• Divided between

• Lower (North)

• Middle

• upper Egypt (South)

Map of Ancient Egypt

EGYPTIAN ART

• Predynastic: c. 4000-2700 BCE• Old Kingdom: c. 2700-2200 BCE• Middle Kingdom: c. 2040-1674 BCE• New Kingdom: c. 1500-1070 BCE

Predynastic: c. 4000-2700 BCE

• Corresponds to late Neolithic period. • people survived on Nile• Agriculture allowed Egyptians to utilize

Nile to fullest potential• Divided into multiple kingdoms

– Kings increased power with claims of divinity

People, Boats, and Animals 3,200 BCE Hierakonpolis Predynastic Period

Hymn to the Nile

• Hail to thee, O Nile! Who manifests thyself over this land, and comes to give life to Egypt! Mysterious is thy issuing forth from the darkness, on this day whereon it is celebrated!

• Lord of the fish, during the inundation, no bird alights on the crops. You create the grain, you bring forth the barley, assuring perpetuity to the temples. If you cease your toil and your work, then all that exists is in anguish. If the gods suffer in heaven, then the faces of men waste away.

• Then He torments the flocks of Egypt, and great and small are in agony. But all is changed for mankind when He comes; He is endowed with the qualities of Nun. If He shines, the earth is joyous, every stomach is full of rejoicing, every spine is happy, every jaw-bone crushes (its food).

• Where misery existed, joy manifests itself; all beasts rejoice. The children of Sobek, the sons of Neith, the cycle of the gods which dwells in him, are prosperous. No more reservoirs for watering the fields! He makes mankind valiant, enriching some, bestowing his love on others. None commands at the same time as himself. He creates the offerings without the aid of Neith, making mankind for himself with multiform care.

Read the text. Explain the significance of the Nile in both real and spiritual terms using examples from both the text and art piece below.

People, Boats, and Animals

• Early stage in development of funerary customs and of Egyptian art.

• The human and animal figures tend to become standardized, abbreviated “signs” almost as if they were almost hieroglyphs.

Early Dynastic period 3100 BCE

• Upper Lower Egypt unified by Menes (possibly Narmer)

Palette of Narmer c. 3150-2920 BCE Hierakonpolis, early dynastic, Dynasty 1, mudstone

Palette of King Narmer• Ceremonial slate celebrating Upper Egypt’s

victory over Lower Egypt.• Visual symbols convey specific meaning• Establishes style for portraying important

figures

-Composite View: Profile views of head, legs, and arms, with front views of his eye and torso

-Hierarchical Scale: Important figures larger• Registers: Divided into horizontal bands

Palette of Narmer(Left)

• Narmer wears white crown of Upper Egypt

• Falcon is Horus, local god of Upper Egypt

• Papyrus symbolizes Lower Egypt

• Narmer not wearing sandals = sacred ground

Palette of Narmer(Right)

• Narmer wearing red cobra crown of Lower Egypt

• Great bull symbolizes strength of Narmer

• Elongated necks form circular depression to hold eye makeup

Identify/interpret the iconography

• Upper Egypt• Dynasty• Old, Middle, & New Kingdoms• Delta• Papyrus• Hieroglyphs• Rosetta Stone• Hieroglyphic writing• Canon of proportions• Ka• Sarcophagus• Necropolis• Mastaba• Pylon• Hypostyle• Colonnade

• Clerestory• Obelisk • Pharaoh• Scribe• Ra• Horus• Aten• Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV)• Monotheism• Polytheism

CH 3

Representation of the Human Figure in Egyptian Art

• Developed a Canon of Proportions – based on a grid with each square based on the size of the fist.

• Used a groundline instead of a realistic portrayal of ground.

Basics of Egyptian Art• Pharaoh is supreme ruler and a god• Much of art is centered around the

afterlife–Utilitarian rather than purely aesthetic –Artisans work toward common goal to ensure

immortality for their rulers and families–Art like hieroglyphics functions as language for

communicating with one another and the gods–Artists were craftsmen who were meant to do

the same thing every time!

Here is the system they seem to have followed:A standing figure should occupy 18 squares from soles to hairline.The knee line should be at 1/3 height, in the 6th square up.The lower buttock line should be at 1/2 height, in the 9th square up.The elbow line should be at 2/3 height, in the 12th square.Neck-and-shoulders should be in the 16th square.The calf line, between the knee and sole, should be in the 3rd square.The nose and lip should be separated by line 17.Line 14 should go through the nipple.Line 11 should go through the small of the back, for a male figure. For a female figure, line 12.The length of a hanging forearm was usually 5 squares from elbow to outstretched finger tips.One vertical line ran through the ear, dividing the figure in two.Male figures measured 5 squares across at the shoulder at line 15, 4 across (usually) at the armpits, and 2 1/2 or less across at line 11 (the small of the back). Female figures also measured 5 squares across at the shoulders at line 15, but 3 across (usually) at the armpits, and 2 across at the small of the back at line 12.

YOU HAVE 15 minutes to work on your Egyptian figures. Get out CH3 study guides and vocabulary

Old Kingdom c. 2700-2200 BCE

• Unified Egyptian civilization• Climate change – Egypt became warmer!• Kings and officials became wealthy and

commissioned portraits, sculptures, and decorated tombs

• Colossal sculptures and funerary buildings were constructed by those made homeless from the flooding of the Nile.

