1. How can you identify the differences between Egyptian, Greek or Roman sculpture? How?

2. (Art of the Ancient World)
Egyptian Art
(Art of the Ancient World)

3. About Ancient Egypt:
Maintained a stable society for several thousand years
unique language and culture
Polytheistic society
Pharaohs = gods on Earth
Believed in a physical afterlife
Had literature, medicine, & higher mathematics

4. EGYPTIAN works to know:
Paintings & Objects:
The Palette of Narmer (c BC) Siltstone.
Fowling Scene from the tomb of Nebamun (c.1450 BC) Wall painting.
Burial Mask of King Tut (1325 BC) Gold with inlaid semiprecious stones & coloured glass.
Sculpture:
Ranofer (c.2500 B.C.) Stone.
Mycerinus and His Queen (2470 BC) Slate.
Queen Nefertiti (1360 BC) Painted Limestone.
Architecture:
The Great Pyramids ( BC) & The Great Sphinx (2500 BC) Limestone. Giza, Egypt.

5. About Egyptian Art: Most examples are funerary art
Mummies (preserved bodies) were kept in multiple layers of sarcophagi
Statues created as alternate dwelling for dead person’s the “ka” (spirit)
Tombs filled with objects, furniture and food for the dead person to enjoy in the afterlife
Art had strict rules for creation and was not overly realistic in the way humans were shown

6. Characteristics of Egyptian Painting & Relief Carvings:
FRONTALITY - frontal view of the eye and shoulders with profile of the head, arms and legs.
DESCRIPTIVE PERSPECTIVE - most powerful / important is figure is represented like a giant (sizes are not proportional but symbolic).
STYLIZATION - Human anatomy was an approximation, not realistic.

7. The Palette of Narmer (c. 3150-3125 BC) Siltstone.

9. 2. Fowling Scene from the tomb of Nebamun (c.1450 BC)
Wall painting.

10. stones & coloured glass.
3. Burial Mask of King Tut
(1325 BC) Gold with
inlaid semiprecious
stones & coloured glass.
Why is King Tut (Tutenkhamen) so famous?

11. Characteristics of Egyptian Sculpture:
Arms are close to the torso, pose is always frontal and bisymmetrical
They are rigid / stiff, human anatomy was an approximation
Ideal bodies / not sculpted accurately
Made of hard stones (e.g. granite, porphyry, diorite) for permanence

12. 4. Ranofer (c.2500 B.C.) Stone.

13. 5. Mycerinus and His Queen (2470 BC) Slate.

14. 6. Queen Nefertiti (1360 BC) Painted Limestone.
How is Nefertiti an exception to the Egyptian Art rules?

15. Characteristics of Egyptian Architecture:
Purpose of buildings:
as tombs / to protect the Ka (soul)
Mastaba
Step Pyramid
Great Pyramids
Bent Pyramid

16. 7. The Great Pyramids (2530-2470 BC)
& The Great Sphinx (2500 BC) Limestone. Giza, Egypt.

17. PHAROAH’S NAMES:
Egyptian:
Greek:
Khufu
Menkaure
Khafre
Cheops
Mycerinus
Chefren
Pyramid of
Cheops /Khufu:
Largest stone structure in world
13 acres site
2,300,000 limestone blocks (2.5 tons each)
480 ft tall
Took about 23 years for 1000’s of workers to construct