Egypt

Middle Kingdom

• Dynasties XI-XII —> 2040-1640

title, date, material, findspot

• Mentuhotep II (Nebhepetra)

• Dynasty XI, 2035-1991 BC

• Limestone and paint

• Deir el-Bahari

Middle Kingdom

• Dynasties XI-XII —> 2040-1640

title, date, material, findspot

• Mentuhotep II (Nebhepetra)

• Dynasty XI, 2035-1991 BC

• Limestone and paint

• Deir el-Bahari

Menutuhotep II (Nebhepetra)

• Looking at portrait of the king (Theben monarch) who reunified Egypt from the Thebe infaction 

  • Mentuhotep II

• Ended a revolt just north of Thebes at Abydos

  • Able to reunify Egypt

• Militaristic ruler

• With this new unification, there are some new king iconography:

  • Red crown of lower egypt, instead of white crown of upper egypt

  • Arms are crossed → pose after the god Osirus (Osiride pose)

  • Revert back to the stalky built (portrayed in face/neck) → cubic

  • Wearing the Heb Sed cloak 

  • False bear has a curl on the end of it

  • Skin color changed

    • Kings began to be portrayed with black skin

      • Maybe a realistic portrayal?

      • May be reference to god Osirus (linked to mud of the Nile)?

        • Death and rebirth

• What else is new: where it was found

  • New type of tomb: Temple Tomb

  • Found in his Temple Tomb

• Ruler who was able to finally re-unify Egypt

• Responsible for kicking off the Middle Kingdom (XI and XII)

  • Mentuhotep II

• A new power base arrived in Thebes

  • New capital, new king iconography

title, date, material, findspot

• Funerary Complex, Mentuhotep II

• Dynasty XI, 2035-1991 BC

• Limestone

• Deir el-Bahari

Funerary Complex, Mentuhotep II

• This new king wanted to be buried near hometown of Thebes

• Built complex in a circle of cliffs

  • Becomes to locus of burials

  • Moves from Giza/Saqqara to area of Thebes (very south)

• New form:

  • Focus of the funerary process becomes a central temple (not the burial anymore)

  • Three-tiered podium 

  • Columns are covered in octagonal … (?)

  • Approached by a long ramp

  • Ramp is surrounded by trees

  • Top is believed to be crowned by a large square or a mini pyramid

  • The central core of the platform was a funerary temple

• Behind temple:

  • Open court that is called hypostyle hall

  • Burial was was behind the temple → more in the cliffs

  • Hypostyle hall: hypo = a lot, style = writing

    • A lot of round shafted things

• Burials were very far from the temple!!!

• Major influence on later monuments

• New form of burials

title, date, material, findspot

• Wooden Tomb Models of Meket-Ra, Woman with Basket, Boats

• Dynasty XI, 2035-1991 BC

• Wood

• Deir el-Bahari

Wooden Tomb Models of Meket-Ra, Woman with Basket, Boats

• Genre of art that was created during the middle kingdom period

  • Wooden tomb models

• King of characteristics that would be placed in tombs to supply the people in the afterlife

• made out of wood, then painted

• Unlike wall paintings, these things are in 3-D

• Daily life

  • Mostly represent daily activities

  • Better than the reliefs

    • Reliefs can be hard to interpret because of the vantage points

• Daily life activities:

  • Women carrying baskets of food on their head

  • River boats

  • Crafts or baking bread

  • Brewery

  • House of Meket-Ra

    • Herds of cattle

• These figures come in pairs

  • Dualistic approach (sun rise/sun set, upper/lower egypt, desert/fertile land)

  • dicomites

• Made out of wood

• Preservation in Egypt (incredibly dry and hot) are superb 

  • Sail is even more degradable material (linen)

• Only preserved because of the dry/hot climate

• House

• Tomb models

• Not all people

title, date, material, findspot

• Chapel of Sesostris I

• Dynasty XII, 1991-1784 BC

• Limestone

• Heb Sed Pavillion/White Chapel, Karnak

Chapel of Sesostris I

• Funerary complex has not be explored, but have this monument

• Heb sed pavilion!

• One of the few monuments from the middle kingdom

  • Important!

