This document provides an overview of ancient Egyptian art and architecture from prehistoric to Ptolemaic times. It discusses the importance of Egypt's 4,500 year cultural continuity and the symbolic themes that remained consistent. Key periods mentioned include the Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, and Intermediate Periods. The unifying role of the Nile River is emphasized, along with dual power centers of Lower and Upper Egypt. Symbols of unity like the papyrus, lily, and the king reconciling Horus and Set represented the necessity of a unified Egyptian state for stability and prosperity.

1. ART 187
History of Western Art: Prehistoric to Gothic
Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt:
Introduction

2. Menkaure c. 2490-2472 BCE Ptolemy I c. 305-283 BCE
Why begin our considerations of the ancient west with Egypt?
4,500 years of cultural and artistic continuity
An unbroken continuous language of images and symbolic themes

3. Pre-Dynastic Egypt Middle Kingdom
c. 8000-3000 BCE c. 1975-1640 BCE
Neolithic and Early Kingdoms Dynasties XI-XIII
Early Dynastic Egypt Reunification of the state
c. 3100-2575 BCE 2nd
Intermediate Period
Dynasties I-III c. 1640-1550 BCE
Formation of the state Hyksos and satellite kings
Old Kingdom New Kingdom
c. 2575-2150 BCE c. 1539-1070 BCE
Dynasties IV-VII Dynasties XVIII-XX
Age of the Pyramids Empire
1st
Intermediate Period 3rd
Intermediate and Late Periods
c. 2150-2040 c. 1075-332 BCE
Ephemeral Dynasties Dynasties XXI-XXX
Breakdown of the unified state Ephemeral Dynasties, dissolution
and invasions

4. The World of the Nile River
“Egypt is the Gift of the Nile” -Herodotus
Supplemental Reading: “Hymn of the Nile”
Direction of flow of
the Nile River
Akhet, the inundation season from mid-July to mid-November
when the Nile waters flooded the valley farmlands and deposited
nutrients from upstream into the worked soil.
Red Land, the desert
Black Land, the fertile valley
North

5. Hunters and Herdsmen in the great grasslands of the Sahara,
rock painting at Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria c. 6000 BCE

6. Nabata Playa, Egypt, c. 7000 BCE
Stone Circle, c. 4000 BCE
(oriented to the cardinal points of the
compass and the summer solstice)
Site is associated with cattle burials
grinding stone for cereals, c. 5000 BCE
Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria
Tassili n’Ajjer, Algeria Nabata Playa,
Egypt
Africa
With the drying of the Sahara grasslands, the people who will become the ancient Egyptians move to the
eastern oases and the Nile river valley, bearing with them, their gods and symbols of pastoralism
Nile River

7. Symbols of the life and values of the pastoralist:
Cows – fertility, nourishment, motherhood and female values
Bulls – strength, leadership, fatherhood and male values
Sun and Sky – ruling symbols of the cosmos and order
Hunting/warfare – protection of the community and herds
Hawk – all-seeing protector
New symbols with the entrance into the Nile valley:
River – the symbol of passage and travel; the shape of the world
Boat – the vehicle of passage, even between worlds
Flood – gift of fertility from the River
Crook and Flail - tools of the herdsman and farmer
Wall painting from Tomb 100, Hierakonpolis (Nekhen), Upper Egypt, c. 3500-3200 BCE

8. The historical dynamic of Egypt is best understood as the
tension between the different regions along the Nile river
and the Egyptian’s existential need for a unified state.
The 2 power centers of Ancient Egypt

9. Hapy(i) God of the Nile
(not the river, but the flood) and Fertility
Union is symbolized by the tying together of the “two lands” of Egypt.
The unity of the State was seen as essential to the well-being of the people
of Egypt. One of the responsibilities of the gods and the ruler was to maintain
this unity and as a consequence, maintain the order of the world.
Papyrus,
symbol of
Lower Egypt (delta)
Lily,
symbol of
Upper Egypt (Nile valley)

10. 3-8 Ka Statue of Khafre Enthroned,
c. 2520-2494 BCE,
Dynasty IV
The maintenance of unity is the fundamental
responsibility of the king.
The reconciliation of the two great royal antagonists in
mythology, Horus and Set is situated in the necessity of a
unified state….The king sits upon a throne supported by the
symbol of unity and is protected by Horus.
Horus:
The god-king,
then protector
of the king
and symbol
of rulership
Horus Set

11. Even a decorative motif borrowed from
Mesopotamia to the east, becomes a symbol of
unification in this early visual statement about
the creation of one state!p.52 Palette of Narmer, from Hierakonpolis (Nekhen)
Early Dynastic Period, c. 2950 BCE
Cylinder Seal from
Uruk, Mesopotamia,
c. 3000 BCE