(1550–1070 B.C.E.)Pharaohs stopped constructing monumental pyramids.

• Pyramids drained the imperial treasury raided by tomb robbers.

• The Valley of the Kings-western shore of THEBES.

• The area is a dried river valley.

• High peak, naturally shaped as a pyramid.

• Elaborate underground burial tombs were made in the Valley of the Kings.

Great PyramidLocation: Giza

Construction: 2550 BC

GIZA

SAQQARA

DAHSHUR

MAIDUM

Cairo

•The Pyramid of Khufu is the largest of the three pyramids.•The length of each side at the base averaging 7553/4 feet (230 metres) and its original height being 4812/5 feet (147 metres).

Pyramid of Khufu

Pyramid of Menkaure

Pyramid of Khafre

•The entrance to the Great Pyramid is on the north side about 59 feet (18 meters) above ground level.

•The King's Chamber is entirely lined and roofed with granite.

•Above the King's Chamber are five compartments separated by massive horizontal granite slabs.

Great TempleLocation: Abu SimbelConstruction:1257 BC

Ruler: Ramesses II

•Front of the temple-Four gigantic statues of Ramesses(20 meters high).

•The facade is more than 35 meters wide and 30 meters high.

•Above the entrance stands a figure of the god Re-Harakhte in a small niche.

•Top of the facade crowned by a row of baboons.

•The central entrance leads into a large hall 54 feet wide and 58 feet deep with 8 massive pillars fronted by Osiris figures of the king each 30 feet high.

•Seated statues of the gods Ptah, Amun-Ra, the deified Ramses II, and Re-Horakhte.

•The temple's orientation is arranged in such a way that twice every year on 22 February and 22 October the earliest sun-rays shine on the back wall of the innermost chamber, thus illuminating the statues of the four gods seated there.

•Just to the north of the main temple is a smaller one, dedicated to Nefretari for the worship of the goddess Hathor and adorned with 35-foot (10.5-metre) statues of the king and queen.

• On either side of the entrance to the temple are a deified statue of Nefretari with statues of Ramesses II on either side of her. The statues of Nefretari are the same height as those of Ramesses, which is unusual.

Small Temple

When the reservoir created by the building of Aswān High Dam threatened to submerge the site in the early 1960s, an international team disassembled both temples and reconstructed them 200 ft (60 m) above the riverbed.

Hypostyle HallLocation: Karnark temple

Constructed: 1290 BC(approx.)Rulers: Seti I & Ramesses II

•Area occupied- 5,000 square metres(54,000 square feet).

•Middle section of a temple at Karnark.

N

1

2

3

4

5

67

89

1. Entrance Passage2. Central columns3. Small side columns4. Second pylon5. Ramesses II war scenes6. North Gateway7. Seti I war scenes8. Clerestory and the roof9. Third pylon

•Hypostyle halls are noted for the density of their columns.

•134 columns in 16 rows.

•Main east-west axis is dominated by central avenues(2 middle rows) which are about 24m (78 ft) in height and have columns 21m (69ft) high and 3.6 m (11ft 9in) in diameter.

•Side avenues are lower, with columns 13m(42ft 6in) high and 2.7m(8ft 9in) in diameter.

N

Reliefs of Seti I

2nd

3rd

PYLON

PYLON

Plan

Construction•Laid down the foundations and then the bases of all the columns and the lowest course of blocks for the walls.

•Buried the whole area with earth.

•Next course of stones for all the columns and walls were then laid down and they too were buried.

•Mud brick rams were added to allow the builders to drag the next layer of stone.

•Process was completed until the highest part of the roof was finished.

•The next stage of construction was to remove the earth fill and ramps.

•During this "one-way ride" to the ground, the masons carefully smoothed the walls down.

Modern painting showing sculptors and painters decorating the building before the earth fill has been removed. This theory is now outdated.

1st theory:Sculptors carved the scenes immediately after the masons smoothed the walls as the earth embankments and ramps were removed.

2nd theory:The walls were not decorated until the last of the construction embankments were removed and the walls entirely smooth.

Decline the 1st theory:•Seti's inscriptions should be found on the upper half of all the walls and columns, with Ramesses II's being on the lower half. This is not what we see.

•Scaffolds must have been used.

•Central columns have open capitals imitating the feathery blossoms of flowering papyrus.

