EGYPTIAN ART

Do you know the song, "Walk Like an Egyptian," by the Bangles? Look it up online and think of Egyptian art that may have inspired the way we think of "walking like an Egyptian."

In a previous lesson you learned about the ancient pyramids — how, when, and why they were built. What we didn't cover is all the amazing art found inside the pyramids, as well as in other locations. So in this lesson we'll look at paintings, sculpture, and that most mysterious of all works of art, the Sphinx.

OBJECTIVES

• Identify the characteristics of Egyptian art.

• Explain the various purposes of Egyptian art.

• Discuss the processes used in the creation of some types of Egyptian art.

• Describe the mysterious Sphinx.

THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD

The early prehistoric dwellers of the Nile Valley lived on the plateaus left behind as the river cut a bed through the valley. In about 8000 BC, the first people of the Nile Valley began to make engraved drawings on cliffs, much like the Cro-Magnons you already studied. The tools they left behind show their development from hunters to settled farmers. The engravings depicted the ordinary events of their daily lives: from hunting wild game early in the period to pictures of boats and herds of cattle in the early Neolithic period.

Even at that time, much of the art was connected to burial rituals. Archaeologists have found small carved stone and ivory "grave goods" and pottery jars along with human remains in simple pit burials. Like the Europeans, the Egyptians carved small figures of people and animals, including female statuettes made of pottery and ivory, with exaggerated sexual characteristics that probably had a fertility significance.

Eventually, religion and society began to play an important role, and the artwork reflected these interests. Archaeologists have found artifacts from this period, including:

• maceheads

• palettes

• flint knives

THE RISE OF EGYPT

The Egyptian civilization thrived from about 3000 BC until the end of the rule of the pharaohs in 31 BC. This period is broken into three kingdoms: the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, and the New Kingdom, with intermediate periods between each.

This civilization built on the banks of the Nile River created magnificent works of art that still stand today — not just the pyramids that you studied in the previous lessons but statues, relief sculptures, painting, pottery, and jewelry.

While Egyptians must have enjoyed and appreciated their art, it was usually created with a purpose in mind. These purposes included:

• to glorify or aid the pharaoh

• to glorify or administer the state

• to house or serve the gods

Egyptian life was orderly. They observed the cycles of nature (the flooding of the Nile, the progression of the sun and stars), and they developed an aesthetic appreciation of order and balance.

This emphasis on balanced, orderly artwork was evident throughout most of Ancient Egypt's art history.

Generally speaking, "change and novelty were not considered important in themselves; as a consequence Egyptian art was based on tradition and was to a certain extent unvarying. Manners of representation and artistic forms were worked out early in Egyptian history and were used for more than 3,000 years. To the modern viewer this may seem to have resulted in a stiff and static art; the intention of Egyptian art, however, was not to create an image of things as they look to the eye, but to represent the essence of a person or object for eternity."

LANGUAGE AS ART – HIEROGLYPHICS AND STATUARY

There's a saying that "a picture is worth a thousand words" but sometimes a picture actually is a word — at least in the case of the Egyptians. You may remember that the Sumerians developed cuneiform script as a means of written communication. The Egyptians also developed a form of writing called hieroglyphs or picture words.

Hieroglyphics were carved in stone and later painted onto papyrus. Artists also used papyrus for the production of funerary texts, such as versions of the Book of the Dead, which also included illustrations drawn and painted with the fine scribal brush.

Statuary

Ever wonder why there are so many statues in Egyptian art? Like hieroglyphics, they serve an important purpose. The Egyptians believed that deities could inhabit the statues. They also believed that images of the dead would enable them to survive in the afterlife. Only people of importance could have such statues made.

Once the statues were carved, paint was applied to the surface, and the eyes were inlaid in other materials, such as rock crystal, to create a more lifelike appearance.

Now that you understand the purpose of Egyptian statues, let's look at some characteristics. Egyptian statues:

• were usually intricately detailed and lifelike;

• exhibited frontality whether standing, sitting, or kneeling;

• were stone statues cut from a single block, creating a sense of strength; and

• were sometimes made from wood or metal instead.

The Egyptians never turned or twisted the body. Think about it: If the statue was to be inhabited by a god or if it were to represent a person, then it would need to be looking straight ahead at whatever was in front of it so that the living could interact with the god or with the dead.

Notes

The Egyptian artist was not interested in showing movement as this term is understood today. Standing figures are not posed as if they were walking but rather as if they were at rest. From the beginning of the dynastic period, human anatomy was understood but given an ideal form. Images of the kings, in particular, were idealized and given great dignity.

