Art History: Egypt
Egypt has always fascinated the west. The Greeks and Romans admired their culture and craftsmanship, their esteem passed to collectors and scholars during the renaissance. Napoleon's campaign into Africa at the end of the 18th century brought artifacts, knowledge, and interest back to Europe. Excavations have been occurring nonstop since then.
In 1922 King Tutenkhamen's tomb was discovered, huge results.
The main draw so many people see in Egyptian art is its exceptional technique, and massive scale (remember sphinx). Tombs were generally the largest structures, built to ensure a blissful afterlife. Sculptures, paintings, valuables they were buried with had an eternal purpose - to accompany the deceased in the afterlife.
Plato (born 424 BCE) noted that Egyptian art had not changed in 10,000 years. Mostly true. Egyptian art is that of permanence, they weren't trying to be innovative or original. Adhered to STRICT TRADITIONAL FORMULATIONS that expressed specific ideas. CONTINUITY OF FORM AND SUBJECT is a characteristic of Egyptian art.
Extremely hierarchical society meant art was made only for the wealthiest. At the same time the Egyptians developed writing (3000 BCE), they developed a political and religious system that put a god-king (pharaoh) in charge of the physical and spiritual well being of his people.
Because these powerful kings commissioned the most impressive tombs, it was easy to associate their king with the afterlife, reinforcing his divine nature.
Two categories of Egyptian art include ROYAL COMMISONS and FUNERARY OBJECTS. These two categories make up a vast majority of surviving Egyptian art, with religion playing a huge factor - the geography plays another.
NILE RIVER
Egypt comprised of two distinct regions. UPPER and LOWER Egypt.
Flooding left a layer of silt, highly fertile farmland, called "black land."
Desert referred to as, "red land."
Surpluses of food (due to irrigation, etc) led to the development of a complex culture.
Depended on annual flooding. King assured continuity of his people through the direct intercession with his gods. Reinforced divinity yet again. Egyptian gods frequently resembled natural forces / phenomena.
Ra-Horakhty was the sun god.
Osiris was god of afterlife (with consort Isis and son Horus)
Upper and Lower Egypt were separate regions that eventually grew toward one another around 5000 BCE. Egyptian worldview of duality, two contrasting forces - in this case upper and lower (red and black). Pharaoh had to harmonize the two.
PALETTE OF KING NARMER
Slate tablet with depression in the center for grinding protective paint applied around the eyes. It's huge size implies that it wasn't for ordinary use but rather intended for a ceremonial large cult statue. Context of where it was found led to this theory: temple in Heirakonpolis. Was buried with other offerings devoted to Horus.
Registers in low relief. Name in center at top in hieroglyphics within an abstract rendering of the kings palace.
Hieroglyphics were invented about same time as cuneiform. Greeks
gave it it's name when the discovered it, thinking them to be sacred
writings (heiros = sacred, graphien = to write). Egyptians themselves
called them "god words."
Cow heads represent sky goddess, placing the king in the sky. Occupied divine office, even though he s human.
Holds enemy by hair, raises mace (weapon, kingship similar to rod) in other hand.
Shown in COMPOSITE VIEW, which will become a hallmark of Egyptian two dimensional art. Frontal view of eyes, shoulders, arms. Profile of head and legs.
With crown of UPPER EGYPT. From his belt hangs the tail of a bull, symbol of power in Egypt. Naked enemies are humiliated. Servant carrying sandals.
Falcon on papyrus, rope tied to human-headed strip of land.
On opposite side NARMER appears in red crown of LOWER EGYPT. Following four standard bearers, with his sandal bearer and a long haired figure. They are inspecting the decapitated bodies of his enemies.
Animal necks could represent Ma'at (order/balance). Lower register, bull representing king attacks a city and kills everyone.
IT IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE communicates its message with many different types of signs: literal (pharaoh/attendant/captives), symbolic (bull attacking city), pictographs (small symbols to represent concepts - falcon represents Horus, human headed land represents lower Egypt)
NARMER was a pharaoh (incarnation of Horus) control lower Egypt.
