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7/29/2019 Temples and Tombs BM s Resource for Educators
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Resource for Educators
Temle ad TmbTeae Eta At m Te Bt Mem
American Federation of Arts
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Resource for Educators
American Federation of Arts
Temle ad TmbTeae Eta At m Te Bt Mem
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Temples and Tombs: Treasures o Egyptian Art rom The British Museum is
organized by the American Federation o Arts and The British Museum.
All materials included in this resource may be reproduced or educational
purposes.
The AFA is a nonprot institution that organizes art exhibitions or presen-
tation in museums around the world, publishes exhibition catalogues, and
develops education programs.
2006 American Federation of Arts
American Federation of Arts
212.988.7700
800.232.0270
www.aaweb.org
interim address:
122 East 42nd Street, Suite 1514
New York, NY 10168
ater April 1, 2007:
305 East 47th Street
New York, NY 10017
Please direct questions about this
resource to:
Suzanne Elder Burke
Director o Education
American Federation o Arts
212.988.7700 x26
Exhibition Itinerary to Date
Oklahoma City Museum o Art
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
September 7November 26, 2006
The Cummer Museum o Ar t and Gardens
Jacksonville, Florida
December 22, 2006March 18, 2007
North Carolina Museum o Art
Raleigh, North Carolina
April 15July 8, 2007
Albuquerque Museum o Art and History
Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 16, 2007February 10, 2008
Fresno Metropolitan Museum o Art,
History and Science
Fresno, Caliornia
March 7June 1, 2008
Design/Production: Susan E. Kelly
Front Cover: The Tomb Owners Sister
(p. 34)
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Abot Ths Resorce 4
Ehbto Oerew 5
Acet Egta Hstor 7
Chrooog 12
Ma o Acet Egt 13
Acet Egta Socet 14
Art ad Ctre Acet Egt 15
Heroghs 24
Seected Works o Art wth Dscsso Starters ad Acttes 27
1. SeatedStatueoAnkhwa 28 2.RaisedRelie:Dailylie,Children 30 3.TombStatueoaMan 32 4.TheTombOwnersSister 34 5.PectoralPlaque:AmenemhatIVBeoreAtum 36 6.HeadrestintheShapeoaHare 38 7.HeadromaStatueoThutmosisIII 40 8.DrawingBoard 42 9.BottleintheFormoaBolti-ish 44 10.HeadoAmenhotepIII 46 11.FragmentaryStelawithAkhenaten 48 12.LidotheAnthropoidCoinoanUnidentiiedWoman 50 13.BookotheDead,PapyrusoNestanebetisheru: 52 AdoringRe-Harakhty
14.KneelingFigureoNekhthorheb 54 15.PanelPortraitoaYoungMan 56 16.SematawyHoldingaNaos 58
Gossar 60
Bbograh 63
conTEnTs
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Designed to complement the exhibition Temples and Tombs: Treasures
o Egyptian Art rom The British Museum, this Resource or Educators
provides inormation and ideas to assist you in teaching your studentsabout ancient Egypt and its rich artistic legacy. We recommend that, i
possible, you use this resource in conjunction with a visit to the exhi-
bition. Encourage your students to look closely at the works o art and
to learn about their historical context. The experience o careul look-
ing, combined with thoughtul questioning and access to inormation
about history and culture, creates a rewarding and powerul learning
experience. Please note that those words that appear in boldace can
be ound in the Glossary. The Discussion Starters and Activities can be
adapted to the level o your students.
This Resource or Educators was prepared by Suzanne Elder Burke,
AFA Director o Education, with the assistance o Education Interns
Erica Patino and Bailey Skiles. Some o the text has been excerpted or
adapted rom the exhibition catalogue, Temples and Tombs: Treasures
o Egyptian Art rom The British Museum (New York: American Federa-
tion o Arts in association with University o Washington Press, 2006),
and rom Eternal Egypt: Masterworks o Ancient Art rom The Brit ish
MuseumA Teachers Guide to the Exhibition (New York: American Fed-
eration o Arts, 2001). The quotations at the end o some o the object
descriptions are rom three prominent Egyptologists: Vivian Davies, Keeper
o Egyptian Antiquities, The British Museum; Edna R. Russmann, Guest
Curator o the exhibition and Curator o Egyptian, Classical and Ancient
Middle Eastern Art, The Brooklyn Museum o Art; and Richard Parkin-
son, Assistant Keeper o Egyptian Antiquities, The British Museum. These
quotes have been reprinted with the permission o the Acoustiguide Cor-
poration. The AFA is grateul to the Acoustiguide Corporation or generously
granting permission to include some o their material in this publication.
ABouT This rEsourcE
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ExhiBiTion ovErviEw
This exhibition o approximately eighty-ve magnicent objects selected
rom one o the oremost collections o Egyptian antiquities in the world
spans the ull range o pharaonic historyrom shortly beore the ThirdDynasty, about 2686 B.C., to the Roman occupation o the ourth cen-
tury A.D.covering the our periods into which modern scholars divide
ancient Egyptian history: Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom,
and the Late Period. Sculpture, relies, papyri, ostraca, jewelry, cosmetic
objects, and unerary items in a variety o mediaincluding stone, wood,
terra cotta, gold, glass, and papyrusrefect the richness and scope o the
British Museums exceptional collection. Selected by Edna R. Russmann,
Curator o Egyptian, Classical and Ancient Middle Eastern Art at the Brook-
lyn Museum, with Consulting Curator Nigel Strudwick, Assistant Keeper,
Department o Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum, Temples
and Tombsexplores our themes: the king and the temple; objects rom the
lives o artists and nobles; statues o Egyptians rom temples and tombs;
and the tomb, death, and the aterlie. These divisions o the exhibition
allow or an examination o these masterworks in the context o the Egyp-
tian temporal and cosmic worldview.
THE KinG AnD THE TEMplE
The king was the highest ranking mortal and served as the intermediary
between the divine and human worlds. The temple unctioned as the cen-
tral physical expression o the unique relationship between the king and
the gods. Immediately recognizable by his garments, crown, and the oval
cartouche in which his name was usually inscribed, an Egyptian king was
the individual best able to please the gods. He perormed his role as the
one true priest almost entirely via his images in the templeshe is por-
trayed on temple walls making oerings to the god or goddesses, as small
statues adoring the main divine image in the sanctuary, and as towering
colossi near the main gateways. The kings undertook the building o great
royal tombs, at rst in the orm o pyramids, later tunneled deep into the
clis outside o Luxor. They were believed to join the gods in the aterlie;
near his tomb, each king had his own unerary temple where, by venerat-
ing his images, the Egyptians hoped to encourage him to continue caring
or his people.
OBjECTS ROM THE livES O ARTiSTS AnD nOBlES
The objects used by artists and nobles refect activities such as shing,
hunting, grain harvesting, boat building, dancing, and banquet scenes
rom celebrations. The hieroglyphs on many o the stelae and relies in
the exhibition demonstrate the masterly level o graphic communication
attained by the Egyptians. Statues and paintings o gures portray the
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Egyptians enjoyment o jewelry; their hairstyles, make up, and clothing;
their household urniture; the company they kept, including servants and
amily; and tools symbolizing their proessions, the bases or their positionsin society. Ironically, it is because so many o these objects were buried in
their owners tombs that they and the scenes o lie they depict have been
preserved or our study today.
STATuES O EGypTiAnS ROM TEMplES AnD TOMBS
Private statuary was oten made or placement in tombs and temples; such
statues served important unctions or the Egyptians. The earliest statues
were made or tombs and served as a place or the spirit o the deceased
to reside. While the deceaseds spirit would ideally reside in the mummy,
private statuary ensured that it would always have a home. In the temple,
private statuary represented status, wealth, and an ability to partake o
cult oerings. When examining statues o human orms rom ancient Egypt,
we must take into account that private statuary may have been created to
match an idealized orm rather than the actual appearance o the subject.
THE TOMB, DEATH, AnD THE ATERliE
Seeking to extend lie ater death, the Egyptians made provisions in their
burials or the aterlie, although only the afuent could aord the ull array
o tomb items and rituals intended to protect the body o the deceased and
insure a successul aterlie or the soul. Many o the bowls, palettes, head-
rests, ostracas, and other utilitarian objects in the exhibition are decorated
with protective symbols because they were intended to accompany their
owners to the tomb. The scenes on tomb walls and doors, unerary temples,
and cons invoke unerary deities; shabtigures acted as surrogate labor-
ers or their owners; and generous piles o ood were shown on stelae and
tomb walls to provide sustenance throughout eternity. Also depicted on
tomb walls were celebrations, scenes o oerings being made, and other
activities that the Egyptians wished to have continue in the aterlie.
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AnciEnT EgypTiAn hisTory
Ancient Egyptthe oldest known Ar ican civilization and one o the earli-
est o all culturesfourished or more than three thousand years. Many
important aspects o Egyptian thought and culturemost o the gods, muchroyal symbolism, and the basics o hieroglyphic writingdeveloped beore
Egypt was unied in the First Dynasty, around 3100 B.C. However, the
countrys unication under a strong central government stimulated the
development o culture and the arts, and brought Egypt several periods o
enormous wealth and power.
Most Egyptian art was created or temples or tombs and as such expressed
a religious aith that was charged with magical powers. The Egyptian
kingwho came to be called pharaoh, rom the Egyptianper aa, meaning
palaceplayed a central role in religion, as well as government. Royal
statues o colossal size (see g. 1) symbolized his power to both keep Egypt
strong and uphold the divine order o the universe. Nonroyal people also
commissioned and possessed ne works o art, which reveal an enormous
amount about the lives and belies o the men and women who owned
them.
