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Chapter 3Pharaohs and the Afterlife:

The Art of Ancient Egypt

Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 12e

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Goals

• Understand the evolution of Egyptian culture and its relationship to the Nile.

• Recognize stylistic conventions of Egyptian art. • Describe Egyptian funerary art forms from these

periods and state reasons for the development of these monuments.

• Understand architectural evolution from pyramid to the tomb temple and burial monuments of the Old and Middle Kingdoms.

• Discuss how Egyptian art changed as a result of the Hyksos’ invasions.

• Understand aspects of the New Kingdom as reflected in its art.

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The Nile is the “backbone” of Ancient Egypt: defining the cultures that lived alongside it.

• The Nile guaranteed fertile land in an arid desert.

Ancient Egypt

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Important Names & Terms

engaged column: A column attached to the wall.Horus: The son of Osiris and Isis, he avenged his father’s

murder by Seth and replaced Seth as king of Egypt. He was represented as a falcon or a falcon-headed man. All pharaohs were identified with him during life.

Imhotep: The first known name of an artist in recorded history; the architect who created the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser.

Isis: The sister and consort of Osiris, she collected his body parts after he was killed by Seth.

Ka: Life force.Necropolis: City of the dead--a large burial area or cemetery.Osiris: God of order and the king who brought civilization to

Egypt. Killed by his brother Seth, god of chaos, and resurrected by Isis.

Re (or Ra): God of the sun.

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Predynastic, Early Dynasties, and the Old Kingdom

The Oldest Egyptian Art: • Pre-dynastic paintings from 3500 BCE.

– Already representing a funerary scene.– Stick figures are reminiscent of Catal Hoyuk.– Mesopotamian influences also evident.

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Predynastic, Early Dynasties, and the Old Kingdom

The Unification of Egypt:• Division between

Upper and Lower Egypt was geographic as well as political.

• The Narmer “palette” dates this at 2920 BCE, but thought to have taken severalcenturies to complete..

– A palette was, in its simplest form, a surface to prepare eye makeup. [used for protection against the sun]

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Predynastic, Early Dynasties, and the Old Kingdom

Narmer’s Palette: Important as a document, but also as a template for representing the human figure that lasted for 3,000 years

• The goddess Hathor is at the top of both sides, represented as a cow with a woman’s face

• Motif on the back resembles the lower left group in the Hierakonpolis painting & became the formula for representing triumph of the god-kings over their enemies. The falcon represents Horus.

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Predynastic, Early Dynasties, and the Old Kingdom

Narmer’s Palette: • The elongated necks of

two felines form the circular depression where the eye makeup would be placed.

• The intertwined necks may be a reference to Egypt’s unification.

• The dead are seen from above, as the bison were in the Altamira cave.

Portraying the Human Figure: used a convention from Mesopotamia & also seen earlier– head, legs, arms in profile -- eyes, torso in frontal view– Introduction of “registers” [a kind of ground line]

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Gods & Goddesses of EgyptCreation myth – different from others in the region.• Primeval waters existed before beginning of time – at

creation a mound rose out of the limitless water• The creator god appeared and brought light.• Later the mound was formalized as a ben-ben, or

pyramid shape, supporting Amen, the sun god.Shu & Tefnut appeared – from them came Geb

[earth] & Nut [sky] From them – many gods including Osiris, the god of order & the king that brought civilization to Eygpt.

• After further complications Osiris became god of the underworld and Horus [sign was a falcon] became king.

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Early Funerary Art Forms & Mummification

• No sharp distinction between soul and body• The “ka”, or life force could live on after death, but

only if the body was preserved intact. – Mummification was a 10 week process. [see p. 59]– Various symbols were wrapped with the mummy,

such as an image of Horus, heart scarabs & The Book of the Dead. [spells to protect the mummy]

– Food and drink was provided – nothing that was enjoyed on earth was lacking.

– These practices existed for thousands of years, even when ruled by the Greeks & Romans.

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MASTABAStandard Tomb Type in Early Egypt

• Tombs provide most of our information about Egyptian civilization.

• Mastaba – Arabic for “bench”– Were erected over an underground burial

chamber, with an open shaft so the ka could gain access.

– Later were used for multiple burials and some had a temple attached.

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Stepped Pyramid of Imothep– Djoser, Egypt

• First known named artist.• Worked for King Djoser of the 3rd dynasty.• Built before 2600 BCE, was first truly grand royal tomb.• Begun as a mastaba, it was enlarged twice.

• 200 ft tall – the stepped pyramid looks like piled up mastabas, resembling the old ziggurats of Mesopotamia.

13The entrance to the mortuary precinct of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt

The First Pyramid ca. 2630–2611 BCE.

• The stepped temple was the centerpiece of a large, walled precinct and includes a funerary temple.

