NOTES: Art of Ancient Egypt 3
p. 49
"This has been, perhaps, the most extraordinary day in the whole history of Egyptian excavation...The entrance today was made into the sealed chamber of (Tutankhamun's) tomb...and yet another door opened beyond that. No eyes have seen the King, but to practical certainty we know that lies there close at hand in all his original state, undisturbed."
The Times of London, February 16, 1923
Tutankhamun's mask, or funerary mask of Tutankhamun, is the death mask of the 18th-dynasty Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. It was discovered by Howard Carter in 1925 in tomb KV62 and is now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Found in the Valley of the Kings, after 15 years of digging!
Was Carter's last expedition, sponsored by the wealthy British amateur Egyptologist Lord Carnarvon.
The tomb dates to c. 1332 - 1322 BCE
The death mask is made of gold inlaid with glass and semiprecious stones.
weight = 24 pounds
The mummified body placed in three coffins and then entered the sarcophagus made of stone coffin of yellow quartzite
In 2006, Otto Schaden excavated a tomb containing seven coffins in the Valley of the Kings.
Why Egypt?
The Gift of the Nile - when the floodwaters receded, it left behind a new layer of rich silt, thus making the valley and delta a continually fertile location that attracted, and maintained its inhabitants.
Brief time line of are development:
8000 BCE inhabitants lived off the land, abundant with fish, game, wild plants.
5000 BCE the inhabitants developed agricultural village life with Neolithic culture
5000 - 2500 BCE was a time of significant social and political strength and transition
By 3500 BCE, larger states - or chiefdoms - located in the lower Nile Valley -- thus allowing for a centralized form of leadership to develop.
*Think about the religious beliefs with regard to their attitude towards death, and explain how early Egyptians inspired traditions in art and architecture.
p. 50
Early Dynastic Egypt c. 2950 - 2575 BCE (how many years ago is this, exactly?)
Two lands emerged "Upper Egypt" in the South located upstream of the Nile River and "Lower Egypt" in the north (downstream).
Upper Egypt - upstream - conquered the Lower and the cultural artifacts illustrate enduring concepts of kingship and the idea of cosmic order.
Most of these early artifacts discovered were located in secure places - tombs - and made of durable materials.
Looters, etc. have destroyed much of the known artifacts.
The Greek historian Herodotus thought the Egyptians to be the most religious people he had ever known.
Ancient Egyptian worldview =
i. Movements of heavenly bodies
ii. The glory of the afterlife
iii. All things are the workings of the gods
iv. Humble earthbound activity were all believed to be part of a balance, unified and harmonious grand design
v. Egypt's kings were revered as gods in human form
vi. Death was feared only by those who wanted to dismantle this unity.
vii. Those who lived 'the good life' were thus rewarded in the afterlife
Artistic Conventions =
The established ways of representing things in a specific culture. They are thus, widely accepted by the makers and patrons of the time.
Egyptian artists followed strict conventions based on natural observation and what they thought they knew about the afterlife
Eventually a mathematical system, or formulas, was developed to determine design and proportions.
The Palette of Narmar, Early Dynastic period c. 2950 BCE made of Green Schist, 25" high
> standing barefoot = on sacred ground (anchor line)
> Hieroglyphs are phonetic centered at the top and name the king = horizontal fish (nar) and vertical chisel (mar)
> aerial depiction of the palace with its facade
> Narmar wears the red crown of Lower Egypt
> hierarchical scale
> foreground = figures // back ground of the relief = absent of activity (only negative space)
> Depiction of the human form via composite poses, a convention
i. heads = profile
ii. eyes rendered frontally
iii. lower torso = profile
iv. upper torso = frontal
v. legs = striding and revealing both legs
firmly stepping on hollowed ground on an anchor line
vi. persons of lesser rank seem to be more life like in their poses
Walk Like an Egyptian . The Bangles . Michael Jackson
p. 53
Funerary Architecture = Pyramid
Every Egyptian believed that an essential part of every human was their life force or their ka that lived on in the afterlife. The Egyptians developed elaborate funerary practices to ensure this to happen.
Egyptians preserved the bodies of the royal dead with great care and placed them in burial chambers, along with sculpted surrogates of the people directly 'under' them and all the supplies they would need in the afterlife.