• Mastaba: Square mound-shaped tomb

• Veneer: faced with brick or stone

• Burial chamber deep underground linked by shaft

• Serdab: sealed room to house the Ka or life force

• Sarcophagus: stone coffin housed the body

• Often grouped together in a Necropolis: city of the dead

Old Kingdom funerary Architecture

IMHOTEP• First artist whose name has been recorded

in history• Royal builder for King Djoser• Served as pharaoh’s chancellor and high

priest of the sun god Re• Born a commoner, but deified during New

Kingdom• NOT a mummy who comes back to life

and tries to kill a bunch of people

STEP PYRAMID OF KING DJOSER Saqqara, Dynasty III, c. 2681-2662 BCE

Imhotep

Transverse section of Step Pyramid

FUNERARY DISTRICT OF KING DJOSER Saqqara, c. 2681-2662 BCE

Plan of Mortuary Precinct of Djoser.

ENGAGED COLUMNS WITH PAPYRUS

CAPITALS Mortuary Complex of

Djoser • Columns - Cylindrical, upright

architectural support

• Engaged Columns – Columns set into the wall - NOT free-standing

• Fluting – shallow grooves running the length of a column

• Capitals – the top of a column

Detail, ENGAGED COLUMN W/ PAPYRUS BLOSSOM CAPITAL

COLONNADED PROCESSIONAL

HALL Mortuary Complex

of King Djoser

Hypostyle: Heavily colonnaded hall

fluting

Fluted Palm Leaf Lotus BudPapyrus Blossom Papyrus Bud

Mastaba to PyramidWas it simple architectural evolution?

Or is there something more???

• Horus-Pharaoh connection – Horus, the sky god is believed to be the Pharaoh by Egyptians.

• Horus-Ra connection – Horus the god of the sky became connected with Ra the sun god

• It was believed that the Benben rose out of the primordial waters when the first rays of sunlight struck it.

• The Benben became associated with Ra and eventually Horus and therefore a symbol of the Pharaoh.

• The Benben is ….

NORTHERN PYRAMID OF SNEFERUDahshur DYNASTY IV, 2680-2565 BCE

PYRAMIDS AT GIZADynasty IV, c. 2570-2544 BCE

The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is one of the largest single buildings ever constructed. The Greeks saw it as one of the 7 wonders of the world. Originally 479 ft in height, it still stands at an awe-inspiring 449 ft. Most of its height loss is due to the stripping of its original smooth limestone casing.

Giza Necropolis

• Pyramid of Khufu - (aka the Great pyramid) is the oldest and largest

• Pyramid Of Khafre – connected to the Sphinx, 2nd largest

• Pyramid of Menkaure – 3rd of the Giza Necropolis

Khufu

Khafre

Menkaure

Cross Section of Khufu’s Pyramid

Great Sphinx with Khafre’s Pyramid

THE GREAT SPHINXGiza, c. 2570-2544 BCE

Old Kingdom Statuary

• Housed Ka if body was destroyed• Used hard permanent stone

Khafre (Chefren), Giza, c. 2500 BCE

• Diorite

• Rigid frontality

Menkaure (Mycerinus) and His

Wife, Queen Khamerernebty

Giza, c. 2515 BCE

Slate

Warm-UpCompare and contrast the two statues

Prince Rahotep and His Wife Nofretc. 2580 BCE

Painted Limestone

Seated Scribe, from his mastaba at Saqqara. c. 2450-2350 BCE

Ka-Aper, from his mastaba at Saqqara.

c. 2450-2350 BCE

Wood

Paintings and Relief

• Used on papyrus but also decorating tombs and temples

• Carved or drawn and always painted (much painting is lost)

Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt

Tomb of Ti,

Saqqara.

c. 2510-2460 BCE

Middle Kingdom Art

• 2040-1674 BCE 11th & 12th Dynasties• Power of deified pharaoh declines• Age marked by more pessimistic

attitude toward life and death• Art reflects unrest of the time more

expressive & more realistic• Loosening of established rules

Portrait of Sesostris III

c. 1850 BCE

Middle Kingdom

Feeding the Oryxes. c. 1928-1895 BCEMiddle Kingdom

New Kingdom Art

• c. 1500-1070 BCE 18th – 20th Dynasties

• Country united again• Divine kingship asserted in new way:

by association w/ god Amun fused w/ sun god Ra now supreme deity

• New threat to royal power priestly caste of Amun

Funerary Temple of Queen HatshepsutArchitect: Senenmutc. 1478-1458 BCE

Warm-Up 9/10/08• Identify, compare and

contrast the Old Kingdom tomb versus the New Kingdom tomb.

Statues of Hatshepsut

Senmut with Princess Nefrua. c.1470-1460 BCE

Block statues extremely popular during New Kingdom

Temple of Luxor (aka Karnak). Pylon with statues of Ramses II and Obelisk. c.1279-

1212 BCE

Plan of the Temple of Amun

Aerial View of Luxor/Karnak

Hypostyle: Heavily colonnaded hall

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Courtyard_Amenhotep_III.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/Roman_Mural.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/LuxorTemple1.jpg

AKHENATEN (Amenhotep IV)• AMARNA: Period or style of art

under Akhenaten• Akhenaten tries to unify Egypt under

monotheistic religion Single god, the sun disk Aten

• Innovative art new sense of form• Mobile, curves, relaxed

Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV)

c. 1348-1336/5 BCE

New Kingdom- Amarna Style

Akhenaton

c. 1353-1335 BCE

Amarna Style

Sandstone

Queen Nefertiti

c. 1348-1336/5 BCE

New Kingdom- Amarna Style

Tiye

c. 1353-1335 BCE

Amarna

Wood, gold, silver, lapis lazuli

The Daughters of Akhenatenc. 1360 BCE New Kingdom- Amarna

AKA: Scary Alien Baby Heads

Innermost Coffin and Funerary Mask of Tutankhamen. c. 1327 BCENew Kingdom

Tutankhamen