Republic of the Philippines

BOHOL ISLAND STATE UNIVERSITY

Bilar Campus
Zamora, Bilar, Bohol

Vision: A premier S & T university for the formation of a world-class and virtuous
human resource for sustainable development in Bohol and the Country.
Mission: Committed to provide quality and innovative education in strategic sectors for
the development of Bohol and the Country.
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Prehistoric art and Egyptian Art

• In the history of art, prehistoric art is all art produced in preliterate,
prehistorical cultures beginning somewhere in very late geological
history, and generally continuing until that culture either develops
writing or other methods of record-keeping, or makes significant
contact with another culture that has, and that makes some record
of major historical events. At this point ancient art begins, for the
older literate cultures.
• The earliest human artifacts showing evidence of workmanship with
an artistic purpose are the subject of some debate. It is clear that
such workmanship existed by 40,000 years ago in the Upper
Paleolithic era, although it is quite possible that it began earlier.
• Many indigenous peoples from around the world continued to produce
artistic works distinctive to their geographic area and culture, until
exploration and commerce brought record-keeping methods to them.
Some cultures, notably the Maya civilization, independently
developed writing during the time they flourished, which was then
later lost. These cultures may be classified as prehistoric, especially
if their writing systems have not been deciphered.

Egyptian Art
• Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between
the 6th millennium BC and the 4th century AD, spanning from
Prehistoric Egypt until the Christianization of Roman Egypt. It
includes paintings, sculptures, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry,
ivories, architecture, and other art media. It is also very
conservative: the art style changed very little over time. Much of the
surviving art comes from tombs and monuments, giving more insight
into the ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs.
• The ancient Egyptian language had no word for "art". Artworks served
an essentially functional purpose that was bound with religion and
ideology. To render a subject in art was to give it permanence. There
was no significant tradition of individual artistic expression since art
served a wider and cosmic purpose of maintaining order.
• Art of Pre-Dynastic Egypt (6000–3000 BC)
Continued expansion of the desert forced the early ancestors of the
Egyptians to settle around the Nile and adopt a more sedentary
lifestyle during the Neolithic. The period from 9000 to 6000 BC has
left very little archaeological evidence, but around 6000 BC, Neolithic
settlements began to appear all over Egypt. Studies based on
morphological, genetic, and archaeological data have attributed these
settlements to migrants from the Fertile Crescent returning during
the Neolithic Revolution, bringing agriculture to the region.
• Merimde culture (5000–4200 BC)
From about 5000 to 4200 BC, the Merimde culture, known only from
a large settlement site at the edge of the Western Nile Delta,
flourished in Lower Egypt. The culture has strong connections to the
Faiyum A culture as well as the Levant. People lived in small huts,
produced simple undecorated pottery, and had stone tools. Cattle,
sheep, goats, and pigs were raised, and wheat, sorghum and barley
were planted. The Merimde people buried their dead within the
settlement and produced clay figurines. The first Egyptian life-size
head made of clay comes from Merimde.
• Badarian culture (4400–4000 BC)
The Badarian culture, from about 4400 to 4000 BC. It followed the
Tasian culture (c. 4500 BC) but was so similar that many consider
them one continuous period. The Badarian culture continued to
produce blacktop-ware pottery (albeit much improved in quality) and
was assigned sequence dating (SD) numbers 21–29. The primary
difference that prevents scholars from merging the two periods is that
Badarian sites use copper in addition to stone and are thus
chalcolithic settlements, while the Neolithic Tasian sites are still
considered Stone Age.
• Early Dynastic Period (3100–2685 BC)
Cosmetic palettes reached a new level of sophistication during this
period, in which the Egyptian writing system also experienced further
development. Initially, Egyptian writing was composed primarily of a
few symbols denoting amounts of various substances. In the
cosmetic palettes, symbols were used together with pictorial
descriptions.
• Old Kingdom (2686–2181 BC)
The Old Kingdom of Egypt is the period spanning c. 2686–2181 BC.
It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the
Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid
builders of the Fourth Dynasty. King Sneferu perfected the art of
pyramid-building and the pyramids of Giza were constructed under
the kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Egypt attained its first
sustained peak of civilization, the first of three so-called "Kingdom"
 periods (followed by the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom) which
mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley.
• Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC)
After the reunification of Egypt in the Middle Kingdom, the kings of
the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties were able to return their focus to
art. In the Eleventh Dynasty, the kings had their monuments made
in a style influenced by the Memphite models of the Fifth and early
Sixth Dynasties. In the early Twelfth Dynasty, the artwork had a
uniformity of style due to the influence of the royal workshops. It was
at this point that the quality of artistic production for the elite
members of society reached a high point that was never surpassed,
although it was equaled during other periods.
• New Kingdom (c. 1550–1069 BC)
The New Kingdom, also referred to as the "Egyptian Empire". It was
Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power. The
artwork produced during the New Kingdom falls into three broad
periods: Pre-Amarna, Amarna, and Ramesside. Although stylistic
changes as a result of shifts in power and variation of religious ideals
occurred, the statuary and relief work throughout the New Kingdom
continued to embody the main principles of Egyptian art: frontality
and axiality, hierarchy of scale, and composite composition.
• Late Period (c. 664–332 BC)
The Late Period is marked with the death of Alexander the Great and
the start of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Although this period marks
political turbulence and immense change for Egypt, its art and culture
continued to flourish. Another relief originating from the Thirtieth
Dynasty was the rounded modeling of the body and limbs, which gave
the subjects a more fleshy or heavy effect. For example, for female
figures, their breasts would swell and overlap the upper arm in
painting. In more realistic portrayals, men would be fat or wrinkled.
• Roman Period (30 BC–619 AD)
The Fayum mummy portraits are probably the most famous example
of Egyptian art during the Roman period of Egypt. They were a type
of naturalistic painted portrait on wooden boards attached to Upper
class mummies from Roman Egypt. They belong to the tradition of
panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the
Classical world. The Fayum portraits are the only large body of art
from that tradition to have survived.

