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Great explanation of what Egyptian art tells us.

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The history of Ancient Egypt is an amazing story, not least because it is one of the world's greatest civilizations. And like any good civilization, Egyptian art tells us a great deal about the people who made it. Investigate the "art historical" approach to Egyptian history, and find out what art historians can tell us about the broader story of ancient Egypt.

(Image: matrioshka/Shutterstock)

Many art historians specialize in the art of ancient Egypt, working as museum curators. Carefully examining a fragment of a statue, they can look at it, and from the way the mouth curls downwards or the shape of the eye and arch of the eyebrow, say, "Ah, look at the way the corner has a drill mark. That didn't start until the late period, it's probably from 750 B.C. or later." They may even be able to identify the pharaoh portrayed in effigy. Through careful analysis of Egyptian art, we can reconstruct the history of Ancient Egypt.

The Beauty of Egyptian Art

Art was a central feature of Egyptian culture. Viewing pieces in a museum with a large collection of Egyptian sculpture and paintings, you may notice that pieces carved in 2500 B.C., 1500 B.C., and 500 B.C. changed relatively little. Looking at each piece, you can identify distinct markers of the style of Egyptian Art over 3,000 years. That's a curious factor, one that can't be done with other forms of art in different historical periods or cultures.

Consider what happened in Western art in the last 500 years: the Middle Ages to the Renaissance works of the Madonna and Child, all the way to Picasso and modernist variations. But Egyptian art never changed, at least not the broad picture. Let's explore why, and why the role art historians play is important.

T his is a transcript from the video series The History of Ancient Egypt. Watch it now, on The Great Courses Plus.

Egyptian art wasn't supposed to change, focusing on adherence to a particular form; their art didn't focus on creativity or innovation. A statue was carved to last for eternity, using the same techniques for carving that were developed over hundreds of years. When a sculptor went to make a statue of the god, he would take out a statue from the temple and copy it, following a certain canon of proportion.

Egyptian statues, such as these pictured at the Abu Simbel temple in Egypt, were made to last for eternity. (Image: lullabi/Shutterstock)

When a tomb painting was commissioned, the first step was to have someone come in and place a grid on the wall like graph paper. Following this, the artist, a specialist who was going to draw the scene would come in, and make sure that the proportions were right by using the grid. For example, if the measurements were three squares for the head, and the shoulders had to be seven squares, then the distance from the shoulder to the knee had to be eight squares. The proportions were always the same. Artists would follow the formula, like an Egyptian form of paint by numbers. This system was created and followed because Egyptians' culture at that time believed there was a certain order to the world and their art reflected this belief. There was a way that art was supposed to be, and it was supposed to stay that way.

Learn more about the mythology, religion, and philosophy of ancient Egypt

Where Knowledge of Ancient Egypt Comes From

Compared to other ancient cultures like the Mayans, Assyrians, or Babylonians, we know an incredible amount about the Egyptians, based on their religious burial practices and their belief in life after death. The Egyptians were resurrectionists, believing that the physical body would rise and live again in the next world. Now if you believe that, it makes sense that they viewed the afterlife as a continuation of this world, and would do the same things in the next world as were done in this one. They placed all their energies into what would come in the next world, eternity.

Tomb of Pharaoh Rameses VI. Egyptians painted scenes on tomb walls so the gods could see how they wanted to be treated in the next world.(Image: LunaseeStudios/Shutterstock)

The Egyptians built tombs out of stone to last forever, painting scenes on the tomb walls demonstrating to their gods how they wanted to be treated in the next world. Fishing, especially in the marshes, was a popular activity in Egypt, a core part of their way of life. The deceased person might have images painted on the walls of his tomb depicting himself in his boat fishing. If he liked playing games, such as the popular game senet, similar to chess, he would have himself painted on the wall moving the pieces. These tomb wall scenes are a window into ancient Egyptian daily life that art historians use to piece together an understanding of their culture. Men harvesting crops, women weaving, and other aspects of the time are portrayed in their paintings.

Tombs were important in other ways too. Egyptians believed you could take all your possessions with you into the afterlife, filling tombs with everything they wanted to have with them in the next world. The discovery of an intact tomb is important because it has everything personal to the dead person, giving hints into their personal lives. To the Egyptians, it was a little like going on a trip to a country you've never been to: You're not sure what the weather is like or what the rules are, so everything you own must go with you. A complete Egyptian tomb will even contain furniture, such as tables, chairs, and even beds. Women would be buried with their cosmetics; if the deceased enjoyed games, their favorite sets would be included in the burial. Pharaohs sometimes were buried with their chariot. Egyptian tombs are a wonderful source of daily life for the ancient Egyptians.

Learn more about how Sneferu set artistic standards that would last for thousands of years

One of the great sources of our knowledge of their culture is the writing they left behind. The Egyptians had writing very early, leaving written material in the form of inscriptions and papyri. Temple walls were like bulletin boards to the ancient Egyptians. If you wanted to tell the world something, you carved it on a temple wall, at least if you were the pharaoh.

"Book of the Dead" and Pharaoh Culture

What the pharaohs carved on the temple walls would be surprising in our culture: battle scenes. In today's culture, displaying a war scene sounds bizarre. But the Egyptians weren't into peace; as a dominant force in the ancient world, they desired to maintain their power and might. They wanted a constant state of war with victory after victory. When a pharaoh came back from a successful battle, he would go to the outside of the temple wall and carve the story of his victory. The ancient Egyptians were a nation of accountants who listed everything: the number of captives, the number of people slain; they even recorded the names of the pharaoh's horses. We even know the names of Ramses the Great's horses. Temple walls provide a wonderful account of Egyptian history.

If the pharaoh wanted to appease the gods, he would list all the offerings he had given to the temple that year. Temple walls hold lists of the hundreds of different things that the pharaoh gave to the temple-6,000 jars of wine for the priests, 800,000 loaves of bread, 5,000 bolts of cloth, 16 vessels of sacred oils, so many rings of gold. Due to the climate in Egypt, paintings and carvings on the temple walls have survived to this day. At the Karnak Temple, some of the walls look just as they did when they were built.

Religious texts serve as an additional source of information on their culture that not only explains the finite details of the religion but gives insight into what their people feared most.

"Book of the Dead" was a guidebook with illustrations on how to get to the next world. They were written on long rolls of papyrus paper (Image: francesco de marco/Shutterstock)

It was the duty of Egyptian priests' to write down their religion; one of the key documents historians have is the "Book of the Dead," a guidebook on how to enter into the next life. Written on long rolls of papyrus, it contains illustrations and paintings of the gods. The text gives instructions on proper behavior to enter the afterlife as well as providing collections of magical spells. Reading the spells reveals common fears found in their culture. For example, one incantation is a spell to power your legs. The idea behind the for those who had been mummified and dead for a while, the dead person would need assistance get up and walk again. Another example is a spell for breath to the mouth. There is even a spell to protect against decapitation. Spells were written for all occasions. As different as they seem to us today, ancient Egyptians were just like us. Texts and spells were not only written on papyri; they were carved onto their coffins. Coffin texts were magical spells for the next world on coffins.

Learn more about when Pharaohs stop building pyramids

Ancient Egyptian literature continues to illuminate our understanding of their culture, encompassing short stories, fiction, and love poetry. Love poems of the 18th dynasty are even a genre of study.

Many sources still exist that allow us to learn the history of Egypt, and to gain a fuller picture, we, like the art historians, have to use all of them.

Common Questions About Ancient Egyptian Art

This article was updated on October 10, 2019

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Investigate Art History in Ancient Egypt

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Many art historians specialize in the art of ancient Egypt, working as museum curators. Carefully examining a fragment of a statue, they can look at it, and from the way the mouth curls downwards or the shape of the eye and arch of the eyebrow, say, "Ah, look at the way the corner has a drill mark.

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Easy-to-read chapter about Old, New & Middle Kingdoms

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Really good article from the OER Project.

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Essential viewing for this topic.

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Excellent page about the Ptolemaic dynasty. They kept it in the family.

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The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Egypt for almost three centuries (305 - 30 BCE), eventually falling to the Romans. Oddly, while they ruled Egypt, they never became Egyptian. Instead, they isolated themselves in the capital city of Alexandria, a city envisioned by Alexander the Great. The city was Greek both in language and practice. There were no marriages with outsiders; brother married sister or uncle married niece. The last Ptolemaic queen, Cleopatra VII (l. c. 69-30 BCE), remained Macedonian but spoke Egyptian as well as other languages. Except for the first two Ptolemaic pharaohs, Ptolemy I and his son Ptolemy II, most of the family was fairly inept and, in the end, only maintained authority with the assistance of Rome.

A Greek Family of Egyptian Pharaohs

The Ptolemys coexisted as both Egyptian pharaohs as well as Greek monarchs. They remained completely Greek, both in their language & traditions.

Of the fifteen Ptolemaic marriages, ten were between brother and sister while two were with a niece or cousin. This meant that even Cleopatra VII, the last Ptolemy to rule Egypt and the subject of playwrights, poets, and movies, was not Egyptian but Macedonian. According to one historian, she was a descendant of such great Greek queens as Olympias, the overly-possessive mother of Alexander the Great.

However, in her defense, Cleopatra was the only Ptolemy to learn to speak Egyptian and make any effort to know the Egyptian people. Of course, this inbreeding was less than ideal; jealousy was rampant and conspiracies were common. Ptolemy IV supposedly murdered his uncle, brother, and mother, while Ptolemy VIII killed his fourteen-year-old son and chopped him into pieces.

Ptolemy I Soter

The sudden death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE brought chaos and confusion to his vast empire, for he died without naming an heir or successor, saying instead that the empire was left 'to the best.' Those commanders who had faithfully followed him from Macedon across the desert sands of western Asia were left to decide for themselves the fate of the kingdom. Some wanted to wait until the birth of Roxanne and Alexander's son, the future Alexander IV, while others chose a more immediate and self-serving remedy: to simply divide it among themselves. The final decision would bring decades of war and devastation. The vast territory was split among the most loyal of Alexander's generals: Antigonus I the One-Eyed, Eumenes, Lysimachus, Antipater and lastly, Ptolemy, the 'most enterprising' of Alexander's commanders.

Ptolemy I Soter (Savior) (366 - 282 BCE) was a Macedonian nobleman and, according to most sources, the son of Lagos and Arsinoe. He had been a childhood friend of Alexander, his official taster, bodyguard, and even possibly a relative; rumors abound that he was the illegitimate son of Philip II, Alexander's father. After the king's death, he had led the campaign to divide the empire among the leading generals and in the Partition of Babylon, and to his delight, he received the land he had always craved, Egypt. In Ptolemy's eyes, Egypt was the ideal land, rich in resources.

After years of oppression under the Persians, the people of Egypt had welcomed Alexander and his conquering army. The Persian conquerors had been intolerant of the Egyptian customs and religion. Alexander was far more tolerant, even embracing their gods, praying at their temples. He had even built a temple to honor the Egyptian mother goddess Isis. However, in Egypt Ptolemy saw vast potential, albeit selfishly. There was wealth beyond measure, largely dependent on agricultural production; its borders were easy to defend with Libya lying to the west and Arabia to the east (he was wise not to trust his fellow commanders); and it was friendly to his home of Macedon.

Unfortunately, while the partition may have granted Egypt to Ptolemy, there were some who did not trust the cagey commander, namely Perdiccas, the self-appointed successor to Alexander. So Cleomenes of Naucratis, who had been named the Egyptian finance minister by Alexander, was appointed by Perdiccas as an adjunct or hyparchos to watch (or spy) on Ptolemy. Realizing Perdiccas' ploy, Ptolemy knew he had to free himself of Cleomenes, so he accused the unwary minister of 'fiscal malfeasance' - not a completely trumped-up charge - and had him executed. With Cleomenes gone, he could now rule alone without anyone watching over his shoulder, and in doing so, he would establish a dynasty that would last for almost three centuries until the time of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra VII. During Ptolemy's four-decade rule of Egypt, he would put the country on sound economic and administrative footing.

Still, there was his ongoing rivalry with Perdiccas. The hostility did not subside when Ptolemy stole Alexander's body as it was being transported to a newly built tomb in Macedon. As the king's chiliarch, Perdiccas had established himself securely after Alexander's death, always hoping to reunite the empire. He possessed the signet ring as well as the king's body, preparing to return it to Macedon. However, at Damascus the body inexplicably disappeared. Ptolemy I had stolen and taken the body to Memphis and then to Alexandria where the golden sarcophagus was displayed in the center of the city. Perdiccas, to say the least, was outraged. However, to those in Egypt the legitimacy of the Ptolemaic dynasty lay in its connection to the fallen king. Even in death, he played a major role in both the Egyptian and Ptolemaic imagination. The theft of Alexander was too much for Perdiccas. The long disagreement finally ended in war (322 - 321 BCE). He stepped up his military assault on the Ptolemaic pharaoh, but after three failed attempts to cross the Nile into Egypt and the loss of over two thousand soldiers, his army had had enough and executed him. There were few if any tears among the other commanders for Perdiccas had not been very popular.

Ptolemy II Philadelphus

Ptolemy I died in 282 BCE, and as his successor he named his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus (Sister-loving) (308 - 246 BCE). The younger Ptolemy had served as co-regent with his father since 285 BCE. Ptolemy II married the daughter of the Thracian regent/king Lysimachus, Arsinoe I. For alliance purposes, after the death of his first wife, Lysimachus had chosen to marry Arsinoe II, the daughter of Ptolemy I and his mistress Berenice, around 300 BCE. It was a marriage he would regret. For reasons unknown - probably to secure the throne of Thrace for her own son - Arsinoe II convinced her husband to kill his oldest son (by his first marriage) and heir on the trumped-up charges of treason. The murder of the popular young commander caused uproar among many of his fellow officers.

After the death of Lysimachus, Ptolemy would marry his sister (and the king's widow) Arsinoe II. Unlike many of his successors, Ptolemy II expanded Egypt with the reclaiming of Cyrene (the city had declared independence from Egypt) and acquisitions in Asia Minor and Syria. He fought two wars - the Syrian Wars - against Antiochus I and Antiochus II (260 - 252 BCE) and would marry his daughter Berenice to Antiochus II. Unfortunately, he also fought and failed in the Chremonidean War against Macedon (267 - 261 BCE). In Egypt, he established trading posts along the Red Sea, completed construction on the Pharos, and enlarged the library and museum. To honor his parents he established a new festival, the Ptolemaeia.

Syrian Wars

Apparently, Ptolemy II was one the last truly great pharaohs of Egypt. Many of those who followed failed to strengthen Egypt both internally and externally. Jealousy and in-fighting were common. Upon the death of his father in 246 BCE, Ptolemy III Euergetes (Benefactor) (284 - 221 BCE) came to the throne. He married Berenice II from the Greek city of Cyrene. Among their six children were Ptolemy IV and a princess also named Berenice.

The princess' sudden death brought about the Canopus Decree (238 BCE) which, among other proclamations, honored her as a goddess. One interesting suggestion made in the decree was for a new calendar, one that included 365 days with one additional day every four years, but it was not adopted. In 246 BCE Ptolemy III invaded Syria to support his sister's husband Antiochus II in the Third Syrian War against Seleucus II but only acquired towns in Syria and Asia Minor.

His successor and son Ptolemy IV Philopator (Father-loving) (244 - 205 BCE) came to the Egyptian throne in 221 BCE. Keeping with family tradition, he married his sister Arsinoe III in 217 BCE. He gained a small degree of success in the Fourth Syrian War (219 - 217 BCE) against Antiochus III. However, largely ineffective, his only other accomplishment was the building of the Sema, a tomb to honor both Alexander and the Ptolemys. Unfortunately, he and his wife were both murdered in a palace coup in 205 BCE.

Ptolemy V's successor Ptolemy VI Philometor (Mother-Loving) began his reign, like his father, as a small child, serving with his mother until her unexpected death in 176 BCE. Despite having serious troubles with his brother, the future Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (Benefactor), he married his sister Cleopatra II and began his tumultuous reign. Egypt was invaded twice (169 - 164 BCE) by Antiochus IV; his army even approached the city of Alexandria. With the assistance of Rome, Ptolemy VI regained nominal control of Egypt, but his reign - ruling with his brother and wife - remained full of unrest. In 163 BCE his brother and he finally reached a compromise whereby Ptolemy VI acquired Egypt while Ptolemy VIII ruled Cyrene. In 145 BCE Ptolemy VI died in battle in Syria.

Civil War

Little is known of the reign or person known as Ptolemy VII or if indeed he ever really reigned, but Ptolemy VIII, the younger brother of Ptolemy VI, stepped onto the throne in 145 BCE. In true Ptolemaic fashion, he married his brother's widow, Cleopatra II, only to replace her with her daughter, his niece, Cleopatra III. A civil war ravaged Egypt lasting from 132 to 124 BCE; it especially devastated the capital city of Alexandria, which happened to hate Ptolemy VIII. Actually, this was not uncommon for there was little love if ever between the city's citizens and the royal family. This intense loathing brought about extreme persecution and expulsion for the inhabitants of the city. Finally, an amnesty was reached in 118 BCE.

Ptolemy VIII was succeeded by his eldest son in 116 BCE. Ptolemy IX Soter II (Savior) (142 - 80 BCE) was also known as Lathyrus (Chickpea). Like many of his predecessors, he would marry two of his sisters, Cleopatra IV, mother of Berenice IV, and Cleopatra V Serene who gave him two sons. He ruled jointly with his mother Cleopatra III until 107 BCE when he fled to Cyprus after being overthrown by his brother. He regained the throne in 88 BCE and ruled until his death in 80 BCE.

The Rise of Rome

The next few pharaohs made little impact if any on Egypt, and for the first time, a rising power in the west made a major impact, Rome. Ptolemy X Alexander I (140 - 88 BCE) was the younger brother of Ptolemy IX and had served as governor of Cyprus until his mother brought him to Egypt in 107 BCE, replacing his brother. In 101 BCE he supposedly murdered his mother Cleopatra IV. He then married the daughter of Cleopatra V Serene (his niece), Berenice III. He left Egypt after being expelled in 88 BCE only to be lost at sea. He was succeeded briefly by his youngest son Ptolemy XI Alexander II (100 - 80 BCE). After awarding Egypt and Cyprus to Rome, Ptolemy XI was placed on the throne by the Roman general Cornelius Sulla and ruled jointly with his step-mother Cleopatra Berenice until he murdered her. Unfortunately, he was then himself murdered by the Alexandrians.

Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos (also known as Auletes) was another son of Ptolemy IX succeeding Ptolemy XI in 80 BCE. He married his sister Cleopatra Tryphaena. Unfortunately, his close relationship with Rome caused him to be despised by the Alexandrians and expelled in 58 BCE. However, he regained the throne with the assistance of the Syrian governor Gabinius and was only able to remain through bribes and his ties to Rome as the Roman Senate actually distrusted him.

The next pharaoh Ptolemy XIII (63 - 47 BCE) was the brother and husband of the infamous Cleopatra VII. His time on the throne was short-lived. He had joined unsuccessfully with his sister Arsinoe in a civil war, choosing to oppose both Julius Caesar and Cleopatra in a fight for the throne. Initially, he had expected to gain favor with Caesar when he killed the Roman general Pompey, who had sought refuge in Egypt and presented the severed head to Caesar. However, the Roman commander grew irate because he wanted to kill Pompey himself. Ptolemy XIII's army was defeated after an intense battle, and he drowned in the Nile River when his boat overturned. Arsinoe was taken to Rome in chains (later to be released).

Following Ptolemy XIII was another brother Ptolemy XIV (59 - 44 BCE) who had served briefly as governor of Cyprus and later married his sister (on the wishes of Caesar), ruling until his abrupt death possibly caused by poisoning on the orders of his big sister.

The Last Ptolemaic Pharaoh Cleopatra

Lastly, the final pharaoh of Egypt was Cleopatra VII who is known to history as simply Cleopatra. She ruled Egypt for 22 years, controlling much of the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Like many of the women of her era, she was highly educated, being groomed for the throne by her father Ptolemy XII in the traditional Greek ( Hellenistic) manner. She endeared herself to the Egyptian people, participating in many Egyptian festivals and ceremonies as well as being the only Ptolemy to learn the Egyptian language besides speaking Hebrew, Ethiopian, and other dialects.

Hellenization & Alexandria

One of the most significant features of Ptolemaic rule was its policy of Hellenization, integrating Greek language and culture into Egyptian daily life. There was no attempt to become assimilated into Egyptian civilization. One of Ptolemy I's first moves was to relocate the center of government from its traditional location at Memphis - it would remain the religious center - to the newly built city of Alexandria.

Alexandria had a more strategic location, much closer to both the Mediterranean Sea and Greece. Because of this move, Alexandria grew into more of a Greek rather than Egyptian city. In fact, the Ptolemys would rarely leave the city and then only to take a pleasure cruise down the Nile. As with much of the former Alexandrian empire, Greek would become the language of government and commerce.

In the city's harbor, Ptolemy began the construction of the Pharos, a massive lighthouse (to be completed by his son Ptolemy II). This unique lighthouse was an immense structure of three stories. Its beacon was visible for miles and was lit both day and night, eventually becoming one of seven wonders of the ancient world. Aside from Alexandria, another city, less glamorous, was built in Upper Egypt: Ptolemais was founded as a center for the influx of newly arrived Greek residents.

While it may appear that Ptolemy I intended to transform Egypt into another Greece, in many ways he still respected the Egyptian people and recognized the importance of religion and tradition to their society. Both he and his successors supported the many local cults. To keep peace with the temple priests, he restored numerous religious objects stolen by the Persians. However, while the old Egyptian gods were respected - one did not want to anger the gods - two new cults arose: the first was dedicated to Alexander the Great, which for the Greek population served as a way to express their continued loyalty to the Ptolemys. A second cult, which never gained popularity, was devoted to the god of healing Serapis. Locally, the temple priests remained as a part of the ruling class - another test of their allegiance to the Ptolemys.

Lastly, while the capital may have been moved, the basic administrative structure was retained, although many of the Egyptian scribes had difficulty writing in Greek. Egypt had a closely controlled economy; much of the land was royal land and permission was needed to fell a tree or even to breed pigs. Record keeping was important, all land was surveyed and livestock inventoried. Of course, since Egypt had an economy based on agriculture, taxes based on the census and land surveys were essential. Under Cleopatra VII there was a salt tax, a dike tax, and even a pasture tax. Fishermen even had to relinquish twenty-five percent of their catch.

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The Ptolemaic dynasty controlled Egypt for almost three centuries (305 - 30 BCE), eventually falling to the Romans. Oddly, while they ruled Egypt, they never became Egyptian. Instead, they isolated themselves in the capital city of Alexandria, a city envisioned by Alexander the Great. The city was Greek both in language and practice.

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Macedonian And Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 BCE)

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Macedonian And Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 BCE)

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Lots of information on this site

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The changes brought to Egypt by the Ptolemies were momentous; the land's resources were harnessed with unparalleled efficiency, with the result that Egypt became the wealthiest of the Hellenistic kingdoms. Land under cultivation was increased, and new crops were introduced (especially important was the introduction of naked tetraploid wheat, Triticum durum, to replace the traditional husked emmer, Triticum dicoccum). The population, estimated at perhaps three to four million in the late Dynastic period, may have more than doubled by the early Roman period to a level not reached again until the late 19th century. Some of the increase was due to immigration; particularly during the 2nd and 3rd centuries, many settlers were attracted from cities in Anatolia (Asia Minor) and the Greek islands, and large numbers of Jews came from Palestine. The flow may have decreased later in the Ptolemaic period, and it is often suggested, on slender evidence, that there was a serious decline in prosperity in the 1st century bce. If so, there may have been some reversal of this trend under Cleopatra VII.

Administration

The foundation of the prosperity was the governmental system devised to exploit the country's economic resources. Directly below the monarch were a handful of powerful officials whose authority extended over the entire land: a chief finance minister, a chief accountant, and a chancery of ministers in charge of records, letters, and decrees. A level below them lay the broadening base of a pyramid of subordinate officials with authority in limited areas, which extended down to the chief administrator of each village ( kōmarchēs). Between the chief ministers and the village officials stood those such as the nome steward ( oikonomos) and the stratēgoi, whose jurisdiction extended over one of the more than 30 nomes, the long-established geographic divisions of Egypt. In theory, this bureaucracy could regulate and control the economic activities of every subject in the land, its smooth operation guaranteed by the multiplicity of officials capable of checking up on one another. In practice, it is difficult to see a rigid civil service mentality at work, involving clear demarcation of departments; specific functions might well have been performed by different officials according to local need and the availability of a person competent to take appropriate action.

