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Ap art history egyptian art
Egyptian art and religion
By comparing and contrasting, explain important aspects of Egyptian history referencing the three different “kingdoms”
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Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms of Egypt were very important. They were the kingdoms of old, middle, and new. Egypt’s Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3–6, 2649–2150 B.C.) was one of the most active periods in the development of Egyptian art. During this period, artists learned to express their culture’s worldview, creating for the first time images and forms that endured for generations. Architects and masons mastered the techniques necessary to build monumental structures in stone. Sculptors created the earliest portraits of individuals and the first life sized statues in wood, copper, and stone. They perfected the art of carving intricate relief decoration and, through keen observation of the natural world, made detailed images of animals, plants, and even landscapes, recording the essential elements of their world for eternity in scenes painted and carved on the walls of temples and tombs. All near the Nile river. …show more content…
Thebes became famous for the first time, serving as capital and artistic center during Dynasty 11. The outstanding monument of this dynasty was Mentuhotep’s mortuary complex, loosely modeled on the funerary monuments of his Theban ancestors. Built on a grand scale against the mind blowing sheer cliffs of western Thebes, Mentuhotep’s complex centered on a terraced temple with pillar. The masterful design, representing amazing architecture and landscape unique for its time, included painted reliefs of ceremonial scenes and hieroglyphic texts. Carved in a distinctive The ban style also seen in the tombs of Mentuhotep’s officials, these now-fragmentary reliefs among the finest ever produced in Egypt. The Middle Kingdom was a little bit bigger and closer to the
King Menkaure and Queen Khamerenebty ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, circa 2533-2515 BCE. The 4th Dynasty is associated with the Great Pyramids of Giza. The increasing wealth of the ruling families of the period is reflected in their large, elaborate royal portraits. The statue of King Menkaure and his wife, standing 4’8” high, was found in the Valley Temple of the pyramid of Menkaure at Giza. It is a good example of Old Kingdom royal tomb sculpture, although it is the first known work depicting a couple. The pair statue of Menkaure and Khamerenebty exemplifies both dignity and marital affection.
Though the founder of the Middle Kingdom, Mentuhotep II, was able to reunify Upper and Lower Egypt, the rulers of the Middle Kingdom were never able to consolidate and solidify their power to the extent that the kings of the Old Kingdom had done. It follows that they would also be unable to exercise as much power as their predecessors. Because the kings were forced to devote more of their resources to maintaining control over the country, they had less to expend on artistic pursuits, as well as being more preoccupied with more pressing concerns. These kings were unable to replicate the artistic and engineering feats of the Old Kingdom, but rather, without resources comparable to those available in the old kingdom, the artists were often forced to
The remaining years of his rule were distinguished by the construction of such monuments as the rock-hewn temple of Abû Simbel, the great hypostyle hall in the Temple of Amon at Al Karnak, and the mortuary temple at Thebes, known as Ramesseum.
The New Kingdom in ancient Egypt, from 1550 – 1070 BC, was a time of extraordinary wealth, power, and the continuation of the arts in the classic ancient Egyptian style. Characterized by the abstract and impersonal depiction of humans, along with the strength of the Egyptian Empire, the New Kingdom is considered the peak of power and prosperity in ancient Egypt. “Fragmentary lid from the coffin of Wadj-shemsi-su” is a piece created in this time period that was originally part of a portrait located on the top of the king’s coffin. Because the coffin would carry the king’s mummified body in his tomb, the portrait depicts the pharaoh as being prepared for the Underworld, as well as being the ideal body for the spirit of the king to flow through. The objective of the coffin’s portrait is also to convey the power of the kingdom, putting emphasis on the king’s image and the immense wealth that accompanies him. In addition to the piece’s function as a coffin, “Fragmentary lid from the coffin of Wadj-shemsi-su” embodies the strength and wealth of the New Kingdom through the piece’s human face, use of bright colors, and geometric detailing.
Akhenaten had a dream to reform Egypt. He changed the way they worshiped, the way they lived and even the way they created art. His rule was a time of great change for Egypt, however his ideas and reforms were met with little support or enthusiasm. He used tremendous amounts of Egypt’s recourses and time for all his reforms, he also consumed a lot of his own time on these problems rather than on his pharaonic duties. During the 5th and 6th years of his reign Akhenaten set the boundaries for his new capital, Akhetaten, 350 kilometres north of Thebes. It was to be a city dedicated to Aten and all who worshiped him, however like most of Akhenaten’s reforms once his rule concluded, like so many other of his attempts to change Egypt, this too would be abandoned. Akhenaten led an artistic reform, changing the way that Egyptian artists portrayed the people of Egypt. He moved away from the false grandeur that had always been used and opted for a more stark and realistic approach, possible even an exaggerated ugliness. He himself was depicted as a gaunt, frail and pot-bellied man with a stern and imposing face rather than a strong radiant god king as previous pharaohs had always b...
The statue of King Khafre Seated , from the fourth dynasty of the Old Kingdom, 2520 - 2492 BCE, was created by an unknown artist in the smooth permanence of graywacke stone. Although the statue is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as number 56 in the Special Egyptian Exhibition, its true home is at the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo. The man being portrayed, King Khafre, ruled Egypt for approximately thirty years, during which he commissioned the single most recognizable monuments of Egypt, the a fore mentioned Pyramids at Giza and the Sphinx. These monuments of symmetry and solidity characterize the focus of popular architecture and sculpture from the Old Kingdom in Egypt.
