ART 204 History of Western Art I Quiz Review - ANCIENT EGYPT

Ancient Egypt - Two Regions

Lower Egypt (downstream) and Upper Egypt (upstream)

The Predynastic period

5,000 B.C.E.- 3100 B.C.E. - the period before Dynastic Egypt

Ancient Egypt - Longevity

Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted more than 3000 years, showing an incredible continuity.

the Great Sphinx, Fourth Dynasty, Old Kingdom, Ancient Egypt

Carved out of "living rock" — stone still connected to the earth — though there are some additions to this. The image suggests the pharaoh's tremendous power, since it is not only colossal but also merges him with the most respected predator of Africa: the lion. Has the body of a lion but is capped by an image of the head of the pharaoh, wearing the royal cobra headdress. The Sphinx has unusually large eyes, and this emphasis serves to suggest that this powerful creature is a most watchful guardian. Guards the entrance to the Pyramid of Khafre. It sits at the entrance to the long causeway that leads to a funerary temple and then to the pyramid. This figure, 65 feet tall and almost 190 feet in length.

House Altar depicting Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Three of their Daughters, limestone, New Kingdom, Amarna period, 18th dynasty, c.1350 BCE

Depicts King Akhenaten, his wife Nefertiti, seated on thrones holding three of their daughters on their laps Iconography:monotheistic god, "Aten", represented by the sun disc in the centerCobra in the sun disk implies SOLE leadership, ONLY ONE GOD (monotheism); Aten is the supreme deity; ankhs (symbol of life) radiate out from the sun disc and reach toward the king and his wife; this shows that Aten connects directly to the royal family, and to them alone

Seated Scribe​, c. 2500 B.C.E., c. 4th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, painted limestone with rock crystal, magnesite, and copper/arsenic inlay for the eyes and wood for the nipples, found in Saqqara

Depicts a scribe from the Necropolis at Saqqara, Egypt.; Scribes were revered for their literacy and writing abilities; Commemorates the scribe and his importance in preserving Egyptian history; Serves a funerary purpose to help the scribe transcend into the afterlife; The position in which the scribe was posed was originially reserved for royal sons; does not adhere to strict cannon of proportions

Akhenaton from the temple of Aton, Karnak, Egypt, Sandstone, 13' high Amarna Period, ca. 1353-1335.

Egypt became prosperous and wealthy, especially under Amenophis III (1390-1352 B.C.E.), but turmoil arose when his son Akhenaten (1352-1336 B.C.E.) left Thebes, moved the capital to Akhetaten (Tell el-Amarna), and radically reformed the religion to the monotheistic Aten cult. It didn't last long. The first attempts to restore the old religion began as early as the rule of Akhenaten's son Tutankhamun (1336-1327 B.C.E.), and eventually persecution of the practitioners of the Aten cult proved successful and the old religion was re-established.

Ancient Egypt - Geography

Egypt is a land of duality and cycles, both in topography and culture. The geography is almost entirely rugged, barren desert, except for an explosion of green that straddles either side of the Nile as it flows the length of the country. The river emerges from far to the south, deep in Africa, and empties into the Mediterranean sea in the north after spreading from a single channel into a fan-shaped system, known as a delta, at its northernmost section.

Ancient Egypt - Consistency and stability

Egypt's stability is in stark contrast to the Ancient Near East of the same period, which endured an overlapping series of cultures and upheavals with amazing regularity. The Egyptians were aware of their consistency, which they viewed as stability, divine balance, and clear evidence of the correctness of their culture.

Thutmose, Model Bust of Queen Nefertiti, c. 1340 BCE, limestone and plaster, New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, Amarna Period

Not meant for display, but created for reference by the artist Thutmose

Hypostyle Hall, c. 1250 B.C.E. (hall), 18th and 19th Dynasties, New Kingdom, sandstone and mud brick, Karnak, at Luxor

One of the most impressive areas in the whole of the Karnak complex, with its towering columns. There are a total of 134 papyrus columns, including 12 in the center which are taller than the others. They measure about 21 meters (69 feet) high, while the 122 others measure 15 meters (49 feet). The larger columns have open capitals, while the smaller ones are closed. So large are these columns that fifty people could stand together on the capitals of the largest.

View of sphinxes, the first pylon, and the central east-west aisle of Temple of Amun-Re, Karnak in Luxor, Egypt

Pylon is the Greek term for a monumental gate of an Egyptian temple. It consists of two towers, each tapering and surmounted by a cornice, joined by a less elevated section enclosing the entrance between them. The gate was generally about half the height of the towers.

Ancient Egypt: Time - cyclical and linear

The Egyptians also measured time by combining mathematics with astronomy.....The Egyptians established a 24 hour division to the day...........and created a solar calendar which was the first dating system in history to feature 365 days in one year

Significance of the Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone is a granodiorite stele inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes.

