Palette of Narmer, c.3100 B.C., slate
Depicts Narmer (King Menes) wearing
the white and red crowns of Upper and
Lower Egypt signifying the unification of
Egypt
The Great Pyramids at Giza
near Cairo on the west bank of the Nile
facing sunset; death; typical of Old
Kingdom burial sites
Largest: Khufu
Middle: Khafre
Smallest: Menkaure
4th Dynasty
Menkaure and his wife, from Giza, 4th
dynasty, slate, conventions of Old
Kingdom sculpture: Clenched fists,
straight posture, arms at side,
compacted figures, left foot forward
showing status; wife – a little shorter,
softer and more curvilinear lines,
clothing is clingy to show off figure,
arms holding husband in supportive
nurturing way, left foot not as far
forward
Amenhotep/Akhenaten: from Karnak, c.
1353-1350 B.C.; 18th dynasty; Amarna
period; more naturalistic, shows
unusual , if not deformed, physical
features; holding the crook and flail,
attributes of Osiris and royalty;
elongated, thin, potbellied, and
curvilinear
Akhenaten and Nefertiti with their
children: 18th dynasty; Amarna period;
fluid curved outlines, individual motion
within three dimensional space,
intimate – humanistic, Aten shown as
the sun disk instead of animal or
human, hands extended toward the
royal family, some holding the
hieroglyph “ankh” (life)
King Tutankhamon; the boy king who
reigned from age 11 to 18. His only real
claim to fame is that is tomb was found
intact. Uncovered over 5000 pieces of
art. Shows the wealth of royalty with
the inlay of precious materials; gold,
lapis lazuli, cardemon; Wadjet (cobra)
and Nekhbet (vulture)
King Tut holding the crook and flail,
typical of the god Osiris
Mouth opening ceremony from the
Book of the Dead of Hunefer; pigment
on papyrus; 19th dynasty; New Kingdom;
ritual that allows the dead body to
restore its ability to breathe, feel, hear,
see and speak. Anubis, jackal-headed
mortuary god is holding up the body
and behind him is a stele (compare to
Hammurabi’s Code of Law) and
hieroglyphs, both are images of power
and show the communication between
the god and a mortal
Queen Hatshepsut: depicted as a man,
standing conventions, left foot forward,
arms straight down at sides, nemes
headdress, only female pharaoh
New Kingdom, funerary temple was a
rock-cut structure, construction began
for father Thutmose I and finished for
her and housed both of their bodies
upon death, located at Deir el-Bahri
Nebamun hunting birds, Thebes,
twisted perspective, wife and daughter
depicted more curvilinear, birds move
freer in space, fish have shading
conveying volume, New Kingdom
Rosetta Stone, found by Napolean’s
French explorers, show hieroglyphics,
demotic and Greek languages, once
discovered in 1799 it allowed
hieroglyphics to be deciphered for the
first time since antiquity
Queen Nefertiti: naturalistic, elongated
curves, organically modeled features,
wearing a crown rather than the
traditional female headdress