Art History Egyptian Art + Near Eastern Art

Image 12: WHITE TEMPLE AND ZIGGURAT

FORM:

Ziggurat → (in ancient Mesopotamia) a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple = PLATFORM

Height → 40 FT. tall

Medium → White-washed sand to disguise average mud brick appearance

FUNCTION:

Dedicated to gods 

Anu → Sky god; most important Sumerian god 

Elevated from ground– signify gods are more important than people

Bent axis plan → no straight pathway to protect sacred place (temple)

Place of worship

Corners are situated according to compass points

CONTENT:

Corners of ziggurat → points of the compass

Set high above ground →  when Sumerian gods came to earth, they descended to high places

Exterior → White washed sand, stepped pyramid leading to a higher temple at the top

Temple → sits at the top of the ziggurat

Interior → Inside the temple houses the cella

Cella → Main room of a temple where a god is housed 

CONTEXT:

Location in City → CENTER OF THE CITY 

Metaphor that the gods are the center of people’s lives

Image 14: STATUES OF VOTIVE FIGURES

FORM:

Medium → Gypsum inlaid with shell & black limestone

Gypsum → a soft white or gray mineral consisting of hydrated calcium sulfate

FUNCTION:

Used for prayer, offerings

Votive → “offered in fulfillment of a vow or a pledge”

Represents mortals, placed in temples during prayer time

CONTENT:

Figures → different heights 

Hierarchy of scale

Hands → folded in prayer

HUGE EYES → CREEPY, spellbound, cast towards sky… maybe at some deity? 

Men → bare upper chest; 

Clothing → cone-like skirt, wears belt

Beard & hair →  in simple, ripple patterns

Women → dress draped over one shoulder 

Shoulders → left shoulder covered, right always exposed

Inscription on back → “It offers prayers”

REPRESENT MORTALS; placed in a temple and praying– maybe to god Abu?

Sometimes they hold cups or branches

Gods & humans physically present in statues

CONTEXT:

REPRESENT MORTALS; placed in a temple and praying– maybe to god Abu?

Given as offerings to gods at specific temples

Location Found → Buried in groups under a temple floor

Surviving Statues → Depict men & women

Hundreds still survive

Image 16: STANDARD OF UR

FORM:

Medium → Shell, lapis lazuli, limestone

         Lapis Lazuli → deep blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone

FUNCTION:

Early example of a historical narrative

Depicts daily life vs. times of war

Register → tells narrative

Original Function → Unsure what it was originally used for

Theories of Original Function:

Maybe used as a soundbox of musical instrument?

Carried on a pole as a standard (hence the name)

CONTENT: PEACE SIDE vs. WAR SIDE

PEACE SIDE:

READ FROM BOTTOM TO TOP

Bodies → in PROFILE

Shoulders → broad

Eyes, eyebrows, ears → Emphasized & large (eyes are similar to votive statues)

Procession → people in line, processing to a banquet, offering goods to the king

Figures → Ruler →  wears kilt made of wool…  

Woolen kilt → larger than all others-- HE’S IMPORTANT! (HIERARCHY OF SCALE)

Musician → playing lyre

WAR SIDE:

Sumerian King → half a head taller

Descended from chariot to examine war captives

Naked Captives → NAKED-- represents weakness

Dead → Chariots move over dead in bottom register

CONTEXT:

Found in one of the largest graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur

Location within Grave → Lying in the corner of a chamber above the right shoulder of a man

Standard of Ur gives us idea of life during both peacetime & wartime

Extensive trading network → evidence of this provided with the foreign materials that were used to create this work of art

Materials:

Lapis Lazuli → Afghanistan

Shells → Persian Gulf

Red Limestone → India

Image 19: STELE OF HAMMURABI

FORM:

Medium → Basalt

Dark, dense igneous rock of a lava flow or minor intrusion, composed essentially of labradorite and pyroxene and often displaying a columnar structure.