•Smaller columns have closed-bud papyrus capitals.

•One of the great window grilles from the Hall. These were the main source of light in the building, giving its atmosphere an eerie quality like that present at the dawn of creation.

MEDICINE

•Medicine was produced from natural substances.•Remedies for ailments like throat infection, headaches and also to cure respiratory diseases.•Expertise in embalming used to heal cuts and to dress wounds.

COSMETICS

•Wigs.•Perfumes and scents.•A special black eye make up called kohl.•Ointments.•Facial Rouge .•Creams for wrinkles, graying of hair etc

SCIENCE

MATHEMATICS

•Numbers were based on the decimal and the repetitive systems (numbers based on the power of 10).

•Use of simple arithmetic's of ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION .

•The following signs were used to represent numbers in the decimal system.

1 10 100 1000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000

1 is shown by a single stroke. 10 is shown by a drawing of a hobble for cattle. 100 is represented by a coil of rope. 1,000 is a drawing of a lotus plant. 10,000 is represented by a finger. 100,000 by a tadpole or frog 1,000,000 is the figure of a god with arms raised above his head.

Numbers were usually written LEFT TO RIGHT, starting with the highest denominator. For example, in the number 2,525 the first number to appear on the left would be 2000, then 500, 20 and 5, as follows:

•Debens, a standard weight of 93.3 grams. •The deben was a general measure of copper, silver and gold, •The kite smaller unit (8-9 grams) was only used for measuring silver and gold.

NILOMETRE•The Egyptian used a device called a nilometer to measure the depth of the river Nile, to check the water levels at the start of the seasons

CALANDER•The Egyptians calendar was based 365 days calendar used for farming consisted of three seasons of four months.•Astronomical calendar were based on observations of star Sirius.

WEIGHTS AND LENGTH

•The human hand measurements were used.•The principal unit of measurement in ancient Egypt was the royal cubit, a length we know to have been 52.4 cm, approximating the length of a man's forearm.

MAKING OF PAPYRUS

•The stalks of the papyrus plant are harvested. •Next the green skin of the stalk is removed and the inner pith is taken out and cut into long strips, pounded and soaked in water.•The strips are then cut to the length desired and laid horizontally and vertically in criss-cross pattern.•The sheet is put in a press and squeezed together, with cotton sheets removing the moisture and pressed to form a single sheet.•The papyrus roll-used for literary texts.•The usual size was about a foot to hundred foot high .

MUMMIFICATION

Mummification is done in two parts 1. EMBALMING OF THE BODY• Body is taken to the ‘ibu’ where the

embalmers rinse the body.• Internal organs are removed except the

heart.• Body is stuffed with natron which help in

drying the fluids.• After 40 days the body is washed and the

internal organs are stored in canopic jars.

2. WRAPPING OF THE BODY• The body is wrapped with fine strips of

linen.• The priest spells out the words while the

mummy is wrapped.• At every layer the bandages are painted

with liquid resin that glue the bandages together.

FACTORS AFFECTING ART -

The course of art in Egypt paralleled to a large extent-•Political history•Entrenched Egyptian social system.•Geographical factors.

USE OF ART-Art forms served those in power as a forceful propaganda instrument that perpetuated the existing framework of the society.

CAUSE FOR THE ENRICHMENT OF ART-

Search for useful and precious materials determined the –•Foreign policy•Establishment of trade routes and led ultimately to enrichment of Egyptian material culture.

ART

PAINTINGS

•Paintings was deeply related to religion and comes mainly from the tombs.•Represented the life of the pharaoh and activities to provide food , agriculture, hunting and entertainment.•Paintings were about 18” high and one above the other.•Use of hieroglyphics.•The Egyptians painted their everyday life which can be seen in the paintings in the tombs.

CHARACTERISTICS-•Shoulders in front view.•Legs and hands in profile.•Eyes without exception were always in front view.•Representation is flat and avoids perspective.•Composition and movement were underdeveloped.•Limited palette of colors in flat tints.•Paints applied usually in tempera, pigments being mostly mineral-based.

Cult of kings who were believed to become gods after death probably led to development of sculptures.

CHARACTERISTIC•Large stone statues represented gods, kings and nobles.•Statues looked as if carved from front and side elevations.•Compact volume is emphasized.•Shows no movements and groups.•Emotional expression is restrained.

