The Art of Ancient Egypt Part I: Intro and Old Kingdom Chapter 3

Egypt: The Gift of the Nile

Ancient Egyptians lived along

the river. River a source of life.

Death monuments were located

in the desert.

Upper Egypt to the south, Lower

Egypt to the North.

The predictable flooding of the

Nile lead to a belief in a orderly,

rational universe.

3000 year tradition that still lives

in the imagination of many.

Egyptian Chronology

Pre-dynastic 3000 - 2611 BCE

Old Kingdom 2611 - 2150 BCE

Middle Kingdom 2040 - 1640 BCE

New Kingdom 1550 - 1070 BCE

Ptolemaic Era 332 - 31 BCE

Translation of the Rosetta Stone by Jean-

François Champollion in 1822, after its

discovery by Bonaparte’s army in 1798-1799.

The text on the stone was written in three

scripts, Greek, demotic, and hieroglyphs.

The discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun by Howard

Carter in 1922 sparked a renewed interest in ancient

Egypt or “egyptomania” particularly evident in the

architecture of the mid to late 1920’s

A small, but extremely fine example of this architecture is found in downtown

DeKalb. The Egyptian Theater, designed by Elmer F. Behrnes and built in the

late 1920s (opened 1929) is one of a handful of such buildings that still Stand.

Others include the famous Grauman’s Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. The

DeKalb theater had fallen into disrepair by the early 1970s, but was saved by a

group of concerned citizens who organized a fundraising campaign that

resulted in its being placed on the National Historic Register. Today it hosts

various films, events, and presentations.

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More recently in the early 1960s, the funerary

temples of the great Ramses II and Queen

Nefertari were threatened by the rising waters of

the Nile due to the construction of a new dam.

The entire monument was dismantled, block-by-

block and reassembled 200m back and 65m up

from the swelling waterway.

Egyptian Canon of Proportions

Egypt favored using a formula, or canon, for rendering the human figure. Youthful bodies. Set proportions created with the use of a grid.

In 2D art (and relief): Profile view of head, pelvis, and

legs.

Frontal view of upper torso and eye

In 3D sculpture: Body shown more naturalistic, still

adheres to the same proportions as seen on the grid.

Bock form of the stone is retained. Is it true sculpture in the round, or really high relief??

The Palette of Narmer, Pre-dynastic, Slate, 25 inches.

OLD KINGDOM SCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE

Part I:

Khafre (or Khafra) from Giza. Diorite, 66 inches.

Menkaure and Queen

Seated scribe (Kai), from Saqqara,

Egypt

The Visier Hemyunu,

Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt, relief in the mastaba of Ti,

Saqqara, Egypt

Goats treading seed and cattle fording a canal, reliefs in the mastaba of

Ti, Saqqara, Old Kindom

Typical Mastaba, Predynastic and Old Kingdom

Stepped Pyramid and Mortuary Precinct of Djoser, Saqqara.

Columnar Entrance to the Mortuary Precinct of Djoser

The Pyramids at

Dashur, Egypt

Pyramids at Giza

Khufu

2551-2528 BCE

Khafre

2520-2494 BCE

Menkaure

2490-2472 BCE

Section view of the Great Pyramid of Khufu

The Great Pyramid stats:

775 feet per side

450 feet tall

2.3 million stones

2.5 tons per stone on

avg.

Biggest stones 20 tons

ea.

Built w/ ropes and

pulleys

Aligned w/ cardinal

compass points.

Mostly solid; small

burial chambers and

shafts.

The Great Sphinx, Giza

Review of Egyptian Art Media:

Stone Sculptures

Paintings and hieroglyphs on walls and papyrus

Subject Matter and Form: Pharaohs and Gods dominate, lesser persons shown

infrequently

No “artistic freedom”. Canon of Proportions.

Content: Belief in a rational universe shown through mathematical,

structured artworks.

Magnifies the good qualities of the pharaohs and gods.

Celebration of life that continues into death

Designed to exist for all eternity