Height → 7’4”

Bas-relief/Relief carving

Tall, columnar structure

FUNCTION:

Stele → Stone slab used to mark grave or site

         Gravemarker

Code of Hammurabi → details the earliest law codes ever written (below main scene and on reverse)

         Details laws of Babylon and other united Mesopotamian lands

CONTENT:

Figures at top: 

Hammurabi (left) → Standing, receiving gifts from sun god 

Sun god (right) →  god of justice Shamash 

         Hierarchy of Scale → Appear to be same size, but only bc Shamash is seated, Hammurabi is standing

Composite Figures → Profile: feet & face; Frontal: torso

Shamash → enthroned on a ziggurat handing over power (divine → mortal)

         SYMBOLS OF POWER → Shamash’s horned crown 

Flames/Lightning emitting from shoulders (equivalent of HALO)

Transference of Power → Shamash gives Hammurabi scepter & ring

         SYMBOLS OF DIVINE LAWS → Scepter & Ring 

Writing @ bottom → Cuneiform (language of Akkadian → court language of Babylonians)

         Over 300 laws written here

CONTEXT:

Hammurabi united Mesopotamia in his lifetime

         Ruled over Babylonia and turned it from small power → dominant kingdom

         His death = Empire’s decline

Hammurabi → “King who made the four quarters of the earth obedient”

Cuneiform (language of Akkadian → court language of Babylonians)

Image 25: LAMASSU

FORM:

Medium → Limestone

Relief statues

         Carved out of monolithic stone (SUPER HUGE STONES) very heavy, big

Height → 13’9” TALL!

Location/Site → Stood at gates in between huge arches

FUNCTION:

Protected citadel gates

         GUARDIAN FIGURES

GUARDIAN/GATEWAY FIGURES

         Protected gates of citadel

         Area where temple and royal palace were

Fearsome, powerful—maybe meant to represent king?

Guardian for exterior gate of city

CONTENT:

Lamassu → Winged bulls w/ heads of men

Crown → rosettes, double horns, ring of feathers

         Delicate details for massive, powerful creature

Hair → Wavy hair below crown

Eyebrow → connected

Ears → bull

Earrings →  decorative

Beard →  ringlets on cheeks

         Spirals as they go downward

Wings →  decorative pattern up side of animal and across back

Inscriptions →  Cuneiform—about the king and what happens if you wrong him

FRONTAL VIEW & PROFILE VIEW

Legs → 5 LEGS

         2 from front, 4 on the side

Frontal View → Stationary, not moving

Profile View → animal is moving as well

Detail → Attention to detail of anatomy of Lamassu

Naturalistic & imagination of sculpture

CONTEXT:

Mesopotamia →  cradle of civilization

Series of civilizations that conquered each other

Assyrians conquered most of Near East from 1000 – 500 BCE

Lamassu à Found at Palace of Sargon II at height of Assyrian civilization in 8^th c. BCE

         IRAQ

From modern day Khorsabad

Image 30: AUDIENCE HALL (APADANA) OF DARIUS & XERXES

FORM:

Medium → Mud brick with limestone facing

Height of Columns → ~79 ft. tall (24 meters)

Location/Site → Persepolis (capital of Persian Empire)

FUNCTION:

Commissioned → Darius & Xerxes (rulers of Persian Empire)

Function of Persepolis → Seat for spectacular receptions & festivals

Functional aspect → Economic & administrative center (capital of Empire) 

Acted as a place of power-- supposed to impress & intimidate dignitaries from other countries

Apadana → Reception hall for king’s receptions; celebrated New Year’s festival

Procession of representatives of 23 subject nations 

CONTENT:

Persepolis → Capital of the Persian Empire

Complex of palaces with giant audience hall (apadana) 

Supposed to be enormous to impress & intimidate people from abroad

Apadana → Audience Hall

Reception hall for major events and festivities (New Year’s)

Reception hall for dignitaries from abroad 

Originally 72 Columns → Lined throughout apadana with a wooden roof above

Base of Column → Bell-shaped (inverted lotus blossom)

Capital of Column → Bulls (double-headed), eagles, or lions (POWER ANIMALS) 

Stairs → Lead up to the apadana 

Relief Carvings → “Immortals” or the “King’s Guard”

Dignitaries processing forward offering gifts and bowing before king

CONTEXT:

Persepolis → Ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire (550-330 B.C.E.)

Meaning → “City of the Persians” 

Ruins → All that remains of apadana are 14 columns, staircase, some capitals 

Destruction → Alexander the Great of (Macedon) sacked, looted, and burned down Persepolis in 330 B.C.E. 

