| I | INTRODUCTION |
Egyptian Art and
Architecture, the buildings, sculpture, painting, and decorative arts of
ancient Egypt from about 5000 bc
to the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 bc.
Today, we look at Egyptian art primarily in
museums or in books. For the Egyptians, however, the objects now regarded as art
were made to serve a particular purpose, usually a religious one. For example,
temples were decorated with paintings and filled with statues of gods and kings
in the belief that doing this served the gods, showed devotion to the king, and
maintained the order of the universe. The Egyptians wore jewelry and
amulets (charms) not only as decoration, but because they believed these
items protected them against harm. They buried their dead with jewelry and
amulets for the same reason: to protect against the perils of the afterlife.
Most Egyptians never saw the art that is now
displayed in museums, because only kings and members of the ruling elite were
allowed to enter temples, tombs, and palaces. But the Egyptians had in mind
another audience for their art: the gods and, for the art in tombs, the spirits
of people who had died.
Artists in ancient Egypt joined workshops and
worked in teams to produce what their patrons—the king and the elite—needed. For
this reason, few works can be attributed to individuals. Religious beliefs
largely dictated what artists created, especially the paintings and statues that
filled Egyptian temples and tombs. Artists endlessly repeated the same themes
and subjects, changing them only when beliefs changed. (A rare change came
around 1350 bc, for example, when
the sun god Aton gained more prominence than ever before.) The style of
depicting these themes and subjects, by contrast, changed from one generation of
artists and patrons to the next. For example, during the 18th dynasty (1550-1307
bc) there was a shift from
painting the human figure in a rather stiff and rigid posture to using curved
lines and varied poses. But most of the changes were more subtle.
| II | PREDYNASTIC EGYPT (5000-3000 BC) |
Scholars divide Egyptian history into
dynasties. The Dynastic period began around 3000 bc when lands along the Nile River were
united under one ruler. From about 5000 bc until 3000 bc, a time known as the Predynastic
period, Egypt was not a unified nation. Different groups ruled over different
parts of the land. As time passed, however, these groups were incorporated into
larger political units, until a single state was formed around 3000 bc. At the same time, the culture of the
south expanded northward, gradually replacing northern cultures to produce
cultural unity.
The Egyptians began creating art early in the
Predynastic period, using materials such as bones, clay, stone, and the ivory
teeth of hippopotamuses. They made figurines of animals, birds, and human
beings, and decorated the tops of hair combs and pins with carved birds and
animals. Stone palettes used for grinding minerals for eye paint took the shape
of birds, turtles, and fish.
Pottery also was decorated in the early
Predynastic period, typically with geometric or animal designs painted in white
on a red background. Later in the period, designs appeared in red on a yellowish
background. The designs included flamingos, horned animals, human figures,
plants, wavy lines, and boats with oars. Most of this pottery has been found in
cemeteries, and it may have been made specifically for use in funerals.
Cups, bowls, and other containers were made
from a variety of stones and took advantage of natural patterns in the stone.
Working stone was difficult and took some time, so stone containers became
prized items. Lapis lazuli, carnelian, garnet, and other stones were made into
beads for necklaces and bracelets, as were gold, copper, and silver.
| III | DYNASTIC EGYPT (3000-30 BC) |
The Dynastic period of Egyptian history
began about 3000 bc with the
formation of an Egyptian state that extended roughly 800 km (500 mi) from the
Mediterranean Sea in the north to what is called the First Cataract—the first
major section of rapids on the Nile River at Aswān in the south. This state was
ruled by a king whose main duties were to act as an intermediary between the
gods and humanity and to uphold the correct order of the universe by overcoming
the forces of chaos. The king governed the country through a small group of
educated male officials. Together with their families, they formed an elite
group making up about 5 percent of the population. Almost everyone else provided
services for the elite or worked the land. All surviving ancient Egyptian art
and architecture relates to the king and the elite, and scholars know virtually
nothing about art produced for the rest of society.
