The Art of Ancient Egypt Big Idea Art

The Art of Ancient Egypt Big Idea : Art reflects religion and their belief in the afterlife.

WHERE? WHEN? • Located in the Nile river valley, Africa • Old Kingdom (2680 BC–c. 2200 BC) • Middle Kingdom (2055 BC– 1650 BC) • New Kingdom (1550 BC– 1069 BC),

WHO? Communities were made up of: • Soldiers • Slaves • Priests • Scribes • Artists and craftsmen • Farmers and herdsmen • Pharaohs & Queens • Gods/Godesses Fishing Scene Tomb of Kenamun About 1430 BC

Pharaoh • The leader was called a pharaoh. • The pharaoh was believed to be half man, half god. • The afterlife of the pharaoh is an important theme in ancient Egyptian art.

WHAT? • The greatest architectural achievements of the Ancient Egyptians were the pyramids. • Pyramids were built as tombs for the pharaohs. The pyramids contained the items that the Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh would need in the afterlife. • Much of the ancient Egyptian art that remains today was preserved in the pyramids.

Other Art created by Ancient Egyptians • Egyptian people had a rich culture and loved to make art. • The Egyptian people also made statues, relief carvings, paintings, pottery, jewelry, sculptures and even coffins. • Most ancient Egyptian art is found buried in the ground or found in ancient Egyptian pyramids.

Statues and Sculptures

Jewelry

Paintings

Bas-Relief Carvings / Stele Title: Seti I's Campaigns, Temple of Amun at Karnak, Thebes (exterior wall, north side of hypostyle). Date: ca. 1280 BCE.

King Tutankhamen • Tomb found in Valley of the Kings. • Dated back to 1327 B. C. E. • The inner coffin is made from hundreds of pounds of gold, and decorated with colored enamel, and gemstones.

Burial Art – Sarcophagus, Masks, & Mummies

Do you think ancient Egyptian culture has had an impact on our life today?

Ancient Egyptian culture has influenced our lives in many ways. • Some of our buildings are based on Egyptian architecture. – Did you know there is a pyramid shaped hotel in Las Vegas? • Some of our language comes from the Egyptian written language of hieroglyphs. • Sometimes people dress up in mummy costumes as well as wear jewelry with Egyptian designs. • Hollywood has filmed Egyptian based movies such as Cleopatra and The Mummy. • Song writers have written songs about Egyptian themes.

What do you think “Walk Like an Egyptian” means?

Egyptian artists liked to show everything from what they thought was the best possible viewpoint. Ancient Egyptian artists used a style called frontalism to draw people.

Frontalism • The face is from a side or profile view. • The eye is from a front view. • The arms and feet are from a profile view. • The shoulders and chest are from a front view.

Frontalism Can you see the front and profile views of these Egyptian figures?

Frontalism Look for the characteristics of Frontalism in this work of art. • • The face is from a side or profile view. The eye is from a front view. The arms and feet are from a profile view. The shoulders and chest are from a front view.

To Draw An Ancient Egyptian Person Just follow these steps. . . • The face is from a side or profile view. • The eye is from a front view. • The arms and feet are from a profile view. • The shoulders and chest are from a front view.

What is the written language of the ancient Egyptian people?

Hieroglyphics is the written language of the ancient Egyptian people. • Hieroglyphs appear on tomb and temple walls, statues, papyrus (paper) and even jewelry. • Text could be read from left to right, right to left, or up and down depending on which way the symbols faced. • Hieroglyphic writing is one of the most beautiful systems of writing ever created.

How Did People Learn To Write It? • Ancient Egyptians would attend a special school to learn to write and read hieroglyphics. • Egyptians who learned how to write the language were called Scribes.

What Did They Use? • First, they cut a plant called papyrus into thin layers. Then they the papyrus strips flat and pounded them with a mallet. Finally, they used a smoothing stone to smooth it out. • They wrote on the papyrus paper with reed pens which they dipped into ink. • They also carved and painted hieroglyphics on tombs and temple walls. • The wore a CARTOUCHE

The Rosetta Stone • The Rosetta Stone was found by French soldiers who were rebuilding a fort in Egypt in 1799. The Rosetta Stone is believed to have been made in 196 B. C. • The Rosetta Stone was inscribed with three different texts Greek, Demotic, Hieratic. Each text says the same thing. • The Rosetta Stone text was written by the priests in ancient Egypt to honor the Pharaohs. It lists all the good things the Pharaohs have done for the people and priests.

