AP Art History: Egyptian Art

Pyramid Texts

Maybe the oldest religious texts in the world; written on the walls of pyramids at Saqqara;

Amarna

New capital of Egypt under Akhenaten. Site of an archive with many letters. Many from great kings, written to the Egyptian king.

Intermediate Period

Periods of collapse in ancient Egypt (when the pharaoh does not control the entire land) are called:

Mummification

embalmment and drying a dead body and wrapping it as a mummy

Imhotep

the first known artist that built the step pyramid at Sakkara

Osiris

Egyptian god of the underworld and judge of the dead

New Kingdom

(1550 BCE - 1100 BCE) Period in ancient Egyptian history characterized by strong pharaohs who conquered an empire that stretched from Nubia in the south, to the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia.

Amenhotep III

(18th dynasty) a king who began an artistic revolution, built extensively at the temple of Karnak, and became the first to control the wealth in such a way that he could maintain his position through diplomacy, intermarriage, and propaganda, despite his marrying a commoner

Step Pyramid King Djoser

(Djoser Complex at Saqqara) ~ c. 2630-2611 BCE ~ Step pyramid & sham building ~ by Imhotep, first known artist in history ~ first complex to be made entirely of stone ~ six unequal steps ~ impression of "staircase to the heavens" ~ appears as a stack of mastabas ~ burial is below ground

Middle Kingdom

2050 BC. - 1800 BC.: A new dynasty reunited Egypt. Moved the capital to Thebes. Built irrigation projects and canal between NIle and Red Sea so Egytian ships could trade along coasts of Arabian Penninsula and East Africa. Expanded Egyptian territory:Nubia, Syria.

Great Sphinx

2500 BCE ~ generalized features, said to be Khafre, whose pyramid is behind the Sphinx ~ carved in situ from a huge god, symbol of the sun god ~ body of a lion, head of a pharaoh &/or a god ~ protects the pyramids ~ originally brightly painted to stand out ~ cats considered royal in Egypt ~ head mauled in the Middle Ages

Giza Pyramids

2550-2490 BCE (cut limestone) Old Kingdom (Menkaura, Khafre, Khufu) The images show a plan and a view of the pyramid complex at Giza. Using specific evidence, analyze how the pyramid was shaped by both the beliefs and the practices of the culture that built it. By the time these pyramids were built in the fourth dynasty for Khafre, Khufu, and Menkaure, the cult of Ra or Re had become important. The Pyramid was the symbol of the sun god, and the sun's rays were believed to be the ladder to the heavens. The pyramids are where the pharaoh is reborn just as the sun is reborn each day. The pyramid serves as a tomb and palace for the Pharaoh in the afterlife. Each side of the pyramid is oriented to the cardinal points on the compass and is aligned with the havens and sun. The pyramids also have smooth surfaces to allow the sun's rays to align with the pyramid to create a continuous ladder to the heavens. The Egyptians were very symmetrical when it came to their artwork and architecture which can also be seen in the perfect dimensions of the pyramid.

Old Kingdom

2700 BC - 2200 BC. Upper and Lower Egypt kept separate kingdoms, but later built unified government. Developed basic features of its civilization. BUILT THE PYRAMIDS: an eternal resting place for their god-kings.

Ptolemaic Period

332-30 BC. The Ptolemies bring Greek influence to Egypt, beginning with conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC.

Amon (Ra)

A Creator God with the powerful Sun God Ra. Egyptians worshipped Amon- Ra as a Chief God

Atlantid

A male figure that functions as a supporting column (statue-column). In the female form it is called a caryatid.

Pylon

A pair of truncated, pyramidal towers flanking the entrance to an Egyptian temple.

Tutankhamen

A pharaoh, or king of Egypt, who lived about 1400 B.C. His reign was relatively unimportant, but the discovery of his unplundered tomb in the 1920s is numbered among the great archaeological discoveries of all time.

Valley of the Kings

An area were many tombs where built after the great pyramids because it allowed for easier guarding and less grave robbery.

Karnak

Building at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period, although most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom. The area around Karnak was the ancient Egyptian Ipet-isut ("The Most Selected of Places") and the main place of worship of the eighteenth dynasty Theban Triad with the god Amun as its head. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes. The Karnak complex gives its name to the nearby, and partly surrounded, modern village of El-Karnak, 2.5 kilometres (1.6 miles) north of Luxor.