Image 30: AUDIENCE HALL (APADANA) OF DARIUS & XERXES

FORM:

Medium → Mud brick with limestone facing

Height of Columns → ~79 ft. tall (24 meters)

Location/Site → Persepolis (capital of Persian Empire)

FUNCTION:

Commissioned → Darius & Xerxes (rulers of Persian Empire)

Function of Persepolis → Seat for spectacular receptions & festivals

Functional aspect → Economic & administrative center (capital of Empire) 

Acted as a place of power-- supposed to impress & intimidate dignitaries from other countries

Apadana → Reception hall for king’s receptions; celebrated New Year’s festival

Procession of representatives of 23 subject nations 

CONTENT:

Persepolis → Capital of the Persian Empire

Complex of palaces with giant audience hall (apadana) 

Supposed to be enormous to impress & intimidate people from abroad

Apadana → Audience Hall

Reception hall for major events and festivities (New Year’s)

Reception hall for dignitaries from abroad 

Originally 72 Columns → Lined throughout apadana with a wooden roof above

Base of Column → Bell-shaped (inverted lotus blossom)

Capital of Column → Bulls (double-headed), eagles, or lions (POWER ANIMALS) 

Stairs → Lead up to the apadana 

Relief Carvings → “Immortals” or the “King’s Guard”

Dignitaries processing forward offering gifts and bowing before king

CONTEXT:

Persepolis → Ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire (550-330 B.C.E.)

Meaning → “City of the Persians” 

Ruins → All that remains of apadana are 14 columns, staircase, some capitals 

Destruction → Alexander the Great of (Macedon) sacked, looted, and burned down Persepolis in 330 B.C.E. 

Image 13: KING NARMER’S PALETTE

FORM:

Medium → Slate

Relief sculpture

Bas-Relief

FUNCTION:

Utility Function:

1. Used to prepare makeup

Ceremonial Function:

2. However, this makeup palette is larger, more detailed, most likely commemorative or ceremonial

Burial ritual, potentially? It was buried underneath the temple floor as a votive or offering

CONTENT:

SO MUCH SYMBOLISM

Hierarchy of Scale → most important figures are large & centered on palette

Register → Horizontal band that tells a narrative

NARRATIVE → King Narmer uniting Upper & Lower Egypt

BOTH IMAGES:

Top Register → Hathor (a god) as a cow with a woman’s face

FIRST IMAGE:

Second Register → Narmer’s army marching forward towards dead bodies

Narmer → Largest figure with cobra crown (Red Crown) of lower Egypt

Bodies → Dead, beheaded bodies of enemies with legs between legs

Standard Bearers → Smaller figures, hoisting up standards before Narmer 

Sandal Bearer → TINY DUDE behind Narmer, bringing forward his sandals

Third Register → Lionesses potentially with elongated, intertwining necks

Lionesses → Possibly symbolize unity?

Indentation → Their necks create an indented circle where historians believe is where the makeup would be placed

Bottom Register → Bull knocking down city fortress 

Bull → Represents Narmer knocking down city walls

Hieroglyphics → explain & add meaning to everything-- WE HAVE WRITING!

SECOND IMAGE:

Hawk → Horus god of the sky

Rope (in Horus’ claw) → symbol of Lower Egypt

Papyrus plant (below Horus) → symbol of Lower Egypt

Narmer → symbol of strength

Bull’s tail → Power 

Bowling pin-shaped Crown (White Crown) → Represents Narmer uniting Lower & Upper Egypt

Smiting Pose → Power

Servant (left of Narmer) → holding Narmer’s sandals

Smaller, less important

Bodies (lower register) → Defeated Egyptians at Narmer’s feet (lower register)

CONTEXT:

Predynastic → Upper & Lower Egypt were united over a period of time-- this work of art collapses this event in a short period of time

Makeup → Used as preparation for eye-makeup as protection from the sun 

Similar to athletes putting black under their eyes-- reduces glare from the sun

Art Style → PREDYNASTIC EGYPT used the same art style (stiff & rigid) with similar forms of symbolism that we will see all throughout Egyptian art history

Image 15: SEATED SCRIBE

FORM:

Painted limestone

Still in color today

Amazingly lifelike, not a portrait

FUNCTION:

Created for tomb at Saqqara as provision for the ka

         What is a ka in Old Kingdom Egypt? à Soul of human being or god

         Maybe statue was meant for soul to inherit a physical form after death?

CONTENT:

More REALISTIC vs. IDEALISTIC

Sagging chest, a lil chub

Attentive expression– thin, angular face

Contrasts with ideal pharaoh

Holds papyrus scroll in lap, used to hold writing utensil in hand (gone)

CONTEXT:

Is he a pharaoh?