  • One of the few buildings that survive from middle kingdom

• Recovered in pieces from a new kingdom monument in which it got reused

  • Assemble the building

• God Omura at Karnak

• Building served as a pavilion or a kiosk as a procession for the gods

• Take cult statues out of the temple itself and take them in a ritual procession

  • Pavilion where they could rest the statue of the god and people can have access to it

• Approached by a ramp

• Covered in reliefs

Function

• Little pavilion gives us a window of a central ritual of Egyptian religion

• Deity statues would get stored in the innermost sanctuary of a temple

  • Only high level priest or pharaohs can see the statues

• Statue taken out and recessed in a shrine → people can have access to it and the they can ask yes/no questions

• Pavilions like this existed as a way for the cult statues to rest for a bit

title, date, material, findspot

• Relief from Chapel of Sesostris I

• (Atum giving Life to Sesostris I)

• Dynasty XII, 1991-1784 BC

• Limestone

• Karnak

Relief from Chapel of Sesostris I

• Close up of a relief that is displayed and carved into the exterior

• See Sesostris I (right side) and god Amun

• Amun → with shift of capital (Thebes) that meant the central deity shifted 

  • A local deity rose to importance with this new capital

• King being received as king by the local (soon global) deity

• God clasping Sesostris’ hand and leads him into the shrine

• Amun is holding an ankh to the nostrils of the king (ankh = giving life)

• God presenting Ankh to king

  • Cult center was at Thebes

  • (Eastern side of nile)

    • Living stuff on eastern and dead/funerary stuff on the west side of the nile

title, date, material, findspot

• Pyramid Town of Lahun

• Dynasty XII, 1991-1784 BC

• Limestone

• Kahun

Pyramid Town of Lahun

• Grandson of Sesostris I, Sesotris II, built himself a pyramid (like Old Kingdom Pyramids)

• Mudbrick core with limestone casing

  • Now disintegrated

• Pyramid doesn’t survive, but a town survives that built the pyramid

• Pyramid town → we can take a look at daily life features

• Rare examples of domestic architecture

• Also neat that there are papyrus records that are left in the town 

  • Hierarchical representation of people who took care of the pyramids

• Where it goes blank → area is unexcavated

• First thing that is clear is information about how an Egyptian town might have been planned

• Very few Egyptian towns that are preserved

  • Little understanding of urban life

• Might have been zoned

• Area that is higher than the rest of the town

  • Acropolis 

  • Idea that this was used for a governor of the town or that the king can see the construction of the town

• Larger buildings in the north (Northern Mansions) → belonged to wealthier people

• Western Quarter → is blocked off my the rest of the city by a thick wall

• This could have housed 5000-9000 people

• On individual house → it seems that ruins were arranged around a central court

• Found preparations were placed outside the buildings

• Separations of men and women quarters

• Clear dichotomy or structure that has two levels in it

  • More than half of the people who were building the pyramid were guest workers from the near east

  • Women outnumbered men (2 to 1)

New Kingdom

• Dynasty XVIII —> 1570-1314 BC

title, date, material, findspot

• Seated Statue of Hatshepsut

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1450 BC

• Limestone

• Deir el Bahari

Seated Statue of Hatshepsut

• Queen!! <3

• She is actually the daughter of the third king of Dynasty XVIII (daughter of Tuthmosis I)

• She got married to her half-brother (Tuthmosis II), when he died, his son (Tuthmosis III) was the heir but way too young

• Tuthmosis III’s mother ruled as his regent

• Gets depicted as male in art

• New style known as Tuthmosis style

• Often referred to as the male gender

• When looking at her in art, she is in fact depicted as male

• In standard king regalia 

  • Often has false beard

  • In seated pose

  • Pleated kilt

  • Broad collar

• Depiction of her as a Sphinx (male → has false beard)

Style

• Highly idealized style

• Almond, flat eyes (almost like hieroglyphic eyes)

• “Plastic” eyebrows (plastic → pop out of surface of sculptor – look like appliques)

• Small smiling mouth

• Slender body

title, date, material, findspot

• Senmut and Princess Nefru-Re

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1450 BC

• Black granite

• Karnak

Senmut and Princess Nefru-Re

• Hatshepsut’s closest advisor

• Senmut oversaw religion affairs, economic affairs

• Also intrusted with Princess Nefru-Re

• Ton of surviving statues of Senmut

• Statues that get dedicated in temples had to be approved by the Pharaoh

• Show firm connection with Hatshepsut, he is often shown as a guardian to the daughter

  • Daughter is the next in line

• Cloak statue → Nefru-Re encircled by Senmut’s cloak

• Iconography of children in Egyptian art:

  • Finger to the mouth and the sidelock 

• Senmut has idealized Tuthmosis style

  • Almond shaped eyes

  • Plastic eyebrows

  • Mouth is a bit bigger, but still small

title, date, material, findspot

• Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut and Reliefs of Expedition to Punt

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1450 BC

• Stone

• Deir el-Bahari

Funerary Temple of Hatshepsut and Reliefs of Expedition to Punt

• Dedicated to the god Amun

• Incredible reliefs

• Hatshepsut builds herself a funeral complex

• complimentary to the three-tiered complex

• Super important because she dedicates her temple to the god Amun (importance during the New Kingdom)

• middle/second level contains shrine to Hathor

• Funerary temple included a series of reliefs

• There were a bunch of scenes carved to represent Hatshepsut reign

• Record of expedition of Punt

• No military conquest 

• Engaging in diplomatic 

• Interesting because we get to see the Egyptians

• Punt had incense, ivory, leopard skin (?)

• Scenes are arranged in characteristic registers

• Some depict land and landscape, rivers and some fish in the rivers

• Meaning of the Egyptians and the people of Punt

  • Capture different gestures of people

  • Exchange of goods and gifts

  • Mounds of incense and mir

  • Shown as enormous woman

    • Good to know how Egyptians depict others

    • Done in relief and painted

title, date, material, findspot

• Great Temple of Amun at Karnak

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1450 BC

• Stone

• Karnak

Great Temple of Amun at Karnak

• Example of Egyptian temple

• This is where Amun (Theben version of the Sun God Ra)

• This is where Amun’s temple was built starting in the middle kingdom

• Expanding to the west and the south

• Temples were built up overtime

• Best preserved standard plan of Egyptian temple

• In Middle Kingdom, this local theben god became prominent

• Triad 

  • Amun, Mut, and Khonsu

• Central sanctuary, the temple complex became larger, knocked down, rebuilt

• Some of the earliest pylons IV and V → pylons get built by a pharaoh of dynasty XVIII by Tuthmosis I

• Pylon → giant gateway

  • Very specific shape

  • Broader at base and walls become narrower as it gets higher

  • Gateway – can get through center

• Series of pylons and obelisks

• Tuthmosis III adds more pylons

• Two major pylons that go into major sanctuary 

• East-west is the original one, and north-south one gets added on later

• Product of growth overtime

• Standards

  • Progression of pylons (gateways, giant walls that slant) that create gateways, hypostyle halls, 

Obelisk of Sesostris I, 12th Dynasty, 1971-1926 BC (Middle Kingdom), Red Granite. Heliopolis, Egypt (oldest standing obelisk)

Obelisk

• From ancient Greek:

  • Obelos = spit, nail, pointed pillar

• Pyramidon

  • Pointed top of either an obelisk or pyramid

• Tall, four sided, tapering monument

• Monolithic

  • Made of a single stone

Egyptian temples were shrines that were based on “Ever increasing levels of Exclusively and Secretsie”

• Open courts and halls

• For every set of doors, very few people/priests were allowed in

  • People allowed in are high level priests

• Repeating levels

• At every stage/succession, the space gets smaller

  • Space gets smaller in scale, floors would rise and ceilings would go lower

  • Cult statue of Amun resided in the smallest room

    • Resting place on Earth of the Ka of Amun

    • Only the pharaohs and the priests that can go into the cult statue

• Attendant deities → Khons, Ptah

  • Repositories of wealth for the pharaoh 

  • Held golds and treasures

  • Extensive plots of land

  • From the land, income!!

    • Cultivating the land

    • Similar to Near Eastern temples

      • Held tools for the land

title, date, material, findspot

• Banquet Scene from Tomb Chapel of Nebamun

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1450 BC

• Painted Plaster

• Thebes

Banquet Scene from Tomb Chapel of Nebamun

• Example of private tomb decoration in Dynasty XVIII

• Acropolis of Thebes gets continued

• Non royal people are buried in rock-cut tombs

  • Can bring funerary gifts

• Chapels to bring gifts and underneath the chapel were the tombs

• Paint on plaster (no carved reliefs)

Subject

• Common subjects

• Scenes of everyday life

• Funeral processions

• New scenes: the dead meeting gods and goddesses

  • Banquet scene

  • The people who were still alive would cross the nile (East to West) to visit the deads tombs

