egyptian art and architecture

canon of proportions

A set of guidelines used in Egyptian art to depict the human figure in a standardized manner, ensuring consistent proportions.

they used a grid system which often can be seen in unfinished tombs.

artists were members of the craftsmen class and were “anonymous”, had no name to their work.

statues/cult statues

art played a functional role.

provided laces for gods and goddesses to manifest themselves in temples.

the daily ritual ensured the continued renewal of the cosmos

some important statues were in silver which was more valuable to the Egyptians than gold as they had to import it.

they had ka-statues which were used as a vessel/resting place for the deceased soul

most 3D-representations present frontality

cult statues were not for decorations bur for cult practice

if statues/artwork were destroyed it would “kill them”/stop the offerings in the afterlife, statues were sometimes killed or their nose/ears were cut off, meaning they could not breath or hear

images/art

images of offerings mean that they would be eternal

seemingly straight forward scenes allegories to maintaining cosmic order

images and text were often combined

art aimed to depict the ideal and not the real

correct rightward orientation - the main figure faces right

sometimes for balance or symmetry they would face left as well

it was to the utmost importance that the symbolism was correct (hands were switched as the scepter was to be held in the right hand) than the real representation 

depictions often show them with frontal eyes but the face sideways, as you wanted to show everything from the most characteristic way (the gods needed to recognize you) and the eyes are characteristic as well as the nose

the depiction would be how the person would be seen in the afterlife, so they are often depicted stranding straight in fishing images as they did not want to be crouched in the afterlife

egyptian art was conceptual as opposed to perceptual

hierarchy of size - main figure is larger

art was magical and was used to uphold a protecting and ideological power (upholding maat)

art was for eternity

there is continuity in egyptian art with many of the same motifs (smiting the enemies) but stylistic changes

images of dangerous things were used as powerful amulets: images of hippos meant you “tamed the danger”

horizon markers

C-ware, White crossed-line ware - Naqada I (Horizon marker)

D-ware, Decorated ware - Naqada II (Horizon marker) (picture)

Badarian culture; distinct pottery: black-topped red ware, ripple ware (B-ware, horizon marker for Naqada I)

narmer palette

c. 3000 b.c.e

a cosmetic palette containing some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions

cosmetic palettes were used to grind pigments (malachite) and made of greywacke

it depicts the unification of upper and lower egypt under the name/ruler Narmer

wearing the white crown (upper egypt)

images of conquest later showing him in the red crown (lower egypt)

shows a sandal bearer of the king which was an important role - the ideal of sandals was elegant and sandals can be found in tombs (not meant for use)

first seals

small labels and ivory tags tied to jars/oil found inscribed with hieroglyphs of royal names, officials and goods

early step toward royal annals and historical records

serekh - a rectangular enclosure indicating that the enclosed text is a royal name, predating the cartouche

Abydos burials

dynasty 1: Aha, Djer, Djet, Merneith

all have tombs in Umm el Qa’ab and enclosure in the north cemetery, all subterranean mudbrick with wooden elements (no structure remains), all have a large number of subsidiary graves, funerary enclosures were buried

aha burial: large number of subsidiary graves, human sacrifice? many young adults (not natural mortality) with high level of skeletal trauma

no physical evidence for this: could be poor preservation and trauma may be post-depositional, no explicit artistic or textual evidence and could be alternative causes like an epidemic

Dynasty 1: Den, Anedjib, Semerkhet, Qa’a

more of a centralized arrangement with fewer subsidiary graves but more personalized, all tombs had a staircase

den burial: first use of stone, granite imported from aswan with c. 3000 ceramic vessels and 2000 stone vessels found in the tomb