Egyptologists (people who study
ancient Egypt) have grouped Egypt's dynasties into an Early Dynastic period (1st
to 3rd dynasties), an Old Kingdom (4th to 8th dynasties), a Middle Kingdom (11th
to 14th dynasties), a New Kingdom (18th to 20th dynasties), and a Late Period
(25th to 30th dynasties). Dynasties between these groupings represent periods
when central government broke down and the state split into smaller units.
Egyptologists based their divisions on the work of an Egyptian priest named
Manetho, who wrote in Greek in the 3rd century bc.
In 332 bc Alexander the Great, king of
Macedonia, conquered Egypt. In 305 bc Alexander's general Ptolemy became
king of Egypt, and for almost 300 years his descendants, the Ptolemies, ruled
Egypt. Although Ptolemy was Macedonian by birth and his descendents remained
tied to Greek culture, the Ptolemies also oversaw one of the greatest periods of
building and decorating temples in Egypt. The Ptolemies did so to win acceptance
for their rule from their Egyptian subjects. The Ptolemaic dynasty ended when
Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, committed suicide after the Romans defeated her
forces at the Battle of Actium in 31 bc. The Roman victory marked the end of
ancient Egypt as an independent power. This article discusses Egyptian art and
architecture only until this point.
| A | Architecture |
The most important buildings in ancient
Egypt were temples, tombs, and palaces. Temples housed rituals for the worship
of the gods. Tombs served as the burial locations for the king and the elite.
The king lived in the palaces, where he performed governmental and religious
duties. Because many cities, towns, and villages in Egypt today occupy the sites
of ancient palaces and surrounding settlements, these buildings disappeared over
the years as new buildings went up. By contrast, many ancient Egyptian temples
and tombs have survived because they were located in the desert, or at the edge
of the desert, where few people lived and little construction occurred.
| A1 | Royal Tombs and Pyramids |
The royal tombs and pyramids of ancient
Egypt were elaborate structures with important religious purposes. They were
located along the Nile River, the vital waterway that runs the length of the
country. For about 2,000 years, until the end of the New Kingdom in 1070 bc, royal tombs were built on the Nile’s
west bank. Because the sun set in the west, Egyptians believed that the western
desert was the entrance to the underworld, or duat, where the dead
dwelled and through which the sun passed at night.
The kings of the 1st Dynasty (2920 bc-2770 bc) were buried in the cemetery of their
ancestors at Abydos in southern Egypt. Their burial sites were built of mud
brick (bricks baked in the sun) and consisted of two parts: a tomb in the desert
where the king was buried, and a rectangular funerary enclosure at the desert's
edge, where rituals were performed. A pair of stone slabs called stelae
marked the tombs and bore the name of the royal occupant. In the 2nd Dynasty
(2770 bc-2649 bc), most royal burials were moved north
to the cemetery of Şaqqārah, which served the capital city of Memphis, but the
last two kings were buried at Abydos.
Within the tomb enclosure of the last
king of the 2nd Dynasty, Khasekhemwy, archaeologists have excavated a square
brick mound. This mound was probably the forerunner of the first pyramid, which
is known as the Step Pyramid at Şaqqārah.
The Step Pyramid was built by King
Djoser, who ruled from 2630 bc to
2611 bc, during the 3rd Dynasty
(2649 bc-2575 bc). In its final form it consisted of
six huge, square tiers of decreasing size, placed one on top of the other to a
height of nearly 60 m (200 ft). Its diminishing tiers resemble steps. The Step
Pyramid stood in the middle of a rectangular enclosure. Also within the
enclosure were various other buildings, some of which could be entered, while
others had no doors. These buildings functioned only for the spirit forms of the
dead king and the gods, who were believed to be able to pass through the thick
rock walls.
Unlike the earlier mud-brick tombs, the
entire complex at Şaqqārah was built of stone; however, similarities show that
the complex evolved from the earlier tombs and funerary enclosures at Abydos.
The Şaqqārah design combined the tomb and funerary enclosure so that the burial,
placed under the pyramid, lay within the funerary enclosure.
King Sneferu built the first true
pyramid with smooth sides at the beginning of the 4th Dynasty (2575 bc–2467 bc), and Egyptian kings continued to use
pyramids for burial through the 12th Dynasty. The best-known pyramids were built
on the Giza plateau for three 4th Dynasty kings: Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure.
