Art of Ancient EgyptReading:Stokstad, 62-79

Range:1975-332 BCEMiddle Kingdom, New Kingdom, Late Period

Terms/Concepts:Clerestory, Hypostyle, Rock-Cut Tomb, Ankh, Amarna, Peristyle, Book of the Dead, Pylon, Block Sculpture, continuous narrative, Aten, monotheism, polytheism, canon of proportions, clerestory,

Monument: Not in Book, Seated Statue of

Amenemhat III, Middle Kingdom, 1844 BCE

3-14, Rock-Cut Tomb, Beni Hasan, Middle Kingdom, 1938-1756 BCE

3-20, Hypostyle Hall in the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak, New Kingdom, 1292-1190 BCE

3-21, Votive Statue of Hatshepsut, New Kingdom, 1473-1458 BCE

3-26, Akhenaten and his Family, New Kingdom, 1353-1336 BCE

3-31, Judgment of Hunefer from his Book of the Dead, New Kingdom, 1285 BCE

Timeline of the Ancient Near East

Egypt: Chronology

• Predynastic Period 5000-2920 BCE• Early Dynastic Period (I-III) 2920-2611 BCE• Old Kingdom (IV-VIII) 2575-2465 BCE• First Intermediate Period (IX-XI) 2134-2040 BCE• Middle Kingdom (XI-XIV) 2040-1640 BCE• Second Intermediate Period (XV-XVII) 1640-1532 BCE• New Kingdom (XVIII-XX) 1550-1070 BCE• Third Intermediate Period (XXI-XXV) 1070-712 BCE• Late Period (XXV-XXXI) 712-332 BCE• Greco/Roman Egypt 332 BCE-359 CE

Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom

3-14, Rock-Cut Tomb, Beni Hasan, Middle Kingdom, 1938-1756 BCE

Not in Book, Seated Statue of Amenemhat III, Middle Kingdom, 1844 BCE

Second Intermediate Period (XV-XVII) 1640-1532 BCE

New Kingdom (XVIII-XX) 1550-1070 BCE

East

West

Thebes

Mortuary Complexes

Political and Religious Center

East

West

Temple of Amun

Karnak

Senusret I (1971-1926 BCE)

Plan

Reconstruction

Middle Kingdom Temple

This temple doesn’t really survive.

New Kingdom Developments: 1493-1213 BCE

Thutmosis I-Ramses II

New Kingdom Developments: 1493-1213 BCE

Thutmosis I and Thutmosis II

Hypostyle Hall: Sety I and Ramses II (1290-1213 BCE)

ColumnsPlan

3-20, Hypostyle Hall in the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak, New Kingdom, 1292-1190 BCE

Plan

A hypostyle hall is a large hall or room with a roof supported by columns

Clerestory: The area of windows that rises above other parts of the roof.

3-20, Hypostyle Hall in the Great Temple of Amun at Karnak, New Kingdom, 1292-1190 BCE

Clerestory: The area of windows that rises above other parts of the roof.

Lotus = Upper Egypt

Papyrus = Lower Egypt

Capitals = The (Re)unification of Egypt

Pylon I – 30th DynastyPylon II – 18th DynastyPylon III – 18th DynastyPylon IV/V/VI – Thutmosis IPylon VII – 18th Dynasty

Pylon: Massive gateway, often at a temple, with sloping walls.

Pylons 18th Dynasty-30th Dynasty

Pylon VIII – 18th DynastyPylon IX – 18th DynastyPylon X – 18th Dynasty

Pylon I, seen from front. Temple of Amun, Karnak, Egypt.

Pylon I, seen from front. Temple of Amun, Karnak, Egypt.

Plan of sacred precinct of Amun at Karnak, Egypt.

Sacred lake

First pylon

Most holy of places

Hypostyle hall

View of Temple at Karnak.

Hypostyle Hall

Pylon I

Most Holy of Places

Sacred Lake

East

West

Thebes

Mortuary Complexes

Political and Religious Center

3-21, Votive Statue of Hatshepsut, New Kingdom, 1473-1458 BCE

False Beard

Nemes (Headdress)

Hatshepsut, New Kingdom Pepy I, Old Kingdom

Other representations of Hatshepsut’s gender.

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri, 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom, 2009-1997 BCE.

*Tomb miles away in a rock-cut tomb.

The Reliefs of Hatshepsut Defaced, Temple of Amun at Karnak, 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom, 1473-1458 BCE (Built), 1458-1428 (Defaced)

Defaced Cartouche at Deir el-Medina

The “Amarna Period”1353-1336 BCE

3-26, Akhenaten and his Family, New Kingdom, 1353-1336 BCE

Aten: The Sun DiskAnkh: Hieroglyph for Life

East

West

Karnak

Temple to the Aten

“you are the man, and you are the woman.”

Akhenaten Tutankhamun

Vulture (Nekhbet) Upper Egypt

Cobra (Wadjet) Lower Egypt

+

The Unification of Egypt

=

3-31, Judgment of Hunefer from his Book of the Dead, New Kingdom, 1285 BCE

The Declaration of Innocence: “I have not caused pain, / I have not caused tears. / I have not killed, / I have not ordered to kill, / I have not made anyone to suffer.” This section ends with him declaring that he is “pure” and that “no evil should befall [him].”

The Declaration of the 42 Judges: “O Bone- smasher, who comes from Hnes, I have not told lies.”

3-31, Judgment of Hunefer from his Book of the Dead, New Kingdom, 1285 BCE

The Address to the Gods: “[I] have given bread to the hungry, / Water to the thirsty, / Clothes to the naked, / A ferryboat to the boatless.”

3-31, Judgment of Hunefer from his Book of the Dead, New Kingdom, 1285 BCE

“The First Interrogation” The deceased is tested on the mysteries of Osiris and the gods. When is knowledge is confirmed by his answers he is told, “Come then, enter the gate of this Hall of the Two Truths, / For you know us.”

3-31, Judgment of Hunefer from his Book of the Dead, New Kingdom, 1285 BCE

“The Second Interrogation”: The hall itself tests the deceased further. With each challenge the deceased must respond with the challenger’s name. “ ‘I shall not open for you,’ / Says the bolt-clasp of this gate, / ‘Unless you tell my name,’ / ‘Eye-of-Sobk-Lord-of-Bakhu is your name.’ ”

3-31, Judgment of Hunefer from his Book of the Dead, New Kingdom, 1285 BCE

The Weighing of the Heart

3-31, Judgment of Hunefer from his Book of the Dead, New Kingdom, 1285 BCE

HuneferAnubis

Heart Maat

Maat

Ammut

Thoth

Anubis

Hunefer

Horus

Osiris

Isis and NephthysNekbhet

The Judgment of Ani, From the Papyrus of Ani,

Critical Thinking Questions1. How does the book of the dead function in ancient Egyptian

ritual? How are the themes found in these “books” connected to other artifacts?

2. What is the Amarna period? How does it represent a great divergence from the nature of Egyptian art and religion?

3. Define the term “stasis” in reference to the history of Egyptian sculpture. Why might this concept be important to the Egyptian worldview and the resulting art?

4. How are issues of gender and kingship approached on the statuary of Hatshepsut?

5. Describe the development of tomb architecture from the Early Dynastic period to the New Kingdom. How have practical considerations impacted how the Egyptians provided for their pharaoh’s afterlife?