780 The Judgement of Hunefer before Osiris, is a piece of art that tells so much about what exactly, the Egyptians believe, concerning the afterlife. There are many ideas, surrounding the piece of art and scholars have spent countless hours piecing together the meaning of the piece. This is one of the more popular pieces of this era. It is well known and included in many books and documentaries. I have analyzed this work of art and in this essay, I will attempt to discuss the formal elements of this work of art, the iconography, and the purpose of the art.
The Judgement of Hunefer before Osiris, Dynasty 19, c. 1285 was written with paint, on papyrus. This text was written for a scribe named Hunefer. Scribes had a priestly status,
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who had a very high status in Egyptian culture. (1) The book of the dead, papyri are from the early New Kingdom c. 1450BC. These papyri were written by royal scribes such as Hunefer. “The lines of inscription contain passages from spell 30B of the Book of the Dead. Composition is framed on top and bottom with red and yellow lines. Very little text/image loss except for yellow paint which has faded” (4). The colors are in harmony with one another. The condition of the papyrus is considered good, but bleached in parts. The art is extremely detailed giving texture and tone to the piece. The height of the Papyrus is 39.8cm and around 87.5cm in length (4). There are changes throughout the painting in the direction of the lines to give the painting texture and definition. It is easy to tell that Hunefer is wearing a very thin linen type cloth, because the artist has given this texture through the lines, which allow us to see the very thin material that is covering Hunefer’s legs and upper body. It is also easy to tell that the fabric overlaps around Hunefer’s waist. The pedestal that Osiris rests his feet upon has a rough texture due to the lines that are painted on it. The iconography of this work of art gives us details, of what the Egyptians believed would happen to Hunefer, as he is judged after his death.
At the top of the painting, Hunefer is kneeling in front of a line of crouching deities, professing the good life that he lived. Directly above this scene, Hunefer is being held by the hand of Anubis to the place where his heart will be weighed against the “feather of truth” Maat is on top of the balancing arm of the scales and wears a feather as her headdress. A part crocodile, part lion and part hippopotamus awaits to devour Hunefer, if his sins are found to outweigh the feather. This creature is called Ammit which is known as the, “Eater of the Dead.” Anubis is seen kneeling at the scales weighting the heart against the feather and the ibis-headed god Thoth records the result of the weighing, which in this case, Hunefer’s heart weighs less than the feather, and Hunefer can proceed to move forward in the afterlife. In the next scene, Hunefer is being introduced to Osiris by Horus who is Osiris’s son. Horus has the head of a falcon and is holding an ankh in his left hand, which is a symbol of eternal life. Osiris sits on a great throne behind a lotus blossom, which also represents eternal life. Horus’s four children sit on top of the lotus blossom, representing the four cardinal points, north south, east, and west. The four children are the symbols on the canopic jars that house the organs of the dead, and keep the dead
preserved. Behind Osiris, stand Osiris’s wife Isis and her sister Nephthys. The purpose of the art was to prove the dead with instructions and spells for each stage of the afterlife. It is similar to having all the answers ahead of time for an exam. It was also, as historian Margaret Bunson explains, “to instruct the deceased on how to overcome the dangers of the afterlife by enabling them to assume the form of several mythical creatures and to give them the passwords necessary for admittance to certain stages of the underworld” (5). The Egyptians believed these things were needed in the afterlife. The piece is now located in the British Museum in London. There are several representations of Hunefer on the papyrus that tell us about what the Egyptians believed would happen to Hunefer in the afterlife.
Information from the textbook and Hays’s article help illuminate the events depicted and their significance in culture and art of the New Kingdom, and how the style ties into the art of the time.
The Ancient Egyptian sculpture, “Statue of Nykara and His Family”, was sculpted during the late fifth dynasty. The sculpture is a depiction of Nykara, his wife, Nubkau, and son, Ankhma-Re. The statue is in poor condition with pieces of limestone missing and chips on the three subject’s faces and bodies. The painted limestone shows the conventional colors for the male and female subjects. There is a clear discoloration among Nykara and his son’s bodies. The brownish red color they once were has eroded to a light yellowish color, which resembles the purposeful color of Nykara’s wife. The hieroglyphs on Nykara’s seat insinuate that the sculpture is meant to be viewed from the front view. This is also evident by the way the three subjects are facing forward in frontal view. There are hieroglyphs on both the chair and base of the statue near Nykara’s wife and son’s feet.
