ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART

• The Old Kingdom

– Dynasties, the Pharaoh, and
Beliefs
• Scholars divide the history of
Egypt into dynasties; conveys
both the strong Egyptian sense
of continuity as well as the prime
importance of the pharaoh
(king), who was not only the
supreme ruler but a god
• Pharaohs built temples and
commissioned other works of
art, urbnanized the region
• Tomb Cult
– Our knowledge of Egypt
rests almost entirely on
contents of tombs
– Ancient Egyptians
believed that people must
provide for their own
afterlives, and equipped
their tombs with replicas
of their daily lives
(furniture, personal
belongings, food, etc).
– Burial rituals included
mummification
 Sculpture in the Old Kingdom
• Palette of King Narmer, c. 3000 BC,
slate (see also next slide)
– Narmer was early Egyptian king who
helped unite Upper and Lower
Egypt; this ceremonial slate
celebrates his victory
– The palette is relief sculpture (in
which the image stands out from a
flat background)
– May be one of the earliest examples
of historical art; it is the earliest
surviving image of a historical
personage identified by name
 Reading the Palette of King
Narmer
• Hieroglyphs: sacred
pictorial writing
• Both overall design and
symbols convey precise
messages
• Read this article for a
walk-through of the
palette’s meaning
(required).
• Read more on
hieroglyphs (optional).
Sculpture in the Old Kingdom
• Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt,
c.2400BC, painted limestone relief
– Found in the tomb of an architect; carved in low
relief, is like a three-dimensional painting
– Background is a depiction of a papyrus thicket,
water is in the lower foreground (notice the fish)
– Ti himself is depicted larger (because he is
more important) and differently than the men in
the boat (or the hippos and fish): his pose is
that of funerary portraits
– He does not direct the hunt; he observes; this
passive role is typical of representations of the
dead
– The hunt is also symbolic and refers to
Egyptian mythology
 Sculpture in the Round
• King Menkaure and Queen
Khamerenebty, from Giza,
c.2480 BC, slate
• Idealized portraits in stone
• Rigidly frontal and stride
forward with the left foot
• Created with a systemized,
standardized set of
proportions; this canon was
uniformly followed and
respected
ARCHITECTURE
• Imhotep, Step Pyramid of King Djoser,
Saqqara, c.2630-2611 BC
• First pyramid; consists of 5 square, solid
platforms superimposed on a traditional
mastaba
• Height and shape suggest Mesopotamian
ziggurats
• Pyramids were not isolated; they were
part of funerary districts with temples and
other buildings
• The district around this pyramid is both
the earliest and the first built entirely out
of stone
• Its creator, Imhotep, came to be revered
as the founder of Eyptian culture
• He is also the first artist whose name has
been recorded in history
• More on this pyramid at
National Geographic
 Egyptian Columns
• Guide to elements of columns
(required; disregard
Persian columns for now
• The three parts (base,
shaft and capital), are also
found in Greek columns
• Papyrus motif was a
favorite for Egyptians
Pyramids at Giza
• The Great Pyramids at Giza
comprise three monumental
pyramids spanning many
years of construction
• Inside the pyramids are burial
chambers (see next slide,
diagram of Pyramid of Khufu)
• Pyramid of Khufu is the oldest
and largest of the three
• Read more about the pyramids
Great Sphinx

•Stands next to the valley

temple of the Pyramid of
Khafre

•Carved out of living rock

•Can be regarded as a
colossal guardian figure in
the guise of the Lion god
Ruty

•Watch PBS Nova video on

the Sphinx (assigned last
week)
 The New Kingdom:
Architecture
• The Temple of Queen
Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri,
c.1473-1458 BC
• Memorial temple that leads
the worshiper to a small
chamber in the rock through
three large courts flanked by
collonades (long rows of
columns)
• Ramps and collonades echo
the crags of the cliffs behind
them; represent a union of
architecture and nature
 The New Kingdom: Sculpture
• Akhenhaten and His Family, c.1353-
1335 BC, limestone
• Akhenhaten was a pharaoh noted for
abandoning traditional Egyptian
polytheism and introducing
monotheistic religion
• This sunken relief sculpture is a
departure from the older canonical style
• Intimate domestic scene, used as a
shrine in a private household
• Symbolic of male and female principles
of the universe, children, and creation
• More on Akhenhaten and this sculpture
The New Kingdom: Sculpture
• Queen Nefertiti, c.1348-
1335, limestone
• Representative of a
newer, more relaxed
style
• Very precise and
symmetrical, but subtle
• More on the Queen
King Tutankhamun
• Child pharaoh who died
at age 18
• Was buried in this
elaborate gilded, inlaid
wood and gold coffin
(c.1327 BC); exquisite
craftmanship
• Represents a return to
the older, traditional
style
• More on King Tut