ANCIENT EGYPT ART, LIFE, AND DEATH

THE GREAT PYRAMIDS OF GIZA BUILT DURING "THE OLD KINGDOM"

WHEN?

FROM ROUGHLY 2550 TO 2490 B.C. THE PYRAMIDS WERE BUILT BY PHARAOHS KHUFU (TALLEST), KHAFRE (BACKGROUND), AND MENKAURE (FRONT).

WHY?

• pyramids were made as tombs for the pharaoh

• building began at the start of the pharaoh's reign

• most of the art and carvings we know today from

ancient Egypt were decorations in tombs done for

the afterlife

WHEN THEY WERE MADE, THE GIZA PYRAMIDS WERE SMOOTH AND WHITE AND COVERED WITH POLISHED LIMESTONE

TODAY WE CAN SEE THE

LARGE BLOCKS USED TO CONSTRUCT

For the largest pyramid to be

made in the est. 20 years

that would mean moving 800

tonnes of stone everyday and

putting 12 blocks in place

every hour DAY AND NIGHT approx. 2.3 million

limestone blocks

HOW?

WHO? not slaves but

work camps

some would

be working

instead of

paying taxes

SPHINX MADE DURING OLD KINGDOM APPROX. 2500 BCE

so called by the ancient

Greeks after their sphinx

(body of a lion, head of a

woman and wings of an

eagle)

named 2000 years

after it was made no wings and

head of a man

BUILT 2500BCE ALL BUT THE HEAD WAS COVERED BY SAND UNTIL 1940'S

IT IS THE LARGEST MONOLITH STATUE

IN THE WORLD, STANDING 73.5

METRES (241 FT) LONG, 19.3 METRES

(63 FT) WIDE, AND 20.22 M (66.34 FT)

HIGH.

DEATH BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

MUMMIFICATION WHAT DO YOU KNOW?

CANOPIC JARS

• the brain was not saved but scrambled and removed through the left nostril

• the heart was not removed but was very important

IMPORTANT ORGANS WERE SAVED

JACKAL FALCON BABOON HUMAN

AFTER DEATH YOUR HEART WAS WEIGHED

• If the heart balanced against the feather then the

deceased would be granted a place in the Fields of

Hetep and Iaru.

• If it was heavy with the weight of wrongdoings, the

balance would sink and the heart would be grabbed

and devoured by a terrifying beast that sat ready

and waiting by the scales.

• This beast was Ammit, "the gobbler", a composite

animal with the head of a crocodile, the front legs

and body of lion or leopard, and the back legs of a

hippopotamus.

PAINTING STYLE

STYLE HEAD, BODY, ARMS, LEGS AND FEET IN PROFILE

TORSO AND EYES FROM THE FRONT

HIERARCHY OF IMPORTANCE

• Pharaoh always the largest

• males larger than females

• men painted darker than women

• no emotions or facial expression

HIEROGLYPHICS

• use the hand-out and write your name in hieroglyphics

• remember: they are based on SOUND

• this means you may need fewer than the number of letters in your name

write your name vertical not horizontal