Flashcard image

Funerary mask of Tutankhamun

1327 BCGold inlaid with glass and semiprecious stones

Cairo Museum

New Kingdom

18th Dynasty

The Art

of

Ancient

Egypt

Theme: funerary art

Ancient Egypt

Timeless ICONOGRAPHY

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Excerpt from the Book of the Dead, New Kingdom

flashcard

Shows weighing feather of Maat vs. heart of dead

Annubis balances scale, Horus takes Ka to Isis

Afterlife guide to help transition

Painted papyrus

Found in tombs

Geography & Ancient Egypt

• Nile River - floods, fertile Delta

• Farming, irrigation systems

• Complex political systems developed

• Seas & deserts protected the civilization from invaders… stable civilization for thousands of years

• Very advanced civilization

How does Ancient Egypt compare with other civilizations?

• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=02&region=afe

• http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ht/?period=02&region=wam

How does Ancient Egypt compare with other civilizations?

Votive Statue, 2700 BCE

Ancient Near East

Sumer

Detail of Head of Khafre, 2490 BCE (from Temple/Pyramid)

How does Ancient Egypt compare with other civilizations?

Votive Statue, 2700 BC

Ancient Near East

Sumer

Great Pyramids of Giza, 2500 BCE

Ziggurat of Ur, 3100 BCE

Why do we know so much about Ancient Egypt?

• Dry climate, tombs = survival of art & artifacts• Rosetta stone - decoded language IN 1800S• Herodotus- Greek historian, 500 BC (religious)• Menathos’ list, 3rd century BCE- grouped kings into dynasties

between 3000 & 300 BCE• Strabo visited Alexandria, 100 BC• Emperor Hadrian of Rome-took antiquities in 130 AD• Middle ages - Bible studies• 1798-99: Napoleon - military & scholarly visits• Archaelogical excavations & POPULAR interest ever since!!• HOWARD CARTER - King Tut’s Tomb - 1920s

Rosetta Stone

196 BC

Religious decree of Pharoah Talmee (Cleopatra)

Greek, demotic, hieroglyphic

•Jean Francois Champillon, French linguist & Dr. Thomas Young, English scientist… found Cleopatra’s name on the stone•Discovered in early 1800s, took years to decode•Champillon spoke Coptic, figured out sounds, which led to birth of Egyptology

Stone Writing….

• Rosetta Stone 196 BC

• Stele of Hamurrabi from 1750 BC

Scepter, 1960s, GhanaEgyptian Iconography

Egypt United: Old Kingdom Begins in 3000 BCE

• Dynasty I : Palette of King Narmer• In pre-dynastic Egypt, each village had own gods• King Narmer united upper & lower Egypt (see

crown symbols united)

Flashcard image

Palette of King Narmer, 3000-2920 BCE

Commemorates unification of Egypt

Conquered march dwellers

Hierarchy of scale

Hierakonpolis / Egyptian Museum, Cairo

Palette of Nar-mer

Side 2

Goddess Hathor on both sides-Horus helping King

Marching to view headless bodies

Long necked lions symbolize unification

Eye makeup well on palette

Palette of Narner Firsts

1. Depicted figure in twisted perspective… lasted 3000 yrs

2. Low relief sculpture in registers with groundlines (1st in Egyptian art)

3. Unifed Egypt; depicted beginning of the Old Kingdom; transition away from Paleolithic farming villages

4. Religious iconography.

Palette of Narmer

3000 BCEVictory Stele of Naram-Sin, 2621 BCE

Palette of Naner

3000 BCEVictory Stele of Naram-Sin, 2621 BCE

Egyptian figurative conventions

Used for approximately 3000 yrs

Twisted Perspective

REMEMBER THE ART MADE THE WORLD VIDEO???

How does this perspective reflect their culture and SOCIAL STATUS?

Pyramids & Tombs

• 80 pyramids were built

• Began with the Mastaba (means Bench).. Mud brick tombs used in the Old Kingdom

• Egyptians believed that Isis ruled the underworld and judged dead souls; Ka lived forever

• Death & resurrection: Important to preserve/mummify bodies and to provide for life in the next world

Stepped Pyramid of Djoser, III Dynasty. , 2630 BCE 1st large scale stone building in world, build over mastaba. 14 gateways, facades of buildings. Engaged columns mimicked bunches of reed with papyrus tops.

Significant: 1st large scale building EVER in world

Flashcard image - Great Pyramids of Giza

IV Dynasty (Old Kingdom) Khafre, Khufu, Menkaure. Granite and limestone

Size: height of pyramid of Khufu, 450' (137 m)

How Pyramids Were Built

• http://touregypt.net/construction/construc.htm

2 million blocks, 1-2 tons each! How did they get them up there?

Great Sphinx, believed to be a portrait of Khafre. Originally painted & had a beard.

Menkaure and Queen Khamerernebty

Medium: Graywacke with traces red & black paint

54½ inches high

Date: Fourth Dynasty (ruled 2490–2472 BCE)

OLD KINGDOMSource/Museum: from Giza / Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Harvard University–MFA Expedition

Flashcard image

Equal scale

Embrace

Sheer dress on Queen

Pepy II and His Mother, Queen Ankhnes-Meryre

Egyptian alabaster

15¼ X 9 13/16"

She ruled until he was old enough, carved more naturalistically

Arms posed away from side.. Less permanence..

Reflects her status as temporary ruler rather than permanent ruler

Seated Scribe (FLASHCARD)Painted limestone; eyes of rock crystal mounted in copper

Size: height 21"

Date: Fifth Dynasty, c. 2450–2325 BCE

OLD KINGDOM

Musée du Louvre, Paris

Shows how different classes were portrayed.

