chapter 3 egypt from narmer to cleopatra

CHAPTER 3
EGYPT FROM
NARMER TO CLEOPATRA
Overview
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Stones of various hues were
available for carving statues
and fashioning blocks for
building were available.
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Burials were a big deal.
Overview
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3500 - 2575 BCE Predynastic and Early
Dynastic
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Egyptian artists produce narrative
reliefs and paintings, including the
earliest preserved historical
artwork, the Narmer Palette
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Imhotep, the first artist whose
name is recorded, builds the
stepped pyramid and funerary
complex of King Djoser at Saqqara
2575 - 2134 BCE Old Kingdom
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Sculptors formulate the canonical
Egyptian statuary types expressing
the eternal nature of divine
kingship
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Workers Quarry millions of blocks
of stone for the construction of 4th
dynasty pyramids at Gizeh
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2040 - 1640 BCE Middle Kingdom
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Egyptian sculptors introduce a
more emotional style of
royal portrait
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Rock cut tombs become the
preferred form of Egyptian
burial monument
1550 - 1070 BCE New Kingdom
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Architects construct grandiose
pylon temples on the banks of the
nile featuring hypostyle halls
with clerestory lighting
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Akhenaton introduces a new
religion and new art forms during
the short lived religious and artistic
revolution of the Amarna period
1000 - 30 BCE First Millennium
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Egyptian artistic traditions continue
under Dushite and
Greek Rule
Nile River/Backbone of Egyptian Civilization
The nile river brings fresh silt (soil)
from thousands of miles of African hills.
The Nile was a regular river, flooding at the
exact time, dispersing nutrient rich silt for
agricultural use. Its regularity created a
stability in culture and state that compares
drastically with the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers that shaped constant conflict of
Mesopotamian culture.
https://youtu.be/Z3Wvw6BivVI
Egyptology
Since Egypt was an old and stable civilization,
the first Egyptologists were ancient Egyptians
themselves.
Thutmose IV 1401 - 1391 BCE restored the
Sphinx, New Kingdom era.
Prince Khaemweset (son of Ramesses II 1279 1213 BCE ) known as the first Egyptologist for
restoring historic ancient egyptian buildings.
Napoleon Bonaparte led a military expedition
to Egypt in 1799 with a troop of scholars,
linguists, antiquarians, and artists. They Found
the Rosetta Stone.
Rosetta Stone
https://youtu.be/OFXY9-pec1I
The stone contains three languages, 196 BCE,
found 1799 CE, granodiorite material.
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Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Demotic Script
Greek Script
Napoleon’s scholars were able to use the Greek
Script to translate the other two languages, this
forms the basis of understanding every written
document found from ancient egypt.
Fun fact: This stone is in the British Museum
due to the British defeating Napoleon in the
Battle of Waterloo.
Predynastic and Early Dynastic
3500 - 2575 BCE
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Divided politically between
upper and lower Egypt.
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Upper egypt Southern, more
fertile. Egyptian Civilization
started in upper Egypt.
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Lower egypt, Northern,
River Delta.
Predynastic and Early Dynastic
3500 - 2575 BCE
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Hierakonpolis is a
predynastic site.
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Discovery of early egyptian
mural paintings on the walls
of a tomb 3500 - 3200 BCE..
Palete of King Narmer,
Hierakonpolis, Egypt,
predynastic ca 3000 BCE.
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Depicts King Narmer, the
king responsible for uniting
Upper and Lower Egypt,
creating the first dynasty.
Predynastic and Early Dynastic
3500 - 2575 BCE
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Palete of King Narmer, Hierakonpolis,
Egypt, predynastic ca 3000 BCE.
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Earliest historical artwork
preserved (historical, in a period of
written documentation)
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It is debated, but this stone palette
probably depicts the unification
of the two lands.
Predynastic and Early Dynastic
3500 - 2575 BCE
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Palete of King Narmer, Hierakonpolis, Egypt,
predynastic ca 3000 BCE.
