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Chapter 3Egypt Under the Pharaohs

AP Art History

Artwork was constructed to ensure Pharaoh’s eternal good will

Ka (soul) of the Pharaoh was capable of happiness in the after-life if the body was preserved, earthly possessions were placed in the tomb, and paintings and sculptures to serve as reminders of who the Pharaoh was.

Because of this, most artwork is funerary and followed a strict canon

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PREDYNASTIC AND EARLY DYNASTIC EGYPT

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Palette of Narmer

• 3100 BCE – one of the 1st historical works of art

• Palette - stone slab with as circular depression

• Palettes were typically used as a utilitarian object used to prepare eye makeup.

• 2 sides commemorate Narmer’s unification of Upper and Lower Egypt

• Designed to convey his power and invincibility through hierarchical scale

• Became a standard for Egyptian figural art for the next 3000 years

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Palette of Narmer

• At the top of both sides is the goddess Hathor represented as a cow with a woman’s face

• In the top center is the hieroglyphic name of Narmer - it is the earliest labeled work of historical art

• On the back of the palette Narmer wears the bowling-pin shaped crown of Upper Egypt and is accompanied by a sandal bearer while he slays his enemy. Narmer is barefoot because he stands on sacred ground as a divine king.

• On the right is Horus - falcon with human arms takes captive a man-headed hieroglyph with a papyrus plant growing from it which represents Lower Egypt.

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Palette of Narmer

• On the Front, the elongated necks of two felines form the circular depression that would have held the eye makeup. Their intertwined necks may also serve as a symbol of the unification of Egypt.

• Narmer, in the second register is the largest and wears the cobra crown of Lower Egypt and is reviewing the beheaded bodies of the enemy.

• Narmer is proceeded by four standard bearers and a priest and he is followed by his foot washer or sandal bearer

• The bottom register shows a bull knocking down a fortress - Narmer knocking over his enemies.

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Figure 3-3 Palette of King Narmer (left, back; right, front), from Hierakonpolis, Egypt, Predynastic, ca. 3000–2920 BCE. Slate, 2’ 1” high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

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Figure 3-4 Section (top), plan (center),and restored view (bottom) of typical Egyptian mastaba tombs.

Standard tombs for the Pharaoh during this time was mastabas

Mastaba – single-story trapezoidal tomb

Imhotep’s Pyramid of King Djoser• Architect of the 3rd dynasty who

created a step pyramid• He is the first artist/architect

recorded in history• 6 – mastaba structures stacked• Similar to ziggurat except function• Later pyramids were based upon

his design

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Figure 3-5 IMHOTEP, Stepped Pyramid and mortuary precinct of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt, Third Dynasty, ca. 2630–2611 BCE.

OLD KINGDOM

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Figure 3-8 Great Pyramids, Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty. From bottom: Pyramids of Menkaure, ca. 2490–2472 BCE; Khafre, ca. 2520–2494 BCE; and Khufu, ca. 2551–2528 BCE.

Each pyramid had an adjoining mortuary temple

Pharaoh buried inside the pyramid unlike the stepped pyramid where the Pharaoh was buried under the building

Each side of pyramid is oriented with a cardinal direction

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Figure 3-9 Section of the Pyramid of Khufu, Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, ca. 2551–2528 BCE.

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Figure 3-10 Model of the Fourth Dynasty pyramid complex, Gizeh, Egypt. Harvard University Semitic Museum, Cambridge. 1) Pyramid of Menkaure, 2) Pyramid of Khafre, 3) mortuary temple of Khafre, 4) causeway, 5) Great Sphinx, 6) valley temple of Khafre, 7) Pyramid of Khufu, 8) pyramids of the royal family and mastabas of nobles.

Sculptures

• Created to be the abode for the ka should the mummy be destroyed.

• Primarily made of stone when depicting royalty or nobility

• One Egyptian word for sculptor can be translated “he- who-keeps- alive.”

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Khafre

•Made of diorite

•Sits rigidly on a throne created from two lions’ bodies.

•Intertwined lotus and papyrus plants – symbol of unification

•Sculpture is compact to ensure parts could not be broken off

•Muscular, flawless body = power

•Horus enfolds Pharaoh’s head with his protective wings = divine appointment

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Figure 3-13 Menkaure and Khamerernebty(?), from Gizeh, Egypt, Fourth Dynasty, ca. 2490–2472 BCE. Graywacke, 4’ 6 1/2” high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Menkaura and his Queen

•Youthful bodies

•Menkaura -Standing with arms at side, fists clinched and left foot slightly in front – he is in the position of power

•His wife (Khamerenbety?) clings to his side showing their marital status

•Both are emotionless and rigid

Seated Scribe

•Limestone• Painted•Less monumental and less important

More realistic since there was no need for formality

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http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/seated-scribe.html

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Figure 3-15 Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt, relief in the mastaba of Ti, Saqqara, Egypt, Fifth Dynasty, ca. 2450–2350 BCE. Painted limestone, 4’ high.

Ti – an official of 5th dynasty

Scenes depicted things associated with provision of the ka in the after-life

Also, success in a hunt symbolized the triumph overthe forces of evil.

MIDDLE KINGDOM

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Ca. 2150 BCE the Egyptian people began to question the Pharaoh’s power and Egypt was in civil unrest for more than a century.

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Rock-cut tombs

• Most widely used burial method of the Middle Kingdom and largely replaced the mastabas of the Old Kingdom

• Hollowed out of cliffs with a shallow columnar porch (vestibule) which led into a columned hall then into the burial chamber

• In some rock-cut tombs the columns were decorative and served no structural purpose

• The walls were decorated as in times past with reliefs and paintings and statues were placed within niches.

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Figure 3-18 Rock-cut tombs BH 3-5, Beni Hasan, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1950 – 1900 BCE.