Much smaller than statues of Pharoahs, etc. (21” vs life size or over sized”

Limestone, not more elegant materials

The Middle Kingdom

• 1975-1640 BCE (intermediate thru 1520)• Mentuhop (11th Dynasty) kings reunited

Egypt.• Powerful, unified govt w/ strong military• Arts & literature flourished• Portraiture became more sensitive &

realistic

Head of Senusret III

Yellow quartzite

17¾ X 13½ X 17"

Middle Kingdom

Twelfth Dynasty, c. c. 1836–1818 BCE

More realistic

Looks tired, older

Dynamic King who led 4 expeditions into Nubia; overhauled administration

Rock-cut tombs, Beni Hasan.

Middle Kingdom

Date: Twelfth Dynasty, c. 1938–1755 BCE

Pectoral of Senusret II, Gold and semiprecious stones

Date: Twelfth Dynasty, c 1938–1755 (ruled c 1842–1837 BCE)

Tomb of Princess Sithathoryunet, el-Lahun. / The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

“May the sun god give eternal life to Senusret II” … ankh, falcons, cobras, Ra…

Stele of Amemhat I, 12th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom)… Portrays daily family life. Found in his tomb. 11” x 15”

The New Kingdom

• 1539-1075 BCE• Hykkos invaded; 18th Dynasty reunited kingdom• Thutmose III (1st Pharoah) expanded Egypt into

present day Syria• Trade with near East• Built New Kingdom Temples & tombs to glorify

kings / Pharoahs

Ruins of the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak, Egypt

(New Kingdom, 1579 BCE)

Symmetrical & Axial Design (processional path)

Covered area size of 60 football fields; hypostyle hall w/ lots of columns

Statues of gods clothed and “fed” daily by priests

Added to by various Pharoahs; sacred lake, coronation rooms

Flower & Bud columns

Hypostyle Hall

Great Temple of Amun at Karnak

http://dlib.etc.ucla.edu/projects/Karnak/experience/IntroductionToTheTempleOfKarnak/1

Queen Hatshepsut Enthroned

New Kingdom, 1473-1458 BCE

20 year reign, 1st female Pharoah portrayed in art

Sometimes shown as male w/false beard

Led diplomacy with Punt

Built incredible funerary temple positioned against high cliffs, oriented towards Karnak

Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir El-Bahri

1473 BCE (New Kingdom)

Fowling Scene, Tomb of Nebamum, 1400 BCE (New King.), fragment of wall painting, British Museum

•18th dynasty

•Suggests distance & movement

•Animals, butterflies naturalistic

•Wife/daughter smaller than Nebamum (hierarchy of scale)•Hieroglyphic: enjoying himself and seeing beauty, (Forever young?)

•Marsh symbolizes rebirth

•Cat can symbolize deity hunting enemies of light and order

Flashcard image, not in book

Amarna Period: Revolution in Art and Religion

• 1353-1336 BCE• Changed name to Akhenaten (one who is effective for

Aten, a god)• 1st Monotheist in Egypt: Worshipped Aten (sun god)• New capital in Tell el-Amarna• Changed typical Egyptian figurative style in artworks• Promoted glass making

Akhenaten, Colossal Figure, located at Temple of Karnak (16 ‘ tall)

Long face, thin neck, swollen belly, somewhat androgynous looking.

Built temples to Aten.. Sun disk, open courtyards

Wife Queen Nefertiti was priestess

Truth (Maat) emphasized… more realistic artwork and informal situations.

Akhenaten & his Family, 1353 BCE (New Kingdom), painted limestone sunken relief

How is this

Relief so

Different?

Queen Tiye, New Kingdom

Funerary piece of yew wood, ebony, glass, silver, gold, lapis, cloth, clay & wax

Entire sculpture was 1/3 life size

Older woman, mom of Akhenanten

Married for love.

Played key role in affairs of state husband Amenhotep III.

Realistic style; African features

Queen Nefertiti

(flashcard)

1302-1234 BCE

18th Dynasty/

New Kingdom

Painted limestone

21” (life size)

Tomb found in 1904. Most impressive Queen’s tomb found

Diplomacy w/Hittites

“mother of kings”

Book of Dead

Shown w/God Horus frequently

Tutankhamun & Ramses II: Return to Tradition

• Priesthood of Amun regained former power a few years after Akhenaten’s death

• Tutankhaten = Tutankhamun (changed name)• Court moved back to Thebes • Tutankhamun’s tomb discovered in 1922-incredible riches captured

public imagination (died young)• Ramses II built mighty empire.. Peace with Hittites• Amazing Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel (see Object Speaks in

book)

Flashcard image

Funerary mask of Tutankhamun

1327 BCGold inlaid with glass and semiprecious stones

Cairo Museum

New Kingdom

18th Dynasty

Flashcard image

Temple of Ramses II at Abu Simbel

4 65 foot statues of Ramses

Association w/Gods, Religious & political power

Queen Nefertrari, wife of Ramses II, shown behind his leg

Hieratic scale?

Judgment of Hunefer before Osiris, Scene from Book of the Dead

Painted papyrus, height 15⅝" (39.8 cm), Nineteenth Dynasty, c. 1285 BCE NEW KINGDOM

Illustration From a Book of The Dead. The British Museum, London

KNOW RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICANCE, HOW THIS WAS USED!

Eater waits for judgment

Feather of Maat vs. Heart

Osiris, king of underworld

Mummy wrapping of a young boy

Medium: Linen wrappings with gilded stucco buttons and inserted portrait in encaustic on wood

Size: height of mummy 53⅜" (133 cm) portrait 9½ X 6½"

Date: Roman period, c. 100–120 CE

AFTER NEW KINGDOM ENDED, ROMAN RULE

Source/Museum: Hawara / The British Museum, London

Conventions of Roman painting not Egyptian