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Back (left) King Narmer is shown
killing a captured enemy.
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Slaying (motif) is a common
convention that signifies the
inevitable triumph of the Egyptian
God-Kings over their foes.
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Below the king are two fallen enemies,
the falcon and person hieroglyph with
papyrus plant signifies a symbolic
retelling of the story.
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The falcon also signifies a living
horus a god that watches over
the stability of Egypt.
Predynastic and Early Dynastic
3500 - 2575 BCE
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Palete of King Narmer, Hierakonpolis, Egypt,
predynastic ca 3000 BCE.
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Front (right), elongated headed felines,
the circle would hold eye makeup in a
small vessel. The twisting necks might
signify Egypt’s unification of upper
and lower.
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Top (REGISTER) signifies Narmer’s
reign of power, with the dead bodies of
his foes piled up. The bodies have their
heads neatly severed and placed
between their legs, reminiscent of
paleolithic cave paintings at Altamira.
Bottom register, a bull is knocking over
the city of the foe.
Architecture of
Early Dynastic Egypt
Typical artwork of the time period comes from
predynastic murals found in tombs, where the
monuments to the deceased were dedicated to
ensuring safety and happiness in the next life.
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Right: A typical Mastaba, (arabicBench), a typical tomb of
the period.
They were either for single persons, or
complexes for entire families.
They included a chapel, a false door so
the Ka (spirit) could join the physical
world to partake offerings like food.
Some Mastabas had a serdab, a small
room, or niche that a sculpture of the
deceased could be placed. Everybody
could go to the afterlife, not just
the kings.
Architecture of
Early Dynastic Egypt
The kings had the biggest tombs.
IMHOTEP, Stepped Pyramid of King Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt,
Third Dynasty, ca. 2630 - 2611 BCE.
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IMHOTEP is one of the most renowned figures of
ancient Egypt and is the first recorded name of an artist
associated to works anywhere in the world.
Saqqara was an ancient Necropolis
(Greek-city of the dead).
200 feet high, it is a series of mastabas of diminishing
dimensions. Resembling Mesopotamian Ziggurats.
This is not a temple, like a ziggarat, rather it is a tomb for
the memory and remains of King Djoser; it signifies
his godlike power in death.
The basement housed a large complex resembling a
palace, for Djoser’s afterlife.
Architecture of
Early Dynastic Egypt
IMHOTEP, Stepped Pyramid of
King Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt,
Third Dynasty, ca. 2630 - 2611 BCE
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Complex was surrounded by walls had
tightly regulated access. This is in
sharp contrast to mesopotamian
civilizations who did not have elaborate
complexes for their
deified dead.
Priests performed daily rituals
outside the entrance hall.
Architecture of
Early Dynastic Egypt
IMHOTEP, Stepped Pyramid of
King Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt,
Third Dynasty, ca. 2630 - 2611 BCE
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North facade detail
Shows imitation of plant stems to celebrate
the jubilee festival, which affirmed the royal
existence in the hereafter
Beginnings of stone structural forms being
translated into plant forms.
The capitals (heads at the top) take the form
of papyrus blossoms of lower Egypt. the
columns (shafts) resemble papyrus stalks.
These are not freestanding columns, they
are engaged columns, attached to the walls.
These are the earliest known stone columns
in the history of architecture.
Old Kingdom, 2575 - 2134 BCE
The Old Kingdom is the first of 3 great periods of
Egyptian history, starting with Snefu, 2575 - 2551
BCE, the first king of the 4th Dynasty. Ends with the
breakup of the Eighth Dynasty in 2134 BCE.
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Rulers dispensed great wealth, of which is
shown in the fourth dynasty pyramids of Gizeh.
The oldest of the seven wonders of the
ancient world.
The three large pyramids were constructed
over the course of 75 years.
Served as tombs of kings Khufu, Khafre, and
Menkaure.
