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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

    [email protected]

    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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    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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    1

    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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    3

    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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    0

    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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    3

    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