Egypt Quiz

Predynastic Period

Predynastic Period

• 5000-2920 BC

Early Dynastic Period

• 2920-2649 BC

title, date, materials, findspot

• Pot with Boats and Standards

• Predynastic Period (Nagada II), 3500-3200 BC

• Red paint on buff-colored vessel

• El-Amra

Pot with Boats and Standards

• Big boat with oars coming out of it

  • Towers on boat

• Standards and birds around boat

• Pottery is a typical is Nagada II/Gerzean period

• Creme-colored pot with red paint

  • Red = ox blood

• Most common type of artifact found in predynastic Egypt
  

• In addition to boat with towers/standards:

  • People (women) with upraised arms

  • Upraised arms occur in 3D

    • Painted and sculpted in 3D

• On other part, there are mountains

• Not entirely clear what is happening in scene, but shows the complexity in the artists

• Loose compositions

  • Not organized

title, date, materials, findspot

• Hierakonpolis Wall Painting

• Predynastic Period (Nagada II), 3500-3200 BC

• Paint on Plaster

• Tomb 100, Hierakonpolis

Hierakonpolis Wall Painting

• Found in a tomb at Hierakonpolis

• Tomb might have belonged to late predynastic ruler

  • Filled with funerary gifts

  • Constructed well

  • Lavish

• drawing^

• Introduction to large scale paintings!!!

  • Earliest ones

• Took designs from pot, and blew them up to the scale of an entire wall

• Lined walls with bricks, filled bricks with plaster, then put artwork on plaster

• Funeral scene

  • Combat scene

  • Figures raising arms out (wailing women)

    • Could be women who are mourning in some type of funerary ritual

  • Animals scattered throughout

  • Pairs of men locked in combat

  • Animals standing around circle → animals caught in a trap

  • Link between art and writing

    • Three figures on lower right hand → squatted men turns into a hieroglyph making the word plural

  • Hieroglyph → opposite side (left corner) – image of man striking three smaller people/prisoners → mace (stick with round ball at top) = symbol of pharaoh dominating his enemies (smiting king pose)

    
    

• Working stone

• Artist beginning to create more realistic drawings of people and animals

• Progression to a very more orderly arrangement→ registers

• Use of art to record historical events and people

title, date, materials, findspot

• Narmar Palette

• Predynastic Peroid (Nagada III), 3100-2890 BC

• Slate

• Horus Temple, Hierakonpolis

Narmar Palette

• Serpents (serpopards) → entwined necks to grind makeup

  • Heads and body of leopards and necks of serpents

• Crowded with iconography/historical events, they have to leave a space to grind the makeup

• Ceremonial palette

• Whole thing is showing the unification of lower and upper Egypt

  • Showing first king of Egypt unifying lower and upper Egypt

    
    

• Top of palette:

  • Frontal facing heads of Goddess Harthor (mother of god of sky/sun)

    • Cow heads staring directly at viewer

    • Last of non-profile 

      • Never use frontal in paintings or reliefs

    • Human or incarnation of Horus (god of sky/sun)

      • Mother at top of palette

    • In between frontal heads, there is a fish that is over a chisel

      • King Narmer’s name!

        • Narmer means striking catfish

          • Writing still associated with art

• Divided into three registers

  • Serpopards are being controlled by attendants

    • Allegory of unification of upper and lower Egypt

• In top register is the result of what happens in the bottom registers

• Bottom register:

  • Giant bull

  • Bull trampling on enemies and crashing through city wall

    • In act of conquering other portion of Egypt 

    • Bull = symbol of king (epithet – description)

    • Standard epithet for the king was a “strong bull of Horus”

• Top register shows the result of the bottom register

  • King (largest figure) is facing two rows of decapitated enemies (head between legs)

  • Enemies are surrounded by boat

  • King is behind standard bearers (different regions)

  • Another fish and chisel

  • Wearing a crown → Red Crown of Lower egypt (northern egypt)

  • On other side → White Crown of Upper Egypt 

  • Victory of upper egypt over lower egypt

• Narmar holding mace

• Giant falcon is a symbol of Horus → godly component

• Falcon on top of papyrus (symbol for lower egypt)

  • Falcon is controlling lower egypt

• Bottom register shows enemies (drowning in marsh?)