NOPE, just an average scribe-- not idealized

FORM:

Medium → Cut limestone

Originally faced with stone (white), but most is now lost

Height → 

MASSIVE height-- unsurpassed for thousands of years 

Shape → Reference to the sun and its rays-- thought of as the solidification of the sun’s rays from a single point

Sun’s Rays → Ramp for the pharaoh to climb to the sky when he reaches death

Shape → influenced by sacred stone relic– called benben (cute)

BEN-BEN → Ancient stone relic founded at the place of “initial creation”

Found at Heliopolis (center of sun god cult)

Axial Plan → Each side of pyramid points to compass point

FUNCTION:

Funerary/Burial → Giant monuments and tombs to dead pharaohs

Regeneration → Potentially where pharaohs could be regenerated (sacred shape)

CONTENT:

Three primary pyramids → Pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure

Each Pyramid → Had a mortuary complex

Mortuary Complex → Funerary Temple at its base, stone causeway (1 km in length) leading east from Giza to a valley temple

Interior → Minimal interior for the deceased

Smaller Pyramids & Small Tombs → Smaller cemeteries on east & west of Khufu’s Pyramid

This was an honor

Queen’s Tombs → Buried nearby primary pyramids 

Pyramid → Considered where the pharaoh would be regenerated 

Khafre’s Complex → Just east of Khafre’s pyramid sits the Sphinx

Khafre’s Sphinx → Represented as having the body of a cat and the head of the pharaoh

Symbolism:

Cats/felines → Important part of Egyptian life-- viewed cats as supernatural/powerful creatures

Pharaoh → By putting the head of the pharaoh on the body of a powerful creature, this combines two very powerful entities into one: the ruler & the feline

Sphinx → Powerful guardian figure

CONTEXT:

Pyramid → Considered where the pharaoh would be regenerated

Massive height-- unsurpassed for thousands of years

Pharaoh’s placement → Pharaohs buried IN pyramid– not UNDER

Sun → The sun was one of the most important parts of Egyptian everyday & religious life

Sun’s Rays → The pyramid’s shape acted as a ramp for the pharaoh to climb to the sky when he reaches death

Shape → influenced by sacred stone relic– called ben-ben (cute, we love that)

BEN-BEN → Ancient stone relic founded at the place of “initial creation”

Found at Heliopolis (center of sun god cult)

FORM:

Medium → Cut limestone

Originally faced with stone (white), but most is now lost

Height → 

MASSIVE height-- unsurpassed for thousands of years 

Shape → Reference to the sun and its rays-- thought of as the solidification of the sun’s rays from a single point

Sun’s Rays → Ramp for the pharaoh to climb to the sky when he reaches death

Shape → influenced by sacred stone relic– called benben (cute)

BEN-BEN → Ancient stone relic founded at the place of “initial creation”

Found at Heliopolis (center of sun god cult)

Axial Plan → Each side of pyramid points to compass point

FUNCTION:

Funerary/Burial → Giant monuments and tombs to dead pharaohs

Regeneration → Potentially where pharaohs could be regenerated (sacred shape)

CONTENT:

Three primary pyramids → Pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure

Each Pyramid → Had a mortuary complex

Mortuary Complex → Funerary Temple at its base, stone causeway (1 km in length) leading east from Giza to a valley temple

Interior → Minimal interior for the deceased

Smaller Pyramids & Small Tombs → Smaller cemeteries on east & west of Khufu’s Pyramid

This was an honor

Queen’s Tombs → Buried nearby primary pyramids 

Pyramid → Considered where the pharaoh would be regenerated 

Khafre’s Complex → Just east of Khafre’s pyramid sits the Sphinx

Khafre’s Sphinx → Represented as having the body of a cat and the head of the pharaoh

Symbolism:

Cats/felines → Important part of Egyptian life-- viewed cats as supernatural/powerful creatures

Pharaoh → By putting the head of the pharaoh on the body of a powerful creature, this combines two very powerful entities into one: the ruler & the feline

Sphinx → Powerful guardian figure

CONTEXT:

Pyramid → Considered where the pharaoh would be regenerated

Massive height-- unsurpassed for thousands of years

Pharaoh’s placement → Pharaohs buried IN pyramid– not UNDER

Sun → The sun was one of the most important parts of Egyptian everyday & religious life

Sun’s Rays → The pyramid’s shape acted as a ramp for the pharaoh to climb to the sky when he reaches death

Shape → influenced by sacred stone relic– called ben-ben (cute, we love that)

BEN-BEN → Ancient stone relic founded at the place of “initial creation”

Found at Heliopolis (center of sun god cult)

Image 18: MENKAURE AND HIS QUEEN

FORM:

Medium → Greywacke-- a dark coarse-grained sandstone containing more than 15 percent clay.