OLD KINGDOM
Majority of population probably buried in shallow desert graves. Elite had monumental tombs of stone filled with all manner of wealth. The survival of these tombs is no accident, they were built specifically to last for eternity.
These structures had several important functions. Served the living by giving the dead a permanent marker on the landscape. Indicated status of the dead, and perpetuated their memory. Housed the life force (ka) of the deceased. A persons ka exists forever in their tomb, and needs a place to stay.
Early elite and royals buried beneath simple rectangular mud-brick or stone structures known as MASTABA.
Exterior plastered and painted to look like a palace. Some were solid built, others had rooms to hold funeral objects or a funeral chapel.
Bodies were ritually preserved and mummified (which was only perfected in the 11th and 12th dynasties). A statue was often placed in the tomb in case the embalmers' efforts failed, the ka could hide there.
Bodies were placed in a sarcophagus (stone coffin) beneath the mastaba.
Objects of daily comfort also placed in tombs for ka to enjoy.
KING DJOSER'S SAQQARA 3rd Dynasty Ruler
First known major funerary complex, made for King Djoser of the 3rd dynasty, Saqqara. Saqqara was the necropolis (city of the dead) of Memphis, Lower Egypt.
33ft high, mile-long wall encloses complex. Dominating the complex is a huge stepped pyramid, oriented with the cardinal points of a compass. North of the pyramid was a twisting funeral temple where the rites of the dead were performed.
The buildings reproduce the palace architecture of the living king. Many buildings are nonfunctional. 14 fake gateways, chapels to local gods were simply facades with false doors. While a real living structure would be made of mud brick, this was made to LAST with limestone.
Life size statue seated of (in a serdab) assured he was present to perpetually enact the ceremonies and rituals the shrines required. Two holes in the chamber allowed (his ka) him to peek out to watch ceremonies in his name, or to take sustenance from food offerings.
Imhotep (perhaps the first named architect in history) has his name on many tablets found within naming him the mastermind behind the funerary complex. He was a genius, and later deified by the Egyptians. This is one of his legacies.
MENKAURE & WIFE 2515 BCE
Carved from one piece, rigid frontality. 3/4 life size. Intended location and function to explain front view - like Khafra was likely from kings valley temple.
The pair are the same height, frozen mid stride with the left foot forward. Headdress echoes Khamerernebty's hair. Even though the male is muscled the female is also characterized by smooth polished surfaces. One is draped, other is half nude. Establish an appearance of UNITY. Further unified by the queens embrace.
Debated whether or not these were painted a lot or just in certain decorative areas.
SCULPTURE OF PRINCE RAHOTEP AND HIS WIFE, NOFRET
4th Dynasty sculpture, carved from softer limestone (compared to diorite) which does not yield such fine details as diorite. Painted skin tones, hair, garments, jewelry using the standard convention of darker tones for makes, and lighter tones for females. Inscriptions identify the pair, and give their social status. He is a government official, she is a "dependent of the king". Crystal pupils animated the eyes, so much so that grave robbers would steal them first before looting the tombs.
Like the royal portraits, these are also frontally posed with ritualized gestures.
RIGID FRONTALITY
It is the norm for royal and elite sculptures in the round. In relief and in paintings, there is also a consistency between these two media. The standard stance is illustrated in a mastaba of a court official in Saqqara. UNREALISTIC, as with NARMER. Frontal shoulders and arms. Profile head (frontal eye), and profile legs. Has two left feet, high arches and a single toe.
This representation is conceptual or intellectual rather than visual: the artist depicts what the mind knows, not what the eyes see (art 1). This artificial stance lends to legibility, but makes it very static.
THE CANON
In royal and elite sculpture in the round, as well as relief and painting, body proportions are always consistently portrayed. 5th dynasty system of grid of one vertical line and seven horizontal lines dividing the body according to. Standard set of rules: canon.
Over time the guidelines changed a little, but the principle of the canon remained: although body part measurements may change from person to person, the relationship between parts remained constant. SIZE SIGNALS SOCIAL STATUS not distance or proportion.