Never before in history did any monument receive such wide attention from the public and media like the Great Sphinx of Giza. The 73.5m long and 20m high (Dieter Arnold) stone carved statue not only fascinates people from all around the world, but also created countless movie ideas, novels, video games and raises questions to those who are interested. Undoubtedly, Sphinx has become one of the most notable figures of ancient Egyptian culture just beside the pyramids in the eyes of westerners. However, many questions remained in mysteries for almost decades until the excavation of 1925 by Emile Baraize revealed the Sphinx’s exotic design to the world's view. Why did the ancient Egyptians build this massive structure? For what purpose would they want to invest such resources and labors to initiate such complex project? How was it built and how did the Egyptians overcome the enormous difficulties with past technologies? The purpose of this paper would be discussing the possible identity of whom the Sphinx might be and compare and analyze the evidence from a material culture point of view. The paper would be lay out to four different sections. First part would briefly describe the purpose of this study as well as giving a brief modern history of the Sphinx. Second part would be discussing the style/meaning and its association and context with the pyramids of the Giza and how the Sphinx was built. The third part would be discussing kings who possibly commissioned the Sphinx to be built and analyze the style of the Pyramid to the style of those kings. Two kings that could be the owner of the Sphinx are Khafra and Khufu, which would be my main focus here and I would be discussing the pros and cons of the scholars’ different ideas. Last p...
The pieces of sculpture are both carved using the subtractive method of sculpting from stone. However, the types of stone used were very different. The sculpture of Mycerinus and Kha-merer-nebty II was carved from a stone called greywacke, a dark colored, very hard stone the Egyptians prized for sculpture despite the fact t...
In conclusion, the portrayal of ancient rulers is dependent not only on the style of art popular during the era, but also on the evolution of the political climate. The portrayal of Menkaure, a pharaoh of the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt, is of complete authority, control and power. His face does not show concern or grief over his people, because he is not challenged politically, the image of control coincides with his sole power over the kingdom. While the depiction of Alexander the Great, in ancient Greek coins is deified. Alexander’s leadership ended with world domination; therefore, his deified portrayal on monetary funds is particularly appropriate. By contrast, Philip the Arab’s portrait sculpture almost resembles a present day photograph with its capture of fleeting expression. This expression of anxiety and sadness is a representation of the political turmoil during the time period of his rule. Taking the progress of ancient cultures into account, how does the art of sculpting improve in the manipulation of the medium used?
Although the portrait does not show a realistic representation of Wadj-shemsi-su himself, the Egyptians instead identified him with glyphs located on the back of the lid and concentrated on creating an idealistic image that symbolized the kingdom’s power. The lid functioned to protect the king’s mummified corpse, but the portrait itself functioned to symbolize the wealth of the kingdom through the figure’s powerful face, strong bone structure, and painted ornate
The Warka Vase is a uniquely large piece that was laboriously built, and carefully decorated. The images on the Warka Vase are significant and have iconographic meanings unique to the Uruk people and the cult of Inana. The images reference common practices in cuneiform and iconography of the time and place the Warka Vase was made and can be cross compared with other pieces from the time to understand the symbolism of this brilliant piece of art. To understand who is in the images, what they are doing and how they relate to one another may bring unique insight to the practices of the cult of Inana.
...ars after Khafre’s reign, the fourth dynasty was just the beginning. Monumental Egypt, although it existed in burial tombs before Khafre’s reign, truly became a traditional pattern in the fourth dynasty. Khafre’s seated ka statues were numerous and perhaps the beginning of the formulaic sculpting of Egyptian ka statues. The King Khafre Seated that is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art now is not only the best ka statue of Khafre in existence, but perhaps one of the best examples of classic Egyptian sculpture from the Old Kingdom.
