History of Ancient Egyptian Art | Middle East And North Africa

PREDYNASTIC ART OF ANCIENT EGYPT

Badari culture female figure

David Wengrow of University College London wrote: “Predynastic art” describes a range of visual imagery and ornamental forms attested in Egypt and Lower Nubia from c.4000 - 3300 B.C.. The known corpus comprises a rich variety of figural and non-figural designs, often applied to functional objects that were widely available, such as cosmetic palettes, ceramic vessels, and combs. Free-standing figurines are also known, as are occasional examples of large-scale painting and sculpture. Such images were a pervasive feature of Egyptian social life prior to the formation of the dynastic state, when elaborate personal display appears to have become a prerogative of elite groups. [Source: David Wengrow, Institute of Archaeology, University College London, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, escholarship.org ]

“The term “Predynastic art” is conventionally used to describe a range of visual imagery and ornamental forms attested in Upper Egypt and Lower Nubia, and subsequently throughout Egypt, during the early and middle part of the fourth millennium (c.4000 - 3300 B.C.). The northward dissemination of these decorative forms constitutes part of a wider expansion of cultural influences and practices from the Nile Valley into the Delta, which begins around 3600 B.C. and characterizes the transition from the Naqada I to Naqada II periods. During the final centuries of the fourth millennium the majority ceased to be produced, or their production was tightly restricted, as the display of images throughout Egypt appears to have become a prerogative of elite groups.

“This attempt by the early dynastic state to co- opt, restrict, or eliminate pre-existing modes of visual expression implies that they had important social functions, reflected in the incorporation of art objects into Predynastic burials as ways of enhancing and extending a funerary image of the deceased that was committed to social memory.

“Most of what is termed Predynastic art derives from cemeteries excavated throughout Egypt during the early twentieth century, such as the large burial grounds of Naqada and Ballas, where the stylistic development of decorative forms provided an important component in Petrie’s establishment of a relative dating sequence. Around that time many examples also entered public and private collections from the antiquities market. Some are of doubtful authenticity, including a number of anthropomorphic figurines and a storage jar painted with an image of a sailing ship which is still widely, but unreliably, cited as the earliest evidence for sail-powered transport in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Art During the Old Kingdom

Catharine H. Roehrig of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “Egypt's Old Kingdom (Dynasties 3–6, ca. 2649–2150 B.C.) was one of the most dynamic periods in the development of Egyptian art. During this period, artists learned to express their culture's worldview, creating for the first time images and forms that endured for generations. [Source: Catharine H. Roehrig Department of Egyptian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2000, metmuseum.org \^/]

Memphis art

“Architects and masons mastered the techniques necessary to build monumental structures in stone. Sculptors created the earliest portraits of individuals and the first lifesize statues in wood, copper, and stone. They perfected the art of carving intricate relief decoration and, through keen observation of the natural world, produced detailed images of animals, plants, and even landscapes, recording the essential elements of their world for eternity in scenes painted and carved on the walls of temples and tombs. \^/

“These images and structures had two principal functions: to ensure an ordered existence and to defeat death by preserving life into the next world. To these ends, over a period of time, Egyptian artists adopted a limited repertoire of standard types and established a formal artistic canon that would define Egyptian art for more than 3,000 years, while remaining flexible enough to allow for subtle variation and innovation. Although much of their artistic effort was centered on preserving life after death, Egyptians also surrounded themselves with beautiful objects to enhance their lives in this world, producing elegant jewelry, finely carved and inlaid furniture, and cosmetic vessels and implements in a wide variety of materials.” \^/

Almost every picture that we meet with During the Old Kingdom has its typical mode of representation, to which all the artists adhere, though they may allow themselves to make certain slight improvements or additions. For instance, if a victory of the Pharaoh is to be represented, the king is drawn swinging his club and striding forward to slay an enemy who, pierced by a javelin, has fallen on his knee before him. The composition of the group is always the same even to the smallest detail — the foe turns his head and right arm towards the king craving mercy; with the left arm he supports himself on the left knee, whilst with the right foot the poor wretch has already lost his footing on the ground. A certain amount of liberty is allowed to the artist with regard to the costume of the king and of the barbarian, as well as with regard to the gods who are spectators of this scene, but the incident itself must always be depicted in the same manner. [Source: Adolph Erman, “Life in Ancient Egypt”, 1894]