The Egyptians reerred to themselves as the people o the black land, a
reerence to the rich soil o the Nile Valley (as opposed to the red land
o the desert). The Nile River, the longest river in the world, made agricul-
ture possible in Egypts dry, desert climate. The rivers annual fooding,
caused by heavy monsoon rains upriver in Ethiopia, created arable land
on both riverbanks as receding foodwaters let behind rich deposits o silt
that replenished the topsoil. Moreover, the Nile provided the main artery
o transportation or both goods and people, connecting the population
centers o Egypt to one another. The importance o the Nile in practical and
philosophical terms cannot be overstated. Its yearly, predictable cycles not
only provided the basis or the Egyptians agricultural activityplanting,
growing, and harvestingbut also reinorced their condence in divinely
regulated cycles o lie and death.
Egypts recorded history begins in about 3100 B.C., when writing was
introduced. At about the same time, a single rulerknown by the mythical
name o Menesbrought together Upper Egypt (the land south o Cairo)
and Lower Egypt (the land to Cairos north, including the ertile Nile Delta).
Ancient records list thir ty dynasties, or amilies o pharaohs, in power rom
about 5000 B.C. to A.D. 642. Modern scholars have organized these dynas-
ties into our major periodsthe Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, the
New Kingdom, and the Late Periodseparated by three intermediate peri-
ods when central rule broke down.
F. 1 Head of Amenhotep III (. )
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Over ancient Egypts three-thousand-year history, the core aspects o its
society endured. This was due in part to Egypts secure locationprotected
by orbidding deserts to the west and east, the Mediterranean Sea to thenorth, and the rst Nile cataract, or great waterall, to the south. Egyptians,
however, were ar rom isolated. Egypt enjoyed a central location on trade
routes to and rom western Asia, the Mediterranean region, and central
Arica, bringing the Egyptians into contact with representatives o diverse
cultures. Not surprisingly, their art and culture refect the complex changes
one would expect rom a long-lived civilization in which trade, political
circumstances, and belie systems changed and evolved.
OlD KinGDOM (THiRDSixTH DynASTiES)
By the beginning o the Early Dynastic Period (FirstSecond Dynasties,
ca. 31002686 B.C.), Egyptian religion was well established, as were
the attributes and rituals o kingship and many o the basic conventions
or hieroglyphic writing and two-dimensional imagery. Enormous tombs
reveal an early striving or monumentality. Surviving statues and statue
ragments show that the basic types o seated gures and o male gures
standing with the proper let oot orward had been developed. Follow-
ing the important advances in the Early Dynastic Period, the Old Kingdom
was a period o intense creative activity. Our knowledge o this rst major
period comes mainly rom objects ound in tombs, both royal and nonroyal.
The Egyptians believed that proper burial was the pathway to eternal lie,
and they built elaborate tombs to protect the mummied body or eternity.
The representations o the deceased, both in tomb statues and in relies
and paintings, were intended to house the spirit and receive oerings o
ood, clothing, and other practical necessities or use in the aterlie. A
slender nude body, large head, and staring eyes are oten characteristic o
gurative art during the latter years o the Old Kingdom (see g. 2). Previ-
ously, gures had been depicted clothed and with more natural propor-
tions. This new style o representation indicated an increased emphasis on
the aterliean attitude that survived the decline o the Old Kingdom into
the politically ragmented, socially destabilized time known as the First
Intermediate Period.
MiDDlE KinGDOM (ElEvEnTHTHiRTEEnTH DynASTiES)
Nearly two hundred years ater the collapse o the Old Kingdom and the
ensuing economic and social turmoil, an Eleventh Dynasty king, Mentuho-
tep II (ca. 20552004 B.C.), reunied Egypt, initiating the Middle Kingdom.
While later Middle Kingdom kings continued to honor their great predeces-
sor, Mentuhotep, concepts o the kingship were changing.
F. 2 Nude Figure of the
Seal Bearer Tjetji
pbabl m Akmm, emete el-
haa. old Kdm, st Dat
(a. 232121 B.c.). wd, tae at,
lad ee. het 29 e. Aqed
19 (EA 299)
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9
Charged with ensuring order among all the inhabitants o the universe
and linking the mortal and divine worlds, the Egyptian king was the most
powerul person in Egypt. In the later Middle Kingdom, this responsibilityhad come to be seen as a tremendous burden. Whereas earlier images o
kings had appeared smiling and youthul, in the Colossal Head o Amen-
emhat III(g. 3), the somber tension o the Twelth Dynasty king Amen-
emhat III (ca. 18541808 B.C.) is harsher, even brutal. Thus, this statue is
not only a portrait o Amenemhat III the individual but also a refection o
a changed attitude toward kingship and o the somber outlook o a culture
that seems to have lost aith in the goodness o people.
Several generations ater the reign o Amenemhat III, the Middle Kingdom
disintegrated under a series o weak Thirteenth Dynasty kings, and Egypt
came under the control o Middle Eastern rulers who established a strong-
hold in the Nile Delta.
nEW KinGDOM (EiGHTEEnTHTWEnTiETH DynASTiES)
The next unication o Egypt was achieved by the Eighteenth Dynasty
pharaoh Ahmose (ca. 15501525 B.C.), who ushered in the New Kingdom.
Ahmoses successors, especially the conqueror Thutmosis III (14791425
B.C.), built a vast and powerul empire. Thutmosiss great grandson, Amen-
hotep III (13901352 B.C.), ruled over the greatest empire the world had
ever known.
For at least two thousand years, the Egyptians had worshiped numerous
deities. Amenhotep IIIs son, Akhenaten (13521336 B.C.), rejected these
traditional gods or the exclusive worship o the sun, which was cal led the
Aten. Some scholars have suggested that this radical new religionwhich
recognized only three divine beings, the Aten, Akhenaten himsel, and his
queen, Neertitiwas an early orm o monotheism.
The Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties, oten called the Ramesside
Period, was dominated by Ramesses II (ca. 12791213 B.C.), known in
history as Ramesses the Great. His statues and structures are notable or
their numerous quantity and huge size, yet despite this prolieration, no
coherent style or specic representation o his eatures ever developed.
Ramessess long reign, military prowess, and impressive building program
were legendary among his successors, many o whom also called them-
selves Ramesses and sought to emulate his monuments and representa-
tions. The statue Sety II Seated, Holding an Emblem o Amun-Re (g. 4)
depicts one o Ramesses successors; this is one o the most complete sculp-
tures rom ancient Egypt.
F. 3 Colossal Head of Amenemhat III
Fm Bbat, temle Batet, etae t
geat hall. Mddle Kdm, Telt Dat,
e Ameemat iii (a. 110 B.c.).gate. het 30 e. gt te Et
Elat Fd, 19 (EA 103)
F. Sety II Seated, Holding an Emblem
of Amun-Re
Fm Tebe, Kaak Temle. ne Kdm,
neteet Dat, e set ii (a.
1200119 B.c. ). sadte. het M
e. Aqed 123 t te ae
te t salt cllet (EA 2)
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10
THiRD inTERMEDiATE pERiOD (TWEnTy-iRST
TWEnTy-iTH DynASTiES) AnD lATE pERiOD
(TWEnTy-SixTHTHiRTiETH DynASTiES)During much o the Third Intermediate Period, Egypt was ruled by men o
oreign birth or descent and was sometimes divided among rivals or the
throne. Centralized rule was restored during the Late Period, but Egypt
would never again be the dominant international power it had been.
Throughout this period, however, Egyptian art remained vital, and metal
statuaryincluding gold, silver, copper, tin, and bronzereached a pin-
nacle o splendor.Divine Consort or Queen (g. 5), sumptuously inlaid with
gold and silver, shows the technique o combining dierent metals to cre-
ate rich color contrasts. The consorts gure, with its high narrow waist,
rom which a long continuous line joins the hips to the low-slung curve
o the thighs, is der ived rom emale statues o the Middle Kingdom.
During the Third Intermediate Period, artists oten imitated the styles o
earlier periods. This practice, called archaism, can be detected in all but
the earliest periods o Egyptian art, but it reached its peak at this time.
SECOnD pERSiAn OCCupATiOn AnD
GRECO-ROMAn pERiOD
The great conqueror Alexander the Great took Egypt in 332 B.C. but
soon headed east, leaving his general, Ptolemy, in charge. The Ptolemaic
Dynasty ruled or three hundred years until the notorious Cleopatra VII was
deeated by the Romans. Throughout this period, most aspects o Egyptian
religion and culture remained intact.
For thousands o years, the Egyptians had believed that preserving the
body, which they did through mummication, was essential to the eternal
survival o the spirit. In the Ptolemaic period, mummication continued to
be practiced and traditional unerary symbols were still placed on the co-
n, but the representation o the deceased oten showed him or her with
Greco-Roman hairstyles, clothing, and jewelry. The individual represented
in the Panel Portrait o a Young Man (g. 6) is shown wearing Roman
ashions, and his eatures are painted in the Greco-Roman portrait tradi-
tion. From the three-quarter view o his ace to the subtle shadowing, this
image diers greatly rom traditional Egyptian art. Nonetheless, panels o
this kind were made to be attached over the ace o the mummy.