For example, look at this statue of a husband and wife in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Notice that the faces are well defined and quite similar. But they seem to be a little mismatched, don't they? Individually, their proportions seem correct, but she's made on a smaller scale than he is. What else do you notice?

The art of sculpture in the New Kingdom reached a new height. The severe stylization of the Old Kingdom and the bitter realism of the Middle Kingdom were replaced with a courtly style combining a sense of nobility with a careful attention to delicate detail. 

Relief carvings are works of art with figures or shapes that are elevated or appear to be elevated from a flat surface. As you can see in the photograph, reliefs depicting legends, rituals, and historic events were often carved on the walls of Egyptian tombs and temples and even on furniture. Furthermore, images of protective deities found in houses and on furniture and made into amulets created a powerful shield against the malign forces of the universe. Some relief carvings were painted; others were left plain.

While statues were reserved for the rich and famous, reliefs in tombs often depicted men and women engaged in work, food preparation, and craftwork. The representations were supposed to serve the spirit in the next life. In the chambered superstructures of private tombs, the occupant was shown receiving offerings, enjoying and observing the various activities he had taken part in while living.

Egyptologists

Egyptologists have learned much about Egyptian life and customs from tomb reliefs. Tomb reliefs depicted such things as the varieties of food and their preparation, methods of caring for flocks and herds, trapping wild animals, building boats, and the processes of the other crafts. These activities were arranged on the wall in bands or registers that can be read as continuing narratives. The sculptors working in relief or in the round acted as teams, with different stages of the work assigned to different members of the group.

There are two types of reliefs:

1. raised relief — the background stone was cut away, so that the figures stand out from the surface

2. sunk relief — figures cut back in the stone, leaving the surface of the background at a higher level

Now let's examine some characteristics of the relief carvings, especially in regards to the human figure:

• head is shown in profile (with a full view of the eyebrow and eye, which we would not normally see in a profile)

• shoulders face front while waist and limbs are in profile

• male and female breasts are in profile but items on the chest such as necklaces and clothing face front

• the two feet look identical with the big toe and the arch visible (later, the near foot was often shown from the outside with all the toes showing)

The reason for this contortion was to present the most understandable view of each body part and still create a complete image.

Decorative arts

The Middle Kingdom was a time when superb works in the decorative arts were produced — in particular, jewelry made of precious metals inlaid with colored stone. The art of faience (tin oxide-glazed earthenware) achieved a new importance for the manufacture of amulets and small figures.

Perhaps best known are the blue-glazed hippopotamuses decorated with painted water plants.

Here's an example of an Egyptian hippopotamus work of art.

During the New Kingdom, the decorative arts displayed a high level of accomplishment. The court and the nobility owned exquisite objects of great value. Nowhere is this better shown than in the funerary items from the tomb of Tutankhamen (discovered in 1922), in which rich materials such as alabaster, ebony, gold, ivory, and semiprecious stones were combined in objects of consummate artistry. Even the pottery of the New Kingdom partakes of this rich love of decoration, with brilliantly painted surfaces employing mainly floral motifs. From the evidence of tomb paintings and the decorative arts, the Egyptians of this time took particular delight in a richly colorful life.

The Egyptian Legacy

Early Greek artists acknowledged a debt to Egypt in the development of their own styles. The Romans carried off countless examples of Egyptian art to their homeland and even commissioned copies by Roman artists not only because of their admiration for the Egyptian art forms but also for use in the Egyptian religious cults they had adopted. The influence of Egyptian art and an interest in Egyptian antiquity have lasted to the present day.

The face of the Sphinx at Giza, above, is thirteen feet wide; its features are believed to be those of Pharaoh Chephren (Khafre), who also built the nearby pyramid. Its features were mutilated by artillery fire from Egyptian Mameluke soldiers in the eighteenth century.

The Sphinx was carved from bedrock, possibly even before the pyramids at Giza were built. The Sphinx is one of ancient Egypt's greatest mysteries. With the body of a lion with the head of a king or god, the Sphinx merges man and beast to become the ultimate symbol of strength and wisdom.

LET'S REVIEW!

In this lesson, you have covered the following topics:

• The Egyptian civilization rose out of a primitive predynastic civilization around 3000 BC and continued until 31 BC.

• The artwork of the Egyptians retained certain characteristics throughout the period, though there were some modifications.

• The art was generally in service of the gods, the pharaohs or the government and was often dedicated to ensuring a good afterlife for the nobility.

• Artwork came in many forms — from giant statues to small pieces of jewelry and pottery and even writing.

• Human figures were idealized; statues were fit homes for the gods and the wealthy adorned themselves with art in the form of jewelry and clothing.

Take this quiz before moving on.