* Before we begin…* 1.Write your address on sheet that’s passed around. 2.Group Project: Theme proposal due Monday, Sept. 22 in class. 3.You will need to meet with your group at some point within the next 12 days. 4.I’ll provide feedback on Wed. the 24 th.

Ch. 3 Ancient Egypt

Area surrounding the Nile, now called Egypt, was a resource-rich area--made the necessity of shifting to a settled Neolithic lifestyle not urgent, so the region didn’t transition until about 5000 BCE. From c BCE to 2950 BCE, Egypt was ruled by a series of tribes and small cultures and was divided into two main areas: Upper and Lower Egypt Upper Egypt—south, toward Africa Lower Egypt—north, toward the Mediterranean Nile flows to the Mediterranean Sea, so Lower Egypt is where the Nile let out

Unification of Egypt -c BCE; Egypt was unified under one ruler, Menes from Upper Egypt -For the next almost 3000 years, Egypt is relatively stable and unified and exhibits a remarkably consistent artistic style—religious in all periods -Ancient historian, Manetho, listed 30 ruling dynasties (families of kings) who ruled Egypt from 3000 to 332 BCE, when they were conquered by Alexander the Great from Greece -Egypt from 3000 to 332 BCE is divided into 5 primary sub-periods: -Early Dynastic Period ( BCE) -Old Kingdom ( BCE) -Middle Kingdom ( BCE) -New Kingdom ( BCE) -Late Egyptian ( BCE)

Early Dynastic Egypt; BCE Eqyption creation myth: Ra (sun god) creates himself out of the “waters of chaos” -By spitting, Ra creates Tefnut and Shu (gods of wetness and dryness) -Tefnut and Shu begat Geb and Nut (earth and sky gods) -Geb and Nut produce 2 sons: Osiris and Seth, and 2 daughters: Isis and Nephthys -Osiris and Isis marry and Osiris becomes king; Seth gets jealous and kills Osiris; Isis and Nephthys bring him back to life -Osiris and Isis have a son, Horus, who defeats Seth and becomes king of the earth -Osiris retires and becomes overseer of the underworld. -These are the main gods, among others, that appear throughout Egyptian art.

Front and back of The Narmer Palette; Early Dynastic Period; 25” tall -Style typical of Egyptian art throughout its history: Met MuseumMet Museum Horus

Twisted Perspective—profile head, frontal shoulders, profile feet Memory image—how we think of something as looking, not based on strict observation of things (also known as schematic) Old Kingdom standard grid—proportions based on a consistent measurement, like the width of a closed fist, for example. Determined the proportions for figures; everything had an ideal or proper proportion. These are conventions.

Mastaba: flat-topped, one story building built above an underground burial chamber. Most common tomb structure of Early Dynasty. -Might have numerous underground chambers for whole families. -Standard burial for Eqyptian elite for centuries. Ka: life force, or spirit. Believed to live on after death doing the same things it had done in life, but it would need a body to live in, so a sculpted likeness of the deceased would be placed in the serdab of the mastaba.

Necropolis: “city of the dead,” funerary complexes on the west bank of the Nile— because the land of the death was believed to be in the direction of the setting sun -2 most extensive necropolises: Saqqara and Giza outside modern Cairo The step pyramid and sham buildings. Funerary complex of Djoser, Saqqara

The Old Kingdom c – 2150 BCE -time of social and political stability Great Pyramids, Giza; Granite and limestone, height of pyramid of Khufu, 450‘, c. 2575–240 BCE Erected by (from the left) Menkaure, Khafre, and Khufu Pyramids at Giza: most recognizable Egyptian landmarks Angled sides may have been designed to mimic the rays of the sun Oldest and Largest: Khufu’s (13 acres at its base) Originally covered in polished limestone—made it 480’ high Site planned to follow the sun’s path Actual burial vaults are inside the tombs, not under

Old Kingdom Sculpture: -Very life-like, solid and compact -Displays permanence, stability Khafre; Anorthosite gneiss, height 5' 6⅛“; (ruled c. 2520– 2494 BCE) Giza, Valley Temple of Khafre