F. Divine Consort or Queen
pbabl m te Teba Aea. Late Td
itemedate ped, Tet-t Dat
(a. 1 B.c.). Bze, ld ad le
la. het K e. Aqed 1919
(EA 3)
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11
Like the mummy panel in Greco-Roman style, the traditions developed
under the thousands o years o pharaonic rule slowly gave way to Greek,
Roman, and Christian intellectual and artistic infuences. The Arabs con-quest o Egypt in A.D. 641 brought Islam and the Arabic language to Egypt,
beginning a new era in its history and culture.
F. Panel Portrait of a Young Man
(. )
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12
Predynastic Period ca. 50003100 B.C.
Early Dynastic Period ca. 31002686 B.C.
(First and Second Dynasties)
Old Kingdom ca. 26862181 B.C.
(Third to Sixth Dynasties)
First Intermediate Period ca. 21812040 B.C.
(Seventh to Tenth Dynasties)
Middle Kingdom ca. 20401650 B.C.
(Eleventh to Thirteenth Dynasties)
Second Intermediate Period ca. 17501550 B.C.
(Fourteenth to Seventeenth Dynasties)
New Kingdom ca. 15501069 B.C.
(Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties)
Third Intermediate Period ca. 1069656 B.C.
(Twenty-rst to Twenty-th Dynasties)
Late Period 664343 B.C.
(Twenty-sixth to Thirtieth Dynasties)
Second Persian Occupation 343332 B.C.
Greco-Roman Period 332 B.C.A.D. 642
Note: While the delineation o periods is standard in the study o ancient
Egyptian history, the dating o objects, events, and periods may dier by
up to ty years in various resources.
chronoLogy
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13MAp oF AnciEnT EgypT
LOWER NUBIA
SOUTHERN BORDER
OF ANCIENT EGYPT
Gebel Silsileh
Edfu
Thebes
Hierakonpolis
Armant
E G Y P T
S UDAN
UPPER NUBIA
KUSH
Qasr Ibrim
Abu Simbel
Buhen
Amara
Soleb
Sesebi
Kerma
Kawa
Gebel Barkal
Mero
Koptos
Dendera
Naga el Der
Amarna
MostageddaAsyut
El HawawishMatmar
AkhmimUPPER EGYPT
Ashmunein (Hermopolis)
Deshasheh
Herakleopolis
TebtunisFAYUM
Saqqara
Abusir
Athribis
Kom Abu Billo (Terenuthis)
Sais
Alexandria
Giza
Tell el BalamunTanis
Bubastis
Tell el Daba (Avaris)
Tell el Maskhuta (Pithom)
CAIROHeliopolis
Memphis
Dahshur
Medum
Er Rubayyat
HawaraSedment
LOWER EGYPT
Abydos
Diospolis Parva
Faras
AswanElephantine Island
Philae
Medamud
Nil
eR
iver
SINAI
PENINSULA
D E L T A
Nil
eRiv
er
Me d i t e r ra n e a n Se a
Red
Sea
Ba
hr
Yu
ssef
0 50 100 200 300 400 Kilometres
0 50 100 200 300 Miles
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1 AnciEnT EgypTiAn sociETy
Ancient Egypt had a strictly organized, hierarchical society, with the king
the divine rulerat its pinnacle. Early in pharaonic history, all high oces
were held by members o the royal amily. Later, these positions becamehereditary posts among the upper class. Scribes were also infuential in the
Egyptian state as the population was largely illiterate; yet literacy was the
oremost requirement or holding high oce, including kingship. Images o
ocials indicate the persons rank through hairstyle, dress, and personal
implements such as staves, scepters, and jewelry. Honoric and ocial
titles also demonstrated a persons importance: they always preceded an
oce-holders name and oten were much longer than the name itsel.
Most Egyptians worked in agriculture, and people were typically paid in
ood and material goods. Landowners and production centers paid taxes to
the state. Additionally, all men worked periodically or the state on royal
building projects, irrigation projects, or on expeditions into the mountains
to nd stone. Cratsmen and slaves made up only a small percentage o the
population. (The Egyptians understanding o slavery is similar to the con-
temporary concept o people who can be bought, sold, and bound to work
without possibility o leaving. In Egypt, however, slaves had some legal
rights, namely, they could own land and marry as they wished.)
Women were subordinate to men and excluded rom high government
positions, with some very notable exceptions. Several queens ruled Egypt,
sometimes ruling or kings too young to assume the throne; among these
regents, Queen Hatshepsut remains the most amous. Outside o such
instances, womens most prominent public roles were in religious service.
For example, women served as priestesses oHathor and other, usually
emale, goddesses. In periods when the priesthood was exclusively male,
women played instruments in the temples and, at certain points in Thebes,
held the religious oces o gods wie oAmun or divine adoratrice.
Nonetheless, the primary role o a woman was a domestic one. Despite
their subordinate social standing, however, in strictly legal terms women
were essentially equal to men. Women were responsible or their own
actions, could own land and dispose o it reely, enter into contracts, and
sit on juries. Such rights indicate that women in ancient Egypt had a much
better position than the women in most ancient cultures.
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1ArT AnD cuLTurE in AnciEnT EgypT
Egyptians created art or religious and magical purposes. In act, they had
no separate word or art, viewing it instead as one element in a sophis-
ticated system o religious rites and practices. The objects they createdreveal their belies about the world and their attempts to understand it.
The Egyptians believed that an image o someone or something could be
real. For example, tomb and temple statues were not simply representa-
tions but physical representatives and repositories or the spirits o the
deceased. Intended to live orever, statues were made o durable materi-
als such as stone, wood, or metal. Their eatures were idealized according
to standards o beauty, decorum, ethics, and behaviorso much so that in
many cases representations o an individual might be recognized only by
inscriptions. Hieroglyphic writing was thereore integral to ar t, andsince
it was a system o pictorial signswriting was itsel a work o art.
MAjOR THEMES in EGypTiAn ART
cle Le
Like many other cultures, the Egyptians created myths about the origins o
the universe. The Egyptians myth held that at the moment o creation, a
mound o earth rose out o an innite, watery darkness called Nunmuch
in the same way that the earth seems to rise out o the receding foodwa-
ters o the Nile at the end o its annual food. On this mound o earth, the
creator ashioned the universe, beginning with our deities: the earth god,Geb; his sister, the sky goddess, Nut; Shu, lord o the air; and Tenut, god-
dess o moisture. To create order and maintain it against chaos, the creator
also made the goddess Maat. Each year, when the Nile fooded and pro-
vided new vegetation and lie, it was a reenactment o the creation myth.
Annual cycles o planting and harvest and daily cycles o the suns rising
and setting were also seen as cycles o birth, death, and rebirth.
Te rle te gd
The Egyptians believed that the gods controlled all events in the universe.
They personied abstract concepts such as truth and justice, and they alsoembodied natural phenomena. The timely fooding o the Nile, or example,
was not seen as the result o heavy rains upstreamas modern science
would explain itbut as an indication o the gods pleasure or displeasure
with the king and the people. Much o the Egyptians religious lie was
devoted to elaborate ceremonies intended to gain the avor and approval o
the gods. Moreover, many customs in Egyptian societydeerence to supe-
riors, support or aged parents, and allegiance to the thronewere meant
to keep order and appease the deities who oversaw such things.
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1
No single physical orm could ully represent a gods awesome and multiple
powers. Egyptians imagined their deities in many dierent ormsoten as
animals or combinations o humans and animals. Some gods were repre-sented by more than one animal, and some animals represented more than
one god. For example, Thoth, god o writing, was oten represented as an
ibis (a kind o wading bird with a slender, curved bil l) or as an ibis-headed
human. At other times, Thoth was depicted as a baboon, an animal known
or cleverness with its hands.
The association o animals with gods was natural or the Egyptians, who
lived closely with the animal lie in their environment. They must have
appreciated these creatures superhuman abilities, or example, fight,
acute smell, and night vision. Thus animal and animal-headed images o
the gods were not attempts to represent their physical appearance, but
rather to provide symbolic images o their powers. Other divine attributes
were conveyed through the headdresses the deities wore and the objects
they held, such as the ankh, the hieroglyphic sign or lie. Osiris, the
king o the underworld, held the crook and failthe emblems o Egyptian
kings.
Le Ate Deat
The Egyptians believed in an aterlie and lled their tombs with objects
intended to ensure the saety, well-being, and happiness o the deceased.
They did not view the aterlie as a distant paradise but rather as a con-
tinuation o their lie on earth.
The tomb itsel served as the spirits eternal home, where it could receive
the oerings and prayers necessary or sustaining lie throughout time.
The painting and relies decorating tomb walls usually depicted idealized
versions o everyday happenings, enabling the tomb owner to dwell or-
ever in a amiliar environment. Some tomb scenes representing recurring
phenomena such as annual rituals or the seasonal harvesting o grain had
a deeper signicance. The Egyptians believed that by associating them-
selves with such cyclical events, they would increase their own chances o
experiencing the cycle o birth, death, and rebirth.
A secure aterlie required a proper burial. Ater death, the body underwent
mummication. This process could take as long as seventy days, with each
stage overseen by special priests. First the internal organs were removed
and stored. The heart, believed to be the seat o understanding, was usu-
ally let in place. The brain, however, was not thought to be an important
organ and was simply thrown away. Next, the body was covered with
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natural salt and placed on a slanted table. The ats and liquids drained out
and were collected in a container to be buried in or near the tomb. Ater
orty days, the dried body was repacked with linen, sawdust, and evendried lichen. Incisions were then closed and covered with a protective
amulet representing the wedjateye oHorus. The body was massaged
with lotions and perume, treated with ointment, and covered in resin, a
sticky gum rom plants. Wrapping the mummy took teen days because
the bandages had to be very tight in order to maintain the shape o the
body. Lastly, a unerary mask was tted over the head and shoulders to
identiy the wrapped mummy to the kaand the ba.