Mastaba and Necropolis
Early Dynastic Egypt - common tomb structure, with flattened top, one story building, slanted walls erected from a underground burial chamber. c. 2650 - 2575 BCE
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| Stepped Pyramid |
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| Ka statue of the deceased |
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| False doors placed on the facades of the Mastabas |
Mastabas tended to group together in necropolis - meaning the 'city of the dead.'
Located on west bank of the Nile River, the land of the dead was believed to be in the direction of the setting sun.
Location of most extensive are at Saqqara and Giza, outside Cairo.
Elements of Architecture: Mastabas to Pyramid p. 55
The Old Kingdom c. 2575 - 2150 BCE
The Great Pyramids at Giza (the three)
Erected 2575 - 2450 BCE
Some historians believe that the pyramids angled sides may have meant to imitate the slanting rays of the sun, possibly?
Inscriptions on the walls of the
tombs tell of the deceased kings climbing up the
rays to join the sun god Ra.
The site was carefully planned to follow the sun's east-west path.
Next to each pyramid was a funerary temple connected by a causeway to a valley temple on the bank of the Nile River.
Fourth Dynasty kings:
King Khufu (reigned c. 2551-2528 BCE - oldest and largest: covers 13 acres at its base, polished limestone
King Khafre (r. c. 2520-2494 BCE) - middle scale
King Menkaure (r. c. 2490 - 2472 BCE) - smallest
When a king died, his body underwent a long process of embalming and ferried west across the Nile from the royal palace to his valley temple, where elaborate ceremonies ensued. Food and drink, priests performed rites.
Finally the body was entombed in a vault deep within the pyramid. 3 fake passageways hid the tomb from intruders.
Constructing the Pyramids p. 57
> Thousands of builders in the labor force
> a burial ground for these individuals reveals this information
> Each stone weighed some 2.5 tons quarried on site or near by
> used small logs as rollers or pouring water on mud thereby creating a slippery surface.
Many theories have been raised of how the 3 were built - but it is not questioned that sophisticated mathematical calculations were used!
The Great Sphinx, Funerary complex of Khafre
- This complex is the best preserved
- is a colossal portrait of the king 65' tall
Valley Temple made of Red Granite support a flat roof
Clerestory - row of tall narrow windows lets in light and reflects the alabaster floor.
Khafre Enthroned is a funerary statue of the Pharaoh Khafre, who reigned during the Fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt (c. 2570 BC). It is now located in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
Khafre is enthroned above:
Made of gneiss (related to diorite), appears blue when natural light hits it. Blue is the symbolic color of Horus, the stone is from Nubia.
Symbols
Falcon god Horus perches on the back of the throne
Lions - symbol of regal authority
Intertwined lotus and papyrus plants is symbolic of the king's power over the Upper (lotus) and Lower (papyrus) Egypt
King Menkaure and Queen Khamerernebty II
Menkaure was the son of Khafra and the grandson of Khufu. A flint knife found in the mortuary temple of Menkaure mentioned a king's mother Khamerernebty I, suggesting that Khafra and this queen were the parents of Menkaure.
Read article on King Menkaure and Queen Khamerernebty II
The sculpture of the Seated Scribe or Squatting Scribe is a famous work of ancient Egyptian art. It represents a figure of a seated scribe at work. More relaxed pose than royal figures. The sculpture was discovered at Saqqara, north of the alley of sphinxes, it was discovered near a tomb made for an official named Kai and is sculpted from limestone.
This may be Kai himself.
A flabby body represents a rich life full of food
and free of physical labor.
Pictorial relief found in tombs p. 61
Royal families and those with a great deal of wealth often had their tombs painted with images and reliefs. Imagery often was of religious nature . keep everything in balance - and thus Egyptian culture. Painted (polychromed) relief - note hierarchical scale, composite pose of government official by the name of Ti.
Attributes of Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt (above)
Painted relief = polychrome
Hierarchical scale
Composite pose of government official
vertical relief contrast to sleekness of Ti's stylized body
Smaller human figures more in believable movement
River depicted from an aerial perspective
The Middle Kingdom c. 1975 - 1640 BCE
Old Kingdom collapsed, and turmoil of political upheaval.
Middle Kingdom emerged known for amazing creation of the arts (all) and writing in all their glory
Head of Senusret III, yellow quartz
reigned c. 1836 - 1818 BCE
Portrait captures the emotional and more life-like presence of the king, like never before.
