Egyptian Art
TIME PERIOD: 3000-30 B.C.E.
Old Kingdom 2575-2134 B.C.E.
New Kingdom 1550-1070 B.C.E.
ESSENTIAL UNDERSTANDING - Egyptian art was created around ideas concerning eternity, the afterlife, and rebirth.
- Funerary objects dominate, including large-scale sculptures, stone architecture, and tomb artifacts--all in the service of the god-like pharaoh.
- Strict Egyptian stylistic formulas are applied to the gods and pharaohs; they clearly show others to be subordinate and lacing in idealization.
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Seated scribe. Saqqara, Egypt. Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. c. 2620–2500 B.C.E. Painted limestone.
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Great Pyramids (Menkaura, Khafre, Khufu) and Great Sphinx. Giza, Egypt. Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. c. 2550–2490 B.C.E. Cut limestone.
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King Menkaura and queen. Old Kingdom, Fourth Dynasty. c. 2490–2472
B.C.E. Greywacke.
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Temple of Amun-Re and Hypostyle Hall. Karnak, near Luxor, Egypt. New Kingdom, 18th and 19th Dynasties. Temple: c. 1550 B.C.E.; hall: c. 1250 B.C.E. Cut sandstone and mud brick.
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Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut. Near Luxor, Egypt. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. c. 1473–1458 B.C.E. Sandstone, partially carved into a rock cliff, and red granite.
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Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters. New Kingdom (Amarna), 18th Dynasty. c. 1353–1335 B.C.E. Limestone.
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Tutankhamun’s tomb, innermost coffin. New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty. c. 1323 B.C.E. Gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones.
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Last judgment of Hu-Nefer, from his tomb (page from the Book of the Dead). New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty. c. 1275 B.C.E. Painted papyrus scroll.
SUMMARY
Egyptian figural style remained constant throughout much of its history, with its emphasis on broad frontal shoulders and profiled heads, torso, and legs. In the Old Kingdom the figures appear static and imperturbable. In the Amarna period the figures lose their motionless stances and have body types that are softer and increasingly androgynous.
The contents of the tomb of the short-lived King Tutankhamun give the modern world a glimpse into the spectacular richness of Egyptian tombs. One wonders how much more lavish the tomb of Ramses II must have been.