Elite male officials were depicted in two kinds of ideal images, each representing a different life stage. One is youthful, physically perfect (Khafra). The other is mature, with a paunch, fat, loose muscles, and signs of age on the face.
Egyptians were mostly illiterate, scribes had an elevated position. The sculpture of the seated scribe shows him writing, the skill which raises his status. He eats well, and perhaps relies on his subordinates to work on his behalf. The sculpture of Ka-Aper resembles the actual man as well, same attributes.
These conventions of pose, proportion and appearance applied only to the highest echelons of society - royalty and courtiers. BY CONTRAST the lower status of whoever is represented, the more relaxed and naturalistic the pose.
To illustrate, hippopotamus hunt shows servants / hunters in realistic poses (low status), and Ti (high official during 5th dynasty).
MIDDLE KINGDOM
6th dynasty crumbled, turmoil until 11th & 12th Dynasties. Continuity of traditions as with old kingdom, but royal portraiture changed the traditions.
Sculpture of Senwosret III
No longer smooth skinned, idealized face, untouched by time - now we see king depicted as older and aged. Creased brow, drooping eyelids, crows feet / lines beneath eyes.
He had a difficult military campaign against Nubia. Scholars use this context to classify the art as "introspective." Visible signs of the kings stress. The aged face was paired with a youthful body, it is equally likely that the tight-lipped face is simply a way to project an image of firm resolve.
THESE SUBTLE CHANGES DISTINGUISH REPRESENTATIONS FROM PERIOD TO PERIOD
Canon of proportions changed, too. Women now portrayed with narrow shoulders and slim waists and limbs. Males depicted with proportionally smaller heads, and without the tight musculature of their old kingdom counterparts. .
FUNERARY ARCHITECTURE
Most buried in mastabas or sunken tombs. Popular at the time were rock-cut tombs, which were already present in the old kingdom.
BENI HASAN
Burial place of a powerful family of Middle Egypt in 11th and 12th Dynasties. Hollowed out from a terrace of rock on the Nile's eastern bank. Statue of deceased stood in a NICHE.
As with old kingdom tombs, walls covered in relief painting. Tomb paintings meant to provide nourishment, company, and entertainment for the dead.
Patrons of the Middle Kingdom revived some of the forms and practices of the Old Kingdom to assert a link to the "golden age".
By 1785 BCE authority weakened in Egypt. During 12th Dynasty Immigrants from Palestine moved into the Nile Delta, gaining power and forcing the king to retreat south to Thebes. Group was known as "Hyksos" which is the Egyptian word for, "rulers of foreign lands."
NEW KINGDOM
Hyksos were finally expelled from Egypt by Ahmose, first king of the 18th dynasty. The 500 years after their expulsion (18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties) have been designated the New Kingdom.
It was a time of renewed territorial expansion and tremendous prosperity for Egypt, the arts flourished. Massive building projects dominated the Nile, along it's entire length - centering around Thebes (Luxor).
Among these buildings constructed, many were secular (non-religious), such as palaces or forts. These were made of mud bricks and have since perished. Stone tombs and temples, as with previous eras' construction, have survived, albeit at a reduced level of their former glory.
VALLEY OF KINGS
Major difference between old and new kingdoms can be seen in their burial places. 18th Dynasty kings saw the loss of order that allowed royal burials to be robbed first-hand, they abandoned the practice of marking their tombs with pyramids. Instead, tombs were carved from the rock face in the Valley of Kings, west of Thebes, with their entrances concealed after the burial was completed.
Excavations show that a long corridor led deep into the mountain with a burial chamber inside, flanked by storage rooms. Burial chamber decorated with paintings of the king with Osiris, Anubis, and Hathor - funerary deities who assured his passage into the next world.
Rituals of the funerary cult took place on a rocky outcropping at a temple - not at the tomb.
HATSHEPSUT'S TEMPLE
She was the regent to a young pharaoh, Thutmose III. She insisted he meant for her to succeed him, and so she did until her death in 1458 BCE.