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Figure 3-19 Interior hall of the rock-cut tomb of Amenemhet (tomb BH 2), Beni Hasan, Egypt, 12th Dynasty, ca. 1950–1900 BCE.

NEW KINGDOM

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Hatshepsut

Her husband Thutmose II died and since she had no male heirs 12-year old Thutmose II the son of a minor wife was to become heir. Hatshepsut was named regent for the boy king and within a few years she proclaimed herself Pharaoh. She ruled for two decades.

Mortuary temple – 3 colonnaded terraces connected by rampspillars are rectangularterraces would have housed gardensreliefs depict birth (daughter of Amen-Re) to coronation1st great tribute to woman’s achievement in Art History

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Figure 3-20 Mortuary temple of Hatshepsut (with the Middle Kingdom mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II at left), Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1473–1458 BCE.

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Figure 3-21 Hatshepsut with offering jars, from the upper court of her mortuary temple, Deir el-Bahri, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1473–1458 BCE. Red granite, 8’ 6” high. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

200 statues of Hatshepsut were created but many were destroyed by Thutmose III after her death

She is represented as a male in many of her statues, though there were some where she was depicted with a female physique

Temple of Ramses II

• Rock-cut Temple• 4 – colossal images of himself on

the façade• Interior housed 32 ft pillars of

king as Osiris – the god of order• Male statue columns are called

atantid

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Figure 3-22 Temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290–1224 BCE. Sandstone, colossi 65’ high.

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Figure 3-23 Interior of the temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290–1224 BCE. Sandstone, pillar statues 32’ high.

Pylon Temples

• New Kingdom pharaohs commanded their architects to build pylon temples to honor the gods and emphasize their power

• Two massive pylons, or gateways with sloping walls flanked the entrance

• A lone axial corridor lead to an enormous hypostyle hall - a large number of columns supported the roof of the hall

• The corridor eventually lead to a sanctuary that only priest and the pharaoh could enter.

Figure 3-A Pylon gate of the temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, begun 15th century BCE

Figure 3-B Approaching avenue of the temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, begun 15th century BCE

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Figure 3-25 Hypostyle hall, temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290–1224 BCE.

Figure 3-26 Model of the hypostyle hall, temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290 – 1224 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

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Tomb paintings

• Frontalism – canon of Egyptian painting and relief carving

• Rules: – the head of the character is always drawn in profile,

while the body is seen from the front. – Although the face is to the side, the eye is drawn in full.– The legs are turned to the same side as the head, with

one foot placed in front of the other. – The head is at right angles to the body. – Every figure, in paintings or sculptures, stands or sits

with a formal, stiff, and rigid posture. – The stance of the body is severe, but the faces are calm

and serene

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Fowling Scene, from the tomb if Nebamum• Tomb of nobleman whose official titles were “scribe and

counter of grain”

• He is enjoying this activity in the afterlife

• Nebamum is in action – throwing a stick and holding three birds he has captured in his right hand

• His wife and daughter accompany him on his hunt

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Figure 3-28 Fowling scene, from the tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1400–1350 BCE. Fresco on dry plaster,. 2’ 8” high. British Museum, London.

AMARNA PERIOD

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Figure 3-30 Akhenaton, from the temple of Aton, Karnak, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Sandstone, 13’ high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Akhenaton – abandoned all gods but Aton

This statue is frontal but has an effeminate body, full lips and heavy-lidded eyes

Was it an accurate depiction or a symbol of rebellion?

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Figure 3-31 THUTMOSE, Nefertiti, from Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Painted limestone, approx. 1’ 8” high. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.

Deliberately unfinished?

Long neck believed to allude to a flower on a stalk

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Figure 3-33 Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters, from Amarna, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1353–1335 BCE. Limestone, 1’ 1/4” high. Ägyptisches Museum, Berlin.

POST-AMARNA PERIOD

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Tutankhamen

• The legacy of the Armana period can be seen in the art and artifacts discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamen.

• However, he served as a transitional figure for a return to the traditional religion and traditional conventions in art. This is actually documented on some of the treasures discovered in his tomb. His throne, which was made early in his reign revealed his birth name – Tutankaton

• His tomb was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter.

• Tutankhamen was a minor figure during his life – he rose to the throne around the age of 9 and was Pharaoh for just a decade and died around the age 19.

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Figure 3-34 Innermost coffin of Tutankhamen, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1323 BCE. Gold with inlay of enamel and semiprecious stones, 6’ 1” long. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Tut’s body laid in repose within the innermost coffin of three separate coffins nested on within the other.

It is the most luxurious of the three

Made of gold, inlaid with semiprecious stones

It depicts Tut as Osiris, god of the underworld

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Figure 3-1 Death mask of Tutankhamen, from the innermost coffin in his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 18th Dynasty, ca. 1323 BCE. Gold with inlay of semiprecious stones, 1’ 9 1/4” high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

Death mask covered the face of King Tut

Made of gold and semiprecious stones

Last Judgement of Hu Nefer

• Anubus (jackal-headed) god of embalming weighs Hu Nefer’s heart againgh Moat’s feather

• Ammit (hippo and lion) the devourer of the sinful awaits the judgement

• Thoth (ibis headed) records the proceedings

• A pantheon of gods witness from above

• Horus leads him to Osiris, Isis and Nephthys where he is awarded an after-life

• Signifies a return to conservatism

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Figure 3-36 Last judgment of Hu-Nefer, from his tomb at Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, ca. 1290–1280 BCE. Painted papyrus scroll, 1’ 6” high. British Museum, London.

What Kingdom?

•As a group discuss which era of Egyptian history you believe the

artwork is from.

•Write down which era and your reasoning for choosing that era,

provide 3-4 reasons.

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