Examples of Egyptian Hieroglyphics

When you think of Egypt do you think of pyramids?

There approximately 100 Pyramids in Egypt • A pyramid was built to be the tomb of a king called a pharoah. • Secret chambers in the pyramid held the king’s mummy, coffins and special items from the king’s afterlife. • Ancient Egyptian people believed the pyramid connected the sky and the earth.

• The first pyramid was built for King Zoser. It was a “step pyramid”. It was designed and built by an artist and architect named Imhotep. • Imhotep is the first architect whose name is recorded in history. • This pyramid was built about 2600 BC.

• The pyramids were built using blocks of stone. • Originally the exterior of the pyramids had a smooth quality. However, due to time, wind, weather, etc. this smooth façade has worn away. You can see a small remainder of the facade on the photo to the top left.

Egypt, El Giza, Great Pyramid also known as "Pyramid of Cheops" or "Khufu's Pyramid" 2600 -2480 BCE, The base of the pyramid covers about 13 acres. To build the Great Pyramid it took an about 2, 300, 000 dressed stone blocks (averaging 2. 5 tons each) -- more than any other structure ever built. The blocks were moved on log rollers and sledges, and then ramped into place.

• The Great Pyramid was originally 481 feet high and each side was 756 feet long.

• Look at the size of these pyramids compared to the size of the people below.

• The inside of a pyramid

Other Egyptian Architectural Structures The ancient Egyptians also built beautiful temples. • This is the Temple of Ra

• The Sphinx is another example of a Pharaoh (Khafre) demonstrating his power. • The massive size and the head of Pharaoh Khafre on the body of a lion was intended to demonstrate the power of the pharaoh. • Carved from stone at the site and stands at 65 feet tall. Pharaoh Khafre, c. 2600 B. C. Diorite. 66 inches tall.

Temple of Ra Title: Hypostyle Hall of Temple of Amun-Ra, Karnak, Thebes. Date: ca. 1290 -1224 BCE.

Other Egyptian Architectural Structures Title: Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri Date: ca. 1478– 1458 BCE. Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Title: Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel. 19 th Dynasty. Date: ca. 1279 -1213 BCE. Temple of Ramses II

Title: Interior Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel. 19 th Dynasty. Date: ca. 1279 -1213 BCE. Interior Temple of Ramses II

Do you know what Mummification means?

Mummification means to preserve a body. • The Egyptian people created mummies by packing the dead with salt and then wrapping the body with linen cloth. • The process of mummification took about 70 days. • The mummified body would be placed in a wooden coffin. That coffin would be placed in a stone sarcophagus.

Burial Art – Mummies Mummy of Nes-mut-aat-neru. From Deir el-Bahri, temple of Hatshepsut; Third Intermediate Period, mid. Dynasty 25, about 700 -675 B. C. . Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund 95. 1407 a

Burial Art – Masks

Burial Art – Sarcophaguses

Ancient Egyptian Sculpture In the Round Statues in the round usually depicted the gods, Pharaohs, or civic officials, and were composed with special reference to the maintenance of straight lines • Of the materials used by the Egyptian, stone was the most plentiful and permanent • Sculpture was often painted in vivid hues as well • Cubic and frontal- echoes in its form the shape of the stone cube or block from which it was fashioned, • The front of almost every statue is the most important part and the figure sits or stands facing strictly to the front Bust of Nefertiti

• Relief Sculpture Virtually all the wall-sculptures of the Ancient Egyptian Empire are in the form of bas-relief (low-relief) • Relief-composition merely meant arranging the figures in horizontal lines so as to record an event or represent an action. • The principal figures were distinguished from others by their size - gods were shown larger than men, kings larger than their followers, and the dead larger than the living.

Canopic Jars