In the tombs, on the other hand, the favorite subject of the slaughtering of the animals might be arranged by the artist in nine or ten different ways. The sacrificial animal might lie on the ground and the servants be busy in cutting it up. In this picture they would be represented in the act of cutting off one of the fore legs; one would be holding it straight up, the other cutting it off. A third would be standing close by, having paused in his work in order to sharpen his flint knife anew. Even the superscriptions, which always accompany this and other Egyptian pictures, are as a rule the same; over the man sharpening his knife must be written “the sharpening of the knife by the side of the slaughterer "; the one cutting off the leg must admonish his companion to “pull firmly "; and the other must answer — “I do as thou thinkest right. " In the same way amongst the pictures of agriculture, those of sowing and threshing, and that of leading out the cattle, are most frequently repeated, while the representations of peasants bringing tribute, and of the deceased and his wife before the table of offerings, recur again and again. The religious pictures also which we find on all the walls of the temples of a later period, have doubtless originated from a few typical representations of the Old Kingdom, though the latter do not chance to have been preserved to us.

Art During Middle Kingdom (2030–1640 B.C.)

During the Middle Kingdom there was a Renaissance of Egyptian culture. Temples were restored and new pyramids were built. Artists and craftsmen produced elaborate gold jewelry and painted wooden sculptures of everyday life. Writers produced some of ancient Egypt's best literature.

Amenenmet III

The art of the Old Kingdom had its center at the Memphite court; the artists of that town having raised it to an eminence which wins our admiration even at the present day. In the provinces however, where there was little demand for works of art as long as the whole state was concentrated in the court, art had no chance to develop.After the fall of the Old Kingdom this provincial art developed further in its own way, as is proved by the works of art of the 11th dynasty period found at Abydos, which are smooth and pretty. though very unskilful. [Source: Adolph Erman, “Life in Ancient Egypt”, 1894]

The reunion of the kingdom under Amenemhat I. gave a great impulse to art. The pictures which we have of the time of the Middle Kingdom, especially those of Beni Hasan and Aysut, are equal to those of the old Memphite city of the dead, and are evidently by their style the lineal descendants of the latter. All the conventional laws of style which we noticed in the older works are still observed, and in the same way freedom of drawing is only allowed in secondary figures. In the richer and more lifelike compositions however, a greater difference manifests itself, though the conventional types are adhered to as a rule. For instance, a representation of the felling of trees is given in the customary manner, with goats who are allowed to eat the foliage, but instead of the conventional sycamores with two animals stretching upwards on either side, as in the pictures of the Old Kingdom, the artist has made a pretty group of swaying palms, with the sportive goats eagerly jumping up at them. "

Catharine H. Roehrig of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: "The Middle Kingdom (mid-Dynasty 11–Dynasty 13, ca. 2030–1640 B.C.) began when Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II reunited Upper and Lower Egypt, setting the stage for a second great flowering of Egyptian culture. Thebes came into prominence for the first time, serving as capital and artistic center during Dynasty 11. [Source: Catharine H. Roehrig, Department of Egyptian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2000 metmuseum.org/ \^/]

“The outstanding monument of this dynasty was Mentuhotep's mortuary complex, loosely modeled on the funerary monuments of his Theban ancestors. Built on a grand scale against the spectacular sheer cliffs of western Thebes, Mentuhotep's complex centered on a terraced temple with pillared porticoes. The masterful design, representing a perfect union of architecture and landscape unique for its time, included painted reliefs of ceremonial scenes and hieroglyphic texts. Carved in a distinctive Theban style also seen in the tombs of Mentuhotep's officials, these now-fragmentary reliefs are among the finest ever produced in Egypt. \^/

“At the end of Dynasty 11, the throne passed to a new family with the accession of Amenemhat I, who moved the capital north to Itj-tawy, near modern Lisht. Strongly influenced by the statuary and reliefs from nearby Old Kingdom monuments in the Memphite region, the artists of Dynasty 12 created a new aesthetic style. The distinctive works of this period are a series of royal statues that reflect a subtle change in the Egyptian concept of kingship.” \^/

