1. Continuity, Spirituality and the Immortal Soul
Art of Ancient Egypt
Continuity, Spirituality and the Immortal Soul

2. Overview
Longevity
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for more than 3000 and we don’t see much change in the style or function of their artwork
While today we consider the Greco-Roman period to be in the distant past, it should be noted that Cleopatra VII's reign (which ended in 30 BCE) is closer to our own time than it was to that of the construction of the pyramids of Giza.
It took humans nearly 4000 years to build something--anything--taller than the Great Pyramids.  
Consistency & Stability
Egypt’s stability is in stark contrast to the Ancient Near East of the same period, which endured an overlapping series of cultures and upheavals with amazing regularity.  
The earliest royal monuments, such as the Narmer Palette carved around 3100 B.C.E., display identical royal costumes and poses as those seen on later rulers, even Ptolemaic kings on their temples 3000 years later.

3. WHY SO CONSISTENT!!??
Artistic style governed by decorum (a sense of what was ‘appropriate’),
This is why their art appears extremely static—and in terms of symbols, gestures, and the way the body is rendered, it was. It was intentional.
To the Egyptians their consistency was viewed as stability, divine balance, and clear evidence of the correctness of their culture.  

4. What are the facts? (F) Artist: Trades Person Patron: Unknown
Title: Palette of King Narmer Date: 3,000 BCE
Period/Style: Early Dynastic
Size: 2’ 1”
Location / findspot: Egypt
What is the medium and technique? (M)
Slate, bas relief

5. What is the artworks content / subject matter? (SM)
Kings name
Hathor
Felines
Horus
Narmer

6. WHY WAS IT CREATED (CA) PHYSICAL LOCATION
It Is a decorative makeup plate – location unknown – perhaps for display in a home
2. HISTORICAL EVENTS
Record of the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt- which took place over several centuries but is shown as a single great event
3. CONCEPTS AND IDEAS
Divine Kings – Pharaohs
Pharaoah is supreme and protected by the gods
Glorification of the Pharaoh as responsible for the unification and protection of Egypt

7. How is the subject matter visually represented / presented? (FA)
Kings name
Hathor
Narrative device: registers
Hierarchical scale = power of the pharaoh. He
stands above the conquered
Twisted perspective
Swiftly and easily slays his enemy –
become a standard pictorial formula for
Egyptian power
He is solely responsible for the victory
Hathor (sky goddess) presides over her son’s
triumph
Horus, the takes captive the hieroglyphic for
Lower Egypt
Horus
Narmer

8. How is the subject matter visually represented / presented? (FA)
Intertwined necks of the cats may symbolize Egypt’s unification
Multiple perspectives – dead are seen from above while Narmer is seen from profile
Kings superior rank indicated by size and isolation
Lower register with the bull symbolizes king’s superhuman strength
Narrative devices: Registers don’t tell a sequential narrative but are instead symbolic of the pharaoh's triumph and divine status
Felines

9. THE SPIRITUAL WORLD AND RITUAL IN ART AND LIFE
Fertility of the Nile offered prosperity and security
The Egyptians wanted to carry their prosperity and security with them into the afterlife
ART FUNCTIONED AS A CONDUIT THAT ENSURED A COMFORTABLE AFTERLIFE
They believed that artistic depictions had an impact beyond the image itself—tomb scenes of the deceased receiving food, or temple scenes of the king performing perfect rituals for the gods—were functionally causing those things to occur in the divine realm.
If the image of the bread loaf was omitted from the deceased’s table, they had no bread in the Afterlife; if the king was depicted with the incorrect ritual implement, the ritual was incorrect and this could have dire consequences. This belief led to an active resistance to change in their artistic depictions.

10. Old Kingdom Sculpture What are the facts? (F) Artist: Trades Person
Patron: Khafre, Pharaoh
Title: Khafre enthroned
Date: 2,520 BCE
Period/Style: Old Kingdom
Size: 5’ 6”
Location / findspot: Pharaoh’s Valley temple
What is the medium and technique? (M)
Diorite (transported 400 miles), Subtracted method

11. What is the artworks content / subject matter? (SM)
Portrait of Khafre (pharaoh) on his thrown protected by Horus

12. WHY WAS IT CREATED (CA) PHYSICAL LOCATION
Housed in the Pharaoh’s temple which served as a burial tomb, Not meant to be seen by the living
2. Patron
Pharaoh
3. CONCEPTS AND IDEAS
Divine Kings – Pharaohs
Believed that a person possessed a ka –
A type of soul – when a person died their ka lived on
For the ka to live securely the body had to remain intact = mummification
Statues in tombs also provided a dwelling place for the ka and secured permanence for the identity of the deceased = immortality
FUNCTION: Funerary Object

13. How is the subject matter
visually represented? How do the visual qualities support the function? (FA)
Rigid and upright
Idealized body and perfect features – consistent with the
Divine nature of the king
His compact and still form (no movement) radiates serenity
The form manifests the purpose: to last an eternity
No movement = frozen in time, attached to the throne and rock
Bilaterally Symmetrical body
Horus extend his protective wings over his head
Wearing the royal false beard and nemes headdress
Lotus and papyrus plants on throne = unified Egypt
Bilaterally symmetrical

14. What are the facts? (F) Artist: Trades Person Patron: Unknown
Title: Date: 2,500 BCE
Period/Style: Old Kingdom
Size: 1’ 9”
Location / findspot: Necropolis in Saqqara Egypt
What is the medium and technique? (M)
Carved and painted limestone
What is the artworks content / subject matter? (SM)
A scribe

15. WHY WAS IT CREATED (CA) PHYSICAL LOCATION Necropolis
2. CONCEPTS AND IDEAS
Believed that a person possessed a ka –
A type of soul – when a person died their ka lived on
For the ka to live securely the body had to remain intact = mummification
Statues in tombs also provided a dwelling place for the ka and secured permanence for the identity of the deceased = immortality
FUNCTION: Funerary Object

16. How is the subject matter visually represented? (FA)
Small, Lifelike, naturalistic and individualized
features – but not a true portrait, he is a type
He has a sense of feeling and personality
That the Pharaoh’s sculpture is lacking –
Indicates the he is not divine
No throne, more relaxed pose but he is serene,
Which is in line with the function of the
Sculpture as a dwelling place for the ka.
Holding paper – indicates his job as a scribe
Fat belly indicates wealth and comfort of his
Position
Sagging skin indicates age

17. Middle Kingdom What are the facts? (F) Artist: Trades Person
Patron: Sensurett II (pharaoh)
Title: Sensuret II (pharaoh Date: 1,860 BCE
Period/Style: Middle Kingdom
Size: 6’ 6”
Location / findspot: Egypt
What is the medium and technique? (M)
Carved stone

18. How is the subject matter visually represented? (FA)
What is the artworks content / subject matter? (SM)
Sunsurett II - Pharaoh
How is the subject matter
visually represented? (FA)
Breaks convention with style of Old Kingdom
Pharaoh statues
Posture is still compact and body idealized, his
Facial features are naturalistic and expressive
Pessimistic expression with drooping lines around
the mouth, heavily lidded eyes, shaded brow

19. WHY WAS IT CREATED (CA) PHYSICAL LOCATION Necropolis 2. Patron Pharaoh
3. Historical Events
Establishment of Middle Kingdom puts end to period of anarchy
Fought brutal military campaign in Nubia – never secured total control
Established central government in Egypt with better success
Meaning/Function: Depiction of
of a determined ruler marked with anxiety. Communicates the mood of the era.