Rock-cut tombs p. 62
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| Rock-Cut Tombs, Beni Hasan, 1938 - 1756 BCE |
11th and 12th Dynasty
Members of nobility and the wealthy commissioned tombs hollowed from the face of a cliff.
Entrance way = portico
Also contained a shrine with a burial chamber under the offering chapel.
Funerary Stelai (stele = singular) p. 63
Not everyone could commission a tomb to be built. Instead individual monuments could be commissioned on a less grander scale. These are often made of limestone, and often painted.
Stele of the sculptor Userwer c. 1850 BCE
limestone with traces of red and black ink
20" high
Town Planning p. 65
The New Kingdom c. 1539 - 1075 BCE
The Great Temple Complexes
King Thutmose III (reigned 1479 - 1425 BCE) conducted 15 military campaigns. He was the first ruler to call himself a Pharaoh. The term "Pharaoh" referred to "the great house." That period forward, kings called themselves Pharaohs, and is referred to by that same name in the Hebrew Bible.
Temple Complex of Amun at Karnak (above) p. 66
Is a long standing sacred site
Continual renovations (building and rebuilding) on it for nearly 500 years.
A sanctuary containing the statue of Amun was found.
Valley of the Kings and Queens - Hatshepsut p. 67
Across the Nile from Karnak and Luxor is Valleys of the Kings and Queens. Located on west-bank of the Nile held a royal necropolis. Pharaoh Hatshepsut ruled 1473 - 1458 BCE
Very few females ruled Egypt (other than Sobekneferu and Tausret, much later Cleopatra VII)
Hatshepsut married her 1/2 brother.
There was no artistic formula for female pharaohs yet in Egyptian art, she was the first. Thus she was represented as a male king.
The Tomb of Ramose p. 69
Art of the Amarna Period c. 1353 - 1336 BCE
Akhenaten p. 70
One of the most unusual rulers having a 17 year reign 1353 - 1336 BCE
He radically transformed the political, spiritual and cultural life of the country.
He founded a new religion honoring a single supreme god - the life-giving sun deity Aten (represented by the sun's disk).
He changed his name to be "One Who is Effective on Behalf of the Aten."
Akhenaten also changed the capital of Egypt of Thebes to be further north.
Also the stylized art of the earlier periods also seemed to change.
Colossal Statues of Akhenaten at East Karnak.
The Colossal Statues of Akhenaten at East Karnak depict the 18th dynasty pharaoh, Akhenaten (also known as Amenophis IV or Amenhotep IV), in a distorted representation of the human form, although with human slouching stomach and inflated thighs 13' high
A 'new' style : The Head of Nefertiti p. 72 was the Wife of Akhenaten
Neferneferuaten Nefertiti was an Egyptian queen and the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten, an Egyptian Pharaoh. Nefertiti and her husband were known for a religious revolution, in which they worshiped one god only, Aten, or the sun disc.
Return to Tradition: Tutankhamun - Ramses II p. 73
Tutankhamen - see above discovery in 1922. Made of 240 pounds of gold
Temples of Ramses II
Late Egyptian Art c. 715 - 332 BCE p. 78
** 1/2 Deconstructive Analysis of a Visual form
Akhenaten and His Family, found on page 71
Eighteenth Dynasty c. 1353 - 1336 BCE
painted limestone
The essay should be well developed, thoughtful and analytical in nature.
Your essay should bring in excellent descriptive support of how the elements are operating in this particular work of art.
(Each element will receive approximately 20%)
-Line actual line and implied line
-Depiction of space and shape scale
-Repetitive shapes found throughout the sculpture
-Texture - including natural and hieroglyphic forms
-As well as how and why it was even created.
-As well as how and why it was even created.
2. 10% of overall grade
i. Material and application and process of tools. 5%
ii. Akhenaten and His Family with one found from our text from page XXIII to page70 (may be additive or subtractive techniques).
Include an image of the sculpture you are making your comparison with. 5%
3. 10% of overall grade towards the essay's mechanics of writing. The essay's structure is well organized, transitions are smooth, grammar is excellent, and includes the addition of image with proper labeling. Essay is coherent and illustrates excellent technical control of the author.