The Art of Ancient

Egypt
Big Idea : Art reflects religion and
their belief in the afterlife.
WHERE? WHEN?
•Located in the Nile river valley, Africa
•Old Kingdom (2680 BC–c. 2200 BC)
•Middle Kingdom (2055 BC–1650 BC)
•New Kingdom (1550 BC–1069 BC),
 WHO?
Communities were
made up of:
•Soldiers
•Slaves
•Priests
•Scribes
•Artists and craftsmen
•Farmers and herdsmen
•Pharaohs & Queens
•Gods/Godesses Fishing Scene
Tomb of Kenamun
About 1430 BC
 Pharaoh

•The leader was called a

pharaoh.

•The pharaoh was believed

to be half man, half god.

•The afterlife of the pharaoh

is an important theme in
ancient Egyptian art.
 WHAT?

•The greatest architectural achievements of the Ancient

Egyptians were the pyramids.

•Pyramids were built as tombs for the pharaohs. The

pyramids contained the items that the Egyptians believed
that the Pharaoh would need in the afterlife.
•Much of the ancient Egyptian art that remains today was
preserved in the pyramids.
Other Art created by Ancient Egyptians

• Egyptian people had a rich culture and loved to make art.

• The Egyptian people also made statues, relief carvings,
paintings, pottery, jewelry, sculptures and even coffins.
• Most ancient Egyptian art is found buried in the ground or
found in ancient Egyptian pyramids.
Statues and Sculptures
Jewelry
Paintings
Bas-Relief Carvings / Stele

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

Can you see the front and

profile views of these
Egyptian figures?
 Frontalism

Look for the characteristics of Frontalism in this work of art.

• 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.
 To Draw An Ancient Egyptian Person
Just follow these steps...

• 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.
What is the written
language of the
ancient Egyptian
people?
Hieroglyphics is the written language of the
ancient Egyptian people.

• Hieroglyphs appear on tomb

and temple walls, statues,
papyrus (paper) and even
jewelry.
• Text could be read from left
to right, right to left, or up and
down depending on which way
the symbols faced.
• Hieroglyphic writing is one of
the most beautiful systems of
writing ever created.
How Did People Learn To Write It?

• 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

• A pyramid was built to

be the tomb of a king
called a pharoah.
• Secret chambers in
the pyramid held the
king’s mummy, coffins
and special items from
the king’s afterlife.
• Ancient Egyptian
people believed the
pyramid connected the
sky and the earth.
•The first pyramid was built for King Zoser. It was a “step
pyramid”. It was designed and built by an artist and architect
named Imhotep.
•Imhotep is the first architect whose name is recorded in history.
•This pyramid was built about 2600 BC.
•The pyramids were built using blocks of stone.
•Originally the exterior of the pyramids had a smooth quality. However,
due to time, wind, weather, etc. this smooth façade has worn away. You can
see a small remainder of the facade on the photo to the top left.
Egypt, El Giza,
Great Pyramid also known as "Pyramid of Cheops" or
"Khufu's Pyramid" 2600-2480 BCE, The base of the pyramid covers
about 13 acres. To build the Great Pyramid it took an about
2,300,000 dressed stone blocks (averaging 2.5 tons each) -- more
than any other structure ever built. The blocks were moved on log
rollers and sledges, and then ramped into place.
•The Great Pyramid was originally 481 feet high and each side was 756 feet long.
•Look at the size of these pyramids compared to the size of the people below.
•The inside of a pyramid
 Other Egyptian Architectural Structures

The ancient Egyptians also built beautiful temples.

•This is the Temple of Ra
• The Sphinx is another example of a Pharaoh (Khafre)
demonstrating his power.
•The massive size and the head of Pharaoh Khafre on the body
of a lion was intended to demonstrate the power of the
pharaoh.
•Carved from stone at the site and stands at 65 feet tall.

Pharaoh Khafre, c. 2600 B.C.

Diorite. 66 inches tall.
 Temple of Ra

Title: Hypostyle Hall of Temple of Amun-Ra, Karnak, Thebes.

Date: ca. 1290-1224 BCE.
 Other Egyptian Architectural Structures

Title: Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri

Date: ca. 1478–1458 BCE.
Temple of Queen Hatshepsut
 Temple of Ramses II
Title: Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel. 19th Dynasty.
Date: ca. 1279-1213 BCE.
 Interior Temple of Ramses II
Title: Interior Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel. 19th Dynasty.
Date: ca. 1279-1213 BCE.
Do you know
what
Mummification
means?
 Mummification
means to preserve a body.
• The Egyptian people
created mummies by
packing the dead with salt
and then wrapping the
body with linen cloth.
• The process of
mummification took about
70days.
• The mummified body
would be placed in a
wooden coffin. That
coffin would be placed in
a stone sarcophagus.
 Burial Art – Mummies

Mummy of Nes-mut-aat-neru.
From Deir el-Bahri, temple of
Hatshepsut; Third Intermediate
Period, mid-Dynasty 25, about
700-675 B.C.. Gift of the Egypt
Exploration Fund 95.1407a
Burial Art – Masks
Burial Art – Sarcophaguses
 Ancient Egyptian Sculpture

Sculpture In the Round

Statues in the round usually depicted the gods,
Pharaohs, or civic officials, and were composed with
special reference to the maintenance of straight lines
• Of the materials used by the Egyptian, stone was the
most plentiful and permanent

• Sculpture was often painted in vivid hues as well

• Cubic and frontal- echoes in its form the shape of the

stone cube or block from which it was fashioned,

• The front of almost every statue is the most important

part and the figure sits or stands facing strictly to the
front

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