By the same token, rigid lines of separation between military, civil, legal, and administrative matters are difficult to perceive. The same official might perform duties in one or all of these areas. The military was inevitably integrated into civilian life because its soldiers were also farmers who enjoyed royal grants of land, either as Greek cleruchs (holders of allotments) with higher status and generous grants or as native Egyptian machimoi with small plots. Interlocking judiciary institutions, in the form of Greek and Egyptian courts ( chrēmatistai and laokritai), provided the means for Greeks and Egyptians to regulate their legal relationships according to the language in which they conducted their business. The bureaucratic power was heavily weighted in favour of the Greek speakers, the dominant elite. Egyptians were nevertheless able to obtain official posts in the bureaucracy, gradually infiltrating to the highest levels, but in order to do so they had to Hellenize.

Economy

The basis of Egypt's legendary wealth was the highly productive land, which technically remained in royal ownership. A considerable portion was kept under the control of temples, and the remainder was leased out on a theoretically revocable basis to tenant-farmers. A portion also was available to be granted as gifts to leading courtiers; one of these was Apollonius, the finance minister of Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who had an estate of 10,000 arourae (about 6,500 acres [2,630 hectares]) at Philadelphia in Al-Fayyūm. Tenants and beneficiaries were able to behave very much as if these leases and grants were private property. The revenues in cash and kind were enormous, and royal control extended to the manufacture and marketing of almost all important products, including papyrus, oil, linen, and beer. An extraordinarily detailed set of revenue laws, promulgated under Ptolemy II Philadelphus, laid down rules for the way in which officials were to monitor the production of such commodities. In fact, the Ptolemaic economy was very much a mixture of direct royal ownership and exploitation by private enterprise under regulated conditions.

One fundamental and far-reaching Ptolemaic innovation was the systematic monetarization of the economy. The monarchy also controlled this from top to bottom by operating a closed monetary system, which permitted only the royal coinage to circulate within Egypt. A sophisticated banking system underpinned this practice, operating again with a mixture of direct royal control and private enterprise and handling both private financial transactions and those that directed money into and out of the royal coffers. One important concomitant of this change was an enormous increase in the volume of trade, both within Egypt and abroad, which eventually reached its climax under the peaceful conditions of Roman rule. There the position and role of Alexandria as the major port and trading entrepôt was crucial: the city handled a great volume of Egypt's domestic produce, as well as the import and export of luxury goods to and from the East and the cities of the eastern Mediterranean. It developed its own importance as an artistic centre, the products of which found ready markets throughout the Mediterranean. Alexandrian glassware and jewelry were particularly fine, Greek-style sculpture of the late Ptolemaic period shows especial excellence, and it is likely that the city was also the major production centre for high-quality mosaic work.

glass bowl Courtesy of Victoria and Albert Museum

Religion

The Ptolemies were powerful supporters of the native Egyptian religious foundations, the economic and political power of which was, however, carefully controlled. A great deal of the late building and restoration work in many of the most important Egyptian temples is Ptolemaic, particularly from the period of about 150-50 bce, and the monarchs appear on temple reliefs in the traditional forms of the Egyptian kings. The native traditions persisted in village temples and local cults, many having particular associations with species of sacred animals or birds. At the same time, the Greeks created their own identifications of Egyptian deities, identifying Amon with Zeus, Horus with Apollo, Ptah with Hephaestus, and so on. They also gave some deities, such as Isis, a more universal significance that ultimately resulted in the spread of her mystery cult throughout the Mediterranean world. The impact of the Greeks is most obvious in two phenomena. One is the formalized royal cult of Alexander and the Ptolemies, which evidently served both a political and a religious purpose. The other is the creation of the cult of Sarapis, which at first was confined to Alexandria but soon became universal. The god was represented as a Hellenized deity and the form of cult is Greek, but its essence is the old Egyptian notion that the sacred Apis bull merged its divinity in some way with the god Osiris when it died.

Apis Bavaria-Verlag

Culture

The continuing vitality of the native Egyptian artistic tradition is clearly and abundantly expressed in the temple architecture and the sculpture of the Ptolemaic period. The Egyptian language continued to be used in its hieroglyphic and demotic forms until late in the Roman period, and it survived through the Byzantine period and beyond in the form of Coptic. The Egyptian literary tradition flourished vigorously in the Ptolemaic period and produced a large number of works in demotic. The genre most commonly represented is the romantic tale, exemplified by several story cycles, which are typically set in the native, Pharaonic milieu and involve the gods, royal figures, magic, romance, and the trials and combats of heroes. Another important category is the Instruction Text, the best known of the period being that of Ankhsheshonq, which consists of a list of moralizing maxims, composed, as the story goes, when Ankhsheshonq was imprisoned for having failed to inform the king (pharaoh) of an assassination plot. Another example, known as Papyrus Insinger, is a more narrowly moralizing text. But the arrival of a Greek-speaking elite had an enormous impact on cultural patterns. The Egyptian story cycles were probably affected by Greek influence, literary and technical works were translated into Greek, and under royal patronage an Egyptian priest named Manetho of Sebennytos wrote an account of the kings of Egypt in Greek. Most striking is the diffusion of the works of the poets and playwrights of classical Greece among the literate Greeks in the towns and villages of the Nile River valley.

Thus there are clear signs of the existence of two interacting but distinct cultural traditions in Ptolemaic Egypt. This was certainly reflected in a broader social context. The written sources offer little direct evidence of ethnic discrimination by Greeks against Egyptians, but Greek and Egyptian consciousness of the Greeks' social and economic superiority comes through strongly from time to time; intermarriage was one means, though not the only one, by which Egyptians could better their status and Hellenize. Many native Egyptians learned to speak Greek, some to write it as well; some even went so far as to adopt Greek names in an attempt to assimilate themselves to the elite group.

Alexandria occupied a unique place in the history of literature, ideas, scholarship, and science for almost a millennium after the death of its founder. Under the royal patronage of the Ptolemies and in an environment almost oblivious to its Egyptian surroundings, Greek culture was preserved and developed. Early in the Ptolemaic period, probably in the reign of Ptolemy I Soter, the Alexandrian Museum (Greek: Mouseion, "Seat of the Muses") was established within the palace complex. The geographer and historian Strabo, who saw it early in the Roman period, described it as having a covered walk, an arcade with recesses and seats, and a large house containing the dining hall of the members of the Museum, who lived a communal existence. The Library of Alexandria (together with its offshoot in the Sarapeum) was indispensable to the functioning of the scholarly community in the Museum. Books were collected voraciously under the Ptolemies, and at its height the library's collection probably numbered 500,000 or more papyrus rolls, most of them containing more than one work.

The major poets of the Hellenistic period, Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius of Rhodes, all took up residence and wrote there. Scholarship flourished, preserving and ordering the manuscript traditions of much of the classical literature from Homer onward. Librarian-scholars such as Aristophanes of Byzantium and his pupil Aristarchus made critical editions and wrote commentaries and works on grammar. Also notable was the cultural influence of Alexandria's Jewish community, which is inferred from the fact that the Pentateuch was first translated into Greek at Alexandria during the Ptolemaic period. One by-product of this kind of activity was that Alexandria became the centre of the book trade, and the works of the classical authors were copied there and diffused among a literate Greek readership scattered in the towns and villages of the Nile valley.

The Alexandrian achievement in scientific fields was also enormous. Great advances were made in pure mathematics, mechanics, physics, geography, and medicine. Euclid worked in Alexandria about 300 bce and achieved the systematization of the whole existing corpus of mathematical knowledge and the development of the method of proof by deduction from axioms. Archimedes was there in the 3rd century bce and is said to have invented the Archimedean screw when he was in Egypt. Eratosthenes calculated Earth's circumference and was the first to attempt a map of the world based on a system of lines of latitude and longitude. The school of medicine founded in the Ptolemaic period retained its leading reputation into the Byzantine era. Late in the Ptolemaic period Alexandria began to develop as a great centre of Greek philosophical studies as well. In fact, there was no field of literary, intellectual, or scientific activity to which Ptolemaic Alexandria failed to make an important contribution.
Alan Edouard Samuel Alan K. Bowman

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Ancient Egypt - Government and conditions under the Ptolemies

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Ancient Egypt - Ancient Egypt - Government and conditions under the Ptolemies: The changes brought to Egypt by the Ptolemies were momentous; the land's resources were harnessed with unparalleled efficiency, with the result that Egypt became the wealthiest of the Hellenistic kingdoms. Land under cultivation was increased, and new crops were introduced (especially important was the introduction of naked tetraploid wheat, Triticum durum, to replace the traditional husked emmer, Triticum dicoccum).

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Great info in this video.

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Misunderstood Moments in History - Cleopatra's Egypt

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Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt: From our Egyptian Museum to you!

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Video from the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

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The New Kingdom: From our Egyptian Museum to You!

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Video from the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

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The Middle Kingdom: From our Egyptian Museum to you!

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Video from the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum

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The Old Kingdom: From our Egyptian Museum to you!

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TED Talk

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Good explanation of natural barriers.

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Excellent explanation of seasons, deserts, rivers, seas etc.

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Location

The location of ancient Egypt was in North-Eastern Africa, having formed and flourished along the lower portion of the Nile River. It made up most of what is now the modern Arab Republic of Egypt.

Ancient Egypt had four main divisions of its land, the first two being the Upper and Lower Egypt. It may appear odd that the Upper Egypt actually referred to lands to the south, yet this distinction was based on the flow of the Nile. Upper Egypt was little more than a river valley, only about two miles wide at its narrowest and 12 at its widest. Tall cliffs surrounded it on either side. Lower Egypt was the wide delta sitting where the modern city of Cairo is now.

The last two divisions were between red and black land, as previously mentioned. The western desert contained the occasional oasis, but the eastern desert was mostly barren and hostile, save for mines and quarries.

Climate In Ancient Egypt

The climate of ancient Egypt was much the same as it is today; a hot, dry desert climate with very little rainfall. Coastal areas would benefit from winds coming off the Mediterranean Sea, but in the interior, these winds were hardly felt and temperature was high, especially in the summer.

Between March and May, a hot, dry wind called the khamasin blows through the desert. This wind causes humidity to drop and temperatures to soar over 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Rain and clouds are more prevalent near Alexandria, which is influenced again by the Mediterranean Sea. The mountainous region of Sinai has the coolest temperatures during the night, due to its elevation. Winter temperatures can drop as low as three degrees Fahrenheit during the night in some towns.

View of Saharan dust blowing over Egypt and towards the Middle East

Geology

A huge portion of ancient remains are various types of stone, from which a lot can be gleaned about the geology of ancient Egypt. A variety of sedimentary stones were used, including limestone, rock gypsum, sandstone, chert and travertine.

Quarries to find limestone were mostly built in the hills overlooking the Nile River valley. Travertine and chert were also found in these quarries, while additional quarries for limestone were built near Alexandria and the area where the Nile poured into the Mediterranean. Rock gypsum was found near the Red Sea as well as in the Western desert areas.

Igneous rock, such as granite, quartz diorite and andesite, came mostly from the deserts, with the exception of the famous Aswan granite quarry on the Nile. The ancient Egyptians had access to a variety of gemstones for jewelry making as well. Some of these stones included emerald, beryl, garnet, peridot, turquoise and a wide variety of quartz such as agate and amethyst. These precious gemstones were found in Sinai, the deserts and an island in the Red Sea.

Satellite image of Egypt

The Deserts of Ancient Egypt

The deserts of ancient Egypt were the Red Lands, situated on both sides of the Nile.

The Western Desert was actually part of the Libyan Desert and covered 262,000 square miles. Its geography largely consisted of valleys, sand dunes and some mountainous areas. This desert also contained oases, five of which are still known today.

The Eastern Desert extended out to the Red Sea. It is part of what is known as the Arabian Desert today. This desert was arid and barren, but the ancient Egyptians used it extensively to mine various stones. The geography of this desert consisted of more mountains and rocky areas than sand dunes.

Topography of Egypt

The River Nile

The well-known summation of Egypt's existence as the "gift of the Nile" came from the Greek philosopher Herodotus. The philosopher rightly observed that everything that caused the Egyptian civilization to exist and flourish came from the Nile. Very little rain fell in ancient Egypt, certainly not much more than falls in the present, and so drinking water, washing water, water for crops and animals, all of it came from the Nile.

The headwaters of this great river lie deep in Africa and every spring, snowmelt from the Ethiopian highlands poured down into the river, causing it to slowly rise. The Nile floodwaters were extremely predictable, overflowing sometime in late July, then receding in November, wildly contrasting to the floods in Mesopotamia, which were unpredictable and extremely destructive when they did happen. Ancient Egypt flourished as the garden of the ancient world.
Click here to learn more about The Nile River
Quick Facts About The Geography Of Ancient Egypt

The Nile River was the center of ancient Egypt.

The predictable and gentle flooding schedule of the Nile helped Egypt flourish for nearly 3,000 years.

Ancient Egyptians referred to its deserts as the Red Lands and they were considered barren and hostile.

The climate of ancient Egypt was much like today: hot and arid.

The flooding of the Nile was caused by snowmelt far to the south where the Nile begins.

The Greek philosopher Herodotus called Egypt "the gift of the Nile."

The ancient Egyptians divided their calendar according to the Nile, with the first season being inundation, the second was for growing, the third for harvesting.

Stones of all types were found in the deserts and mountains of ancient Egypt.

The Nile River served as the main transportation hub of ancient Egypt.

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Discover more about the geography of ancient Egypt, its geology and how the river Nile shaped the country.

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Lots of easy to read pages from Nat Geo - really good resources.

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Egypt was a vast kingdom of the ancient world. It was unified around 3100 B.C.E. and lasted as a leading economic and cultural influence throughout North Africa and parts of the Levant until it was conquered by the Macedonians in 332 B.C.E.

Subjects

Anthropology, Archaeology, Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations, World History

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Egypt was a vast kingdom of the ancient world. It was unified around 3100 B.C.E. and lasted as a leading economic and cultural influence throughout North Africa and parts of the Levant until it was conquered by the Macedonians in 332 B.C.E.

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More in-depth textbook to read

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Easy level textbook to read

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Agriculture according to the Ancient History Encyclopedia

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Agriculture according to the Ancient History Encyclopedia

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Agriculture was the foundation of the ancient Egyptian economy and vital to the lives of the people of the land. Agricultural practices began in the Delta Region of northern Egypt and the fertile basin known as the Faiyum in the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000 - c. 3150 BCE), but there is evidence of agricultural use and overuse of the land dating back to 8000 BCE.

Egyptologist and historian Margaret Bunson defines ancient Egyptian agriculture as "the science and practice of the ancient Egyptians from predynastic times that enabled them to transform an expanse of semiarid land into rich fields after each inundation of the Nile" (4). In this, she is referring to the yearly flooding of the Nile River which rose over its banks to deposit nutrient-rich soil on the land, allowing for the cultivation of crops. Without the inundation, Egyptian culture could not have taken hold in the Nile River Valley and their civilization would never have been established. So important was the Nile flood that scholars believe many, if not most, of the best known Egyptian myths are linked to, or directly inspired by, this event. The story of the death and resurrection of the god Osiris, for example, is thought to have initially been an allegory for the life-giving inundation of the Nile, and numerous gods throughout Egypt's history are directly or indirectly linked to the river's flood.

So fertile were the fields of Egypt that, in a good season, they produced enough food to feed every person in the country abundantly for a year and still have surplus, which was stored in state-owned granaries and used in trade or saved for leaner times. A bad growing season was always the result of a shallow inundation by the Nile, no matter the amount of rainfall or what other factors came into play.

Tools & Practices

Once the ground was broken and the clods dispersed, seed was carried to the field in baskets and workers filled smaller baskets or sacks from these larger containers. The most common means of sowing the earth was to carry a basket in one arm while flinging the seed with the other hand.

Some farmers were able to afford the luxury of a large basket one attached to the chest by hemp straps which enabled one to use two hands in sowing. To press the seed into the furrows, livestock was driven across the field and the furrows were then closed by workers with hoes. All of this work would have been for nothing, however, if the seeds were denied sufficient water and so regular irrigation of the land was extremely important.

Canals

The yearly inundation of the Nile was essential to Egyptian life, but irrigation canals were necessary to carry water to outlying farms & villages as well as to maintain even saturation of crops near the river.

Egyptian irrigation techniques were so effective they were implemented by the cultures of Greece and Rome. New irrigation methods were introduced during the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt (c. 1782 - c.1570 BCE) by the people known as the Hyksos, who settled in Avaris in Lower Egypt and the Egyptians would further improve upon these techniques, such the expanded use of the canal. The yearly inundation of the Nile was essential to Egyptian life, but irrigation canals were necessary to carry water to outlying farms and villages as well as to maintain even saturation of crops near the river.

Egyptologist Barbara Watterson notes how the Delta Region of Lower Egypt was far more fertile than the fields of Upper Egypt toward the south and so "the Upper Egyptian farmer had to be inventive and, at an early date, learned to cooperate with his neighbours in harnessing the river water through the building of irrigation canals and drainage ditches" (40).

These canals were carefully engineered to efficiently water the fields but, most importantly, not to interfere with anyone else's crops or canals. This aspect of canal construction was so important that it was included in the Negative Confession, the proclamation a soul would make after death when it stood in judgment. Among the Confessions are numbers 33 and 34 in which the soul claims it has never obstructed water in another's canal and has never cut into someone else's canal illegally. After receiving permission to dig a canal, estate owners and farmers were responsible for the proper construction and maintenance of it. Bunson writes:

Early farmers dug trenches from the Nile shore to the farmlands, using draw wells and then the Shaduf, a primitive machine that allowed them to raise levels of water from the Nile into canals...Fields thus irrigated produced abundant annual crops. From the predynastic times agriculture was the mainstay of the Egyptian economy. Most Egyptians were employed in agricultural labors, either on their own lands or on the estates of the temples or nobles. Control of irrigation became a major concern and provincial officials were held responsible for the regulation of water. (4)

Bunson is here referring not only to disputes between people over water rights but the almost sacred responsibility of officials to ensure that water was not wasted, which included making certain that canals were kept in good working order. The regional governor ( nomarch) of a certain district ( nome) delegated authority to those under him for the building of state-sponsored canals and for the maintenance of both public and private waterways. Fines were levied for improperly constructed or poorly maintained canals which wasted water or on those who diverted water from others without permission.

The state-sponsored canals were often ornate works of art. When Ramesses II the Great (1279-1213 BCE) built his city of Per-Ramesses at the site of ancient Avaris, his canals were said to be the most impressive in all of Egypt. These public works were elaborately ornamented while, at the same time, functioning with such high efficiency that the entire region around Per- Ramesses flourished. Hydraulics were used from the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (2040-1782 BCE) onwards to drain land and move water efficiently through the land. An abundance of crops not only meant that the people were well fed but that the economy would thrive through trade of agricultural goods.

The Egyptians maintained a largely vegetarian diet. Meat was expensive, could not last long as there was no concept of refrigeration, and so was primarily reserved for nobility, the wealthy, and for festivals and special occasions. Animals used for meat included cattle, lambs, sheep, goats, poultry, and for the nobles, antelope killed in the hunt. Pigs were regularly eaten in Lower Egypt while shunned (along with anyone associated with them) in Upper Egypt during certain periods. Fish was the most common food of the lower classes but considered unclean by many upper-class Egyptians; priests, for example, were forbidden to eat fish.

The staple crops of ancient Egypt were emmer (a wheat-grain), chickpeas and lentils, lettuce, onions, garlic, sesame, corn, barley, papyrus, flax, the castor oil plant, and - during the period of the New Kingdom (c. 1570-1069 BCE) at Thebes - the opium poppy.

Opium was used for medicinal purposes and recreation from as early as c. 3400 BCE in Sumeria, where the Mesopotamians referred to it as Hul Gil ('the joy plant'), and cultivation of the poppy passed on to other cultures such as the Assyrian and Egyptian. By the time of the New Kingdom, the opium trade was quite lucrative and contributed to the great wealth of the city of Thebes.

Papyrus was used for a number of products. Although it is most commonly recognized as the raw material for paper, papyrus was also used to make sandals, rope, material for dolls, boxes, baskets, mats, window shades, as a food source, and even to make small fishing boats. The castor oil plant was crushed and used for lamp oil and also as a tonic. Flax was used for rope and clothing and sometimes in the manufacture of footwear.

Among the most important crops was the emmer which went into the production of beer, the most popular drink in Egypt, and bread, a daily staple of the Egyptian diet. When Rome annexed Egypt after 30 BCE, wheat production gradually declined in favor of the cultivation of grapes because the Romans favored wine over beer. Prior to the coming of Rome, however, emmer was probably the most important crop regularly grown in Egypt after papyrus.

Farmers & Trade

The individual farmers would make their living from the crops in a number of ways. If one were a private landowner, of course, one could do as one wished with one's crops (keeping in mind that one would have to pay a certain amount to the state in taxes). Most farmers worked on land owned by the nobles or the priests or other wealthy members of society, and so the men would typically tend the fields and surrender the produce to the noble while keeping a small amount for personal use. The wives and children of these tenant farmers often kept small gardens they tended for the family, but agriculture was primarily a man's work. Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley writes:

Women are not conventionally illustrated ploughing, sowing, or looking after the animals in the fileds, but they are shown providing refreshments for the labourers, while gleaning was an approved female outdoor activity recorded in several tomb scenes; women and children follow the official harvesters and pick up any ears of corn which have been left behind. Of equal, or perhaps greater, importance were the small-scale informal transactions conducted between women, with one wife, for example, simply agreeing to swap a jug of her homemade beer for her neighbour's excess fish. This type of exchange, which formed the basis of the Egyptian economy, allowed the careful housewife to convert her surplus directly into useable goods, just as her husband was able to exchange his labour for his daily bread. (137-138)

Such exchanges, in good years, often involved the family garden and produce served as currency in transactions. Fishing was a daily activity for many, if not most, of the lower classes as a means to supplement their income, and Egyptians were known as expert fishermen. Ancient Egypt was a cashless society up until the time of the Persian Invasion of 525 BCE, and so the more one had to barter with, the better one's situation.

Agriculture & Personal Wealth

The monetary unit of ancient Egypt was the deben which, according to historian James C. Thompson, "functioned much as the dollar does in North America today to let customers know the price of things, except that there was no deben coin" (Egyptian Economy, 1). A deben was "approximately 90 grams of copper; very expensive items could also be priced in debens of silver or gold with proportionate changes in value" (ibid). Thompson continues:

Since seventy-five litters of wheat cost one deben and a pair of sandals also cost one deben, it made perfect sense to the Egyptians that a pair of sandals could be purchased with a bag of wheat as easily as with a chunk of copper. Even if the sandal maker had more than enough wheat, she would happily accept it in payment because it could easily be exchanged for something else. The most common items used to make purchases were wheat, barley, and cooking or lamp oil, but in theory almost anything would do. (1)

This same system of barter which took place on the most modest scale throughout the villages of Egypt was also the paradigm in the cities and in international trade. Egypt shipped its produce to Mesopotamia, the Levant, India, Nubia, and the Land of Punt (modern-day Somalia) among others. Crops were harvested and stored at the local level and then a portion collected by the state and moved to the Royal Granaries in the capital as taxes.

Bunson notes how "assessors were sent from the capital to the provinces to collect taxes in the form of grain" and how the local temples "had storage units and were subject to taxes in most eras unless exempted for a particular reason or favor" (5). Temples to especially popular gods, such as Amun, grew wealthy from agriculture, and Egypt's history repeatedly turns on conflicts between the priests of Amun and the throne.

Conclusion

Following the annexation of Egypt by Rome, Egypt served as the "breadbasket" of the Roman Empire and was increasingly called upon to supply food for the empire's ever-expanding reach. This situation would continue even after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE as Egypt continued to be controlled by the Eastern ( Byzantine) Roman Empire until it was taken in the Arab Invasion of the 7th century CE.