Art During the New Kingdom

Catharine H. Roehrig of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “New Kingdom pharaohs commanded unimaginable wealth, much of which they lavished on their gods, especially Amun-Re of Thebes, whose cult temple at Karnak was augmented by succeeding generations of rulers and filled with votive statues commissioned by kings and courtiers alike. [Source: Catharine H. Roehrig, Department of Egyptian Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2000, metmuseum.org \^/]

“Although the rulers of Dynasty 19 established an administrative capital near their home in the Delta, Thebes remained a cultural and religious center. The pharaohs built their mortuary temples here and were buried in huge rock-cut tombs decorated with finely executed paintings or painted reliefs illustrating religious texts concerned with the afterlife. A town was established in western Thebes for the artists who created these tombs. At this site (Deir el-Medina), they left a wealth of information about life in an ancient Egyptian community of artisans and craftsmen. Known especially for monumental architecture and statuary honoring the gods and pharaohs, the New Kingdom, a period of nearly 500 years of political stability and economic prosperity, also produced an abundance of artistic masterpieces created for use by nonroyal individuals.” \^/

Though the art of the New Kingdom was occupied chiefly with the decoration of large expanses of wall surface, yet it followed in a great measure the old paths. One innovation indeed we find — the artist was now allowed to represent a figure with that arm in advance which was nearest to the spectator. This was directly contrary to the ancient law of official art. But in other respects art rather retrograded than advanced, for the effort to keep to the old conventional style and to forbear following the ever-growing impulse in a more naturalistic direction, induced artists to lay more stress than was really needful on the stiffness and unnaturalness of the ancient style. [Source: Adolph Erman, “Life in Ancient Egypt”, 1894]

It was quite otherwise with art which was not officially recognised; the development of the latter we can admire in many pictures in the Theban tombs. In them we meet with fresh bright figures boldly drawn, though, as under the Old and the Middle Kingdom, amongst the servants and slaves. Asiatic captives may be represented according to the will of the artist, but their Egyptian overseer must stand there in stiff formality. The half-nude maiden who is serving the guests may be represented with her back to the spectator, with realistic hair, with arms drawn in perspective, and legs which set at nought every conventional rule, but the lady to whom she presents the wine must be drawn like a puppet of ancient form, for she belongs to the upper class.

Art Under Amenhotep III (1390–1352 B.C.)

Amenhotep III

Mark Millmore wrote in discoveringegypt.com: Amenhotep III’s patronage of the arts set new standards of quality and realism in representation. His building works can be found all over Egypt. Many of the finest statues in Egyptian art, attributed to Ramses II, were actually made by Amenhotep III. (Ramses II simply removed Amenhotep’s name and replaced it with his own.) One of Amenhotep’s greatest surviving achievements is the Temple of Luxor on the east bank of the river. Unfortunately, his mortuary temple, the largest of its kind ever built, was destroyed when Ramses II used it as a quarry for his own temple. Only the two colossal statues that stood at the entrance survive. [Source: Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com]

In the early 1990s the the Cleveland Museum of Art hosted an exhibition called "Egypt's Dazzling Sun: Amenhotep III and His World." On the show John, “The show cannot of course include the enormous building projects on which Amenhotep III gave so much of his time. (For that matter, nobody today can see them, because his immediate successors took a delight in destroying or disfiguring them.) But we remember portraits in stone of human beings of every kind and station. We also remember lions, rams, sphinxes and scribes. With them come reliefs, household objects and spectacular pieces of jewelry. This was a moment in Egyptian history when all went well. [Source: John Russell, New York Times, July 12, 1992]

His interests and his character would seem to have been formed by the time that he came to the throne as a mere boy. For instance, there is in the present show a sunken relief that shows him, at around 12 or 14, in the act of opening new limestone quarries at Tura, not far from Cairo. It was in Tura that the facing stones for the great pyramids in Giza and Sakkara had been quarried. Amenhotep III in later life was to be a great connoisseur of Egyptian stones, hard and soft, in all their variety. Nor did anyone ever put those stones to more eloquent use. So there is something as apt as it is touching about the gesture of the slender and limber boy king as he swings his left arm across his body to sprinkle the ritual incense.

Later statues of the king were sometimes as much as 25 feet high. A colossal head of Amenhotep III, more than seven feet high, sits in the museum in Luxor. Are we awed by the head? Of course we are, and not least by the gleaming actuality with which a likeness of living flesh has been wrested from one of the hardest and least amenable of all stones. To that end, a whole team of master craftsmen contributed.