Nefertiti

Bust of Queen Nefertiti New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1340 BC Limestone, gypsum, crystal and wax Amarna excellent preservation of the colour and the fine modelling of the face. She was found in 1912 during the excavations of the German-Orient-Association in city of Achet-Aton, today known as Amarna. The individualized face and the special crown, tall, flat-topped decorated with a ribbon and the remains of a uraeus at the front identify the statue as Nefertiti. The bust served , as did many other masks found in the workshop of the Tuthmosis, as a model for artists producing portraits of the queen. She is shown as a grown woman with a harmonic and balanced beauty which is not disturbed by the slight folds under the eyes and chin as well as the slightly sunk cheeks. The bust is made of limestone which is covered with modelled gypsum. The eye is inlayed with crystal and the pupil attached with black coloured wax. The second eye-inlay was never carried out.

Horus

Egyptian falcon-headed solar god

Thebes

Capital city of Egypt and home of the ruling dynasties during the Middle and New Kingdoms. Amon, patron deity of Thebes, became one of the chief gods of Egypt. Monarchs were buried across the river in the Valley of the Kings. (p. 43)

Wall Fragment from the Tomb of Amenemhet and His Wife Hemet

Creation Date: Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 12, c. 1991-1784 B.C. Creation Place: Africa,North Africa,Egypt Object Type: Sculpture Materials and Techniques: Limestone, pigment Inscriptions: The hieroglyphic text names the deceased and family and calls upon the god Osiris to grant them sustenance in the afterlife.rectangular stela without cornice, gayly colored. Signs in offering prayer prayer along upper and down its right edge incised and filled with blue...Figure of 'the priest Amenemhet...and his wife, ...Himet..' standing before a 'table of offerings' Owner Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA Subject Description: This relief fragment from a tomb chapel portrays the official Amenemhet and his wife Hemet standing before funerary offerings. He wears a pleated white kilt with an inverted pleat that is depicted as a triangular projection.The low table before him is heaped with reed-shaped loaves of bread, a haunch of beef, and vegetables. To the right of the table stands a nested basin and ewer, and three tall vessels for liquid offerings. According to the conventions of Egyptian art, the vegetables and calf's head shown above the jars are considered to be behind them. The small figure to the upper right, also named Amenemhet, presents a haunch of beef to the deceased. Amenenmhet's wife Hemet stands behind her husband, her hand afftectionately on his shoulder. She holds a flower to her nose, an allusion to rebirth in the afterlife. In typical Old Kingdom style, the skin of Hemet is colored yellow, while the skin of her husband is a ruddy red. The well preserved pigment is a good reminder that most Egyptian monumentswere originally brightly colored. This relief from Amenemhet's tomb chapel served to immortalize him and his family for eternity through the preservation of their images, names, and food offerings. This scene originally was located above the tomb's 'false door,' a representation of a portal that allowed the spirit of the deceased access from the subterranean burial chamber into the decorated tomb chapel.

Inner coffin of Tutankhamen

Date: c. 1323 B.C. Period/Style: Egyptian Artist or Architect: N/A Original Location: New Kingdom Material/Technique: Gold interlay eith enamal and semiprecious stones Funtion: Coffin for the king Context: Coffin within the king's tomb, helf his mummified body Descriptive Terms: Tomb, gold, co

The Family of Akhenaton

Date: c. 1353-1335 B.C. Period/Style: Egyptian Artist/Architect: N/A Original Location: New Kingdom Material/Technique: Limestone Function: Depict Akhenaten and his wife and their relation to the new god, Aten Context: A peice that would be in someones home, not in a public place, depicting relation between the ruler and the god Ribbons are fluttering in opposite sides Pot belly "convention" People are in a hurry Descriptive Terms: Limestone, Aten, religion, sculpture

Akhenaten/ Amenhotep IV

Egyptian pharaoh (r. 1353-1335 B.C.E.). He built a new capital at Amarna, fostered a new style of naturalistic art, and created a religious revolution by imposing worship of the sun-disk. early ruler of Egypt who rejected the old gods and replaced them with Aten, the sun god.

Hatshepsut

First woman ruler in history. She ruled as pharaoh after the death of her husband. SHE WAS THE LAST STRONG PHARAOH TO LEAD THE KINGDOM. She built her own funeral temple at the Valley of the Kings.