Each pyramid is just one element in a line of structures that form a burial
complex. The complex begins at the east, with a temple on a harbor at the edge
of the cultivated land in the Nile Valley. From this valley temple, where the
king’s body was first brought by boat, a long, covered causeway runs west into
the desert to a pyramid temple. To the west of the temple is the pyramid itself,
inside of which the king’s body was placed. Inside the temple, rituals performed
for the king included the offering of food and drink to nourish his
ka-spirit (life force).
The Egyptian pyramids served as more
than a place to put the king’s dead body. They were places of transformation
that enabled the king to pass into a new stage of life. The east-west
orientation of each pyramid complex paralleled the daytime course of the sun as
it rises and sets. The burial chamber represented the duat through which the sun
traveled from west to east at night before rising in the eastern sky at dawn.
While the king's body lay in its coffin, his ka-spirit was nourished by rituals
that priests performed in the pyramid temple, and his ba-spirit
(personality, or individual identity) joined the sun, triumphantly leaving the
duat at sunrise to travel across the sky. At night it sank with the sun back
into the duat to rejoin the king's body and ka-spirit, and here it was renewed
before leaving the tomb again in the morning. In this way the dead king achieved
eternal existence.
After the Middle Kingdom ended in 1640
bc, the Egyptians stopped building
royal pyramids, and in the New Kingdom (1550 bc–1070 bc), kings were buried in tombs at
Thebes in the Valley of the Kings, where the burial site of King Tutankhamun was
found in 1922. The Valley of the Kings is a rocky desert area with high cliffs.
The Egyptians cut the tombs into the cliffs. The tombs typically consisted of a
series of corridors, steps, and rooms that ended in a burial chamber. The door
to the tomb formed a point of transition from the world of the living to the
world of the dead, so that the tomb represented the duat.
In the New Kingdom’s 18th Dynasty, tombs
were mostly undecorated, except for the burial chamber. In the 19th Dynasty
(1307 bc–1196 bc) and 20th Dynasty (1196 bc–1070 bc), decoration extended to the tomb
entrance, where the sun’s passage was depicted through the duat at night until
its rise, regenerated, in the morning. The dead king, who was identified with
the sun god, achieved new life by taking part in the eternal cycle of the sun.
Because the narrow Valley of the Kings lacked space for temples in which to
honor the king, these were separated from the tomb and built where the desert's
edge met the cultivated regions.
By the end of the New Kingdom, the
Egyptians no longer built royal tombs in the desert, perhaps because of the
difficulty of protecting these isolated spots from tomb robbers. Instead, tombs
began to be built inside the most important temple complex in the king's capital
or native city. Most New Kingdom royal tombs were smaller than those of earlier
dynasties, and few of their associated buildings have survived. The Ptolemaic
kings of the era following the Late Period, which ended in 332 bc, were buried in Alexandria, which was
their capital city.
| A2 | Tombs of the Elite |
The tombs for the elite members of
Egyptian society were less elaborate than royal tombs, but they were
nevertheless impressive. The preferred location for elite tombs was the west
bank of the Nile, but many were built on the east bank as well.
In the 1st and 2nd dynasties the tombs
of the elite at Şaqqārah consisted of an underground structure that contained
the burial site and a flat, rectangular mud-brick structure built over it. Today
these structures are called mastabas, from the Arabic word for 'bench.'
The long sides of the mastabas had a north-south orientation.
In the 2nd Dynasty, tomb builders
started creating a niche on the eastern side of the tomb. In it was placed a
stone slab carved with an image of the deceased tomb owner seated before a
variety of offerings. The slab marked the place for making offerings. During the
next two dynasties, the niche was gradually cut deeper into the solid mastaba,
so that the offering place lay within it. Decorated limestone slabs lined the
walls of the niche.