• Sandal bearer behind king <3
  

• Establishes a lot of king iconography:

  • Hieratic scale!!!

  • Crowns (white crown of upper egypt and red crown of lower egypt)

  • King wearing false beard (king iconography)

  • King has bull’s tail (bull’s tail is symbol of king)

  • King’s generally have nude torsos and short kilt

  • Standard smiting king pose!!

• Torso facing one way and the legs and head in profile (frontal eyes)

• Striding pose (always striding)

• Have to stand somewhere

  • ex.) bearer is standing on something

• Groundlines!

• Broken into registers

• Done on stone! Slate is a very hard stone

• Choosing stone because they had a lot of it

  • Interested in stone because it was permanent

title, date, materials, findspot

• Scorpion King Macehead

• Predynastic Period (Nagada III), 3200-3100 BC

• Stone

• Horus-Temple at Hierakonpolis

Scorpion King Macehead

• Horus → God Horus

• Scorpion King Macehead is example of a tool → pear shaped stone

• Big stone club

• Stick wooden handle in the middle

• Used during warfare

  • Pound on enemy

• Way too large (at widest = 1 foot long)

• Way to fancy to have been used during warfare

• More ceremonial 

• A macehead also served as ceremonial badge for military – attribute for kings (rulers and powerful)

• 1. Super early use of narrative in art to send messages about kingship

• 2. Establishes many conventions of Egyptian art

• 3. One of the first formalatic (?) of kingship

Scene

• King → hieratic king, white crown of upper Egypt and has bull's tail

• In open ceremony → opening canal

• Canal winds its way through the scene below the king

• Banks and channels

• Various workmen are working on new canal (doing maintenance)

• See tree and huts, prowl of boat → landscape elements

• In front of king are standard bearers (on shelf) an behind are fan bearers

• On top register, there are seating figures being carried on chairs and below them are dancers surrounded by papyrus plants (lower egypt)

• Bird looking things that are bound

  • A bound bird is a symbol for a captured enemy

  • Dangling from standard that are topped with deities of gods

• Right by face = scorpion 

Message

• All powerful man

• Sanctioned by the gods

• Celebratory support (workers and regions of Egypt are supporting him)

• He is not only able to defeat enemies, but master of landscape

  • He controls the power of water

• Egypt is land of dichotomy

• Water is the life of Egypt → lived in world of dichotomy (few steps away from water, they were in desert [which is harsh])

• Via symbols and conventions of art

• Whole narrative of controlling people, environment is occurring on an object that was a tool of war 

• Effect method of communicating rule

• Using art to communicate rule 

• Each community/locals were in charge of the water source, but king showed up to see the control of the water

Conventions of Egyptian Art

• Profile and striding, but frontal shoulders and eyes

• Static

• Boxy (rectangular/cubic)

• Registers

  • Division of plane → grounding line, never floating in space

• Use of hieroglyphics in art!!!

Standard King Iconography

• Crowns 

  • red crown and white crown → symbolize the two parts of Egypt

• Hieratic scale

• Symbols, like to scorpion, to represent the kings

• Bull’s tail

• Holding things to show power (mace and ho)

• Bare torso and wear short skirts

• Role of king → maintain stability (ma’at)

• Human embodiment of the divine 

  • Divine spirit was inside the king

    • Incarnation of the creator god

title, date, materials, findspot

• Funerary Stele of King Wadj

• Dynasty I, c. 2920-2770 BC

• Limestone

• Tomb of Wadj, Abydos

Funerary Stele of King Wadj

• Serekh

  • Horus name

  • Inside palace

  • Combo: plan and elevation

  • Recessed and buttressed facade

• Bird holding nose in Narmar Palette → Horus

• Actually from a tomb

• Format is similar → Stele (slab of stone)