Between the time of the Arab Invasion and the fall of the Byzantine Empire in 1453 CE, Egypt continued its long tradition of agricultural pursuits which have been maintained since. Although the major commercial fields and farms of Egypt in the present day are worked using more advanced technology, the old patterns of agriculture can still be observed in small farms and villages.

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Agriculture was the foundation of the ancient Egyptian economy and vital to the lives of the people of the land. Agricultural practices began in the Delta Region of northern Egypt and the fertile basin known as the Faiyum in the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000 - c.

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Crops, seasons, floods...

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Click here to find out about shaduf

The people of ancient Egypt grew everything they needed to eat.

Who were the farmers in Ancient Egypt?

The pharaoh got the rich peasants to do the farm work on the rich lands.

Most villagers were farmers. Farmers lived in towns too, along with craftworkers, traders and other workers and their families.

Wall painting

What crops did the Egyptian Farmers grow?

Egyptians grew crops such as wheat, barley, vegetables, figs, melons, pomegranates and vines. They also grew flax which was made into linen.

The most important crop was grain. The ancient Egyptians used grain to make bread, porridge and beer. Grain was the first crop they grew after inundation (flooding season). Once the grain was harvested, they grew vegetables such as onions, leeks, cabbages, beans, cucumbers and lettuce.

Farmers planted fruit trees and vines along paths, to give shade as well as fruit.

Where did the farmers grow their crops?

The Egyptians grew their crops along the banks of the River Nile on the rich black soil, or kemet which was left behind after the yearly floods. The fertile soil was ideal to grow healthy crops.

How many seasons were there in Ancient Egypt?

Egyptian farmers divided their year into three seasons, based on the cycles of the Nile River:

Akhet - the inundation (June-September): The Flooding Season.
No farming was done at this time, as all the fields were flooded. Instead, many farmers worked for the pharaoh (king), building pyramids or temples. Some of the time was spent mending their tools and looking after animals.

Peret (October-February): The Growing Season.
In October the floodwaters receded, leaving behind a layer of rich, black soil. This fertile soil was then ploughed and seeded.

Shemu (March-May): The Harvesting Season.
The fully grown crops had to be cut down (harvested) and removed before the Nile flooded again. It was also the time to repair the canals ready for the next flood.

What were the two main farming?

The main farming seasons were the:

growing season

harvest season.

In the growing season all the crops were planted. The harvest season was the time when crops were cut and gathered.

How was the corn harvested?

Reapers cut the ripe corn with wooden sickles edged with sharp flints. Women and children followed behind the reapers to collect any fallen ears of corn. Cattle were used to trampled over the cut corn to remove the grain from the ears. Then the grain was tossed into the air so the breeze blew the light useless chaff away.

Wall painting

Read more about harvesting

What was the flooding season in Ancient Egypt?

Every June, the Nile flooded. This was known as the flooding season. During this time the farmers would mend tools or make new ones. People would go fishing for food or extra money.

What farming tools did they have in Ancient Egypt?

Ancient Egyptians had simple farming tools such as winnowing scoops, hoes, rakes, flint-bladed sickles and ploughs.

Wall painting

They had both hand ploughs and ones pulled by oxen. The ploughs were used to turn the soil.

Wall painting of a hand plough

Wall painting

Another piece of equipment used by farmers was the Shaduf. See further down the page.

The majority of the tools were made entirely out of wood, or a combination of wood and stone, however, some copper tools have also been found, indiscating that they had some metal tools too.

How did the Egyptian Farmers water their crops?

Once the floods receded and the fields dried, the plants would wither and die. The mud that the Nile left behind needed lots of watering in the hot sun. The ancient Egyptians tried to trap as much flood water as possible, so they did not have to constantly get water from the river.

They built mud-brick reservoirs to trap and hold the water. They also had a network of irrigation canals that filled with water during the flood and were refilled from the reservoirs.

How did they lift water from canals on to the land?

To lift the water from the canal they used a shaduf. A shaduf is a large pole balanced on a crossbeam, a rope and bucket on one end and a heavy counter weight at the other. By pulling the rope it lowered the bucket into the canal. The farmer then raised the bucket of water by pulling down on the weight. He then swung the pole around and emptied the bucket onto the field.

Wall painting of a shaduff

Shaduf (shadoof) is a machine to move water from a lower place to a higher place.

What animals did the Egyptian farmers have?

Animals were very important to Egyptian farmers. Animals helped them with jobs like trampling in the seeds, pulling the plough, eating unwanted grain or wheat and providing the Egyptians with food and drink. They kept animals such as cattle, goats, pigs, ducks, cows, and geese.

Wall painting

What other jobs did peasants do in Ancient Egypt?

Peasants also hunted for antelope in the desert beyond the hills and fishing in the Nile.

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Click here to find out about shaduf The people of ancient Egypt grew everything they needed to eat. Who were the farmers in Ancient Egypt? The pharaoh got the rich peasants to do the farm work on the rich lands. Most villagers were farmers.

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Lots of info in this site

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Even today, the manner in which modern Egypt has melded with the ancient world is positively astounding. The pull of the old Egypt is still very much a part of modern cities such as Cairo and Alexandria.

From the pyramids of Giza to the great technological advances, ancient Egypt never ceases to amaze. Ancient Egypt Online provides you an introduction to many of the fascinating aspects of the history, culture, religion, geography, politics, and daily life in ancient Egypt.

Some of this information may be well known facts to you, while other tidbits may be a new discovery on your path to broadening your knowledge.

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ANCIENT EGYPT ONLINE | History, Gods, Pharaohs & Daily Life

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Even today, the manner in which modern Egypt has melded with the ancient world is positively astounding. The pull of the old Egypt is still very much a part of modern cities such as Cairo and Alexandria. From the pyramids of Giza to the great technological advances, ancient Egypt never ceases to amaze.

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Awful Egyptians

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Horrible Histories - Awful Egyptians | Compilation

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Horrible Histories - Making a Mummy | Horrible Songs | Awful Egyptians

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Plenty of info from lumen learning.

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Ancient Egyptian Religion

Ancient Egyptian religion lasted for more than 3,000 years, and consisted of a complex polytheism. The pharaoh's role was to sustain the gods in order to maintain order in the universe.

Learning Objectives

Describe the religious beliefs and practices of Ancient Egypt

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The religion of Ancient Egypt lasted for more than 3,000 years, and was polytheistic, meaning there were a multitude of deities, who were believed to reside within and control the forces of nature.

Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, or ruler, of Egypt, who was believed to be divine, and acted as intermediary between the people and the gods. His role was to sustain the gods so that they could maintain order in the universe.

The Egyptian universe centered on Ma'at, which has several meanings in English, including truth, justice and order. It was fixed and eternal; without it the world would fall apart.

The most important myth was of Osiris and Isis. The divine ruler Osiris was murdered by Set (god of chaos ), then resurrected by his sister and wife Isis to conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then became the ruler of the dead, while Horus eventually avenged his father and became king.

Egyptians were very concerned about the fate of their souls after death. They believed ka (life-force) left the body upon death and needed to be fed. Ba, or personal spirituality, remained in the body. The goal was to unite ka and ba to create akh.

Artistic depictions of gods were not literal representations, as their true nature was considered mysterious. However, symbolic imagery was used to indicate this nature.

Temples were the state's method of sustaining the gods, since their physical images were housed and cared for; temples were not a place for the average person to worship.

Certain animals were worshipped and mummified as representatives of gods.

Oracles were used by all classes.

Key Terms

polytheistic: A religion with more than one worshipped god.

Duat: The realm of the dead; residence of Osiris.

ka: The spiritual part of an individual human being or god that survived after death.

pantheon: The core actors of a religion.

heka: The ability to use natural forces to create "magic."

Ma'at,: The Egyptian universe.

ba: The spiritual characteristics of an individual person that remained in the body after death. Ba could unite with the ka.

akh: The combination of the ka and ba living in the afterlife.

The religion of Ancient Egypt lasted for more than 3,000 years, and was polytheistic, meaning there were a multitude of deities, who were believed to reside within and control the forces of nature. Religious practices were deeply embedded in the lives of Egyptians, as they attempted to provide for their gods and win their favor. The complexity of the religion was evident as some deities existed in different manifestations and had multiple mythological roles. The pantheon included gods with major roles in the universe, minor deities (or "demons"), foreign gods, and sometimes humans, including deceased Pharaohs.

Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, or ruler, of Egypt, who was believed to be divine, and acted as intermediary between the people and the gods. His role was to sustain the gods so that they could maintain order in the universe, and the state spent its resources generously to build temples and provide for rituals. The pharaoh was associated with Horus (and later Amun) and seen as the son of Ra. Upon death, the pharaoh was fully deified, directly identified with Ra and associated with Osiris, the god of death and rebirth. However, individuals could appeal directly to the gods for personal purposes through prayer or requests for magic; as the pharaoh's power declined, this personal form of practice became stronger. Popular religious practice also involved ceremonies around birth and naming. The people also invoked "magic" (called heka) to make things happen using natural forces.

Cosmology

The Egyptian universe centered on Ma'at, which has several meanings in English, including truth, justice and order. It was fixed and eternal (without it the world would fall apart), and there were constant threats of disorder requiring society to work to maintain it. Inhabitants of the cosmos included the gods, the spirits of deceased humans, and living humans, the most important of which was the pharaoh. Humans should cooperate to achieve this, and gods should function in balance. Ma'at was renewed by periodic events, such as the annual Nile flood, which echoed the original creation. Most important of these was the daily journey of the sun god Ra.

Egyptians saw the earth as flat land (the god Geb), over which arched the sky (goddess Nut); they were separated by Shu, the god of air. Underneath the earth was a parallel underworld and undersky, and beyond the skies lay Nu, the chaos before creation. Duat was a mysterious area associated with death and rebirth, and each day Ra passed through Duat after traveling over the earth during the day.

Myths

Egyptian myths are mainly known from hymns, ritual and magical texts, funerary texts, and the writings of Greeks and Romans. The creation myth saw the world as emerging as a dry space in the primordial ocean of chaos, marked by the first rising of Ra. Other forms of the myth saw the primordial god Atum transforming into the elements of the world, and the creative speech of the intellectual god Ptah.

The most important myth was of Osiris and Isis. The divine ruler Osiris was murdered by Set (god of chaos), then resurrected by his sister and wife Isis to conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then became the ruler of the dead, while Horus eventually avenged his father and became king. This myth set the Pharaohs, and their succession, as orderliness against chaos.

The Afterlife

Egyptians were very concerned about the fate of their souls after death, and built tombs, created grave goods and gave offerings to preserve the bodies and spirits of the dead. They believed humans possessed ka, or life-force, which left the body at death. To endure after death, the ka must continue to receive offerings of food; it could consume the spiritual essence of it. Humans also possessed a ba, a set of spiritual characteristics unique to each person, which remained in the body after death. Funeral rites were meant to release the ba so it could move, rejoin with the ka, and live on as an akh. However, the ba returned to the body at night, so the body must be preserved.

Mummification involved elaborate embalming practices, and wrapping in cloth, along with various rites, including the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. Tombs were originally mastabas (rectangular brick structures), and then pyramids.

However, this originally did not apply to the common person: they passed into a dark, bleak realm that was the opposite of life. Nobles did receive tombs and grave gifts from the pharaoh. Eventually, by about 2181 BCE, Egyptians began to believe every person had a ba and could access the afterlife. By the New Kingdom, the soul had to face dangers in the Duat before having a final judgment, called the Weighing of the Heart, where the gods compared the actions of the deceased while alive to Ma'at, to see if they were worthy. If so, the ka and ba were united into an akh, which then either traveled to the lush underworld, or traveled with Ra on his daily journey, or even returned to the world of the living to carry out magic.

Rise and Fall of Gods

Certain gods gained a primary status over time, and then fell as other gods overtook them. These included the sun god Ra, the creator god Amun, and the mother goddess Isis. There was even a period of time where Egypt was monotheistic, under Pharaoh Akhenaten, and his patron god Aten.

The Relationships of Deities

Just as the forces of nature had complex interrelationships, so did Egyptian deities. Minor deities might be linked, or deities might come together based on the meaning of numbers in Egyptian mythology (i.e., pairs represented duality). Deities might also be linked through syncretism, creating a composite deity.

Artistic Depictions of Gods

Artistic depictions of gods were not literal representations, since their true nature was considered mysterious. However, symbolic imagery was used to indicate this nature. An example was Anubis, a funerary god, who was shown as a jackal to counter its traditional meaning as a scavenger, and create protection for the mummy.

Temples

Temples were the state's method of sustaining the gods, as their physical images were housed and cared for; they were not a place for the average person to worship. They were both mortuary temples to serve deceased pharaohs and temples for patron gods. Starting as simple structures, they grew more elaborate, and were increasingly built from stone, with a common plan. Ritual duties were normally carried out by priests, or government officials serving in the role. In the New Kingdom, professional priesthood became common, and their wealth rivaled that of the pharaoh.

Rituals and Festivals

Aside from numerous temple rituals, including the morning offering ceremony and re-enactments of myths, there were coronation ceremonies and the sed festival, a renewal of the pharaoh's strength during his reign. The Opet Festival at Karnak involved a procession carrying the god's image to visit other significant sites.

Animal Worship

At many sites, Egyptians worshipped specific animals that they believed to be manifestations of deities. Examples include the Apis bull (of the god Ptah), and mummified cats and other animals.

Use of Oracles

Commoners and pharaohs asked questions of oracles, and answers could even be used during the New Kingdom to settle legal disputes. This might involve asking a question while a divine image was being carried, and interpreting movement, or drawing lots.

Ancient Egyptian Art

Ancient Egyptian art included painting, sculpture, pottery, glass work, and architecture. Many surviving art is related to tombs and monuments. Aside from the brief Amarna period, Egyptian art remained relatively unchanged for thousands of years.

Learning Objectives

Examine the development of Egyptian Art under the Old Kingdom.

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of art, such as drawings on papyrus, created between 3000 BCE and 100 CE.

Most of this art was highly stylized and symbolic. Much of the surviving forms come from tombs and monuments, and thus have a focus on life after death and preservation of knowledge.

Symbolism meant order, shown through the pharaoh 's regalia, or through the use of certain colors.

In Egyptian art, the size of a figure indicates its relative importance.

Paintings were often done on stone, and portrayed pleasant scenes of the afterlife in tombs.

Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and smaller sculptures, using the technique of sunk relief.

Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting place for the ka part of the soul, were often made of wood and placed in tombs.

Faience was sintered-quartz ceramic with surface vitrification, used to create relatively cheap small objects in many colors. Glass was originally a luxury item but became more common, and was used to make small jars, for perfume and other liquids, to be placed in tombs. Carvings of vases, amulets, and images of deities and animals were made of steatite. Pottery was sometimes covered with enamel, particularly in the color blue.

Papyrus was used for writing and painting, and and was used to record every aspect of Egyptian life.

Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes. They used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite.

The Amarna period (1353-1336 BCE) represents an interruption in ancient Egyptian art style, subjects were represented more realistically, and scenes included portrayals of affection among the royal family.

Key Terms

papyrus: A material prepared in ancient Egypt from the stem of a water plant, used in sheets for writing or painting on.

regalia: The emblems or insignia of royalty.

sunk relief: Sculptural technique in which the outlines of modeled forms are incised in a plane surface beyond which the forms do not project.

Ka: The supposed spiritual part of an individual human being or god that survived after death, and could reside in a statue of the person.

ushabti: Ancient Egyptian funerary figure.

Faience: Glazed ceramic ware.

scarabs: Ancient Egyptian gem cut in the form of a scarab beetle

Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of art, such as drawings on papyrus, created between 3000 BCE and 100 AD. Most of this art was highly stylized and symbolic. Many of the surviving forms come from tombs and monuments, and thus have a focus on life after death and preservation of knowledge.

Symbolism

Symbolism in ancient Egyptian art conveyed a sense of order and the influence of natural elements. The regalia of the pharaoh symbolized his or her power to rule and maintain the order of the universe. Blue and gold indicated divinity because they were rare and were associated with precious materials, while black expressed the fertility of the Nile River.

Hierarchical Scale

In Egyptian art, the size of a figure indicates its relative importance. This meant gods or the pharaoh were usually bigger than other figures, followed by figures of high officials or the tomb owner; the smallest figures were servants, entertainers, animals, trees and architectural details.

Painting

Before painting a stone surface, it was whitewashed and sometimes covered with mud plaster. Pigments were made of mineral and able to stand up to strong sunlight with minimal fade. The binding medium is unknown; the paint was applied to dried plaster in the "fresco a secco" style. A varnish or resin was then applied as a protective coating, which, along with the dry climate of Egypt, protected the painting very well. The purpose of tomb paintings was to create a pleasant afterlife for the dead person, with themes such as journeying through the afterworld, or deities providing protection. The side view of the person or animal was generally shown, and paintings were often done in red, blue, green, gold, black and yellow.

Sculpture

Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and smaller sculptures, using the technique of sunk relief. In this technique, the image is made by cutting the relief sculpture into a flat surface, set within a sunken area shaped around the image. In strong sunlight, this technique is very visible, emphasizing the outlines and forms by shadow. Figures are shown with the torso facing front, the head in side view, and the legs parted, with males sometimes darker than females. Large statues of deities (other than the pharaoh) were not common, although deities were often shown in paintings and reliefs.

Colossal sculpture on the scale of the Great Sphinx of Giza was not repeated, but smaller sphinxes and animals were found in temple complexes. The most sacred cult image of a temple's god was supposedly held in the naos in small boats, carved out of precious metal, but none have survived.

Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting place for the ka part of the soul, were present in tombs as of Dynasty IV (2680-2565 BCE). These were often made of wood, and were called reserve heads, which were plain, hairless and naturalistic. Early tombs had small models of slaves, animals, buildings, and objects to provide life for the deceased in the afterworld. Later, ushabti figures were present as funerary figures to act as servants for the deceased, should he or she be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife.

Many small carved objects have been discovered, from toys to utensils, and alabaster was used for the more expensive objects. In creating any statuary, strict conventions, accompanied by a rating system, were followed. This resulted in a rather timeless quality, as few changes were instituted over thousands of years.

Faience, Pottery, and Glass

Faience was sintered-quartz ceramic with surface vitrification used to create relatively cheap, small objects in many colors, but most commonly blue-green. It was often used for jewelry, scarabs, and figurines. Glass was originally a luxury item, but became more common, and was to used to make small jars, of perfume and other liquids, to be placed in tombs. Carvings of vases, amulets, and images of deities and animals were made of steatite. Pottery was sometimes covered with enamel, particularly in the color blue. In tombs, pottery was used to represent organs of the body removed during embalming, or to create cones, about ten inches tall, engraved with legends of the deceased.

Papyrus

Papyrus is very delicate and was used for writing and painting; it has only survived for long periods when buried in tombs. Every aspect of Egyptian life is found recorded on papyrus, from literary to administrative documents.

Architecture

Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, and used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite. Stone was reserved for tombs and temples, while other buildings, such as palaces and fortresses, were made of bricks. Houses were made of mud from the Nile River that hardened in the sun. Many of these houses were destroyed in flooding or dismantled; examples of preserved structures include the village Deir al-Madinah and the fortress at Buhen.

The Giza Necropolis, built in the Fourth Dynasty, includes the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid or the Pyramid of Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with smaller "queen" pyramids and the Great Sphinx.

The Temple of Karnak was first built in the 16th century BCE. About 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, creating an extremely large and diverse complex. It includes the Precincts of Amon-Re, Montu and Mut, and the Temple of Amehotep IV (dismantled).

The Luxor Temple was constructed in the 14th century BCE by Amenhotep III in the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor, with a major expansion by Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE. It includes the 79-foot high First Pylon, friezes, statues, and columns.

The Amarna Period (1353-1336 BCE)

During this period, which represents an interruption in ancient Egyptian art style, subjects were represented more realistically, and scenes included portrayals of affection among the royal family. There was a sense of movement in the images, with overlapping figures and large crowds. The style reflects Akhenaten 's move to monotheism, but it disappeared after his death.

Ancient Egyptian Monuments

Ancient Egyptian monuments included pyramids, sphinxes, and temples. These buildings and statues required careful planning and resources, and showed the influence Egyptian religion had on the state and its people.

Learning Objectives

Describe the impressive attributes of the monuments erected by Egyptians in the Old Kingdom

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Ancient Egyptian architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, and used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite.

Egyptian pyramids were highly reflective, referenced the sun, and were usually placed on the West side of the Nile River.

About 135 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, with the largest (in Egypt and the world) being the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a reclining sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head); its face is meant to represent the Pharaoh Khafra. It is the world's oldest and largest monolith.

Egyptian temples were used for official, formal worship of the gods by the state, and to commemorate pharaohs. The temple was the house of a particular god, and Egyptians would perform rituals, give offerings, re-enact myths, and keep order in the universe (ma'at).

The Temple of Karnak was first built in the 16th century BCE. About 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, creating an extremely large and diverse complex.

The Luxor Temple was constructed in the 14th century BCE by Amenhotep III in the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor. It later received a major expansion by Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE.

Key Terms

solstices: Either of the two times in the year (summer and winter) when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon.

equinoxes: Either of the two times in the year when the sun crosses the celestial equator, and day and night are of equal length.

Hypostyle halls: In ancient Egypt, covered rooms with columns.

peristyle courts: In ancient Egypt, courts that open to the sky.

pylon: In ancient Egypt, two tapering towers with a less elevated section between them, forming a gateway.

friezes: Broad, horizontal bands of sculpted or painted decoration.

monolith: A large single upright block of stone, especially one shaped into, or serving as, a pillar or monument.

ma'at: The ancient Egyptian concept of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality and justice.

obelisks: Stone pillars, typically having a square or rectangular cross section and pyramidal top, used as monuments or landmarks.

Ancient Egyptian architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes. They used mainly sun-baked mud brick, limestone, sandstone, and granite. Stone was reserved for tombs and temples, while other buildings, such as palaces and fortresses, were made of bricks.

Pyramids

Egyptian pyramids referenced the rays of the sun, and appeared highly polished and reflective, with a capstone that was generally a hard stone like granite, sometimes plated with gold, silver or electrum. Most were placed west of the Nile, to allow the pharaoh's soul to join with the sun during its descent.

About 135 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, with the largest (in Egypt and the world) being the Great Pyramid of Giza. Its base is over 566,000 square feet in area, and was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Giza Necropolis, built in the Fourth Dynasty, includes the Pyramid of Khufu (also known as the Great Pyramid or the Pyramid of Cheops), the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with smaller "queens" pyramids and the Great Sphinx.

The Great Sphinx of Giza

This limestone statue of a reclining sphinx (a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head) is located on the Giza Plateau to the west of the Nile. It is believed the face is meant to represent the Pharaoh Khafra. It is the largest and oldest monolith statue in the world, at 241 feet long, 63 feet wide, and 66.34 feet tall. It is believed to have been built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafra (2558-2532 BCE). It was probably a focus of solar worship, as the lion is a symbol associated with the sun.

Temples

Egyptian temples were used for official, formal worship of the gods by the state, and to commemorate pharaohs. The temple was the house dedicated to a particular god, and Egyptians would perform rituals there, give offerings, re-enact myths and keep order in the universe (ma'at). Pharaohs were in charge of caring for the gods, and they dedicated massive resources to this task. Priests assisted in this effort. The average citizen was not allowed into the inner sanctum of the temple, but might still go there to pray, give offerings, or ask questions of the gods.

The inner sanctuary had a cult image of the temple's god, as well as a series of surrounding rooms that became large and elaborate over time, evolving into massive stone edifices during the New Kingdom. Temples also often owned surrounding land and employed thousands of people to support its activities, creating a powerful institution. The designs emphasized order, symmetry and monumentality. Hypostyle halls (covered rooms filled with columns) led to peristyle courts (open courts), where the public could meet with priests. At the front of each court was a pylon (broad, flat towers) that held flagpoles. Outside the temple building was the temple enclosure, with a brick wall to symbolically protect from outside disorder; often a sacred lake would be found here. Decoration included reliefs (bas relief and sunken relief) of images and hieroglyphic text and sculpture, including obelisks, figures of gods (sometimes in sphinx form), and votive figures. Egyptian religions faced persecution by Christians, and the last temple was closed in 550 AD.

