Egyptian Art (3100 BCE-30 BCE)

What was the purpose of Ancient Egyptian art? for religious purposes, in which the egyptians would perform rituals in front of them. to reflect the political history of egypt during that time. Ancient egyptians would bury artwork with the pharaohs to help them in the afterlife

Narmer’s Palette Who ; Ancient Egyptians When : Predynastic Era (3000- 2920 BCE) Materials : Carved palette of grayish-green siltstone Where: The Temple at Hierakonpolis

Narmer’s Palette (Continued) One interpretation of the palette is the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under king Narmer, the last ruler of the predynastic period,

The Bust of Nefertiti Who : Thutmose (Sculptor) When: 1345 BCE (New Kingdom) Where: Amarna, Egypt Materials : Formed from limestone covered in painted stucco.

The Bust of Nefertiti (Continued) It is believed that the sculpture was meant to be used as a sketch by Thutmose for an official sculpture of Queen Nefertiti, who was the Great Royal Wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. Akhenaten established a new religion in ancient egypt which was monotheistic instead of polytheistic.

Tutankhamun Death Mask Who : Ancient Egyptians When : New Kingdom, 18th dynasty, 1323 BCE. Where : Tutankhamun’s Tomb in Thebes Materials: Constructed of 2 sheets of gold that were hammered together. It is inlaid with semi- precious stones. The eyes are made with obsidian and quartz

Tutankhamun Death Mask (Continued) King tut became king when he was 9 and only ruled for 9 years until his death at 18. He managed to reestablish traditional egyptian religion that his father, King Akhenaten, had put aside.

The Great Sphinx of Giza Who : Ancient Egyptians When: c. 2575–c. 2465 BCE Where: Giza, Egypt Materials : Carved out of an entire piece of limestone. Pigment residue suggests that the entire sphinx used to be painted.

The Great Sphinx of Giza (continued) There are debates on who the sphinx who should be accredited to. Some say King Khafre created it, others say it was his brother Djedefre. Some credit it to king Khufu, their father, and the creator of the Great Pyramid.

Rosetta Stone Who : Ancient Egyptians When: 195 BCE, Ptolemaic Period Where: Memphis, Egypt ( A Small Village called Rosetta) Materials : Carved out of granodiorite. The front is engraved with text of three different texts. The 1st was used for religious and important scripts, the 2nd was the most common, and the 3rd was in greek because that was the language used at that time,

The Rosetta Stone ( Continued) The discovery of the stone enabled people to decipher the Egyptian Hieroglyphics. They had stopped the use of them near the end of the 4th Century C.E. and knowledge of how to read and write them disappeared. It wasn't until the discovery of the stone in 1799 that they resurfaced.

Artistic Qualities Most if not all of egyptian artwork has balance. Everything has symmetry They used lines, colors. Unity All of these were used to create Aesthetic artwork. Most if not all told stories.