Qa’a burial: a large tomb with several revisions - long reign, seal belonging to Hotepsekhemwy found near the entrance showing the transition to dynasty 2, it was important for the son/successor to bury the father/predecessor to inherit their divine power (“the one who buries inherits”)

boat graves found, no function other than use in afterlife by royals, 14 boats c. 18-21 m long

donkey burials

Dynasty 2:

peribsen burial: appears to have been finished in haste, seth replaces horus on serekh (political upheaval?), thinnest walls of any known enclosure (1.5 m) and large deposits of pottery found showing his funerary cult continued for a while

khasekhemwy burial: started small but expanded, luxury goods found like stone vessels with gold lids, copper and flint knives, statue found of him wearing the heb-sed cloak

also built shunet el zebib which was the largest and most elaborate building, the palace facade was painted white and the interior court was empty, many votive deposits (objects left in a place for religious purpose), untouched for a long time and had burials around outer perimeter

mastabas for elite

dynasty 1. Saqqara : first thought to be kings due to sealings found (mud impressions with kings serekh) but it’s likely that king had given grave goods to the officials tomb

lots of interior rooms and the tomb itself is bigger than kings

had a funerary chapel

made in mudbrick and vibrant colored

had subterranean stairway access

the body lay in a wooden coffin where the wooden components often were recycled parts (from housing)

the body had traces of linen - the body decomposed and was later wrapped (could be connected to the osiris myth)

body flexed to the right side

dynasty 2 - mastabas become smaller above ground but bigger underground

the construction mimics a house (burial chamber - bedroom)

they had stelas and coffins became more elaborate

we see the first evidence of mummification - probably treated with natron with linen-wrapped limbs and skull

old kingdom - superstructure contained the tomb chapel which was the initial focus for the mortuary cult and the substructure held theburial chamber in which the body was laid

“is” = tomb - council chamber

“khenet” = burial chamber - residence

djoser complex d.3

built by the architect imhotep (later deified) 

this marks the new tradition of royal pyramids

first monumental stone building

shows the increase in power of the king

started as a mastaba which was enlarged with limestone (a five-step process: mastaba, enlarged with limestone casing, east side of mastaba extended, four-stepped pyramid, six stepped pyramid)

the enclosure wall was more than 15 km circumference

had a heb-sed court

impermanent materials were made into stone - doors and fences often made of wood/organic material were made into stone to become “immortal” objects

pyramid galleries - walls lined with limestone inlaid with blue faience imitate reed matting, decorated with relief panels of the king performing the heb-sed festival

his mortuary temple is against the north face of the pyramid and poorly preserved

serdab - a structure that served as a chamber for the ka-statue, it was a seal chamber with a small hole to allow the soul to move freely and receive offerings

old kingdom pyramids

the old kingdom has 23 major pyramids in a 72 km span of desert from Abu Rawash to Meidum and from the 4th d. all pyramids have names

tombs of d.1-2 were built far into the desert near cliffs at Abydos

pyramids are now the burial form for all monarchs, around were masta fields of the elite high officials or relatives showing control of the bureaucracy (and therefor the country) in the hands of the kings and his relatives

meydum pyramid - “sneferu endures” where most scholars attribute the beginning to Huni

bent pyramid - “sneferu appears in glory (in) the south” with the first attested valley temple, rectangular plan with an open court and six shrines and large statues of the king, we also see personified estates

the red pyramid - “the (nothern) shining pyramid)”, nearly as large as Khufu’s and likely sneferu’s tomb, a descending passage with a corbelled roof

mortuary and valley temples expanded and formalized, increased use of hard stone and statues, causeways reach nearly a kilometer

the great pyramid - “horizon of Khufu”, superstructure that has lost almost all of its casing and complete pyramid was 146 m, inside had polished limestone walls and a ascending corridor, had two large boat pits and three queens pyramids

(succesor of Khufu, Djedefra began a pyramid in Abu Rawash, unknown why and the pyramid was likely never finished)

Khafre pyramid - “Khafra is great”, his mortuary temple set overall patterns for OK mortuary temples (1-entrance hall 2-open court 3-five statue niches 4-magazines 5-sanctuary) and his causeway was connected to the valley temple, credited with the sphinx and in front of it there’s ruins of a small temple, possibly dedicated to the sun god in his three froms (khepri in the morning, Re at mid-day and Atum in the evening)

Menkaure pyramid - “Menkaure is divine” was unfinished at his death and finished by son/sucessor  who skimped on materials as the entire casing is missing

pyramid construction

dynasty 3: built of leaning accretion layers

dynasty 4: horizontal layers with casing

dynasty 5 onward: rough masonry cores

dynasty 12 (from Senusret III): mudbrick cores, fine casing

two basic types of pyramid:

djoser type - orientation north-south, entrance on south end of east side, ka tomb had a south tomb and no satellite pyramid and the temple was north or south with a simple/ no east chapel

post-meidum type - orientation was east-west, entrance on east side, the ka tomb was a satellite pyramid and the temple was east andnorth was only ‘entrance chapel’

canonical pyramid complex:

1 - pyramid

2- enclosure wall

3 - mortuary temple

4 - subsidiary pyramid

5 - cuaseway

6 - valley temple

Dynasty 5 royal monuments

temples and most pyramids were built just south of Giza at Abu Ghorab and Abusir

5th dynasty kings called themselves “Son of Re” and power derived from the sun and not just lineage

Userkaf’s sun temple - temples for the daily rebirth of Re, similar layout to pyramid complexes: valley temple, causeway and walled enclosure, main monument was not a tomb but a ben-ben

also had a pyramid that marks shift to smaller, less solidly built

Niuserre also had a sun temple which was larger in scale but had the same elements

Unas pyramid - “perfect are the places of Unas”, we see the first use of pyramid text and is the first decorated tomb since djoser

bound captives - limestone statues of kneeling bound captives with their hand tied behind their backs, likely symbolic enemies of egypt, ritually “defeated” to ensure the kings eternal triumph

production of pyramids/temples

estates contributed to produce pyramids and temples

created a flow from the periphery to the core —> unlike city-state pattern

set egypt on the course to a true nation state

Heit el Ghorab - production area related to the building of the two smaller pyramids at Giza, large settlement/baracks where the workers were housed

Abusir papyri - hieratic records of temple inventories, ritual schedules and deliveries of food. reveal a sophisticated temple economy tied to royal estates and agricultural production, also shows how sun temples and mortuary temples were economically and ideologically linked

where to live while dead

most officials placed their tomb by the town in which they worked/resided, which might be quite different from their home/ancestral town

high officials living at memphis placed their tomb around the kings burial

in times of decentralization, such high officials placed their tombs in the home provinces

a significant factor was placing one's tomb near where descendants resided to ensure continuity in the mortuary cult

the tomb represented an eternal house for the deceased and a place to be visited by immediate relatives and later generations, tomb chapels provide texts boasting about owners achievements: hence why every tomb contributes to understand of egyptian history (Senet- games in stone floor)

unfinished tombs were often completed by offspring or relatives

the king owned all of the land in the country and would give permission for officials/relatives to build their tombs at a certain place and also designated the size of the plot, the king would also give gifts like a false door or a sarcophagus

the king is acknowledged for his key role in enabling the deceased to have a successful afterlife via the htp-di-snw offering formula and was used by virtually anyone who could afford a tomb text

the dead could not only communicate with the living but also intervene in daily life, letters to the dead were placed in/near tombs to ask for help, forgiveness or protection

the ka is a central concept as it had to recognize the tomb owner and therefore name and titles, as well as distinct features were important in the statue

to keep people from destroying the tomb the owner would write curses

meresankh III

was the granddaughter of Khufu and wife of Khafre (d.4)

her tomb reflects the high status of royal women during the old kingdom

includes a mastaba, stone chapel and burial chamber

her sarcophagus had the palace facade on all sides and was made of granite

reserve heads

all from the 4th dynasty, all from Giza

carved from limestone and were life-sized seemingly individualized heads

possibly served as spiritual substitutes fro the deceased’s head, ensuring survival of the ka if the body was damaged but function remains debated

all of them have been ceremonially “killed” with ears/nose cut off

statuary in old kingdom

developed alongside royal portrait traditions but adapted for elite patrons

focuses on expressing social role, moral worth and ideal permanence and not transient likeness

portraits were idealized rather than showed individual likeness and wanted to show timeless youth

pair statues were common from late 4th d and onward and depicted a husband and wife to express unity in life and afterlife

many statues made would be hidden in enclosed chambers, egyptian art was functional and not always for aesthetics

second style - the first intentional art styles

first intermediate period

(Picture: egyptian spearmen from the tomb of Mesheti, Asyut D. 9-10)

sources are limited, major monuments are lacking and the few existing sources are usually autobiographical tomb inscriptions

it was a time of decentralization and regionalism which affected art production and architecture

militarism is shown in tomb decoration and commonly contains scenes of battle and conflict, tomb models include soldier and weapons, mercenary titles are found in tombs as well as weapons

the memphite art school stopped and we get “cartoon art”