The Temple of Karnak was first built in the 16th century BCE. About 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, creating an extremely large and diverse complex. It includes the Precincts of Amon-Re, Montu and Mut, and the Temple of Amehotep IV (dismantled).

The Luxor Temple was constructed in the 14th century BCE by Amenhotep III in the ancient city of Thebes, now Luxor, with a major expansion by Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE. It includes the 79-foot high First Pylon, friezes, statues, and columns.

Ancient Egyptian Trade

Ancient Egyptians traded with their African and Mediterranean neighbors to obtain goods, such as cedar, lapis lazuli, gold, ivory, and more. They exported goods, such as papyrus, linen, and finished objects using a variety of land and maritime trading routes.

Learning Objectives

Describe the economic structure of ancient Egypt

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Trade was occurring in the 5th century BCE onwards, especially with Canaan, Lebanon, Nubia and Punt.

Just before the First Dynasty, Egypt had a colony in southern Canaan that produced Egyptian pottery for export to Egypt.

In the Second Dynasty, Byblos provided quality timber that could not be found in Egypt.

By the Fifth Dynasty, trade with Punt gave Egyptians gold, aromatic resins, ebony, ivory, and wild animals.

A well-traveled land route from the Nile to the Red Sea crossed through the Wadi Hammamat. Another route, the Darb el-Arbain, was used from the time of the Old Kingdom of Egypt.

Egyptians built ships as early as 3000 BCE by lashing planks of wood together and stuffing the gaps with reeds. They used them to import goods from Lebanon and Punt.

Key Terms

myrrh: A fragrant gum resin obtained from certain trees, often used in perfumery, medicine and incense.

malachite: A bright green mineral consisting of copper hydroxyl carbonate.

papyrus: A material prepared in ancient Egypt from the stem of a water plant, used in sheets for writing, painting, or making rope, sandals, and boats.

obsidian: A hard, dark, glasslike volcanic rock.

electrum: A natural or artifical alloy of gold, with at least 20% silver, used for jewelry.

Early examples of ancient Egyptian trade included contact with Syria in the 5th century BCE, and importation of pottery and construction ideas from Canaan in the 4th century BCE. By this time, shipping was common, and the donkey, camel, and horse were domesticated and used for transportation. Lebanese cedar has been found in the tombs of Nekhen, dated to the Naqada I and II periods. Egyptians during this period also imported obsidian from Ethiopia, gold and incense from Nubia in the south, oil jugs from Palestine, and other goods from the oases of the western desert and the cultures of the eastern Mediterranean. Egyptian artifacts from this era have been found in Canaan and parts of the former Mesopotamia. In the latter half of the 4th century BCE, the gemstone lapis lazuli was being imported from Badakhshan (modern-day Afghanistan).

Just before the First Dynasty, Egypt had a colony in southern Canaan that produced Egyptian pottery for export to Egypt. In the Second Dynasty, Byblos provided quality timber that could not be found in Egypt. By the Fifth Dynasty, trade with Punt gave Egyptians gold, aromatic resins, ebony, ivory, and wild animals. Egypt also traded with Anatolia for tin and copper in order to make bronze. Mediterranean trading partners provided olive oil and other fine goods.

Egypt commonly exported grain, gold, linen, papyrus, and finished goods, such as glass and stone objects.

Land Trade Routes

A well-traveled land route from the Nile to the Red Sea crossed through the Wadi Hammamat, and was known from predynastic times. This route allowed travelers to move from Thebes to the Red Sea port of Elim, and led to the rise of ancient cities.

Another route, the Darb el-Arbain, was used from the time of the Old Kingdom of Egypt to trade gold, ivory, spices, wheat, animals, and plants. This route passed through Kharga in the south and Asyut in the north, and was a major route between Nubia and Egypt.

Maritime Trade Routes

Egyptians built ships as early as 3000 BCE by lashing planks of wood together and stuffing the gaps with reeds.

Pharaoh Sahure, of the Fifth Dynasty, is known to have sent ships to Lebanon to import cedar, and to the Land of Punt for myrrh, malachite, and electrum. Queen Hatshepsut sent ships for myrrh in Punt, and extended Egyptian trade into modern-day Somalia and the Mediterranean.

An ancient form of the Suez Canal is believed to have been started by Pharaoh Senusret II or III of the Twelfth Dynasty, in order to connect the Nile River with the Red Sea.

Ancient Egyptian Culture

The Middle Kingdom was a golden age for ancient Egypt, when arts, religion, and literature flourished. Two major innovations of the time were block statues and new forms of literature.

Learning Objectives

Examine the artistic and social developments of the Middle Kingdom

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The Middle Kingdom (2134-1690 BCE) was a time of prosperity and stability, as well as a resurgence of art, literature, and architecture.Block statue was a new type of sculpture invented in the Middle Kingdom, and was often used as a funerary monument.

Literature had new uses during the Middle Kingdom, and many classics were written during the period.

Key Terms

funerary monuments: Sculpture meant to decorate a tomb within a pyramid.

The Middle Kingdom (2134-1690 BCE) was a time of prosperity and stability, as well as a resurgence of art, literature, and architecture. Two major innovations of the time were the block statue and new forms of literature.

The Block Statue

The block statue came into use during this period. This type of sculpture depicts a squatting man with knees drawn close to the chest and arms folded on top of the knees. The body may be adorned with a cloak, which makes the body appear to be a block shape. The feet may be covered by the cloak, or left uncovered. The head was often carved in great detail, and reflected Egyptian beauty ideals, including large ears and small breasts. The block statue became more popular over the years, with its high point in the Late Period, and was often used as funerary monuments of important, non-royal individuals. They may have been intended as guardians, and were often fully inscribed.

Literature

In the Middle Kingdom period, due to growth of middle class and scribes, literature began to be written to entertain and provide intellectual stimulation. Previously, literature served the purposes of maintaining divine cults, preserving souls in the afterlife, and documenting practical activities. However, some Middle Kingdom literature may have been transcriptions of the oral literature and poetry of the Old Kingdom. Future generations of Egyptians often considered Middle Kingdom literature to be "classic," with the ultimate example being the Story of Sinuhe.

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Ancient Egyptian religion lasted for more than 3,000 years, and consisted of a complex polytheism. The pharaoh's role was to sustain the gods in order to maintain order in the universe.

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Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. At the top were the gods, such as Ra, Osiris, and Isis. Egyptians believed that the gods controlled the universe. Therefore, it was important to keep them happy. They could make the Nile overflow, cause famine, or even bring death.

In the social pyramid of ancient Egypt the pharaoh and those associated with divinity were at the top, and servants and slaves made up the bottom.

The Egyptians also elevated some human beings to gods. Their leaders, called pharaohs, were believed to be gods in human form. They had absolute power over their subjects. After pharaohs died, huge stone pyramids were built as their tombs. Pharaohs were buried in chambers within the pyramids.

Because the people of Egypt believed that their pharaohs were gods, they entrusted their rulers with many responsibilities. Protection was at the top of the list. The pharaoh directed the army in case of a foreign threat or an internal conflict. All laws were enacted at the discretion of the pharaoh. Each farmer paid taxes in the form of grain, which were stored in the pharaoh's warehouses. This grain was used to feed the people in the event of a famine.

The Chain of Command

Ancient Egyptian royalty, nobility, and clergy enjoyed lives of wealth and comfort while farmers and slaves struggled to subsist.

No single person could manage all these duties without assistance. The pharaoh appointed a chief minister called a vizier as a supervisor. The vizier ensured that taxes were collected.

Working with the vizier were scribes who kept government records. These high-level employees had mastered a rare skill in ancient Egypt - they could read and write.

Noble Aims

Right below the pharaoh in status were powerful nobles and priests. Only nobles could hold government posts; in these positions they profited from tributes paid to the pharaoh. Priests were responsible for pleasing the gods.

Religion was a central theme in ancient Egyptian culture and each town had its own deity. Initially, these deities were animals; later, they took on human appearances and behaviors. Seated here is Thoth, the god of learning and wisdom, carrying a scepter symbolizing magical power.

Nobles enjoyed great status and also grew wealthy from donations to the gods. All Egyptians - from pharaohs to farmers - gave gifts to the gods.

Soldier On

Soldiers fought in wars or quelled domestic uprisings. During long periods of peace, soldiers also supervised the peasants, farmers, and slaves who were involved in building such structures as pyramids and palaces.

Skilled workers such as physicians and craftspersons made up the middle class. Craftspersons made and sold jewelry, pottery, papyrus products, tools, and other useful things.

Naturally, there were people needed to buy goods from artisans and traders. These were the merchants and storekeepers who sold these goods to the public.

The Bottom of the Heap

At the bottom of the social structure were slaves and farmers. Slavery became the fate of those captured as prisoners of war. In addition to being forced to work on building projects, slaves toiled at the discretion of the pharaoh or nobles.

Farmers tended the fields, raised animals, kept canals and reservoirs in good order, worked in the stone quarries, and built the royal monuments. Farmers paid taxes that could be as much as 60 percent of their yearly harvest - that's a lot of hay!

Social mobility was not impossible. A small number of peasants and farmers moved up the economic ladder. Families saved money to send their sons to village schools to learn trades. These schools were run by priests or by artisans. Boys who learned to read and write could become scribes, then go on to gain employment in the government. It was possible for a boy born on a farm to work his way up into the higher ranks of the government. Bureaucracy proved lucrative.

The Social Pyramid
The pharaoh was at the very top of ancient Egyptian society, and servants and slaves were at the bottom. Who was in the middle? Click on this interactive pyramid to find out how merchants, artists, farmers, and others stacked up. Links at the bottom of the page lead to other facts about ancient Egypt. This page comes from Odyssey Online, a website for kids produced by Emory University.

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Egyptian society was structured like a pyramid. At the top were the gods, such as Ra, Osiris, and Isis. Egyptians believed that the gods controlled the universe. Therefore, it was important to keep them happy. They could make the Nile overflow, cause famine, or even bring death.

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Discovering Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt, the lives of the pharaohs and their world has been a constant interest throughout my life. It began at the age of five when my grandfather entertained me with stories about the ancient Egyptians. He also gave me a respect for scientific method, inspired me with an appreciation of art and taught me to examine the world around me through observational drawing. As a result I grew up to become an artist with a love of science and Egyptology.

My artistic works over forty years have been heavily influenced by ancient Egyptian artistic conventions and my later works, writing books and reconstructing Egyptian monuments, are the result of twenty years of drawings, paintings, photos and observational notes I made while travelling the Egyptian Nile.

I apply a meticulous regard for material evidence and archaeological knowledge in my work. So if you believe that aliens built the pyramids this website is not for you and I do not reply to emails containing such ideas.

I hope you enjoy this website it has a basic description of hieroglyphic writing, you can have fun with the Hieroglyphic Typewriter - you can write your name in the ancient script and email secret messages to your friends. You will also learn about Egyptian numerals and test your knowledge with some mathematical problems set out using the ancient numbers.

There are stories of the great kings & queens, the ancient Egyptian gods and mummification is covered with diagrams and videos. In the pyramid & temple section you can explore the ancient monuments; using interactive maps, photos, drawings, and paintings. Also check out 3D Temples and see how these shrines, to the gods, may have appeared to ancient eyes.
Mark Millmore

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Discovering Ancient Egypt hieroglyphs pharaohs pyramids mummification

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Discovering Ancient Egypt pharaohs, pyramids, temples, mummification, Egyptian gods hieroglyphic write your name in hieroglyphs Hieroglyphic Typewriter.

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Ramses built the Temple at Abu Simbel in Egypt to intimidate his enemies and seat himself amongst the gods.

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Egypt Hatshepsut   The Queen Who Became King

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The Egyptian Pharaoh With the Biggest Ego

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Though little is known about Khufu, the pharaoh who oversaw the Great Pyramid's construction, vicious rumors about him persist today.

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Used for deciding which crops to grow.

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Ancient Egyptians used a Nilometer to treat the rise and fall or the Nile during the flood season. This allowed them to predict which crops would be most successful in the coming harvest.

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Ancient Egyptians used a Nilometer to treat the rise and fall or the Nile during the flood season. This allowed them to predict which crops would be most successful in the coming harvest.

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The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

History of Ancient Egypt's Government

Before the Old Kingdom

Scholars have found few government records from before the Old Kingdom Period. Evidence shows that Egypt was a united kingdom with a single ruler, which indicates that the first pharaohs must have set up a form of central government and established an economic system.

Before the Persian Period, the Egyptian economy was a barter system and not monetary. People paid taxes to the government in the form of crops, livestock, jewelry or precious stones. In return, the government maintained peace in the land, saved food in case of famine and conducted public works.

© Internet Archive Book Images - Barter trade system

The Old Kingdom

Ancient Egypt's government became more centralized during the Old Kingdom. Building large stone pyramids meant the pharaoh had to make changes to the government. Pharaohs from Dynasties Three and Four maintained a strong central government and they had almost absolute power.

Earlier pharaohs created a strong government that allowed them to summon large work forces. They appointed their high officials, and they chose members of their family. These men were loyal to the pharaoh. The government then let the pharaoh gather and distribute enough food to support huge numbers of workers, which allowed them to build large stone pyramids.

© Bruno Girin - The famous pyramids at Giza

During Dynasties Five and Six, the pharaoh's power lessened. Government positions had become hereditary and the district governors, called nomarchs, grew powerful. By the end of the Old Kingdom, nomarchs were ruling their nomes (districts) without the oversight of the pharaoh. When the pharaohs lost control of the nomes, the central government collapsed.

The Intermediate Periods

Modern scholars place three Intermediate Periods into the timeline of Ancient Egypt's history. The Old, Middle and New Kingdoms were each followed by an intermediate periods. All three of these had unique characteristics, but they have two common features. Each represents a time when Egypt was not unified, and there was no centralized government.

The Middle Kingdom

The Old Kingdom's government served as a base for the Middle Kingdom's. The pharaoh made changes, including the addition of more officials. Titles and duties were more specific which limited each official's sphere of influence.

The central government became more involved in the nomes and had more control of individual people and what they paid in taxes. The pharaoh tried to limit the power of the nomarchs. He appointed officials to oversee their activity and he weakened the nomes by making towns the basic unit of the government. The mayors of individual towns became powerful.

The increase in government officials led to the growth of the middle-class bureaucracy.

Officials based taxes on an assessment of cultivable land and the flooding of the Nile. During periods of low flooding, officials reduced taxes, while the government levied a poll tax on each citizen, which they paid in produce or craft goods.

© Internet Archive Book Images - People paid taxes in produce

The New Kingdom

The pharaohs of the New Kingdom continued to build their government on the foundations of earlier governments. One change they made was a decrease in the land area of nomes and an increase in their number. During this period, the pharaohs created a standing army and created military positions. Before this, the pharaohs formed armies using conscripted people.

The 19th Dynasty saw the beginning of a break-up in the legal system. Before this dynasty, government appointed judges made decisions based on evidence presented to them. During this period, however, people began obtaining verdicts from oracles. Priests read a list of suspects to the state god's image, and the statue indicated the guilty party. This change represented an increase in the priesthood's political power. It was open to corruption.

After the New Kingdom

During the Late Period, the pharaohs reunited Egypt and centralized the government. When Persia conquered Egypt, the new rulers established a monetary economy. The Persian monarchs made Egypt a satrapy, and appointed a governor to rule. The regional administrative system was kept in place. The Greek and Roman Empires later imposed their governmental systems on Egypt, also keeping some aspects of Egypt's regional government.

© Kairoinfo4u

Ancient Egypt Government Officials

Egypt had many different government officials. Some operated at national level, while others were regional.

The vizier was the most important person after the pharaoh. Each pharaoh appointed his/her vizier, who oversaw the judiciary system and the government administration. The vizier sat in the high court, which handled serious legal cases, often involving capital punishment. Egypt usually had one vizier; sometimes there were two, who oversaw either Upper or Lower Egypt.

Another important position was the chief treasurer. He was responsible for collecting and assessing taxes. The treasurer also monitored the redistribution of the items brought in through taxes. He had other officials under his command, who helped collect taxes and keep tax records.

Some periods also had a general. He was responsible for organizing and training the army. Either the general or the pharaoh led the army into battle. Sometimes, the crown prince served as the general before ascending to the throne.

Overseer was a common title in the Ancient Egyptian government. They managed work sites, like the pyramids, and some also watched over granaries and monitored their contents.

Scribes formed the basis of the Egyptian government. They wrote official documents and could move to higher positions.

Ancient Egypt Government Documents

A lot of the information scholars have about Egypt's government comes from tomb inscriptions. Government officials either built their own tombs or the pharaoh gave them one. Their tombs included inscriptions detailing their titles and some events from their lives. As an example, one official's tomb had a description of a time he greeted a foreign trade embassy for the pharaoh.

© Clio20 - Stela of Minnakht, chief of scribes

During the New Kingdom, some pharaohs gave their officials tombs, which helps identify those who served specific pharaohs. They also reveal changes in the government's high officials. Many pharaohs appointed officials from the bureaucracy, and some appointed men who had served in the military.

Scholars have also found law documents, including detailed cases of tomb raiders. They mention the steps the government took to punish them and try to prevent further raiding.

High officials sealed documents detailing property transfers. They maintained control of any property that was brought into a marriage, even if there was a divorce. Both men and women could file for divorce, though it was easier for a man to obtain it. In the event of a divorce, the man had to compensate the woman and the government insured the people followed these rules.

Government in Thebes

Egypt's central government moved when the pharaoh changed his/her capital. The central officials worked out of the royal compound. Thebes served as a government and religious capital for centuries.

When Thebes was Egypt's capital, the mayor of Thebes held a position of power.

© Vyacheslav Argenberg - Thebes

Certain high officials were buried in the Valley of the Kings, yielding a few significant aspects, such as the position they held and whom they served. Moreover, there are mentions of honors granted by the pharaoh, who certainly valued the official, given that he was granted a tomb in the royal cemetery.

The pharaoh sometimes had a funerary temple built for one of his officials in the Theban Necropolis. They also granted favored officials land revenues to provide goods for their funerary cult.

Ancient Egypt Government Facts

The pharaoh was the ultimate authority in Ancient Egypt.

The vizier was the most powerful government official.

Viziers were second only to the pharaoh in power.

Egypt was divided into nomes, and a nomarch governed each one.

People paid taxes with agriculture produce or precious materials.

The government stored food and distributed it to workers or to the people in times of famine.

The government ran building projects, like the pyramids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

History of Ancient Egypt's Government

Before the Old Kingdom

Scholars have found few government records from before the Old Kingdom Period. Evidence shows that Egypt was a united kingdom with a single ruler, which indicates that the first pharaohs must have set up a form of central government and established an economic system.

Before the Persian Period, the Egyptian economy was a barter system and not monetary. People paid taxes to the government in the form of crops, livestock, jewelry or precious stones. In return, the government maintained peace in the land, saved food in case of famine and conducted public works.

© Internet Archive Book Images - Barter trade system

The Old Kingdom

Ancient Egypt's government became more centralized during the Old Kingdom. Building large stone pyramids meant the pharaoh had to make changes to the government. Pharaohs from Dynasties Three and Four maintained a strong central government and they had almost absolute power.

Earlier pharaohs created a strong government that allowed them to summon large work forces. They appointed their high officials, and they chose members of their family. These men were loyal to the pharaoh. The government then let the pharaoh gather and distribute enough food to support huge numbers of workers, which allowed them to build large stone pyramids.

© Bruno Girin - The famous pyramids at Giza

During Dynasties Five and Six, the pharaoh's power lessened. Government positions had become hereditary and the district governors, called nomarchs, grew powerful. By the end of the Old Kingdom, nomarchs were ruling their nomes (districts) without the oversight of the pharaoh. When the pharaohs lost control of the nomes, the central government collapsed.

The Intermediate Periods

Modern scholars place three Intermediate Periods into the timeline of Ancient Egypt's history. The Old, Middle and New Kingdoms were each followed by an intermediate periods. All three of these had unique characteristics, but they have two common features. Each represents a time when Egypt was not unified, and there was no centralized government.

The Middle Kingdom

The Old Kingdom's government served as a base for the Middle Kingdom's. The pharaoh made changes, including the addition of more officials. Titles and duties were more specific which limited each official's sphere of influence.

The central government became more involved in the nomes and had more control of individual people and what they paid in taxes. The pharaoh tried to limit the power of the nomarchs. He appointed officials to oversee their activity and he weakened the nomes by making towns the basic unit of the government. The mayors of individual towns became powerful.

The increase in government officials led to the growth of the middle-class bureaucracy.

Officials based taxes on an assessment of cultivable land and the flooding of the Nile. During periods of low flooding, officials reduced taxes, while the government levied a poll tax on each citizen, which they paid in produce or craft goods.

© Internet Archive Book Images - People paid taxes in produce

The New Kingdom

The pharaohs of the New Kingdom continued to build their government on the foundations of earlier governments. One change they made was a decrease in the land area of nomes and an increase in their number. During this period, the pharaohs created a standing army and created military positions. Before this, the pharaohs formed armies using conscripted people.

The 19th Dynasty saw the beginning of a break-up in the legal system. Before this dynasty, government appointed judges made decisions based on evidence presented to them. During this period, however, people began obtaining verdicts from oracles. Priests read a list of suspects to the state god's image, and the statue indicated the guilty party. This change represented an increase in the priesthood's political power. It was open to corruption.

After the New Kingdom

During the Late Period, the pharaohs reunited Egypt and centralized the government. When Persia conquered Egypt, the new rulers established a monetary economy. The Persian monarchs made Egypt a satrapy, and appointed a governor to rule. The regional administrative system was kept in place. The Greek and Roman Empires later imposed their governmental systems on Egypt, also keeping some aspects of Egypt's regional government.

© Kairoinfo4u

Ancient Egypt Government Officials

Egypt had many different government officials. Some operated at national level, while others were regional.

The vizier was the most important person after the pharaoh. Each pharaoh appointed his/her vizier, who oversaw the judiciary system and the government administration. The vizier sat in the high court, which handled serious legal cases, often involving capital punishment. Egypt usually had one vizier; sometimes there were two, who oversaw either Upper or Lower Egypt.

Another important position was the chief treasurer. He was responsible for collecting and assessing taxes. The treasurer also monitored the redistribution of the items brought in through taxes. He had other officials under his command, who helped collect taxes and keep tax records.

Some periods also had a general. He was responsible for organizing and training the army. Either the general or the pharaoh led the army into battle. Sometimes, the crown prince served as the general before ascending to the throne.

Overseer was a common title in the Ancient Egyptian government. They managed work sites, like the pyramids, and some also watched over granaries and monitored their contents.

Scribes formed the basis of the Egyptian government. They wrote official documents and could move to higher positions.

Ancient Egypt Government Documents

A lot of the information scholars have about Egypt's government comes from tomb inscriptions. Government officials either built their own tombs or the pharaoh gave them one. Their tombs included inscriptions detailing their titles and some events from their lives. As an example, one official's tomb had a description of a time he greeted a foreign trade embassy for the pharaoh.

© Clio20 - Stela of Minnakht, chief of scribes

During the New Kingdom, some pharaohs gave their officials tombs, which helps identify those who served specific pharaohs. They also reveal changes in the government's high officials. Many pharaohs appointed officials from the bureaucracy, and some appointed men who had served in the military.

Scholars have also found law documents, including detailed cases of tomb raiders. They mention the steps the government took to punish them and try to prevent further raiding.

High officials sealed documents detailing property transfers. They maintained control of any property that was brought into a marriage, even if there was a divorce. Both men and women could file for divorce, though it was easier for a man to obtain it. In the event of a divorce, the man had to compensate the woman and the government insured the people followed these rules.

Government in Thebes

Egypt's central government moved when the pharaoh changed his/her capital. The central officials worked out of the royal compound. Thebes served as a government and religious capital for centuries.

When Thebes was Egypt's capital, the mayor of Thebes held a position of power.

© Vyacheslav Argenberg - Thebes

Certain high officials were buried in the Valley of the Kings, yielding a few significant aspects, such as the position they held and whom they served. Moreover, there are mentions of honors granted by the pharaoh, who certainly valued the official, given that he was granted a tomb in the royal cemetery.