Nestled against the cliffs at Deir el-Bahri. Placed beside an older temple (Mentuhotep II) from the 11th Dynasty. Some features modeled after the older temple, architect was Senenmut. Harmonizes with its location - broad courtyards (like desert) linked by wide ramps echo the horizontal lines of the desert and cliff. Multitude of colonnades parallel the fissures in the cliff face. The structure sets ORDER to the naturally occurring features, much as a king would her subjects.
Trees lined the entrance, along with paired sphinxes. Many sanctuaries and chapels devoted to gods were within and throughout.
Painted relief sculptures adorned the walls: battles, royal expeditions for myrrh trees (Punt), and scenes of Thutmose I (former king) legitimizing HATSHEPSUT'S rule.
KNEELING FIGURE OF HATSHEPSUT
1/8 statues found in the third court. Makes an offering of two jars.
Dressed as a male, since kingship was defined as a make office,
with the white beard and false crown. In many images she is
portrayed as female, but here (and others) she lacks breasts.
The child-king eventually came into power (after her death) and eventually built a temple between hers and the older one with the intention of taking over the area. Replaced names, destroyed much of her stuff, and said Amun's divine boat would eventually end up here.
TEMPLES TO THE GODS
18th Dynasty kings not only built funeral temples for themselves, but also massive sprawling temple complexes for a the Theban triad: Amun, his consort Mut, and their son Khons at Karnak.
Huge wall encircled the buildings, visitors had to walk through massive pylons, which were built as monuments to individual kings (sometimes dismantled as time went on). The further in you went past the pylons, the more sacred the site became. The enormous HYPOSTYLE hall was the farthest point of access for all but priests and royalty.
Visitors would be awed by a forest of immense columns, rendering the human form insignificant. Stone lintels had to be supported by the closely spaced columns. HEAVY, SOLID, PERMANENT.
Obelisks were tall stone markers that decorated courtyards, sacred lake for priests and royalty to purify themselves, before cleansing and dressing the images of the gods, before offering a sacred meal. These gave priests and kings more power because the rituals were shrouded in mystery.
SUNKEN RELIEF - carved outlines of the object, and shaped it within these outlines. Light shines on the relief, without compromising the solid planar appearance of the walls or columns.
Subject of relief carvings was kings relationship with the gods or military prowess (like Assurnasirpal killing Lions). Seti I's sacking Hittite city of Kadesh. Outline of king and horses cut deeper, making the appearance more bold. His victory appears certain, when in reality his victories werent decisive.
TEMPLE OF RAMSES II
Ramses II (Seti's son) built more architectural projects than any other Egyptian king in history. One such temple was devoted to Amun, Ra, and Ptah. It was carved into the sandstone at Abu Simbel, west bank of the Nile.
The location alone made it a statement piece, claiming the land of Kush in lower Nubia, which was a wealthy source for gold, ivory, animal pelts, and diorite.
Instead of a pylon, a massive stone facade representing the king 70 ft high dwarfing any approaching visitor. Between his legs are members of the royal family. A niche above the entrance holds an image of the sun god who appears as a falcon headed figure crowned by a sun disk. Flanking this are reliefs of Ramses holding out images of Ma'at, goddess of order. DEMONSTRATES KINGS ROLE AS KEEPER OF TERRESTRIAL ORDER AT REQUEST OF THE GODS.
Size and frontality of the huge statues present an awesome sight to the priests that conducted rituals inside.
BLOCK STATUES
Statues reduced to their simplest form in cubist abstraction, seated on the ground with knees drawn up to the chest, wrapped in a cloak. Literally forms a block, formed a seat for the Ka in tombs, like their full sized counterparts in earlier Egypt.
Protective role as tutor to Nefrua, daughter to Hatshepsut and Thutmose II. Forming a block and ignoring anatomical needs of a statue allowed for more surface area for hieroglyphics (like Gudea).
IMAGES IN NEW KINGDOM TOMBS
Addition of images on walls showed deceased worshipping Osiris and Anubis, to better hasten their transition to the next world.
