1. Art of Egypt

2. The Nile river - Floods every year – rich soil deposits make lush planting environment, is a major source for all trafficking of goods, everyone stays near the “watering hole” ….protected by the Mediterranean and the red sea and the desert on the other side. Repeat of the flood every year reinforced the Egyptians belief in a divinely regulated cycle of life and death.
No threat until the Greeks come with Alexander the Great (thousands of years later), in 332 BCE (Before Common Era)
hieroglyphic writing begins around 3,300 BCE

3. Palette of King Narmer (left) back, (right) front
3000 – BCE, Slate
Early example of documented historical event
Registers
Raised Relief (as opposed to sunken relief)
Composite view
Depiction of Authority
United Upper and Lower Egypt
Composite perspective
Hierarchy of scale – In Older art, those depicted larger hold more importance. King Narmer United Upper and Lower Egypt (first unified civilization for Egypt)
TERM….Register – Division of spaces (stripes or strips) were used to create order and clarity
King Narmer was on the backside of the center register.
COMPOSITE VIEW (PROFILE FEET, FRONTAL CHEST, AND PROFILE HEAD)
Horus, the sky God (bird) and deity of Kingship, is holding the stick that is used for mumification
In art the ba of a deceased person appears as a human-headed bird. the spiritual part of a deceased person that has the ability to act and move about.
Ba: is the spiritual part of a deceased person that has the ability to act and move about.
Early hieroglyphic inscriptions.
BACK SIDE: Cow goddess Bat in upper corners – she is the patron diety of Upper Egypt
Phonetic representation in upper middle regions of Palette – Narmer’s name
Horus - (bird) symbol of Lower Egypt
Papyrus flower under Horus – possible meaning = 6 flowers, each one of them representing 1,000 = 6,000 enemies were subdued in the battle
Bottom register – dead men? Hieroglyphic symbol possibly the name of a defeated town
FRONT SIDE: NARMER larger than everyone else in the upper register = shows hierarchy of scale. Narmer is almost the full size of this register.
This register is a type of procession of people.
Narmer is wearing the red crown of Egypt
Far right side - corpses
MIDDLE REGISTER: Serpopards linking together – symbolized uniting Upper and Lower Egypt
BOTTOM REGITER: A Bovine image knocking down the wall of a city while trampling on a fallen foe
Palette of King Narmer (left) back, (right) front

4. Khafre 2520-2494 BCE Khufu Menkaure 2490-2472 2551-2528 BCE BCE
(“Men-Car-A”)
(“Ka-Fra”)
(“Coo-Foo”)
Power and authority
Pyramids built 1st then the Mastaba (stepped pyramids) for the officials

5. The Old Kingdom
Great Pyramids, Giza: Dynasty IV, left, Mankaure, middle, Khafre, right, Khufu (“The Great Pyramid”)
Evolved architecture from mastaba.
approx years BCE
Symbol of sun, “sun’s rays are the ramp the pharaoh uses to ascend to the heavens.” – aligned east to west.
Home to Pharaoh’s Ka for afterlife
Egyptians believed that at the beginning of creation, ”a mound of earth arose out of an infinite watery darkness”, just as lush planting environment reappears after floods. The Sun is the “Creative Force” (Sun God: Re), generated the gods and all living things on Earth. “In plan and construction, Egyptian temples were metaphors in stone for these creation myths.” (Source: “The Art of Ancient Egypt: A source for Educators” The Metropolitan)
Important Example of Power & Authority – only for Divine Ruler or Officials (The King’s divine power was believed to have been granted by the Gods to maintain universal order.)
Khafre is not larger – it is just set/built on a higher elevation. Each a son of the next – hereditary/inhereited – size smaller with each step down of generatiojn
Mastaba is a stepped pyramid – The pyramid evolved from a Mastaba (stepped Pyramid)
???What is the function of the pyramid (housing the KA (which is the life force, the spirit), tombs, afterlife)
The Egyptians did not look forward to an angelic afterlife in some distant paradise but to the continuation of their daily lives on Earth, among the living, enjoying all the pleasures of life with none of its pain or hardships. (Source: Metropolitan)

6. LEFT TOMB – MENKAURE, CENTER TOMB – KHAFRE (NOTICE THE SPHINX – SPHINX HEAD LOOKS SIMILAR TO THE KHAFRE STATUE) – THIS TOMB FACES PERFECTLY TO THE EAST = THE RISING SUN with the causeway (similar to the Stonehenge avenue) leading to the tomb, mortuary temple closest to the Pyramid, the building Closest to the Sphinx to the left is the Valley Temple and the bldg. to the right is the Temple of the Sphinx) , RIGHT TOMB - KHUFU