Menkaure and a Queen; Graywacke w/ traces of red and black paint, height 54 ½”; ruled c – 2472 BCE Menkaure; heir of Khafre. -Sculpture is less formal than his father’s, with affection from his wife -Balanced pose with foot striding—typically Egyptian -Found in Menkaure’s valley temple, but never finished polishing it; suggests it was commissioned only a few years before his death

Following Menkaure’s dynasty, more generic portraits of rulers are made and personalized with inscriptions on the base Pepy II and His Mother, Queen Ankhnes- Meryre; alabaster, c ; height 15 ¼” x ~10” -Ruler depicted as a child because he inherited the throne at 6 and his mother likely acted as regent until he was old enough to rule

Old Kingdom sculptors also made figures of less prominent people, like this scribe found in the tomb of Kai in Saqqara Seated ScribeSeated Scribe; painted limestone; 21” high, c BCE

Wealthy tombs often included wall decorations featuring everyday activities that the Ka would continue to do after the death of the entombed person. Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt; painted limestone; 45” high; c

Middle Kingdom; c BCE The old kingdom was followed by approx. 150 yrs of unrest and turmoil—1 st intermediate period Eventually, the ruler Nebhepetre Menthutop reunited the country and the Middle Kingdom, another high point in Egyptian history began Art of the period is characterized by an awareness of the struggles that preceded it Head of Senusret III; Yellow quartzite; c ; 17” high;

Rock-cut tombs, Beni Hasan, Middle Kingdom Located south of the present-day Minya, Egypt

-Middle Kingdom art of all kinds displays excellent attention to accurate detail. Hippopotamus; Faience, c ; tomb of Senbi

-Middle Kingdom tomb offerings and decorations continue to show us much about everyday life at the time. Stele of Amenemhat I; c BCE, 11” x 15”; painted limestone Model of a Garden House; tomb of Meketre, c – 2055 BCE; painted and plastered wood, 33” long,

New Kingdom; c BCE -followed 2 nd Intermediate period—more turbulence interrupted the ruling dynasties -Egyptian rulers reunify Egypt by 1539 BCE -Thutmose III (ruled BCE) extended the Egyptian empire as far as present day Syria; first ruler to refer to himself as “pharaoh” (literally means “great house”) -Thutmose III made diplomatic gestures with Near East (main rulers in the Near East at this time; Hittites in Anatolia) to extend Egyptian influence -undertook major building projects along the Nile at the height of the New Kingdom

The ruins of the Great Temple of Amun, at Karnak, Egypt

-Hatshepsut; ruled —one of only a few women rulers in Egypt; left greatest legacy of monuments. -Mother of Thutmose III, had herself declared king before he came of age -She was depicted in all the ways a male ruler was depicted -Tomb in the Valleys of the Kings and Queens on the west bank of the Nile

c. 1353, ruler named Amenhotep (later Akhenaten) changed Egypt to a monotheistic society worshipping sun-god Aten -Art of this time very stylistically different; elongated, fluid forms (Amarna syle)

Amarna style portraits: Queen Tiy (Akhenaten’s mother-left) and Nefertiti (Akhenaten’s wife-right)

Tutankhamun, Akhenaten’s son, quickly returned to the traditional beliefs and artistic styles of Egypt, after his father’s death Inner burial tomb never plundered and was in its original condition when discovered in 1922 Sarcophagus is 240 lbs of gold

Temple of Rameses II; Abu Simble; c BCE people

Temple Interior Nefertari (Queen) touching Rameses’ leg at Temple

Deceased’s heart Feather of truth Maat Anubis; god of embalming and cemeteries. Ammit; “Eater of the dead” Thoth Deceased Osiris Nephthys & Isis Deceased in accepted into the afterlife and kneels before the 9 gods of Heliopolis; the sacred city of sun god, Ra Osiris’ sons A Book of the Dead; Judgment of Hunefer Before Osiris; c 1285 BCE; ~15” high

Late Egyptian; c BCE -Egypt heavily influence by foreign powers who were attracted to Egypt’s wealth and art -Alexander the Great (from Greece) conquered Egypt in 332 BCE and his generals later divided up the empire -Art of this time reflects the occupying cultures; not very Egyptian Mummy wrapping of a young boy; Linen wrappings with gilded stucco buttons and inserted portrait in encaustic on wood; height of mummy 53⅜", c. 100–120 CE