Pharaohs and the Afterlife: Ancient Egyptian Art Part 1ART ID 111 | Study of Ancient Arts

Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP

Objectives• Identify the formal and iconographic characteristics of painting

and sculpture from the Early Dynastic to New Kingdom periods• Discuss the funerary function and content of Egyptian art and

architecture• Explain the relationship of Egyptian art and architecture and the

Nile River• Describe the types of structures built in ancient Egypt and

explain their functions• Identify how the Egyptian political system and their religious

beliefs are reflected in works of art and architecture• Discuss the materials and techniques of Egyptian art• Explain the development and use of the Egyptian hieroglyphic

writing system• Identify examples of intercultural contact between Egypt and

other ancient civilizations

THE LAND OF THE NILEThe Birth of Egyptology

In the Middle Ages, Egypt's reputation as an ancient land of wonders and mystery lived on. Until the 18th century, people regarded its undeciphered writing and exotic monuments as treasures of occult wisdom, locked away from any but those initiated in the mystic arts.

Ancient Egypt 101

• Located in the Nile river valley; civilization developed by about 3,000 BC

• Protected from invaders by:– mountains to the south– vast deserts on both sides– Mediterranean Sea to the north

• This location kept Egypt separate from the rest of the world, so the Egyptians had a unique and enduring style of life & art for about 3,000 years

Ancient Egypt 101

• Communities were made up of: Hunters and fishermen; Soldiers; Slaves; Priests; Scribes; Artists and craftsmen; Farmers and herdsmen

• Artists, craftsmen and scribes were honored and admired. A scribe is a scholar who could read and write.

• Their leader , the pharaoh , was believed to be half man, half god. The afterlife of the pharaoh is an important theme in ancient Egyptian art.

Major Contributions to the World

• Quarrying, surveying and construction techniques that facilitated the building of monumental pyramids, temples, and obelisks; made bricks

• Irrigation systems and agricultural production techniques; harnessed animals for work

• The first known ships; used sails on the water

• Used wheels on land• Trained donkeys to carry people

Major Contributions to the World

• Combined copper and tin to make bronze; forged tools from copper

• Developed hieroglyphics .• The greatest architectural achievements of

the Ancient Egyptians were the pyramids.• A system of mathematics• A practical and effective system of medicine• Egyptian faience and glass technology• new forms of literature• the earliest known peace treaty

Ancient Egyptian Art Forms

1. Architecture - The style developed during the Pre-dynastic period remained unchanged for 2000 years

2. Crafts & Sculpture  - Symbolic elements were widely used and strict laws were applied

3. Paintings  - The pictures found in Egyptian tombs were connected with the idea of afterlife

Themes of Ancient Egyptian Art• State religion is its prime theme.• Best known for its carvings. The art of carving

reached its first peak in 2600 B.C.. Egyptian Art includes a range of art forms like stone carving of large and small statues and wall art. Egyptian figures (human forms) tend to possess a certain regal presence which glorifies the ruling case.

• Characterized by perfect observation and representation of life forms and symbolism (esp. the use of symbols for Gods and Goddesses) with less weightage to beautification

Themes of Ancient Egyptian Art• An important reason for the emphasis on vivid

depiction of life forms is the Egyptian belief in life after death and their expectation that the dead would bank on their art for company in the “other world”.

• Mortar was not used. Work was planned such that the stones - made of sun-dried and kiln baked bricks, granite, limestone or fine sandstone – fit exactly into one another like a jigsaw. 

• The themes of Egyptian painting included protective Gods of the underworld and man’s voyage through life after death.

Pre-Dynastic Art The Predynastic, or prehistoric, beginnings of Egyptian civilization are chronologically vague. But tantalizing remains from around 3500 BCE attest to the existence of a sophisticated civilization on the banks of the Nile.