Egypt has always fascinated the west. The Greeks and Romans admired their culture and craftsmanship, their esteem passed to collectors and scholars during the renaissance. Napoleon's campaign into Africa at the end of the 18th century brought artifacts, knowledge, and interest back to Europe. Excavations have been occurring nonstop since then.
In 1922 King Tutenkhamen's tomb was discovered, huge results.
The main draw so many people see in Egyptian art is its exceptional technique, and massive scale (remember sphinx). Tombs were generally the largest structures, built to ensure a blissful afterlife. Sculptures, paintings, valuables they were buried with had an eternal purpose - to accompany the deceased in the afterlife.
Plato (born 424 BCE) noted that Egyptian art had not changed in 10,000 years. Mostly true. Egyptian art is that of permanence, they weren't trying to be innovative or original. Adhered to STRICT TRADITIONAL FORMULATIONS that expressed specific ideas. CONTINUITY OF FORM AND SUBJECT is a characteristic of Egyptian art.
Extremely hierarchical society meant art was made only for the wealthiest. At the same time the Egyptians developed writing (3000 BCE), they developed a political and religious system that put a god-king (pharaoh) in charge of the physical and spiritual well being of his people.
Because these powerful kings commissioned the most impressive tombs, it was easy to associate their king with the afterlife, reinforcing his divine nature.
Two categories of Egyptian art include ROYAL COMMISONS and FUNERARY OBJECTS. These two categories make up a vast majority of surviving Egyptian art, with religion playing a huge factor - the geography plays another.
NILE RIVER
Egypt comprised of two distinct regions. UPPER and LOWER Egypt.
Flooding left a layer of silt, highly fertile farmland, called "black land."
Desert referred to as, "red land."
Surpluses of food (due to irrigation, etc) led to the development of a complex culture.
Depended on annual flooding. King assured continuity of his people through the direct intercession with his gods. Reinforced divinity yet again. Egyptian gods frequently resembled natural forces / phenomena.
Ra-Horakhty was the sun god.
Osiris was god of afterlife (with consort Isis and son Horus)
Upper and Lower Egypt were separate regions that eventually grew toward one another around 5000 BCE. Egyptian worldview of duality, two contrasting forces - in this case upper and lower (red and black). Pharaoh had to harmonize the two.
PALETTE OF KING NARMER
Slate tablet with depression in the center for grinding protective paint applied around the eyes. It's huge size implies that it wasn't for ordinary use but rather intended for a ceremonial large cult statue. Context of where it was found led to this theory: temple in Heirakonpolis. Was buried with other offerings devoted to Horus.
Registers in low relief. Name in center at top in hieroglyphics within an abstract rendering of the kings palace.
Hieroglyphics were invented about same time as cuneiform. Greeks
gave it it's name when the discovered it, thinking them to be sacred
writings (heiros = sacred, graphien = to write). Egyptians themselves
called them "god words."
Cow heads represent sky goddess, placing the king in the sky. Occupied divine office, even though he s human.
Holds enemy by hair, raises mace (weapon, kingship similar to rod) in other hand.
Shown in COMPOSITE VIEW, which will become a hallmark of Egyptian two dimensional art. Frontal view of eyes, shoulders, arms. Profile of head and legs.
With crown of UPPER EGYPT. From his belt hangs the tail of a bull, symbol of power in Egypt. Naked enemies are humiliated. Servant carrying sandals.
Falcon on papyrus, rope tied to human-headed strip of land.
On opposite side NARMER appears in red crown of LOWER EGYPT. Following four standard bearers, with his sandal bearer and a long haired figure. They are inspecting the decapitated bodies of his enemies.
Animal necks could represent Ma'at (order/balance). Lower register, bull representing king attacks a city and kills everyone.
IT IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE communicates its message with many different types of signs: literal (pharaoh/attendant/captives), symbolic (bull attacking city), pictographs (small symbols to represent concepts - falcon represents Horus, human headed land represents lower Egypt)
NARMER was a pharaoh (incarnation of Horus) control lower Egypt.