These pyramids are a symbol of the sun,
influenced by the seat of power Heliopolis, of
the cult of Re, whose emblem was a pyramidal
stone. Was more than the progression of a
mastaba, to a step pyramid, to these examples.
Benben stone
The Old Kingdom is the first of 3 great periods of
Egyptian history, starting with Snefu, 2575 - 2551 BCE,
the first king of the 4th Dynasty. Ends with the breakup
of the Eighth Dynasty in 2134 BCE.
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Benben stone, emblem of the cult of Re.
It was a sacred stone, also serving as the
capstone of the Pyramids at Gizeh, where the
sun’s rays hit first in the morning.
This stone served a prototype of other
architectural forms including Obelisks.
Gizeh Pyramids Old Kingdom.
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The four sides of the pyramid corresponded to
cardinal direction points. Like Ziggurats of
Mesopotamia civilizations
Pyramids constructed of large stones quarried
from the empire, contrasting the mud brick of
Mesopotamian structures.
Pyramids are symbols of the sun. The pyramid
texts, inscribed in the pyramid walls refer to the
sun’s rays as the ladder the god-king uses to
ascend to the heavens.
An entire funerary complex served as the king’s
palace in the afterlife
https://youtu.be/C1y8N0ePuF8
The Great Sphinx
The Great Sphinx, Gizeh, Egypt Fourth
Dynasty, 2520 - 2494 BCE
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Valley temple of Khafre, carved from
a mass of rock.
The image is a lion body with a human
head, possibly Khafre, possibly Khufu.
The composite form of lion and human
is appropriate for a king combining
human intelligence with fearsome
strength and authority of a lion.
https://youtu.be/xJWjOoEsspc
Khafre enthroned, from Gizeh,
Egypt, 4th dynasty, 2520 - 2494 BCE
Diorite 5’ - 6” Height.
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Diorite, like ancient Mesopotamia
leaders Gudea of Lagash loved this
stone so much he started importing it
from Egypt to Girsu.
This is a convention of displaying
Egyptian kings, wearing a kilt and
headdress with beard, sitting in a
rigid pose.
On the King’s head a falcon signifying
the king as the “Living Horus,” a god
signifying the protector of Egypt.
Flawless face and body, regardless of
his real age or appearance.
He radiates serenity/calm, like the
calmness of the Nile.
Smoothness was achieved by abrasion,
like a sandpaper or grinding smooth.
Menkaure and Khamerernebty,
from Gizeh, Egypt, 4th Dynasty.
Graywacke, 4’ - 6 ½” Height.
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Another formula of King sculpture portraits was
standing, either alone or in a group.
Menkaure and one of his wives? Don’t know for sure,
maybe the goddess Hathor.
The figures are wedded to the stone block.
This could be classified as a “high relief sculpture” due
to its connection to the original block.
A rigidly frontal prose, he clinches his hands into fists
with thumbs forward and advances his left leg slightly.
No contrapposto or shifting of the hips to balance the
figures weight of the body.
Aim was not to portray the living figures, but to
suggest the timeless nature of the stone statue that
might need to serve as an eternal substitute home
for the Ka or human spirit.
Seated scribe, from Saqqara, Egypt,
4th dynasty, ca 2500 BCE, Painted
Limestone, 1’ - 9” Height.
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https://youtu.be/cxs1d3N60UI
The head displays a sense of sensitivity.
He is of high class, he is a scribe but
not a king.
Fat around the middle, signifier of
his wealth.
When a person’s importance decreases,
formality is relaxed and realism increases.
Tomb of Ti,
5th Dynasty 2450 - 2350 BCE
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Old kingdom tombs often had
relief sculpture of the deceased.
Ti, his men and his boats move slowly thru the
marshes hunting hippopotami and birds in a growth of
towering papyrus.
Ti is twice the size of his men, stating his importance.
Ti’s stately and rigid/smooth approach is contrasted
with the realism of handling of his men.
Egyptian artists did not sketch their subjects
in life, they applied a strict canon of proportions.
Like typography, a grid would be placed on the wall to
map out the key points of the body.
Middle Kingdom 2040 - 1640 BCE
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2150 BCE, Egyptians challenged the power of the
weak kings of the 6th Dynasty. Nile river valley was
unpredictable. Might have been a mega drought with
crop failure. Geologic record suggests massive fires
and drought.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article2189802/Egyptian-kingdom-died-4-200-years-agofollowing-mega-drought-caused-climate-change.html
King of Upper Egypt, Mentuhotep II 2050 - 1998 BCE,
united Egypt again to start the Middle Kingdom,
lasting 400 years.
Middle Kingdom 2040 - 1640 BCE
Sculpture
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Middle Kingdom used the conventions
started in Old Kingdom sculpture.
Fragmentary head of Senusret III saw a break of the
idealized kingly features, bringing an unprecedented
realism to the features.
Wrinkles, pessimistic expression, meditation,
shows a king who has been in the world.
Possibly a show of intelligence and competence.
Anxiety of troubled times.
Middle Kingdom 2040 - 1640 BCE
Architecture
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Tomb of Khnumhotep II tomb 3, Beni Hasan,
Egypt, 12th Dynasty 1900 - 1880 BCE.
No pyramids, no mastabas. Tombs are
hollowed out of mountain cliffs.
Columns are more formal, with the shafts
having flutes or carved lines vertically
up the column.
Middle Kingdom columns closely resemble
greek columns of the doric order
(the greeks emulated many aspects of
Egyptian architecture).
Archaeologists believed that fluting derived
from the carving of softwood tree trunks
with the rounded cutting edge of an adze,
forming concave tracks in the surface.
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
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Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir
el-Bahri, Egypt 18th Dynasty, ca. 1473
- 1458 BCE.
Female Pharaoh Hatshepsut
Temple rises from the valley floor in 3
column lined terraces connected by
ramps on a central axis.
Long horizontal lines and vertical lines
of the colonnades.
This was part of a much larger temple
complex that was lost.
Incorporated shrines to Amen, Hathor,
and Anubis (Gods, Goddesses), also
Hatshepsut and her father Thutmose I
8 colossal kneeling statues in Red
Granite lined the way to the entrance
of the Amen-Re sanctuary.
During the reign of Thutmose III,
vandals smashed statues, but were
pieced back together by conservators.
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
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Facade of the temple of Ramses II,
Abu Simbel, Egypt, 19th Dynasty,
ca. 1290 - 1224 BCE. Sandstone.
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Just recently, in 1968 CE, this
entire monument was cut up by
engineers and moved 700 feet to
positioning it on a newly built
artificial mountain, saving it from
submersion in the Aswan High
Dam
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, major
construction occurred 15 - 13th century BCE.
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These complexes would be built over
generations reaching gigantic sizes.
This style of temple had axial plans,
symmetrical down an axis.
Known as pylon temples named for their
massive gateways.
An avenue moves into a colonnaded courtyard,
then into the sanctuary.
Pylons were typically covered in reliefs,
depicting the glory of their leaders in the roles
of defender of order and stability, keeping
Egypt stable, like the Nile.
Only Pharaohs and priests could enter
the dark inner shrine.
The interior was a hypostyle hall (a large
interior hall, full of columns).
Columns looked like papyrus and
had hieroglyphics.
The hall was lit by Clerestory Lighting (a high
section of wall with openings or windows).
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, major
construction occurred 15 - 13th century BCE.
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These complexes would be built over
generations reaching gigantic sizes.
This style of temple had axial plans,
symmetrical down an axis.
Known as pylon temples named for their
massive gateways.
An avenue moves into a colonnaded
courtyard, then into the sanctuary.
Pylons were typically covered in reliefs,
depicting the glory of their leaders in the
roles of defender of order and stability,
keeping Egypt stable, like the Nile.