The Egyptians believed human beings to be composed o three major ele-
ments: the physical body, the ka, and the ba. The ka was the lie orce,
which separated rom the body at death to return to its source, the creator.
The deceaseds goal was to rejoin with the ka each day in order to live
again. Food and drink had sustained the ka during a persons lie, and
the same needs were attended to in death. In addition to actual oer-
ings o ood, people equipped tombs with representations and models o
ood, ood production, and dining. The ba can be understood as a persons
souleverything that makes a person an individual except or the body.
Represented as a bird with a human head, the ba linked lie on earth with
the aterworld. Each night it received the power o rebirth by reuniting
with the mummy, where it met up with the ka.
Many symbols o protection surrounded the mummy, including representa-
tions o deities, amulets such as scarabs, and magic spells. To help guide
the ba in its nightly journey to rebirth, people inscribed tomb walls with
rituals and magic spells. In the New Kingdom, people also wrote such spells
on papyrus scrolls and buried them along with the deceased; these scrolls
are known as the Book of the Dead.
Only those people who had lived righteous lives could look orward to the
promise o an a terlie. The ateul determination was made by Osiris, the
god o the underworld, who tested ones lie by weighing the deceased
persons heart against a eather, representing Maat. To ail this test was
considered to die a second time, as the deceased would thus be denied
the cycle o rebirth. I the test was passed, the deceased was declared
true o voice. Throughout the three thousand years o pharaonic rule this
concept o an aterlie survived.
Te rle te K
Egyptian kings were charged with maintaining universal order; it was
believed that the king received divine powers in order to ulll this duty.
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The divine nature o the kingknown as the son o Re and living embodi-
ment o Horusallowed him to serve as the mediator between the gods
and humankind. However, the ancient Egyptians did not see their rulers asully godlike, and only in exceptional cases were pharaohs worshiped as
gods in their own l ietimes. At death, the king became one with Osir is; on
earth, the kings divine powers were passed on to the next ruler.
It was every kings duty to build temples and maintain the gods cults.
In actuality, priests perormed most cult practices, but these were always
done in the name o the king. Similarly, relies in the inner chambers o
temples only showed the king communicating with the gods. The Egyp-
tians believed these images continued to perorm the religious rites, even
when no person was actually present.
In Egyptian art, kings were generally portrayed as perect human beings.
Even when idealized, however, the kings ace was usually characterized
so as to allow his subjects to recognize him even i they could not read
his name. Specic inscriptions and regalia identied the kings in art: the
royal kilt, with an ornamental bulls tail symbolizing superhuman power;
a group o traditional crowns with the sacred uraeus at the orehead; the
rectangular alse beard; the crook and fail, representing the kings role
as the shepherd o his people and held by the king across his chest; and
the cartouches encircling the kings two most important royal nameshis
throne name and his birth name, which identied him as son o Re, the
sun god.
SyMBOlS O uppER AnD lOWER EGypT
Crown o Upper Egypt
(White Crown)
Double Crown
(Crown o Upper and Lower Egypt)
Crown o Lower Egypt
(Red Crown)
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Vulture
(Upper Egypt)
Lotus
(Upper Egypt)
Papyrus
(Lower Egypt)
Cobra
(Lower Egypt)
HiEROGlypHS uSED OR ROyAl iDEnTiiCATiOn
This sign, called a cartouche since the lateeighteenth century, is an elongated version o
the shen rope within which the kings birth
and throne names were written.
He o the Sedge and the Bee is a royal title
meaning the king o Upper (the sedge plant) and
Lower (the bee) Egypt.
Son [the duck] o Re [the solar disk] is another
title o the king.
The perect god is the neersign, a stylized
image o the heart and windpipe, with the word
god, which is the emblem o divinity, a cloth
wound on a pole.
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ARTiSTS , MATERi Al S, An D ORM in THE AR T O
AnCi EnT EGyp T
Att
In ancient Egypt, painters and sculptors were considered cratsmenindis-
tinct as a group rom urniture makers and potters. On rare occasions, indi-
vidual designers o tomb relies were depicted and their names mentioned;
there are also inscriptions in which certain named artists claim to have
been special avorites o the king. As a rule, however, artists worked in
teams, under the supervision o an administrator who was not an artist.
Cratsmen and artists were dependent upon an institution, such as a royal
household, a temple, or the household o a dignitary or assignments and
supplies.
As with Egyptian society itsel, artist ic workshops were structured hierar-
chically. A relie decoration or a tomb, or example, probably began with
a general layout and outlines o the gures drawn by a designer or drats-
man. Next, relie sculptors carved the gures, and, nally, painters col-
ored the relies. In each group, a master, or several masters, instructed and
corrected the artists under them, perhaps drawing or carving important
gures or parts o scenes themselves. In general, relies, sculptures, and
paintings rom ancient Egypt should be thought o as the product o a par-
ticular workshop, rather than o a particular artist.
Mateal ad Teqe
Egypts dry climate has al lowed many perishable materialswood, leather,
linen, and papyrusto survive in much greater quantities than in other
ancient cultures. Even oerings o ood ound in tombs have survived to
the present day.
Stone
The hardness and durability o stone make it an ideal material or struc-
tures and objects meant to last or eternity. Temples and tombs were there-
ore made o stone, while dwellings or the living, both kings and averageEgyptians, were built o mud bricks. Limestone and sandstone were plenti-
ul along the Nile Valley, as were basalt, granite, greywacke, and gneiss
in other parts o the country. Egyptian sculptors tools evolved rom fint to
copper to bronze to iron. For the hardest stones, such as granite or diorite,
artisans used stone hammers to work the stone into its nal orm, shaping
and smoothing it with hard rubbing stones and ne sand pastes.
Stone is a hard but brittle medium. This accounts or the many Egyptian
sculptures missing noses, ngers, beards, and other small, projecting
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parts that would have broken o easily i a statue ell or was vandalized.
Furthermore, ancient Egyptians believed that a statue contained the spirit
o a person, and it may be that the eatures o some statues were broken orsmashed to kill the gure or destroy its senses.
For three-dimensional sculpture in stone, artists started with a block upon
which they drew guidelines on all sides. They then carved until a gure
emerged and redrew the guidelines rom stage to stage. In most cases
though, the block remains in some orm: artists did not carve out space
between the arms and torso or between the legs o standing gures; seated
gures adapted to the rectangular shape o the blocklike seat; the backs o
standing gures remain attached to an upright slab, termed a back pillar
by Egyptologists.
The Egyptians employed two types o relie carving: raised and sunk. In
raised relie, also called bas relie, the space around the gures is lowered.
In sunk relie, only the outlines o the gures are recessed. In either type
o relie, the depth o carving is usually less than one inch, and artists
achieved detailed modeling inside the gures by carving slight dierences
in depth. In scenes where gures overlap, both types o carving were com-
bined.
Wood
Few large trees grow in Egypts arid climate. Thus artists used the trunks
and branches o trees to make small statues, and or larger gures and
wooden cons, carvers had to peg pieces o wood together. To cut away
and shape the wood, the artists used tools o fint, copper, and bronze.
Egyptians imported cedar, ebony, and other hard woods or the largest
wooden constructions, such as ships and architectural structures, and also
or ne statues, urniture, and cons. The most beautiul statues and nest
urniture were oten inlaid with precious metals and ivory.
Stances o Egyptian wooden statues tend to seem livelier than those in
stone because they are ree o the back pillar and the solid area between
the limbs that is required to support the gure in a stone sculpture. Some
poses, such as that o an ocial holding his long sta, were impractical to
reproduce in stone and were, instead, oten executed in wood.
Metalworking
The Egyptians prized gold or its beauty and its symbolic relation to the
sun. Furthermore, gold does not tarnish, and it was thus seen as a meta-
phor or eternal lie. Some gold was mined in the Egyptian deserts, but
most metal, including gold, silver, copper, and tin, was imported.
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Metalworkers are known to have cast solid or hollow gures using the
lost-wax method. In solid bronze casting, wax gurescomplete with the
nal details o the sculptureare covered in a thin layer o clay. The orm isred, which causes the wax to melt away and the clay to turn to terra cotta.
Finally, molten metal is poured into the space where the wax was. When
it has completely cooled, the terra cotta is broken away. In another, more
complicated procedure called hollow casting, the wax model is ormed
around an anchored clay core. This core remains as the inside o the metal
statuette. In either technique, the surace o the metal can be burnished
and detail added with pointed tools.
In addition to cast gures, metalworkers abricated items, including jew-
elry, rom sheet metal and also produced weaponry. Jewelers in the royal
workshops excelled in making gold cloisonn-inlay adornments such as
pectorals, broad collar necklaces, bracelets, and diadems. Semi-precious
stones or pieces o colored glass were set in cells, called cloisons, ormed o
thin gold strips. Bronze was used, among other materials, or tools, weap-
ons, and armor rom the Middle Kingdom onward. Beore that time, and on
occasion even during the Middle Kingdom, copper was the most common
metal or tools and weapons.
