EGYPT- THE CULT OF THE DEAD

Chapter 4

Life and death were the central point of Egyptian religion. This remained unchanged for at least 3000 years

They believed they would continue a life on earth after death without the suffering

Life was spent in preparation of the next stage

Tombs and all the decorations were created to protect the deceased and were seen as more important than the house that one builds while living

In the afterlife there would be interaction between 3 emanations of spirit.

The life force of the universe that accompanied the body in life is the KA

After death the ka goes back to the creator. In order to live again the deceased has to rejoin the ka.

This spirit is sustained with food and drink (food offerings in tomb)

The BA is the personality of the person and is the link between life and afterlife.

This spirit would rejoin the mummy every day- like a daily cycle of rebirth.

When the KA and the BA rejoins, it becomes ANKH- This is like a living being.

This daily cycle of rebirth is only available to those whose lives justify it- the BA would be judged by Osiris, by balancing it on a scale against a feather, if the two did not balance there would be a second process of dying.

The book of the dead had to be taken along on the journey. Person was provided with a set of spells to recite while being judged and weighed to ensure successful outcome. It also contained odes to the god RA and how to deal with different dangers

THE ROSETTA STONE

The Rosetta Stone was a black basalt slab with the same piece of writing carved in three different languages

Scholars were able to make sense of the hieroglyphic version by comparing it with the Greek which they already understood

THE GODS

Anubis

a jackal.

guided the spirits of the dead

Horus

A falcon.

sky, light and

goodness

Thoth

an ibis

wisdom, writing, numbers, the arts, astronomy and magic

Apis

a bull.

strength and fertility

Sobek

a crocodile.

god of the Nile

Seth

strange composite creature- giraffe, camel, ant eater or okapi

storms and chaos

Bastet

Cat/lion.

joy, music and dancing

Khnum

A ram.

water and

creation

EGYPTIAN ART- MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES

Egyptian artists used a wide array of materials, both local and imported, from very early in their history

There were numerous native stones used for statuary, including the ubiquitous soft limestone of the desert cliffs that line most of the Nile valley, as well as sandstone, calcite, and schist.

Most statuary was painted; even stones selected for the symbolism of their colour were often painted.

artists also used a variety of woods in their work, including the native acacia, tamarisk, and sycamore fig as well as fir, cedar, and other conifers imported from Syria. Artisans excelled at puzzling together small, irregular pieces of wood and pegged them into place to create statuary, coffins, boxes, and furniture.

They also executed pieces in various metals, including copper, copper alloys (such as bronze), gold, and silver. Cult statues of gods were made in gold and silver—materials identified by myth as their skin and bones—and were often quite small.

Jewelry work was quite sophisticated even in the Old Kingdom, as demonstrated by some highly creative pieces depicted in tomb scenes.

Relief was usually carved before being painted. The two primary classes of relief are raised relief (where the figures stand up out from the surface) and sunk relief (where the figures are cut into and below the surface).

Most pigments in Egypt were derived from local minerals. White was often made from gypsum, black from carbon, reds and yellows from iron oxides, blue and green from azurite and malachite, and bright yellow (representing gold) from orpiment.

THE FUNCTION OF EGYPTIAN ART

These images, were designed to benefit a divine or deceased recipient. Statuary provided a place for the recipient to manifest and receive the benefit of ritual action. Most statues show a formal frontality, meaning they are arranged straight ahead, because they were designed to face the ritual being performed before them. Many statues were also originally placed in recessed niches or other architectural settings—contexts that would make frontality their expected and natural mode.

Statuary, whether divine, royal, or elite, provided a kind of conduit for the spirit (or ka) of that being to interact with the terrestrial realm. Divine cult statues (few of which survive) were the subject of daily rituals of clothing, anointing, and perfuming with incense and were carried in processions for special festivals so that the people could "see" them (they were almost all entirely shrouded from view, but their 'presence' was felt).

Royal and elite statuary served as intermediaries between the people and the gods. Family chapels with the statuary of a deceased forefather could serve as a sort of 'family temple.' There were festivals in honor of the dead, where the family would come and eat in the chapel, offering food for the Afterlife, flowers (symbols of rebirth), and incense (the scent of which was considered divine). Preserved letters let us know that the deceased was actively petitioned for their assistance, both in this world and the next.

REGISTERS Scenes were ordered in parallel

lines, known as registers. These registers separate the scene as well as provide ground lines for the figures.

Scenes without registers are unusual and were generally only used to specifically evoke chaos; battle and hunting scenes will often show the prey or foreign armies without groundlines.

Registers were also used to convey information about the scenes—the higher up in the scene, the higher the status; overlapping figures imply that the ones underneath are further away, as are those elements that are higher within the register.

HIERARCHY OF SCALE

Difference in scale was the most commonly used method for

conveying hierarchy—the larger the scale of the figures, the more

important they were.

Kings were often shown at the same scale as deities, but both are

shown larger than the elite and far larger than the average Egyptian.

TEXT AND IMAGE

Text accompanied almost all images. In statuary, identifying text will appear on the back pillar or base, and relief usually has captions or longer texts that complete and elaborate on the scenes

Hieroglyphs were often rendered as tiny works of art in themselves, even though these small pictures do not always stand for what they depict; many are instead phonetic sounds.

