Egyptian Art
Egypt, Gift of the Nile
Egypt
• Early Settlements began around 10,000
B.C.
• People gathered in small groups, then
grew into communities. They lived off of
fish, small game and plants.
• 5000 B.C. North Africa climate became dry
and forced life style change:
Agriculture and control of Nile.
Riverside communities
formed alliances and
eventually conquered
neighbors.
By 3500 B.C. Egypt
consisted of two separate
nations: Upper & Lower
Around 3100 B.C.,
Upper (in South)
conquered Lower
(North).
Egypt : the 1st State
Symbols
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Upper Egypt : White bowling pin hat.
Lotus.
Lower Egypt: Red chair like hat.
Papyrus.
Horus:
Living Pharaoh
Osiris:
Dead Pharaoh
Upper Egypt: Vulture
Lower Egypt: Cobra
Palette of Narmer Pre-Dynastic
3150-3125 B.C.
Burial of Kings and Royalty
and High Officials
First mastabas were bench like structures made
of mud brick.
Burials were deep below earth with false
chambers and doors to foil potential robbers.
They contained offerings to the Ka and
rooms for ka statues.
Saqqara necropolis* for King Djoser had
the first stone cut (limestone) pyramid.
* Burial chamber, Temple, Houses for Priests,etc
Group of Mastabas
Saqqara 4th Dynasty
Step Pyramid of King Djoser
3rd. Dynasty
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Imhotep is the first architect’s name in history.
Step pyramid, first cut of stone.
Deceased was mummified (70 day process )
using natron.
Lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines were
placed into canopic jars.
Black to red or white.
Book of the Dead tucked between legs.
Sakkara Pyramid King Djoser
Ka statues, Relief Sculpture and
Panel Painting
• The Ka was the spiritual counterpart of the
deceased.
• All decorations were for the enjoyment of
the Ka.
• The statues looked exactly like the
deceased. In the event that the body was
removed, the Ka would recognize himself
and could leap into the statue.
King Djoser 4th Dynasty
Plan of Funerary District
Saqqara
King Djoser, Saqqara
Papyrus-Shaped Half Columns
Funerary District
Hesy-ra was a scribe in his
life.
He is pictured with writing
tools.
Palette of King Narmer established the
canon for representing the human body.
Heads are in profile to best represent the
Nose, chin, and forehead. Full eye, profile
Hips and feet but full torso.
Social rank determines size.
Portrait Panel of Hesy-ra
Saqqara 2600 B.C.
Giza Pyramids
Menkaure 2533-2515 B.C.
Khafre 2570-2544 B.C.
Khufu 2601-2528 B.C.
Pyramids at Giza
4th Dynasty
• Square base and four sloping triangles.\
• Maybe sloping sides were meant for
ascension up to the Sun god Ra.\
• Kufu’s pyramid is the largest.
• 13 acres
• 2 ½ ton blocks
• Built by unemployed farmers during the
inundation (July to Nov.) Paid in food and
clothing.
Giza Structure Pyramid of Khufu
65 feet tall
Carved from live rock
Sphinx at Giza 2570-2544 B.C.
Horus( Symbol for Pharaoh on earth) stands behind
Khafre head.
On side panel of throne, Lotus and Papyrus are
entwined to show the unification of U and L Egypt.
Diorite stone imported from Nubia.
Khafre 2500 B.C. Giza Ka Statue
Double portrait discovered in Menkaure’s
Valley Temple.
Traces of red (Menkaure) and white (Queen)
on statues.
Menkaure and His Wife Khamereneby
2515 BC
Men are always painted in red.
Women are always painted in white.
Because natron turned the mummy
black, embalmers painted the bodies
red or white.
Prince Rahotep and Wife Nofret 2580 BC
Scribe profession required difficult
arduous training.
Seated Scribe 2400 BC, Saqqara
Tomb decoration for Ti’s Ka
shows him watching a hippo hunt.
Hippos were considered dangerous
as they destroyed crops.
In Egyptian mythology, Seth the evil
god of darkness disguised
himself as a hippopotamus.
Ti watching Hippo Hunt 2510-2460 B.C.
Lady Sennuwy 1920 B.C.
Tomb of Nebamun
(musicians and dancers) 1350 B.C.
Tomb Nebamun Thebes 1350 B.C.
Middle Kingdom
• Middle Kingdom endured turbulent times
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including an invasion of the Hyksos,
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an Asiatic people, who ruled for over
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200 years.
• They were expelled by the Kings of the 18th
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Dynasty.
• Contribution of the Hyksos:
• They introduced the chariot and the horse to
Egypt.
Queen Hatshepsut
18th Dynasty, New Kingdom
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Married her half brother.
When he died, she became
Co regent with stepson
Thutmose III for 20 years.
She built funeral temple
at Deir el-Bahri a
union of architecture and
landscape with terraced
trees, cliffs and flowing water and many
statues .
Complex was carved into a mountainside.
Temple of Hatshetsup
Queen Hatshepsut Temple
Deir El-Bahri 1478-1458 B.C.
Amenhotep IV was a the King of the
18th Dynasty.
His power was eclipsed by the powerful
priests of Amun.
He destroyed the priesthood, and
changed his name to Akenaten.
His monotheistic religion honored only
the sun god Aten, who was to be
worshipped only through him, his
divine priest.
He changed the center of worship from
Thebes to Tell-el-Amarna.
Akenaten built a new temple to Aten
at Karnak.
Akhenaten and the art of the
Amarna Period.
Nefertiti 1340 BC,Akenaten’s wife who gave
him six daughters.
Royal couple receives blessing of sun god Aten.
Ends of rays are Ankhs which give them the “breath of life.”
Akhenaten and family 18th Dynasty 1355BC
Was this distortion and elongation of features
natural?
Was this just the artists’ interpretation?
Were the heads molded intentionally to
represent the royalty?
Amenhotep IV
Akhenaten 1348-1336 B.C.
Queen Tiy
Akenaten’s mother.
Dynasty of Akhenaten
Daughters of Akhenaten
Tutankamen,
18th Dynasty
• King Tut was a minor king who died at 18.
• He was son of Akenaten and 6th daughter.
• He returned to polytheistic religion and
moved court back to Thebes.
• In 1922, his grave was found by Harold
Carter, archaeologist, with the support of
his patron Lord Carnavon.
• He lay inside 3 coffins and the last
sarcophagus was over 240 lbs of gold.
King Tut 18th Dynasty
Hunefer’s Judgment
• Anubis, the god of embalming and cemeteries, leads the
deceased to the weighing station where his good deeds
will be matched to the feather of Maat.
• The Ibis headed god Throth will record the decision.
• Anmut (hippo, lion, crocodile combo) “the
• eater of the dead” awaits the verdict.
• Hunefer passes with flying colors and Anubis
• introduces him to the green faced Osiris, King
• of the Underworld.
• Osiris’ four sons whose heads are on the canopic jars
• stand on a lotus blossom.
• At top, Hunefer kneels before the nine gods of Heliopolis
and the five personifications of life-sustaining principles.
Book of Dead of Hunefer 1285 B.C.
The Weighing of the Heart and Judgment of Osiris
Egyptian Temples
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Egyptians were a religious people.
Their chief deity was Amun.
Their temples stressed stability, monumentality
and durability.
They were eternal made of sandstone with
gold throughout.
They used post and lintel construction with
capitals of papyrus.
Only a few could enter the sacred rooms and
hypostyle hall.
Temple Amun at Luxor 1350 B.C.
Sun rises from central doorway at dawn.
Pylon of Ramesses
Temple of Amun-Mut-Khonsu, Luxor
1279-1212 B. C.