Hunefer before Osiris

From Thebes, Egypt 19th Dynasty, around 1275 BC The scene reads from left to right. To the left, Anubis brings Hunefer into the judgement area. Anubis is also shown supervizing the judgement scales. Hunefer's heart, represented as a pot, is being weighed against a feather, the symbol of Maat, the established order of things, in this context meaning 'what is right'. The ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the seat of the emotions, the intellect and the character, and thus represented the good or bad aspects of a person's life. If the heart did not balance with the feather, then the dead person was condemned to non-existence, and consumption by the ferocious 'devourer', the strange beast shown here which is part-crocodile, part-lion, and part-hippopotamus. However, as a papyrus devoted to ensuring Hunefer's continued existence in the Afterlife is not likely to depict this outcome, he is shown to the right, brought into the presence of Osiris by his son Horus, having become 'true of voice' or 'justified'. This was a standard epithet applied to dead individuals in their texts. Osiris is shown seated under a canopy, with his sisters Isis and Nephthys. At the top, Hunefer is shown adoring a row of deities who supervise the judgement.ffin, afterlife, King, mummy

Hathor

Goddess of fertility and cows; wife of Horus.

Nefertiti

Great Royal Wife (chief consort) of Akhenaten, an Egyptian Pharaoh. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they worshiped one god only, Aten, or the sun disc. Akhenaten and Nefertiti were responsible for the creation of a whole new religion which changed the ways of religion within Egypt. With her husband, she reigned at what was arguably the wealthiest period of Ancient Egyptian history. Some scholars believe that Nefertiti ruled briefly as Neferneferuaten after her husband's death and before the accession of Tutankhamun, although this identification is a matter of ongoing debate

Deir el Bahri

Hatshepsut's greatest achievement was the temple at

Blue Crown

Helmet like crown worn by king as military leader, popular in New Kingdom and reign of Akhenaten

Mut

Her name means "mother" and in many ways she was regarded by the Egyptians as the great "world mother," and mother of the pharaohs.

Ankh-haf

It depicts a mature man and was therefore likely made during the reign of Khafre (circa 2520-2494 BC). One of the earliest - and even after four and a half thousand years, still among the finest - true sculptured portraits, it is an almost unprecedented depiction of the unidealised features of an actual person. Sculptures portraying true likenesses of people (rather than highly stylized portrayals) are rare in Ancient Egyptian art, both before and after the creation of Ankhhaf's bust.[2] Plaster covers a limestone core, which has been painted red, a colour commonly given to males in both sculpture and in reliefs (figures of women were typically painted yellow). The face is stern, with a slightly uneven mouth which makes him appear as though he is smirking from one side, and aloof and impersonal from the other. There is a slight droop to the eyelids, whose eyes were once painted white with brown pupils. The figure once had a beard and ears, which were broken away in antiquity along with part of the figure's nose

Abu Simbel

Jean-Louis Burkhardt found this in 1813 temple built by Ramses II which had to be cut apart and moved to higher ground The entranceway to the temple was built in such a way that on two days of the year, October 22 and February 22, the light would shine into the inner sanctuary and light up three statues seated on a bench, including one of the pharaoh. It's been hypothesized that these dates may celebrate his coronation and birth. 1264 BCE

Hatshepsuts Temple

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut Date: c. 1473-1458 B.C. Period/Style: Egyptian Artist/Architect: Senmut Original Location: Near Luxor Material/Technique: Sandstone, partially carved into a rock cliff, red granite Funtion: Funerary temple for the queen of the time Context: Built for the queen to commemerate her acheivments and act as a mortuary for her and a sanctuary for the god Amon ra Rhythmic and vertical lines above the temple Missing decorative elements trees and water Axiality Descriptive Terms: Granite, sanstone, cliff, carving, mortuary, queen

Seth

Osiris evil brother, cut Osiris up into 14 pieces and tossed them into the nile river

Ankhhaf

Prince Ankhhaf was an Egyptian prince and served as vizier and overseer of works to the Pharaoh Khafre, who was Ankhhaf's nephew. He lived during Egypt's 4th Dynasty

Frontal eye Art

Profile heads also allowed the artist to show the ear and headdresses or hair. However, artists did not depict the face entirely in profile. Egyptians showed the eye from a frontal view, which is why the iris is in the center of the eye