Painting
Egyptian ar tists usually decorated houses with striped decorations; palace
ceilings, foors, and walls received elaborate painted designs and repre-
sentations. Artists also painted the walls o temples and tombs, wooden
and stone statues, and the suraces o cons, boxes, and urniture. Painted
scenes and symbols o events in the aterlie were integral parts o uner-
ary papyrus scrolls.
The Egyptians used reeds with pointed or rayed ends as brushes and
pens. Pigments were made rom various natural substances. Red and yel-
low generally came rom ocher, a kind o iron ore ound in abundance in
the desert. White was oten made rom gypsum, black rom soot or manga-
nese. Blue was mostly an art icial pigment known as Egyptian blue. This
was made by heating a mixture o ground desert sand, natural salt, and a
copper compound such as malachite. The resulting substance, called rit,
was also used to create beads, small vessels, and gures. Yellow added to
the blue rit produced green. To make paint, these substances were ground
into powders and mixed with water to which a binder, such as a vegetable
gum, was added to make the paint adhere to the surace.
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Colors had more than aesthetic appeal or the Egyptians; they also had
symbolic meaning. Blue and green were associated with water, the Nile,
and vegetation. Yellow and gold stood or the sun and the sun god. Redrepresented the sun and resurrection. White was the color o Osiris, god
o the underworld. Black represented the earth o Egypt and thus growth.
Gender was also indicated by color; by convention, men were depicted
with reddish-brown skin and women with tannish-yellow skin.
Composition and Conventions
Egyptian artwhether colossal statues or gures in hieroglyphic script
maintained a remarkable order and uniormity. Egyptian artists began
their work with basic structural elements: the cube and the horizontal and
vertical axes. When preparing to carve a statue or decorate a wall, they
rst drew horizontal and vertical guidelines on the surace so that the
proportions o the gures would correspond to the established canon. They
arranged their gures in horizontal rows, called registers, and used clear
outlines, simplied shapes, and fat areas o color.
Egyptian artists developed ideal orms that became the standard way
o expressing certain meanings. The major gure o a composition, or
instance, was usually larger than the secondary ones, and its poses (stand-
ing, walking, sitting, or kneeling) were the most stylized. Even or the sec-
ondary gures, a limited number o arm and hand gestures were used to
explain what the gure was doing. To show distance, artists overlapped
one gure with another or placed more distant gures above those in the
oreground o the composition. Groups o servants, attendants, and animals
were oten shown overlapping, sometimes in rhythmic patterns. Important
gures, however, stood alone; overlapping would make them seem less
than complete.
Artists depicted gures, objects, and landscapes rom multiple points o
view in order to convey the most complete inormation. For example, in
tomb paintings o gardens with poolsa avorite aterlie scene symboliz-
ing rebirththe pool is viewed rom above so that its exact shape is clearly
visible. Trees and fowers surrounding the pool, however, are shown in
prole, as are the patterns o the pools ripples. Animals such as ducks or
sh swimming in the water would also have been shown in prole.
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Writing and art developed in Egypt at about the same time and were insep-
arable. As scribes were nalizing the standards and signs o hieroglyphic
writing, artists were creating conventions or representation o gures andobjects in sculpture, painting, and relie. In act, the same word, sekh, is
used or writing, drawing, and painting, and many painters and sculptors
were also trained as scr ibes. Images that conormed to artistic conventions
are oten larger versions o the images in hieroglyphs; or example, the
common image o a seated man is the same as the ideogram, or picture-
word, or man.
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, some objects can be represented simply with pic-
tures. Abstract concepts like justice, understanding, lie, and power had to
be signied using the rebus method, by which a sign is used to indicate the
sounds o the word the writer wishes to convey. To aid reading, a symbol
meant to be taken literally as the image represented is ollowed by a single
stroke.
Egyptians used twenty-our hieroglyphs to represent single sounds,
a system similar to our alphabet. Because the language had no written
vowelsand thus all signs represented consonantsEnglish spellings o
names oten vary rom source to source. Also, some words share the same
consonants, leaving the true meaning o the words ambiguous to modern
scholars.
In order to write well, Egyptian scribes needed to know some seven hun-
dred hieroglyphs and to be able to draw them clearly. Thus scribal training
typically included the repetitive copying o standard hieroglyphs. In docu-
ments on papyrus, which are usually written in cursive script, the scribe
would write rom right to let. Hieroglyphs, however, could be combined in
a variety o ways; they could be read rom let to right or the reverse. The
aces o the human or animal gures in the hieroglyphs indicate the proper
direction rom which to begin reading: or example, i a bird aces right, the
text is read rom right to let. Hieroglyphs also could be arranged horizon-
tally or vertically, allowing scribes to combine inscriptions and gures in a
great number o ways.
The word hieroglyph in Greek means sacred sign. The Greeks saw these
writings in Egyptian temples and so gave them this name. The handwrit-
ten version o hieroglyphs was, in Greek times, used primar ily by priests.
The Greeks called this hieratic or priestly script, although it was the every-
day manner o writing during most o Egyptian history.
hiErogLyphs
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The ollowing hieroglyphs represent some o the most requently used.
The kheperrepresents the sacred scarab beetle,which is associated with the rising sun and
symbolizes rebirth.
The shen is a circle o rope knotted with the ends
tied o, and it symbolizes eternity and protection.
The ankh means lie and to l ive. It is held by
deities who requently oer it to the king.
Given lie is represented by a conical loa o
bread, which means to give or given, and by
the ankh.
Djet, the Egyptian word or eternity, is written with
three signs: a cobra, a round loa o bread, and afat piece o land.
This combination o symbols means given lie
orever. Note how hieroglyphic signs are always
arranged to ll a square or rectangle in a balanced
way.
The sign or stability, the djedmay represent a
tree with the branches cut back or a backbone,
possibly o the god Osiris.
The sa sign, which represents a lie preserver
made o bent papyrus stalks, is used to write
protection.
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A symbol o power, the wasscepter has a orked
base and a crooked handle in the shape o an
animals head.
A human eye and eyebrow with alcon markings
beneath, this image represents one o the eyes
o the alcon-god Horus. In various myths, one
eye is injured or stolen, but it is always healed
or returned. The wedjateye, oten worn as an
amulet, symbolizes healing and protection.
The ka, the lie orce o an individual, is
represented by two extended arms seen
rom above.
Tyet, the knot o the goddess Isis, resembling the
knot in a sash o a robe, is a symbol o protection.
The hetep sign represents a pointed loa o bread
centered on a reed mat. The general meaning is
oering.
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seleted wk At t
D state ad AtteThis section provides background inormation on seventeen selected
images rom Temples and Tombs: Treasures o Egyptian Art rom The Brit-
ish Museum. These represent a range o chronological periods, types o
objects, and materials used by the ancient Egyptians. Digital reproductions
o the images can be ound on the CD at the back o this resource.
Each object also has a set o questions or Discussion Starters. You may wish
to begin with open-ended questions such as the ollowing: What do you
see? What do you think the object is made o? Can you describe the imagesor decoration on the object? What colors do you see? Ask your students to
note the size o the object (some o the objects are surprisingly small, oth-
ers surprisingly large). As in any discussion, students opinions may dier;
ask them to explain their answers and back them up with direct observa-
tions. Comparing answers and noting dierences in perspective can be a
ruitul avenue or discussion.
Following the Discussion Starters are suggested classroom activities that
relate to the object. The Activities are designed to utilize a range o student
skills: some are language based, others are linked to mathematical skills
or art projects. All the Activities can be adapted or use with students o
any age.
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Dscsso Starters
1. HowdoweknowwhoAnkhwawas
andwhathedidromthissculpture?2. Thinkoimagesopeopleyouhave
seenwhetherromotherhistoricaltimes,
suchascolonialAmerica,orthepresent.
a. Whatvisualcluessuchasclothing,
hairstyles,medium,theactivityo
subjectstellyouabouttheperiod
inwhichanimagewasmadeorthe
perioditrepresents?
b.Whatelementsdoyouseeinthe
statueoAnkhwathathelpyou
determinewhenitwasmade?
3. Egyptianartistsotencarvedtheir
sculpturesromasinglepieceostone.
Canyoutellithisstatuewasmadethat
way?
a. Thissculptureismadeogranite,
averyhardstone.Whyisgranitea
goodchoiceortombstatues?
b. Doyouthinkthereisarelationship
betweenthematerialusedtocarve
thestoneandthestyleothe
statue?
Actt: Drawg ad
idetg Toos
Procedure:
1. Ankhwaisholdinganadze,atoolhewouldhaveusedinhisworkasaship
builderandcarpenter.Askstudentsto
thinkothetoolstheirparentsorother
adultsuseintheirjobsanddrawthose
tools.(Today,manypeopleuseonly
electronictoolssuchascomputers,
telephones,andaxmachinesintheirjob.)
Canthesetoolsbeusedormorethan
oneproession?
2. Haveotherstudentsintheclassguess
whateachimplementortoolwouldbe
usedor.Makealistothetoolsasthey
areidentiedbytheclass.
1. seated state Aka
Fm saqqaa
old Kdm, Td Dat (a. 2213 B.c. )
gate
het 2Me
Aqed 13 at te ale te salt cllet (EA 11)
This statue is a key piece in the understanding o Egyptian art history.
It dates rom a period when Egyptian sculpture was beginning to attain
its classical orm. The sculpture provides many clues about its subject, a
shipwright named Ankhwa, and about the art istic conventions o its early
date. The inscription in raised hieroglyphs on Ankhwas lap identies him
and his trade. Another title in the inscription ranks Ankhwa among theew men who, though not directly related to the king, were nevertheless
associated with the court. The statue conrms Ankhwas avored status, or
its quality and materialgranite, which was quarried at the kings plea-
sureattest to its manuacture in a royal workshop.
