Egyptian hieroglyphs mixture of various logographic and alphabetic

Egyptian hieroglyphs • mixture of various logographic and alphabetic elements • used for religious literature • over 700 – 800 basic symbols • Hieroglyph comes from two Greek words meaning “sacred writing”. This came from the Egyptians’ own word for their language meaning “divine speech” • A single picture symbol could stand for a whole word

THE EGYPTIAN CANON OF PROPORTIONS • the different parts of the human body corresponded to different squares in the grid • usually 18 units to the hairline, or 19 units to the top of the head • 5 units from the waist to the shoulder • 3 units from the top of the head to the chin • women were identified by lighter skin tone and with both feet together • men were identified by darker skin tone and with their left foot stepped forward

• • • aim – to show the body as completely as possible they combined frontal and profile views of the person in profile: feet, legs, head in frontal view: torso, shouldres, eyes the same hand was usually shown twice to depict all the fingers • • the most important figures were the biggest the colour was sometimes used symbollically

Interior design - New Kingdom • • • The furniture produced during this period is on a luxurious scale, and is also evidence of greater woodworking skill. The New Kingdom saw the Egyptians extend their empire to new lands from Nubia to the Euphrates River and this contact with foreign cultures seems to have had its effect on furnishings. In wealthy Egyptian homes chairs appear in greater abundance. Folding stools were richly painted in bright colors. Small, low tables were often woven from rush.

Tutankhamun's Perfume • • When the tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun was opened, among the luxurious contents found within were various beautifully crafted jars and containers. To the excitement of the excavators, one particular jar was discovered to contain a perfumed unguent, still radiantly fragrant after so many centuries. Unguent is the classical word used to describe what modern English -speakers might better understand as an ointment or a solid perfume. Despite the occasional ancient Egyptian image or the discovery of what certainly seems to be functional distillery equipment in the ruins of Mohenjo-Daro, as far as we know today the distillation process was not popularized until the 10 th century of our time. Thus, Egyptian perfumes were very different in texture from the liquids now considered "perfumes". For a close modern comparison, consider the solid perfumes currently imported from India, packaged in small carved wooden or stone containers. (The resemblance is in texture, presentation and appearance, not necessarily in fragrance. )

• The perfumed ointment found in Tutankhamun's tomb was of a solid nature, although it was noted that it melted and became more viscous within the heat of a hand. Observers at the time found the aroma similar to coconut oil and also remarked that it resembled the scent of valerian (Valeriana officinalis), the first tip-off to what the jar probably contained.

• Created by III. AJ