• Some were dummy structures. • Buildings made of plants previously, were now made of stone, thus the reed patterns on the pillars of the entrance to the mortuary precinct.

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The First Pyramid ca. 2630–2611 BCE.

• “engaged columns” These early stone columns influenced the Greeks, although they were not free-standing, but attached to the wall.

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Restored plan (top) and view (bottom) of the mortuary precinct of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt, Dynasty III, ca. 2630–2611 BCE.

16Cross section Photo

Stepped Pyramid of Imothep– Djoser, Egypt

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The Old Kingdom:The Great Pyramids at Gizeh

• Begins with the 4th dynasty in the 26th cen. BCE

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The Old Kingdom:The Great Pyramids at Gizeh

• The three great pyramids of Kufu, Khafre and Menkaure were built over a period of 75 years.– A culmination of the architecture that began with the

mastaba• Shape was probably influenced by Heliopolis, the seat

of the cult of the sun god Ra, whose sign was a pyramid.– The suns rays were the ramp the pharaoh used to get

to heaven.– The limestone came from the Gizeh plateau. & was

moved using rollers and sleds.– Building style for regularly shaped stones laid in

rows or course is called ashlar masonry – Ropes, pulleys and levers were used to lift and lower

the stones.– Polished casing stones stripped in later centuries

during the building of Cairo.

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The Great Pyramids at Gizeh

How do the pyramids of Gizeh differ from King Djoser's pyramid at Saqqara?

• The Gizeh funerary temples are on the east side (towards the rising sun) rather than the north side (towards the stars in the northern sky) like at Saqqara, reflecting the connection with Re.

• The Gizeh pyramids are much larger and more refined in shape than the Saqqara pyramid, and are covered with dressed [polished] limestone.

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Gizeh, Sphinx & Pyramids

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The Tomb of Khufu

• Almost a solid mass of limestonemasonry, except for the galleries and burial chamber.• Length of one side is 775 feet and itcovers about 13 acres. 2.3 blocks of stone, weighing an average of 2.5 tons. Originally had a dressed and shiny stone surface.• The four sides are oriented to the cardinal points of the compass. The temples are on the east for the rising sun, cementing their link with Ra.

22Section of the Pyramid of Khufu, Gizeh, Egypt.

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Khafre and the Sphinx

• Khafre’s funerary complex included many buildings, serving as his palace in the afterlife.

• The Great Sphinx rises near the valley temple• Probably an image of Khafre.• The sphinx, a lion

with a human head was associated with the sun god.

• The composite form suggests intelligence and strength

24Gizeh, Sphinx & Pyramids

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Sculptural Forms: Statues for Eternity

• Tombs included images of the deceased for the ka’s abode in case the mummy was destroyed.

Statue of Khafre• Stone is diorite [cf. Gudea]• Symbolism includes: -- Throne of

two stylized lion’s bodies– Intertwined lotus & papyrus

representing union of Egypt.– Horus spreads falcon wings

behind his head to protect him.– Headdress has royal cobra on

front.ca. 2520-2494

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Sculptural Forms: Statues for Eternity Statue of Khafre• Wearing his royal false beard• Represented in ideal form and

flawless face.• Form manifests purpose: to

last for eternity.

Characteristics of the style:• Bilaterally symmetrical• Frontal pose• Idealized body and features• Compact and solid with few

projecting parts

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Sculptural Forms: Statues for Eternity • Menkaure & one of his wives.

– This standing statue was one of the basic formulaic types.

– Stood in the valley temple of his pyramid complex.

– Also shows how close to the stone block shape these statues were.

– Pose is rigidly frontal – use of conventional poses to suggest timeless nature of these substitute homes for the ka.

– The wife’s pose symbolizes their marital status, but no emotion is expressed.

ca. 2490-2472

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Sculptural Forms• The scribe, Kay

– Differences show both the conventions of representation and his lower status than the pharaoh. [below]

• More relaxed in the 5th dynasty [on left] with increasedrealism.

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Egyptian Relief Conventions

From the mastaba of Ti, 5th dynasty

The "canon of human proportions”• An artist drew a grid on the wall, then placed

various body parts at specific points on the network of squares.

• Each body part was a fixed number of squares. • Artists did not sketch from life or show much variation on

the canon.• The canon

lasted thousands of years.

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The Middle Kingdom

The pyramid tombs so popular in the Old Kingdom were replaced by mountain tombs in the Middle Kingdom.

• How does the portrait of Senusret III reflect the changed political conditions of the Middle Kingdom?

• His mood is shown through the realism in the features, indicating

expression by lines around the nose and eyes.

Senusret III ca. 1860 BCE

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Mountain Tombs: Beni Hasan

• There were rock-cut tombs earlier, but the best preserved are from the Middle Kingdom.

