Essay On Egyptian Architecture

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Recommended: Egyptian religon and architecture

JaVan Durham
HIS 121-100
4-16-14

Egyptian Art and Architecture

Egypt has a rich history of art, music, food, tradition, and architecture. Since the beginning of Egyptian society art and architecture has been an important aspect of their culture. One of the most recognizable wonders of Egyptian architecture are the pyramids the run along the Nile river. The Sphinx is also an architecture wonder. Even the written language is a work of art. This written language is called hieroglyphs; it uses pictures to communicate and express what they want other people to know. Throughout Egyptian history there have been three major periods or kingdoms where art has changed and architecture has gotten more sophisticated. The three different kingdoms are old, middle and the new kingdom.
The first kingdom is known as the Old Kingdom which ranged from 2650-2150 B.C. The architecture in the old kingdom was mainly influence by the king’s first minister Imhotep. He was very good at his craft and was a skilled architect. The famous Step Pyramid in Saqqara was said to be designed by Imhotep himself; one of the first ministers of King Zoser. The most famous pyramids of the old kingdom are the three great pyramids in Giza. These pyramids run along the west part of the Nile River. The Nile River was and still is a very important major source of water for the people who live along its banks. The pyramids were built to bury the dead pharaohs, along with family, servants, pets, and their jewelry. Also the pyramids symbolize the almighty power of each pharaoh. One of the most typical and earliest of royal Egyptian sculptures is a statute of the great Zoser. “The life-size statue shows the pharaoh sitting staring straight ahead. For a long time, only such ...

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... these different kingdoms show how much Egyptian art has evolved from the very first pharaonic dynasty to the very last. All of the pharaohs had a common goal and vision of building monuments to either honor themselves our honor the gods. In the beginning the pharaohs believed that the bigger the better, but that changed once they started paying attention for towards decorating the insides of tombs and pyramid. Also later in the dynasty they changed from 2 dimensional arts to more realistic looking art and painting of humans. Egyptian art is unique and one of a kind. You will never see any style of art like Egyptian art anywhere in the world. “Egypt has the absolute longest unified history of any other group or civilization in the Mediterranean of that time period, extending with just a few interruptions from about 3000 B.C. on through the 4th century A.D (Ghaly).”

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