OLD KINGDOM
Majority of population probably buried in shallow desert graves. Elite had monumental tombs of stone filled with all manner of wealth. The survival of these tombs is no accident, they were built specifically to last for eternity.
These structures had several important functions. Served the living by giving the dead a permanent marker on the landscape. Indicated status of the dead, and perpetuated their memory. Housed the life force (ka) of the deceased. A persons ka exists forever in their tomb, and needs a place to stay.
Early elite and royals buried beneath simple rectangular mud-brick or stone structures known as MASTABA.
Exterior plastered and painted to look like a palace. Some were solid built, others had rooms to hold funeral objects or a funeral chapel.
Bodies were ritually preserved and mummified (which was only perfected in the 11th and 12th dynasties). A statue was often placed in the tomb in case the embalmers' efforts failed, the ka could hide there.
Bodies were placed in a sarcophagus (stone coffin) beneath the mastaba.
Objects of daily comfort also placed in tombs for ka to enjoy.
KING DJOSER'S SAQQARA 3rd Dynasty Ruler
First known major funerary complex, made for King Djoser of the 3rd dynasty, Saqqara. Saqqara was the necropolis (city of the dead) of Memphis, Lower Egypt.
33ft high, mile-long wall encloses complex. Dominating the complex is a huge stepped pyramid, oriented with the cardinal points of a compass. North of the pyramid was a twisting funeral temple where the rites of the dead were performed.
The buildings reproduce the palace architecture of the living king. Many buildings are nonfunctional. 14 fake gateways, chapels to local gods were simply facades with false doors. While a real living structure would be made of mud brick, this was made to LAST with limestone.
Life size statue seated of (in a serdab) assured he was present to perpetually enact the ceremonies and rituals the shrines required. Two holes in the chamber allowed (his ka) him to peek out to watch ceremonies in his name, or to take sustenance from food offerings.
Imhotep (perhaps the first named architect in history) has his name on many tablets found within naming him the mastermind behind the funerary complex. He was a genius, and later deified by the Egyptians. This is one of his legacies.
MENKAURE & WIFE 2515 BCE
Carved from one piece, rigid frontality. 3/4 life size. Intended location and function to explain front view - like Khafra was likely from kings valley temple.
The pair are the same height, frozen mid stride with the left foot forward. Headdress echoes Khamerernebty's hair. Even though the male is muscled the female is also characterized by smooth polished surfaces. One is draped, other is half nude. Establish an appearance of UNITY. Further unified by the queens embrace.
Debated whether or not these were painted a lot or just in certain decorative areas.
SCULPTURE OF PRINCE RAHOTEP AND HIS WIFE, NOFRET
4th Dynasty sculpture, carved from softer limestone (compared to diorite) which does not yield such fine details as diorite. Painted skin tones, hair, garments, jewelry using the standard convention of darker tones for makes, and lighter tones for females. Inscriptions identify the pair, and give their social status. He is a government official, she is a "dependent of the king". Crystal pupils animated the eyes, so much so that grave robbers would steal them first before looting the tombs.
Like the royal portraits, these are also frontally posed with ritualized gestures.
RIGID FRONTALITY
It is the norm for royal and elite sculptures in the round. In relief and in paintings, there is also a consistency between these two media. The standard stance is illustrated in a mastaba of a court official in Saqqara. UNREALISTIC, as with NARMER. Frontal shoulders and arms. Profile head (frontal eye), and profile legs. Has two left feet, high arches and a single toe.
This representation is conceptual or intellectual rather than visual: the artist depicts what the mind knows, not what the eyes see (art 1). This artificial stance lends to legibility, but makes it very static.
THE CANON
In royal and elite sculpture in the round, as well as relief and painting, body proportions are always consistently portrayed. 5th dynasty system of grid of one vertical line and seven horizontal lines dividing the body according to. Standard set of rules: canon.
Over time the guidelines changed a little, but the principle of the canon remained: although body part measurements may change from person to person, the relationship between parts remained constant. SIZE SIGNALS SOCIAL STATUS not distance or proportion.