Ankhwa sits on a stool with inverted U-shaped supports. This type o
household urniture was included in inventory lists o necessities or the
aterlie depicted in relies and paintings on tomb walls. Shortly ater the
Third Dynasty, seated gures were shown seated on simple blocks, rather
than stools like these. Another clue to the statues date is the position oAnkhwas arms. He raises his let arm and grasps an adze, a woodworking
tool indicative o his trade. Later seated gures usually rested both hands on
the lap. The statues stocky posture and sloping shoulders are some o the
stylistic traits that also date this statue to the Third Dynasty. In sculpture
o the Fourth Dynasty and later, the subject s pose becomes more angular
and the proportions more elongated. Ankhwas wavy coiure, which may
in act represent a wig, is known rom relies rom the same period, as well
as rom another Third Dynasty statue now in the collection o the Louvre
Museum in Paris.
Sculptures made out o hard stone are miracles o achievement, because
the Egyptians only had very primitive tools to work these stones with.
The kinds o metal tools that would cut hard stone had not been invented.
The Egyptians only had drills and pounders to work on these stones.
And when you think o the results, it is really quite extraordinary. Even
rom the earliest period they had mastered the technique, right rom
the beginning o the dynastic period through to the end. Its one o the
great achievements o ancient Egypt, the working o hard stone sculp-
ture. (Vivian Davies)
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Dscsso Starters
1.Manyothesescenesshowpeople
harvestingandgatheringood.Canyoundtheshermen?Workersharvesting
andtransportinggrain?
2.Whatobjectsinthemiddleregister
mighthaveledscholarstothinkthatthe
scenerepresentsaharvestestivalor
religiousceremony?
3.Whydoyouthinkthisrelieisdivided
intothreeregisters?Whatroledothe
hieroglyphsplayinthesescenes?
4.Whatdoyouthinkthegroupoboys
inthemiddleregisteraredoing?Dothey
appeartobemovingorstandingstill?
Howdotheirposesletyouknowthatthey
aremeanttobeseenasagroup?
Actt: imagg yo Are a
Acet Egta prearg or
the Atere
Procedure:
1.Askstudentswhatbelongings,special
people,andoodtheywouldwanttohave
withthemorever.Whatactivitieswould
theyliketocontinueintoeternity?
2.Haveeachstudentwriteordrawan
inventorylistothenecessitiesandpersonalitemstheywouldhaveburied
intheirtombs.
3.Asktheclassasawholeoringroups
toworkonmural-sizepaintingsoscenes
depictingtheactivitiesandobjects
mentioned.Whentheprojectisnished,
haveaclassdiscussioncomparingyour
muralssubjectmatterandstyletoRaised
Relie:DailyLie,Children.
Actt: istratg
Cotemorar Da le
Procedure:
1.Askstudentstonamesomeotheir
typicalactivities.Haveeachstudent
chooseanactivitytodepict.
2.Usingahorizontalormatasinthis
relie,askstudentstodrawanillustration
otheactivity.
3.Havestudentsadddialoguetotheir
drawings.
2. raed rele: Dal Le, clde
Fm gza (?)
old Kdm, Ft Dat (a. 2923 B.c.)
Lmete
20 3 e
Aqed 19, aed a te reeed gelle cete
(EA 99)
This ragment o a tomb relie shows several scenes o everyday lie. Egyp-
tians lled their tombs with scenes like this one to help the deceased in
the aterlie. They believed that these representations would help the tomb
owner live on orever in a amiliar environment. The upper register o the
relie illustrates three stages in boat building: cutting down a tree (right),transporting a log (center), and sawing planks and scraping the deck with
an adze (let). At the bottom o the relie, three scenes depict ood being
stocked or the tomb. At the ar right, our sailors catch sh in a net; next a
trio o workers cut grain; on the let, two men lead a pair o donkeys laden
with huge bags o grain. All three vignettes were commonly ound in Old
Kingdom tombs.
The action represented in the central register is more dicult to explain.
Some scholars have identied the two women at the let, with hands raised
to their mouths, as dancers or singers. The scene at the right shows a boystruggling to escape rom an enclosure. Another boy lies on his back, trying
to prevent the rst boy rom leaving. A boy outside the enclosure saysin
hieroglyphs above the sceneYou must fee rom it [the enclosure] alone.
The group at the center depicts a group o red-bodied, nude boys, each
holding a shea o grain and wearing the braided sidelock that signies
youth. They are running or dancing around a white gure, perhaps a statue,
wearing a loincloth and what seems to be a mask. The gure holds a olded
cloth and a scepter or a baton that ends in the shape o a human hand. The
hieroglyph above the group seems to read, Dance o the Youths.
Because the boys [in image no. 2] are carrying grain, some scholars
have suggested that this is some kind o a harvest ritual, practiced
when the grain was harvested to ensure ertility or the coming grow-
ing season. Since most o the participants here are young boys, others
have suggested that this is some kind o initiation ritual where the boys
would pass to manhood. (Edna R. Russmann)
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Dscsso Starters
1.WhatmaterialwasusedortheTomb
StatueoaMan?Howdoyouthinkthechoiceomaterialaectedtheartists
workandtheappearanceothenal
piece?(Considertheeasewithwhich
thematerialcanbecarvedandtheease
withwhichpiecesowoodcanbejoined
together,aswellastheexpenseo
material,weight,andstructure.)How
wouldthesculpturebedierentiitwere
carvedinstone?Wouldyourperceptions
othesculpturechangeiitweremade
ostone?
2.Themanisdepictedwearingalong
kilt,thesignicanceowhichhasbeen
interpretedinmanyways.Todaywhat
clothingoruniormscarryspecial
signicance,i.e.,judicialrobe,graduation
gown,sportsuniorm?Whatwordsor
idealsdoyouassociatewitheachclothing
item?Ithesesamearticlesoclothing
wereshowntostudentsinanotherculture,
doyouthinktheywouldcarrythesame
associations?
Actt: Datg Artwork
throgh Art Hstorca ad
Scetfc Methods
Procedure:
1.ReertotheTombStatueoaMan.
Explainthatthepracticeoplacingsmall
woodenstatuesinthetombbeganinthe
OldKingdomandcontinuedwellintothe
MiddleKingdom.Askstudentswhat
attributes(i.e.,hairstyle,clothing,
representationothebody)helpscholars
datethisworkmorespecicallytothe
TwelthDynasty?
2.Askstudentswhatothermethods
scholarsmightusetodateawork,i.e.,
comparisontootherdatedworks,
scientictesting.
3.Optionalscienceormathematics
discussion:explaintheprocesso
radiocarbon/carbon-14dating:
a.Alllivingmaterials(suchaswood)
aremademostlyocarbonand
continuetomaintaintheircarbon
levelswhiletheyarestillliving.
Oncetheydie,theystopusing
carbonandthecarbonbeginsto
decay.Every5,568years,halo
thecarbon-14remaininginadead
3. Tmb state a Ma
Fm el-Bee, babl te tmb ga
Mddle Kdm, Telt Dat (a. 191 B.c.)
wd, tae at
het 13Le
Aqed 199 (EA 301)
This wooden statuette is believed to come rom the tomb o Gua, a phy-
sician. The custom o placing small wooden statues in the subterranean
part o a tomb, which began in the late Old Kingdom, continued well into
the Middle Kingdom in some parts o Egypt. Statues o this type have also
been ound inside cons; these do not always bear the name o the person
represented as the close proximity o the statue to the mummy presum-ably made such inscriptions unnecessary. As was oten the case, even on
wooden statues as small as this one, the arms, ronts o the eet, and base
were made separately.
Elegantly made and deceptively doll-like, this small gure exemplies
several Twelth Dynasty developments in the representation o the male
gure. His short curly hairdo was particularly popular during the Eleventh
and early Twelth Dynasties, or both men and women. His long kiltin
the Old Kingdom always a sign o middle or old agemay also be meant to
indicate maturity here, despite the youthul hairstyle and body. Alterna-tively, it may be a sign o his proession as a physician, or it may refect the
tendency o Middle Kingdom male clothing to cover more o the body.
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organismdisappears;thisiscalle
ahal-lie.Forinstance,ater5,568years,50percentothe
originalcarbon-14remainsinthe
organism;ateranother5,568
years,only25percent(halo
50percent)otheoriginalcarbon
14remains.Aterathird5,568
years,only12.5percent(halo
25percent)otheoriginalcarbon
14remains.
b.Askstudentsiradiocarbondating
couldbeusedtodatethe Tomb
StatueoaMan.Coulditbeused
todateastonestatue?Why?
Havestudentscalculatethepercentage
ocarbon-14remainingintheTomb
StatueoaMan.Usingtheoldestdate
(1985B.C.),thisstatueisapproximatel
3,990yearsold:3,390/5,568=.72=
72percentothersthalocarbon-14
hasdisappeared,andthus28percent
(10072percent)othersthalremains
Theamountooriginalcarbon-14
remaining=amountremainingromthe
rsthal(.50x.28)+secondhal(.50)
=64percent.
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Dscsso Starters
1.Thisgureisagoodexampleothe
waytwo-dimensionalrepresentationsollowedartisticconventions.Whatisthe
relationshipothetorsoandheadothe
guretohereet?Howisthisdierent
romwhatyouwouldtypicallyseein
imagesromotherculturesorromlater
times?