  • Eat a meal

  • Where living and the dead where they can commemorate

  • Commemorative meal

  • Hathor = help the living go into the world of the dead

  • Banquet includes dancers and musicians 

  • Hathor is associated with ritual drunkenness 

    • Plenty of wine on hand

    • Naked servant girl pouring wine 

Style

• Registers

• Recognizable hieroglyphs

• Features that are typical of the new kingdom

  • Large, almond shaped eyes (set at a slight angle)

  • Faces are lower and fuller

  • Fuller neck → meant to indicate that they have a plentiful diet

  • Further use of frontal poses

title, date, material, findspot

• Amenhotep III

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1314 BC

• Quartzite

• Thebes

Amenhotep III

title, date, material, findspot

• Colossi of Memnon

• Dynasty XVIII, 1350 BC

• Quartzite

• Thebes

Colossi of Memnon

• Lore surrounding these statues

• Original function was to protect

• Very little of it remains today

• Mudbrick wall

• These two statues stood outside

• Visible to everyone → location and scale

• In addition to represent himself (the king), also the two women of the king (mother and wife)

title, date, material, findspot

• Luxor Temple to Amun

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1314 BC

• Limetsone

• Luxor

Luxor Temple of Amun

• Important building 

• Up the nile (south), at Luxor, he created another temple to Amun

• Major building complex of the kingdom

• Amenhotep was the first to monumentalize this temple

• Processional colonnade 

• Series of rooms

• Rames II builds a courtyard (off axis)

• 260 meters long (2 and half football fields)

Egyptian Architecture:

• Hypostyle hall

• Pylon (slanted)

• Obelisk

• Processional way

• Opening court

• Rooms getting smaller, smaller, and smaller

• Rooms get exclusive

  • Hold the statues of the gods

  • And to hold the wealth of the pharaohs

• Opet festival

• Took place of Luxor

• Took image of Amun from Karnak, would be accompanied by the royal family and took a journey to the Luxor

  • Journey was on land (3 kilometer route)

  • Monumentalized by two headed sphinxes

• To get get, they took a boat

• Festival focuses the ka of the king

• Helped maintain order (Ma’at – order)

• Become a divine king

title, date, material, findspot

• Queen Tiy

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1314 BC

• Ebony

• Gurob

Queen Tiy

• Gold earrings

• Precious jewelry

• Headcloth → lapis lazuli (TRADE) and gold

Style:

• Naturalistic 

• Labia lines (lines at the nose to the mouth)

• Looks older and individualized

• texture

title, date, material, findspot

• Statue of Amenhotep Son of Hapu

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1314 BC

• Granite

• Karnak

Statue of Amenhotep Son of Hapu

• Famous vizier of Amenhotep III

• One of the few named and celebrated architects of ancient Egypt

• Was a commoner 

  • Delta region of nile (fans and dumps into mediterranean)

• Constructed on Amenhotep’s funerary complex

  • Marks and guarded the entrance

• Honor of himself having a small funerary complex modeled on royal ones

  • Built right by the kings

• Commoner who become the right hand man to Amenhotep III

• Smaller funerary complex is built right by Amenhotep’s

• After he dies, his fame rules on and became deified 

• This statute actually comes from temple at Karnak

• He could erect a statue of himself at the temple of Amenhotep

Describe:

• Chest area is not very muscular

  • Less muscle

  • Not made to look buff

• Ink pad on his right side (standard scribe iconography)

• Sides are not carved and arms are by his torso

  • Why create negative space if you don’t have to?

• He has wrinkles 

  • Sagging naso-labia lines (lines from nose to mouth)

• Sitting down

• Sculptor defines someone who is aging

• Cheeks fall in/sagging in

• Tells us that he lived to be 80 years old

  • Realistic style

• Show the upcoming change of style

• Inscription covering his skirt → anyone who offers who reads it can have help in the afterlife if you give him prayers and offerings

  • Talking statue

    • A statue that has writing on it that calls out to a passerby and that interacts with the passerby

• Statue speaks in first person → “if you do this, i’ll do this for you”

• Someone tried to kill this statue

  • Ancient damage and ancient repair

    • Nose is flatter

    • Believe that someone trying to strike/chisel off his nose

      • We breathe through our nose

      • If you want to kill a statue, you go for the nose

• Carving away the damage part of the nose, and sculpting a new one

  • More flat than originally planned to be

• Object biographies!

