The Egyptians created a great state that lasted for 3000 years.
They devised political institutions to rule a vast geographical area and a government machine to administer to
hundreds of miles and thousands of people. They were among the first to plan and execute large government work
projects and they paid the workers. They were achieved a way of life that included not only work and duty but
leisure, grace, gaiety, sophistication, magnificent architecture and enduring art."
We know about how they lived because of the art they left behind and because they wrote
about themselves
Plato wrote that nothing in Egypt had changed for 10,000 YEARS – an exaggeration--it
lasted only 3000 years, from 3400 BCE to 30BC
STABILITY- ORDER- CLARITY- CONTINUITY
Museums around the world have LOTS of Egyptian art because:
1.-Geography- isolated
Egypt was a strip of land along the Nile surrounded by desert and mountains
She was removed from invasions /war for centuries
She became so wealthy that she could buy off enemies
This same isolation meant few outside influences The Nile was the other source of stability
It flooded every year-innundation- and left rich silt for growing wheat in a place that had no rain- this
was the main source of wealth- also- gold, copper and precious stones
2.-Climate- hot and dry –preserved objects
almost no history of natural disasters[- occasional famine from lack of rain]
3.-Population was stable and prosperous-ruled by a god-king-absolute power
4- used only durable materials-made to last forever- [abundance of stone available]
And
5 The best of their art was buried with their dead[not meant to be seen by the living]
AND THE POPULATION THOUGHT THIS WAS NOT ONLY NORMAL BUT ACCEPTABLE!
(imagine if each of the royal family's wealth was buried with them- Egypt was so wealthy it could do this each
time a royal was buried and its society was unaffected by this loss of wealth)
Early art- Neolithic period --Boats on the Nile-Like confetti thrown in the air—
[Like the hunting scene at Chatal Huyuk]
Hierankonapolis- shows black and white shapes-tribal fightingScattered- random—but this soon changed as their society became
rigidly organized—images become governed by strict rulesrepeated for 3000 years
WHY DOES EGYPTIAN ART LOOK THE WAY IT DOES? HALF ANIMAL/HALF HUMAN-STIFF AND STRANGE ?
In the pre-Neolithic period of Egypt's development they were in awe of the animals and the deities were
depicted as powerful animals.Since early time each village had its patron deity and each village chief
claimed special powers- through this god who often took the shape of a powerful animal As we know, once
animals are domesticated and farming became more important than hunting, this changes and humans
become more prominent in the images. The gods underwent a transformation from ZOOMORPHIC to
ANTROPOMORPHIC- the gods took on human bodies but were still identified by the trademark animal
heads that each represented.
In time one of the myths associated with these local gods were combined to form a
compelling legend[rational] that told of the power struggle and the emergence of a
god- king[pharaoh] of all Egypt.
This is the story:
On earth there were 2 powerful brothers, Osirus- god of nature who controlled the ebb and flo of the
Nile- always shown with a green face, and his jealous brother Seth. Seth murdered Osiris, cut him
into many pieces and scattered him over the country. Isis his faithful wife /sister found the pieces
and uses magic to put him back together [binds up the pieces] - he is resurrected but he leaves
earth and becomes god of the underworld- a mirror of this world. Their son HORUS grows up to
avenge his father Osirus. He fights Seth and is blinded in one eye. He castrates but does not kill
Seth. The gods declare Horus the victor and god-king of Egypt[pharaoh].
From this point on-- each pharaoh is the human & divine form of Horus/the falcon on his earthly
throne but when he dies he joins/becomes Osirus & rules in the underworld-and immortal god-king
while on earth his son become the new Horus/pharaoh
**1.This myth explains/justifies divine rule- transferred from father to son and –
2.explains the importance of embalming- for this transfer to work the body must be preserved as
perfectly as possible if a part of the body was missing/damaged the king would be deformed for eternity
Q/ How is possible and necessary for Egyptian art not to change for 3000 years?
Once again it is a result of their belief system :
The world and everything in it was created in the beginning by the gods exactly and perfectly as
the gods had meant it to be-perfect cosmic order. Therefore everything must remain exactly the
same--There could be nothing better:
-nothing in the past like a Christian Garden of Eden that had been lost
-nothing in the future, like a heaven to strive for and there was no concept of hell to worry aboutno fear of the future since nothing was going to change
-Bad things that happened were seen as temporary or as a result of disharmony in the cosmos—
explained by Seth[hippo head]-the god of CHAOSEgypt was heaven -and being able to continue living life in the afterlife exactly as he had
while alive was the gaol.
**They believed in cosmic order – no need to change-old was better than new- status quo
The goddess Maat represented this idea--- represented with a feather in her hair
Everyone is part of this cosmic order including the king/god Horus.It must be maintained so
that the king can take his rightful place after death in the next world as the god Osiris [where
he continues to maintain this cosmic order and is available to grant his people their prayersforever.
NOTE : at first eternal life applied only to the pharaoh and his family- later everyone
could work to this end-if they were prepared.
**What does this mean for art and artists? Artists could not experiment
The best artist would have to know all the gods and the animals that represented them and
reproduce them exactly the same every time so that people could “read” them easily.
The artist could not be original- his goal was clarity.
He was a highly skilled anonymous tradesman[but his work was very important to their beliefs]
**Art conventions[rules] were established very early- KNOW THIS*
the oldest example is the PALETTE OF NARMAR
symbolic union of Upper and Lower Egypt
It is called a palette- used for eye make-up-- put on to protect from the sun’s glare –it likely was designed for ceremonies- to apply to a
statue of a god.
There is much to read- all Egyptian art is Narrative [tells a story]-SYMBOLS : to understand the story correctly-
- BARE FEET-servant is carrying his sandals – the king is on holy ground- this is a symbolic rendering of his victory
- SLAIN ENEMIES ARE NUDE- a sign of slavery in the east- subjugation
- FALCON-the god Horus has a human arm that holds a man-headed symbol/a hieroglyph for land from which the
papyrus plant grows-a symbol for the swampy Lower Egypt-CROWN –each side shows a different one-to show he wears both and from now on all kings will wear a double crown
BEARD CASE- emblem of divine kingship as is the kilt.
-bodies of the slain enemies are shown from above-for clarity-Their heads are neatly placed between their legs
Conventions of Egyptian art-that will not[cannot]change:KNOW THIS*
1.-Hierarchical scale-biggest is most important
2.-Law of frontality -all parts can be seen & understood
-shows all parts of an object clearly-like a botanist pressing out a flower specimen to see it flat
-in profile-but with an eye as if from the front -one foot forward-clarity- but 2 left feet-why?
3. Registers-set on a line-can be read like a cartoon strip - know where the eye is to go4.Canon of proportion- perfect replicas-repetition used a grid–reproduce EXACTLY the same
Creativity was not possible-nor mistakes-worse than a spelling mistake -It could change a king to a peasant
more rules: [these remain the same for both painting or sculpture/relief]
5. kings shown with a beard case-a kilt-IDEALIZED-youthful body
6. Children seen with finger to their lips and hair lock to one side
7. Women even queens were slightly smaller-lighter in color
8. Nudity indicated slavery or inferiority
9. People of lesser importance - less formal poses can be funny even ignore some of the rules
10. Animals were much more naturalistic -showed great observation of nature but even then they
obey the rules of clarity
ART FOR THE DEAD; all the art we see came from tombs- never meant to be seen by the public
“they were a joyous people with no more fear of death than of walking in a familiar place in the dark.”
Old Kingdom tombs evolve from mastaba  stepped pyramid pyramids at Giza
There was a development in the tombs structure as the kings became more powerful
What function did they all serve?
1. A place for people to bring their prayers and offerings to
the (dead)king’s KA and receive his blessing.
2. A safety deposit box to protect the body for eternity
3. Very early they became monuments to the power and importance of the king
Did they succeed?
