Egyptian Art
Ancient EGYPT:
Gift of the Nile
The Palette of King Narmer, c. 3100-3000 BCE, slate
Early Dynastic –3100 BCE
Palette of Narmer
Old Kingdom— 2700 – 2200 BCE
Step Pyramid of Djosher
Pyramids of Giza
Sphinx
Statue of Menkaure and Queen
Seated Scribe (Kai?)
Ti Watching Hippo Hunt
Middle Kingdom - 2000
unification of Lower and
Upper Egypt/ hierarchical
proportion/ Horus (a
human-armed falcon),
Seth, Osiris, and Isis
other representations
of the king/ Hathor/
ceremonial use of a
utilitarian object
Attention to Appearance
The Creation of the Heaven and the Earth, Book of
the Dead of Nesitanebtasheru, c. 1025 BCE
Egyptian Gods
Imhotep.
The Stepped
Pyramid of
King Djoser
(Zoser),
c. 26752625 BCE,
Saqqara
King Djosher False Door
Top: Ba bird from
the Valley of the
Kings, tomb of
Tutankhamun,
c. 1325 BCE
Bottom:Scarab
pendant from the
Valley of the
Kings, tomb of
Tutankhamun,
c. 1325 BCE
Egyptian gylphs symbolizing (left to right) life (the
ankh), stability (the djed pillar), beauty, joy, and
protection
the ka and the ba/ mummification and canopic jars/
scarabs and other amulets
mastaba and serdab/ necropolis/ stepped pyramid
first known instance of using columns in recorded
history- Imhotep/ sed rituals and the priesthood
The Great Pyramids at Gizeh, 2600=2475 BCE
ben-ben (compare with ziggurat)/
Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure/ Re/ celestial orientation
theories on the
construction/ tiny
interior spaces
Seated statue of Hemiunu
(Gizeh) c. 2580 BCE,
painted limestone
The Great Sphinx (Gizeh), c. 2575-2525 BCE, sandstone
image of absolute kingship/ eternal guardian (tutelary)/
association of the nose with the life force
Khafre (Gizeh), c. 2575-2525
BCE, diorite
permanence of material/
intertwined lotus and
papyrus/ Old Kingdom kilt/
canon of ideal proportions/
“block-like” characteristics/
subtractive method of carving
Menkaure and
Khamerernebty (Gizeh),
c. 2490-2472 BCE, slate
Triad of Menkaure with
the goddess Hathor and
the personifcation of the
7th Upper Egyptian nome
(Gizeh), c. 2460 BCE, slate
Left: Bust of the vizier Ankh-haf (Gizeh), c. 2500
BCE, painted limestone
Right: Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret (Maidum),
c. 2570 BCE, painted limestone
Seated scribe
(Saqqara), c.24502350 BCE, painted
limestone
use of increased
realism in subordinate
figures/ accounts by
Herodotus
Ka-Aper (Saqqara),
c. 2450-2350 BCE, wood
The Rosetta
Stone, 196 BCE,
basalt
Relief of Hesire (Saqqara),
c. 2675-2625 BCE, wood
hieroglyphics and the Rosetta
Stone/ Jean-Francois Champollion/
conceptual vs. optical approach/
twisting perspective and the use of a
grid
Ti Watching a
Hippopotamus
hunt, relief in
the mastaba of
Ti (Saqqara),
c. 2450-2350
BCE, painted
limestone
False door from the
tomb of Iyka
(Saqqara) c. 2450
BCE, wood
Rock cut Tombs
(Beni Hasan),
c. 2000-1900
BCE
constant
threats to
power
greater focus of interior of tombs/
sarcophagi/ fluted columns and a portico
Left: Relief depicting Amun receiving Sesostris I
Right: The “White Chapel” of Sesostris I (Karnak),
c. 1925 BCE, limestone (where the relief is found)
Senwosret I led
Senwosret I
led by Atum
to Amun-Re in
the White
Chapel at
Karnak,
Thebes,
c.1930 BCE,
limestone
Why is there a PREDYNASTIC and an EARLY DYNASTIC period to Egyptian History, instead of just
Old, Middle & New?
Why is the southern part of Egypt referred to as "Upper Egypt", and vice versa?
Who was Imhotep, and what made him so special?
Explain the similarities and differences between the ziggurat of Saqqara versus those in
Mesopotamia.
How did the Egyptians' belief in afterlife affect the creation of the pyramids?
Egyptian architectural history seems preoccupied with tombs and burial. What are the chief
concerns of Mesopotamian architecture?
Looking at the statues of Khafra and Menkaure, describe what the ideal Old Kingdom Ruler should
look like.
What made Amenhotep IV's (New Dynasty) religion so different than anything before it?