  • Statues have its own life

New Kingdom

• Dynasty XVIII — 1570-1314 BC

title, date, material, findspot

• Colossal Sandstone Statue of Akhenaten

• Dynasty XVIII, 1350-1321 BC

• Limestone/Sandstone

• Aten Temple, Karnak

Colossal Sandstone Statue of Akhenaten

• Amenhotep IV → assumes a new name: Akhenaten

• Because of his physical makeup and revolutionary reign: he has been referred to as a female, frolic syndrome (deforms limbs), monotheism, mentor to Moses, and even been called the for-runner of Christ

• Reigns from 1350-1321 BCE

• Because he moves to capital to Amarna, this period is called the Amarna Period (still Dyn XVIII)

• Religious revolution

• Decided to suppress the worship of the pantheon of egypt gods and only worship one god, the sun

  • The sun → Aten (the sun disk)

  • Representation of anthropomorphic → not shaped like a human

  • Worshiped the new sun god as merely a disk

    • Deity is not shaped like a human or a mix of creatures

• Aten disk (sun disk) looked more like the hieroglyphic of the word sun

• Did finish sculpting things at Karnak using his birth name

  • Referred to himself at Amenhotep III

• He made the sun disk as the deity of Egypt

• New representation of the god is a disk with radiating rays with at the ends of them have hands and hold the symbol of life (ankh)

• Put himself at the center of this cult

• Takes on this new name → Akhenaten

• One of the series of colossal statues

• Knocked down and buried where they fell

Standard iconography and standard egyptian inventions:

• False beard

• Pleated kilt of skirt

• Nemes headcloth with cobra

• Eyes are slanted

• Arms across his chest → Osiris pose 

• Eyebrow ridge (plastic eyebrow)

• Blue crown

• Standing → king pose (only 3 poses)

• Akhenaten looks very different^

• “Early Karnak style”

Difference:

• Rounded, pouched belly, fully bloated abdomen

• Thin arms

• Curved body (hourglass figure)

  • Narrow, nipped-in waist

• Fuller hips

  • Is he a female because of the body shape?

• Prominent collarbones 

• Broad shoulders

• Face is super thin and very long

  • Elongated head

• Neck is very skinny and elongated

• High prominent cheekbones

• Prominent lips and chin that sticks out from his face

• In higher relief → very modeled and shapely 

• Radical change in style

• Some of these sculptures are signed by the sculptor

  • Bak

  • “The king taught me how to do it”

    • King had clear input in the way that he looked

• Scholars → “he had this certain disease, etc”

  • Nobody can agree!

• Known to have 6 daughters and 1 son (King Tut!)

• Kodak moment

  • Kodak company with film

  • Capture reality → picture is same as reality

  • Art historians say that you cannot assume that these are kodak moments

    • Style may have greater meaning

title, date, material, findspot

• Standing-striding figure of Nefertiti

• Dynasty XVIII, 1350-1321 BC

• Limestone

• Amarna (now Ägyptisches Museum Berlin)

Standing-striding figure of Nefertiti

• Long, thin neck

• Art historical context

  • Early Karnak Style

  • Does she have these diseases?

• Sculpture that is meant to communicate ideas more than a Kodak moment

• Sandstone is colossal

• And she is just about 1 foot tall

• Found in workshop → about to be painted

Similar in style:

• Rounded stomach, swollen abdomen 

• Full hips

• Long, elongated neck

• Face seem ovular → elongated, but oval face

• Long, thin nose

• Full lips

• Ears are high up and elongated

• Hunched over

• Unfinished sculpture found at a workshop in the temple

title, date, material, findspot

• Sculptor’s Model of Nefertiti

• Dynasty XVIII, 1350-1321 BC

• Painted limestone

• Sculptor’s Workshop, Amarna

Sculptor’s Model of Nefertiti

• Long, thin neck

• Mystery and beauty to egypt

• Same elongated neck, elongated face, elongated nose and ears

• Seems that have been a sculptor models

  • Didn’t make pieces like this

  • Incomplete piece

    • Sharply cut off at the neck/shoulders

• Scholars have interpreted this as a model

• Likeness of the queen

• Only one of the eyes get inlaid and leave out the other one

• Fully painted! 