Only as a lasting monument to the power/beliefs of Egypt-EVERY PYRAMID WAS ROBBED
1.MASTABA-a bench like shape
Began very early FROM SIMPLE MOUNDS OF EARTH IN THE DESERT
About the time of Narmer:-THEY MOVED TO A BENCHLIKE MASTABA TO COVER THE BURIAL PIT OF THE KING
SQUARED OFF STRUCTURES-SOLID brickCONCEALING ELABORATE UNDERGROUND COMPARTMENTS-STOCKED WITH FOOD FURNITURE, TOOLS AND WEAPONS
Note:at one site 2900 BC the mastaba is surrounded by burial pits for his faithful servants, concubines, court dwarfs and pet dogs Fortunately this very quickly changed to art as substitutes for the real thing
UNDERNEATH WAS A SHAFT THAT LED DOWN TO THE TOMB CUT OUT OF VERY HARD ROCK THEY NOW INCLUDE A
ROOM FOR A STATUE WHO COULD GAZE INTO THE NEXT ROOM AND WATCH THE PRIESTS MAKE OFFERINGS.
In early mastabas they had put the representative statue for the KA ON THE OUTSIDE- BUT ALMOST IMMEDIATELY FOUND
OUT IT WOULD BE STOLEN SO IT WAS MOVED INTO A HIDDEN ROOM and the priests would receive the gifts and prayers
but the Ka could see from a hidden door
2. STEPPED PYRAMID at Saqqara
built for King Zoser-designed by IMHOTEP
*the first artist we know by name. Imhotep changed to a square structure
essentially 6 mastabas stacked over the burial chamber-built of solid stones with a
small passage to the tomb Even the new construction was no protection from robbers-all that is left
of Zoser is a small statue.
With further experimentation the steps were filled in and -covered with smooth white limestone The capstone
may have been covered with gold--- the four points of all pyramids now line up to the 4 points of the compass
AIM IS ALWAYS THE SAME -- TO KEEP THE DEAD PHAROAH'S BODY SAFE FOR HIS KA SO THAT HE CAN BE THE RULER
OF THE UNDERWORLD AND MAINTAIN COSMIC STABILITY-AND SHOWER HIS PEOPLE WITH HIS BLESSINGS.
At first only royal families could be preserved in this way , then only those in the royal court, then the wealthy, and finally
any one who could afford the long and expensive process. In the dry desert poor people knew their bodies would be
preserved simply by being buried in the sand. People began to believe that everyone could provide for his own happy
afterlife by creating a tomb that mirrored his life on earth
A CITY OF THE DEAD GREW UP– NECROPOLIS-THIS WAS SURROUNDED BY A HIGH WALL WITH FALSE
DOORS - TO CONFUSE ROBBERS BUT ALSO TO KEEP OUT THE CONSTANT BUILD UP OF SAND
PYRAMIDS: Most were built between 2700 and 2100 BCE
THERE ARE ABOUT 80 STILL STANDING IN VARIOUS STATES OF REPAIR.
3. PYRAMIDS- WHAT WAS THEIR SIGNIFIGANCE? EVIDENCE THAT THE SHAPE IS SIMILAR TO THE
SUNS RAYS-THE SUN GOD RE BECAME THE PREDOMINANT DIETY OVER TIME.
- HAD TO BE STARTED AND FINISHED IN THE KING’S LIFETIME
They used the Nile during the flood season to float the massive stones to the site- so they were built close
enough to reach the water but high enough to be above the flood level . The workers would be available
because they could not work in the fields. They were part of an important enterprise and they were paid in
wheat and beer.
* Most of the workers would be seasonal but there was a trained core of workmen who lived near the site-
artists would have the same importance as stonemasons or carpenters
- SHOWED TREMENDOUS ORGANIZATIONAL SKILL-BUILT WITHOUT THE KNOWLEGE OF THE WHEEL,
PULLEY OR OF A METAL HARDER THAN COPPER .
