Ancient Art The link between And Modern Art in Egypt Prepared by: Mahmoud Hegazy Madison East High School

Ancient Egyptian Art

What can you tell me about this Mask?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nkw6rvS0y4 Ancient Egyptian Art

Quick examples of Modern Egyptian Art

ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses

Osiris, in Egyptian mythology, ruler of the realm of the dead Osiris, in Egyptian mythology, ruler of the realm of the dead. As king of Egypt, Osiris taught his people law, agriculture, religion, and other blessings of civilization. He was murdered by his brother Seth. His his sister and wife, Isis, buried his scattered remains. Each burial place was thereafter regarded as holy. Osiris lived on in the underworld as the ruler of the dead, but he was also regarded as the source of renewed life. The Encarta® Desk Encyclopedia Copyright © & ℗ 1998 Microsoft Corporation. The Egyptian god of the underworld and of vegetation.

Seth (or Set) was the Seth was the God of the desert, storm and violence, which are all enemies of the fertile, properous, narrow valley of the Nile. He was the brother of Osiris. Seth had killed Osiris by tricking him into a coffin, which he threw into the Nile. When Osiris' wife Isis heard about this, she started searching desperately for her husband's body, to bury it properly. She asked everyone she met and finally some children told her where it was. Isis mourned for her dead husband. Then she hid the body, while she went back to look after her son Horus, still a baby. Seth was terrified that Isis might be able to bring Osiris back from the dead, since she was a great magician. So Seth found where she had hidden the body and cut it into pieces, which he scattered up and down the Nile. Now Isis had to find all the scattered pieces of Osiris. Whenever she found a piece, she buried it there and built a shrine. This means that there are lots of places in Egypt where Osiris was buried! Osiris himself became the King of the Dead, and all Egyptians hoped they would join him after death. Isis Seth (or Set)

Horus, the son of Osiris, was the god of balance and harmony, assigned to maintain the ma’at of Egypt. His function was to ensure the continuing existence and activity of the gods on earth by means of religious acts and to maintain the natural order such as the flow of the Nile an the fertility of the soil. He did not rule by the consent of the governed but by the decision of the gods. (Nagle, 25)

The first pyramid built was the graded one of Zoser, which exists even today, in Sakkarah, the necropolis of Menphis. Built in the year 2650 BC by the architect Imhotep, initially it was supposed to be a mastaba but later floors were added until they reached six. It is the oldest monumental work in stone known to man that exists. Its exterior walls, of white limestone, measures 545 metres from North to South and 227 metres from East to West. The wall has 14 doors, 13 of them false. Its height is 66 metres. In its interior, lies the sepulchral chamber of the Pharaoh Sneferu with cladding of pink granite and sealed with a block of stone of three tons weight.

Historian have divided Egyptian history into three major periods: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom. These were long periods of stability characterized by strong monarchical authority, competent bureaucracy, freedom from invasion, much construction of pyramids and temples, and considerable intellectual and cultural development and activity. These major periods were punctuated by ages of political chaos known as the Intermediate Periods, which were characterized by weak political structures and rivalry for leadership, invasions, a decline in building activity, and a restructuring of society. Early Dynastic Period c.a. 3100-2700 B.C. The Old Kingdom c.a. 2700-2200 B.C. First Intermediate Period c.a. 2200-2050 B.C. The Middle Kingdom c.a. 2050-1652 B.C. Second Intermediate Period c.a. 1652-1567 B.C. The New Kingdom c.a. 1567-1085 B.C. Post-empire c.a. 1985-30 B.C.

Seated Scribe, from Saqqara. c.a. 2400 BC. For administrative purposes, Egypt was divided up into provinces, or nomes. A governor, or nomarch, was at the head of each nome and was responsible to the pharaoh. These governors tended to amass large holding of land and power within their nomes, creating a potential rivalry with the pharaohs. Of special importance to the administration of the state was a vast bureaucracy of scribes who kept records of everything. Armed with the knowledge of writing and reading, they were highly regarded and considered themselves a superior class of men. Their high standard of living reflected their exalted status. Seated Scribe, from Saqqara. c.a. 2400 BC.

Mummification Process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQ5dL9cQX0

A mural of Narmer or Menes conquering Lower Egypt (c.a. 3100 B.C.)

The Rosetta Stone In 1799, Napoleon took a small troop of scholars, linguists and artists on a military expedition of Egypt and found the Rosetta Stone (named for the Rosetta coast of the Mediterranean where it was discovered) Composed of three languages: 1) Formal Egyptian Hieroglyphic 2) Demotic (Late Egyptian) 3) Classical Greek (which they knew how to read) This stone became the key to unlocking the meanings behind Egyptian hieroglyphics!