7. Sphinx – a lion with a human head Proposed portrait of Khafre
65 ft. tall, 240 ft. long
Lion with the head of a human is associated with the sun god, Re.
Composite form combination of human intelligence and lion strength and authority.
Cut from living rock.
HEAD OF THE SPHINX IS SAID TO LOOK SIMILAR TO THE HEAD OF KHAFRE’S STATUE….IT IS AT THE ENTRNACE TO KHAFRE’S TOMB AND ENTRANCE FACES PERFECTLY TO THE EAST (THE RISING SUN)…COULD BE ALL ASSOCIATED WITH THE SUN GOD, RE. (THINK ABOUT STONEHENGE NOW AND THE CONNECTIONS WE MAY SEE HERE)
LION=Strength and ferocity, associated with kingship-symbolized divine guardians against evil.

8. Menkaure and Khamerernebty
Gizeh, Dynasty IV, BCE, graywacke
Frontal, erect posture, one foot striding, fists clasped.
Idealized bodies, echoing hair, perpendicular lines
Single block, like Khafre
(“Men-Car-A”) and (“Ka-Mer-en-nep-ty”)…Menkaure and His Queen…Statue was found in Menkaure’s tomb. 4feet 8inches high
Formal/frontal – rigidity huge component in OLD KINGDOM…NO intimate connection between the two figures.
Women revered as secondary to men in Egyptian Society – note the women embraces the man but not the return, the women is behind the man in stance.
LEFT FOOT FORWARD? - “left side is where the heart resides & it’s the house of will, emotions & consciousness, the center of life itself.” A similar idea was presented in an online forum on Egypt, where writer Al Waze-look King wrote, “The real meaning behind the position of the statue [with the advancing left leg] is esoteric. The left side of your body is where the heart is. The Egyptians believed you stepped with the left foot to trod out evil so the heart could proceed.” blog on personal interpretation of the meaning
“Unwavering conformity to rules and established conventions which are interpreted both as manifesting the nature of the pharaoh's authority over his subjects and by extension as embodying the highly regulated, hierarchical structure of Ancient Egyptian society.” (source: arthistoryresources.net)

9. Attentive gaze, upright posture (formal), but un- idealized
Seated Scribe, mastaba at Saqqara, Dynasty V, , painted limestone
Attentive gaze, upright posture (formal), but un- idealized
Paint adds a realism (usually washed away over time)
Face in detail – body not as much
Hands in writing position
Attentive to the Pharaoh as his scribe – it was found in a mastaba..so it was important enough to have a mastaba built. But big belly and saggy boobs. Closely look at the detail in his eyes – reflect light with skillfully inlaid rock cut-crystal
EARLIEST KNOWN PYRAMIDS WERE FOUND AT SAQQARA

11. EGYPTIAN QUICK FACTS WRITE 5 FACTS/READ EACH TITLE FOR DIRECTIONS 1.
NAME 5 WORKS OF EGYPTAIN ART
NAME SPECIFIC DETAILS ABOUT THE WORK IN COLUMN 1
NAME THE PYRAMIDS/GIVE A FEW FACTS ABOUT EACH 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

12. Virtual Tour inside The Great Pyramid (Khufu’s Pyramid)

13. Hierarchy of Scale Registers Idealization
1,000 words a minute (Assessment tool)…find a partner…..one of the partners back to screen the other partner facing the screen = partner facing the screen has to describe what the image is – and then the other partner tries to guess……Winner on this ROUND GETS AN EXTRA POINT ON THE 6 WEEKS TEST (1 EXTRA POINT PER ROUND WINNER) Can act out.

14. Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
Old Kingdom
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
Composite View

15. What is a Dynasty?
Look up the definition (through a .edu website … not Wikipedia) to research the definition of a Dynasty.
Paraphrase your response in the form link below:

16. The New Kingdom
Threatened and defeated by Hyksos, Mesopotamian people, (Late 2nd Intermediate Period) due largely to weapon innovations and the horse/chariot.
Ahmose I ended the Hyksos reign, dawning the New Kingdom, greatest of Egypt’s long history.
(“Hick-sauce”)
(“Ah-mos-eh”)
We skipped the middle kingdom bc all internal conflict – people questioning the authority of the pharaoh. Ended by the Hyksos. The Middle Kingdom ended with the invasion of Egypt by the Hyksos from the east.
The establishment of the New Kingdom – grows substantially in size.
Late in the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1640–1550 B.C.), the Theban rulers (Dynasty 17) began to drive the Hyksos kings (Dynasty 15) from the Delta. This was finally accomplished by Ahmose I, who reunited Egypt, ushering in the New Kingdom—the third great era of Egyptian culture. Ahmose's successors in Dynasty 18 conducted military campaigns that extended Egypt's influence in the Near East and established Egyptian control of Nubia to the fourth cataract. As a result, the New Kingdom pharaohs commanded unimaginable wealth, much of which they lavished on their gods, especially Amun-Re of Thebes, whose cult temple at Karnak was augmented by succeeding generations of rulers and filled with votive statues commissioned by kings and courtiers alike.
HYKSOS - a people of mixed Semitic (relating to the peoples who speak the Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic.) and Asian descent who invaded Egypt and settled in the Nile delta circa 1640 BC. They formed the 15th and 16th dynasties of Egypt and ruled a large part of the country until driven out circa 1532 BC.

17. MORTUARY TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT, Near Luxor, Egypt
MORTUARY TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT, Near Luxor, Egypt. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. C B.C.E. Sandstone, partially covered into a rock cliff, and red granite.
REPITITION = ORDER SIMILAR TO THE REGISTERS ON THE PALETTE OF NARMER
Built into the side of the mountain, notice the perfect parallel alignment of the columns in the architecture. It sits directly against the rock which forms a natural amphitheatre around it so that the temple itself seems to grow from the living rock. The axis line of the ramp leads into the center of her tomb and is lined up perfectly with the East (with the rising Sun)…like Stonehenge. Why do you think the coloring was chosen for this structure?
The hills and cliffs on both sides of the temple are tunneled with tombs of ancient officials. Behind the cliffs is the famous Valley of the Kings, where pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried.

18. Rock cut out tomb – Hatshepsut’s tomb
BREAK UP INTO SMALL GROUPS/PARTNERS TO RESEARCH
What’s happening here, how would it work, what do the circles represent? Open Areas represent? Are we above? Below?......Can Probe with the purpose of a pyramid.
It is thought that while the main sanctuary of the temple was dedicated to the god Amun-Re, this sculpture of the queen was placed in that chamber on the south side of the temple, where Hatshepsut’s personal funerary cult had its place.
The tradition of royal burial in pyramids ceased at the end of the Middle Kingdom (around 1750 BC) and the burials of the Hyksos kings have not been found.
One of the innovations of this period was the introduction of the rishi, an anthropoid (human-shaped) coffin which was decorated with protective vulture wings.
15 years to build.

19. Architecture
XVIII = 18
Djeser-Djeseru, or "Sublime of the Sublimes" in the ancient Egyptian language
The walls are illustrated with Hatshepsut's autobiography, including stories of her fabled trip to the land of Punt, considered by some scholars likely to have been what is today Somalia. The murals depicting the trip include a drawing of a grotesquely overweight Queen of Punt --somewhat ironic given the recent identification of Hatshepsut herself as a somewhat plump individual at the time of her death.
This lovely structure is found in a steep half-circle of cliffs on the west bank of the Nile River and guarding the entrance to the great Valley of the Kings.
Queen Hatshepsut, the most famous female pharaoh, was first co-ruler with her young nephew Thutmosis III, then took over “kingship” on her own.
She encouraged commercial expansion, sent a trading expedition to Punt and sponsored a major building program overseen by Senenmut; the monuments of her reign include the temple at Deir el-Bahri. Toward the end of her reign she lost influence to Thutmose III who came to be depicted as her equal.
Hatshepsut husband Thutmose passed away – their son was too young to take over so Mom took over instead – 1st time in Egyptian History that we see a Women as a Pharaoh. When he became of age – she did not give him the throne…so when she died he destroyed as much of her tomb as possible. Some twenty years after Hatshepsut’s death, when Thutmosis had been king on his own for a long time, he ordered her name to be erased wherever it appeared and her statues to be smashed. Thutmose III had her name and images chiseled off throughout the temple. Thutmose III built his own temple to the west of Hatshepsut's damaged temple at the same time. Additional damage was done at the orders of the 18th dynasty heretic Akhnaten , who tolerated only images of the Sun god Aten.
The reasons for this are not entirely clear, but the order may have been politically motivated and not a belated act of personal hatred.
Repetition of light and dark of colonnades echoes that of terrain
Painted reliefs are first great tribute to a woman in history of art!