2.Intheoriginalwallpainting,thetomb
ownerssisterstoodamongothergures
ovaryingsize.Whydidtheartistalterthe
scaleothegures?Whatdoesthescale
othegurestellusabouttheirsocialor
amilialstatusinthegroup?Wasthetomb
ownerssisterthemostprominentperson
intheoriginalcomposition?Inot,who
was?Whataretheeectsoviewing
thepresent,partialworkversusseeing
thetombownerssisteraspartoa
largercompletecomposition?Doesher
prominencechange?
Actt: Drawg a Se-
portrat
Procedure:
1.LookattheimageoTheTomb
OwnersSisterandPectoralPlaque:
AmenemhatIVBeoreAtum (imageno.5).
StudythewayEgyptianartistsuseddierentpointsoviewtoshowthebody
ascompletelyaspossible.
2.Havestudentsdrawsel-portraitsin
thestyleusedinthisrelie.Remindthem
toincludetheollowingelements:
a.thehead,hips,arms,legs,andeet
inprole
b. theeye,shoulders,andchestrom
theront
c. menposedwiththeletoot
orward,womenwiththeireet
together
d. awig,jewelry,costume,andsomethingmagicalandprotective
. Te Tmb oe ste
Fm el-Bee, tmb Djette
Mddle Kdm, Telt Dat (a. 11 B.c.)
Lmete, ated
2 13 e
gt te Et Elat Fd, 19 (EA 110)
The sister o the tomb owner, whose name is lost, was once part o a larger
wall painting. She originally stood at the head o a row o ten emale g-
ures, acing women on a smaller scale. The gure in ront o her held a
fy whisk, seen at the lower right edge. The nine women who once stood
behind her were other emale relatives o the tomb owner, Djehutyhotep.
In back o them stood the slightly larger gure o his wie. Finally, therestood Djehutyhotep himsel, on a much larger scale, literally overseeing
them all.
Egyptian artists used di erent points o view to show each part o the body
in its most complete orm. Shoulders are seen rom the ront; torso and hips
are in three-quarter view so the legs and arms can be seen in prole. The
head is also shown in prole to display the back and the ront at the same
time, but the eye is drawn as i seen rom the ront, looking directly at the
viewer.
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Actt: Eamg the
Sgfcace o Scae
Procedure:
1. ExplainthatTheTombOwners
Sisterwasoncepartoalarger
composition.
2. Readthedescriptionprovidedothe
originalcomposition.
3. Havestudentsusestickguresto
diagramthecomposition.Makecertain
thattheyvarythescaleothegures
accordingtothedescriptionothe
composition.Studentsmayalsowish
tolabelthegures.
4. Discussthesignicanceoscale.
Whatdoesscalerepresent?Who
arethemostimportantguresinthis
painting?Howdoweknowthis?
5. Discusshowscaleisusedtodayto
suggestimportanceinsuchthingsas
billboards,ull-pageads,ront-page
headlines/photos.Itmaybehelpulto
bringinmagazinesornewspapersor
studentstolookthroughorexamples.
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Dscsso Starters
1.Asstudentslookattheimageothis
work,pointoutthattheplaqueisonly1inchestall.Itmaybebenecialto
havestudentsdrawa1-inchsquareto
reinorcethisact.Iyouareabletovisit
theexhibition,comparethewaythe
reproductionothisimagelookswith
howitlooksdisplayedinthegallery.
2.Whichoneotheseguresismaking
theoeringtotheother?Whatelements
othisobjecthelpyouguesswhichgure
isthegod?
Actt: uderstadg the
Roes o leaders
Procedure:
1.E xplaintostudentsthatEgyptiankings
wereconsideredthesoleintermediary
betweenthedivineandhumanworlds;
initssimplestorm,thekingprovides
thegodswiththesustenanceandhomes
onearththeyneed,andthegodsmaintain
thecosmicorderandsecurity
oEgypt.
2.ReertothePectoralPlaque:Amenem-
hatIVBeoreAtum. Howistheintermedi-
aryroleothekingdepictedbytheartist?
Whatisthekingdoinginthisscene?
3.Askstudentstothinkotherolesand
responsibilitiesomodernleaders.List
studentresponsesanddiscusswhatroles
orresponsibilitiesstudentsthinkaremost
important.
4.Haveeachstudentdrawanimagethat
representstheroleorresponsibilitythat
he/shebelievesismostimportantora
modernleader.
. petal plaqe: Ameemat iv Bee Atm
peae k
Mddle Kdm, Telt Dat, e Ameemat iv
(a. 10199 B.c. )
gld
1 1 e
Dated b te Bmam Jeelle ad slemt Aat,
1929 (EA 919)
Jewelry rom the Middle Kingdom, such as this plaque, used natural mate-
rials that oten had symbolic qualities. For example, turquoise imitated the
lie-giving waters o the Nile River. By virtue o its color, gold resembled
the sun, an entity with inherent lie-enhancing qualities. A characteristicorm o Egyptian jewelry, this plaque depicts Amenemhat IV o the Twelth
Dynasty oering ointment to Atum, a powerul god associated with the
setting sun. Hieroglyphs identiy the king, the god, and the oering. Three
pins on the back o this tiny scene suggest that it was part o a larger
ensemble.
You can see the cartouche o Amenemhat IV at the upper right. Immediately
to the let o the oval appears the hieroglyph neer, an image o the heart
and windpipe, meaning perect, beautiul, and to the let o that, the
word god, the emblem o divinity, which looks like a fag. Together, thetwo mean the perect god (see Hieroglyphs Used or Royal Identication,
page 19).
Jewelry was as much a status symbol to the Egyptians as it is to us
today. But the Egypt ians also valued their jewelry or its symbolic and
protective quali ties . For example, gold and silver were linked to the
gods and they associated one, in a sort o indirect way, with the gods.
This representation o the king pleasing the god [image no. 5] was a
protective symbol to ensure that this relationship between the king and
the god would continue orever. (Edna R. Russmann)
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Dscsso Starters
1.Whatpartothehareisusedto
supportthesleepershead?Howdoyouthinkitwouldeeltosleepona
woodenheadrest?
2.TheEgyptiansassociatedhares
withtheperilsothedesert,butthey
alsoappreciatedtheanimalsspecial
characteristicsandabilities.Whatare
someotheranimalsthathavedesirable
properties?Whatanimalscouldbe
usedassymbolsoprotection?Why?
Actt: imagg How
a Acet Egta Mght
Eerece CotemorarSocet
Procedure:
1.Asaclass,reviewwhatyouhave
learnedaboutEgyptiansociety,religious
belies,anddailylie.
2.Askeachstudenttowriteanessay
romtheperspectiveoanancient
Egyptianwhondshimselorherselin
present-dayAmerica.Whataresomeo
thedierences(s)hemightnoticeromthe
timeandplaceinwhich(s)helived?What
objectsoraspectsoliemight(s)he
miss?Why?WhatobjectsoraspectsocontemporaryAmericanliemight(s)he
preertotheancientEgyptianones?Why?
3.Havestudentspresenttheiressays
totheclass.Inecessary,havethemdo
additionalresearchinordertoocusthe
essaysonaparticularaspectoliesuch
asburialpracticesorgovernment,using
theBibliographyonpage63.
. headet te sae a hae
peae k
ne Kdm (a. 10109 B.c.)
Tamak d
het Me
Aqed 1, aed a s E. A. w. Bde
(EA 203)
Egyptian homes probably had little urniture. People used long, mud-brick
soas covered with pillows, and they had jar stands, stools, and dierent
kinds o chairs. An Egyptian would also have possessed a wooden bed-
rame and a headrest, which would have been cooler than a pillow in the
hot climate. Some headrests were decorated with the name and title o theowner, and perhaps a prayer or a good nights rest. Because it supported
the head when it was most at risk rom the powers o darkness, the head-
rest was also intended or magical protection. Those made or tombs might
include chapters rom theBook o the Dead, such as a spell that promises,
Your head shall not be taken away rom you orever.
A desert hare is like a rabbit but has longer ears and larger hind eet. The
meaning o the hare in this headrest is not certain. As a desert creature, the
hare was considered potentially dangerous, but it was also associated with
positive things like alertness, speed, and ertility. As a hieroglyph, the haremeans to be or to exist, so the hare may have been thought to protect
the users lie. The Egyptians may have believed that the hare slept with
its eyes open, a trait that would be especially appropriate or a headrest
animal. This hares eyes, however, appear to be almost closed.
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Actt: Desgg a
Headrest
Procedure:
1.ReertoHeadrestintheShape
oaHare.Askstudentstodescribe
theobject.Whateaturesoahare
didtheartistchoosetoinclude,
exclude,orexaggerate?Isthisarealisti
representationoahare?Howhasthe
artistmodiedtheanimalsormto
createaunctionalheadrest?
2.Havestudentsdesigntheirown
headrestsusingtheormoananimal.
Encouragethemtoconsiderwhat
eaturesotheanimalcouldbeutilizedo
exaggeratedtomaketheheadrestmore
unctionalinitsdesign.Havestudents
sharetheirdesigns.Askthemtoexplain
theirchoiceoanimal.
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Dscsso Starters
1.Thisguideincludesrepresentationso
theheadsandacesovedierentkings,executedindierentstylesandmaterials.
