History of

Western Civilization

Prehistoric ArtLascaux Cave Paintings- 15,000-11,000 B.C. Chauvet Cave Drawings- 28,000 B.C

Venus of Willendorf - 25,000 B.C.Stonehenge - 3,000-2,000 B.C.

The Fertile Crescent- Mesopotamia

The Earliest Civilizations

Ziggurat- a stepped mountain made of brick-covered earth

Ziggurat at Ur- 2100 B.C. (reproduction shown below)

Tower of Babel- c. 3500 B.C.

Bull-headed lyre soundbox. Ur, Iraq c. 2685 B.C.Sumerian Votive figures

Sumeria

The Akkadian Period (ca. 2350–2150 B.C.)Sargon of Akkad- c. 2300 B.C.  King Naram-Sim- c. 2230 B.C. Celebrates military victory

The Akkadian Period (ca. 2350–2150 B.C.)Cuneiform; Writing with wedge-shaped

characters.The earliest known written language

Babylonian PeriodCode of Hammurabi- 1772 BC a list of common sense laws

etched in stone Ex. Law #196. "If a man destroy the eye of

another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If one destroy the eye of a freeman or break the bone of a freeman he shall pay one mana of silver. If one destroy the eye of a man's slave or break a bone of a man's slave he shall

pay one half his price.

The Age of

Empires

Assyrian Empire- 2500 BC to 605 BC

Human-headed winged bull

and winged lion.

ca. 883–859 B.C

Neo-Babylonian Empire 626 BC - 539 BC

King Nebuchadnezzar- 605 BC – 562 BC

Audience Hall

of Darius and Xerxes

500 B.C.

Persian Empire 626 BC - 539 BC

The Growth of Egyptian Civilization

Three major Periods of Egyptian History

The PyramidsTemple of AmunSculpture and

PaintingThe Great SphinxHieroglyphicsFalse Door Stela

7,000 years ago people first settled in the Nile River Valley.

They are the direct ancestors of most Egyptian people.

Because of the Nile River soil deposits they became a society of producers instead of hunters and gatherers.

They started to build more permanent homes of mud, wood and reeds.

The settled existence brought increased population in villages and towns.

Towns took over villages and formed kingdoms.

End of the prehistoric period there were only two kingdoms in Egypt:

Lower Egypt – delta region on the Mediterranean Sea

Upper Egypt – Valley in the desert

The Egyptian civilization emerged more than 3,000 years before the birth of Christ.

Pharaoh – or ruler, governed with complete authority.

Commerce grew, art flourished and majestic monuments were constructed.

Each kingdom is divided into dynasties.Dynasty -was a period during which a single

family provided a succession of rulers.One reign ended with the death of a Pharaoh

and another began with the crowning of a successor from the same royal family.

Important to keep the family blood pure.

Started around 3100 B.C.Ruled by a powerful pharaoh named Menes.Capitol established at Memphis and founded

the first 31 Egyptian dynastiesLasted 500 years when a strong centralized

government was established.Civil war caused the power of the pharaoh to

collapse.

Lasted about 250 yearsOrder and prosperity Followed by foreign invasion and turmoilHyksos invasion and take overRestored independencePharaoh still present but power was

diminished.

Began in 1570 B.C.Aka EmpireAmenhotep III reached the peak of power and

influence.Thebes became on of the most magnificent royal

cities in the world.Went from a multiple god society to that of one:

AtonEgypt began to be whittled away by enemies.

The new religion died with its founding pharaoh; Akheneton.

The old religion was restored although Egypt’s power was dwindling.

Finally in 30 B.C. Egypt was made a province of Rome

Resurrection of the soul of “ka”The ka (spirit or soul) was born

with the body and remained there until death.

Upon the death the ka would leave temporarily but late return to the body and travel to the next life.

The body would be embalmed, wrapped and stored in the pyramids until the ka returned.

Assurance against final death

Ra- the sun god, represented by the falcon,

Osiris- the god of the Nile and ruler of the underworld

Isis- The great mother god

Most impressive were built for Pharaohs

The people saw them as gods and expected to be united with other gods

His body was sealed in a sarcophagus or stone coffin.

Placed with treasures in the center of the pyramid.To an Egyptian the destruction of the body was the most horrible for of vengeance

In the Prehistoric Egypt, bodies were buried in deserts because they would naturally be preserved by dehydration.

this old man from 5000 years ago was not mummified, and yet he is perfectly preserved because he was buried in dry sand

The main process of mummification was preserving the body by dehydrating it using natron, a natural material found in Wadi Natrun which is like a combination of baking soda and salt

This process took 40 days

The body is drained of any liquids and left with the skin, hair and muscles preserved.[12]

This process was available for anyone who could afford it. It was believed that even those who could not afford this process could still enjoy the afterlife with the right reciting of spells. The most classic and common method of mummification dates back to the 18th Dynasty. The first step was to remove the internal organs and liquid so that the body would not decay. The embalmers took out the brain by inserting a sharp object in the nostril, breaking through it into the brain and then liquefying it. They threw out the brain because they thought that the heart did all the thinking. The next step was to remove the internal organs, the lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines, and place them in canopic jars with lids shaped like the heads of the protective deities, the four sons of Horus. The heart stayed in the body, because in the hall of judgment it would be weighed against the feather of Maat. After the body was washed with wine, it was stuffed with bags of natron. The dehydration process took 40 days.

