Ancient Egypt

Pre-Dynastic

Cosmetic Palette of King Narmer (Period)

Cosmetic Palette of King Narmer

Old Kingdom

Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt (Period)

Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt

Old Kingdom

Great Pyramids (Period)

Great Pyramids

Old Kingdom

Seated Statue of Enthroned King Khafre (Period)

Seated Statue of Enthroned King Khafre

New Kingdom

Funerary Mask of King Tutankhamen (Period)

Funerary Mask of King Tutankhamun

Nile River

Vital part of ancient Egyptian life, providing water for crops, transportation, and other resources.

Osiris

Judge of the dead, symbol of hope, god of fertility, and an embodiment of the dead king.

Horus

God of the sky and kingship

Hathor

Goddess of the sky, mothers, fertility, love, and the dead.

Set

God of chaos, violence, disorder, war, deserts, storms, and foreign lands.

Akhenaten

Pharaoh who established the first monotheistic state religion in the world

Amarna Period

Time of major religious, political, and artistic change.

Elongated

Elongated head shapes were often a way to distinguish individuals or to mark someone as a leader

Monotheism

The belief that there is only one god

Iconography

Used to describe the entirety of ancient Egyptian art and the symbols used in it; colors were used to communicate meaning to the gods

Sunken Relief

Figures are carved into a flat surface, creating an image that is set below the surrounding surface.

Hieroglyphics

Stylized picture of an object representing a word, syllable, or sound, as found in ancient Egyptian and other writing systems.

True Pyramid

Pyramids with smooth sides that maintain the same angle to the top; Designed to have a chamber for the pharaoh's tomb above ground, rather than a burial place below ground.

Rock Cut Tomb

Burial chambers carved into natural rock formations and were a common form of burial for the wealthy

Syncretism

Combining the names and natures of gods with similar characteristics or very different natures to create new composite deities

Ma’at

Egyptian goddess and concept that represented truth, balance, order, justice, harmony, and morality.

Canon of Proportions

Mathematical system used by the ancient Egyptians to create ideal human figures in their art

Stele

A monument made of stone or wood that was used to commemorate people or events, mark boundaries, or access the divine.

Necropolis

Cemetery, especially a large one belonging to an ancient city.

Ka Figure

Statue that provided a resting place for the ka after death

Mastaba

Ancient Egyptian tombs that were rectangular with sloping sides and a flat roof

Step Pyramid

Large architectural structure with a geometric pyramid shape that's made of stacked stone layers and flat platforms that recede from the ground; used as tombs, with tunnels underneath for burying bodies and funerary goods.

Imhotep

Name of an ancient Egyptian polymath who was a mathematician, physician, architect, astrologer, poet, priest, and chief minister to Pharaoh Djoser.

Ka

Life force

Ba

Personality

Akh

Spirit of a deceased person who has been judged and transfigured into a blessed being

Mummification

A complex process used to preserve bodies for the afterlife where it was believed the soul would return to the body

Sarcophagus

Stone coffins or containers to bury the wealthy and leaders

Ashlar Masonry

Type of stone construction that uses uniformly cut stones that are laid in horizontal layers with minimal mortar

Serdab

Chamber in an ancient Egyptian tomb that housed a statue of the deceased

Pharaoh

Ruler of ancient Egypt and was both the head of state and the religious leader of the people

Mastaba → Stepped Pyramid → True Pyramid → Rock Cut Tombs

Evolution of Egyptian Tombs