-
PYRAMIDS ARE A PERFECT METAPHOR FOR EGYPTIAN SOCIETY
STRATIFIED SOCIETY- -only one could be at the top[pharaoh]
STABLE- a pyramid is balanced
ENDURING -made to last forever
- PYRAMIDS at GIZA--THE TALLEST IS AS HIGH AS 40 STORY BUILDING The only wonder of the world that survives of
the seven
The pyramids four corners vary in level no more than an inchThe blocks fit together so perfectly that a postcard will not slide between them
AND--They were the end point of a complicated burial process—essential for the king to be able to live forever.
The funeral process-------Funeral practice for an Old Kingdom king:
AFTER THE DEATH AND ASSUMING THE TOMB WAS FINISHED-THE KING'S BODY WOULD BE FERRIED UP
THE NILE FROM THE PALACE TO GIZA
THE FIRST STOP WAS THE VALLEY TEMPLE FOR RITES BY THE MOURNERS AND THE PRIESTS
THEY WOULD THEN CARRY THE BODY UP A COVERED CAUSEWAY TO THE OPENING OF THE MOUTH
CEREMONY-TO PREPARE TO RECIEVE THE KA..
ONLY A SELECT FEW WOULD TAKE THE BODY INTO THE PYRAMID -UP A NARROW PASSAGE INTO A GRAND
CHAMBER IN WHICH A STONE SARCOPHAGUS WOULD HAVE BEEN ALREADY BEEN PLACED AS THE
PYRAMID WAS BUILT AROUND IT
THE BODY WOULD HAVE BEEN PLACED IN A SERIES OF COFFINSTHE FIRST PURE GOLD
THE NEXT GILDED WOOD
AND THEN THE STONE SARGOPHAGUS
THE WALLS WOULD HAVE BEEN COVERED WITH PAINTINGS FOR HIS NEEDS AND IMPORTANT OBJECTS JEWELLRY, WEAPONS, THE FINEST FURNITURE -LOTS OF GOLD COVERED OBJECTS--WOULD BE THERE
ALREADY FOR HIM
THEY WOULD SEAL THE SARCOPHAGUS - THEN LOWER HUGE STONE SLABS TO CLOSE THE ROOM OFF
AND
THEN- LEAVE SEALING THE WAY AS THEY LEFT THROUGH A SECRET SHAFT BUT....EVEN THOUGH THEY
USED FALSE DOORS AND HID EVERYTHING --THEY WERE FAILURES - THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO ACT LIKE
A SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX FOR THE BODY -- INSTEAD--THEY ACTED LIKE A SIGN SAYING TREASURE- DIG
HERE!
ALMOST EVERY ONE WAS ROBBED-- OFTEN BY THE PEOPLE WHO HAD HELPED BUILD THEM....... GREED
WON OVER RELIGION
SPHINX
BETWEEN THE PAWS IS A MORTUARY TEMPLE
For centuries it was covered over with sandThe body is a natural cliff that was carved out and added on to
In Egypt and the rest of the East lions were used to guard entrances to temples and palaces –
they were thought to sleep with their eyes open. Its face is believed to be the pharaoh who built
the large pyramid- Khafre.
What is the part played by sculpture and art-?
Why does it look like it does?
Sculpture- if the pharaoh/ god-king[Osirus] was buried how were his subjects to see him for prayers and
offering and how was he to see them and continue keeping cosmic order- for eternity
Substitution-through sculpture
His KA could go through walls and inhabit a statue that looked like him –could look out at his subjects
To last for eternity it had to be:
- very hard stone
- closed form[blocklike]- often frontal-attached to a backing
- idealized body-even if you were old when you died you got to have a perfect body
- recognizable face[although ‘improved’ so the Ka could find its home
- AND they followed all the rules of how a king -beard case- kilt- arms folded clenched fists
striding forward[power]-or hands on knees-note chunky feet- why?
IF something happened to the mummified body—the Ka could survive and carry on- which is what
happened- many of the bodies were destroyed but we have their statues
Note—not all statues of kings were for the ka - some were for propaganda
Painting and reliefs [note reliefs were carved and then painted- very time consuming
Q/How could you have everything you needed and enjoyed on earth-after you died?
