Ancient Egyptian Art and Rulers

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key historical figures, artifacts, materials, and art concepts discussed in the lecture on ancient Egyptian rulers.

Queen Hatshepsut

One of about four or five women who ruled ancient Egypt; she assumed power after her brother Tutmosis died, wore the pharaonic headdress, and was later targeted by her nephew who ordered her statues defaced.

Tutmosis

The brother and symbolic husband of Queen Hatshepsut; he was described as a weak, sickly ruler whose premature death opened the way for Hatshepsut to take power.

Nemesis headdress

A special striped royal headdress depicted on ancient Egyptian sculptures and masks that could only be worn by a pharaoh.

Senanmut

Queen Hatshepsut's head architect who designed her temple and was unusually buried right behind it despite being a non-aristocrat.

Akhenaten

The father of Tutankhamun who introduced monotheism by abolishing traditional Egyptian gods and moved the capital from Thebes to an isolated location in the desert.

Amarda period

A period of ancient Egyptian art noted for reaching a unique degree of naturalism and closeness to reality.

Nefertiti

The wife of Akhenaten who took control of Egypt following his death and is famously depicted in a bust made of plaster and limestone.

Limestone

A lightweight, brittle white stone used to sculpt the massive crown of Queen Nefertiti's bust to balance its weight upon a plaster neck.

Howard Carter

The archaeologist who uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamun and later revealed the pharaoh's mummy and solid gold funerary mask in the autumn of 1925.

Cartonnage

A painted material used by Egyptian commoners around 2100 BC to make early funerary masks.

Susenin the first

A pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty, ruled roughly 300 years after Tutankhamun, who possessed the only other known surviving royal death mask made of solid gold.

Chasing technique

A specialized metalworking technique used to fashion the features of the face on Tutankhamun's gold funerary mask.

Ra

The Egyptian sun god, symbolized by a falcon, whose mythical flesh was believed to be gold.

Book of the Dead

The funerary text containing a secret protective hieroglyphic spell inscribed on the back of Tutankhamun's mask to safeguard the head from evil spirits.

Gold mask of Tutankhamun

A 25-pound solid gold funerary artifact discovered in 1925 featuring pierced earlobes filled with gold foil, indicating it was originally crafted for a woman.