The Early Dynastic Period saw the:

• Formation of cultural identity• Stone Artifacts• Mud minor arts - pottery,

vases and bowls• Brick architecture

watercolor copy of a wall painting from tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis, Egyptca. 3500-3200 BCE | Paint on plaster, approx. 16' 3 long.

http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/Images/109images/egyptian/hierakonpolis_pntg.jpg

watercolor copy of a wall painting from tomb 100

at Hierakonpolis, Egyptca. 3500-3200 BCE | Paint on plaster, approx. 16' 3

long.

http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/Images/109images/egyptian/hierakonpolis_pntg.jpg

Found along the oldest tomb’s plaster walls; contains presumed religious scenes and images that include figures that will appear in Egyptian culture for three thousand years—a funerary cortege of barques, possibly a goddess standing between two upright lionesses, a wheel of various horned quadrupeds, several examples of a staff that became associated with the deity of the earliest cattle culture and one being help up by a heavy-breasted goddess, asses or zebras, ibex, ostriches, lionesses, impala, gazelles, and cattle.

THE UNIFICATION OF EGYPT

In Predynastic times, Egypt was divided geographically and politically into Upper Egypt (the southern, upstream part of the Nile Valley), which was dry, rocky, and culturally rustic, and Lower (northern) Egypt, which was opulent, urban, and populous.

Palette of King Narmer from Hierakonpolis, Egypt

ca. 3,000-2,920 B.C.E. | siltstone | approx 25 in. high

REVERSE OBVERSE

The Narmer Palette is a 63-centimetre tall (2.07 ft), shield-shaped, ceremonial palette, carved from a single piece of flat, soft dark gray-green siltstone. The stone has often been wrongly identified, in the past, as being slate or schist. Slate is layered and prone to flaking, and schist is a metamorphic rock containing large, randomly-distributed mineral grains. Both are unlike the finely-grained, hard, flake-resistant siltstone, whose source is from a well-attested quarry that has been used since pre-dynastic times at Wadi Hammamat.

It is thought by some to depict the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the king Narmer. On one side, the king is depicted with the bulbed (flowering lotus) White crown of Upper (southern) Egypt, and the other side depicts the king wearing the level Red Crown of Lower (northern) Egypt whose symbol was the papyrus.Palette of King Narmer from Hierakonpolis, Egypt ca. 3,000-2,920 B.C.E. | siltstone | approx 25 in. high

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NarmerPalette_ROM-gamma.jpg

REVERSE OBVERSE

A mastaba is a type of Ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period. Mastabas were constructed out of mud-bricks or stone.

The mastaba was the standard type of tomb in pre-dynastic and early dynastic Egypt for both the pharaoh and the social

elite.

Mastaba of Faraoun, at Saqqara

Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara, Egyptca. 2,630-2,611 B.C.E. limestone

The first monumental royal tomb, built in stone by the architect Imhotep for King Djoser at Saqqara, comprised a stepped pyramid, temple, and other buildings within a large, rectangular enclosure surrounded by a high wall.

Djoser is the best-known pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt. The

painted limestone statue of Djoser, now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo,

is the oldest known life-sized Egyptian statue.In contemporary inscriptions,

he is called Netjerikhet, meaning "body of the gods." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Djoser

This first Egyptian pyramid consisted of six mastabas (of decreasing size) built atop one another in what were clearly revisions and developments of the original plan.

Step Pyramid and Mortuary of Djoser, Saqqara, Egyptca. 2,630-2,611 B.C.E. | limestone

http://www.planetware.com/map/saqqara-pyramid-of-djoser-map-egy-spd.htm

Columnar entrance to the Mortuary of

Djoser

Saqqara, Egypt

ca. 2,630-2,611 B.C.E.limestone

Mortuary temples (or memorial temples)

were temples constructed adjacent

to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in the Ancient Egypt. The

temples were designed to

commemorate the reign of the pharaoh by whom they were built, as well as for

use by the pharaoh's cult after death.

Hypostyle HallMortuary of Djoser

Saqqara, Egypt

ca. 2,630-2,611 B.C.E.limestone

Façade of the North Palace

Mortuary of Djoser

Saqqara, Egypt

ca. 2,630-2,611 B.C.E.limestone

Tomb of Perneb (mastaba) from Saqqara, Egyptca. 2,350-2,323 B.C.E. | limestone | approximately 16 ft. high

Tomb of Perneb (mastaba) from Saqqara, Egyptca. 2,350-2,323 B.C.E. | limestone | approximately 16 ft. high

http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/ltrupe/art%20history%20web/final/chap3Egypt/Mastaba%20Layout.bmp

Tomb of Perneb (mastaba) from Saqqara, Egyptca. 2,350-2,323 B.C.E. | limestone | approximately 16 ft. high

The most remarkable change was the transition of Step Pyramids to 'true' pyramids with smooth surfaces. This transition was the result of technical skills. The 'true' pyramid was considered as a solar symbol.

Old Kingdom Art

There was a rapid development of the stylistic conventions that characterized Egyptian art throughout its history.

Old Kingdom Art

In statuary, various standing and seated types were developed, but there was strict adherence to the law of frontalism and a tendency to emphasize symmetry and to minimize suggestion of movement.

Old Kingdom Art

Probably because of its relative impermanence, painting was little used as a medium of representation; it appears to have served principally as accessory to sculpture. A rare example is the painting of geese from a tomb at Meidum.

Old Kingdom Art

Religious beliefs of the era held that the happy posthumous existence of the dead depended on the continuation of all phases of their earthly life.

Old Kingdom Art

The artist's task was therefore to produce a statement of reality in the most durable materials at his command. Tombs were decorated with domestic, military, hunting, and ceremonial scenes. Entombed with the deceased were statues of him and of his servants and attendants, often shown at characteristic occupations.

Great Pyramids, Gizeh, Egypt

Pyramids of Menkaure, ca. 3,000-2,920 B.C.E.; Khafre, ca. 2520-2494 B.C.E.; Khufu ca. 2551-2528 B.C.E. | Limestone | largest (Khufu) approximately 450 ft. high

Great Pyramids, Gizeh, Egypt

Pyramids of Menkaure, ca. 3,000-2,920 B.C.E.; Khafre, ca. 2520-2494 B.C.E.; Khufu ca. 2551-2528 B.C.E. | Limestone | largest (Khufu) approximately 450 ft. high

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only pyramid in Egypt known to contain both ascending and descending passages.

http://i8.tinypic.com/5x3z0wg.jpg

Great Sphinx, Gizeh, Egyptca. 2520-2494 B.C.E. | sandstone | approximately 65 ft. high

The Great Sphinx of Giza

Commonly referred to as the Sphinx, is a statue of a reclining or couchant sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head) that stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt.It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 73.5 metres (241 ft) long, 6 metres (20 ft) wide, and 20.22 m (66.34 ft) high. It is the oldest known monumental sculpture, and is commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians of the Old Kingdom during the reign of the pharaoh Khafra (c. 2558–2532 BC).

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

http://jawbonepig.com/photo/data/media/20/ss-090414-egypt-travel-01_ss_full.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sphinx_of_Giza_9059.jpg

Khafre from Gizeh, Egypt

ca. 2,520-2,494 B.C.E.diorite | approximately 66 in. high

Statues for eternity

As already noted, in Egyptian tombs statues

fulfilled an important function. Sculptures

created images of the deceased to serve as

abodes for the ka should the mummies be destroyed. The primary

material for funerary objects was stone.

Menkaure and Khamerenebty

from Gizeh, Egypt

ca. 2,490-2,472 B.C.E.graywacke

approximately 54 1/2 in. high

Menkaure and Khamerenebty

from Gizeh, Egypt

ca. 2,490-2,472 B.C.E.graywacke

approximately 54 1/2 in. high

The timeless quality of the portraits of Khafre, Menkaure,

and Khamerernebty is enhanced by the absence of

any color but that of the dark natural stone selected for the

statues.

Seated Scribe

from Saqqara, Egypt

ca. 2,450-2,350 B.C.E.painted limestone

approximately 21 in. high

Seated Scribe from Saqqara, Egyptca. 2,450-2,350 B.C.E. | painted limestone | approximately 21 in. high

Ka-Aper from his mastaba at Saqqara, Egyptca. 2,450-2,350 B.C.E. | wood | approximately 43 in.

high

A second portrait illustrating the rule of relaxed formality and increased realism is the Fifth Dynasty wooden statue of an official named Ka-Aper.