Some, however, are logographic, meaning they stand for an object or concept.

The lines blur between text and image in many cases. For instance, the name of a figure in the text on a statue will regularly omit the determinative (an unspoken sign at the end of a word that aids identification–for example, verbs of motion are followed by a pair of walking legs, names of men end with the image of a man, names of gods with the image of a seated god, etc.) at the end of the name. In these instances, the representation itself serves this function.

PAINTING IN EGYPT- PAINTING RULES

Frontality

Proportion

Stylization

Formula

PAINTING IN EGYPT

Less prestigious works in tombs, temples and palaces were just painted on a flat

surface.

Stone surfaces were prepared by whitewash, or if rough, a layer of coarse mud

plaster, with a smoother gesso layer above; some finer limestones could take

paint directly.

Pigments were mostly mineral, chosen to withstand strong sunlight without

fading. The binding medium used in painting remains unclear: egg tempera and

various gums and resins have been suggested.

Many ancient Egyptian paintings have survived due to Egypt's extremely dry

climate. The paintings were often made with the intent of making a pleasant

afterlife for the deceased.

The themes included journey through the afterworld or protective deities

introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld (such as Osiris). Some

tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they

were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity.

In the New Kingdom and later, the Book of the Dead was buried with the

entombed person. It was considered important for an introduction to the

afterlife.

Egyptian paintings are painted in such a way to show a profile view and a side

view of the animal or person at the same time. For example, the painting shows

the head from a profile view and the body from a frontal view. Their main colors

were red, blue, green, gold, black and yellow.

SCULPTURE IN EGYPT

The monumental sculptures are world-famous, but refined and delicate small works exist in much greater numbers

Other conventions make statues of males darker than females ones

The famous row of four colossal statues outside the main temple at Abu Simbel each show Rameses II, a typical scheme, though here exceptionally large.

Early tombs also contained small models of the slaves, animals, buildings and objects such as boats necessary for the deceased to continue his lifestyle in the afterworld

However the great majority of wooden sculpture has been lost to decay, or probably used as fuel. Small figures of deities, or their animal personifications, are very common, and found in popular materials such as pottery. There were also large numbers of small carved objects, from figures of the gods to toys and carved utensils

Very strict conventions were followed while crafting statues and specific rules governed appearance of every Egyptian god.

Artistic works were ranked according to their compliance with these conventions, and the conventions were followed so strictly that, over three thousand years, the appearance of statues changed very little

PHARAOH MYCERINUS AND HIS WIFE KHAMERERNEBTY

The sculpture as a group is strengthened by various rhythmic elements- both are upright, emphasising the verticality of the whole sculpture.

Vertical lines of arms, legs and torso are contrasted by horizontal lines of bodily features like king’s belt and queens arm.

Figures are very rigid and upright.

They are shown with relative simple regalia- the king has a linen headdress, a false beard (symbolising divinity), and is dressed in a royal quilt. The queen has a thin robe with thick stylised hair.

In spite of lack of decoration, their bearing is aristocratic.

Divinity is emphasised by air of “untouchability”.

ARCHITECTURE

Ancient Egyptian architects used sun-dried and kiln-baked bricks, fine sandstone, limestone and granite.

Architects carefully planned all their work. The stones had to fit precisely together, since there was no mud or mortar.

When creating the pyramids, ramps were used to allow workmen to move up as the height of the construction grew.

When the top of the structure was completed, the artists decorated from the top down, removing ramp sand as they went down.

Exterior walls of structures like the pyramids contained only a few small openings.

Hieroglyphic and pictorial carvings in brilliant colors were abundantly used to decorate Egyptian structures, including many motifs, like the scarab, sacred beetle, the solar disk, and the vulture. They described the changes the Pharaoh would go through to become a god

THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA The Great Pyramid of Giza is the most substantial ancient structure in the world - and

the most mysterious- the three pyramids on the Giza plateau are funerary structures of three kings of the fourth dynasty

The Great Pyramid, attributed to Khufu (Cheops) is on the right of the photograph, the pyramid attributed to Khafra (Chephren) next to it, and that of Menkaura (Mycerinus) the smallest of the three.

The Great Pyramid was originally encased in highly polished, smooth white limestone and capped.

According to our present knowledge the Great Pyramid of Giza is mostly solid mass, it’s only known interior spaces being the Descending passage (the original entrance), the Ascending passage, the Grand Gallery and the two main chambers

These two chambers, called the King's Chamber and the Queen's Chamber, It is an Arab custom to bury men in tombs with a flat roof and women in rooms with a gabled roof;

Egyptologists assume that this was the final resting place of Khufu, yet not the slightest evidence suggests that a corpse had ever been in this coffer or chamber.

the passageway leading from the Grand Gallery to the main chamber is too narrow to admit the movement of the coffer; the coffer must have been placed in the chamber as the pyramid was being built,

The mathematical complexity, engineering requirements, and sheer size of the Giza plateau pyramids represent an enormous, seemingly impossible leap in abilities over the third dynasty buildings