  • Tomb stele (functioned as a funerary complex and it marked the burial of this king) → sending message

• Usually in pairs and put on eastern side of tombs

• Tombs were called mastaba(s)

Depicted

• Ziggurat/temple and has recessed and buttressed walls

• Inside is the pictograph of the name of the king

• Sitting on top is the bird that is the emblem of the Egyptian god Horus

  • Serekh name

• Seeing name of king with bird on top of it (referred to as Horus name/Serekh name of the king)

  • King was human embodiment of Horus on earth

• Writing is the art

• Egyptian artists are starting to carve out of all stones

• This piece is made out of soft stone, limestone (easy to carve)

• Stele of King Djet

  • Stele of marking an early king at a Mastaba

  • Shows name tag of king

title, date, materials, findspot

• Label of King Den

• First Dynasty (c. 3100-2800 BC)

• Wood/Ebony

• Tomb of King Den, Abydos

Label of King Den

• Serkh

  • Horus name

  • Inside palace

• Serkh is in many Egyptian art

• Recessed and buttressed facade

• Bird on top of facade

• See on top ground line → looks like someone running

  • Festival → Heb Sed cloak

title, date, materials, findspot

• Khasekhmewy

• Dynasty II, c. 2770-2649 BC

• Limestone

• Hierakonpolis

Khasekhnewy

• Another important trend → 3D in hard stone

• Right = harder stone

• Two portraits of last king of Dynasty II

• Shows carves in different stones

• Found in temple

King Iconography

• Robe → ceremonial robe = Heb Sed Cloak

• Positioning of arm → one hand clenched (like holding something) and other hand folding across

• White crown of Upper Egypt

• Relief carved on front → defeated enemies on base

• Only three positions that the king can be doing with his posture

  • 1. Seated on throne

  • 2. Smiting pose

  • 3. Striding or standing

Style doesn’t really change over time

Archaic Style

• Head is large in proportion of body

• Awkward transition in neck to the body

• Gesture with left hand across waist and left hand resting on thigh → archaic gesture

• Cloak is off of neck → stiffness in archaic style

• Can see how it is carved

  • Not far from shape of rectangular block

  • Quadra Frontal approach

• Get block of stone and draw grid on front (frontal view), and the rest of the sides

  • Then carve the stone at all angles

• Mathematical carving

title, date, materials, findspot

• Offering Scene

• Dynasty II, c. 2770-2649 BC

• Limestone

• Saqqara

Offering Scene

Dynasty III King Djoser

• 2630-2611 BC

title, date, material, findspot

• Tomb (= Mastaba) of Merneith

• Dynasty I, 3100-2890 BC

• Mudbrick

• Saqqara

Tomb (= Mastaba) of Merneith

title, date, material, findspot

• Statue of King Djoser

• Dynasty III, 2630-2611 BC

• Limestone

• Saqqara

Statue of King Djoser

title, date, material, findspot

• Step Pyramid of King Djoser

• Dynasty III, 2630-2611 BC

• Limestone

• Saqqara

Step Pyramid of King Djoser

title, date, material, findspot

• Relief, King Djoser Running between Territorial Markers

• Dynasty III, 2630-2611 BC

• Limestone

• Beneath Step Pyramid of King Djoser, Saqqara

Relief, King Djoser Running between Territorial Markers

title, date, material, findspot

• Wooden Panel of Hesira

• Dynasty III, 2630-2611 BC

• Wood

• Tomb of Hesira, Saqqara

Wooden Panel of Hesira

title, date, material, findspot

• Ka Statues of Rahotep and Neferet

• Dynasty IV, 2575-2465 BC

• Limestone and paint

• Meidum

Ka Statues of Rehotep and Neferet

Old Kingdom

• Dynasties IV-VI —> 2575-2134 BC

title, date, material, findspot

• Pyramid of King Huni

• Dynasty III-IV, 2780-2680 BC

• Limestone

• Meidum

Pyramid of King Huni

• Begun by the last king of Dynasty III, but finished by his son-in-law [Snefru] (ruler in Dynasty IV)