Ti watching hippopotamus hunt

from Saqqara, Egypt

ca. 2,450-2,350 B.C.E.painted limestone

approximately 48 in. high

Goats Treading Seed and Cattle Fording a CanalSaqqara, Egypt - Mastaba of Ti | ca. 2450-2350 B.C.E. | painted limestone

In reliefs or paintings, frontalism means that the head of the character is always drawn in profile, while the body is seen from the front. Although the face is to the side, the eye is drawn in full. The legs are turned to the same side as the head, with one foot placed in front of the other. The head is at right angles to the body. Every figure, in paintings or sculptures, stands or sits with a formal, stiff, and rigid posture. The stance of the body is severe, but the faces are calm and serene, and almost always tilted slightly towards the sky, as if the figures were basking in the warm sun.

Frontalism

Rule 1: Profile   Head in profile  Side view of eye and eyebrow  Eye never looks straight ahead

Rule 2: Colour   Men painted in red ochre  Women painted in yellow ochre

Rule 3: Stance   Hips have a three-quarter turn  Chest and shoulders shown at their full width  Both feet, legs, arms and hands must be shown

Rule 4: Scale   Size of figures reflects social status  Men are larger than women of equal status  Wives and children often in crouching position, with arms around the calves of the father

Rule 5: Proportions   Hands and feet are often large compared to the rest of the body

Rules for Egyptian Wall Painting

Middle Kingdom Art

It was a new age of experiment and invention that grew out of the turbulence of the First Intermediate Period (2185-2055 BC). The forms of the Old era were retained, but the unity of style was broken. Increasing formalism was combined with a meticulous delicacy of craftsmanship. The paintings of the rock-cut tombs at Beni Hasan (e.g., slaves Feeding Oryxes and Cat Stalking) are outstanding for freedom of draftsmanship. In sculpture the sensitive portraits of Senusret 3 and Amenemhet 3 are exceptional in Egyptian art, which at all other times showed a reluctance to portray inner feeling. First obelisks were erected at Heliopolis by Senusret 1 durng this era.

Rock cut Tombs of Beni Hasan

Beni Hasan, Egypt, Dynasty XII

ca. 1950-1900 B.C.E.

Rock cut Tombs of Beni Hasan

Beni Hasan, Egypt, Dynasty XII

ca. 1950-1900 B.C.E.

At Beni Hasan the local nobles during

the Middle Kingdom cut large and precise

tomb chambers in the limestone cliffs.

Architectural features—columns, barrel

roofs, and porticoes, all carved from the rock—provided fine settings for painted mural decorations.

Source: Fletcher, Banister. A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method. Sixth edition, rewritten and enlarged. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1921, p.

105.

Rock cut Tombs of Beni Hasan

Beni Hasan, Egypt, Dynasty XII

ca. 1950-1900 B.C.E.

http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/09/09/the-beni-hasan-asiatics-and-the-biblical-patriarchs.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Exterior_view_of_tombs_of_Khety_and_Barquet_III.JPG

Interior of rock-cut tomb of

Khnumhotep

Beni-Hasan, Dynasty XII

ca. 1985-1795 BCE

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/classicalarch/test1sample.html

Close-upInterior of rock-cut

tomb of Khnumhotep

Beni-Hasan, Dynasty XII

ca. 1985-1795 BCE

http://egyptsites.wordpress.com/2009/02/14/beni-hasan/

A color rendering of the famous Asiatics visiting Egypt (from

row 3).

A black-and-white rendering of the

colored north wall painting of Tomb III (Khnum-Hotep III).http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2009/09/09/the-beni-hasan-asiatics-and-the-biblical-patriarchs.aspx

Tomb of Meketre, Thebes, Egyptca. 1,985 B.C.E.

The Ancient Egyptian noble Meketre was

chancellor and chief steward during the

reign of Mentuhotep II and Mentuhotep III,

during the Middle Kingdom. His tomb is located in Sheikh Abd el-Qurna, part of the

Theban Necropolis contained several wooden replicas,

representing the daily activities and life in

Ancient Egypt, together with

figurines of ships, soldiers and cattle were placed near

miniature buildings and gardens.