The Characteristics of Ancient Egyptian Art

• Clarity
Ancient Egyptians often combined artistic images with hieroglyphic
writings, which means the result needed to remain clear to get its
point across. Whether paintings or statues, the pieces always have
 clearly defined shapes. Paintings leave room between outlined
images to keep each one in focus and statues have sharp ridges to
make each accent stand out. Even hieroglyphics were composed with
a thin line separating each horizontal row, which makes reading the
"picture words" easier.
• Balance
Egyptians were also expert mathematicians, and this understanding
of fundamental balance is reflected in the composition of their art. A
tomb with a perfect stone obelisk positioned between two giant
pharaoh statues is a perfect example of this balanced view. The exact
lines of the pyramids, the visual balance in wall paintings and even
the creation of symmetrical jewelry items displays this focus on basic
balance.
• Color
Color plays a huge role in ancient Egyptian art. The plain stone
columns and statues we see in Egypt today have had the color worn
away, but bright paints covered the stone in ancient times. Vibrant
paints were used to decorate hieroglyphics, outline carvings and paint
pictures. Bright materials were favored for jewelry and even the
pyramids were once coated in a gold hue. Think of the rich blues,
yellows, browns and reds present in the Nile landscape of Ancient
Egypt. It's these same hues you see echoed in the art, such as in the
bust of Nefertiti or Mask of Tutankhamun.
• Perspective
While most ancient Egyptian paintings contain flat shapes, there is
always a sense of perspective in the creations. A painting of a
pharaoh on a throne has the pharaoh and throne in proper relative
size to each other. Workers lining up to offer food to the king are also
all relative in size to each other, although they may be smaller than
the pharaoh. The one notable exception to the rule has to do with
adults vs. children. Artistic depictions of royal children were often just
miniature adult figures instead of true adolescent forms. So, a queen
holding her baby showed a queen with a very small adult on her lap.