EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

 Hieroglyphs
• Surroundings  Papyrus
• Religion  Holy animals
• Art  Products

• Sculpture
• Pottery
• Furniture
• Glass
• Clothing
SURROUNDINGS

• To its north side is the

Mediterranean sea.
• To its west there is a large
Libyan desert.
• To its east is the red sea.
• Along its coast there is a
mountain range going from
north to south.
 EGYPTIAN HISTORY
• Egypt is one of the most fertile areas of Africa, and
one of the most fertile of the countries around the
Mediterranean Sea. Because it is so fertile, people
came to live in Egypt earlier than in most places,
probably around 40,000 years ago.
• At first there were not very many people, but
gradually Egypt became more crowded, so there was
more need for a unified government.
• Around 3000 BC (5000 years ago), Egypt was first
unified under one ruler, who was called the Pharaoh.
 CULTURE

• The Culture of Egypt enjoys an international

reputation for its
• uniqueness,
• Majesty (dignity) and
• technological skills.
• Tourists from all over the world come to Egypt to
enjoy the beauty and splendor of culture that is
more than 7000 years old and is harmonious
fusion of the Egyptian, Mediterranean, Greek and
Arabic Cultures.
• PYRAMIDS: The highlight of the Egyptian Culture is
the pyramids. There are several pyramids in Egypt that
have created a lot interest in the minds of not just
historians and archaeologists but also tourists. The
Pyramids are the single largest selling point of tourism
industry in Egypt.

• PAINTING: The paintings have also been associated

with the Culture of Egypt. The paintings have always
been an integral part of the monuments of Egypt,
which were ornamented with symbolic drawings.
Modern artists in Egypt keep the culture of painting
alive with their skills.
 ANCIENT EGYPTIAN ART
• Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of
• painting,
• sculpture,
• crafts and
• architecture developed by the civilization in the lower
Nile Valley from 5000 BC to 300 BC.
• Ancient Egyptian art as expressed in painting and
sculpture was both highly stylized and symbolic.
• Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and
monuments and thus there is an emphasis on life after
death and the preservation of knowledge of the past
 ART STYLE
• Because of the highly religious nature of ancient
Egyptian civilization, many of the works of ancient Egypt
depict gods, goddesses, and pharaohs, who were also
considered divine.
• Ancient Egyptian art is characterized by the idea of
order. Clear and simple lines combined with simple
shapes and flat areas of color helped to create a sense of
order and balance in the art of ancient Egypt.
• Ancient Egyptian artists used vertical and horizontal
reference lines in order to maintain the correct
proportions in their work.
• Political and religious, as well as artistic order, was also
maintained in Egyptian art.
 SYMBOLISM
• Symbolism also played an important role in
establishing a sense of order.
• Symbolism, ranging from the pharaoh's regalia
(symbolizing his power to maintain order) to the
individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses, is
omnipresent in Egyptian art.
• Animals: Animals were usually also highly symbolic
figures in Egyptian art.
• Colors: Colors were more expressive rather than
natural: red skin implied vigorous tanned youth,
whereas yellow skin was used for women or middle-
aged men who worked indoors
• blue or gold indicated divinity because of its
unnatural appearance and association with
precious materials
• the use of black for royal figures expressed
the fertility of the Nile from which Egypt was
born.
 MATERIAL USED
• There were different types of materials used in
EGYPT namely,
• COPPER:  Until the New Kingdom most of the copper
used in Egypt was seemingly mined in the eastern
desert or Sinai.
• GOLD: Egypt was richer in gold than any other
country of the region, especially after the conquest
of Nubia.
• ELECTRUM: Electrum is a gold-silver alloy which
occurred naturally. It had a silver contents somewhat
higher than twenty percent. It was mostly imported
from countries south of Egypt: Punt, Emus, the south
countries.
• SILVER: Egypt had little silver which was not part of
gold deposits. Silver was imported from western
Asia.
• BRONZE: The introduction of bronze was a
huge improvement in tool and weapon
manufacture. Unlike iron which was a difficult
material to work with, bronze technologies
were similar to the techniques improved
during the copper age: It could be cast,
hammered cold, improved its toughness.
  
• IRON: Iron is a very common element and in
Egypt iron ores occur in the mountainous
areas of the eastern desert and Sinai.
• LEAD: Lead was of minor importance. Too soft
for making tools or weapons
 RELIGION
• Egyptians were polytheistic (they
believed In many Gods).
• Pharaoh was believed to be the
representative on earth of the
god, or may be a kind of God
himself.
• Everything of Egypt belonged to
the pharaoh.
 ART
• Most of what we know about Egyptian art comes from
the paintings.
• Paintings showed all sorts of things that people did in
their regular lives.
 SCULPTURE

• Egyptian sculptor used stone as it was the most

• plentiful and
• permanent,
• available in a wide variety of colors and
• hardness.