Smooth, finished surface

Attached to block stone– what’s this called? BAS RELIEF

FUNCTION:

Honor/ritual/burial– Found in Giza pyramid complex in Menkaure’s Valley Temple in Great Pyramids of Giza

CONTENT:

Menkaura & his Queen (we think his wife)

Queen → presenting her husband to gods? Since it’s in death?

Or possibly just simple & affectionate gesture? Or PROTECTIVE?

Idealized bodies– did they look like this when they died?

Because figure of royalty, wanted to make them look as good as possible

Wife’s ankle-length gown, tight, conformed to body (she sexy!)

SAME HEIGHT!!! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Equality! Yay women!!

DRESS → 

Typical Pharaoh headdress (iconic striped nemes headdress)

Artificial royal beard

Ritual cloth rolls in his fists

CONTEXT:

QUESTION OF WHO THE ROYAL FEMALE IS– either his wife or even maybe……queen mother?

Just one of many statues found in Valley Temple of Menkaure

Many triad statues– depicting pharaoh flanked by 2 goddesses:

         Hathor (“house of Horus”) à Representative of pharaoh’s wife; fierce protector

         “Nome” goddess à representative of a region, place, etc.

         Horus was also worshipped in these tombs à represented by living king

Image 20: TEMPLE OF AMUN-RE AND HYPOSTYLE HALL

FORM:

Medium (Temple) → Mudbrick

Medium (Columns) → Cut sandstone 

134 columns total-- 12 taller columns down the middle of the hall

Painted → Most of the temple would’ve been painted bright colors-- not really seen today because of exposure

Some paint still remains today on the higher portions of the columns & ceiling today

FUNCTION:

Religious center of the god Amun-Re in Thebes

Karnak wasn’t just one temple dedicated to 1 god– held main precinct to the god Amun-Re– also precincts of the gods Mut & Montu

CONTENT:

TEMPLE:

Pylon → monumental gateway to an Egyptian temple marked by 2 flat, sloping walls; In between walls = smaller entrance; protected the sanctuary

Behind pylon → central courtyard (peristyle), greeted worshippers

Peristyle → row of pillars/columns enclosing a courtyard

Past courtyard → hypostyle hall with 134 massive sandstone columns

God was housed in sacred area just beyond– surrounded by forest of columns called hypostyle hall

HYPOSTYLE HALL:

Hypostyle → hall in an Egyptian temple that has roof supported by dense thicket of columns

Clerestory → roof that rises above lower roofs with window space beneath 

Columns → 134 massive sandstone columns total

Taller Columns → 12 taller columns that run down the middle of the hall-- up to 69 ft. tall 

Capitals of Taller Columns → Papyrus/flower capitals

Shorter Columns → 122 shorter columns that support the rest of the roofing 

Capitals of the Shorter Columns → Bud capitals (not yet bloomed) 

Center of hall → taller than spaces on either side; allowed for clerestory lighting (first evidence for clerestory lighting)

Farther you proceed, the more restricted access became

SYMBOLISM:

Temple → symbolic of “creation of the world”/mound of creation

Pylons → Horizon

Rising floors until reaching the sanctuary of the god → impression of a rising mound, like that during creation

Temple roof → Sky (decorated with stars & birds)

Columns → designed w/ lotus, papyrus, palm plants → Marsh-like environment of creation

CONTEXT:

Time period → First developed during Middle Kingdom (2055-1650 B.C.E.)

Size → Originally modest in scale 

But Thebes became more important and pharaohs began to leave their mark here

City of Karnak (location) → Karnak became known as “The Most Select of Places”

Characteristics of New Kingdom (1550-1070 B.C.E.):

Free-standing monuments

Religious hierarchy → The farther you go into the temple, the more restricted access becomes (you must be “this religious” to enter)

Thebes & religion → Principal religious center of the god Amun-Re in Thebes

         One of the largest religious complexes in the world

Image 21: HATSHEPSUT MORTUARY TEMPLE & HATSHEPSUT WITH OFFERING JARS STATUE

FORM:

TEMPLE: 

