Ancient Egyptian Art

Where is Egypt?

The Nile River

Three Major Periods

Ancient Egyptian Art is commonly divided up into three main periods/phases:

Old Kingdom 2636-2185 BCEMiddle Kingdom 2133-1786 BCENew Kingdom 15-67-1085 BCE

Egyptian art was greatly influenced by the geography of the region, Ancient Egyptian civilization developed beside the Nile River.

The Nile River

The Nile River is about 6,670 km in length and is the longest river in Africa and in the world.

Although it is generally associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile’s course runs through Egypt.

The Nile River

The Nile river was very important to the Egyptians because of the following

reasons:

(any guesses?)

Importance of the Nile River Transportation (in boats up the river and

back down it- trade and travel) Food – for the animals and people Fresh water Irrigation (water source to draw water from) Protection from invaders due to the

mountains to the south and deserts on both sides and the Mediterranean sea to the north

Agriculture - Nile flooded each year depositing rich soil on it’s banks necessary to grow crops

The Nile River = A growing civilization!

Because of the Nile River, Egyptian Civilizations emerged along the river banks. Egypt became a thriving nation.

Agriculture, trade, art, and majestic monuments and temples were constructed.

The Pharaoh & Art

Pharaoh – the ruler who governed with complete authority

Much of the art of the Egyptians was based on the importance of the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was considered to be a God on earth. He or she ruled with absolute power.

Pharaohs used art and architecture to promote their own greatness and power.

Egyptian Art and Religious Beliefs

Much of the art works of Ancient Egypt is based on the Egyptians religious beliefs which revolved around the cycles of nature and the movement of their sun god RA.

Egyptian Art and Religious Beliefs

The Egyptians believed that the spirit of the dead (the KA) could possibly reincarnate in the deceased body after death.

Therefore, much of Egyptian art is based on the idea of preserving the body so that the spirit (KA) could one day return to the body.

Preserving the Dead Body One of the ways in which

they tried to preserve the body is through Mummification.

This involved a complex process of removing various organs of the body after death and placing these organs in canopic jars.

Examples of Canopic Jars

Preserving the Dead Body

They would also embalm the body with a mixture of various oils, natron and wrappings in order to preserve the figure.

The body would then be placed in a 1) coffin of wood or gold, or 2) a stone sarcophagus to be buried.

Pyramids

All of the great pyramids were constructed during the OLD kingdom

The Purpose of a Pyramid To glorify the

Pharaoh

To offer an impressive resting place

To protect the Pharaoh’s body and riches from treasure hunters

Textbook: pages 148-161

Please answer the questions on the handout given to you in the “Art in Focus” textbook

You may work quietly with a partner

Tomorrow we will take up the answers as a class. You will be given a grade out of 11 marks.