Viewers attuned to the gaudy attractions of the Tutankhamen tomb may find the art produced under Amenhotep III lacking in panache. Others, bemused by the brutish and dictatorial bearing of the art and the architecture that they associate with Ramses II, who ruled roughly a century later, may find too much tenderness in the art of Amenhotep III.

Akhenaten and the Arts

Akenaton

Under the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten (ruled 1353 to 1336 BC) Egyptian art blossomed with new freshness. It is believed to have been inspired by the widespread belief that the sun god had come to Earth in the form of the royal family.

Under Akhenaten, sculptures expressed feeling, sensuality and beauty. Ceramics were filled with color and flare. Beautiful jewelry was made from balls of glass and precious stones. Murals with a natural realism were created that flied in the face of stiff Egyptian art.

Because Akhenaten wanted as many temples as possible to be built for his new god and the temples built under him didn't need roofs a new style of construction was invented. Before Akhenaten walls were constructed of huge stone slabs that had to be strong enough to support a roof. The temples built under Akhenaten were huge open air structures made of 20-x-10-x-10-inch stone blocks. Many of the temples featured color paintings of Akhenaten and Nefertiti Dr Kate Spence of Cambridge University wrote for the BBC: “Early in his reign Akhenaten used art as a way of emphasising his intention of doing things very differently. Colossi and wall-reliefs from the Karnak Aten Temple are highly exaggerated and almost grotesque when viewed in the context of the formality and restraint which had characterised Egyptian royal and elite art for the millennium preceding Akhenaten's birth. Although these seem striking and strangely beautiful today, it is hard for us to appreciate the profoundly shocking effect that such representations must have had on the senses of those who first viewed them and who would never have been exposed to anything other than traditional Egyptian art. [Source: Dr Kate Spence, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“With the move to Amarna the art becomes less exaggerated, but while it is often described as 'naturalistic' it remains highly stylised in its portrayal of the human figure. The royal family are shown with elongated skulls and pear-shaped bodies with skinny torsos and arms but fuller hips, stomachs and thighs. The subject matter of royal art also changes. Although formal scenes of the king worshipping remain important there is an increasing emphasis on ordinary, day-to-day activities which include intimate portrayals of Akhenaten and Nefertiti playing with their daughters beneath the rays of the Aten. Animals and birds are shown frolicking beneath the rays of the rising sun in the decoration of the royal tomb. While traditional Egyptian art tends to emphasise the eternal, Amarna art focuses on the minutiae of life which only occur because of the light-and life-giving power of the sun. |::|

“In addition to the changes he made to religious practices and art, Akhenaten also instigated changes in temple architecture and building methods: stone structures were now built from much smaller blocks of stone set in a strong mortar. Even official inscriptions changed, moving away from the old-fashioned language traditional to monumental texts to reflect the spoken language of the time.” |::|

Art from Akhenaten’s Karnak Years

Marsha Hill of The Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “The proto-Amarna phase lasted for about five years. Understanding of this seminal period is aided by the preservation of sculpture dismantled where it stood, and building stones from the Aten's Karnak complexes systematically reused as packing stones inside the Karnak temple pylons shortly after the Amarna Period. Discoveries of fundamental importance have been made by following the clues these building stones hold about the changes that unfolded at Karnak as Atenism emerged, discoveries contextualized and elaborated in a recent biography of the king. [Source: Marsha Hill, Department of Egyptian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, November 2014, metmuseum.org \^/]

“The king at first continued traditional attentions to Amun-Re, but already within his first year revealed a new focus on the falcon-headed god Re-Harakhty, who was given a long name identifying him with the Aten, although the name was not yet written in cartouches. The king undertook a considerable expansion of an area already devoted to Re-Harakhty on the eastern side of Karnak. Year 4 saw several major happenings, more or less in the following sequence: the Aten's name with epithets became fixed and immutable, written in cartouches (termed by scholars the "didactic" name), "Living Re-Harakhty who rejoices on the horizon in his name of Shu who is in the Aten"; a representation of the human figure was introduced that was overall more sinuous and heavy in the hips and evolved hereafter to be more so; the Aten's new icon—a many-handed sun disk represented as very spherical—was created and the falcon-headed image abandoned; Nefertiti emerged as the king's wife; and a vast complex was undertaken for the Aten yet further to the east within the Karnak precinct. \^/