In some cultures the real people/animals and everything the king wanted with him were killed and buried
with him- but in Egypt this practice stopped early and art took its place- by painting or carving scenes on
the walls of the tombs you could ‘take it with you’ – your favorite wife- your beloved children- your favorite
activities
It had to have clarity- & follow the rules- established with Narmer’s palette[unchanged for 3000 years]
Review rules : hierarchical scaleRules of proportion – can reproduce exactly the same over and over
Idealized for royalty- all the symbols of class
Frontal eye & shoulders –face, legs arms and feet in profile so all parts can be seen
On a horizon line> register
also- they included models to be his servants – a more informal type of statue
AND real food, furniture, games and GOLD AND JEWELS
Ideally the cosmic order could not change
but it did:
Old Kingdom>> Middle Kingdom>> New Kingdom- what happened?
- Ist Intermediate period when the king was weak and lost power to his feudal lords
Egypt was uneasy state for 100 years until another powerful king took back powerthis time is known as the Middle Kingdom
a time when few pyramids were built and those were smaller and simpler.
They experimented with rock cut tombs- hollowed out into the sides of cliffs
They had a porch, a center hall and a sacred chamber- still painted with the same images – to carry
on the traditions—butthere is a slight change in the arts- a hint of relaxation sometimes a slight smile or in one of the
kings- a hint of a frown—not as perfect
But except to an expert little else seemed to change
This is the time of what has been called the democratization of the hereafter
Now anyone who could afford the burial rituals- mummification and a tomb whether a mayor or a
head man of a village could plan to live forever
There is a 2nd intermediate period- of invasion and chaosThen power is seized by very strong rulers- a mighty line of pharaohs
The NEW KINGDOM begins
It is important for one very important change
They ceased to build big tombs with a mortuary temple beside itBecause every tomb had been robbed they were forced to do something else—
Necessary to separate the tomb and the mortuary temple
**The body was hidden in the cliff sides of the VALLEY OF THE KINGS -the entrances
were hidden
The temple was across the river and a place of worship—not a place of burial
The mortuary temple became a place for the king to worship the gods
– to place images and statues of himself for propaganda and
- the place where his statues – after his death- when he is the new Osirus-would
become a place of offering – the temples were managed forever by a growing number of
priests accepting offerings- Karnak-
The mortuary temples got bigger and more elaborate--they were like cities ie. Karnak
employed 80,000 people to care for 400 gardens and 900 square miles of fields with
towns attached for the workers houses. The priests numbers kept growing as did their
power and wealth-from all the offerings
TEMPLE PLAN: KNOW*
Rebels
Egypt remained the same for 3000 years-but-- 2 major exceptions to the rules:
1.Hatshepsut-a queen who claimed the throne as a male. She presented herself in her monuments as
a man. She wore the man’s kilt and beard case.- but sometimes she also had breasts!
How was this possible?
The court and people accepted her so she must have been an able ruler. There
was a custom designed to prevent the dilution of the royal blood, and hence
presumably divine blood--perspective pharaohs often married their sisters but
had many wives. Hatshepsut took the throne after her husband/brother died. The
next rightful king would have been her stepson/nephew. He was too young and
she was too powerful. She made the claim through her father – that she had
been chosen divinely In one relief it shows him crowning her.
Even when the boy became old enough to take the throne she refused to give it
up. Only when she died did he get his throne. It isn’t known if she died of
natural causes, was retired by force or was murdered but after he took power he
systematically destroyed all traces of her in the temple walls and hieroglyphs
- the best way to erase her from history.