• 1. Establishes the 4 standard components of a pyramid complex

• 2. Really is the first attempt to a geometrically true pyramid

Standard Elements of a Pyramid Complex

• 4 standards components

• Built on west side of nile

• When you die, you die in the west (sun sets on the west side)

• Always a valley temple

  • A pharaoh would be transported to site via boat

    • Special boats were built for this that would symbolically show the birth-death that goes along with the sun rise-set

    • Boat would stop at valley temple

  • Pharaoh would be picked up by funerary procession

• Carried through causeway

  • Processional way

• Mortuary

  • Temple that was positioned at the eastern side of the temple

• Pyramid itself

  • Pyramid of King Huni had all 4 standards

Cross Section

• First attempt of a true geometrically true pyramid

• Core of pyramid was constructed out of 7 steps → only 3 remain today

• Step pyramid to a true pyramid

  • Took packing stones and then sheathed the packing stones in a white limestone

• Steep incline and lack of bonding material between the packing stone resulted in a massive collapse

  • Packing stone and limestone collapsed and slid down, they grounded themselves 

  • Limestone shattered

  • They got ground into rubble

    • That is at the base of the temple

title, date, material, findspot

• Bent Pyramid of Snefru

• Dynasty IV, 2680-2565 BC

• Limestone

• Dashur

Bent Pyramid of Snefru

• First king of Dynasty IV

• Dynasty IV → great age of pyramid building!!

• Snefru was the most prolific pyramid builders of ancient Egypt

• Bent shape and because it was the pyramid where we have the first excavated temple

  • Know about decoration

• Snefru completed Huni’s tomb and made North (red) pyramid and lower temple

• Two burial chambers 

• The king was known for foreign travels (lebanon) 

  • Out and about king

Shape

• Archaeologists are not clear why the incline changes and the slope becomes far less deep

• Theory:

  • Died and someone else finished it

  • Perhaps it was constructed when Huni’s pyramid collapsed and wanted to rethink the plan of the pyramid

• First valley temple that was excavated

  • Excavations gave us understandings of these temples

• Entrance hall would have been lined with reliefs

• Temple has open court and pillars 

  • Meant to hold statues of the king

title, date, material, findspot

• Relief of Procession of Egyptian Nomes, Valley Temple, Bent Pyramid of Snefru

• Dynasty IV, 2680-2565 BC

• Limestone

• Dashur

Relief of Procession of Egyptian Nomes, Valley Temple, Bent Pyramid of Snefru

• Relief from bent pyramid

• Reliefs showed procession of female personifications of nomes/districts of Egypt (word for regions/districts of Egypt)

• Bringing produce all over Egypt for the king in the afterlife

• Each nome has a name above their head, holding trays, and also bringing offerings that are listed out in front of them for the king

• Perpetual offerings for the kings

title, date, material, findspot

• Pyramids of Cheops, Chefren, Mycerinus

• Dynasty IV, 2680-2565 BC

• Limestone

• Giza

Pyramids of Cheops, Chefren, Mycerinus

• One of the seven wonders of the ancient world

  • Only ones of the seven wonders of the ancient world that remain standing today!

• Burial center of the three most famous kings of Dynasty IV

• Cheops (Kufu) → The Great Pyramid

• Central Pyramid (and Sphinx) of Chefren 

• Mycerinus → Satellite pyramids with it

• This complex preserves more than a standard complex

• Variety of other features (boat burials, queens, kids)

• Allow us to study technology

Pyramids of Cheops —> The “Great” Pyramid

• It is the largest of all the pyramids 

  • it was in fact the tallest building until the 19th century (CE)

• Incredibly, controlled mathematical proportions

• Square base

  • Very accurate measurements 

• Entire building would have been encased in limestone (white limestone)

  • Limestone was removed when building the Cairo museum (?)