20. Mathematical intelligence with the perfection of the ramp angle calculations. Built into the land – benefit against attacks and sand storms by building into the land, use of the most accessible resources to the area. Color blends into the land-benefit against attacks.

21. The Valley of the Kings

22. Akhenaton and Amarna Period
Amenhotep IV, later known as Akhenaton, completely switched Egypt’s main god from Amen to Aton, the universal and only god. Switch from polytheism to mono.
Worship and cult of Amen and priesthood arose immediately after his demise.
Amarna Period known for relaxed rules for making art – extreme stylistic change in Egyptian Art!!
Amarna period like ugly step child of Egyptian Art b/c they changed from the old kingdom traditional form.
(“Aak-Ne-ton”) Changed the Egyptian religion from Poly-Theasm (worship of many gods - to Mono-Theasm (worship of one god) = Aton or also referred to as Aten)
In the Amarna period Akhenaten and Nefertiti break with the traditional religion in favor of the sole worship of the Aten (light).. During their reign distinctive art is created and literature reflects a version of the language nearer to that actually spoken.

23. Akhenaton, temple of Aton, Karnak, Dynasty XVIII, 1353-1335 BCE, sandstone ->
Androgynous figure, un-idealistic, curvilinear contours
Thutmose, Nefertiti, Tell
el-Armana, D. XVIII, 1353-
1335 BCE, painted limestone
Similar expression as Akhenaton
Unfinished, found in artists studio
VIDEO: TAKE NOTES!
Sexless = often defined as a SUNDISK – helps with understanding why he is depicted as a Curvalicious man (curvilinear lines, hips)
Nefertiti – his wife HIGHLY RESPECTED BY AKHENATON (Ak-Na-Ton)

24. Ceremonial Piece (SHOWING THE FAMILY DYNAMIC), SUNKEN RELIEF (Stele = “Stel-A”) AS OPPOSED TO THE RAISED RELIEF ON PALETTE OF NARMER
CENTER CIRLE IS – ATEN: solar disk: under Akhenaten worshiped as the medium through which the divine power of light comes into the world
(SHINING DOWN ON THE FAMILY w/ some end of rays)
solar disk: under Akhenaten worshiped as the medium through which the divine power of light comes into the world.
The cobra within the sundisk shows this is the only diety/god present at this time
Distortions in shape of bodies…some wondered if something may have been wrong with their anatomy…swollen bellies, thin arms, elongated skulls…but really is meant to distinguish from Egyptians past
Old Kingdom/Egypt Dominated by rectulinear forms..BUT STILL COMPOSITE FORM FIGURES
Would have been placed in a private domestic environment. Akhenaton on the LEFT, Nefertiti on the RIGHT…. Showing the relationship between Akhenaton and Nefertiti AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GOD ATEN.
Akhenaton is holding his daughter gracefully possibly getting ready to kiss her, with her finger pointing back at her mother. Nefertiti is holding a daughter on her lap pointing back at her father with the youngest daughter on her shoulder [laying with her earring. EGYTIAN SIGNS OF LIFE (ANKH) ARE AT THE ENDS OF THE HANDS AT THE ENDS OF THE RAYS RIGHT AT THE FACES OF THE KING AND QUEEN…the breath of life for Akhenaton and Nefertiti.
Their symbols on their thrones show they would rule Egypt together.
Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three Daughters, Tell el-Amarna, D. XVIII, , limestone.
Sunken relief stele, curving contours vs. earlier rigidity, family sits in rays of Aton, rare family scene. Very sweet.

25. Narmer Khufu Khafre Menkaure Sphinx Khafre Re Seated Scribe pyramid
King N________ unified upper and lower Egypt.
The Great P________ are located in Giza. Build around 2500 BCE, the three Pharaohs represented are K_______ , K________, and M________.
The S_______ is said to be a composite representation of K_______. (power & authority)
The shape of the p_______ is said to be a representation of the sun- god, R___.
The S_________ S___________ has not only a pudgy belly but large attentive eyes.
During the A_______ period, the art underwent a radical s______ c______.
Instead of the r_______ from the Old Kingdom, Amarna used c______ contours.
Narmer
Pyramids
Khufu
Khafre
Menkaure
Sphinx
Khafre
pyramid Re
Seated
Scribe
Amarna
stylistic
change
rigidity
curving

26. 7-Minute Essay
Write an essay on how these two works perpetuate the importance of the pharaoh (power and authority) in ancient Egypt. (Open a new Google doc & share it with me: Kristy Hansen)