She is famous for this gender shift but also because she had built a non traditional temple
built into the cliffs. It is a series of terraced structures
The ramps remain in view and It echoes the shapes of the cliffs. It appears very
Contemporary. When she ruled there were over 200 statues of her
8 colossal figures lined the way to the entrance
Some of her images show her with the body of a sphinx
A rebel and a heretic ? AKHENATEN- and the AMARNA REVOLUTION—your assignment-to learn about him
Tutankhamenbecame king at 9 and died suddenly at 18
-an unimportant king buried in an unremarkable tomb
Because he died unexpectedly the tomb and the funeral preparations had to be hurried.Even then- his portrait mask of gold was ready and so was his gold coffin
they only had 70 days so they adapted a tomb that was already underway for one of his advisors.
- When he was buried the paint was still wet on the walls.
- There is some evidence that the stone sarcophagus was dropped, cracked, then repaired- no
time to make a new one.
- One of the three coffins didn't quite fit into the other two-- the feet were shaved down and made
to fit.
The craftsmen must have worked night and day.
Its significance is IT IS THE ONLY TOMB THUS FAR FOUND INTACT
Discovered in 1922 by Harold Carter and Lord Carnarvon his patron
It was not found until 1922 despite the fact that researchers had known of its existence for
centuries, and even its approximate location. It had been hidden from previous grave-robbers by
the remains of another tomb.
MUMMY'S CURSE.?
Lord.Carnarvon died before the excavation was completed 2 other prominent Egyptologists also
died .Since this was a famous event the story of a curse was circulated in the papers around the
world but Carter lived a long life as did most of the team.
It took 8 years to finish cataloguing and removing the treasures
If this tomb was for an unimportant king it suggests how much treasure there must have been
after the longer rule of powerful kings- such as the Ramses
After the upset of Akhenaten and the untimely death of Tut, Egypt ‘s last dynasties
returned to building massive temples
Perhaps because of Akhenaten’s heresy the pharaohs of the 19th and 20th dynasties seem to feel
a need to celebrate their power and conquests- the scale of both temples and statues increasedto re-assert their power and godlike status.
One of the most powerful was Ramses II
Although his father, Seti, was not a king but a vizier, he became a god- king for 60 years – had
over 100 children many of whom he outlived dying at almost 90..
He knew how to use propaganda and built more huge monuments to his glory than nay other.
Shows himself as a commander- defeating his enemies the Hittites but made a peace treaty
and took several Hittite wives.
His pose is exactly the same as King Narmer’s Palette more than 2000 years earlier
He had one favorite wife- Nefertari and included her in his biggest monument at
ABU SIMBLE— he has one built for him and one for her
It was built in Nubia a land invaded by Egypt. It may have been meant to show how wide his
power extended. It follows the pylon temple plan inside but outside it is built into solid rock facebut it has a tunnelled passage 160 feet into the rock walls. The façade was treated like a vast
pylon gate-the central door was flanked by 4 seated statues of Ramses- 65 feet high. A much
smaller Nefertari is at his knee.[hierarchical scale!]
Inside there were 30 foot statues of him and images carved that record his deeds in battle. He
called himself Ramses the Great
On the day of one of his victory his tomb was designed to have the rays of the sun shine into
the entrance ,down the passage way and onto his statues
FINAL DAYS:
After Egypt was conquered and occupied by Greece, Rome, Christianity and Moslim/Islamthe old religion was forgotten. After the 4the century AD there is no more written records made
by priests. Soon no one could decode the hieroglyphs.* Napoleon had his scholars explore and
write about the country in 1790s. They found the Rosetta stone- the key- because it had the
same passage written in readable Greek, a familiar Egyptian called demotic and the
hieroglyphics. Still it was not until 1822 when a Frenchmen linguist named Champollion,
“cracked “ the Rosetta stone. Once they could read the texts they read about the treasures.
Instead of working for preservation a new type of “invasion” began--the archeologists and
the new treasure hunters-like Howard Carter- every country wanted a share and a chance
of fame.
Often they were incredibly destructive- one Italian adventurer used a
battering ram to smash into a tomb and wrote:
”Every step I took I crushed a mummy in some part or other”- there was money to
be made and fame.
Everything that was found was carried off to museums and private collections
LOOK IN YOUR TEXT AT WHERE THE ITEMS ACTUALLY ARE.