• Pyramid shape… like why?

  • Why was there an urge for an important burial spot?

    • Probably related to the worship of the sun god

    • Heleopolis = stone was famous for its pyramid shape → became symbol for the sun

      • Scholars aren’t making up relationship between shape of pyramids to the sun god

• Kings started to begin to give themselves a second name (nickname) was sun of Ra

  • Ra is sun god!

  • Connection between kings, pyramids, and sun gods

• Huge, but no cap/casing preserved

Pyramid of Chefren

• Still has casing left on top

• And still has sphynx 

• 4 standard elements with added stuffSphynx in front of pyramid

• Originally carved on an outcrop bedrock that occurred at the start of the causeway

  • Some of it was carved, and some of it was built up (look at feet)

• Mixed mythological guardian figures

  • Lion bodies with human heads

  • Human head with nemus cloth

• Portrait of Chefren himself? → most likely a depiction of the guardian figure

  • Right at start of causeway

Pyramid of Mycerinus

• Final of the group

• Tiny third pyramid

• Can tell this pyramid because he has three satellite pyramids on the side

• Other elements:

  • Satellite pyramids

  • Khafre also has satellite pyramids

    • Built for the queens

• Mastabas behind the Great Pyramid (for officials)

• Boat pits for the burial of the boats used during the funerary procession

• Huge range for satellite features that went along with the pyramids

• Not only preserve the 4 standard components, but other components

title, date, material, findspot

• Khafra/Chefren

• Dynasty IV, 2520-2494 BC

• Diorite

• Giza

Khafra/Chefren

• Still has casing left on top

• And still has sphynx 

• 4 standard elements with added stuffSphynx in front of pyramid

• Originally carved on an outcrop bedrock that occurred at the start of the causeway

  • Some of it was carved, and some of it was built up (look at feet)

• Mixed mythological guardian figures

  • Lion bodies with human heads

  • Human head with nemus cloth

• Portrait of Chefren himself? → most likely a depiction of the guardian figure

  • Right at start of causeway

• Famous piece

• Found in a pit in his valley temple with 6 others

  • Probably stored there for safekeeping

• One of 23 statues from his valley temple

  • Don’t have all 23 statues, but it is marked in the pyramid where they were

• None of these statues are exactly similar as the other

• Dislike of absolute repetition 

• Each one is different

• Vary in the types of seats

  • Some have high-back seat with lion arm rests, and others have low-back seat

• Inscribed with different variations of the king’s name

• Bird behind his head

  • King iconography

  • Period where the king iconography get fully developed

• Found in valley temple (pit in valley temple) along with 6 other statues

• Stored for safekeeping

• Wonderful to have found multiples of this statue → no two of them are exactly the same

• Dislike of absolute repetition 

• Inscribed with different versions of titles and names

  • Arranged differently on each statute

• In this reign for the first time, they fully established the regalia of kingship

King iconography

• False beard (fastened with a string)

• Headcloth is sorta new (nemis headcloth)

  • Nemis headcloth also have a cobra euraius 

• Regalia → bare torso and kilt

  • But now pleated kilts

• Falcon on the back of the neck

  • Falcon → horus

  • Horus is the embodiment and protector of the living king

• On the sides of the high backed throne → papyrus and lotus that are knotted around each other (tied together → plants of upper and lower egypt)

• Lion’s head on the throne 

  • Throne is adorned with lion heads at the end of the arm rests

• Emblem of egyptian kingship

• Iconic → not only was it very crisp, clear, but also its material

  • Extremely hard diorite 

  • Much harder to carve than limestone

    • Dense composition, dense structure

  • Very fine details and create a much smoother surface

• Diorite comes from south of Egypt (outside of Egypt)