Goats Treading seed and cattle fording canal

Saqqara, Egypt, Fifth Dynasty This is a limestone relief sculpture found in the mastaba of Ti. On this limestone relief sculpture, it is an image of the fording of the nile, this is a metaphor for the deceased's passage from life to the after life which is one of the beliefs of the Egyptians. Humans and animals are portrayed with unconventional poses, and are all in profile view. There are also repetitions of poses with the humans, however less repetition in the animal representations. This particular relief does not contain Ti, therefore all the subjects in this piece act as a narrative of the story. The image of the people and animals are stiff and rigged as art in that period of time shares similar Egyptian styles. - less conventional -mixed profile, sense of how the world is -water is filled with hieroglyphs

Sesostris III

Senusret III is considered to be perhaps the most powerful Egyptian ruler of the dynasty, and led the kingdom to an era of peace and prosperity. Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures in which he appears careworn and grave. While many statues portray him as a vigorous young man, others deviate from this standard and illustrate him as mature and aging. This is often interpreted as a portrayal of the burden of power and kingship. Another important innovation in sculpture during the Middle Kingdom was the block statue, which consisted of a man squatting with his knees drawn up to his chest.

Ka

Soul

Red Crown

The Crown of Lower Egypt

White Crown

The Crown of Upper Egypt

Mycerinus

The last Fourth Dynasty king to build a pyramid at Giza; it is the smallest and partially sheathed in polished granite.

Saqqara

The location of the stepped pyramid, the earliest pyramid constructed in Egypt. In later periods, Saqqara continued to be used as a sacred burial area.

Lower Egypt

The northern part of ancient Egypt

Pectoral

The pectorals of ancient Egypt were a form of jewelry, often represented as a brooch. These were mostly worn by richer people and the pharaoh.

Nile

The world's longest river, which flows northward through East Africa into the Mediterranean Sea

The Nebamun Paintings

Thebes, Egypt Late 18th Dynasty, around 1350 BC Fowling in the marshes Nebamun is shown hunting birds, in a small boat with his wife Hatshepsut and their young daughter, in the marshes of the Nile. Such scenes had already been traditional parts of tomb-chapel decoration for hundreds of years and show the dead tomb-owner 'enjoying himself and seeing beauty', as the hieroglyphic caption here says. This is more than a simple image of recreation. Fertile marshes were seen as a place of rebirth and eroticism. Hunting animals could represent Nebamun's triumph over the forces of nature as he was reborn. The huge striding figure of Nebamun dominates, forever happy and forever young, surrounded by the rich and varied life of the marsh. There was originally another half of the scene, which showed Nebamun spearing fish. This half of the wall is lost, apart from two old photographs of small fragments of Nebamun and his young son. The painters have captured the scaly and shiny quality of the fish. A tawny cat catches birds among the papyrus stems. Cats were family pets, but he is shown here because a cat could also represent the Sun-god hunting the enemies of light and order. His unusual gilded eye hints at the religious meanings of this scene. The artists have filled every space with lively details. The marsh is full of lotus flowers and Plain Tiger butterflies. They are freely and delicately painted, suggesting the pattern and texture of their wings.

Karnak

Where the Great Temple of Amun can be found

Namar

United upper and lower Egypt

Khafre enthroned

Unknown, Khafre Enthroned, ca. 2570-44 BCE, Diorite Stone, Sculpture, Old Kingdom, Egypt ---The seated scultpure of Khafre is one of many at his valley temple near the Great Sphinx. This sculpture exemplifies the symbolic and venerative nature that greatly defined Egyptian artwork. ---The material used was Diorite. A very hard, dark-coloured stone that had once been admired by the likes of the Neo-Sumerian ruler Gudea. The stone had most likely been brought down at around 400 miles down The Nile river through the royal quarries in the south. As it was used for sculpting royalty, Diorite must have been valuable at that time. ---This is a sculpture in the round (the entire pharaoh's body and throne) with some slight elements of a relief sculpture (the sides of the throne). ----The sculptor had used a subtractive method which was present in many Egyptian artworks as he had to carve the work out of a large block of Diorite. He had first drawn the front, back and two side profile views of the pharaoh on the four vertical faces of the block. Then he had apprentices carve each side of the block until each carved plane met at the correct angles. The master sculptor would then chisel away more to create the body and head of Khafre. Lastly, he would create the final details by using "abrasions" or basically rubbing away or grinding the surface. ----The sculptor's technique was typical of Egyptian artists. He created a very youthful and idealized face as Egyptian art was not about accuracy. It was about idolizing and beautifying the subject in his prime. As if time and age could not affect him. This idea may have derived from the Egyptians' strong belief in the afterlife and that emperors were gods. -- sits rigidly with his right fist clenched (perhaps suggesting dominance and power) and his left palm placed on his knee. His expression is serene. This has captured that still, eternal look.