Medium → sandstone

Carved out of cliff while also built up with stone blocks

Built directly against vast cliff-face

         Dramatic environment

         Organic quality– contrastive of strict order

         Stability, order against such a natural landscape

Coordinated with natural setting

Layout → 3 colonnaded terraces and 2 ramps

Horizontals & verticals of terraces repeat patterns of cliffs

Light vs. dark 

STATUE:

Medium → Red granite

Free-standing

No negative space between arms & torso, between legs

FUNCTION:

TEMPLE: 

Originally meant to keep Queen Hatshepsut after death

STATUE:

part of ritual in honor of Amun-Re (sun god)

         Statue of Amun brought before sculpture in procession

CONTENT:

TEMPLE: 

Made up of 3 terraces & 2 ramps

Terraces → Would have originally held exotic plants 

Built directly against vast cliff-face

         Dramatic environment

         Organic quality– contrastive of strict order

         Stability, order against such a natural landscape

Hatshepsut Sphinx → Representations of Hatshepsut as a sphinx in lower courtyard of temple

STATUE: 

One of 200 around entire complex

One of 10 kneeling w/ offering jars

Female vs. Male Characteristics → Why does this female pharaoh look like a man?

Male attributions → Classic pharaoh headdress with cobra crown (Upper Egypt crown) 

Kilt 

False beard

Broad shoulders

Femininity → Still has some slender proportions

Slight breasts 

Identifying words (hieroglyphs) → Identify her as female

Sculpture on knees → who would be the only being that Pharaoh would kneel to? A god

Offering Jars → Offered as sacrifice to god (Amun-Re)-- we believe they could’ve been plants? 

CONTEXT:

Time Period → New Kingdom

WOMEN’S HISTORY → First time achievements of a woman are celebrated in art history

Hatshepsut → A powerful woman who assumes role of authority as a king/pharaoh

Importance of ART to Hatshepsut → Created mythology of her divine birth

Commissioned art & temples during her rule 

Period of instability → beginning of New Kingdom that Hatshepsut ushered in began peace

Destroying evidence of Hatshepsut → Her co-Ruler tried to destroy all evidence of female Hatshepsut’s power

Fragments discovered in early 20^th c.

Kneeling Pharaoh → Why was pharaoh on her knees? Who would she be kneeling to?

Sculptures of god → literal embodiment of the god

Temples of god → literal house of god

Annual Ceremony for Amun-Re → Ceremony where Egyptians took statue of Amun (sun god) from Temple of Amun-Re to spend night in Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut

         Annual celebration → Once a year, primary sculpture of Amun carried across Nile River on ceremonial barque (shrine shaped as boat) traveling west across Nile from land of living towards land of dead, carried up causeway towards temple to his primary shrine of Amun in Mortuary Temple and then returned across river– makes sense to have sculpture of Hatshepsut on her knees with offerings

Hatshepsut’s Body → Her body was interred elsewhere

Image 21: HATSHEPSUT MORTUARY TEMPLE & HATSHEPSUT WITH OFFERING JARS STATUE

FORM:

TEMPLE: 

Medium → sandstone

Carved out of cliff while also built up with stone blocks

Built directly against vast cliff-face

         Dramatic environment

         Organic quality– contrastive of strict order

         Stability, order against such a natural landscape

Coordinated with natural setting

Layout → 3 colonnaded terraces and 2 ramps

Horizontals & verticals of terraces repeat patterns of cliffs

Light vs. dark 

STATUE:

Medium → Red granite

Free-standing

No negative space between arms & torso, between legs

FUNCTION:

TEMPLE: 

Originally meant to keep Queen Hatshepsut after death

STATUE:

part of ritual in honor of Amun-Re (sun god)

         Statue of Amun brought before sculpture in procession

CONTENT:

TEMPLE: 

Made up of 3 terraces & 2 ramps

Terraces → Would have originally held exotic plants 

Built directly against vast cliff-face

         Dramatic environment

         Organic quality– contrastive of strict order

         Stability, order against such a natural landscape

Hatshepsut Sphinx → Representations of Hatshepsut as a sphinx in lower courtyard of temple

STATUE: 

One of 200 around entire complex

One of 10 kneeling w/ offering jars

Female vs. Male Characteristics → Why does this female pharaoh look like a man?