The pharaoh sometimes had a funerary temple built for one of his officials in the Theban Necropolis. They also granted favored officials land revenues to provide goods for their funerary cult.

Ancient Egypt Government Facts

The pharaoh was the ultimate authority in Ancient Egypt.

The vizier was the most powerful government official.

Viziers were second only to the pharaoh in power.

Egypt was divided into nomes, and a nomarch governed each one.

People paid taxes with agriculture produce or precious materials.

The government stored food and distributed it to workers or to the people in times of famine.

The government ran building projects, like the pyramids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

History of Ancient Egypt's Government

Before the Old Kingdom

Scholars have found few government records from before the Old Kingdom Period. Evidence shows that Egypt was a united kingdom with a single ruler, which indicates that the first pharaohs must have set up a form of central government and established an economic system.

Before the Persian Period, the Egyptian economy was a barter system and not monetary. People paid taxes to the government in the form of crops, livestock, jewelry or precious stones. In return, the government maintained peace in the land, saved food in case of famine and conducted public works.

© Internet Archive Book Images - Barter trade system

The Old Kingdom

Ancient Egypt's government became more centralized during the Old Kingdom. Building large stone pyramids meant the pharaoh had to make changes to the government. Pharaohs from Dynasties Three and Four maintained a strong central government and they had almost absolute power.

Earlier pharaohs created a strong government that allowed them to summon large work forces. They appointed their high officials, and they chose members of their family. These men were loyal to the pharaoh. The government then let the pharaoh gather and distribute enough food to support huge numbers of workers, which allowed them to build large stone pyramids.

© Bruno Girin - The famous pyramids at Giza

During Dynasties Five and Six, the pharaoh's power lessened. Government positions had become hereditary and the district governors, called nomarchs, grew powerful. By the end of the Old Kingdom, nomarchs were ruling their nomes (districts) without the oversight of the pharaoh. When the pharaohs lost control of the nomes, the central government collapsed.

The Intermediate Periods

Modern scholars place three Intermediate Periods into the timeline of Ancient Egypt's history. The Old, Middle and New Kingdoms were each followed by an intermediate periods. All three of these had unique characteristics, but they have two common features. Each represents a time when Egypt was not unified, and there was no centralized government.

The Middle Kingdom

The Old Kingdom's government served as a base for the Middle Kingdom's. The pharaoh made changes, including the addition of more officials. Titles and duties were more specific which limited each official's sphere of influence.

The central government became more involved in the nomes and had more control of individual people and what they paid in taxes. The pharaoh tried to limit the power of the nomarchs. He appointed officials to oversee their activity and he weakened the nomes by making towns the basic unit of the government. The mayors of individual towns became powerful.

The increase in government officials led to the growth of the middle-class bureaucracy.

Officials based taxes on an assessment of cultivable land and the flooding of the Nile. During periods of low flooding, officials reduced taxes, while the government levied a poll tax on each citizen, which they paid in produce or craft goods.

© Internet Archive Book Images - People paid taxes in produce

The New Kingdom

The pharaohs of the New Kingdom continued to build their government on the foundations of earlier governments. One change they made was a decrease in the land area of nomes and an increase in their number. During this period, the pharaohs created a standing army and created military positions. Before this, the pharaohs formed armies using conscripted people.

The 19th Dynasty saw the beginning of a break-up in the legal system. Before this dynasty, government appointed judges made decisions based on evidence presented to them. During this period, however, people began obtaining verdicts from oracles. Priests read a list of suspects to the state god's image, and the statue indicated the guilty party. This change represented an increase in the priesthood's political power. It was open to corruption.

After the New Kingdom

During the Late Period, the pharaohs reunited Egypt and centralized the government. When Persia conquered Egypt, the new rulers established a monetary economy. The Persian monarchs made Egypt a satrapy, and appointed a governor to rule. The regional administrative system was kept in place. The Greek and Roman Empires later imposed their governmental systems on Egypt, also keeping some aspects of Egypt's regional government.

© Kairoinfo4u

Ancient Egypt Government Officials

Egypt had many different government officials. Some operated at national level, while others were regional.

The vizier was the most important person after the pharaoh. Each pharaoh appointed his/her vizier, who oversaw the judiciary system and the government administration. The vizier sat in the high court, which handled serious legal cases, often involving capital punishment. Egypt usually had one vizier; sometimes there were two, who oversaw either Upper or Lower Egypt.

Another important position was the chief treasurer. He was responsible for collecting and assessing taxes. The treasurer also monitored the redistribution of the items brought in through taxes. He had other officials under his command, who helped collect taxes and keep tax records.

Some periods also had a general. He was responsible for organizing and training the army. Either the general or the pharaoh led the army into battle. Sometimes, the crown prince served as the general before ascending to the throne.

Overseer was a common title in the Ancient Egyptian government. They managed work sites, like the pyramids, and some also watched over granaries and monitored their contents.

Scribes formed the basis of the Egyptian government. They wrote official documents and could move to higher positions.

Ancient Egypt Government Documents

A lot of the information scholars have about Egypt's government comes from tomb inscriptions. Government officials either built their own tombs or the pharaoh gave them one. Their tombs included inscriptions detailing their titles and some events from their lives. As an example, one official's tomb had a description of a time he greeted a foreign trade embassy for the pharaoh.

© Clio20 - Stela of Minnakht, chief of scribes

During the New Kingdom, some pharaohs gave their officials tombs, which helps identify those who served specific pharaohs. They also reveal changes in the government's high officials. Many pharaohs appointed officials from the bureaucracy, and some appointed men who had served in the military.

Scholars have also found law documents, including detailed cases of tomb raiders. They mention the steps the government took to punish them and try to prevent further raiding.

High officials sealed documents detailing property transfers. They maintained control of any property that was brought into a marriage, even if there was a divorce. Both men and women could file for divorce, though it was easier for a man to obtain it. In the event of a divorce, the man had to compensate the woman and the government insured the people followed these rules.

Government in Thebes

Egypt's central government moved when the pharaoh changed his/her capital. The central officials worked out of the royal compound. Thebes served as a government and religious capital for centuries.

When Thebes was Egypt's capital, the mayor of Thebes held a position of power.

© Vyacheslav Argenberg - Thebes

Certain high officials were buried in the Valley of the Kings, yielding a few significant aspects, such as the position they held and whom they served. Moreover, there are mentions of honors granted by the pharaoh, who certainly valued the official, given that he was granted a tomb in the royal cemetery.

The pharaoh sometimes had a funerary temple built for one of his officials in the Theban Necropolis. They also granted favored officials land revenues to provide goods for their funerary cult.

Ancient Egypt Government Facts

The pharaoh was the ultimate authority in Ancient Egypt.

The vizier was the most powerful government official.

Viziers were second only to the pharaoh in power.

Egypt was divided into nomes, and a nomarch governed each one.

People paid taxes with agriculture produce or precious materials.

The government stored food and distributed it to workers or to the people in times of famine.

The government ran building projects, like the pyramids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

History of Ancient Egypt's Government

Before the Old Kingdom

Scholars have found few government records from before the Old Kingdom Period. Evidence shows that Egypt was a united kingdom with a single ruler, which indicates that the first pharaohs must have set up a form of central government and established an economic system.

Before the Persian Period, the Egyptian economy was a barter system and not monetary. People paid taxes to the government in the form of crops, livestock, jewelry or precious stones. In return, the government maintained peace in the land, saved food in case of famine and conducted public works.

© Internet Archive Book Images - Barter trade system

The Old Kingdom

Ancient Egypt's government became more centralized during the Old Kingdom. Building large stone pyramids meant the pharaoh had to make changes to the government. Pharaohs from Dynasties Three and Four maintained a strong central government and they had almost absolute power.

Earlier pharaohs created a strong government that allowed them to summon large work forces. They appointed their high officials, and they chose members of their family. These men were loyal to the pharaoh. The government then let the pharaoh gather and distribute enough food to support huge numbers of workers, which allowed them to build large stone pyramids.

© Bruno Girin - The famous pyramids at Giza

During Dynasties Five and Six, the pharaoh's power lessened. Government positions had become hereditary and the district governors, called nomarchs, grew powerful. By the end of the Old Kingdom, nomarchs were ruling their nomes (districts) without the oversight of the pharaoh. When the pharaohs lost control of the nomes, the central government collapsed.

The Intermediate Periods

Modern scholars place three Intermediate Periods into the timeline of Ancient Egypt's history. The Old, Middle and New Kingdoms were each followed by an intermediate periods. All three of these had unique characteristics, but they have two common features. Each represents a time when Egypt was not unified, and there was no centralized government.

The Middle Kingdom

The Old Kingdom's government served as a base for the Middle Kingdom's. The pharaoh made changes, including the addition of more officials. Titles and duties were more specific which limited each official's sphere of influence.

The central government became more involved in the nomes and had more control of individual people and what they paid in taxes. The pharaoh tried to limit the power of the nomarchs. He appointed officials to oversee their activity and he weakened the nomes by making towns the basic unit of the government. The mayors of individual towns became powerful.

The increase in government officials led to the growth of the middle-class bureaucracy.

Officials based taxes on an assessment of cultivable land and the flooding of the Nile. During periods of low flooding, officials reduced taxes, while the government levied a poll tax on each citizen, which they paid in produce or craft goods.

© Internet Archive Book Images - People paid taxes in produce

The New Kingdom

The pharaohs of the New Kingdom continued to build their government on the foundations of earlier governments. One change they made was a decrease in the land area of nomes and an increase in their number. During this period, the pharaohs created a standing army and created military positions. Before this, the pharaohs formed armies using conscripted people.

The 19th Dynasty saw the beginning of a break-up in the legal system. Before this dynasty, government appointed judges made decisions based on evidence presented to them. During this period, however, people began obtaining verdicts from oracles. Priests read a list of suspects to the state god's image, and the statue indicated the guilty party. This change represented an increase in the priesthood's political power. It was open to corruption.

After the New Kingdom

During the Late Period, the pharaohs reunited Egypt and centralized the government. When Persia conquered Egypt, the new rulers established a monetary economy. The Persian monarchs made Egypt a satrapy, and appointed a governor to rule. The regional administrative system was kept in place. The Greek and Roman Empires later imposed their governmental systems on Egypt, also keeping some aspects of Egypt's regional government.

© Kairoinfo4u

Ancient Egypt Government Officials

Egypt had many different government officials. Some operated at national level, while others were regional.

The vizier was the most important person after the pharaoh. Each pharaoh appointed his/her vizier, who oversaw the judiciary system and the government administration. The vizier sat in the high court, which handled serious legal cases, often involving capital punishment. Egypt usually had one vizier; sometimes there were two, who oversaw either Upper or Lower Egypt.

Another important position was the chief treasurer. He was responsible for collecting and assessing taxes. The treasurer also monitored the redistribution of the items brought in through taxes. He had other officials under his command, who helped collect taxes and keep tax records.

Some periods also had a general. He was responsible for organizing and training the army. Either the general or the pharaoh led the army into battle. Sometimes, the crown prince served as the general before ascending to the throne.

Overseer was a common title in the Ancient Egyptian government. They managed work sites, like the pyramids, and some also watched over granaries and monitored their contents.

Scribes formed the basis of the Egyptian government. They wrote official documents and could move to higher positions.

Ancient Egypt Government Documents

A lot of the information scholars have about Egypt's government comes from tomb inscriptions. Government officials either built their own tombs or the pharaoh gave them one. Their tombs included inscriptions detailing their titles and some events from their lives. As an example, one official's tomb had a description of a time he greeted a foreign trade embassy for the pharaoh.

© Clio20 - Stela of Minnakht, chief of scribes

During the New Kingdom, some pharaohs gave their officials tombs, which helps identify those who served specific pharaohs. They also reveal changes in the government's high officials. Many pharaohs appointed officials from the bureaucracy, and some appointed men who had served in the military.

Scholars have also found law documents, including detailed cases of tomb raiders. They mention the steps the government took to punish them and try to prevent further raiding.

High officials sealed documents detailing property transfers. They maintained control of any property that was brought into a marriage, even if there was a divorce. Both men and women could file for divorce, though it was easier for a man to obtain it. In the event of a divorce, the man had to compensate the woman and the government insured the people followed these rules.

Government in Thebes

Egypt's central government moved when the pharaoh changed his/her capital. The central officials worked out of the royal compound. Thebes served as a government and religious capital for centuries.

When Thebes was Egypt's capital, the mayor of Thebes held a position of power.

© Vyacheslav Argenberg - Thebes

Certain high officials were buried in the Valley of the Kings, yielding a few significant aspects, such as the position they held and whom they served. Moreover, there are mentions of honors granted by the pharaoh, who certainly valued the official, given that he was granted a tomb in the royal cemetery.

The pharaoh sometimes had a funerary temple built for one of his officials in the Theban Necropolis. They also granted favored officials land revenues to provide goods for their funerary cult.

Ancient Egypt Government Facts

The pharaoh was the ultimate authority in Ancient Egypt.

The vizier was the most powerful government official.

Viziers were second only to the pharaoh in power.

Egypt was divided into nomes, and a nomarch governed each one.

People paid taxes with agriculture produce or precious materials.

The government stored food and distributed it to workers or to the people in times of famine.

The government ran building projects, like the pyramids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The government of Ancient Egypt depended on two important factors; the pharaoh and agriculture. The Pharaoh was a vital part of the the Egyptian government and he appointed the other officials during most periods. The highest officials took their orders directly from the king. Agriculture was the foundation of Egypt's economy and government.

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Egyptian Government

From the beginnings of the Old Kingdom until the end of the New Kingdom, the most powerful person in Egypt was the king and occasionally the queen.

The king was known as the Pharaoh.

This is an Egyptian word meaning 'great house'.

Facts about pharaohs:

Was the political leader.

He held the title 'Lord of Two Lands' because he ruled both Upper and Lower Egypt.

He owned all the land in Egypt.

He made the laws.

He collected the taxes.

The pharaoh could lead his people into war if Egypt was attacked or if he wanted to expand his power.

He was also the religious leader.

He was the 'High Priest of Every Temple'.

He represented the Gods on earth.

He performed rituals and built temples.

Ancient Egyptian People

Most Egyptians worked in the fields along the banks of the Nile, growing crops for themselves and to pay in taxes.

They did not own their land or their house. Everything belonged to the pharaoh.

The Egyptians accepted this, for 3000 years, because it was part of their religion. The pharaoh was a god and it was important not to upset the gods.

The wall paintings show Egypt as a peaceful place with men and women working in the fields, people catching wild birds in snares, bakers baking bread, carpenters and shipwrights building ships, goods being transported on the Nile.

The pharaoh, however, maintained this peace by making sure that rulers in other lands did not attack Egypt.

We have a whole series of wall paintings which shows the Pharaoh Ramses II invading Nubia and conquering the people there.

Here is Ramses attacking the Nubians from his chariot. You can see that several of them have already been killed or wounded.

Since the Nubians were defeated, they had to bring Ramses gold, food, wild animals, and many other objects.

Here Ramses is sitting on his golden throne in front of a procession of defeated Nubians bringing him tribute (the goods a defeated people paid to the conqueror).

The Egyptian pharaoh was expected to be able to lead his people

In order to govern the whole country, the pharaoh had many officials. There were royal officers and sheriffs in every Egyptian town who made sure that everyone paid their taxes and obeyed the Pharaoh.

Egyptian Government Officials

The most important official was the pharaoh's vizier. There was also a network of mayors, scribes and priests.

Some of the tasks of thy had were:

Maintaining a police force to keep the country peaceful;

Maintaining the courts to give people justice and to punish criminals;

Maintaining an army;

Building the royal monuments such as temples;

Controlling the supply of food; distributing the food.

Holding a census to count the population in order to collect taxes;

Collecting the taxes;

Keeping the state records; everything of importance was written down;

Maintaining important industries such as ship-building, brick-making and stone quarrying;

Keeping the annual records of the Nile's water level.

What happened when the Pharaoh died?

When a pharaoh died, he was usually succeeded by a son or other relative.

If the new pharaoh was a child, the high court officials guided and advised him, but he still had to attend rituals and play the part of a king.

Usually a young prince was well-trained in the skills he needed to become a pharaoh.

He was expected to be expert at sports such as hunting and using a bow and arrow.

He needed to be expert in driving a war chariot and understand how to command an army.

These skills were necessary to defend the rich land of Egypt against its neighbors.

It was then possible for the government to maintain peace at home.

Older Pharaohs

One of the strangest things about ancient Egypt is that there are hardly any cases known of a pharaoh being assassinated (murdered by one of his own people).

The few cases where a pharaoh was murdered seem to be when there was a plot at court to replace him with another prince (perhaps because the other prince was a better leader in war).

Unlike almost all other early (and later) civilizations, however, most of the rulers of ancient Egypt died peacefully of old age.

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From the beginnings of the Old Kingdom until the end of the New Kingdom, the most powerful person in Egypt was the king and occasionally the queen. The king was known as the Pharaoh. This is an Egyptian word meaning 'great house'. Facts about pharaohs: Was the political leader.

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From Britannica

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Egyptian art and architecture, the ancient architectural monuments, sculptures, paintings, and applied crafts produced mainly during the dynastic periods of the first three millennia bce in the Nile valley regions of Egypt and Nubia. The course of art in Egypt paralleled to a large extent the country's political history, but it depended as well on the entrenched belief in the permanence of the natural, divinely ordained order. Artistic achievement in both architecture and representational art aimed at the preservation of forms and conventions that were held to reflect the perfection of the world at the primordial moment of creation and to embody the correct relationship between humankind, the king, and the pantheon of the gods. For this reason, Egyptian art appears outwardly resistant to development and the exercise of individual artistic judgment, but Egyptian artisans of every historical period found different solutions for the conceptual challenges posed to them.

For the purposes of definition, "ancient Egyptian" is essentially coterminous with pharaonic Egypt, the dynastic structure of Egyptian history, artificial though it may partly be, providing a convenient chronological framework. The distinctive periods are: Predynastic (c. 6th millennium bce-c. 2925 bce); Early Dynastic (1st-3rd dynasties, c. 2925-c. 2575 bce); Old Kingdom (4th-8th dynasties, c. 2575-c. 2130 bce); First Intermediate (9th-11th dynasties, c. 2130-1939 bce); Middle Kingdom (12th-14th dynasties, 1938-c. 1630 bce); Second Intermediate (15th-17th dynasties, c. 1630-1540 bce); New Kingdom (18th-20th dynasties, 1539-1075 bce); Third Intermediate (21st-25th dynasties, c. 1075-656 bce); and Late (26th-31st dynasties, 664-332 bce).

Geographical factors were predominant in forming the particular character of Egyptian art. By providing Egypt with the most predictable agricultural system in the ancient world, the Nile afforded a stability of life in which arts and crafts readily flourished. Equally, the deserts and the sea, which protected Egypt on all sides, contributed to this stability by discouraging serious invasion for almost 2,000 years. The desert hills were rich in minerals and fine stones, ready to be exploited by artists and craftspeople. Only good wood was lacking, and the need for it led the Egyptians to undertake foreign expeditions to Lebanon, to Somalia, and, through intermediaries, to tropical Africa. In general, the search for useful and precious materials determined the direction of foreign policy and the establishment of trade routes and led ultimately to the enrichment of Egyptian material culture. For further treatment, see Egypt; Middle Eastern religions, ancient.

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Egyptian art and architecture | History, Characteristics, & Facts

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Egyptian art and architecture, the architectural monuments, sculptures, paintings, and applied crafts of ancient Egypt. Some of the most well-known examples include the pyramids of Giza, Tutankhamun's funerary mask, and the sculpture bust of Queen Nefertiti.

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Art is an essential aspect of any civilization. Once the basic human needs have been taken care of such as food, shelter, some form of community law, and a religious belief, cultures begin producing...

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Wikipedia has a lot of info.

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Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 31st century BC and the 4th century AD. It includes paintings, sculptures, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry, ivories, architecture, and other art media. It is also very conservative: the art style changed very little over time. Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and monuments, giving more insight into the ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs.

The ancient Egyptian language had no word for "art". Artworks served an essentially functional purpose that was bound with religion and ideology. To render a subject in art was to give it permanence. Hence, ancient Egyptian art portrayed an idealized, unrealistic view of the world. There was no significant tradition of individual artistic expression since art served a wider and cosmic purpose of maintaining order.

Art of Pre-Dynastic Egypt (6000-3000 BC)

Pre-Dynastic Egypt, corresponding to the Neolithic period of the prehistory of Egypt, spanned from c. 6000 BC to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period, around 3100 BC.

Continued expansion of the desert forced the early ancestors of the Egyptians to settle around the Nile and adopt a more sedentary lifestyle during the Neolithic. The period from 9000 to 6000 BC has left very little archaeological evidence, but around 6000 BC, Neolithic settlements began to appear all over Egypt. Studies based on morphological, genetic, and archaeological data have attributed these settlements to migrants from the Fertile Crescent returning during the Neolithic Revolution, bringing agriculture to the region. However, other regions in Africa independently developed agriculture at about the same time: the Ethiopian highlands, the Sahel, and West Africa.

From about 5000 to 4200 BC, the Merimde culture, known only from a large settlement site at the edge of the Western Nile Delta, flourished in Lower Egypt. The culture has strong connections to the Faiyum A culture as well as the Levant. People lived in small huts, produced simple undecorated pottery, and had stone tools. Cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs were raised, and wheat, sorghum and barley were planted. The Merimde people buried their dead within the settlement and produced clay figurines. The first Egyptian life-size head made of clay comes from Merimde.

The Badarian culture, from about 4400 to 4000 BC, is named for the Badari site near Der Tasa. It followed the Tasian culture (c. 4500 BC) but was so similar that many consider them one continuous period. The Badarian culture continued to produce blacktop-ware pottery (albeit much improved in quality) and was assigned sequence dating (SD) numbers 21-29. The primary difference that prevents scholars from merging the two periods is that Badarian sites use copper in addition to stone and are thus chalcolithic settlements, while the Neolithic Tasian sites are still considered Stone Age.

The Naqada culture is an archaeological culture of Chalcolithic Predynastic Egypt (c. 4400-3000 BC), named for the town of Naqada, Qena Governorate. It is divided into three sub-periods: Naqada I, II and III.

The Amratian ( Naqada I) culture lasted from about 4000 to 3500 BC. Black-topped ware continues to appear, but white cross-line ware - a type of pottery which has been decorated with crossing sets of close parallel white lines - is also found at this time. The Amratian period falls between 30 and 39 SD.

The Gerzean culture (Naqada II), from about 3500 to 3200 BC, is named after the site of Gerzeh. It was the next stage in Egyptian cultural development, and it was during this time that the foundation of Dynastic Egypt was laid. Gerzean culture is largely an unbroken development of Amratian culture, starting in the Nile delta and moving south through upper Egypt, but failing to dislodge Amratian culture in Nubia. Gerzean pottery has been assigned SD values of 40 through 62, and is distinctly different from Amratian white cross-lined wares or black-topped ware. It was painted mostly in dark red with pictures of animals, people, and ships, as well as geometric symbols that appear to have been derived from animals. Wavy handles, which were rare before this period (though occasionally found as early as SD 35), became more common and more elaborate until they were almost completely ornamental.

During this period, distinctly foreign objects and art forms entered Egypt, indicating contact with several parts of Asia, particularly with Mesopotamia. Objects such as the Gebel el-Arak knife handle, which has patently Mesopotamian relief carvings on it, have been found in Egypt, and the silver which appears in this period can only have been obtained from Asia Minor. In addition, Egyptian objects were created which clearly mimic Mesopotamian forms. Cylinder seals appeared in Egypt, as well as recessed paneling architecture. The Egyptian reliefs on cosmetic palettes were made in the same style as the contemporary Mesopotamian Uruk culture, and ceremonial mace heads from the late Gerzean and early Semainean were crafted in the Mesopotamian "pear-shaped" style, instead of the Egyptian native style.

The route of this trade is difficult to determine, but contact with Canaan does not predate the early dynastic, so it is usually assumed to have been by water. During the time when the Dynastic Race Theory was popular, it was theorized that Uruk sailors circumnavigated Arabia, but a Mediterranean route, probably by middlemen through Byblos, is more likely, as evidenced by the presence of Byblian objects in Egypt.