In the 4th Dynasty, stone mastabas began
to replace those of mud brick. In the 5th Dynasty (2465 bc–2323 bc) and 6th Dynasty (2323 bc–2152 bc), the large mastabas of the highest
officials had a series of decorated rooms for the performance of funerary
rituals. These rituals focused on a false door on the west wall of the offering
chamber—a door that was intended to connect the worlds of the dead and the
living. Although solid and impassable to the living, the door permitted the dead
to pass through and receive offerings. This tomb chapel remained open to priests
and family members after the tomb’s owner was buried, but the actual body was
placed in a burial chamber at the bottom of a shaft cut deep into the ground
below the chapel. After the burial, the shaft was filled in and made
inaccessible.
Although freestanding tomb chapels were
common in the Old Kingdom, some chapels were cut out of rock cliffs. During much
of the Old Kingdom, most elite tombs were built near the capital city of
Memphis, but by the 6th Dynasty, officials concerned with provincial
administration were building their tombs in the provinces they governed. This
tradition continued into the Middle Kingdom until the 12th Dynasty (1991 bc–1783 bc). The large decorated tomb chapels of
the Middle Kingdom were cut into the cliffs that run along the edge of the Nile
Valley.
The best-known elite cemetery of the New
Kingdom lies on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes. The rock-cut tomb chapels
there take the shape of a T. They are entered from an open court through a door
that leads into the crossbar of the T, with the shaft of the T straight ahead.
Like earlier tomb chapels, these provided a space for offerings by the living to
the dead, but instead of a false door, the focal point was a statue of the
deceased placed in a niche on the back wall of the chapel.
Elite burials of the New Kingdom also
took place at Şaqqārah, some in rock-cut tombs, but most in freestanding tomb
chapels. In the Late and Ptolemaic periods, elite burial sites had a variety of
forms.
| A3 | Temples |
The Egyptians believed that the gods
occupied a different part of the universe than living human beings did. Temples
were built as houses for the gods, where the gods could appear on earth. The
focal point of any temple was a sanctuary area that contained a cult statue of
the god. This statue, the sanctuary, and the temple were made as beautiful as
possible so that the god would want to reside there, and the structures
incorporated precious materials such as gold, silver, lapis lazuli, turquoise,
and carnelian.
Most important deities had temples
throughout Egypt, but some cities had a special association with a particular
god. Among the most important gods and their cities were Ra at Heliopolis, Ptah
at Memphis, Thoth at Hermopolis, Osiris at Abydos, Hathor at Dandara, Amon at
Thebes, and Horus at Edfu.
Old and Middle Kingdom temples were
typically built of perishable mud brick, and despite the fact that many of them
were lined with decorated stone slabs, few have survived. Most surviving temples
date from the 18th Dynasty or later, when major temples were built of stone, and
stone structures had replaced older ones of brick. Decorated stone elements from
earlier temples were sometimes reused in the foundations or walls of later
temples, but most of the earlier buildings themselves have disappeared.
Because the space within a temple was
sacred, a wall enclosed the temple area and separated it from the outside world.
Most temples were rectangular, with the entrance on the side nearest the Nile. A
huge gateway called a pylon stood at the entrance to the temple area and led
into an open court. Then followed a covered, pillared room called a hypostyle
hall. Beyond this was the sanctuary, which contained the shrine in which the
cult statue of the god was kept.
The Egyptians believed that gods were
fundamentally different from human beings, and that it was dangerous for humans
to interact with gods unprotected. In fact, most people never went inside a
temple. For those who had been purified through special religious rituals, the
temple provided a safe place for contact with the gods. The space within the
temple became increasingly sacred as one went further in, and the more sacred
inner parts were restricted to the king and priests. The sanctuary was the most
sacred space of all. Here the deity entered the temple from the divine realm and
took up residence in the cult statue.
The architecture of the temple was
designed to replicate the universe at the moment of creation. The Egyptians
believed that before creation there existed only the dark, marshy primeval
waters of chaos. Out of these waters a mound arose on which the creator god came
into being and created the ordered universe. The dark hypostyle hall with its
many pillars represented the primeval waters, and the pillars topped by papyrus
or lotus capitals represented marsh plants. The polished stone floor represented
the water itself. Moving back into the temple, the floor levels rose, because
the sanctuary symbolized the mound of creation. The temple’s god, manifested in
the cult statue, thus represented the creator god.
Every morning before dawn priests
entered the temple. As the sun rose, the officiating priest opened the shrine
doors in the sanctuary to reveal the deity. Each sunrise repeated the creation,
so that every day in every temple the deity of the temple reenacted the moment
when the newly created world emerged from the dark, primeval waters and was
illuminated by the light of the newly born sun. The rituals that the priests
performed for the god included the presentation of offerings, the burning of
incense, and the recitation of ceremonial words and hymns.
| A4 | Palaces |
Palaces provided a setting for Egyptian
kings to carry out the rituals of kingship. Most were built of mud brick and
have not survived well. Palaces that Egyptologists have excavated date mainly
from the New Kingdom and include the palace of Amenhotep III at Malqata near
Thebes, the palaces of Akhenaton at Amarna, and the palace of Merenptah at
Memphis.
The nature of the Egyptian king was
complex. Although he was a human being who was born, grew up, and died like
other human beings, his body housed the royal ka-spirit, which transmitted the
divine aspects of kingship from one king to the next. The king was also the
earthly manifestation of various deities, such as Ra, the sun god, or Horus, the
god of the sky. For this reason, the ritual area of the king’s palace resembled
a temple. As in temples, an entranceway led into an open court that was followed
by a pillared hall. But beyond the hall, instead of a sanctuary, was the throne
room. Against the center of the back wall, a raised platform supported the
king's throne. The throne sat within a kiosk that took the place of the shrine
in a temple’s sanctuary. The enthroned king was therefore equivalent to the cult
statue of a god.
The floors of the palace were decorated
with images of pools surrounded by flowering plants through which young calves
leapt while birds flew above, depicting the world at sunrise. The enthroned king
therefore took on the role of the sun god Ra, at whose appearance each day the
world came to life again after the dark night.
In Egyptian thought, foreign lands and
their inhabitants represented the forces of chaos. Images of bound foreigners
were painted on the steps leading up to the throne platform and on the platform
itself. As the king ascended the platform, he walked on these images and then
sat on them. The foreigners lay under his feet in subjection, symbolizing the
triumph of the king over the forces of chaos.
| B | Sculpture |
The function of most ancient Egyptian
statues was to provide a physical place where a god or spirit could appear. In
temples the god took up residence in the cult statue, and the divine royal
ka-spirit could reside in statues of the king. Statues of the elite provided a
place in the world of the living for the spirits of the dead. Such statues were
the focal point of rituals. Offerings were presented to them, incense was
burned, and ritual words were recited in their presence. These spirits were not
restricted by time and space, but could simultaneously be present in all their
statues, wherever the statues were located.
| B1 | The Purpose of Sculptures |
Most statues of gods and kings were
housed in temples. In addition to the cult statue, larger images of gods, or of
gods and the king together, were placed within temple areas. In the Late and
Ptolemaic periods, elite people presented offerings at temples of small bronze
images of gods and of the animals sacred to those gods. They also put brightly
painted wooden statues of funerary gods in tombs to help the deceased pass
safely into the afterlife.
In the Old Kingdom, small chapels built
in temple areas housed statues of the king, where the royal ka-spirit could
receive offerings. In the New Kingdom, huge ka-statues of the king stood at the
entrances to many major temples. Although most people could not enter the
temples, they could come to the entrances, and these statues became places for
people to communicate with the gods by addressing the king’s ka-spirit.
During the Old Kingdom, statues of the
elite were placed in many tomb chapels in a special room, which today is called
a serdab (modern Arabic for 'cellar”). The room was then made
inaccessible so that it connected to the tomb chapel only through a small slot
in the wall. Family members or special funerary priests performed rituals in
front of the slot for the spirit of the deceased. Not all statues were hidden.
In rock-cut tomb chapels, statues were carved out of the walls of the chapel and
were visible to anyone entering to perform the rituals. By the Middle Kingdom,
statues of the deceased, both male and female, had become the ritual focal point
in chapels. And from the Middle Kingdom onward, statues of the elite, mainly
male, were also placed in the outlying areas of the temple complex. Their
purpose was to receive offerings, but they also enabled the statue owner
(through his ka-spirit) to take part in the temple rituals and the great
festivals that were celebrated on behalf of the deity of the temple.