“Nefertiti serves as Akhenaten's religious counterpart from her first appearance in year 4. The representation of their relationship certainly evoked traditional divine pairings. Shu and Tefnut, the children of Re, are alluded to. Scholarship has also drawn attention to Nefertiti's multifaceted relationship to Hathor, counterpart to Akhenaten in his relation to Re. With the move to Amarna, the royal pair were supplemented by the halo of—ultimately—six daughters. \^/

“The focus on Aten corresponded to a radically decreased attention to Amun in particular. By early in year 5, Amenhotep IV had identified a new home for the Aten at the site of Amarna, an area that he claimed belonged to no other god, and by the time his oath was recorded in boundary stelae some time during the ensuing year, his name had been changed to Akhenaten: at that point the focus shifts to the site of Amarna, considered in the second section of this essay.” \^/

Art During the Third Intermediate Period

James Allen and Marsha Hill of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “With the weakening of centralized royal authority in the Third Intermediate Period, the temple network emerged as a dominant sphere for political aspirations, social identification, and artistic production. The importance of the temple sphere obtained, with more or less visibility, for the ensuing first millennium.[Source: James Allen and Marsha Hill, Department of Egyptian Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2004, metmuseum.org \^/]

“Relatively little building took place during the Third Intermediate Period, but the creation of stylistically and technologically innovative bronze and precious temple statuary of gods, kings, and great temple officials flourished. Temple precincts, with the sanctity and safety they offered, were favored burial sites for royal and nonroyal persons alike. Gold and silver royal burial equipment from Tanis shows the highest quality of craftsmanship. Nonroyal coffins and papyri bear elaborate scenes and texts that ensured the rebirth of the deceased. \^/

“New emphasis was placed on the king as the child/son of a divine pair. This theme and other royal themes are expressed on a series of delicate relief-decorated vessels and other small objects chiefly in faience, but also of precious metal. The same theme is manifested architecturally in the emergence and development through the first millennium of the mammisi, or birth house, a subordinate temple where the birth of a juvenile god identified with the sun god and the king was celebrated.” \^/

Art During the Late Period (712–332 B.C.)

James Allen and Marsha Hill of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote: “During the Late Period, the reemergence of a centralized royal tradition that interacted with the relatively decentralized network inherited from the Third Intermediate Period created a rich artistic atmosphere. Particularly among royal artworks, it is possible to speak of marked affinities for models from certain anterior periods: Kushite kings admired Old Kingdom models, Saite kings those of the Old and New Kingdoms, and later kings of Dynasty 30 looked back beyond the Persian interlud to the kings of late Dynasty 26. Viewed from the perspective of metal statuary produced in temples or of nonroyal artworks, however, stylistic patterns suggest a complex interplay of influences less hierarchically determined by the temporal power of the king than in previous periods, with the result that the choices of patrons and artists are more recognizable. [Source: James Allen and Marsha Hill, Department of Egyptian Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, October 2004, metmuseum.org\^/]

Horus made during the Persian period

“A taste for realistic modeling of features of nonroyal persons emerges, while attention to the naturalistic modeling of flesh and bone in human and animal sculpture reaches new heights. While precious metal and bronze statuary and equipment had long associations with temple cult and ritual, by the first millennium B.C. changes in beliefs and practices had come about. A broad range of individuals made temple offerings, including relatively valuable bronze statuettes and equipment. While the king made offerings in his role as mediator between the gods and mankind, for private donors the goal was attainment of eternal life, for which the personal favor of or physical proximity to a deity was now believed to be as or even more efficacious than tombs and mortuary cult provisions. Osiris and the flourishing cults of animal avatars of certain gods were particular beneficiaries of these new offering practices. \^/

“Following the period of Persian rule, the kings of Dynasties 28 through 30 brought a new focus to their role as maintainers of a long tradition. Prodigious temple building and major production of statuary enacted an impressive reformulation and promulgation of the concept of divine kingship and formalized many other aspects of Egypt's ancient artistic and religious traditions in the face of threatening outside powers.” \^/

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated August 2024