Ancient Egypt Artifact Analysis

The artifact in question allows for a great deal to be learned about the ancient Egyptians and their way of life. First of all, this artifact is significant to the culture of ancient Egypt because it connects to the social hierarchy and class system in place at that time. For example, Egypt was a patriarchy, although in many ways women had it better than in other civilizations of the same time period: women could own their own property, be a part of the legal system (serve on juries, take someone to court, etc.), and there were even some ruling Queens in the history of Egypt: “There are a number of cases where a queen mother ruled for her son who was still a child. Several queens also ruled in their own right, often at the end of a dynasty”

(31). This information is related to the artifact because one of the figures depicted in this artifact is Isis, who is widely thought of as queen of the gods. Plus, “[Mortal] queens shared the divine nature of the king and were occasionally identified with goddesses such as Hathor, Isis, or Tefnut… [Queens sometimes] wore the horns and sun disk of Hathor” (31). In the artifact, Isis is wearing the sun disk of Hathor (the crown-like object atop her head). On another note, this artifact was most likely created by someone of high class - in ancient Egypt, only about 1% of the entire population could read, and that 1% was entirely composed of the uper class (kings, officials, scribes, etc.) - and made for someone of high class (it was created to be put in the tomb of Siese, a treasurer). This shows how, in ancient times, major works of art were not something that common people usually came into contact with or had access to: “Ordinary people never saw the cult statues” (27). Your place on the social hierarchy determined a lot about the life you led and what cultural limits were in place.
One huge challenge that this artifact connects to is the fact that the people of Ancient Egypt had no way to explain the natural occurrences that they were faced with daily.

So, in order to have a way to cope with all of these events, explain them, the people created an intricate system of deities and beliefs. They “believed the universe and all events that occurred within it were governed by the will of the gods” (20) - gods like Isis and Wepwawet. This helped them make sense of why certain things happened and the way their world operated: “If the annual inundation of the Nile was too great or too scant, it was because the river was angry… Not because of weather patterns in central Africa,” and, “The gods embodied not only natural phenomena but also abstract concepts such as justice, kingship, protection, and truth” (20). Religion gave Egyptians a sense of purpose, belonging and security - it wiped away their fears of the natural world and gave them an explanation for anything that previously, they would not have been able to fully comprehend. Furthermore, the Egyptians often portrayed their gods as animalistic - the god Wepwawet (the figure on the right in the artifact), for instance, is portrayed with the head of a jackal. This is because, “An animal-headed image of a deity was an attempt to visualize the multiple aspects of that god. The human part of the image indicates that no ordinary animal is depicted and the animal part symbolizes the superhuman endowments of the

god” (20). The Egyptians most likely spiritualized animals in this way because certain characteristics of different animals (i.e., flying, night-vision, superior smell and speed) seemed too extraordinary to them to be fueled by anything other than some sort of supernatural energy. This relates back to the challenge they faced of not knowing how things worked and or why the world operated the way it did.
One conclusion that can be drawn about this civilization is that the Egyptians were an advanced, skilled, and patient people. The artifact was constructed out of limestone (most likely because “the fundamental difference between an ordinary living being and a statue was that the ‘work of art’ was destined to live eternally” (Egyptian Art. 19.), so therefore, artwork had to be sturdy enough to withstand the test of time), and the fact that Egyptians were able to sculpt and carve masterpieces out of stone just further proves how civilized they were. Another conclusion that may be reached is that the Egyptians were practical - they didn’t create art for the sake of expressing themselves or for the sake of the creation of something beautiful - they created art for spiritual reasons. They needed to have a physical representation of their gods (to have something real to worship and believe in), and they needed to do everything possible to ensure that their way of life (and death) would not be compromised. For example, the Egyptians “believed that these images, through their very existence, were instrumental in making this order [order in the universe] a reality. Likewise, the statues Egyptians placed in their tombs and temples served as physical repositories for the spirit and material representatives of important and venerable persons” (19). Essentially, art, for them, was a way of harnessing their own spirits, of, in some sense of the word, becoming immortal. It was also a way for them to keep their world balanced and rational. Essentially, the Egyptians took their religion very seriously and their art is a direct outcome of that.
This artifact relates to art and technology, religion, and writing systems, which is apt since all of these aspects of civilization were deeply entwined in ancient Egyptian society.

The artifact relates to art and technology because it is, without any possible room for debate, a work of art, and it is made out of limestone - whoever created it must have had tools advanced enough to carve directly from stone. In addition, the artifact includes many hieroglyphs (including an ankh, the symbol for life), and therefore, proves that the Egyptians had an advanced and effective writing system that was used in many aspects of life. And finally, the artifact depicts two deities (which is known not only because of the title of the piece or the animalistic portrayal of Wepwawet, but also through the fact that both figures are holding scepters - markers of gods and goddesses) and is tied to beliefs about life after death. It was made to belong in a tomb, and on the back of the artifact, there is a long prayer to Osiris, which is calling on him for aid in the Hereafter. As shown, ancient Egyptian art ties in greatly with their belief in the afterlife: “Many surviving Egyptian works of art have been discovered in ancient tombs. No people has created a greater variety of art forms to ensure the protection and well-being of the deceased in the afterlife” (27). The people loved life so much that they needed to create an afterlife (and a way to ensure that they made it into that afterlife) in

order to feel secure with the idea of death.