The fact that so many Gerzean sites are at the mouths of wadis which lead to the Red Sea may indicate some amount of trade via the Red Sea (though Byblian trade potentially could have crossed the Sinai and then taken to the Red Sea). Also, it is considered unlikely that something as complicated as recessed panel architecture could have worked its way into Egypt by proxy, and at least a small contingent of migrants is often suspected.

Despite this evidence of foreign influence, Egyptologists generally agree that the Gerzean Culture is predominantly indigenous to Egypt.

Protodynastic Period (Naqada III)

The Naqada III period, from about 3200 to 3000 BC, is generally taken to be identical with the Protodynastic period, during which Egypt was unified.

Naqada III is notable for being the first era with hieroglyphs (though this is disputed), the first regular use of serekhs, the first irrigation, and the first appearance of royal cemeteries. The art of the Naqada III period was quite sophisticated, exemplified by cosmetic palettes. These were used in predynastic Egypt to grind and apply ingredients for facial or body cosmetics. By the Protodynastic period, the decorative palettes appear to have lost this function and were instead commemorative, ornamental, and possibly ceremonial. They were made almost exclusively from siltstone, which originated from quarries in the Wadi Hammamat. Many of the palettes were found at Hierakonpolis, a center of power in predynastic Upper Egypt. After the unification of the country, the palettes ceased to be included in tomb assemblages.

The Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, c. 3100 BC. It is generally taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from the end of the Naqada III archaeological period until about 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom.

The Old Kingdom of Egypt is the period spanning c. 2686-2181 BC. It is also known as the "Age of the Pyramids" or the "Age of the Pyramid Builders", as it encompasses the reigns of the great pyramid builders of the Fourth Dynasty. King Sneferu perfected the art of pyramid-building and the pyramids of Giza were constructed under the kings Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Egypt attained its first sustained peak of civilization, the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods (followed by the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom) which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley.

The Middle Kingdom of Egypt ( a.k.a. "The Period of Reunification") follows a period of political division known as the First Intermediate Period. The Middle Kingdom lasted from around 2050 BC to around 1710 BC, stretching from the reunification of Egypt under the reign of Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Twelfth Dynasty. The Eleventh Dynasty ruled from Thebes and the Twelfth Dynasty ruled from el-Lisht. During the Middle Kingdom period, Osiris became the most important deity in popular religion. The Middle Kingdom was followed by the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt, another period of division that involved foreign invasions of the country by the Hyksos of West Asia.

After the reunification of Egypt in the Middle Kingdom, the kings of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties were able to return their focus to art. In the Eleventh Dynasty, the kings had their monuments made in a style influenced by the Memphite models of the Fifth and early Sixth Dynasties. During this time, the pre-unification Theban relief style all but disappeared. These changes had an ideological purpose, as the Eleventh Dynasty kings were establishing a centralized state, and returning to the political ideals of the Old Kingdom. In the early Twelfth Dynasty, the artwork had a uniformity of style due to the influence of the royal workshops. It was at this point that the quality of artistic production for the elite members of society reached a high point that was never surpassed, although it was equaled during other periods. Egypt's prosperity in the late Twelfth Dynasty was reflected in the quality of the materials used for royal and private monuments.

The Hyksos, a dynasty of ruler originating from the Levant, do not appear to have produced any court art, instead appropriating monuments from earlier dynasties by writing their names on them. Many of these are inscribed with the name of King Khyan. A large palace at Avaris has been uncovered, built in the Levantine rather than the Egyptian style, most likely by Khyan. King Apepi is known to have patronized Egyptian scribal culture, commissioning the copying of the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus. The stories preserved in the Westcar Papyrus may also date from his reign.

The so-called " Hyksos sphinxes" or "Tanite sphinxes" are a group of royal sphinxes depicting the earlier pharaoh Amenemhat III (Twelfth Dynasty) with some unusual traits compared to conventional statuary, for example prominent cheekbones and the thick mane of a lion, instead of the traditional nemes headcloth. The name "Hyksos sphinxes" was given due to the fact that these were later reinscribed by several of the Hyksos kings, and were initially thought to represent the Hyksos kings themselves. Nineteenth-century scholars attempted to use the statues' features to assign a racial origin to the Hyksos. These Sphinxes were seized by the Hyksos from cities of the Middle Kingdom and then transported to their capital Avaris where they were reinscribed with the names of their new owners and adorned their palace. Seven of those sphinxes are known, all from Tanis, and now mostly located in the Cairo Museum. Other statues of Amenehat III were found in Tanis and are associated with the Hyksos in the same manner.

The New Kingdom, also referred to as the "Egyptian Empire", is the period between the 16th and 11th centuries BC, covering the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties of Egypt. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period. It was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power.

Amarna art (c. 1350 BC)

The Amarna period is named for the extensive archeological site at Amarna, where pharaoh Akhenaten moved the capital in the late Eighteenth Dynasty. This period, and the years leading to it, form the most drastic interruption to the continuity of style in the Old and New Kingdoms. Amarna art is characterized by a sense of movement and activity in images, with figures having raised heads, many figures overlapping and many scenes full and crowded. As the new religion was a monotheistic worship of the sun, sacrifices and worship were apparently conducted in open courtyards, and sunk relief decoration was widely used in these.

The human body is portrayed differently in the Amarna style than Egyptian art on the whole. For instance, many depictions of Akhenaten's body give him distinctly feminine qualities, such as large hips, prominent breasts, and a larger stomach and thighs. This is a divergence from the earlier Egyptian art which shows men with perfectly chiseled bodies. Faces are still shown exclusively in profile.

Not many buildings from this period have survived, partially as they were constructed with standard-sized blocks, known as Talatat, which were very easy to remove and reuse. Temples in Amarna, following the trend, did not follow traditional Egyptian customs and were open, without ceilings, and had no closing doors. In the generation after Akhenaten's death, artists reverted to their old styles. There were still traces of this period's style in later art, but in most respects, Egyptian art, like Egyptian religion, resumed its usual characteristics as though the period had never happened. Amarna itself was abandoned and considerable effort was undertaken to deface monuments from the reign, including disassembling buildings and reusing the blocks with their decoration facing inwards, as has recently been discovered in one later building.

The period was one of decline and political instability, coinciding with the Late Bronze Age collapse of civilizations in the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean (including the Greek Dark Ages). It was marked by division of the state for much of the period and conquest and rule by foreigners. After an early period of fracturation, the country was firmly reunited by the Twenty-second Dynasty founded by Shoshenq I in 945 BC (or 943 BC), who descended from Meshwesh immigrants, originally from Ancient Libya. The next period of the Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt saw the incresing influence of the Nubian kingdom to the south took full advantage of this division and the ensuing political instability. Then around 732 BC, Piye, marched north and defeated the combined might of several native Egyptian rulers: Peftjaubast, Osorkon IV of Tanis, Iuput II of Leontopolis and Tefnakht of Sais. He established the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of "Black Pharaos" originating from Nubia.

The Third Intermediate Period generally sees a return to archaic Egyptian styles, with particular reference to the art of the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom. The art of the period essentially consists in traditional Egyptian styles, with the inclusion of some foreign characteristics, such as the particular iconography of the statues of the Nubian rulers of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty. Although the Twenty-fifth Dynasty controlled Ancient Egypt for only 73 years, it holds an important place in Egyptian history due to the restoration of traditional Egyptian values, culture, art, and architecture, combined with some original creations such as the monumental column of Taharqa in Karnak. During the 25th dynasty Egypt was ruled from Napata in Nubia, now in modern Sudan, and the Dynasty in turn permitted the expansion of Egyptian architectural styles to Lower Egypt and Nubia.

Taharqa offering wine jars to Falcon-god Hemen; 690-664 BC; bronze, greywacke, gold and wood; length: 26 cm, height: 19.7 cm, width: 10.3 cm; Louvre

In 525 BC, the political state of Egypt was taken over by the Persians, almost a century and a half into Egypt's Late Period. By 404 BC, the Persians were expelled from Egypt, starting a short period of independence. These 60 years of Egyptian rule were marked by an abundance of usurpers and short reigns. The Egyptians were then reoccupied by the Achaemenids until 332 BC with the arrival of Alexander the Great. Sources state that the Egyptians were cheering when Alexander entered the capital since he drove out the immensely disliked Persians. The Late Period is marked with the death of Alexander the Great and the start of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Although this period marks political turbulence and immense change for Egypt, its art and culture continued to flourish.

This can be seen in Egyptian temples starting with the Thirtieth Dynasty, the Fifth Dynasty in the Late Period, and extending into the Ptolemaic era. These temples ranged from the Delta to the island of Philae. While Egypt underwent outside influences through trade and conquest by foreign states, these temples remained in the traditional Egyptian style with very little Hellenistic influence.

Another relief originating from the Thirtieth Dynasty was the rounded modeling of the body and limbs, which gave the subjects a more fleshy or heavy effect. For example, for female figures, their breasts would swell and overlap the upper arm in painting. In more realistic portrayals, men would be fat or wrinkled.

Another type of art that became increasingly common during was Horus stelae. These originate from the late New Kingdom and intermediate period but were increasingly common during the fourth century to the Ptolemaic era. These statues would often depict a young Horus holding snakes and standing on some kind of dangerous beast. The depiction of Horus comes from the Egyptian myth where a young Horus is saved from a scorpion bite, resulting in his gaining power over all dangerous animals. These statues were used "to ward off attacks from harmful creatures, and to cure snake bites and scorpion stings".

Discoveries made since the end of the 19th century surrounding the (now submerged) ancient Egyptian city of Heracleum at Alexandria include a 4th century BC, unusually sensual, detailed and feministic (as opposed to deified) depiction of Isis, marking a combination of Egyptian and Hellenistic forms beginning around the time of Egypt's conquest by Alexander the Great in 332-331 BC. However this was atypical of Ptolemaic sculpture, which generally avoided mixing Egyptian styles with the Hellenistic style used in the court art of the Ptolemaic dynasty, while temples in the rest of the country continued using late versions of traditional Egyptian formulae. Scholars have proposed an "Alexandrian style" in Hellenistic sculpture, but there is in fact little to connect it with Alexandria.

Marble was extensively used in court art, although it all had to be imported, and use was made of various marble-saving techniques, such as using a number of pieces attached with stucco; a head might have the beard, the back of the head and hair in separate pieces. In contrast to the art of other Hellenistic kingdoms, Ptolemaic royal portraits are generalized and idealized, with little concern for achieving an individual portrait, though coins allow some portrait sculpture to be identified as one of the fifteen King Ptolemys. Many later portraits have clearly had the face reworked to show a later king. One Egyptian trait was to give much greater prominence to the queens than other successor dynasties to Alexander, with the royal couple often shown as a pair. This predated the 2nd century, when a series of queens exercised real power.

In the 2nd century, Egyptian temple sculptures began to reuse court models in their faces, and sculptures of a priest often used a Hellenistic style to achieve individually distinctive portrait heads. Many small statuettes were produced, with the most common types being Alexander, a generalized "King Ptolemy", and a naked Aphrodite. Pottery figurines included grotesques and fashionable ladies of the Tanagra figurine style. Erotic groups featured absurdly large phalli. Some fittings for wooden interiors include very delicately patterned polychrome falcons in faience.

The Fayum mummy portraits are probably the most famous example of Egyptian art during the Roman period of Egypt. They were a type of naturalistic painted portrait on wooden boards attached to Upper class mummies from Roman Egypt. They belong to the tradition of panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the Classical world. The Fayum portraits are the only large body of art from that tradition to have survived.

Mummy portraits have been found across Egypt, but are most common in the Faiyum Basin, particularly from Hawara in the Fayum Basin (hence the common name) and the Hadrianic Roman city Antinoopolis. "Faiyum Portraits" is generally used as a stylistic, rather than a geographic, description. While painted cartonnage mummy cases date back to pharaonic times, the Faiyum mummy portraits were an innovation dating to the time of the Roman occupation of Egypt.

The portraits date to the Imperial Roman era, from the late 1st century BC or the early 1st century AD onwards. It is not clear when their production ended, but recent research suggests the middle of the 3rd century. They are among the largest groups among the very few survivors of the panel painting tradition of the classical world, which was continued into Byzantine and Western traditions in the post-classical world, including the local tradition of Coptic iconography in Egypt.

Egyptian art is known for its distinctive figure convention used for the main figures in both relief and painting, with parted legs (where not seated) and head shown as seen from the side, but the torso seen as from the front. The figures also have a standard set of proportions, measuring 18 "fists"from the ground to the hair-line on the forehead. This appears as early as the Narmer Palette from Dynasty I, but this idealized figure convention is not employed in the use of displaying minor figures shown engaged in some activity, such as captives and corpses. Other conventions make statues of males darker than those of females. Very conventionalized portrait statues appear from as early as the Second Dynasty (before 2,780 BC), and with the exception of the art of the Amarna period of Ahkenaten and some other periods such as the Twelfth Dynasty, the idealized features of rulers, like other Egyptian artistic conventions, changed little until the Greek conquest. Egyptian art uses hierarchical proportions, where the size of figures indicates their relative importance. The gods or the divine pharaoh are usually larger than other figures while the figures of high officials or the tomb owner are usually smaller, and at the smallest scale are any servants, entertainers, animals, trees, and architectural details.

Symbolism pervaded Egyptian art and played an important role in establishing a sense of order. The pharaoh's regalia, for example, represented his power to maintain order. Animals were also highly symbolic figures in Egyptian art. Some colors were expressive.

The ancient Egyptian language had four basic color terms: kem (black), hedj (white/silver), wadj (green/blue) and desher (red/orange/yellow). Blue, for example, symbolized fertility, birth, and the life-giving waters of the Nile. Blue and green were the colors of vegetation, and hence of rejuvenation. Osiris could be shown with green skin; in the 26th Dynasty, the faces of coffins were often colored green to assist in rebirth.

This color symbolism explains the popularity of turquoise and faience in funerary equipment. The use of black for royal figures similarly expressed the fertile alluvial soil of the Nile from which Egypt was born, and carried connotations of fertility and regeneration. Hence statues of the king as Osiris often showed him with black skin. Black was also associated with the afterlife, and was the color of funerary deities such as Anubis.

Gold indicated divinity due to its unnatural appearance and association with precious materials. Furthermore, gold was regarded by the ancient Egyptians as "the flesh of the god". Silver, referred to as "white gold" by the Egyptians, was likewise called "the bones of the god".

Red, orange and yellow were ambivalent colors. They were, naturally, associated with the sun; red stones such as quartzite were favored for royal statues which stressed the solar aspects of kingship. Carnelian has similar symbolic associations in jewelry. Red ink was used to write important names on papyrus documents. Red was also the color of the deserts, and hence associated with Seth.

Ancient Egyptian artists rarely left us their names. The Egyptian artwork is anonymous also because most of the time it was collective. Diodorus of Sicily, who traveled and lived in Egypt, has written: "So, after the craftsmen have decided the height of the statue, they all go home to make the parts which they have choosen" (I, 98).

Egyptian faience is a ceramic material, made of quartz sand (or crushed quartz), small amounts of lime, and plant ash or natron. The ingredients were mixed together, glazed and fired to a hard shiny finish. Faience was widely used from the Predynastic Period until Islamic times for inlays and small objects, especially ushabtis. More accurately termed 'glazed composition', Egyptian faience was so named by early Egyptologists after its superficial resemblance to the tin-glazed earthenwares of medieval Italy (originally produced at Faenza). The Egyptian word for it was tjehenet, which means 'dazzling', and it was probably used, above all, as a cheap substitute for more precious materials like turquoise and lapis lazuli. Indeed, faience was most commonly produced in shapes of blue-green, although a large range of colours was possible.

Although the glassy materials faience and Egyptian blue were manufactured in Egypt from an early period, the technology for making glass itself was only perfected in the early 18th Dynasty. It was probably imported from Levant, since the Egyptian words for glass are of foreign origin. The funerary objects of Amenhotep II included many glass artefacts, demonstrating a range of different techniques. At this period, the material was costly and rare, and may have been a royal monopoly. However, by the end of the 18th Dynasty, Egypt probably made sufficient quantities to export glass to other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. Glass workshops have been excavated at Amarna and Pi-Ramesses. The raw materials - silica, alkali and lime - were readily available in Egypt, although ready-made ingots of blue glass were also imported from the Levant and have been found in the cargo of the Uluburun shipwreck off the southern coast of Turkey.

Egyptian blue is a material related to, but distinct from, faience and glass. Also called "frit", Egyptian blue was made from quartz, alkali, lime and one or more coloring agents (usually copper compounds). These were heated together until they fused to become a crystalline mass of uniform color (unlike faience in which the core and the surface layer are of different colors). Egyptian blue could be worked by hand or pressed into molds, to make statuettes and other small objects. It could also be ground to produce pigment. It is first attested in the Fourth Dynasty, but became particularly popular in the Ptolemaic period and the Roman period, when it was known as caeruleum.

While not a leading center of metallurgy, ancient Egypt nevertheless developed technologies for extracting and processing the metals found within its borders and in neighbouring lands.

Copper was the first metal to be exploited in Egypt. Small beads have been found in Badarian graves; larger items were produced in the later Predynastic Period, by a combination of mould-casting, annealing and cold-hammering. The production of copper artifacts peaked in the Old Kingdom when huge numbers of copper chisels were manufactured to cut the stone blocks of pyramids. The copper statues of Pepi I and Merenre from Hierakonpolis are rare survivors of large-scale metalworking.

The golden treasure of Tutankhamun has come to symbolize the wealth of ancient Egypt, and illustrates the importance of gold in pharaonic culture. The burial chamber in a royal tomb was called "the house of gold". According to the Egyptian religion, the flesh of the gods was made of gold. A shining metal that never tarnished, it was the ideal material for cult images of deities, for royal funerary equipment, and to add brilliance to the tops of obelisks. It was used extensively for jewelry, and was distributed to officials as a reward for loyal services ("the gold of honour").

Silver had to be imported from the Levant, and its rarity initially gave it greater value than gold (which, like electrum, was readily available within the borders of Egypt and Nubia). Early examples of silverwork include the bracelets of the Hetepheres. By the Middle Kingdom, silver seems to have become less valuable than gold, perhaps because of increased trade with the Middle East. The treasure from El-Tod consisted of a hoard of silver objects, probably made in the Aegean, while silver jewelry made for female members of the 12th Dynasty royal family was found at Dahshur and Lahun. In the Egyptian religion, the bones of the gods were said to be made of silver.

Iron was the last metal to be exploited on a large scale by the Egyptians. Meteoritic iron was used for the manufacture of beads from the Badarian period. However, the advanced technology required to smelt iron was not introduced into Egypt until the Late Period. Before that, iron objects were imported and were consequently highly valued for their rarity. The Amarna letters refer to diplomatic gifts of iron being sent by Near Eastern rulers, especially the Hittites, to Amenhotep III and Akhenaten. Iron tools and weapons only became common in Egypt in the Roman Period.

Because of its relatively poor survival in archaeological contexts, wood is not particularly well represented among artifacts from Ancient Egypt. Nevertheless, woodworking was evidently carried out to a high standard from an early period. Native trees included date palm and dom palm, the trunks of which could be used as joists in buildings, or split to produce planks. Tamarisk, acacia and sycamore fig were employed in furniture manufacture, while ash was used when greater flexibility was required (for example in the manufacture of bowls). However, all these native timbers were of relatively poor quality; finer varieties had to be imported, especially from the Levant.

Lapis lazuli is a dark blue semi-precious stone highly valued by the ancient Egyptians because of its symbolic association with the heavens. It was imported via long-distance trade routes from the mountains of north-eastern Afghanistan, and was considered superior to all other materials except gold and silver. Coloured glass or faience provided a cheap imitation. Lapis lazuli is first attested in the Predynastic Period. A temporary interruption in supply during the Second and Third Dynasties probably reflects political changes in the ancient Near East. Thereafter, it was used extensively for jewelry, small figurines and amulets.

Jasper is an impure form of chalcedony with bands or patches of red, green or yellow. Red jasper, symbol of life and of positive aspects of the universe, was used above all to make amulets. It was ideal for certain amulets, such as the tit amulet, or (also known as knot of Isis), to be made of red jasper, as specified in Spell 156 of the Book of the Dead. The more rarely used green jasper was especially indicated for making scarabs, particularly heart scarabs.

Serpentine is the generic term for the hydrated silicates of magnesium. It came mostly from the eastern desert, and occurs in many shades of color, from a pale green to a dark verging on black. Used from the earliest times, it was sought specially for making heart scarabs.

Steatite (also known as soapstone) is a mineral of the chlorite family; it has the great advantage of being very easy to work. Steatite amulets are found in contexts from the Predynastic Period on, although in subsequent periods it was usually covered in a fine layer of faience and was used in the manufacture of numerous scarabs.

Turquoise is an opaque stone, sky blue to blue-green. It is a natural aluminium phosphate colored blue by traces of copper. Closely linked to the goddess Hathor, it was extracted mainly from mines in Sinai (at Serabit el-Khadim). The Egyptians were particularly fond of the greenish shades, symbolic of dynamism and vital renewal. In the Late Period, turquoise (like lapis lazuli) was synonymous with joy and delight.

The monumental sculpture of ancient Egypt's temples and tombs is well known, but refined and delicate small works exist in much greater numbers. The Egyptians used the technique of sunk relief, which is best viewed in sunlight for the outlines and forms to be emphasized by shadows. The distinctive pose of standing statues facing forward with one foot in front of the other was helpful for the balance and strength of the piece. This singular pose was used early in the history of Egyptian art and well into the Ptolemaic period, although seated statues were common as well.

Egyptian pharaohs were always regarded as gods, but other deities are much less common in large statues, except when they represent the pharaoh as another deity; however, the other deities are frequently shown in paintings and reliefs. The famous row of four colossal statues outside the main temple at Abu Simbel each show Rameses II, a typical scheme, though here exceptionally large. Most larger sculptures survived from Egyptian temples or tombs; massive statues were built to represent gods and pharaohs and their queens, usually for open areas in or outside temples. The very early colossal Great Sphinx of Giza was never repeated, but avenues lined with very large statues including sphinxes and other animals formed part of many temple complexes. The most sacred cult image of a god in a temple, usually held in the naos, was in the form of a relatively small boat or barque holding an image of the god, and apparently usually in precious metal - none of these are known to have survived.

By Dynasty IV (2680-2565 BC), the idea of the Ka statue was firmly established. These were put in tombs as a resting place for the ka portion of the soul, and so there is a good number of less conventionalized statues of well-off administrators and their wives, many in wood as Egypt is one of the few places in the world where the climate allows wood to survive over millennia, and many block statues. The so-called reserve heads, plain hairless heads, are especially naturalistic, though the extent to which there was real portraiture in ancient Egypt is still debated.

Early tombs also contained small models of the slaves, animals, buildings and objects such as boats (and later figures) necessary for the deceased to continue his lifestyle in the afterlife. However, the great majority of wooden sculpture have been lost to decay, or probably used as fuel. Small figures of deities, or their animal personifications, are very common, and found in popular materials such as pottery. There were also large numbers of small carved objects, from figures of the gods to toys and carved utensils. Alabaster was used for expensive versions of these, though painted wood was the most common material, and was normal for the small models of animals, slaves and possessions placed in tombs to provide for the afterlife.

Very strict conventions were followed while crafting statues, and specific rules governed the appearance of every Egyptian god. For example, the sky god ( Horus) was to be represented with a falcon's head, the god of funeral rites ( Anubis) was to be shown with a jackal's head. Artistic works were ranked according to their compliance with these conventions, and the conventions were followed so strictly that, over three thousand years, the appearance of statues changed very little. These conventions were intended to convey the timeless and non-ageing quality of the figure's ka.

A common relief in ancient Egyptian sculpture was the difference between the representation of men and women. Women were often represented in an idealistic form, young and pretty, and rarely shown in an older maturity. Men were shown in either an idealistic manner or a more realistic depiction. Sculptures of men often showed men that aged, since the regeneration of ageing was a positive thing for them whereas women are shown as perpetually young.

