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-Nile River-

river was a major source of aquatic life

flooding was predictable

was a symbol of god and life

had to control flooding with irrigation/dams/drainage once you build your crops ( all examples of communal and corporate projects)

when working on projects somebody needs to be the central authority ( they were looked up to)

source waters from nile come from the mountains

flooding was in winter when snow melted

because the nile river flooded every year it washed out the salt from the soil.

Egypt was successful with agriculture

created surplus generated from lower classes

when people had enough food, they started to work with other occupations, they referred to art and painting

-Rosetta Stone-

In 1779, Napoleon Bonaparte took with him a small troop of scholars, linguistics, antiquarians and artists

their chance discovery of the land of the Rosetta Stone, provided an essential key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphic writing.

the stone is in three sections

translated Jean Francois Champollion

-Champollion-

grew up in Paris

parents kept him sheltered

had a gift for learning languages

translated the Greek section, then the demotic section, then looked for patterns, then did the same for hieroglyph section (sacred carving)

-Predynastic-

before Egypt was unified as a single state w/no pharaohs

Egypt was thought of upper Egypt/ lower Egypt

Imhotep builds the stepped pyramid and funerary complex of King Djoser at Saqqara

The Palette of King Narmer ( one of the earliest artworks preserved)

-Dynastic-

unified as a single state ruled by kinds called pharaohs

Egypt was hard to attack

could only attack from north or south

this gave Egyptians social stability, therefore little major change in Egyptian art

GREEN BOX

( THE GODS AND GODDESSES OF EGYPT )

Egyptians did not make the sharp distinction between body and soul that is basic to many religions

Egyptians believe that from birth a person possesses a kind of Ka that when they die, could inhabit the corpse and live on

for the ka to live securely, the body had to be as intact as possible - the Egyptians developed technique of embalming (mummification)

ka statues were meant to guarantee the permanence of the persons identity

the Egyptians hoped and expected that the images and inventory of life , collected

-Old Kingdom-

1st intermediate

sculptors formulate the canonical Egyptian statuary types expressing the eternal nature of divine kingship

workers quarry millions of blocks of stone for the construction of the Fourth Dynasty pyramids of Gizeh ( oldest of the seven wonders of the world)

1. Gizeh

- chambers were built in the Pyramid so workers could relax instead of going back out in the sun; they drew graffiti

-the state payed the labor workers well( gave them food, housing, cared for their families)

-pyramids are on the west of the Nile river

- lower class tombs were separated from upper class

- not made from slaves

- Egyptians constructed the three major pyramids at Gizeh in the course of about 75 years to serve as the tombs of the Fourth Dynasty kings Khufu, Khafre and Menakaure

- represent the culmination of an architectural evolution that began with the mastaba

- the new tomb shape reflects the influence of Heliopolis, the seat of the powerful cult Re, who emblem was a pyramidal stone called the ben-ben

- pyramids e symbols of the sun

- The pyramids are where Egyptian kings were reborn in the afterlife, just as the sun is reborn each day at dawn

- the Gizeh temples are on the east side , facing the rising sun and underscoring their connection with Re

2. Great Sphinx

- dominating the valley temple of Khafre

- largest colossal statue in Egypt in Ancient Mesopotamia, prob an image of Khafre but some think it portrays Khufu

- was an appropriate image for a king

- the composite suggests that the Egyptian King combines human intelligence with the fearsome strength and aurity of the king of beasts Statues

3. Statues

- old kingdom statues survive in significant numbers because they fulfilled an important function in Egyptian tombs homes for the ka

- Egyptian sculptors worked with wood, clay, and other materials, but most preserved statues are of stone

4. Khafre (statue from Gizeh)

- one of the series of statues carved for the god-kings valley temple near the Great Sphinx - King Khafre wears a simple kilt and sits upright on a throne formed of two stylized lions bodies. Intertwined lotus and papyrus plants- symbolic of the united Egypt - appear between the thrones legs

- Khafre has a royal false beard and wears the royal linen headdress.

- Behind Khafre's head is the falcon that identifies the king as the "Living Horus"

- the enthroned Khafre radiates serenity

- The form of the statue expresses its purpose: to last for eternity

- the stone is diorite ( exceptionally hard), very expensive stone , very hard tow work

- because Egyptians ideal proportions appropriate for representing their god kings, the statue of Khafre is not of true likeliness and was not of true likeliness

-idealized portrait, perfect flawless, symmetrical

5. Menakaure and Khemerernebty (statue from Gizeh)

- the statue of Menakaure and h displays the conventional postures used for Old Kingdom royal statues

- the formalized embrace denotes the close association of the two figures

-classified as a high relief sculpture

-uneven weight distribution because there Is no shift in the angle of the hips in Menakaures pose

-the artists aim was not to portray living figures but to suggest the timeless nature of the stone statue

6. Seated Scribe

-sculptor conveyed the personality of a sharply intelligent and alert individual with a penetration an sympathy seldom achieved at this early date.

-scribe sits directly on the ground

- The sculptor reproduced t scribe's sagging chest muscles and protruding belly

-these signs of age would have been disrespectful and wholly inappropriate in a depiction of a god-king or members of his family.

-this statue is not a true portrait either, obesity for example, characterizes many nonroyal Old Kingdom male portraits, perhaps because it attested to the comfortable life of the person represented and his relatively high position in society

-Middle Kingdom-

1. sculpture

-in most respects Middle Kingdom sculptors adhered to the conventions established during the old kingdom