Tomb of Meketre, Thebes, Egyptca. 1,985 B.C.E.

Interior of the Serdab. Tomb of Meketre, Thebes, Egyptca. 1,985 B.C.E.

Model Riverboat from tomb of Meketre, Thebes, Egyptca. 1,985 B.C.E. | gessoed and painted wood | 50 3/8 in. long

Model Granary from tomb of

Meketre, Thebes, Egypt

ca. 1,985 B.C.E. gessoed & painted

wood29 1/8 in. long

Model Weaving Shop

Model Carpentry Shop

Statuette of an offering bearer

from tomb of Meketre, Thebes, Egypt

ca. 1,985 B.C.E.gessoed and painted wood

44 1/8 in. high

Hippopotamus from Thebes, Egypt1991-1783 B.C.E. | faience and ceramic | 7 7/8 in. long

Amun depicted

with a tall

feather crown

Amun-Ra

Glossary

adobe The clay used to make a kind of sun-dried mud brick of the same name; a building made of such brick.amulet An object worn to ward off evil or to aid the wearer.ashlar masonry Carefully cut, regularly shaped blocks of stone used in construction, fitted together without mortar.

Glossary

ben-ben A pyramidal stone; a fetish of the Egyptian god Reblock statue In ancient Egyptian sculpture, a cubic stone image with simplified body parts.canon A rule, for example, of proportion. Beauty was considered a matter of “correct” proportion & sought a canon of proportion, for the human figure & for buildings.

Glossary

canopic jar In ancient Egypt, the container in which the organs of the deceased were placed for later burial with the mummy.capital The uppermost member of a column, serving as a transition from the shaft to the lintel. In classical architecture, the form of the capital varies with the order.chamfer The surface formed by cutting off a corner of a board or post; a bevel.

Glossary

clerestory The fenestrated part of a building that rises above the roofs of the other parts.colonnade A series or row of columns, usually spanned by lintels.demotic Late Egyptian writingengaged column A half-round column attached to a wall, principally on columns & pilasters.

Glossary

Egyptian faience A non-clay based ceramic displaying surface vitrification which creates a bright luster of various blue-green colors. flute or fluting Vertical channeling, roughly semicircular in cross-section and used principally on columns and pilasters.hypostyle hall A hall with a roof supported by columns.

Glossary

fresco Painting on lime plaster, either dry or wet. In the latter method, the pigments are mixed with water and become chemically bound to the freshly laid lime plaster. hieroglyphic A system of writing using symbols or pictures.impost block A stone with the shape of a truncated, inverted pyramid, placed between a capital and the arch that springs from it.

Glossary

ka In ancient Egypt, the immortal human life force.mastaba An ancient Egyptian rectangular brick or stone structure with sloping sides erected over a subterranean tomb chamber connected with the outside by a shaft.mummification A technique used by ancient Egyptians to preserve human bodies so that they may serve as the eternal home of the immortal ka.

Glossary

nemes In ancient Egypt, the linen headdress worn by the pharaoh, with the uraeus cobra of kingship on the front. obelisk A tall four-sided narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, said to resemble a "petrified ray" of the sundisk.papyrus A plant native to Egypt and adjacent lands used to make paperlike writing material; also, the material or any writing on it. used by an artist.

Glossary

pictograph A picture, usually stylized, that represents an idea; also, writing using such means; also painting on rock.pier A vertical, freestanding masonry support.portico A roofed colonnade; also an entrance porch.pylon The simple and massive gateway, with sloping walls, of an Egyptian temple.

Glossary

sarcophagus (pl. sarcophagi) Latin, “consumer of flesh.” A coffin, usually of stone.serdab A small concealed chamber in an Egyptian mastaba for the statue of the deceased.sphinx A mythical Egyptian beast with the body of a lion and the head of a human.ushabti In ancient Egypt, a figurine placed in a tomb to act as a servant to the deceased in the afterlife.

Sources

• http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/dsteppyramid2.htm• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/

student_resources/0155050907_kleiner/studyguide/ch03/ch03_2.html

• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436

• http://www.aldokkan.com/art/art.htm