A stele is an upright tablet of stone or wood, often with a curved top, painted and carved with text and pictures. Numerous examples were produced throughout Egyptian history for a variety of purposes, including funerary, votive and commemorative. Funerary stelae, attested from the early 1st Dynasty, typically bore the name and titles of the deceased. This basic form, which served to identify the tomb owner, evolved into a key component of the funerary equipment with a magical function. Hence, from the 2nd Dynasty onward, the owner was usually shown seated before an offering table piled with food and drink; in the Middle Kingdom, the offering formula was generally inscribed along the top of the stele. Both were designed to ensure a perpetual supply of offerings in the afterlife. Votive stelae, inscribed with prayers to deities, were dedicated by worshipers seeking a favorable outcome to a particular situation. In the Middle Kingdom, many hundreds were set up by pilgrims on the "terrace of the great god" at Abydos, so that they might participate in the annual procession of Osiris. One particular variety of votive stele common in the New Kingdom was the ear stele, inscribed with images of human ears to encourage the deity to listen to the prayer or request.

Commemorative stelae were produced to proclaim notable achievements (for example, the stela of Horwerra, recording a mining expedition to Serabit el-Khadim, and the Restoration Stela of Tutankhamun, celebrating the restoration of the traditional cults at the end of the Amarna period); to celebrate military victories (for instance, the Merneptah Stele); and to establish frontiers (for example the Semna stele of Senusret III and the boundary stelae around Amarna).

Not all Egyptian reliefs were painted, and less-prestigious works in tombs, temples and palaces were merely painted on a flat surface. Stone surfaces were prepared by whitewash, or if rough, a layer of coarse mud plaster, with a smoother layer above; some finer limestones could take paint directly. Pigments were mostly mineral, chosen to withstand strong sunlight without fading. The binding medium used in painting remains unclear: egg tempera and various gums and resins have been suggested. It is clear that true fresco, painted into a thin layer of wet plaster, was not used. Instead, the paint was applied to dried plaster, in what is called fresco a secco in Italian. After painting, a varnish or resin was usually applied as a protective coating, and many paintings with some exposure to the elements have survived remarkably well, although those on fully exposed walls rarely have. Small objects including wooden statuettes were often painted using similar techniques.

Many ancient Egyptian paintings have survived in tombs, and sometimes temples, due to Egypt's extremely dry climate. The paintings were often made with the intent of making a pleasant afterlife for the deceased. The themes included journey through the afterworld or protective deities introducing the deceased to the gods of the underworld (such as Osiris). Some tomb paintings show activities that the deceased were involved in when they were alive and wished to carry on doing for eternity.

From the New Kingdom period and afterwards, the Book of the Dead was buried with the entombed person. It was considered important for an introduction to the afterlife.

Egyptian paintings are painted in such a way to show a side view and a front view of the animal or person at the same time. For example, the painting to the right shows the head from a profile view and the body from a frontal view. Their main colors were red, blue, green, gold, black and yellow.

Paintings showing scenes of hunting and fishing can have lively close-up landscape backgrounds of reeds and water, but in general Egyptian painting did not develop a sense of depth, and neither landscapes nor a sense of visual perspective are found, the figures rather varying in size with their importance rather than their location.

Ancient Egyptian architects used sun-dried and kiln-baked bricks, fine sandstone, limestone and granite. Architects carefully planned all their work. The stones had to fit precisely together, since no mud or mortar was used. When creating the pyramids, ramps were used to allow workmen to move up as the height of the construction grew. When the top of the structure was completed, the artists decorated from the top down, removing ramp sand as they went down. Exterior walls of structures like the pyramids contained only a few small openings. Hieroglyphic and pictorial carvings in brilliant colors were abundantly used to decorate Egyptian structures, including many motifs, like the scarab, sacred beetle, the solar disk, and the vulture. They described the changes the Pharaoh would go through to become a god.

As early as 2600 BC the architect Imhotep made use of stone columns whose surface was carved to reflect the organic form of bundled reeds, like papyrus, lotus and palm; in later Egyptian architecture faceted cylinders were also common. Their form is thought to derive from archaic reed-built shrines. Carved from stone, the columns were highly decorated with carved and painted hieroglyphs, texts, ritual imagery and natural motifs. One of the most important type are the papyriform columns. The origin of these columns goes back to the 5th Dynasty. They are composed of lotus (papyrus) stems which are drawn together into a bundle decorated with bands: the capital, instead of opening out into the shape of a bellflower, swells out and then narrows again like a flower in bud. The base, which tapers to take the shape of a half-sphere like the stem of the lotus, has a continuously recurring decoration of stipules. At the Luxor Temple, the columns are reminiscent of papyrus bundles, perhaps symbolic of the marsh from which the ancient Egyptians believed the creation of the world to have unfolded.

The ancient Egyptians exhibited a love of ornament and personal decoration from earliest Predynastic times. Badarian burials often contained strings of beads made from glazed steatite, shell and ivory. Jewelry in gold, silver, copper and faience is also attested in the early Predynastic period; more varied materials were introduced in the centuries preceding the 1st Dynasty. By the Old Kingdom, the combination of carnelian, turquoise and lapis lazuli had been established for royal jewelry, and this was to become standard in the Middle Kingdom. Less sophisticated pieces might use bone, mother-of-pearl or cowrie shells. The particular choice of materials depended upon practical, aesthetical and symbolic considerations. Some types of jewelry remained perennially popular, while others went in and out of fashion. In the first category were bead necklaces, bracelets, armlets and girdles. Bead aprons are first attested in the 1st Dynasty, while broad collars became a standard type from the early Old Kingdom. In the Middle Kingdom, they had fallen from favor, to be replaced by finger-rings and ear ornaments (rings and plugs). New Kingdom jewelry is generally more elaborate and garish than that of earlier periods, and was influenced by styles from the Ancient Greece and the Levant. Many fine examples were found in the tomb of Tutankhamun. Jewelry, both royal and private, was replete with religious symbolism. It was also used to display the wealth and rank of the wearer. Royal jewels were always the most elaborate, as exemplified by the pieces found at Dahshur and Lahun, made for princesses of the 18th Dynasty, favored courtiers were rewarded with the "gold of honor" as a sign of royal favor.

An amulet is a small charm worn to afford its owner magical protection, or to convey certain qualities (for example, a lion amulet might convey strength, or a set-square amulet might convey rectitude). Attested from the Badarian period onward, amulets were produced both for the living and the dead. Particular amulets were placed at specific places in the mummy wrappings. The heart scarab was a specialized form of amulet to protect the heart of the deceased in the afterlife. Amulets were made from a wide variety of materials, including faience, glass, and precious stones - with color often playing an important symbolic role - and in a wide variety of forms. They might depict sacred objects (such as the Djed pillar, Tyet girdle or Wedjad eye); animals (bull's head amulets were particularly common in the late Predynastic period); or hieroglyphs (for example, Ankh or Sa). From the New Kingdom onward, deities - especially household deities such as Bes and Taweret - were popular subjects for amulets.

The protective amulet for the heart was in the form of the scarab beetle, the manifestation of the creator and solar deity Khepri. It was a symbol of new life and resurrection. The scarab beetle was seen to push a ball of mud along the ground, and from this came the idea of the beetle rolling the sun across the sky. Subsequently, the young beetles were observed to hatch from their eggs inside the ball of mud, hence the idea of creation: life springs forth from primordial mud.

The heart scarab was a large scarab amulet which was wrapped in the mummy bandaging over the deceased's heart. It was made from a range of green and dark-colored materials, including faience, glass, glazed steatite, shist, feldspar, hematite and obsidian. Black was also associated with the afterlife, while blue and green were associated with the birth and the life-giving waters of the Nile.

Different types of pottery items were deposited in tombs of the dead. Some such pottery items represented interior parts of the body, such as the lungs, the liver and smaller intestines, which were removed before embalming. A large number of smaller objects in enamel pottery were also deposited with the dead. It was customary for the tomb walls to be crafted with cones of pottery, about 15 to 25 cm (6 to 10 in) tall, on which were engraved or impressed legends relating to the dead occupants of the tombs. These cones usually contained the names of the deceased, their titles, offices which they held, and some expressions appropriate to funeral purposes.

Egyptian writing remained a remarkably conservative system, and the preserve of a tiny literate minority, while the spoken language underwent considerable change. Egyptian stelas are decorated with finely carved hieroglyphs.

The use of hieroglyphic writing arose from proto-literate symbol systems in the Early Bronze Age, around the 32nd century BC ( Naqada III), with the first decipherable sentence written in the Egyptian language dating to the Second Dynasty (28th century BC). Egyptian hieroglyphs developed into a mature writing system used for monumental inscription in the classical language of the Middle Kingdom period; during this period, the system made use of about 900 distinct signs. The use of this writing system continued through the New Kingdom and Late Period, and on into the Persian and Ptolemaic periods. Late use of hieroglyphics are found in the Roman period, extending into the 4th century AD.

Although, by modern standards, ancient Egyptian houses would have been very sparsely furnished, woodworking and cabinet-making were highly developed crafts. All the main types of furniture are attested, either as surviving examples or in tomb decoration. Chairs were only for the wealthy; most people would have used low stools. Beds consisted of a wooden frame, with matting or leather webbing to provide support; the most elaborate beds also had a canopy, hung with netting, to provide extra privacy and protection from insects. The feet of chairs, stools and beds were often modeled to resemble bull hooves or, in later periods, lion feet or duck heads. Wooden furniture was often coated with a layer of plaster and painted. Royal furniture was more elaborate, making use of inlays, veneers and marquetry. Funerary objects from the tomb of Tutankhamun include tables, boxes and chests, a gilded throne, and ritual beds shaped like elongated hippos and cattle. The burial equipment of Hetepheres included a set of travelling furniture, light and easy to dismantle. Such furniture must have been used on military campaigns and other royal journeys. Egyptian furniture has highly influenced the development of Greco-Roman furniture. It also was one of the principal sources of inspiration of a style known as Empire. The main motifs used are: palm and lotus leaves, flowers, lion heads and claws, bull hooves, bird heads, and geometric combinations. Everything is sober and with a monumental character.

Artistic representations, supplemented by surviving garments, are the main sources of evidence for ancient Egyptian fashion. The two sources are not always in agreement, however, and it seems that representations were more concerned with highlighting certain attributes of the person depicted than with accurately recordings their true appearance. For example, in art created for men, women were often shown with restrictive, tight-fitting dresses, perhaps to emphasize their figures.

As in most societies, fashions in Egypt changed over time; different clothes were worn in different seasons of the year, and by different sections of society. Particular office-holders, especially priests and the king, had their own special garments.

For the general population, clothing was simple, predominantly of linen, and probably white or off-white in color. It would have shown the dirt easily, and professional launderers are known to have been attached to the New Kingdom workmen's village at Deir el-Medina. Men would have worn a simple loin-cloth or short kilt (known as ), supplemented in winter by a heavier tunic. High-status individuals could express their status through their clothing, and were more susceptible to changes in fashion.

Longer, more voluminous clothing made an appearance in the Middle Kingdom; flowing, elaborately pleated, diaphanous robes for men and women were particularly popular in the late 18th Dynasty and the Ramesside period. Decorated textiles also became more common in the New Kingdom. In all periods, women's dresses may have been enhanced by colorful bead netting worn over the top. In the Roman Period, Egypt became known for the manufacture of fine clothing. Coiled sewn sandals or sandals of leather are the most commonly attested types of footwear. Examples of these, together with linen shirts and other clothing, were discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Use of makeup, especially around the eyes, was a characteristic feature of ancient Egyptian culture from Predynastic times. Kohl (eye-paint) was applied to protect the eyes, as well as for aesthetic reasons. It was usually made of galena, giving a silvery-black color; during the Old Kingdom, green eye-paint was also used, made from malachite. Egyptian women painted their lips and cheeks, using rouge made from red ochre. Henna was applied as a dye for hair, fingernails and toenails, and perhaps also nipples. Creams and unguents to condition the skin were popular, and were made from various plant extracts.

On secular and religious occasions, music played an important part in celebrations. Musicians, playing instruments such as the castanets and flute, are depicted on objects from the Predynastic Period. A wide range of percussions, wind and string instruments were known to the ancient Egyptian. They include rattles, clappers, drums, tambourines and the sistrum; pipes, flutes and trumpets; and harps (particularly popular at feasts). The lyre and lute were introduced from the Levant. Musical notation is not attested until the early Ptolemaic Period. Groups of musicians, either mixed gender or female only, are known from the Old Kingdom. Women singers and sistrum-players had an important role in temple cults, especially those of Hathor and Isis. Tomb decoration from all periods indicates that, as today, groups of workers sang to generate a sense of solidarity and to maintain their enthusiasm.

A sistrum (plural: sistra) is a rattle used in religious ceremonies, especially temple rituals, and usually played by women. Called a "seshsehet" in Egyptian, the name imitates the swishing sound the small metal disks made when the instrument was shaken. It was closely associated with Hathor in her role as "lady of music", and the handle was often decorated with a Hathor head. Two kinds of sistrum are attested, naos-shaped and hoop-shaped; the latter became the more common.

The earliest purpose-built funerary containers for bodies were simple rectangular wooden boxes, attested in the 1st Dynasty. A coffin swiftly became an essential part of the burial equipment. Known euphemistically as the "lord of life", its primary function was to provide a home for the Ka and to protect the physical body from harm. In the 4th Dynasty, the development of longer coffins allowed the body to be buried fully extended (rather than curled up on its side in a foetal position). At the end of the Old Kingdom, it became customary once more for the body to be laid on its side. The side of the coffin that faced east in the tomb was decorated with a pair of eyes so that the deceased could look out towards the rising sun with its promise of daily rebirth. Coffins also began to be decorated on the outside with bands of funerary texts, while pictures of food and drink offerings were painted on the inside to provide a magical substitute for the real provisions placed in the tomb.

In the First Intermediate Period, decorated coffins became a substitute for tomb decoration; in the Middle Kingdom, coffin texts made their first appearance, sometimes accompanied by detailed maps of the underworld. Middle Kingdom coffins show a number of distinct regional styles, echoing the cultural fragmentation of the preceding period. In the 17th and early 18th Dynasties, the Theban area produced characteristic anthropoid rishi (feathered) coffins. These were replaced (except for kings) by other styles of anthropoid coffins which became the standard form throughout the country for the remainder of Egyptian history. The predominance of decorated tombs in the New Kingdom removed the need of object friezes, so coffins were generally undecorated on the inside. However, this situation was reversed again in the Third Intermediate Period when new types of coffin decoration focused on the Osiris myth and extracts from the Book of the Dead, to aid the resurrection of the deceased. In the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, a cartonnage mask was often fixed directly onto the mummy wrappings as a substitute for a coffin.

Coffins were generally made of wood; those of high-status individuals used fine quality, imported cedar. From the Middle Kingdom onward, wealthy individuals were often provided with a set of two or three nested coffins. The most sumptuous coffins might be inlaid with glass or precious stones, while royal coffins were often made from gold or silver.

Canopic jars are vessels which were used for storing the internal organs removed during mummification. These were named after the human-headed jars that were worshiped as personifications of Kanops (the helmsman of Menelaus in Greek mythology) by the inhabitants of ancient Canopus. The practice of evisceration is first attested in the burial of Hetepheres in the early 4th Dynasty. Her organs were stored in a travertine chest divided into four compartments. Later, each organ - the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines - was provided with a separate jar, of stone or pottery, and placed under the symbolic protection of one of the Four sons of Horus. During the First Intermediate Period, the stoppers of canopic jars began to be modeled in the form of human heads. From the late 18th Dynasty, they were more commonly modelled to resemble the heads of the protecting genii ( baboon, jackal, falcon and human). This became the standard for canopic equipment in the 19th Dynasty. In the Third Intermediate Period, the mummified organs were generally returned to the body, but wealthy burials could still include a dummy set of jars. The last known royal set of canopic jars were made of Apries. The manufacture of canopic equipment continued into the Ptolemaic Period but ceased by Roman times.

Funerary masks have been used at all periods. Examples range from the gold masks of Tutankhamun and Psusennes I to the Roman "mummy portraits" from Hawara and the Fayum. Whether in a funerary or religious context, the purpose of a mask was the same: to transform the wearer from a mortal to a divine state.

Ushabtis (a.k.a. shawabti or shabti) are funerary figurines. Their purpose was to act as a substitute for the deceased when he was called upon to perform agricultural work or corvée labor in the afterlife. Ushabtis evolved in the Middle Kingdom from the servant statues included among funerary gods. The earliest examples were crude statuettes in wax, clay or wood; later, they were fashioned as mummiform figures and, from the end of the 12th Dynasty, they were customarily inscribed with the "ushabti text" (chapter 6 of the Book of the dead which specifies the ushabti's duties).

Art of Meroë

Ancient Egypt shared a long and complex history with the Nile Valley to the south, the region called Nubia (modern Sudan). Beginning with the Kerma culture and continuing with the Kingdom of Kush based at Napata and then Meroë, Nubian culture absorbed Egyptian influences at various times, for both political and religious reasons. The result is a rich and complex visual culture.

The artistic production of Meroë reflects a range of influences. First, it was an indigenous African culture with roots stretching back thousands of years. To this is added the fact that the wealth of Meroë was based on trade with Egypt when it was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty (332-330 BC) and the Romans (30 BC - 395 AD), so Hellenistic and Roman objects and ideas were imported, as well as Egyptian influences.

Enthusiasm for the artistic style of Ancient Egypt is generally attributed to the excitement over Napoleon's conquest of Egypt and, in Britain, to Admiral Nelson's defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Napoleon took a scientific expedition with him to Egypt. Publication of the expedition's work, the Description de l'Égypte, began in 1809 and came out in a series though 1826, inspiring everything from sofas with Sphinxes for legs, to tea sets painted with the pyramids. It was the popularity of the style that was new, Egyptianizing works of art had appeared in scattered European settings from the time of the Renaissance.

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Müller, Vera (2018). "Chronological Concepts for the Second Intermediate Period and Their Implications for the Evaluation of Its Material Culture". In Forstner-Müller, Irene; Moeller, Nadine (eds.). THE HYKSOS RULER KHYAN AND THE EARLY SECOND INTERMEDIATE PERIOD IN EGYPT: PROBLEMS AND PRIORITIES OF CURRENT RESEARCH. Proceedings of the Workshop of the Austrian Archaeological Institute and the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Vienna, July 4 - 5, 2014. Holzhausen. pp. 199-216. ISBN 978-3-902976-83-3.

Redford, Donald B. (1992). Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-03606-9.

Candelora, Danielle (2018). "Entangled in Orientalism: How the Hyksos Became a Race". Journal of Egyptian History. 11 (1-2): 45-72. doi:10.1163/18741665-12340042.

Daressy, Georges (1906). "Un poignard du temps des Rois Pasteurs". Annales du Service des Antiquités de l'Égypte. 7: 115-120.

Hill, Marsha (2007). Gifts for the gods: images from Egyptian temples. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 9781588392312.

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Ancient Egyptian art refers to art produced in ancient Egypt between the 31st century BC and the 4th century AD. It includes paintings, sculptures, drawings on papyrus, faience, jewelry, ivories, architecture, and other art media. It is also very conservative: the art style changed very little over time.

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Architecture of the New Kingdom

The golden age of the New Kingdom created huge prosperity for Egypt and allowed for the proliferation of monumental architecture.

Learning Objectives

Explain why the New Kingdom is considered the golden age of Ancient Egyptian art

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Luxor Temple is a large temple complex located in what was ancient Thebes and is known for its use of symbolism and illusionism.

The Temples at Karnak, part of the great city of Thebes, were constructed as an ancient place of worship for the god Amun. They consist of a vast mix of temples, chapels, pylons , obelisks , and hypostyle halls decorated with elaborate friezes .

The Temples of Karnak consists of four main parts: the Precinct of Amun-Re, the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu, and the Temple of Amenhotep IV.

Although pyramids were no longer built at this time, magnificent tombs were constructed for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom in the Valley of the Kings over a period of nearly 500 years.

Among the most famous tombs in the Valley of the Kings are the tombs of Tutankhamun, Hatshepsut, Ramesses, and Nerfertiti.

Key Terms

pylon:A gateway to the inner part of an Ancient Egyptian temple.

hypostyle hall:A structure in which a roof is supported by columns.

frieze:Any sculptured or richly ornamented band in a building or, by extension, in rich pieces of furniture.

The New Kingdom is known as the golden age of ancient Egyptian history and is the period of Hatshepsut, Tutankhamun, Ramses II, and other famous pharaohs. The wealth gained through military dominance created huge prosperity for Egypt and allowed for the proliferation of monumental architecture, especially works that glorified the pharaohs' achievements. Starting with Hatshepsut, buildings were of a grander scale than anything previously seen in the Middle Kingdom .

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple is a large temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in what was ancient Thebes (today the city of Luxor). There are six great temples: four on the left bank known as Goornah, Deir-el-Bahri, the Ramesseum, and Medinet Habu; and two on the right bank known as the Karnak and Luxor. The Luxor temple was built with Nubian sandstone from south-western Egypt. Like other Egyptian structures, common techniques were the use of symbolism and illusionism. For example, a sanctuary shaped like an Anubis Jackal was used as a representational symbol of Anubis. To emphasize height and distance and enhance an existing pathway, two obelisks flanking the entrance were built with the illusion that they were the same height-even though they weren't.

Temples at Karnak

This complex is comprised of a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings. An ancient place of worship for the god Amun, it was part of the monumental city of Thebes. Today, the complex is a vast open-air museum and the largest ancient religious site in the world. The complex consists of four main parts: the Precinct of Amun-Re, the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Montu, and the Temple of Amenhotep IV.

The Precinct of Amun-Re, also referred to as the Temple of Amun, is the largest of the temples and the only one open to the public today. The columns of its Hypostyle Hall imitate lotus plants and contain elaborate sunken relief .

Almost every pharaoh of that dynasty has added something to the temple site. It features large sandstone columns, several colossal statues, and one of the largest obelisks, weighing 328 tons and standing 29 meters tall. Many of the walls were decorated with richly ornamented friezes.

Located to the south of the newer Amen-Re complex, the Precinct of Mut was dedicated to the mother goddess Mut. Hapshepsut helped to restore the original precinct, which had been ravaged during the Hyksos occupation, and had twin obelisks erected at the entrance to the temple; one still stands as the tallest surviving ancient obelisk in the world. The precinct has several smaller temples associated with it and has its own sacred lake, constructed in a crescent shape. Six hundred black granite statues were found in the courtyard to her temple, possibly the oldest portion of the site.

The smaller Precinct of Montu is dedicated to the war-god of the Theban Triad, Montu, and is located to the north of the Amun-Re complex.

The Temple of Amenhotep IV was located east of the main complex and was destroyed immediately after the death of its builder, so its full extent and layout is currently unknown.

The Valley of the Kings

By this time, pyramids were no longer built by kings, but they continued to build magnificent tombs. This renowned valley in Egypt is where, for a period of nearly 500 years, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom. The valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers, the most well known of which is the tomb of Tutankhamun (commonly known as King Tut). Despite its small size, it is the most complete ancient Egyptian royal tomb ever found. In 1979, the Valley became a World Heritage Site, along with the rest of the Theban Necropolis .

Hatshepsut

The Temple of Hatshepsut was Hatshepsut's mortuary temple and was the first to be built in the area. The focal point of the tomb was the Djeser-Djeseru, a colonnaded structure of perfect harmony that predates the Parthenon by nearly one thousand years. Built into a cliff face, Djeser-Djeseru, or "the Sublime of Sublimes," sits atop a series of terraces that once were graced with lush gardens. Funerary goods belonging to Hatshepsut include a lioness "throne," a game board with carved lioness head, red-jasper game pieces bearing her title as pharaoh, a signet ring, and a partial shabti figurine bearing her name.

Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, who ruled from around 1332 BC to 1323 BCE. Popularly referred to as "King Tut," the boy-king took the throne when he was nine and ruled until his early death at age nineteen. Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb that was small relative to his status. His death may have occurred unexpectedly, before the completion of a grander royal tomb, so that his mummy was buried in a tomb intended for someone else. His mummy still rests in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, though is now on display in a climate-controlled glass box rather than his original golden sarcophagus . Relics and artifacts from his tomb, including his pectoral jewels and a red granite lion, are among the most traveled artifacts in the world.