The first symbol was a tall, bronze ladder that was narrow and stretched all the way to Heaven. The ladder represents the path that everyone must climb in order to get to Heaven. On the ladder are iron implements, all of which were various weapons, and that if you were not careful, you would be "torn to pieces" (2). The iron implements were the tools that were used to torture people, especially in the arena where the Christians were killed. One could also see the implements as obstacles that people face while trying to live a good life and get to Heaven. The dragon found at the bottom of the ladder is representative of the temptation of the devil (2). When the dragon put his head down and Perpetua stomped on it, it showed that she had power over the devil and that she was able to resist his temptations. The huge expanse of garden symbolizes Heaven. The white-haired man milking his ewes and dressed like a shepherd is referring to God watching over all his people like a shepherd watches his flock. The thousands of people dressed in white are either representing the angels and saints in Heaven or the thousands of believers that have died before and now live in Heaven. Finally, in her vision, Perpetua is given a small morsel, and she accepts it with both hands, and the people say "Amen". These actions symbolize those of Eucharist and that she was receiving the Body of Christ. After this had happened,
For my final project I chose to compare two works of art from ancient Mesopotamia. A visual work of art and a literary one. The visual work of art I chose was the Statuettes of Worshipers which were created around 2900 to 2350 BCE at the Square Temple at Eshnunna, a city in ancient Mesopotamia. The literary artwork I have chosen is the Epic of Gilgamesh written roughly around 2800 BCE by author or authors unknown. It was set in Uruk, another city in ancient Mesopotamia. Both of these works of art share a common theme; the theme of immortality. It is my hopes that within this paper I can accurately show how each of these works of art express this theme, and how it relates to modern society.
This depiction of Nebamun hunting in the marshes dates to around the late 18th dynasty . Its formal qualities depict that of an Egyptian scribe on an outing with his family, while utilising proportion to emphasise the Egyptian values and beliefs of the day. Further analysis reveals strong iconographic meaning, particularily in relation to the habitat surrounding Nebamun and his family. When studying the piece in relation to social context, we see how death and the Afterlife were an essential part of Egyptian life as a whole.
Let’s begin with what was going on during the time period for each sculpture. During the 2458-2446 BCE. Userkaf was thriving over his brother Sahure, and he became the new ruler of Egypt. In the start of 2446 BCE, Neferirkare beings his dominant over Egypt. King Sahure and Nome God is a high relief it is still attached to a surface of a stone. The Pharaoh sitting on his thorn wearing a Nemes headdress (it is usually blue and gold striped), fake beard. The king has an emotionless facial expression. It was made for a decoration for the king pyramid complex. The symbol behind this statue could be the gathering of the Nome gods form Upper and Lower Egypt around t...
One of the most striking features of a Byzantine style church is the extensive use of iconography, with images often covering most if not all of the walls inside the sanctuary. Upon entering this sacred space, we see the scriptures come to life through the imagery, colors, and events that are depicted. The icons speak to us in a theologically correct way and convey deep meaning about spiritual realities that are often beyond our comprehension. And while the cumulative effect of so many images is quite powerful, each individual icon offers us the same experience. A good example can be seen in the icon of the Annunciation.
The fine art representing the Tower of Babel is very useful to observers since it offers a kind of problem-solving capacity that can enable one to think through the emerging political, social, and cultural transformations. The Tower of Babel paintings clearly portray the translation of the Biblical story into a formal picture-speaking orate. It depicts a ziggurat-like tower reaching advancing towards heaven ; yet at the same instance, the people involved in the construction seem to be doing something more by creating an event, a mythical event, full of consequences (Lendering 39). Varieties of sources have been outsourced together to give more weight to these arts. There exist many contractions depicted within them, and it is so surprising that the same sources have raised many interpretations and translations.
The “Sacred Tree,” (fig. 1) was originally positioned behind the king’s throne. The scene shows two genii, sometimes with birds’ heads and sometimes with men’s heads and the horned hats of gods. Each of the winged figures holds a bucket and reaches out with an oval object toward a stylized “tree.” The composition has been read as being based on bilateral symmetry, with the vertical stalk-like structure crowned by a palmette. A meticulous examination reveals that although balanced, it has many discrepancies on both sides that deviate from perfect mirror symmetry. Ashurnasirpal appears twice, shown from two sides, dressed in ceremonial robes and holding a mace connoting his authority. The figure of the king on the right makes an invocative gesture a god in a winged disk in the top center of the relief. Ashur, the national god or Shamash, the god of the sun and justice, may be identified as the god who confers the king divine right. On the left, the king holds a ring, an ancient Mesopotamian symbol of divine kingship, in one...