  • Gives us an example of a new kingdom, new elaborate taste that we wouldn’t see without the paint

  • Light red, blue crown, highly ornate decorated collar

• Gives window of new kingdom taste of color

• Early karnak style → elongated

title, date, material, findspot

• Stele Showing Akhenaten and Family

• Dynasty XVIII, 1350-1321 BC

• Limestone

• Amarna

Stele Showing Akhenaten and Family

• Example of functional art

• Religious revolution 

• Series of reliefs of the Amarna period

• Limestone – easy to carve

• Typical scene of the royal family worshiping Aten

• Outside, open courtyard

• Columns on each side → meant to show the outside at a pavilion 

• Behind Akhenaten → stack of offerings

• This is the king and queen and the royal family only

  • Daughters climbing around

• Also shows representation of Aten → sun disk

  • Rays of sun that have hands on the side of them → holding Ankhs (symbol of life)

Function:

• Royal family was meant to worship Aten

• And everyone else was supposed to worship the royal family

• In houses → this is how the worship of Aten worked

• Royal family worshiped Aten and everyone else worships Akhenaten

title, date, material, findspot

• Palace at Amarna

• Dynasty XVIII, 1350-1321 BC

• Limestone

• Amarna

Palace at Amarna

title, date, material, findspot

• Gold Mask of Tutankhamun

• Dynasty XVIII, 1333-1323 BC

• Gold

• Thebes

Gold Mask of Tutankhamun

title, date, material, findspot

• Inlaid Chair of Tutankhamun

• Dynasty XVIII, 1333-1323 BC

• Wood, gold, precious stone, and glass inlay

• Thebes

Inlaid Chair of Tutankhamun

title, date, material, findspot

• Painted Chest

• Dynasty XVIII, 1333-1323 BC

• Wood, gold, precious stone, and glass inlay

• Thebes

Painted Chest

title, date, material, findspot

• Paintings from Tomb of Huy

• Dynasty XVIII, 1333-1323 BC

• Painted limestone

• Thebes

Paintings from Tomb of Huy

title, date, material, findspot

• Horemheb as Scribe

• Dynasty XVIII, 1319-1307 BC

• Granite

• Memphis

Horemheb as Scribe

New Kingdom/Ramesside Period

• Dynasty XIX — 1307-1196 BC

• Dynasty XX — 1196-1070 BC

title, date, material, findspot

• Ka Statue of Ramses II Det. w/Relief on Pedastal

• Dynasty XIX, 1290-1224 BC

• Sandstone

• Entrance to colonnade, Temple at Luxor

Ka Statue of Ramses II Det. w/Relief on Pedastal

title, date, material, findspot

• Scene from Battle of Qadesh: Remses II vs Hittites

• Dynasty XIX, 1290-1224 BC

• Sandstone

• Pylon of the Temple at Luxor

Scene from Battle of Qadesh: Ramses II vs Hittites

title, date, material, findspot

• Malkata Palace of Amenhotep III

• Dynasty XVIII, 1570-1314 BC

• Mud-brick, stone, plaster

• Thebes

title, date, material, findspot

• Great Temple at Abu Simbel

• Dynasty XIX, 1290-1224 BC

• Sandstone

• Abu Simbel, Nubia

Great Temple at Abu Simbel

title, date, material, findspot

• Paintings from Tomb of Queen Nefertari (wife of Ramses II)

• Dynasty XIX, 1290-1224 BC

• Painted, relief-cut plaster

• Valley of the Queens

• Deir el-Bahari

Paintings from Tomb of Queen Nefertari (wife of Ramses II)

title, date, material, findspot

• Funerary Temple of Ramses III

• Dynasty XX, 1194-1163 BC

• Limestone

• Medinet Habu, Thebes

Malkata Palace of Amenhotep III

• New kingdom → two preserved palaces

• This palace is situated in the southern portion of Thebes

  • One mile south of Amenhotep III funerary complex

  • Connected through a roadway

• Domestic architecture

• Sprawls out for a mile

• Numerous buildings surrounded by parade areas/open courts

• The main buildings include the palace of the king

  • Main feature of the southern portion 

  • Temple to Amun to the North

  • Huge audience pavilion in the center of the complex

  • Far nw corner → smaller houses grouped around a large home

  • Village area that has tiny living spaces for workmen

Construction:

• Mudbrick

• Some stone → columns bases, etc

• The walls and the ceilings were decorated with painted plaster

• Most column shafts are wooden

• Ceiling beams are wooden

• Living quarters were seen as temporary

• Tombs on the other hand had to be built of stone so they are there for eternity

• Decoration of the palace

• Plastered walls and plastered ceilings

• Most of the designed were of animals, plants, birds → naturalistic scenes

• Some of the motifs (leaping bulls) are echoing common motifs that we know from Aegean Bronze Age palaces (Knossos) 

  • Bulls head on ceiling

• International contact!!

• Importing some decorative designs

Funerary Temple of Ramses III