Ancient Egypt:Land of the Dead

Egyptian ArtEgyptian life centered around death. Most of the art and architecture the Egyptians created was for funeral rituals:

Pyramids

Books of the Dead

Sarcophaguses

Tomb Paintings

Types of ArtArchitecture

Painting

Sculpture

Crafts

ArchitectureThe Egyptians built pyramids. These were houses for the Pharaohs after they died.

Pharaohs were buried with gold, pets, slaves, possessions, and art that told the story of their lives. So, they needed a lot of room.

Pharaohs were thought to be children and reincarnations of the gods.

Pyramids

Temples

SphinxThought to be a protector

Was usually male

Was placed near temples or

pyramids

Stelea stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commerative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living

ObeliskA tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a frozen ray of the sun-disk

PaintingThe Egyptians painted elaborate pictures on the interiors of tombs.

The paintings showed stories from Egyptian mythology, events that the Pharaoh took part in, and events that happened in the Pharaoh’s reign.

Tomb Paintings

Every example of Egyptian art from any time period strictly follows style called frontalism, which means that the head of the character is always drawn in profile, while the body is seen from the front.

Color was important, especially with deities – black and green = Osiris, god of underworld and vegetation, red = Seth, god of chaos, blue = sky as reflected in the Nile, to represent divinity, golden yellow = protective hue, ruddy shade = males, paler tones = females

SculptureEgyptians were known for their relief sculptures.

Relief means when you carve into a piece of stone.

They also built traditional sculpture.

Part of the death ritual was to construct a sarcophagus for the deceased. Often this showed a likeness of the dead person.

Sculpture

Crafts/ Other ArtsEgyptians created lots of jewelry. They worked with gold, which is one of the softest metals.

Jewelry was created not only to be beautiful, but it was also thought to protect the wearer from evil.

If jewelry could not be made gold, then it was painted a goldish color.

Jewelry

Book of the DeadBooks of the Dead were very important books/ scrolls that were buried with people.

The more important you were, the bigger your book would be.

The books contained spells that would help the person in the afterlife.

Today, these “spells” would be more like prayers or wishes for the dead.

http://www.library.exploreregypt.com/ancient-egypt-history/the-literature-of-the-ancient-egyptians/images/04-the-book-of-the-dead_pg_042_f.jpg

SpellA spell for not letting a man's soul be snatched away from him in the underworld. Words spoken by the Osiris scribe Ani: It is I, I who have come forth from the waters, which let themselves overwhelm me. They have mastery there, in the form of the river.

HieroglyphicsHieroglyphs are a type of language called a pictogram.

Pictograms are where pictures represent different letters or sounds.

Pictograms are one of the first types of language.

Our language developed from pictograms.

AssignmentCreate your own pictogram language.

Each letter will be represented by a small picture of something easily recognizable.

Using your language, you will create a page to go in YOUR book of the dead.

On the front side of the paper, write your spell in hieroglyphics. On the back of you paper, write your spell in English.

Make sure you use color, the whole page, and include your name on the back.

Sample