Mira Costa High School
Ms. Park
2012-2013
Egyptian Art
The Nile River was, and still is, the source of life for Egypt. The Egyptians believed in everything for
the afterlife. They built tombs and temples with massive stones from the Libyan and Arabian
deserts to sustain the Ka for a chance at timelessness. Egypt’s grand golden treasures,
sarcophagi, and countless statues of their immortal god-kings have intrigued the world since the
medieval times to present.
Context
1.
Isolated geographic location, which makes it easily defendable and creates a homogeneous
culture.
The Nile River provides a huge amount of agricultural sustainability and prosperity.
Deeply held religious traditions  Pharaoh is the “god-king”  Hierarchical Scale
Geology: large amount diorite and limestone = Megalith architectures  permanence!
Strong belief in the afterlife: Elaborate funerary traditions, objects and tomb architecture.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Gardner’s Art Through the Ages, 12th ed. Chapter 3- Pages 55-83
Artworks
Timeline
Need to know dates:
2500 BCE: Old Kingdom
1500 BCE: New Kingdom
1333 BCE: Amarna Period
3000 BCE
Union of Upper and
Lower Egypt
2551-2472
BCE
Khufu, Khafre, and
Menkaure build the
Great Pyramids
2520 BCE
Great Sphinx, Gizeh
1473 BCE
Hatshepsut rules
(New Kingdom)
1333 BCE
Tutankhamen rules
525 BCE
Early Kingdom
Palette of Narmer
wood statue of Ka-Aper
3186 BCE
2325 BCE
Unification
Imhotep
Stepped pyramid of King Zoser
2750 BCE
1st pyramid
Old Kingdom
Pyramids at Gizeh
seated Ka Statue of Khafre
Menkaure and his bride
Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
2500 BCE
2500 BCE
2500 BCE
1400 BCE
Monumental tomb
Rigid monumental
Formal and eternal
Landscape aesthetics
New Kingdom
Sculptures of Hatshepsut (seated and kneeling)
wall paintings of Tomb Nebamun
1400 BCE
Temple of Amen-Re at Karnak
1250 BCE
Nefertiti
1353 BCE
Ramses II
1225 BCE
Gender roles
Amarna style
colossal statues
Persia conquers Egypt
Vocabulary
alluvial deposits ka
Imhotep
monotheism
diorite
fresco secco
ben-ben
canon
iconoclast
granite
twisted perspective
fetish stone
hierarchal
obelisk
Akhenaton
cardinal points of the compass
slate
atlantids
Architectural Vocabulary
mastaba
sphinx
living rock
clerestory
hypostyle hall
colonnade
engaged columns
post and lintel
plan/elevation
Post: column(capital- bell and bud), shaft (fluting), base
Lintel: entablature, limestone, tensile strength of stone
http://www.mchsapah.com/3-art-of-the-egyptians.html
corbelled arch
pylon