• He could get diorite → demonstrated Khafre’s power

• Diorite → Khafran’s diorite

• Emblematic = style

• Different than archaic style

• Has a much smoother surface, delicate modeling of the body, and the pose is slightly different

  • Hand on lap, not on chest/torso

    • BIG DEAL

title, date, material, findspot

• Sun Temple at Abu Gurob

• Dynasty V, c. 2524-2400 BC

• Limestone

• Abu Gurob

Sun Temple at Abu Gurob

• Sun temple

• Shape = relation with the sun god

• Non funerary building from Dynasty V

• Pyramids built from sun god, Ra

• Abu Gurob

• Construction of the sun temples really emphasis the pharaoh and the sun god

• Pharaohs began to considered themselves the reincarnation of the sun god

• In style/in plan, it echos the standard components of pyramid complexes

  • Entrance on the eastern side

  • Western end = podium with a giant masonry obulus 

    • Represented the “Ben ben”

  • Center of court = altar for offerings/sacrifices

  • Covered corridors

  • Chapel on the east side

• Found on this west side of the nile (like the Pyramids)

  • Sun temples had connections to the pyramids

  • Offerings for the king would be sent from the sun temple to the pyramids

    • Funerary function

• Would have been a causeway

• “Pyramid” itself

title, date, material, findspot

• Pyramid of Pepe II with Pyramid Texts

• Dynasty VI, 2400-2250 BC

• Limestone

• Saqqara

Pyramid of Pepe II with Pyramid Texts

• Final pyramid complex of the old kingdom

  • Old Kingdom = Dyns. IV-VI

• Late old kingdom, the pyramid complex elements remained the same, but are no longer as huge as they were in Dyns IV

• Pyramids became the same height and the bases were very similar

  • Even the pyramid temple became standardized in this period

    • Open court with statue of king and altar for offerings

      • Has long entrance hall with open court

  • Satellite pyramids

• Lots of decoration in the temple

  • Kingship

  • King interacting with other deities

•  Added transverse hall after open court

• Statue chapel

• Offering chambel before the actual pyramid itself

• Pepe II is a very interesting pharaoh because he began his reign as a child (as early as age 6)

• Because he was so young, his mother ruled as his regent until he was old enough to rule by himself

title, date, material, findspot

• Statuette, Pepy II and his Mother

• Dynasty VI, c. 2400-2250 BC

• Alabaster

• Findspot unknown

Statuette Pepy II and his Mother

• Tiny little with big mother

• Mother acted as regent until he was old enough to rule

• Mother is portrayed as ruler

  • Handful of female rulers

Art historical significance:

• Translucent stone (alabaster)

• Incredible experiment

• Two figures are intersecting at 90º angles

  • Two intersecting cubes

• Each one has her and his own title on the front of the statue

title, date, material, findspot

• Triad of Mycerinus, Hathor, and a Nome

• Dynasty IV, c. 2630-2524 BC

• Schist

• Giza

Triad of Mycerinus, Hathor, and a Nome

title, date, material, findspot

• Shepsi and Nikauhathor

• Dynasty V, c. 2524-2400 BC

• Limestone and paint

• Tomb Chapel of Shepsi, Saqqara

Shepsi and Nikauhathor

• Group statues

• Ka statue

• Tomb statue from the old kingdom (dynasty V)

• Depicts this couple and their child

• Every tomb needed at least one statute of the deceased

• Generally free standing, but could have been carved into the rock wall

• Often hidden → weren’t meant to be seen by visitors!

  • Meant for the ka

• Limestone

  • Some would have been made of wood and plaster with paint

Conventions of Egyptian Art:

• Idealized anatomy of woman 

  • Arm around husbands shoulder

• Red men, yellow women

• Gesture of hands

• Nice child iconography → index finger on its mouth with sidelocks

• Hieratic scale

• Children depicted naked

• All three would have been buried in the same complex