Ancient Egypt: Time - cyclical and linear

The annual inundation of the Nile was also a reliable, and measurable, cycle that helped form their concept of the passage of time. In fact, the calendar we use today is derived from one developed by the ancient Egyptians: They divided the year into 3 seasons: •akhet "inundation" •Peret "growing/emergence." •shemw "harvest." Each season was, in turn, divided into four 30-day months. These two concepts—the cyclical and the linear—came to be associated with two of their primary deities: Osiris, the eternal lord of the dead, and Re, the sun god who was reborn with each dawn.

Ancient Egypt - Geography

The influence of this river on Egyptian culture and development cannot be overstated—without its presence, the civilization would have been entirely different. The Nile provided not only a constant source of life-giving water, but created the fertile lands that fed the growth of this unique (and uniquely resilient) culture.

Great Pyramids of Giza, Fourth Dynasty, Old Kingdom, Ancient Egypt

The last remaining of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the great pyramids of Giza are perhaps the most famous and discussed structures in history. These massive monuments were unsurpassed in height for thousands of years after their construction and continue to amaze and enthrall us with their overwhelming mass and seemingly impossible perfection. Their exacting orientation and mind-boggling construction has elicited many theories about their origins, including unsupported suggestions that they had extra-terrestrial impetus. However, by examining the several hundred years prior to their emergence on the Giza plateau, it becomes clear that these incredible structures were the result of many experiments, some more successful than others, and represent an apogee in line with the development of the royal mortuary complex.

Palette of King Narmer - What was the palette used for?

The object itself is a monumental version of a type of daily use item commonly found in the Predynastic period—palettes were generally flat, minimally decorated stone objects used for grinding and mixing minerals for cosmetics. Dark eyeliner was an essential aspect of life in the sun-drenched region; like the dark streaks placed under the eyes of modern athletes, black cosmetic around the eyes served to reduce glare. Basic cosmetic palettes were among the typical grave goods found during this early era. Research suggests that these decorated palettes were used in temple ceremonies, perhaps to grind or mix makeup to be ritually applied to the image of the god

Death Mask from innermost coffin, Tutankhamun's tomb, New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, c. 1323 B.C.E., gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

This death mask is considered one of the masterpieces of Egyptian art. It originally rested directly on the shoulders of the mummy inside the innermost gold coffin. It is constructed of two sheets of gold that were hammered together and weighs 22.5 pounds (10.23 kg).

Serekh

a square cartouche, used by the Egyptians to write the name by which their kings wanted to be known.

Obelisk

a stone pillar, typically having a square or rectangular cross section and a pyramidal top, set up as a monument or landmark.

mastaba

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

Ancient Egypt - Dates

c. 5000 - 30 B.C.E.

Palette of King Narmer - stylistic conventions

composite view- a convention of representation in which part of a figure is shown in profile and another part of the same figure is shown frontally hieratic scale- size indicates relative importance registers- horizontal bands conventionally used to nearly order pictorial elements (the preferred mode for narrative art in Mesopotamia)

Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

cut into the stone of the cliff-side; symbolic of power - a part of nature and holds the stability of the mountainside itself; we can see aspects of symmetry as well as the use of columns

Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut ca. 1479-1458 B.C.

granite - very durable; larger than life size at almost nine feet tall ; One of the only, and most powerful, female pharaohs; though we can tell that she is female, she has many male physical features: her breasts are de-emphasized, she has the classic beard of the pharaohs, and wears the royal male headdress; her masculine depiction is consistent with the upkeep of continuity and stability for Egyptian rulers (there is no word for "queen" in Egyptian--she truly saw herself as a king); kneeling position - depicted in offering, most likely to a deity

canon of proportions

system of proportions using a grid to create a standard, ideal system for depicting the human figure (used in ancient Egyptian Art through the Middle Kingdom)

idealization

the depiction of a human or a figure in a way considered to be most ideal according to the values or conventions of a certain culture

Palette of King Narmer - serpopards

the palette includes a pair of fantastic creatures —leopards with long, snaky necks—who are collared and controlled by a pair of attendants. Their necks entwine and define the recess where the makeup preparation took place.

Palette of King Narmer - Possible interpretations

unification of Upper and Lower Egypt More recent research on the decorative program has connected the imagery to the careful balance of order and chaos (known as ma'at and isfet) that was a fundamental element of the Egyptian idea of the cosmos. It may also be related to the daily journey of the sun god that becomes a central aspect in the Egyptian religion in the subsequent centuries.

sema-tawy

usually translated as "Uniter of the Two Lands" and was depicted as a human trachea entwined with the papyrus and lily plant. The trachea stood for unification, while the papyrus and lily plant represent Lower and Upper Egypt. The union of Upper and Lower Egypt is depicted by knotted papyrus and reed plants. The binding motif represents both harmony through linkage and domination through containment. The duality is an important part of royal iconography.