• Sculpture was often painted in vivid hues as well.

• Egyptian sculpture has two qualities that are
distinctive; it can be characterized as
• cubic and
• frontal.
 SEATED MAN

• 2465-2323 B.C.
• Old Kingdom, Dynasty 5;
• Polychromed limestone;
• height 40 cm (15 3/4 in.)

• The Seated Man is a

representation of someone who
lived in the Pyramid Age, during
the Old Kingdom.
 SEATED SCRIBE

• 1350 B.C.
• New Kingdom, Dynasty 18
• Basalt
• height 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in.)

• The small Seated Scribe was once part

of a votive offering to Thoth, the
patron god of writing. It is a
particularly graceful example of the
artistic production.
 SEBEK EM HAT, A
LEADER OF PRIESTS
• ca. 1780 B.C.
• Middle Kingdom, late Dynasty 12-early
Dynasty 13
• Limestone
• 48.3 cm (19 in.)

• The subject of the standing statue of

Sebek em hat can be identified as a
leader of a group of priests in a temple.
 POTTERY
• Ancient Egyptians used carved small pieces of vases
and several other objects.
• They also discovered the art of covering pottery with
enamel.
• Different types of pottery items were deposited in
burial chambers of the dead.
 FURNITURE
• Common pieces of furniture
were small 3 and 4 leg stools
• The ever present stool was
made from wood, and had a
leather or woven seat.
• Wealthy people had their
stools and all furniture in
general was richly decorated
with gold or silver leaf.
 GLASS
• Glass-making technology initially began in
Egypt with the manufacture of small
beads in the pre-dynastic era.
• The technology was a result of the
process of firing clay pots. The sand and
slag (fused material) utilized in making
clay pots melted together to make glass.
• It was determined that when metal
oxides were added to the glass nugget
(pieces), various color hue (shades)
resulted.
 CLOTHING
• Both men and women in Egypt
wore tunics which were sewn to
fit them.
• These tunics were like a long t-
shirt which reached to the knees
(for men) or to the ankles (for
women).
• They were usually made of linen
and were nearly always white.
• Men working outside usually wore
short skirts instead of tunics.
• When dressed up fancy
both men and women
wore blue and green eye
shadow and black kohl
(eyeliner).
• Both men and women
wore gold jewelry if
they could afford to.
 HIEROGLYPHS

• Hieroglyphs are
"sacred-drawings“.
• They are basically
drawings of familiar
objects, simplified to
make them easier to
draw.
 PAPYRUS
• material on which to write, prepared from thin strips
of the pith of this plant laid together, soaked,
pressed, and dried, used by the ancient Egyptians,
Greeks, and Roman
• The first use of papyrus paper is believed to
have been 4000 BC.
• The raw material of papyrus paper comes from
the plant Cyperus papyrus.
 CANOPIC JARS

• 1070-712 B.C.
• Egyptian, Dynasty 21-22
• Limestone
• height 48.3 cm (17 1/2-19 in.)
• Their internal organs were separately treated and,
during much of Egyptian history, placed in jars of clay
or stone. These so-called Canopic Jars were closed
with stoppers fashioned in the shape of four heads --
human, baboon(monkey), falcon, and jackal --
representing the four protective spirits called the
Four Sons of Horus.
 FALCON OF HORUS
• 664-525 B.C.
• Late Period, Dynasty 26
• Bronze
• height 39.4 cm (15 1/2 in.)
• The Falcon of Horus wearing the double crown of
Upper and Lower Egypt is an image of royal kingship.
The king was associated with the sky god as the
"Living Horus," and he was thought to represent the
rule of the gods on earth. Statues such as this were
sometimes used as containers for the preserved
remains of the animal or bird they represented.
 HOLY ANIMALS

• Sacred Cat of Bast

• Falcon of Horus
SACRED CAT OF BAST
• 664-525 B.C.
• Late Period, Dynasty 26
• Bronze
• height 26.4 cm (10 3/8 in.)
• The Sacred Cat of Bast is associated
with the goddess Bast or Bastet, and
she was sometimes represented as a
human figure with the head of a cat.
The natural grace, and perhaps the
motherly qualities of the cat,
suggested to the Egyptians some
aspect of the goddess.
 BOWL WITH HUMAN
FEET

• Predynastic Period
• 3750–3550 B.C.
• Ceramic
• H. 3 7/8 in. (9.8 cm)
• Dia. 6 in. (15.3 cm)
 VESSEL

• Predynastic Period,
Naqada II
• 3450–3300 B.C.
• Painted pottery
• H. 11 3/4 in. (29.8 cm)
 COMB

• Predynastic Period
• 3200 B.C.
• Ivory
• H. 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm)