Important Pharaohs
And Their Artwork
1st Pharaoh’s
Early Dynastic Period
• Menes 3100-2850 B.C. Or Narmer
• was the first pharaoh of the 1st Dynasty in
Egypt.
• Scorpion king
• Also known as King Catfish.
• Uniting Upper (southern) and Lower
(northern) Egypt and becoming the first
true pharaoh.
Palette of Narmer
• Shows the unification of Upper and Lower
Egypt.
• Name of Narmer seen between frontal
cow heads.
• Front shows Narmer conquering a foe in
typical Egyptian style.
Front of palette
Narmer conquering
his foe wearing the
white crown of Upper
Egypt. Servant
holding his sandles.
The king drawing the
breath out of the
ones from the marsh
land. (lower Egypt by
the Nile.)
Two
enemies
with a
symbol of
a city
Back of Palette
Narmer inspects a
heap of beheaded
corpses wearing
the Red Crown of
Lower Egypt
The taming of wild animals
has often been viewed as a
metaphor for the unification
of Upper and Lower Egypt.
A bull, symbolizing
the king destroys the
walls of a city or
fortress.
Beginning of Pyramids
Pits – small pits (grave) in the sand.
Mastabas - Relatively low, rectangular structure which
owes its name to the modern Arab word for "bench".
Step Pyramids – Mastaba on top of Mastaba.
Bent Pyramid – Almost prefect
Pyramid
Dzoser (Djoser) and the Beginning
of Pyramids
• Dzoser was the most famous Pharaoh of
the Third Dynasty and is credited primarily
with the creation of t he first step pyramid.
Imhotep
• Imhotep was a poet, an
architect and physician-priest.
He wrote many medical texts.
• He is best known, however, as
the chief architect of the step
pyramid at Saqqara.
• Deified
Step Pyramid
Bent Pyramid of Sneferu
Red Pyramid also Sneferu
Other Pyramids
Pyramids of Giza
• Khufu – son of Sneferu,
largest pyramid.
• Khafre – son of Khufu,
smaller in size, but on
higher ground. Sphinx
• Menkaure – smaller but
made with some granite.
Khufu Largest pyramid
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2.3 million stone blocks
Average stone of 2.5 tons each
Three burial chambers
Base side 230 meters long (251 yards)
Base covers over 13 acres
It is 454 feet high which is equivalent to a modern 48story building.
There are currently 203 courses or steps to its summit
Erected around 2600 BC
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world
Each side is carefully oriented with one of the cardinal
points of the compass
Khafre Pyramid
• Appears to be larger.
• Sits up on an elevation.
• The Great Sphinx
Menkaure Pyramid
• Only about 1/10th of the mass we find in Khufu's pyramid.
• height of some 65-66 meters
• Three Queen’s Pyramids
Menkaure
Hatshepsut
• Hatshepsut was the Queen of Egypt
• She married Thutmose II.
• When he died in 1503, she acted as regent for his son,
Thutmose III, then had herself crowned as Pharaoh.
• Maintaining the fiction that she was a male, she was
represented with the regular pharaonic attributes,
including a beard.
• She ruled for about 15 years, until her death in 1458 BC,
and left behind more monuments and works of art than
any Egyptian queen to come.
• Used propaganda
Akhenaten
• Akhenaten first name was Amenhotep IV
• Worship of the Aten. Only the pharaoh and his
family could communicate with the Aten.
• The priests suddenly found themselves out of
favor, out of power, and effectively out of a job
• The art changed. Amarna
• Moved capital from Thebes to Amarna
• Married to Nefertiti.
• It is not known how Akhenaton died. The next two kings,
Smenkhkara and Tutankhamun (originally Tutankhaton)
were apparently sons-in-law of Akhenaton. Under them
and later kings, Egypt returned to their old gods.
Akhenaton's name was chiseled from his monuments.
His city of Akhetaten was abandoned, and used as a
rock quarry. His name (and the names of his
successors) never appeared on king lists. Egypt
eventually forgot him completely. His existence was only
discovered in modern times. His tomb is near Amarna,
but it was empty; his remains have never been found.
King Tut
• Tutankhamum (also known as King Tut) is
believed to be the son of Akhenaten.
• Tutankhamun became king when he was
about 9 years old and his reign lasted for
16 years.
• Only tomb found in tack.
• Discovered by Howard Carter 1922
Ramses II
• Ramses II, who was also known as
Ramses the Great, lived for 96 years. With
his 200 or more wives and concubines he
had over a hundred children.
• Had began his reign as a teenager with his
father Seti.
• Having outlived many of his older sons,
his 13th son ascended to the throne upon
his death in 1298 B.C.E.
Abu Simbel temples
• One temple dedicated to Ramasses as a
God.
• One temple to his chief wife Nefertari.
•
("My love is unique—no one can rival her, for she is the most beautiful
woman alive. Just by passing, she has stolen away my heart.")
• Forgotten until 1813
• Relocated. 1964 and 1968, the entire site
was carefully cut, dismantled, lifted and
reassembled in a new location 65 meters
higher and 200 meters back from the river.
Alexander the Great
• Alexander III, King of Macedonia, was the
first king to be called "the Great".
• He occupied Syria and after a long siege
of Tyre, Phoenicia, Alexander then
entered Egypt, where he was accepted as
pharaoh. He died in June 323 B.C.E.
Cleopatra
• Cleopatra She was the daughter of Ptolemy XI.
• She became mistress to Julius Caesar.
• She then met Mark Anthony. Octavian's army
defeated Mark Anthony at the battle of Actium.
• According to legend she died of a bite by an asp
to avoid being captured by Octavian. Cleopatra
lived from 69 to 30 B.C.E.
Women
• Within a given class, men and women had the
same rights. Women were free to buy and sell
property, enter and execute contracts, and file
lawsuits. A woman could acquire possessions,
property, and debt separate from her husband
through labor or inheritance.
• The men did very physical labor in the hot sun,
and women labored inside or in the shade
• Women in Egypt were expected to marry around
age twelve.
• Women were equally accountable under the law.
Beauty
• The Egyptians thought that an abundance of
facial hair was a sign of un-cleanliness and
personal neglect.
• A popular form of pomade was shaped like a
cone and worn on the top of the head. As the
evening progressed the cone would melt and the
scented oil would run down the face and neck.
• Eye makeup was probably the most
characteristic of the Egyptian cosmetics.
• Wigs and hairpieces usually made of
human hair or fibers.
• Oils and creams were very important
against the hot sun and dry, sandy winds.
• Red ochre mixed with fat or gum resin was
thought to be used a lipstick or face paint.
Mixtures of chalk and oil were possibly
used as cleansing creams. Henna for
lipstick, hair dye and nail polish