The second part of the process took 30 days. This was the time where the deceased turned into a semi divine being, and all that was left in the body from the first part was removed, followed by applying first wine and then oils. The oils were for ritual purposes, as well as preventing the limbs and bones from breaking while being wrapped. The body was sometimes colored with a golden resin. This protected the body from bacteria and insects. This was also based on the belief that divine beings had flesh of gold. The body was wrapped in bandages with amulets while a priest recited prayers and burned incense. The dressing provided physical protection and the wealthier even had a burial mask of their head. The 70 days are connected to Osiris and the length the star Sothis was absent from the sky.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_burial_customs

Mastaba – a low flat tomb made of sun-dried bricks.

Step pyramid- Several mastaba stacked on top of

each other. Step Pyramid of King Zoser: 2680

b.c.Pyramids, built

without steps from limestone blocks weighing over a ton each.

Evolution of the Pyramid Shape

The largest Pyramid in the World. Covers almost 13 acres

5 of the worlds largest cathedrals could be placed inside its base with room to spare.

2.3 million blocks of stone480 feet highEqual to a 48 story buildingAlmost perfectly squarehttp://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids

/khufu.html

Temple of the all powerful chief god of Thebes.

Entranceway flanked by obelisks, four sided pointed stone shafts.

Statues of the pharaohs and huge banners opened onto an uncovered courtyard.

Great halls lie behind the courtyard

Sanctuary was a small, dark, mysterious chamber where only the pharaoh and certain priests were allowed to enter

Built in new kingdom as proof of the genius of the architects

http://www.eyelid.co.uk/karnakb.htm

The Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak was begun during the reign of King Seti I (c.1290-1279 B.C.E.) and was completed by his son, Ramesses II (c.1279-1213 B.C.E.). The central row of 12 columns on the east-west axis are 69 feet/21 meters in height, about 33 feet/10 meters in circumference, and have open papyrus capitals.

Egypt’s most impressive achievements in the field of art were the publicly visible pyramids and temples.

Within the pyramids were sculptures and paintings. Most have survived over the centuries.

Pyramids were robbed despite all the precautions taken.

Pharaohs bodies were sometimes mutilated.Carved likenesses were placed within the

tomb to insure that the “ka” would still have a body to reunite with.

4th Dynasty pharaoh Khafre’s head placed on the body of a reclining lion.Massive size was intended to demonstrate the power of the

pharaoh.Carved from rock at the site.Why do you think the pharaoh’s head was

placed on the body of a lion.http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/the-great-s

phinx.html

Seated portrait carved in hard diorite stone

Body rigid and attentive but the head is more lifelike.

Throne is inscribed with symbols proclaiming him the king of Upper & Lower Egypt

Right hand forms a fist which must have held a symbol of his high office.

A falcon (Horus – god of the sky) is placed behind Khafres head to prove his divinity.

Descendent of Re, the sun god.

Most of the sculpture of this period was destroyed by invading Hyksos and by the New Kingdom rules who followed.

But what remains shows the pharaohs as softer more gentler rulers.

Features became softer and more realistic.This style carried into the New Kingdom.

Sculptures depicted more realistic features

Elongated head, pointed chin,Heavy lips, Long slender neckShown in everyday scenes like playing with his daughters.

Every part of the body be shown from the most familiar side

For this reason, the head, arms, legs and feet were shown in profile

Eyes and shoulders were shown from the front

Substitutes for actual bodies (“ka”)

Strict set of rules developed to show all parts of the body

During the Middle Kingdom painting became it own separate art form.

Too expensive to carve stone.Tombs were covered with plasterLines were drawn and characters were placed

within the lines to tell a story.Bright colors were used to keep the walls vibrant.This method resulted in a style similar to that of

contemporary comic strips.

Nakht and his WifeThe priest and his wife are much

larger figures to show that Nakht and his wife are more important

Hieroglyphics – an early form of picture writing.

Symbols that communicated information and were included in wall paintings and other art forms to help tell the story.

Created attractive patterns.Write you name or message

in hieroglyphics using the provided sheet.

http://www.eyelid.co.uk/hiromenu.htm

Egypt.wma

The Rosetta Stone is a Ptolemaic age granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially the

same text in all three scripts (with some minor

differences among them), it provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Painted on the walls of the tomb’s was a false door which the ka would pass through in search of offerings.

Servants were painted along the side offering food and drink for the ka.Outside influences started to encroach on Egypt’s art and near the end it lost its uniqueness.

Getlin, M. (2010). Living with art. Opening up to the world, pages 524 thru 531. McGraw Hill. Chicago.

Miller, G. (2000). Art in focus. The Art of Ancient Egypt, pages 146 thru 164. Glencoe. Chicago.