Elite male officials were depicted in two kinds of ideal images, each representing a different life stage. One is youthful, physically perfect (Khafra). The other is mature, with a paunch, fat, loose muscles, and signs of age on the face.
Egyptians were mostly illiterate, scribes had an elevated position. The sculpture of the seated scribe shows him writing, the skill which raises his status. He eats well, and perhaps relies on his subordinates to work on his behalf. The sculpture of Ka-Aper resembles the actual man as well, same attributes.
These conventions of pose, proportion and appearance applied only to the highest echelons of society - royalty and courtiers. BY CONTRAST the lower status of whoever is represented, the more relaxed and naturalistic the pose.
To illustrate, hippopotamus hunt shows servants / hunters in realistic poses (low status), and Ti (high official during 5th dynasty).
MIDDLE KINGDOM
6th dynasty crumbled, turmoil until 11th & 12th Dynasties. Continuity of traditions as with old kingdom, but royal portraiture changed the traditions.
Sculpture of Senwosret III
No longer smooth skinned, idealized face, untouched by time - now we see king depicted as older and aged. Creased brow, drooping eyelids, crows feet / lines beneath eyes.
He had a difficult military campaign against Nubia. Scholars use this context to classify the art as "introspective." Visible signs of the kings stress. The aged face was paired with a youthful body, it is equally likely that the tight-lipped face is simply a way to project an image of firm resolve.
THESE SUBTLE CHANGES DISTINGUISH REPRESENTATIONS FROM PERIOD TO PERIOD
Canon of proportions changed, too. Women now portrayed with narrow shoulders and slim waists and limbs. Males depicted with proportionally smaller heads, and without the tight musculature of their old kingdom counterparts. .
FUNERARY ARCHITECTURE
Most buried in mastabas or sunken tombs. Popular at the time were rock-cut tombs, which were already present in the old kingdom.
BENI HASAN
Burial place of a powerful family of Middle Egypt in 11th and 12th Dynasties. Hollowed out from a terrace of rock on the Nile's eastern bank. Statue of deceased stood in a NICHE.
As with old kingdom tombs, walls covered in relief painting. Tomb paintings meant to provide nourishment, company, and entertainment for the dead.
Patrons of the Middle Kingdom revived some of the forms and practices of the Old Kingdom to assert a link to the "golden age".
By 1785 BCE authority weakened in Egypt. During 12th Dynasty Immigrants from Palestine moved into the Nile Delta, gaining power and forcing the king to retreat south to Thebes. Group was known as "Hyksos" which is the Egyptian word for, "rulers of foreign lands."
NEW KINGDOM
Hyksos were finally expelled from Egypt by Ahmose, first king of the 18th dynasty. The 500 years after their expulsion (18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties) have been designated the New Kingdom.
It was a time of renewed territorial expansion and tremendous prosperity for Egypt, the arts flourished. Massive building projects dominated the Nile, along it's entire length - centering around Thebes (Luxor).
Among these buildings constructed, many were secular (non-religious), such as palaces or forts. These were made of mud bricks and have since perished. Stone tombs and temples, as with previous eras' construction, have survived, albeit at a reduced level of their former glory.
VALLEY OF KINGS
Major difference between old and new kingdoms can be seen in their burial places. 18th Dynasty kings saw the loss of order that allowed royal burials to be robbed first-hand, they abandoned the practice of marking their tombs with pyramids. Instead, tombs were carved from the rock face in the Valley of Kings, west of Thebes, with their entrances concealed after the burial was completed.
Excavations show that a long corridor led deep into the mountain with a burial chamber inside, flanked by storage rooms. Burial chamber decorated with paintings of the king with Osiris, Anubis, and Hathor - funerary deities who assured his passage into the next world.
Rituals of the funerary cult took place on a rocky outcropping at a temple - not at the tomb.
HATSHEPSUT'S TEMPLE
She was the regent to a young pharaoh, Thutmose III. She insisted he meant for her to succeed him, and so she did until her death in 1458 BCE.