Beginning in the late 4th Dynasty
statues of servants and peasants were placed in tombs of the elite to serve them
in the afterlife. These servants and peasants appear in a wide variety of poses,
performing tasks such as grinding grain, baking bread, and brewing beer. What
was important in these sculptures was not the person depicted but the action,
which was meant to benefit the tomb owner in the afterlife.
| B2 | Sculptural Style and Materials |
Ancient Egyptian statues were not
intended to serve as realistic portraits. Instead, a statue represented an ideal
image of the king or a member of the elite and did not include physical
peculiarities, disabilities, or signs of aging. Although artists might
incorporate some personal features in images of the king and the wealthy elite,
people who were less wealthy simply bought ready-made statues. The subject’s
name was then inscribed on the statue.
While kings were generally shown with
youthful, physically fit bodies, elite male officials had two images that
represented different stages of their careers. In one, the official appears
youthful and physically fit. In the second, he is mature, with rolls of fat on
his chest and sagging muscles representing the successful, sedentary official
who eats well. Because elite women could not be government officials, they are
represented by a single, youthful image that stresses the outline of their
bodies and their child-bearing potential.
Statues of deities, the king, and the
elite appear only in standing, seated, and kneeling poses. They also exhibit a
characteristic called frontality, which means that they face straight
ahead without twisting or turning the head or body. This posture relates to the
ritual function of statues. Because the statue faces forward, it could witness
people performing the rituals in front of it.
The majority of surviving statues are
made of stone, most commonly limestone, but also calcite, sandstone, quartzite,
granite, granodiorite, diorite, basalt, and other materials. Wood was widely
used, but since it decomposes easily, fewer wooden statues have survived. Cult
statues of gods employed precious metals, and some statues of the king and the
elite were made of copper in the Old Kingdom and bronze from the Middle Kingdom
on. Because metal was valuable and can be melted down and reused, however, only
a small proportion of metal statues have survived to the present.
| C | Painting and Relief |
The ancient Egyptians decorated the walls
of temples and tombs with painted scenes. The painting might be flat or in
relief, meaning that figures and background occupy different levels of
the wall surface. In raised relief, the background was cut away so that
the figures stood out. In sunk relief, the figures were cut back to a slightly
lower level than the background. Originally, sunk relief was designed to
decorate exterior walls, because it is more visible in bright sunlight.
Although the relief decoration on many
Egyptian monuments has by now lost all color, it was originally brightly
painted. Before painting, artists sketched out scenes in red on the plaster
surface of the wall. Then a master draftsman corrected the scene in black. Often
the artists used squared grids that helped them obtain correct proportions as
they laid out the entire scene. Artists painted onto dry plaster using ground
mineral pigments combined with plant gum or glue made from animals. They applied
the paint in broad strokes using thick brushes, one color at a time, with no
shading or effects of light. The artists then outlined figures and other objects
and added interior details with a thin brush.
Artists in ancient Egypt were not
concerned with representing the world realistically, and they did not attempt to
incorporate the illusion of depth in their art. They represented objects by
their most characteristic view, sometimes combining different views within a
single picture. For example, a chair might be drawn in profile (viewed from the
side), and an animal skin in full view (viewed straight on). The human figure
was a composite, with a face in profile that showed the full view of an eye and
eyebrow, and full-view shoulders and chest facing the viewer. The waist,
buttocks, and limbs were shown in profile. The different sizes of figures
indicated their relative importance, with more important people shown
larger.
The decoration of Egyptian buildings
reflected their function. In temples, scenes depicted the interaction of the
king and gods. On the outside walls the king was usually shown triumphantly
battling foreign enemies. This action symbolized his role as upholder of order
over chaos. Such scenes also served to protect and separate the pure, sacred
space inside the temple from the impure, secular world outside. The decoration
of the open court, which was open to some visitors, might show processions of
sacred boats that held the statues of the temple gods when they were brought out
at festivals.
