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The Art of Ancient Egypt: Big Idea: Art Reflects Religion and Their Belief in The Afterlife
The Art of Ancient Egypt: Big Idea: Art Reflects Religion and Their Belief in The Afterlife
Title: Seti I's Campaigns, Temple of Amun at Karnak, Thebes (exterior wall, north side of hypostyle).
Date: ca. 1280 BCE.
King Tutankhamen
• Tomb found in Valley of
the Kings.
• Dated back to 1327
B.C.E.
• The inner coffin is made
from hundreds of
pounds of gold, and
decorated with colored
enamel, and
gemstones.
Burial Art – Sarcophagus, Masks, & Mummies
Do you think ancient
Egyptian culture has
had an impact on our
life today?
Ancient Egyptian culture has
influenced our lives in many ways.
• Some of our buildings are based on Egyptian architecture.
– Did you know there is a pyramid shaped hotel in Las Vegas?
• Some of our language comes from the Egyptian written
language of hieroglyphs.
• Sometimes people dress up in mummy costumes as well as
wear jewelry with Egyptian designs.
• Hollywood has filmed Egyptian based movies such as
Cleopatra and The Mummy.
• Song writers have written songs about Egyptian themes.
What do you think
“Walk Like an Egyptian” means?
Egyptian artists liked to show everything from what they thought
was the best possible viewpoint. Ancient Egyptian artists used a
style called frontalism to draw people.
Frontalism
• The face is from a
side or profile view.
• The eye is from a
front view.
• The arms and feet
are from a profile
view.
• The shoulders and
chest are from a
front view.
Frontalism
• Ancient Egyptians
would attend a special
school to learn to write
and read hieroglyphics.
• Egyptians who learned
how to write the
language were called
Scribes.
What Did They Use?
• First, they cut a plant called
papyrus into thin layers. Then
they the papyrus strips flat and
pounded them with a mallet.
Finally, they used a smoothing
stone to smooth it out.
• They wrote on the papyrus paper
with reed pens which they
dipped into ink.
• They also carved and painted
hieroglyphics on tombs and
temple walls.
• The wore a CARTOUCHE
The Rosetta Stone
• The Rosetta Stone was found by French
soldiers who were rebuilding a fort in
Egypt in 1799. The Rosetta Stone is
believed to have been made in 196 B.C.
• The Rosetta Stone was inscribed with
three different texts Greek, Demotic,
Hieratic. Each text says the same thing.
• The Rosetta Stone text was written by
the priests in ancient Egypt to honor the
Pharaohs. It lists all the good things the
Pharaohs have done for the people and
priests.
Examples of Egyptian Hieroglyphics
When you think of
Egypt do you think
of pyramids?
There are approximately 100 Pyramids in Egypt
Bust of Nefertiti
Relief Sculpture
• Virtually all the wall-sculptures of the Ancient Egyptian Empire are in the form of bas-relief (low-relief)
• Relief-composition merely meant arranging the figures in horizontal lines so as to record an event or represent
an action.
• The principal figures were distinguished from others by their size - gods were shown larger than men, kings
larger than their followers, and the dead larger than the living.
Canopic Jars