Egyptian art had distinct characteristics that allowed it to be identified, even thousands of years later. Some key characteristics included hieroglyphic symbols, use of gold and engraving, and emphasis on accurate human proportions. Egyptian art served important cultural and religious purposes rather than just personal expression. It depicted Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife, gods, history, and the relationship between humans and nature. The styles and purposes of Egyptian art changed little over thousands of years, from early depictions of nomadic life to later symbolic royal portraits.

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EGYPTIAN ART
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Egyptian Art
Introduction
The paper is a critical examination of Egyptians art. What are brought forth in this essay
are the main characteristics of the Egyptians arts as well as what art mean to the Egyptians. It is
worth noting from the onset that art has been used to describe varied culture, in this case Egypt is
no exception.
Egyptian art is the style in which ancient Egyptians especially from 5000BC to about
300AD used to paint, making sculptures, crafts, as well as architecture. Additionally, it is worth
remembering that ancient art in Egypt was totally different from what we see today informs of
temples and pyramids of the pharaoh times (Robins, 2001).
Historically, it was as from as early as the eight millennium that those who lived in lower
Nile valley started making engrave drawings on cliffs. This was used to show the basics of their
way of life which incorporated life in the wild, hunting scenarios, herds of cattle. On the same
note, these people used long lasting materials to show case their piece of art for instance stones
and ivory (Charlotte, 2001). Additionally, there were incidences where pottery vessels that were
place where one was buried, figures of people as well as animals and female whose sexual
attributes had been portrayed in an abnormal manner leaves us to suggest that these individuals
were closely linked to issue related to fertility.
According to Charlotte, 2001 it is worth noting again that Egyptian art are so distinct and
can be retrieved by any body and relate it to early Egyptians art, thanks to their well spelt out
characteristics. The art was expressed in form of paintings and sculptures both being very
symbolized and stylized. The origin of most of the art is from tombs and monuments; this

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suggests that these individuals laid serious consideration on life after death as well as
safeguarding indigenous knowledge.
Main characteristics of Egyptians arts
As previously mentioned, the distinguishing characteristics of Egyptian art are what make
it possible for every one to distinguish them from museums as well as printed media. The main
characteristic of Egyptian art is that it did change very little through out the seven periods of
artistic development. These periods include predynastic, old kingdom, middle kingdom, new
kingdom, Amarna period, late period and Ptolemaic.
According to Robins, 2001 various paintings as well as other form of art in Egypt tended
to have very clear as well as hierrogyphic characteristics on them. For instance, most of the
Egyptian arts comprised of some of the gods the Egyptians worshipped, had gold as well as
being engraved. Additionally several of the art pieces were a bit complex made up of certain
symbols and markings that depicted certain attributes for instance the social status of the person,
whether the sculpture represent someone who is alive or dead. The symbol and marking used for
this include hands crossed that hold the ankh
Another distinguishing characteristic of Egyptian art is the use of a grid having eighteen
squares so that attaining suitable and accurate proportion of figure is guaranteed. For instance a
figure that was to be portrayed while standing had to exactly measure six cubits.
On the same note, Egyptian art have within it a sense of deep humanity. This has played a
major role in making such arts be recognized and appreciated after thousands of years. The
personalities that the art tried to depict are still with use, additionally the scenes that the art tried
to depict are also still with us and are very familiar with each and every individual around the
globe (Andrews, 2010).

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During the middle kingdom era, the pieces of art that depicted the pharaoh as being a
perfect being were left behind and what was adopted was a painting and sculpture that showed
them being very old and wrinkled. Later during the new kingdom period, the artist returned to art
that portrayed pharaohs in the perfect way as being young and invincible.
As suggested by Andrews, 2010 another main characteristic was the use of blue-green
color that resembled turquoise that was linked to Hathor, the important goddess. Metals were
also used in making statues, temple fittings as well as cult implements. It is worth noting that
gold and silver were also employed in making cult statues. These two metals were not used in
region as a result of the value as well as the association the Egyptians had with especially gold.
Generally, speaking the main characteristics of Egyptian art are the three elements it emphasized,
engraving, painting and sculpturing.
What art mean to Egyptians
Although art in other regions especially in the west was viewed as an act of personal
expression, in Egypt, this was not the case rather it heavy symbolize their culture, beliefs, way of
life and religion. Considering the fact that some ancient art constituted herds of cattle, scenes in
hunting, this meant that Egyptians especially those in the lower Nile valley were hunter gatherers
as well as nomadic. Similarly, some painting had mages of festivals as well as battles this shown
Egyptians where they have come from hence their history (Charlotte, 2001).
In the same line, there were also incidences where there were pottery engraved with some
writing place beside where a dead person was buried. This clearly depicted that Egyptians
believed in life after death (Robins, 2001). Similarly, the well crafted pieces of art especially
concerning architecture clearly shows us that Egyptian hold dear their style in construction of
houses as well as other infrastructure.

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When it comes to religion, most of the art do have some show casing of religion. The
most important gods as well as goddess have been incorporated and engraved in metals, painted
as well as sculptured. On the same note, most of the art of the ancient time in Egypt shows how
important the people held it as it depicted the influence of their kings. Last but not least, art
linked most of the Egyptians with their natural world. Most of the art especially painting did
clearly demonstrate the association between man and nature (Robins, 2001)
Conclusion
From the review of Egyptian arts, it is apparent that there are clear characteristic that
make the art very easy to distinguish from museums as well as print media such as books. On the
same note, art meant a lot to Egyptians not like what there culture might see-an expression of
personal feeling. To Egyptians art represent their culture as well as religion.

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References
Andrews, M (2010). An Introduction to Egyptian Art. Retrieved on 30 Novemeber2010 from
http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/artoverview.htm
Charlotte, J. (2001). Characteristics of Ancient Egyptian Art. Retrieved on 30 November 2010
from http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/ancient_egypt_for_children/70373
Robins, G. (2001). The Art of Ancient Egypt. New York: Harvard University Press