ThissculptureshowsThutmosisIII
wearingtheconicalcrownoUpper
Egypt(theWhiteCrown).Howdoesthis
representationoThutmosisIIIcompare
withthestatueKneelingFigureo
Nekhthorheb(imageno.14)?What
dierencesdoyounoticebetweenthe
acialeaturesothestatues?What
eelingormooddoesthisstatueseem
toconvey?
2.Thisstatuewasmadeoraestival
celebratingthekingsrenewedpowers.
Whywouldthekingortheartisthave
chosengraywackeorthisstatue?(Think
aboutitsassociationwithnature,growing
plants,theNile.)Howdoesthecoloro
thestoneaectyourreactiontothe
statue?
Actt: Makg a Caedar
Procedure:
1.D iscusswithstudentstheactthat
thestatueoThutmosisIIIwascreated
orhissedestival,aestivalorebirth.
Discussthesignicanceothechoice
ostone,greywacke.
2.Havestudentsworkinsmallgroupsto
conductresearchintotheannualfooding
otheNileandthewaysinwhichactivities
suchasharvesting,building,andestivals
wereconnectedtothetimingothefoods.
3.Havestudentscreateanillustrated
calendarthatshowsthemainactivities
andeventsrelatedtotheNilethat
occurredduringatypicalyearinancient
Egypt.
. head m a state Ttm iii
pbabl m Kaak
ne Kdm, Eteet Dat, e Ttm iii
(a. 1912 B.c.)
gaake
het 1 e
Aqed 1, aed m selma ha (EA 9)
At the beginning o his rule (soon ater the death o his aunt and step-
mother, Queen Hatshepsut), Thutmosis III commissioned a estival hall or
the celebration o his sedestival, or royal rejuvenation. This jubilee es-
tival, typically celebrated in principle every thirty years o a kings reign,
was meant to rejuvenate the kingto make him able to rule as a youngperson again.
This sculpture was probably one o those intended to represent the pha-
raoh in that hall. Symbolic o rebirth, the green color o the stone used
or this portrait, a stone called graywacke, was appropriate or sculptures
intended or a estival celebrating the kings own renewal. For more than
a century, however, scholars deliberated over whether this head repre-
sented Thutmosis III or Hatshepsut. The eatures o both rulers were oten
rendered with conusing similarity: large, almond-shaped eyes, prominent
cosmetic lines, elegantly arching brows, slightly aquiline nose, and gentlycurved mouth, as seen in this piece.
Does this piece [image no. 7] represent Queen Hatshepsut, who was
king o Egypt in the middle o the 18th dynasty, or her nephew and co-
regent, Thutmosis III? Recent research has shed decisive new light on
the subject. Its now generally agreed by Egyptologists that this head
represents Thutmosis III. We can tell this because o the details o the
acial portraiture, the shape o the eyebrows, the shape o the nose, in
the shape o the lips. Also the wonderul polished green graywacke. We
now know this was a stone especially avored by Thutmosis III. (Vivian
Davies)
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Dscsso Starters
1. Egyptianartollowedverystrict
guidelinesoormandproportions.Inwhatwayswouldagridliketheoneshown
herehavebeenuseultoartistsasthey
plannedtheirwork?Havestudents
imaginethattheyareartistsworkingon
alarge-scalemonumentoratemple.I
theycouldnotstepbacktolookattheir
workastheyprogressed,howwouldthey
useagridtomakesuretheywerestaying
withintheguidelinesothetraditional
Egyptiandrawingsystem?
2. Whichothedrawingsoanarmdo
youthinkwasmadebythemostpracticed
artist?Havestudentsdescribethe
qualitiesothearmandhandthatled
themtotheirconclusion.
3. Seatedguresdrawnonagridwere
meanttotakeupourteensquaresrom
thebaselinetothehairline(asopposedto
thetopothehead,becausepeoplewere
otendepictedwearingheaddresseso
dierentheights).Didtheartistwhodrew
ThutmosisIIIonthisdrawingboardstay
withinthisguideline?Basedonthis
drawing,onwhichlinewasthenose
supposedtobedrawn?Theknees?
Actt: Drawg the HmaBod usg Acet Egta
proortos
Procedure:
1. ExplaintostudentsthattheEgyptians
usedthehumanbodyintheollowingways
asastandardormeasurements:
a. Theproportionsothehumangure
wererelatedtothewidthothe
palmothehand.
b. Theentiregure,romeetto
hairline,waseighteenpalmshigh.
c. Theacewastwopalmshigh.
d. Shouldersweresetatsixteenpalmsromthebaseothegure.
e. Elbowsweresetattwelvepalms
romthebase.
. Kneesweresetatsixpalmsrom
thebase.
2. ReviewthegridsystemontheDrawing
Board.Havestudentsdrawasimilargrid
onapieceopaper.
3. Havestudentsdrawstandinggures
usingEgyptianartisticstandards.
. Da Bad
peae k
ne Kdm, Eteet Dat (a. 1 B.c.)
wd, late, k
1K X 21 e
Aqed 13 at te ale te salt cllet (EA 01)
Originally a square grid ruled in red covered the thin layer o plaster on
one side o this drawing board. The grid is still visible on the let hal o
the inscribed surace, where a seated gure o a kingidentied by the
cartouches as Thutmosis IIIappears. On the right side, where the grid has
been erased, a dierent artist (and perhaps several dierent artists) prac-
ticed drawing: a quail-chick hieroglyph; seven awkwardly drawn versionso a orearm with outstretched hand, also a hieroglyph; and a small sketch
identiable as a loa o bread.
Artists used squared grids as a tool to aid them in obtaining acceptably
proportioned gures. This system o drawing was developed in the late
Eleventh or early Twelth Dynasties rom a series o guidelines used by
artists in the later Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period. Standing
gures were comprised o eighteen grid squares between the soles o the
eet and the hairline, with the knees, buttocks, junction o neck and shoul-
ders, and bottom o the nose drawn at designated horizontal lines on thegrid. Seated gures adhered to the same system but took up only ourteen
squares rom the bottom o the eet to hairline. The high quality o the
drawing o Thutmosis on this board suggests that it was made by a master
dratsman, possibly as a model or producing large-scale images o the
king on temple or tomb-chapel walls.
Writing boards were used like blackboards. They provided a surace
that could be cleaned or replaced very easily, and so they were usu-
ally used or practice in writing or drawing by apprentices. This board
[image no. 8] is covered with a layer o gesso plasteryou can see
where some ragments have aked o. Clearly this board has beendrawn by several dierent people o varying degrees o competence. It
reminds you o all the people who must have been trained to make the
monuments, and how much some o them must have suered beore
they came up to standard, and how very little natural talent some o
them had. (Richard Parkinson)
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Cass Actt: usg a Grd to
Make a Mra
Procedure:
1. Maketheollowingpreparations
beorebeginningthisactivity:
a. Chooseanimageromamagazin
ornewspaper(aworkoartwith
stronglinesalsoworkswell).
b. Copytheimageinblackand
white;youmayneedtoenlargeit.
c. Drawaone-by-one-inchgridover
theimage(makethesamenumbe
ogridsquaresasthereare
students).
d. Rowsosquaresshouldbenumbered;columnsshouldbe
lettered(sothattheuppermost
rowismadeosquaresA1,B1,
C1,etc.).Writethecolumnletter
andrownumberonthebacko
eachsquare.
e. Cutthesquaresapart.
2. Giveeachstudentasquare;mixthem
upsostudentsdonotknowtheorder.
3. Havestudentsmarktheirone-inch
piecewithaour-squaregrid(linesat
inch).
4. Havestudentsdrawaour-by-our-
inchsquareonaseparatepieceopape
andcutitout.Havestudentsmarkthe
squareintoourequalparts.
5. Askstudentstotranserthedrawing
romthesmallersquaretothelarger
square.Havethemuseheavyblacklines
oroutlinesandllinthespacesor
recreatepatternswithcolorsotheir
choice.
6. Whenstudentsarenished,discuss
thebenetsousingagridsystemin
relationtotheirindividualdrawings.
7. Usingthegridlocationsontheback
otheone-inchsquares,puttheour-inc
squarestogethertorecreatetheorigina
image.
8. Discussthebenetsandchallenges
ousingagridsystem.Canstudents
identiytheoriginalimage?Howwelldo
theblacklinesmatchup?
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Dscsso Starters
1.LookattheBottleintheFormoa
Bolti-fsh.Howdidtheartistutilizecolorandpatternstomakethisobjectespecially
lielike?
2.Theboltiwasasymbolorebirth
andregenerationbecausethemother
sheltersheryounginhermouth.Why
wouldsuchanactionsymbolizerebirth
andregeneration?Considerwhat
studentshavelearnedaboutreligious
beliesandunerarypracticesinancient
Egypt;discusstheimportanceorebirth
andregenerationinancientEgypt.
3.InancientEgypt,glasswasaslightly
lessexpensivealternativetosemi-preciousstones.Whatdoesthissuggestabout
glassatthattime?Whatwouldithave
beenusedor?Whatisglassusedor
today?Whichdoyouthinkisamore
versatilemedium,glassorsemi-precious
stones?Whataresemi-preciousstones
usedortoday?Doyouthinkglasswasas
commoninancientEgyptasitistoday?
Actt: Researchg Smbos
o Rebrth ad Regeerato
Procedure:
1.E xplainthattheEgyptiansviewedtheboltiasasymbolorebirthand
regeneration.
2.Askstudentstobrainstormorresearch
symbolsusedbyothercultures,bothpast
andpresent,tosymbolizethethemes
orebirthandregeneration.Consider
symbols