• ca. 1950-1912 BCE

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The New Kingdom Egypt: PeopleAkhenaton: Pharoah Amenhotep IV—abandoned the

worship of most Egyptian gods in favor of Aton. He claimed to be Aton’s son and sole prophet.

Aton: Declared by Akhenaton as the universal and only god; identified by a sun disk symbol, not as an animal or human.

Hatshepsut: Wife of the Pharoah Thutmose II, she declared herself a man after his death in order to ascend the throne instead of one of Thutmose’s young sons. She is the first female monarch whose name has been recorded. She created the most majestic of royal mortuary temples at Deir el-Bahri. She was often depicted as a man by artists.

Nefertiti: Akhenaton’s queen; her name means “The beautiful one is here.”

Ramses II: Reigned from 1290-1224 BCE, created a huge rock-cut temple at Abu Simbel.

Tutankhamen: Akhenaton’s son by a minor wife, ruled for a decade and died at 18; a very minor figure. His tomb was uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922.

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The New Kingdom : Terms, Places & Things

Amarna style: More elongated, curved, and effeminate figure representation, a reaction against the established style. More intimacy shown in family scenes.

Amen‑Re: Walled temple at Karnak, created from 18th-26th Dynasties. Had an artificial lake in the center.

Book of the Dead: Papyrus scrolls illustrated with a collection of spells and prayers. They show the ritual of the cult of Osiris, including the judgement of the deceased. These scrolls were essential equipment in the tombs of the well-to-do.

sunken relief: Figures cut into the stone rather than stone cut back to create figures.

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The Grand Mortuary Temples

Tomb of Hatshepsut:• With no male sons she

acted as regent for Thutmose III, but eventually took over.

• Some evidence in a relief that Thutmose II had intended that she be queen.

• First recorded great female monarch. Hatshepsut

c. 1492-1458 BCE

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Hatshepsut

• Thutmose III removed or shattered most of the statues and reliefs of Hatshepsut, removing the symbols of her power.

• Figure is anatomically male – in keeping with her taking on the role of Pharaoh.

» ca. 1473-1458.

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Ramses II Tomb: Abu Simbel

• Ruled for 2/3 of a century.

• Was the last great warrior Pharaoh.

• Proud of his conquests,he put 4 images of himself on the temple façade.

• Not as refined as earlier work because of their size.

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Ramses II Tomb: Abu SimbelPillar statues: The solid,

geometric pillars show a return to the timelessness and eternal nature of the old gods, who were restored after Akhenaton’s reign.

c. 1290-1224 BCE

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Pylon Temples• Have a simple

and massive gateway with sloping walls.

• Bilaterally symmetrical along a single axis leading from an approaching avenue that runs through a colonnaded court to a dimly lit sanctuary.

• The name derives from the gateway. • Only the Pharaoh & priests could enter the sanctuary.

Temple of Horus, Edfu c. 237-47 BCE

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Hypostyle Hall• Columns support the

roof, stone slabs carried on lintels, which rest on cubical blocks which in turn rest on giant capitals.

• Central rows of columns raised higherthan those at the sidescreates a clerestory, which allows sunlight through openings or grilles.

– Examples from Karnak..

Egyptian columns seem to derive from earlier binding together of sheaves of reeds and other swamp plants.

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Hypostyle Hall: Karnak

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Sculpture: Senmut & Nefrua

• Good example of the block statue designed to house the ka.

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Painting and the Tomb of Nebamun

Thebes: • fresco secco: let the plaster dry before painting it.• Figures are more active.

c. 1400-1350

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Akhenaton and the Amarna Period

Amarna style & figural representation:• Figures were shown as more effeminate

or androgynous, with curving contours and elongated forms rather than masculine and angular as in the old style.

• More individuality is allowed in portraits.

Akhenaton c. 1353-1335

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Amarna Period

What aspects of the head of Queen Tiye that reflect the Amarna style?

• Age is shown with lines and furrows.

• Her features are more individualized rather than exact to the canon’s proportions.

• She was sometimes shown equaling her husband in size at the temple of Aton.

Queen Tiye c. 1353-1335

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Statue ComparisonEarly Kingdom Style-- Khafre Amarna Style—Akhenaton

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Statue ComparisonAkhenaton, Nefertiti & Daughters –

Amarna Style

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Discussion Questions

How do you speculate the great pyramids were built? What would have been some specific problems to consider?

Is Egyptian art similar stylistically to any Mesopotamian culture from that time? Which culture and how are they similar or different in style and cultural context?

What would be some reasons for the modification of pyramid scale and institution of rock-cut tombs as seen at Beni Hasan?

Why does a change in religion bring about a change in art in ancient Egypt? Describe some specific changes in the presentation of the human figure.