PREHISTORIC ART AND THE ART OF ANCIENT EGYPT

1. PREHISTORIC ERA

2. WHAT IS PREHISTORIC ERA?
• PREHISTORIC MEANS “BEFORE HISTORY” OR “BEFORE
WRITTEN HISTORY.”
• INVENTION OF THE WRITING SYSEM
• THE TERM “PREHISTORY” CAN REFER TO THE VAST
SPAN OF TIME SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE
UNIVERSE OR THE EARTH.

3. WHO WERE THE ARTIST?
• Cro-Magnon peoples
from 30,000 BCE are
currently known as the
world’s first artists.
• They lived in caves
when it was cold.
• Hunted animals for
food, clothing, tools,
and shelter.

4. •Early humans chose
locations that could
be defended against
predators and rivals
and that were
shielded from
inclement weather.
•Cave is the best
example where the
early humans can stay.

5. THE ART
•Rock paintings have
been found to include
line drawings in
charcoal and red ochre,
painted images, and
negative images, which
are formed by painting
the rock area around
an object, such as a
hand.

6. •Cave paintings
demonstrate early humans'
capacity to give meaning
to their surroundings and
communicate with others.
•Cave paintings can be
grouped into three main
categories: animals, human
figures, and abstract signs.

7. •Animals depicted
include familiar
herbivores and
predatory animals.
•Interpretations vary
from prehistoric star
charts, accounts of
past hunts or
mystical rituals for
future ones,
and shamanism.

8. WHY WERE THEY MADE?
•We don't know why the painters made cave
paintings. The theories include:
-Hunting "magic"
-Part of their spiritual beliefs
-Ceremonial - coming of age
-As an aid to memory and pass on

9. •Pre-historic includes all human existence before the
emergence of writing.
•Their art is of interest not only to the art historians
but also to archaeologist and anthropologist;
•It is the only one clue- along with fossils, pollens
and other finds to an understanding of early
human life and culture.

10. THE LASCAUX CAVE

11. THE ART OF ANCIENT EGYPT

12. INTRODUCTION
•Egyptian culture is dedicated to providing a
home for “ka”. The “ka” is that part of the
human being that defines personality and
that survives life on earth after death.
•Its enduring nature required that artist need
to decorate tombs with paintings that the
spirits could enjoy after death.
•Egyptians believe that the “ka” can find home
in the statue of the deceased resting place,
the Pyramid.

13. THE PAINTINGS
• The purpose of Egyptian
paintings is to make the
deceased afterlife place
pleasant. With this in mind,
themes include journey to
the underworld introducing
the deceased to the gods of
the underworld by their
protective deities.

14. •THE CANON
•EGYPTIAN ARTIST DREW
THE WHOLE HUMAN
BODY.
•THE HEAD, ARMS, LEGS
AND FEET WERE DRAWN
FROM THE SIDE.
•THE EYES AND
SHOULDERS ARE SHOWN
IN FRON VIEW.

15. Ancient Egyptian
Sarcophagus
• A sarcophagus is a carved,
usually a stone container that
usually houses a coffin and an
Egyptian mummy. The word
‘sarcophagus’ is derived from
Greek words “sarx” meaning
“flesh”, and “phagien” meaning
“to eat” derived from a Greek
word for “flesh-eating.

16. MUMMIFICATION
•THE EGYPTIANS
BELIEVED THAT WHEN
THE “PHARAOH” DIES,
HIS SOUL WOULD
RETURN TO HIS BODY,
THAT’S WHY BODIES
WERE PRESERVED
THROUGH
MUMMIFICATION.

17. The Great Sphinx
The Pyramid of Giza
*Khufu, Khafre, and
OTHER ANCIENT ART OF
EGYPT