The sacred interior of the temple was
decorated with scenes depicting the king and gods together, drawn on the same
scale. Each scene shows either the king performing a ritual act before the
god—offering food, drink, or adoration—or the god acknowledging the king by
embracing him, suckling him, or handing him an ankh, the sign of life in
Egyptian hieroglyphs. Other human beings rarely appear in these scenes.
In the Old and Middle Kingdoms, scenes
decorating the tomb chapels of the elite showed activities related to the tomb
owner's estates and his government office. They also depicted the funeral
procession and the performance of the burial rites, and the deceased before a
table of offerings, often with rows of people bringing more offerings. Images of
gods or the king were not included. In the New Kingdom’s 18th Dynasty, painted
tombs at Thebes displayed similar subject matter, but they were by then allowed
to show the deceased person worshiping funerary gods or being received in
audience by the enthroned king.
The function of the tomb chapel was to
provide a space where the living and the dead could interact. Intended to
provide a familiar environment for the returning dead, much of the decoration
portrayed images of daily life. Together with texts recording the tomb owner’s
titles and achievements, the painted images also established the status of the
dead person in the eyes of subsequent generations who visited the chapels. In
the 19th Dynasty, these daily-life scenes disappeared and were replaced by
scenes that showed the passage of the deceased from this world to the next and
the deceased adoring and being welcomed by different gods in the afterlife.
Other important painted items in ancient
Egypt were wooden coffins and funerary scrolls made of papyrus. In the Old and
Middle Kingdoms, coffins were rectangular in shape. On the outside they were
decorated with lines and columns of text that gave the titles and name of the
owner and asked for offerings on his or her behalf. On the east side, a pair of
painted eyes enabled the deceased to look out into the world of the living.
During the first half of the Middle Kingdom, coffins were also richly decorated
on the inside, with a false door painted behind the exterior eyes, painted piles
of offerings for the deceased, and texts designed to protect the occupant and
help him or her into the afterlife.
By the 18th Dynasty, most coffins had the
shape of a mummified human body. The painted decoration of coffins changed over
the next 1,500 years, though certain motifs remained popular. These included
images of the sky goddess, Nut, who gave birth to the sun every day; of Hathor,
who as the goddess of the west stood on the boundary between this world and the
next; and of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys, who resurrected the murdered god
Osiris. The painted images reflected the function of the coffin, which was not
simply to contain a dead body but to help the deceased make a successful
transition into the afterlife.
Funerary papyri, put inside many coffins,
had a similar purpose. The most famous of them is the so-called Book of the
Dead, which contains texts designed to protect the owner during the passage into
the next world. A painted scene accompanied each chapter, showing, for instance,
the funeral procession, the burial rites performed before the tomb, the deceased
adoring a variety of deities, and the deceased as an inhabitant of the next
world.
| D | Decorative Arts |
Jewelry and amulets for protection were
worn by the living and the dead in ancient Egypt. Both men and women wore
necklaces, collars, bracelets, armlets (bands around the upper arm), and
rings. Women also wore anklets (bands around the ankle), hip
girdles (belts), and, from the end of the Middle Kingdom, earrings.
Although young boys also wore earrings, adult men are rarely shown with them.
The most popular materials for jewelry were gold, representing the flesh of the
gods and the color of the sun; deep blue lapis lazuli, the color of the night
sky; turquoise, the color of new plants; and red carnelian, associated with the
sun and the color of blood. Egyptian faience, an inexpensive nonclay
ceramic material with a glaze made from quartz, was also popular, even with the
wealthy, because its shiny surface was associated with the brilliance of the
sun.
Amulets were often made in the shape of
what the Egyptians considered lucky hieroglyphs. These included the looped
cross, or ankh, which was an emblem for life; the papyrus stem and flower, which
stood for new growth and regeneration; and the djed pillar, which was
associated with the backbone of Osiris, for stability. One of the most famous
amulets is the wedjat eye. This was the eye of the god Horus, which was
wounded and made whole again, and it protected the wearer from misfortune and
bad influences. Other amulets were in the form of gods. For example, the goddess
Isis protected pregnant women, women in childbirth, and young children.
| E | The Amarna Period (1353 bc-1335 bc) |
One period stands out from all others in
Egyptian art because it represents a major change in style and subject matter.