Nestled against the cliffs at Deir el-Bahri. Placed beside an older temple (Mentuhotep II) from the 11th Dynasty. Some features modeled after the older temple, architect was Senenmut. Harmonizes with its location - broad courtyards (like desert) linked by wide ramps echo the horizontal lines of the desert and cliff. Multitude of colonnades parallel the fissures in the cliff face. The structure sets ORDER to the naturally occurring features, much as a king would her subjects.
Trees lined the entrance, along with paired sphinxes. Many sanctuaries and chapels devoted to gods were within and throughout.
Painted relief sculptures adorned the walls: battles, royal expeditions for myrrh trees (Punt), and scenes of Thutmose I (former king) legitimizing HATSHEPSUT'S rule.
KNEELING FIGURE OF HATSHEPSUT
1/8 statues found in the third court. Makes an offering of two jars.
Dressed as a male, since kingship was defined as a make office,
with the white beard and false crown. In many images she is
portrayed as female, but here (and others) she lacks breasts.
The child-king eventually came into power (after her death) and eventually built a temple between hers and the older one with the intention of taking over the area. Replaced names, destroyed much of her stuff, and said Amun's divine boat would eventually end up here.
TEMPLES TO THE GODS
18th Dynasty kings not only built funeral temples for themselves, but also massive sprawling temple complexes for a the Theban triad: Amun, his consort Mut, and their son Khons at Karnak.
Huge wall encircled the buildings, visitors had to walk through massive pylons, which were built as monuments to individual kings (sometimes dismantled as time went on). The further in you went past the pylons, the more sacred the site became. The enormous HYPOSTYLE hall was the farthest point of access for all but priests and royalty.
Visitors would be awed by a forest of immense columns, rendering the human form insignificant. Stone lintels had to be supported by the closely spaced columns. HEAVY, SOLID, PERMANENT.
Obelisks were tall stone markers that decorated courtyards, sacred lake for priests and royalty to purify themselves, before cleansing and dressing the images of the gods, before offering a sacred meal. These gave priests and kings more power because the rituals were shrouded in mystery.
SUNKEN RELIEF - carved outlines of the object, and shaped it within these outlines. Light shines on the relief, without compromising the solid planar appearance of the walls or columns.
Subject of relief carvings was kings relationship with the gods or military prowess (like Assurnasirpal killing Lions). Seti I's sacking Hittite city of Kadesh. Outline of king and horses cut deeper, making the appearance more bold. His victory appears certain, when in reality his victories werent decisive.
TEMPLE OF RAMSES II
Ramses II (Seti's son) built more architectural projects than any other Egyptian king in history. One such temple was devoted to Amun, Ra, and Ptah. It was carved into the sandstone at Abu Simbel, west bank of the Nile.
The location alone made it a statement piece, claiming the land of Kush in lower Nubia, which was a wealthy source for gold, ivory, animal pelts, and diorite.
Instead of a pylon, a massive stone facade representing the king 70 ft high dwarfing any approaching visitor. Between his legs are members of the royal family. A niche above the entrance holds an image of the sun god who appears as a falcon headed figure crowned by a sun disk. Flanking this are reliefs of Ramses holding out images of Ma'at, goddess of order. DEMONSTRATES KINGS ROLE AS KEEPER OF TERRESTRIAL ORDER AT REQUEST OF THE GODS.
Size and frontality of the huge statues present an awesome sight to the priests that conducted rituals inside.
BLOCK STATUES
Statues reduced to their simplest form in cubist abstraction, seated on the ground with knees drawn up to the chest, wrapped in a cloak. Literally forms a block, formed a seat for the Ka in tombs, like their full sized counterparts in earlier Egypt.
Protective role as tutor to Nefrua, daughter to Hatshepsut and Thutmose II. Forming a block and ignoring anatomical needs of a statue allowed for more surface area for hieroglyphics (like Gudea).
IMAGES IN NEW KINGDOM TOMBS
Addition of images on walls showed deceased worshipping Osiris and Anubis, to better hasten their transition to the next world.