Male attributions → Classic pharaoh headdress with cobra crown (Upper Egypt crown) 

Kilt 

False beard

Broad shoulders

Femininity → Still has some slender proportions

Slight breasts 

Identifying words (hieroglyphs) → Identify her as female

Sculpture on knees → who would be the only being that Pharaoh would kneel to? A god

Offering Jars → Offered as sacrifice to god (Amun-Re)-- we believe they could’ve been plants? 

CONTEXT:

Time Period → New Kingdom

WOMEN’S HISTORY → First time achievements of a woman are celebrated in art history

Hatshepsut → A powerful woman who assumes role of authority as a king/pharaoh

Importance of ART to Hatshepsut → Created mythology of her divine birth

Commissioned art & temples during her rule 

Period of instability → beginning of New Kingdom that Hatshepsut ushered in began peace

Destroying evidence of Hatshepsut → Her co-Ruler tried to destroy all evidence of female Hatshepsut’s power

Fragments discovered in early 20^th c.

Kneeling Pharaoh → Why was pharaoh on her knees? Who would she be kneeling to?

Sculptures of god → literal embodiment of the god

Temples of god → literal house of god

Annual Ceremony for Amun-Re → Ceremony where Egyptians took statue of Amun (sun god) from Temple of Amun-Re to spend night in Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut

         Annual celebration → Once a year, primary sculpture of Amun carried across Nile River on ceremonial barque (shrine shaped as boat) traveling west across Nile from land of living towards land of dead, carried up causeway towards temple to his primary shrine of Amun in Mortuary Temple and then returned across river– makes sense to have sculpture of Hatshepsut on her knees with offering

Hatshepsut’s Body → Her body was interred elsewhere

Image 22: AKHENATON, NEFERTITI, & THREE DAUGHTERS

FORM:

Medium → Limestone

Height → 1’ ¼” 

Carved into the limestone

Sunken relief carving

Style of Amarna Period:

Style changes drastically—Egyptian art has been known to be very consistent until the Amarna period

Differences: Elongated skulls; swollen, low-hanging bellies; slack jaws; smoother, curved surfaces; thin arms; heavy-lidded eyes

Similarities: Composite view of bodies, profile view of face, frontal view eye

FUNCTION:

Domestic & religious → Panel is from an altar in a home

Setting of Domesticity is new in Egyptian art

Meant to be placed in a very private, domestic environment

CONTENT:

FIGURES:

Akhenaton (left) → Holding his eldest daughter, about to kiss her on her head

Holding her underneath her thighs

King/Pharaoh → Depicted with some royal symbols-- work does not emphasize his position as ruler

Throne → Much simpler 

Eldest Daughter (in Akhenaton’s arms) → Pointing back at Nefertiti (mom)

Second eldest daughter (on Nefertiti’s lap) → Pointing at Akhenaton 

Youngest daughter (on Nefertiti’s shoulder) → Playing with Nefertiti’s earring  

Nefertiti → About the same height as Akhenaton 

Queen/Wife/Mother → Nefertiti, Akhenaton’s wife, is depicted as just as powerful as Akhenaton (height, dress, etc.) 

Throne → Symbolic and representing both Lower & Upper Egypt

Represents that she is equally as important to helping rule these two parts of Egypt  

Sun (Aton) → Sun disk with rays of light (and hands at the end of rays) emanating from the sun disk 

Aton → Sun disk god that Akhenaton installed as the primary god of Egyptian religion during Amarna period 

Anatomy → Swollen bellies

Elongated skulls

Thin arms 

Long, thin necks 

SYMBOLISM:

Sun disk → God/Aton

Aton in Amarna Period → Sun disk god that Akhenaton installed as the primary god of Egyptian religion during Amarna period 

Cobra in sun → Supreme deity; ONLY deity

         Such contrast to pantheon of gods that traditional Egypt has depended on

Rays of light → Hands at the end of rays;

Ankhs → at end of rays of life pointing at Akhenaton & Nefertiti 

Egyptian sign of life (pointing at their noses—breath of life)

Nefertiti’s throne → Upper & Lower Egypt symbols combined; symbolizes her importance as queen and how they would rule Egypt together 

CONTEXT:

Akhenaton changes state religion from Amun to Aton

From pantheon of gods to “one true god”

         Changes his name to Akhenaton to symbolize this (“Aton is pleased”)

Akhentaton & Nefertiti (wife) → Only representatives of Aton on earth

         Religious priests → Egypt priesthood was pissed because they had no connection with new religion or god

Image 23: TUTANKHAMUN’S TOMB (INNERMOST COFFIN + MASK)

FORM:

COFFIN:

Gold coffin 6’7” long 

Inside → Different, smaller coffins residing within another to protect the pharaoh’s body within the innermost coffin 

MASK:

Golden with smoothly idealized features of boy-king

Constructed of 2 sheets of gold—hammered together and weighs 22.5 lbs

FUNCTION:

Funerary → Pharaoh Tutankhamen’s body was interred in the coffin and mask 

CONTENT:

COFFIN:

Sarcophagus (box-like stone container) → held 3 COFFINS to hold body of the king

Outer 2 Coffins → made of wood, covered in gold with semiprecious stones (lapis lazuli & turquoise)

Inner Coffin → SOLID GOLD! Originally covered in anointing liquid for burial rituals

Pharaoh = GOD

Gods → Believed to have skin of Gold, bones of silver, and hair of lapis lazuli

SYMBOLISM:

Golden Coffin → king is shown in divine form of afterlife

Crook & Flail → King’s right to rule

Goddesses represented within coffins:

         Vulture → Nekhbet 

Cobra → Wadjet 

Isis 

Nephthys

MASK:

Rests on the shoulders in the innermost gold coffin

Striped nemes headdress

         Goddesses Nekhbet & Wadjet protecting his brow

False beard → IMAGE OF GOD

Broad collar → ends in falcon heads

Back of mask → covered with Spell 151b from Book of the Dead

         Egyptians used this as road map for afterlife

         Spell protects Tut’s limbs as he moves into the underworld

CONTEXT:

Tutankhamen → King Tut became king at 9 years old

Unhealthy → Believed to have been a sickly boy and young man due to the incestuous practices of Egyptian royalty

Died at young age → Died at only 18 years old as a result of illness (“keeping it in the family”)

Death in Egyptian beliefs → Believed to reach judgment to either move onto the afterlife or cease to exist (refer to Last Judgment of Hunefer) 

Image 24: LAST JUDGMENT OF HU-NEFER

FORM:

Medium → Painted papyrus scroll

         Reed that rows in Nile delta made into paper-like surface

         Important way to write until medieval times

FUNCTION:

Book of the Dead → Spells, prayers, incantations dead needed in afterlife

Instructions for the afterlife

Burial ritual—meant to help the dead in the afterlife

CONTENT:

Spells, prayers, incantations

Instruction for the afterlife

Registers:

Top band → Hunefer crouched, telling various gods of his great life and why he’s earned a place in afterlife

Main band → Scene of judgment

Representations of man who died (white robe)

Figures:

Hunefer → All figures in white robe

Anubis → god with jackal head/god of death—leading Hunefer by the hand

         Ankh in left hand (eternal life) → Hunefer’s afterlife

Anubis crouching → Adjusting scale

         Left →  Hunefer’s Heart

         Right → Feather of Ma’at

                     Ma’at → Deity associated with divine order + ethical life

Feather →  lower, heavier, shows he had ethical life—Hunefer will make it to afterlife

Ammit → Monster that eats you if you did not life ethical life

         Head of crocodile, body of lion, bottom of hippo

         Would devour heart if he lived an unethical life

Scale → Test to pass into afterlife

Thoth → Head of ibis (bird)

         Recording proceedings of Hunefer’s judgment

         Arm stretched out, upright, trustworthy

Osiris → White garments, greenish skin

         Supreme god

Symbols of royalty all around—enclosure, crook & flail, throne

Lotus → eternal life

Horus’s Children → on top of lotus; cardinal points

         Responsible for carrying internal organs placed in Canopic jars

         Responsible to preserving the dead

Horus → Eye/falcon

         Talons instead of hands à carry ostrich feather

Ostrich feather → eternal life

Horus → Falcon head – son of Osiris—introducing him to Osiris

         Also holding Ankh

Isis → Osiris life

Nephthys → Isis’s sister

         Guardian of afterlife and sister of Anubis

White Platform → natural salts deposited in Nile to dry out mummies

CONTEXT:

Old Kingdom:

Pyramid texts

Middle Kingdom:

Coffin texts

New Kingdom:

         Papyrus “Books of the Dead”

         Sometimes written on shrouds dead were buried in

Made mostly for king—then royal family—then for people of high rank

Found in tomb of Hunefer—scribe = priestly status = higher status

         Could read, write

Afterlife → there is only 1; if you don’t make it, you no longer exist in any capacity

Integration of visual arts & writing in one place (important in Egyptian art)