SCULPTURES

THE SPHINX

TEMPLE AT ABU SIMBEL

In Egypt pottery provided the basic material for vessels of all kinds.

POTTERY-•Pottery was rarely modeled.• Small vessels in animal form were also made. •Fine category of highly burnished red pottery vases in female form was produced during the 18th dynasty.• Canopic jars were used to contain the internal organs of individuals removed during the process of mummification.

PLASTIC ARTS

FAIENCE-The place of pottery for modeling was filled with faience (a glazed composition of ground quartz), most commonly blue or green in color.

CANOPIC JARS

IN THE EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD•Used for making small animal and human figures.•used for simple beads, amulets, and other components of jewelry.

.IN THE LATE PERIOD•Making of amulets and divine figurines.•Faience tiles were used chiefly for wall decoration, as in the subterranean chambers of the Step Pyramid.• In the New Kingdom, tiles with floral designs were used in houses .

DEVELOPMENT OF FAIENCE

GLASS-•Glass was used for small amulets, beads, inlays, and especially for small vessels. •Material was opaque, blue being the predominant. JEWELRY-•Gold provided Egyptian jewelry with its richness.•Precious stones were not used.•Additional colors and textures were provided by faience and glass.WOOD-•Excelled in the field of cabinetmaking.•Techniques of inlay, veneering, and marquetry are completely mastered. IVORY AND BONE-Many fine examples of the use of ivory were found in Tutankhamen's tomb, from simple geometric marquetry patterns to box panels carved with exquisitely informal scenes of the king with his queen.

COPPER AND BRONZE-•Alloyed with tin, as bronze in the third millennium.•The skill and artistry is shown in the fine bowls, jugs and in statues and statuettes of gods, kings, and ordinary mortals.• vessels were made by raising from metal ingots, beaten on wooden anvils. •Closed molds were used in the Middle Kingdom.•In the Late Period many vessels were produced by casting.

GOLD AND SILVER-•Gold was more easily obtainable in ancient Egypt than silver and was therefore less valuable.•Easier to work and unaffected by environmental conditions.•Gold was lavishly used for many decorative purposes, as thin sheet, leaf, and inlay, in funerary equipment, and for vessels and furniture. STATUE OF KAROMAMA

•The Ancient Egyptians used three kinds of writings to write religious and secular texts: hieroglyphic, hieratic and, from the 25th Dynasty on, demotic.

•Hieroglyphic writing uses clearly distinguishable• Pictures to express both sounds and ideas and

was used from the end of the Prehistory until 396 AD

HIEROGLYPHS

HIERATIC•More cursive and quick hand drawing signs.•Scribe would often omit several details that made one sign different from another •Used for religious and secular texts.

DEMOTIC•Used in administrative and private texts.•Advanced form of hieroglyphs.•New symbols or characters formed that marked a

shift away from hieroglyphics. •Much easy to comprehend.

LANGUAGE AND WRITING

•Hieroglyphic writing was written in columns or rows.

•Reading direction is determined by the direction that human and animal figures faced.

•Reading starts from the direction that figures face and continues in the opposite direction.

•Columns were read down as we would read lines down a page.

•Symmetry was used.

HIEROGLYPHICS

PAPYRUS SCULPTURES

ROSETTA STONE

•The mystery of hieroglyphs was ultimately solved by the discovery of Rosetta stone which bore inscriptions in 3 languages(Ancient Egyptian , Demotic and Greek). •It lists all of the things that the pharaoh

has done that are good for the priests and the people of Egypt.•The Rosetta Stone was written in all

three scripts so that the priests, government officials and rulers of Egypt could read what it said. •It thus helped to decipher

hieroglyphics.

BIBLIOGRAPHYANCIENT EGYPT—DAVID SIWERMANENCYCLOPEDIAHISTORY OF THE WORLDHISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE--WORLD’S MYTHOLOGY IN COLOUR—A.G.SMITH500 THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT HISTORY

REFERENCESwww.britannica.comwww.nationalgeographic.comwww.bbc.co.ukwww.discoverychannel.co.ukwww.touregypt.netwww.ancientegypt.comwww.history.memphis.eduwww.witcombe.sbc.eduwww.oi.uchicago.eduwww.nutenberg.org

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