A presentation meant to serve as an introduction to Ancient Egypt and its art. I use this lesson for Art I students.

1. Ancient Egypt
Art I

2. Fertile Crescent
-The first civilizations developed along the Fertile Crescent in an area called Mesopotamia.
-This area is located on the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Who Settled This Area??:
-Before settling into civilizations, early humans were wanders who lived in tents.
-Sometime before 4500 B.C., they settled in Sumer after their name:Sumerians
What Did They Develop?
-Agricultural communities with markets that eventually developed into towns.
-Towns were built around high temples
-Sumerians were highly gifted, creative people who tilled soil, built houses, and built irrigation systems and levees to
control flood waters.
-Believed to have invented wheeled transportation and the potter’s wheel.
-Often considered to be the first to develop a writing system: Cunieform (series of wedge shaped symbols/pictures
scratched into wet clay tablets)

3. The Rise of Ancient Egypt
-The fertile valley sits along the Nile River.
-5000 B.C., it is believed that people from Western Asia settled this area
-Over time, these people began to move away from hunting animals for food and began raising “farm” animals
-This is thanks to the fact that they did not have to move around any more.
-Settlements brought forth the growth of villages and towns, some of which grew so large that they took control of neighboring
villages and towns.
-This formed Kingdoms
-As Prehistory came to a close, there were two kingdoms formed in Egypt: Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt
-Lower Egypt=fan shaped delta region at the mouth of the Nile
-Upper Egypt=valley carved into the desert by the river
-This gave rise to the leadership of Pharaohs: ruler who governed with complete authority

4. Egypt

5. The Decline of Ancient Egypt
-After thriving through three major periods of history (known as the Old
Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and New Kingdom), and many religious
reformations, Egypt was made a province of Rome.
How did this happen??
-332 B.C., Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered Egypt, ending the
New Kingdom.
-30 B.C. Egypt was made a Province of Rome.

6. Art: Pyramids
-Egyptians place a great deal of religious importance on the idea that the soul would be resurrected to live an eternal
life in the spirit world after death.
-They also believed that the soul would eventually reunite with the body after death.
-It is for this reason that they worked so hard to preserve and protect that body after death. If the body were lost or
destroyed, they believed that the soul would wander aimlessly all throughout eternity unable to find it.
-This prompted the development of Pyramids as tombs.

7. Evolution of the Pyramid Shape
-Started as hidden pits with sand and stone on the top.
-Later, sun-dried bricks were used to build mastabas: low flat tomb
-These were rectangular with sloping sides, a chapel, and false burial chambers to deter bandits.
-Then, mastabas were stacked on top of one another to form the step pyramid.
-Finally, They were built without the steps and a point was added to the top-giving us the true
pyramid form.

8. Mastaba

9. Step Pyramid

10. Pyramid

11. Art: Sculpture
-Despite the precautions taken by the Egyptians to protect
the body for the soul to return to, many bodies were still
destroyed and/or lost when tombs were robbed for
treasures.
-This prompted Egyptians to take up the practice of
creating sculptures of pharaohs as a substitute vessel for
the soul to enter. These were placed in the tomb, near
the sarcophagus: a stone coffin

12. The Great Sphinx
-Perhaps the most
familiar sculpture of
ancient Egypt.
-Carved on site from rock
-Head of what is often
believed to be the
pharaoh Khafre and the
body of a reclining lion.
-65 feet in height

13. Akhenaton and Queen Nefertiti
Note the realism of these two portraits:

14. Paintings
-Painting were done on the walls of
the tombs
-They were included in most all
wealthy person’s tomb as a
cheaper alternative to expensive
wall carvings.
-Walls were covered with plaster,
and then painted on to tell a story
of some sort.
-Notice the odd way that the
people are drawn….

15. Rules of Egyptian Art
-Every part of the body must be shown from the most familiar point of view:
-Head, arms, legs, and feet were always in profile
-eyes and shoulders were seen from the front
-This made paintings look distorted and unnatural...but the work was still appealing because they
did not exaggerate this and they worked to keep everything in proportion.
-Why was a complete image so important (no body part left behind)??
-If the soul were going to use a piece of artwork as a substitute for the body, it would need all of
the body parts. This was far more important to them than making an image that looked beautiful or
accurate.
-If an arm were missing in the image, the soul would spend eternity in a deformed body!