The Valley of the Kings is a valley in Egypt which was chosen as the burial ground for a great number of pharaohs and nobles of the New Kingdom; the New Kingdom in Egypt spans the time between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC which includes the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth dynasties of Egypt (Long 2015: 39). In 1979 an organization known as the Theban Mapping Project was organized to strategically catalogue the present and available archaeological record of the Theban Necropolis in the Valley of the Kings. “The TMP’s goal is to establish a historical and contemporary record of all monuments … and to prepare detailed topographical maps, architectural plans and surveys of their history and condition (Weeks 2000:1).” The book
Egypt was one of the first River Valley Civilizations. In Egypt there were big advances in art, math and science and also pottery. We still use the same number system and they even had fractions back in that time. During the Old Kingdom times the pyramids were built. The pyramids were tombs for the pharaohs of Egypt. These pyramids are one of the most popular historical sites in the world.
to 2650 B.C., changed his name to the more commonly known Zoser. It was Zoser
The sculptures and paintings produced during the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty set the standard of Egyptian art until the end of the dynastic periods. Egypt was a culture steeped in religion and bound by the ideas of order and balance; and so was their artwork. Because most pieces produced were depictions of reigning pharaoh’s divine relationship with the Egyptian gods and his role as king of Egypt (Hawass), the Fourth Egyptian Dynasty gave life to specific cannon in Egyptian art called the “law of frontality (Egyptian Art).” All gods, pharaohs and noblemen would be depicted based on this standard. These standards left little room for artistic innovation until the reign of Akhenaten at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The pharaoh Akhenaten abandoned the artistic style and religion of the Old Kingdom and created his own called the Armarna Style. Both periods produced beautiful architecture and artwork but the artist of Akhenaten’s reign were given more creative liberties and produced more life-like pieces.
Egyptian art is distinguished for its endurance and for influencing the following civilizations, Greek, Roman, and all the succeeding modern arts. Everything was minutely created with a sense of permanence, Egyptians believed "in continued life after death" (Abercrombie, Whiton 12).
Many people are familiar with the pyramids and tombs of Ancient Egypt, yet not as many know about the different types of art created by the lower classes. Documentaries, movies, and television shows rarely mention the more standard art that was created, that didn’t take years of hard labor to create. This art can be compared to the drawings that many people make today, as a hobby to do in their freetime. The only difference is that the Egyptians made art for more practical purposes, and rarely for fun. You would likely find a lot of these pieces in plebian burial sites, or packed away in museum storage. Though they lack the renown of the pyramids and tombs, the different styles and types of art created by the Ancient Egyptians have just as much value as the larger accomplishments, but for different reasons.
The ancient Egyptians were people of many firsts. They were the first people of ancient times to believe in life after death. They were the first to build in stone and to fashion the arch in stone and brick. Even before the unification of the Two Lands, the Egyptians had developed a plow and a system of writing. They were accomplished sailors and shipbuilders. They learned to chart the cosmos in order to predict the Nile flood. Their physicians prescribed healing remedies and performed surgical operations. They sculpted in stone and decorated the walls of their tombs with naturalistic murals in vibrant colors. The legacy of ancient Egypt is written in stone across the face of the country from the pyramids of Upper Egypt to the rock tombs in the Valley of the Kings to the Old Kingdom temples of Luxor and Karnak to the Ptolemaic temples of Edfu and Dendera and to the Roma...
Until today, architects and artists, draw inspiration and understanding from Ancient Egyptian art and architecture as they mastered it. The pyramids are masterpieces that bring wonders to other civilizations; they are marvel of human engineering and constructions. Also, the modern world has benefited greatly from the agricultural and irrigation techniques used by ancient Egyptians in the Nile Valley. Their success of their civilization depended heavily on their religious beliefs as it is what dominated and directed their lifestyle. To conclude, Ancient Egypt left an extraordinary imprint on the world today and many countries across the world value and houses their artifacts. The civilization of the ancient Egyptians was not civilized slip at the age of time. Ancient Egyptians civilization was a unique cultural characteristics and achievements that were authenticity. Ancient Egypt civilization has its own credibility among all civilizations, making Egypt the Mother of the World. Ancient Egypt originated in the valley, and the Nile Delta, where ancient Egyptians lived. Ancient Egypt’s cultural aspect refers to the language, worship, customs, organization to their lives, the life management, administrative affairs, their conception of the nature around them, and their dealings with their
Egyptian Art and Architecture, the buildings, paintings, sculpture, and allied arts of ancient Egypt, from prehistoric times to its conquest by the Romans in 30 bc. Egypt had the longest unified history of any civilization in the ancient Mediterranean, extending with few interruptions from about 3000 bc to the 4th century ad. The nature of the country, fertilized and united by the Nile, and its semi-isolation from outside cultural influences, produced an artistic style that changed little during this long period. Art in all its forms was devoted principally to the service of the pharaoh, who was considered a god on Earth, to the state, and to religion. From early times a belief in a life after death dictated that the dead be buried with material goods to their ensure well-being for eternity. The regular patterns of nature—the annual flooding of the Nile, the cycle of the seasons, and the progress of the Sun that brought day and night—were considered gifts from the gods to the people of Egypt. Egyptian thought, morality, and culture were rooted in a deep respect for order and balance. Change and novelty were not considered important in themselves; thus the style and representational conventions in Egyptian art that were established early in the development of that civilization continued virtually unchanged for more than 3,000 years. To the modern eye the Egyptian artistic idiom may seem stiff and static; its underlying intention, however, was not to create an image of things as they appear in reality, but rather to capture the essence of a person, animal, or object for eternity.