Only Pharaohs and priests could enter
the dark inner shrine.
The interior was a hypostyle hall (a large
interior hall, full of columns).
Columns looked like papyrus and
had hieroglyphics.
The hall was lit by Clerestory Lighting (a
high section of wall with openings or
windows).
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070BCE
Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, major
construction occurred 15 - 13th century BCE.
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●
These complexes would be built over
generations reaching gigantic sizes.
This style of temple had axial plans,
symmetrical down an axis.
Known as pylon temples named for their
massive gateways.
An avenue moves into a colonnaded
courtyard, then into the sanctuary.
Pylons were typically covered in reliefs,
depicting the glory of their leaders in the
roles of defender of order and stability,
keeping Egypt stable, like the Nile.
Only Pharaohs and priests could enter
the dark inner shrine.
The interior was a hypostyle hall (a large
interior hall, full of columns).
Columns looked like papyrus and
had hieroglyphics.
The hall was lit by Clerestory Lighting (a high
section of wall with openings or windows).
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, major
construction occurred 15 - 13th century BCE.
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●
●
These complexes would be built over
generations reaching gigantic sizes.
This style of temple had axial plans,
symmetrical down an axis.
Known as pylon temples named for their
massive gateways.
An avenue moves into a colonnaded courtyard,
then into the sanctuary.
Pylons were typically covered in reliefs,
depicting the glory of their leaders in the roles
of defender of order and stability, keeping
Egypt stable, like the Nile.
Only Pharaohs and priests could enter
the dark inner shrine.
The interior was a hypostyle hall (a large
interior hall, full of columns).
Columns looked like papyrus and
had hieroglyphics.
The hall was lit by Clerestory Lighting (a high
section of wall with openings or windows).
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, major
construction occurred 15 - 13th century BCE.
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●
●
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●
●
These complexes would be built over
generations reaching gigantic sizes.
This style of temple had axial plans,
symmetrical down an axis.
Known as pylon temples named for their
massive gateways.
An avenue moves into a colonnaded courtyard,
then into the sanctuary.
Pylons were typically covered in reliefs,
depicting the glory of their leaders in the roles
of defender of order and stability, keeping
Egypt stable, like the Nile.
Only Pharaohs and priests could enter
the dark inner shrine.
The interior was a hypostyle hall (a large
interior hall, full of columns).
Columns looked like papyrus and
had hieroglyphics.
The hall was lit by Clerestory Lighting (a high
section of wall with openings or windows).
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070BCE
Sculpture and Painting
Senenmut with Princess Nefrura, from Thebes, Egypt 18th Dynasty
1470 - 1460 BCE Granite 3.5’ Height.
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Block statues were popular during the New Kingdom.
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It was believed that Ka could find an eternal home in the
cubic stone image of the deceased in an even more
radical simplification of form than was common in
Old Kingdom Statuary.
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Sculpture depicts Senenmut, Hatshepsut's chancellor and
possible lover with her daughter Princess Nefrura.
Enhancing Senenmut’s status in sculpture depicting him
and the Pharoah’s daughter.
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
Tomb of Nebamun, 18th Dynasty ca 1400 - 1350 BCE.
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Some of the best Preserved Mural paintings of the
New Kingdom come from the Theban tomb of
Nebamun
Fresco, application of plaster on the wall as a
substrate before painting.
Fresco Secco (dry fresco) is a technique where the
plaster is applied, allowed to dry before the painting
is started
https://youtu.be/74E1YlJZt2E
New Kingdom, 1550-1070BCE
Akhenaton, colossal statue from the temple of Aton, Karnak,
Egypt, 18th Dynasty 1353 - 1335 BCE. Sandstone 13’ Height.
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Amenhotep IV later known as Akhenaton abandoned the worship of
most of the Egyptian gods in favor of Aton, identified with the sun
disk, whom the pharaoh declared to be the universal and only god.
Made a system of Monotheism.