The Amarna period, as it is known, lasted fewer than 20 years at the end of the
18th Dynasty and reflected a religious change made by King Amenhotep
IV, better known as Akhenaton. Akhenaton worshiped only one god, Aton, who
appeared as a sun disk . During Akhenaton’s rule, depictions of the sun disk
above the king replaced traditional temple decoration showing the king
interacting with different gods in human form. From the sun disk, rays ending in
human hands reach down to touch Akhenaton and his queen, Nefertiti, and the
offerings that they present to Aton. In tomb chapels as well, the king and
queen, not the tomb owner, form the focal point of the decoration.
Most noticeable in Amarna art are the
changed proportions of figures, particularly those of the king. Because Aton as
the creator god was believed to embody both the male and female principles of
the universe, Akhenaton, who was the representative of Aton on earth, was
portrayed with characteristics the Egyptians regarded as feminine, such as
narrow shoulders, a high waist, and pronounced belly, buttocks, and thighs.
Other figures have similar proportions but are less exaggerated. A number of
scholars have suggested that the king's image reflects his actual appearance,
but given the lack of realism in Egyptian art generally, this portrayal is more
likely to relate to his religious beliefs. After the death of Akhenaton, the
style and subject matter of Egyptian art returned to traditional forms during
the reign of his son-in-law, Tutankhamun.
| IV | LEGACY OF EGYPTIAN ART |
The Egyptians created their art and
architecture to affirm a distinctive social, political, and religious system.
After the Roman conquest of Egypt, Alexandria became an important center of
Christianity, and what Christians regarded as pagan art ceased to be produced.
Existing monuments were viewed negatively and their images defaced. The Arab
conquest of Egypt in ad 640
brought a new language (Arabic) as well as new cultural and religious
traditions. This event removed the Egyptians even further from their ancient
past.
Although curiosity about ancient Egypt never
died out completely in Europe, there was little informed knowledge about it.
Renewed interest in Egypt during the 18th century led to the use of Egyptian
motifs in art and architecture. Notable for their incorporation of these motifs
were Italian graphic artist Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Scottish-born architect
Robert Adam, English potter Josiah Wedgwood, and English furniture designer
Thomas Sheraton.
European interest in Egypt reached a peak
after the invasion of the country by French general Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798.
With his invading forces, Napoleon brought along a group of scholars whose task
was to study Egypt, ancient and modern. The result was Description de
l'Égypte, published between 1809 and 1828. This massive work contained many
illustrations of temples, statues, and reliefs. Napoleon's expedition also
discovered the Rosetta Stone. Inscriptions on the stone in three
languages—Greek, Demotic (a late form of the Egyptian language and script), and
hieroglyphs—provided the key that enabled French scholar Jean-François
Champollion to decipher hieroglyphic script. His success, in turn, led to the
beginnings of modern Egyptology.
During the 19th century, scholars collected
and studied inscriptions and texts on monuments throughout Egypt. Besides
Champollion, Egyptologists included Ippolito Rosellini of Italy and Karl Richard
Lepsius of Germany. Collectors of antiquities brought Egyptian reliefs, statues,
coffins, papyri, and other items to Europe, where they constitute the basis of
major museum collections. European artists and architects incorporated Egyptian
motifs in paintings, decorative arts, and monumental architecture. During the
20th century, scholars from Europe and the United States together with their
Egyptian colleagues worked to excavate, record, and conserve the monuments of
ancient Egypt under the supervision of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, later
called the Supreme Council for Antiquities.
In addition to excavation and collection,
scholars and the Egyptian government have taken increasing care to save Egyptian
artifacts from destruction caused by development. Perhaps the biggest effort
occurred in the 1960s, when the Aswān High Dam was built, causing a large area
to be flooded by newly created Lake Nasser. A massive rescue campaign was
undertaken to excavate the area before it was flooded. The two temples of Ramses
II at Abū Simbel and the Ptolemaic and Roman temples on the island of Philae
were moved to higher ground and saved. Though this is the most dramatic example,
numerous such measures of conservation occurred throughout the late 20th
century. These efforts remain a top priority in Egypt.
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