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt in the south is "upstream." Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends between Nubia, and downriver (northwards) to Lower Egypt.

Step Pyramid

Uses flat platforms or steps receding form the ground up to achieve a completed shape, used by several cultures all over the world

Ma'at

What is the term for what the Egyptians considered to be "The ideal of perfect harmony"? the Egyptian concept of truth, justice, and cosmic order, represented by a goddess, often portrayed with a feather upon her head

Djoser

What pharaoh ordered the building of the stepped pyramid at Saqqara?

Khafre/ Cephren

Which pharaoh's face is on the Great Sphinx? this son of Khufu built the second pyramid of giza Gizeh, Egypt. 4th dynasty, ca. 2500 BCE, diorite. Depicts Khafre as an enthroned divine ruler with a perfect body. Rigidity of the pose creates the effect of an eternal stillness, appropriate for the timeless afterlife

Senmut

Who designed "The Funerary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut?"

Caryatid

a female figure that functions as a supporting column

Hypostyle

a hall in an Egyptian temple that has a roof supported by a dense thicket of columns

Necropolis

a large and elaborate cemetery belonging to an ancient city; a historic or prehistoric burial ground

Papyrus

a material prepared in ancient Egypt from the pithy stem of a water plant, used in sheets throughout the ancient Mediterranean world for writing or painting on and also for making rope, sandals, and boats.

Post and Lintel

a structure consisting of vertical beams (posts) supporting a horizontal beam (lintel)

Khufu

an Egyptian pharaoh also called khufu. built the tallest/second of the pyramids of giza. Egyptian pharaoh; he ruled in the first half of the Old Kingdom period; he was the most famous pharaoh of the Old Kingdom; ruled in the 2500s BC; cruel but fed people well; best known for monuments built for him

Mastaba

an ancient Egyptian mudbrick tomb with a rectangular base and sloping sides and flat roof

Heiroglyphics

ancient Egyptian writing system using picture symbols for ideas or sounds

Rameses II

built secret royal tombs in the valley of the kings, built a great library, signed the world's first treaty with the Hittites, ruled for 66 years

Thoth

god of wisdom and writing

Clerestory

part of an interior wall rising above the adjacent roof with windows admitting light

Book of the Dead

scrolls that served as a guide for the afterlife in ancient Egypt

Menkaura and Khamerenbty

~ 2490-2472 BCE ~ slate ~ figures attached to the block of stone ~ figures stare out into space ~ wife presents him to the gods ~ powerful physique & stride symbolize his kingship ~ men & women same height: equality ~rigid and frontal

Palette of Narmer

~ 3000-2920 BCE ~ Relief sculpture depicting King Narmer uniting Upper & Lower Egypt ~ Hathor, a god as a cow with a woman's face, featured 4 times at the top register ~ hierarchy of scale ~ schematic lines delineate Narmer's muscle structure ~ commemorative or ceremonial ~ hieroglyphics explain & add to the meaning ~ narrative ~mixed view points ~defeating enemies ~ emblem of unification ~bull as Narmer defeating enemy

Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt

~ c. 2400 BCE ~ in the Tomb of Ti ~ painted relief in the mastaba of Ti ~ official duty of royal courtiers to watch ~ Seth disguised as a hippo ~ hippos seen as destructive (wandered onto fields & destroyed crops) ~ proclaimed the valor of the deceased & the triumph of good over evil, or at least order over destuctiveness

Seated Scribe

~ c. 2400 BCE ~ limestone ~ created for a tomb at Saqqara as a provision for the ka ~ not a pharaoh: realistic features ~ color still remains ~ lifelike, conventional image of a scribe ~ attentive expression ~ thin, angular face ~ contrasts from the ideally portrayed pharaoh