This statute retains the standard frontal pose of traditional egyptian
royal portraits. However, the effeminate body with curving
contours, mannerist representation with long face with full lips and
heavy lidded stylized eyes are a large disconnect with the more
correctly proportioned figures of Old Kingdom sculpture. This was a
short lived convention, as it is one of the only examples found.
New Kingdom, 1550-1070BCE
Thutmose, bust of Nefertiti, from Amarna,
Egypt, 18th Dynasty 1353 - 1335 BCE.
Limestone, painted, 1’-8” Height.
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https://youtu.be/cZuYdIRAIAs
This was found in the artist studio, and is
thought to be a 3-D sketch of Nefertiti, to be
used for other sculptures.
It is constructed in limestone, but is coated
with a layer of plaster before painted to
achieve an unprecedented level of
smoothness and subtlety in detail and effect.
New Kingdom, 1550-1070BCE
Tomb of Tutankhamen
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Mock-up of the burial chamber
of King Tutankhamen.
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King Tutankhamen ruled 1333 1323 BCE, began at age 8 and died
at 18.
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He was classified as an ineffectual
leader, but history remembers him
most because of having his burial
temple looted during antiquity.
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Like most of the pharaoh's burial
sites, this site was hidden, and in
1922 CE was discovered by British
archaeologists completely intact.
New Kingdom, 1550 - 1070 BCE
Tomb of Tutankhamen
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Mock-up of the burial chamber
of King Tutankhamen.
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King Tutankhamen ruled 1333 1323 BCE, began at age 8 and died
at 18.
●
He was classified as an ineffectual
leader, but history remembers him
most because of having his burial
temple looted during antiquity.
●
Like most of the pharaoh's burial
sites, this site was hidden, and in
1922 CE was discovered by British
archaeologists completely intact.
New Kingdom, 1550-1070BCE
Tomb of Tutankhamen
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Mock-up of the burial chamber
of King Tutankhamen.
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King Tutankhamen ruled 1333 1323 BCE, began at age 8 and died
at 18.
●
He was classified as an ineffectual
leader, but history remembers him
most because of having his burial
temple looted during antiquity.
●
Like most of the pharaoh's burial
sites, this site was hidden, and in
1922 CE was discovered by British
archaeologists completely intact.
New Kingdom, 1550-1070BCE
Tomb of Tutankhamen
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Mock-up of the burial chamber
of King Tutankhamen.
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King Tutankhamen ruled 1333 1323 BCE, began at age 8 and died
at 18.
●
He was classified as an ineffectual
leader, but history remembers him
most because of having his burial
temple looted during antiquity.
●
Like most of the pharaoh's burial
sites, this site was hidden, and in
1922 CE was discovered by British
archaeologists completely intact.
New Kingdom, 1550-1070BCE
Tomb of Tutankhamen
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Mock-up of the burial chamber
of King Tutankhamen.
King Tutankhamen ruled 1333 - 1323
BCE, began at age 8 and died at 18.
He was classified as an ineffectual
leader, but history remembers him
most because of having his burial
temple looted during antiquity.
Like most of the pharaoh's burial
sites, this site was hidden, and in 1922
CE was discovered by British
archaeologists completely intact,
even the body, which has been the
subject of testing as medical
technology has improved.
King Tut's Final Secrets: https://youtu.
be/euEZkUILBjM
The mummification process: https:
//youtu.be/-MQ5dL9cQX0
First Millenium BCE 1000 - 30 BCE
Temple of Horus, EDFU, Egypt ca 237-47 BCE
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Follows the basic pylon plan worked out
in New Kingdom architecture.
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Stylistic changes were the norm in other
civilizations across the mediterranean,
but in Egypt conventions of style and
formal qualities that endured for over
4000 years. Again, stable like the Nile.
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This period ended with Cleopatra VII
bequeathing the territory to the Roman
Empire becoming the breadbasket of the
Mediterranean.