Ramses II

The Tomb of Nefertari, the most famous of Ramses's consorts, is also located in the Valley of the Kings and is known for its magnificent wall paintings.
The Ramesseum was the great mortuary temple of Ramses II. An enormous pylon representing scenes of the great pharaoh's reign stood before one of the opening courts, with the royal palace at the left and a gigantic statue of the king looming up at the back. Scattered remains of two statues of the seated king can be seen, one in pink granite and the other in black granite, which once flanked the entrance to the temple. Thirty-nine out of the 48 columns still stand in the hypostyle hall, and part of the gold-and-blue decorated ceiling has also been preserved.

The ancient temples in Thebes were transformed to reflect honor to Ramses's power. Later, Ramses moved the capital of his kingdom from Thebes to the newly established city of Pi-Ramses, which he used as a main base for his campaigns. Dominated by huge temples and the king's vast residential palace, it was complete with its own zoo. Ramses constructed the complex of Abu Simbel and is perhaps best known for his mortuary temple known as the Ramesseum. After his death, he was buried in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings; his body was later moved to a royal cache , where it was discovered in 1881. It is now on display in the Cairo Museum.

The Book of the Dead

The Book of the Dead was a funerary text designed to assist a deceased person's journey through the underworld and into the afterlife.

Learning Objectives

Describe what the Book of the Dead was and explain its use in Ancient Egypt

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The Book of the Dead was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom and Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom .

Unlike previous texts which were written on walls or objects in the funerary chamber, the Book of the Dead was written on expensive papyrus .

There was no single Book of the Dead, and works tended to vary widely, perhaps based on the preferences of the people commissioning them.

The text of a Book of the Dead in the New Kingdom was typically written in cursive hieroglyphs , with lavish illustrations between the text.

Key Terms

hieratic:A writing system used in pharaonic Egypt that was developed alongside the hieroglyphic system, primarily written in ink with a reed brush on papyrus, allowing scribes to write quickly without resorting to the time consuming hieroglyphs.

papyrus:A material similar to paper made from the Cyperus papyrus plant.

The Book of the Dead is the modern name of an ancient Egyptian funerary text, used from the beginning of the New Kingdom (around 1550 BCE) to around 50 BCE. The original Egyptian name is translated as "Book of Coming Forth by Day," or "Book of Emerging Forth into the Light." According to ancient Egyptian beliefs, it was the ba (the free-ranging spirit aspect of the deceased) that went "forth by day" into the underworld and afterlife, while the ka (life force) remained in the tomb.

Despite the word "book" in the common title, the Book of the Dead was actually printed on scrolls, as opposed to bound texts. The text, placed in the coffin or burial chamber of the deceased, consisted of magic spells intended to assist a deceased person's journey through the Duat, or underworld, and into the afterlife. At present, some 192 spells are known, though no single manuscript contains all of them. The spells served a range of purposes, such as giving the deceased mystical knowledge in the afterlife, guiding them past obstacles in the underworld, or protecting them from various hostile forces. In total, the spells in the Book of the Dead provide vital information regarding ancient Egyptian beliefs on death, interment, and the afterlife.

Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts

The Book of the Dead was part of a tradition of funerary texts which includes the earlier Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom and the Coffin Texts of the Middle Kingdom. However, it differed from its predecessors in many ways. For instance, Pyramid Texts were written in an unusual hieroglyphic style , were exclusive to those of royal privilege, and saw the afterlife as being in the sky. The Coffin Texts used a newer version of the language, included illustrations for the first time, and were available to wealthy private individuals. Both were painted onto walls or objects in the funerary chamber. The Book of the Dead, in contrast , was painted on expensive papyrus, written in cursive hieroglyph, and saw the afterlife as being part of the underworld. The earliest examples developed towards the beginning of the Second Intermediate Period, around 1700 BCE, and included new spells among older texts. By the Seventeenth Dynasty , the spells were typically inscribed on linen shrouds wrapped around the dead, though occasionally they are found written on coffins or on papyrus.

The Book of the Dead

The New Kingdom saw the Book of the Dead develop and spread further. The famous "Spell 125," the Weighing of the Heart, is first known from the reign of Hatshepsut and Tuthmose III (c.1475 BCE). In "Spell 125," the heart of the deceased must be weighed against the Feather of Truth before the deceased can pass into the afterlife. The jackal-headed god Anubis weighed the heart, while the ibis-headed god Thoth recorded the results. A heavy heart indicated sin and resulted in the deceased being devoured by a crocodile-like creature named Ammit. On the other hand, a lightweight heart equal with the weight of the feather allowed the deceased to enter the afterlife and enjoy an eternity that, although plentiful, required manual labor. For this reason, the Book of the Dead included spells for statuettes called shebti (later ushebti) to perform in the deceased's place.

From the fourteenth century BCE onward, the Book of the Dead was typically written on a papyrus scroll and the text was illustrated with elaborate and lavish vignettes. Later in the Third Intermediate Period, the Book of the Dead started to appear in hieratic script as well as in the traditional hieroglyphics. The last use of the Book of the Dead was in the first century BCE, though some artistic motifs drawn from it were still in use in Roman times.

There was no single Book of the Dead, and works tended to vary widely. Some people seem to have commissioned their own copies, perhaps choosing the spells they thought were most vital in their own progression to the afterlife. Later in the Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Sixth Dynasties, however, the Book was revised and standardized, with spells consistently ordered and numbered for the first time.

Books were commissioned by people in preparation for their own funeral, or by the relatives of someone recently deceased. They were written by scribes, and sometimes the work of several different scribes was literally pasted together. Composed of joined sheets of papyrus, the dimensions of a Book of the Dead could vary from one to 40 meters. Books were often prefabricated in funerary workshops, with space left for when the name of the deceased would be written in later.

The text of a New Kingdom Book of the Dead was typically written in cursive hieroglyphs, most often from left to right, but also sometimes from right to left. The hieroglyphs were in columns separated by black lines , and illustrations were put in frames above, below, or between the columns of text. The text was written in both black and red ink from either carbon or ochre , respectively. The style and nature of the vignettes used to illustrate a Book of the Dead varies widely: some contain lavish color illustrations, even making use of gold leaf , while others contain only line drawings or a simple illustration at the opening.

Sculpture of the New Kingdom

Sculpture in the New Kingdom continued in the traditional style until undergoing a drastic shift during the Amarna period.

Learning Objectives

Summarize ancient Egyptian sculpture during the New Kingdom

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Traditionally, all Egyptian reliefs were painted.

The Egyptians used the distinctive technique of sunk relief , which is well suited to very bright sunlight.

Statues typically depicted Egyptian pharaohs, often representing them as gods.

Amarna art is characterized by a sense of movement and activity in images, with figures being more realistically (less idealistically) depicted.

Key Terms

sunk relief:A type of artwork in which an image is made by cutting the relief sculpture itself into a flat surface.

relief:A type of artwork in which shapes or figures protrude from a flat background.

Sculpture in the New Kingdom continued in the traditional Egyptian style , with many great works produced by pharaohs over the years. However, during the later Amarna period, it underwent a drastic shift in style to emphasize more naturalistic (and less idealistic) human figures, such as those with drooping bellies. While reliefs and sculptures in the round continued to be painted, the skin tones of male and female figures was now the same value of brown. Some scholars believe that the shift was due to a new group of artists whose training was different from those trained in the traditional methods at Karnak.

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut's (1508-1458 BCE) construction of statues was so prolific that, today, almost every major museum in the world has a statue of hers among their collections. While some statues show her in typically feminine attire, others depict her in the royal ceremonial attire. The physical aspect of the gender of pharaohs was rarely stressed in the art, and with few exceptions, subjects were idealized. The Osirian statues of Hatshepsut, located at her tomb, follow the Egyptian tradition of depicting the dead pharaoh as the god Osiris. However, many of the official statues commissioned by Hatshepsut show her less symbolically, and more naturally, as a woman in typical dresses of the nobility of her day.

Ramses II

Statues typically depicted Egyptian pharaohs, often representing them as gods. In the famous sculptures outside the main temple at Abu Simbel, Ramses II (1303-1213 BCE) is depicted in a row of four colossal statues. Other deities are frequently shown in paintings and reliefs. Most of the larger sculpture survives from Egyptian temples or tombs, where massive statues were built to represent gods and pharaohs and their queens.

Amarna Art

The style of sculpture shifted drastically during the Amarna Period in the late Eighteenth Dynasty , when Pharaoh Akhenaten moved the capital to the city of Amarna. This art is characterized by a sense of movement and activity in images, with figures having raised heads, many figures overlapping, and many scenes full and crowded. Sunken relief was widely used. Figures are depicted less idealistically and more realistically, with an elongation and narrowing of the neck; sloping of the forehead and nose; prominent chin; large ears and lips; spindle-like arms and calves; and large thighs, stomachs, and hips. For example, many depictions of Akhenaten's body show him with wide hips, a drooping stomach, thick lips, and thin arms and legs. This is a divergence from the earlier Egyptian art which shows men with perfectly chiseled bodies, and there is generally a more "feminine" quality in male figures. Some scholars suggest that the presentation of the human body as imperfect during the Amarna period is in deference to Aten.

Like previous works, faces on reliefs continued to be shown exclusively in profile. The illustration of figures' hands and feet showed great detail, with fingers and toes depicted as long and slender. The skin color of both males and females was generally dark brown, in contrast to the previous tradition of depicting women with lighter skin. Along with traditional court scenes, intimate scenes were often portrayed. In a relief of Akhenaten, he is shown with his primary wife, Nefertiti, and their children in an intimate setting. His children are shrunken to appear smaller than their parents, a routine stylistic feature of traditional Egyptian art.

While the religious changes of the Amarna period were brief, the styles introduced to sculpture had a lasting influence on Egyptian culture .

Painting of the New Kingdom

Painting for much of the New Kingdom continued to follow established conventions. However, significant changes to the human form emerged during the Amarna Period.

Learning Objectives

Discuss Egyptian painting in the New Kingdom

Key Takeaways

Key Points

For much of the New Kingdom, paintings continued in the conventions established during the Early Dynastic Period .

Paintings in tombs continued to be made with the intent of making a pleasant afterlife for the deceased.

During the Amarna Period, human figures were produced in a more naturalistic and less idealized manner than figures from earlier eras.

The decoration of Amarna Period tombs for non-royals was quite different from previous eras and clearly worshiped the Aten over other gods and goddesses.

Key Terms

Aten:
The supreme sun disk that assumed the apex of the Egyptian pantheon under Akhenaten's religious reforms.

Painters for much of the New Kingdom continued to depict the human figure in largely the same manner as their predecessors in previous eras. A significant change, however, occurred during the Amarna Period under the pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1351-1334 BCE), when the body assumed a less idealized form . While many theories exist as to why this change occurred, the exact reason remains unknown.

TT52

The tomb known as TT52 houses an official named Nakht and his wife Tawy (14th century BCE). Among the decorations are richly colored paintings that depict the couple in the standard 18 fists-high profile pose, frontal torso, outward palms pose. As in paintings of previous eras, both figures are the same height. Their skin tones also follow the traditions that depict men with dark brown skin and women with light yellow skin.

Elsewhere in the tomb, Nakht assumes a more dynamic (albeit still stylized) pose as he hunts and fishes, a convention that also follows the style established during the Early Dynastic Period.

During the New Kingdom, religious scenes comprise the majority of paintings in the tombs of the elite. This trend, echoed in the decorative objects in these tombs, is evident in the painting of Nakht and Tawy making an offering . However, scenes from everyday life, such as hunting and fishing, remain an important part of the imagery .

Amarna-Style Painting

Art from this period is characterized by a sense of increased movement and activity in images, with busy and crowded scenes and many of the figures overlapping. Male and female figures are depicted with the same dark brown skin tone, a departure from the past in which women are depicted with lighter skin tones. The human body is portrayed more realistically, rather than idealistically, though at times depictions border on caricature. For example, many depictions of Akhenaten's body show him with wide hips, a drooping stomach, thick lips, and thin arms and legs. This is a divergence from the earlier Egyptian art which shows men with perfectly chiseled bodies, and there is generally a more "feminine" quality in male figures. Some scholars suggest that the presentation of the human body as imperfect during the Amarna period is in deference to the Aten.

Non-Elite Tombs

Although many non-elite tombs from the New Kingdom were plundered, leaving few images and objects for modern scholars to study, it is evident that the decoration was quite different from previous eras. These tombs did not feature any funerary or agricultural scenes. Images of the tomb occupant were also absent, with the exception of instances in which he or she was depicted with a member of the royal family. Decorations from the Amarna Period clearly worshiped the Aten, with excerpts from the Hymn to the Aten often present in the tombs. There is an absence of other gods and goddesses and no mention of Osiris or the underworld.

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The golden age of the New Kingdom created huge prosperity for Egypt and allowed for the proliferation of monumental architecture. Explain why the New Kingdom is considered the golden age of Ancient Egyptian art Key Points Luxor Temple is a large temple complex located in what was ancient Thebes and is known for its use of symbolism and illusionism.

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Sculpture of the Middle Kingdom

Innovations during the Middle Kingdom included the solemnity evident in portraits of Senusret III and block statues.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the sculptural innovations during Egypt's Middle Kingdom

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Mentuhotep II was the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom , restoring stability after a period of pharaonic weakness and civil war. Senusret III is considered to be perhaps the most powerful Egyptian ruler of the dynasty and led the kingdom to an era of peace and prosperity.

Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures in which he appears careworn and grave. While many statues portray him as a vigorous young man, others deviate from this standard and illustrate him as mature and aging. This is often interpreted as a portrayal of the burden of power and kingship.

Another important innovation in sculpture during the Middle Kingdom was the block statue, which consisted of a man squatting with his knees drawn up to his chest.

Aristocratic women's role as art patrons during the Middle Kingdom speaks to their high status and gender equality.

Key Terms

deified:To be treated as worthy of worship, or regarded as a god.

Middle Kingdom:Egypt in the Twelfth and Thirteenth dynasties, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC.

Mentuhotep II

The Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1650 BCE) was marked by the reunification of Egypt following a period of weak pharaonic power and civil war called the First Intermediate. Mentuhotep II restored stability in 2041 BCE after launching an attack that met with little resistance. After toppling the last rulers of the Tenth Dynasty, Mentuhotep II began consolidating his power over all Egypt, completing the process circa 2000 BCE. His subjects considered him to be divine or semi-divine, as suggested in a relief depicting the pharaoh receiving offerings .

Senusret III

During the Middle Kingdom, relief and portrait sculpture captured subtle, individual details that reached new heights of technical perfection. Some of the finest examples of sculpture during this time was at the height of the empire under Pharaoh Senusret III.

Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or Sesostris III) ruled from 1878-1839 BCE and was the fifth monarch of the Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. His military campaigns gave rise to an era of peace and economic prosperity that not only reduced the power of regional rulers, but also led to a revival in craftwork, trade, and urban development in the Egyptian kingdom. One of the few kings who were deified and honored with a cult during their own lifetime, he is considered to be perhaps the most powerful Egyptian ruler of the dynasty.

Aside from his accomplishments in architecture and war, Senusret III is known for his strikingly somber sculptures in which he appears careworn and grave. Deviating from the standard way of representing kings, Senusret III and his successor Amenemhat III had themselves portrayed as mature, aging men. This is often interpreted as a portrayal of the burden of power and kingship. The change in representation as ideological, and not something to be interpreted as the portrayal of an aging king, is shown by the fact that in one single relief, Senusret III was represented as a vigorous young man, following the centuries old tradition, and as a mature aging king.

Block Statues and Women Patrons

Another important innovation in sculpture that occurred during the Middle Kingdom was the block statue, which would continue to be popular through to the Ptolemaic age almost 2,000 years later. Block statues consist of a man squatting with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms folded on top of his knees. Often, these men are wearing a wide cloak that reduces the body of the figure to a simple block-like shape. In some cases the cloak covers the feet completely, and in others the feet are left uncovered. The head of the sculpture contains the most detail.

The sculpture pictured below-the fact that a private woman could have a sculpture made for herself-speaks volumes for the equality of gender in ancient Egypt. The heavy tripartite wig frames the broad face and passes behind the ears, thus giving the impression of forcing them forward. They are large in keeping with the ancient Egyptian ideal of beauty; the same ideal required small breasts, and in this respect, the sculpture is no exception. Whereas the natural curve of the eyebrows dips towards the root of the nose, the artificial eyebrows in low relief are absolutely straight above the inner corners of the eyes, a feature which places the bust early in the early Twelfth Dynasty. Around 1900 BCE, these artificial eyebrows, too, began to follow the natural curve and dipped toward the nose.

Tombs of the Middle Kingdom

Grand and royal tombs continued to be built for the deceased during the prosperous Middle Kingdom.

Learning Objectives

Compare and contrast the tombs and burial goods of the Middle Kingdom with those of the Old Kingdom.

Key Takeaways

Key Points

As the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom restored the country's prosperity and stability, they stimulated a resurgence of art, literature, and monumental building projects, including tombs and burial goods .

While burial goods continued to be common, objects of daily use were not typically included as they were in the Old Kingdom.

Toward the end of the Middle Kingdom, new objects were introduced, such as shabtis and scarabs.

Coffin Texts evolved from the previous Pyramid texts of the Old Kingdom, expanding and introducing spells that were more relatable to nobles and non-royal Egyptians.

Key Terms

Pyramid Text:A collection of spells to protect the pharaoh from harm in the afterlife.

Osiris:The god of the underworld and husband of the goddess Isis in the Egyptian pantheon. He is usually depicted with green skin and wrapped in a mummy's linen.

shabti:A figurine placed in tombs to act as servants for the deceased in the afterlife.

sarcophagus:A stone coffin, often inscribed or decorated with sculpture.

burial goods:Items included in tombs that were thought to be necessary in the afterlife, from everyday objects to jewelry and valuables.

Royal funerary practices in the Middle Kingdom remained much the same as in the Old Kingdom, with kings continuing to build pyramids for their burials. Unlike the Old Kingdom, however, Middle Kingdom royal pyramids were not quite as well constructed, and so few of them remain as pyramid structures today. Among the tombs built during this time are Amenemhat I's funerary monument at El-Lisht; Sesostris I's funerary monument; Amenemhat III's pyramid at Hawara, which includes an elaborate labyrinth complex; and Sesostris II's pyramid at Illahun. The construction of pyramids declined toward the end of the Twelfth Dynasty , as instability led to the decline of the Middle Kingdom.

Burial goods continued to be commonplace in tombs. Starting in the First Intermediate period, wooden models became very popular, often depicting everyday activities that the deceased expected to continue doing in the afterlife. The standard coffin was rectangular and brightly painted, often including an offering formula. Unlike the Old Kingdom, objects of daily use were not often included in the tombs; however, they reappeared toward the end of the Middle Kingdom.

Other new objects were introduced toward the end of the Middle Kingdom as well, including the first shabtis (also known as ushabtis) and the first scarabs. Shabtis were funerary figurines placed in tombs of the deceased to help them in the afterlife. Used from the Middle Kingdom until the end of the Ptolemaic Period nearly 2000 years later, most shabtis were of a small size, often covering the floor around a sarcophagus . Exceptional shabtis were of larger size, or produced as a one-of-a-kind master work. They were generally distinguished from other statuettes by being inscribed with the name of the deceased, his titles, and often with spells from the Coffin Texts. Shabtis were created to act as the deceased's servants, performing the manual labor necessary for the plentiful existence of the afterlife.

Scarabs were popular amulets believed to be protectors of written products. The scarab was also used as a holder or medium for personal name seals. A figurine of a scarab would be carved out of stone, and then on the smooth stomach of the scarab, the engraving of a seal was made.

Another change in funerary practice during this time had to do with non-royal Egyptians. In contrast to elitist Old Kingdom attitudes towards the gods, the Middle Kingdom experienced an increase in expressions of personal piety and what could be called a democratization of the afterlife. In this worldview , all people possessed a soul and could be welcomed into the company of the gods after death.

In the Old Kingdom, the Pyramid Texts, which contained spells to help the dead reach the afterlife successfully, were only accessible to the elite. During the Middle Kingdom, Egyptians outside of the elite levels of society gained access to this funerary literature and began incorporating it into their own burials. Coffin Texts, as they are called by the scholars, expanded upon the Pyramid Texts, introducing new spells and incorporating slight changes to make them more relatable to the nobility. As seen in the image below, Coffin Texts could appear as paintings or inscriptions on the inside of the coffin. Due to the limited writing surfaces of some of these objects, the spells were often abbreviated, giving rise to long and short versions.

In contrast to the Pyramid Texts, which focus on the celestial realm, the Coffin Texts emphasize the subterranean elements of the afterlife ruled by Osiris in a place called the Duat. People of all classes had access to this afterlife, in which they would be judged by Osiris and his council according to their deeds in life. This realm is described as containing threatening beings, traps, and snares for which the deceased must be prepared. Spells in the Coffin Texts were intended to help the deceased contend with these impediments.

Stelae of the Middle Kingdom

The stelae of Ancient Egypt served many purposes, from funerary, to marking territory, to publishing decrees.

Learning Objectives

Describe the purposes of stelae in ancient Egyptian art

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The earliest Egyptian stelae date back to the mid- to late third millennium BCE.

Stelae are stone slabs that are inscribed, carved, or painted with imagery or text. While most were taller than they were wide, slab stelae took a horizontal dimension .

Funerary stelae were generally built in honor of the deceased and decorated with their names and titles.

Stelae also were used to publish laws and decrees, record a ruler's exploits and honors, mark sacred territories or mortgaged properties, or to commemorate military victories.

Obelisks , special forms of boundary stelae, were erected in pairs to mark the entrances of temples.

Key Terms

obelisk:A tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top.

lintel:A structural horizontal block that spans the space or opening between two vertical supports.

funerary:Of or relating to the interment or commemoration of the dead.

stelae:Stone or wooden slabs, generally taller than they are wide, often erected for funerals commemorative purposes and decorated with images or text.

Egyptians were well known for their stelae, the earliest of which date back to the mid- to late third millennium BCE. Stelae are stone slabs that served many purposes, from funerary, to marking territory, to publishing decrees. Images and text were intimately interwoven and inscribed, carved in relief , or painted on the stelae. While most stelae were taller than they were wide, the slab stelae took a horizontal dimension and was used by a small list of ancient Egyptian dignitaries or their wives. The huge number of stelae surviving from ancient Egypt constitute one of the largest and most significant sources of information on those civilizations .

Funerary stelae were generally built in honor of the deceased and decorated with their names and titles. While some funerary stelae were in the form of slab stelae, this funerary stelae of a bowman named Semin (c. 2120-2051 BCE) appears to have been a traditional vertical stelae.

Slab stelae, when used for funerary purposes, were commonly commissioned by dignitaries and their wives. They also served as doorway lintels as early as the third millennium BCE, most famously decorating the home of Old Kingdom architect Hemon.

Stelae also were used to publish laws and decrees, to record a ruler's exploits and honors, mark sacred territories or mortgaged properties, or to commemorate military victories. Much of what we know of the kingdoms and administrations of Egyptian kings are from the public and private stelae that recorded bureaucratic titles and other administrative information. One example of such stelae is the Annals of Amenemhat II, an important historical document for the reign of Amenemhat II (r. 1929-1895 BCE) and also for the history of Ancient Egypt and understanding kingship in general.

Many stelae were used as territorial markers to delineate land ownership. The most famous of these would be used at Amarna during the New Kingdom under Akhenaten. For much of Egyptian history, including the Middle Kingdom , obelisks erected in pairs were used to mark the entrances of temples. The earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the red granite Obelisk of Senusret I (Twelfth Dynasty) at Al-Matariyyah in modern Heliopolis. The obelisk was the symbol and perceived place of existence of the sun god Ra.

Architecture of the Middle Kingdom

When Egypt had military and political security and vast agricultural and mineral wealth, its architecture flourished.

Learning Objectives

Describe the major building projects initiated during Egypt's Middle Kingdom

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The reign of Amenemhat III is known for its exploitation of resources and construction of the so-called "Black Pyramid ."

Ancient Egyptian architects used sun-dried bricks, fine sandstone, limestone , and granite for their building purposes, though typically reserved stone for temples and tombs.

Hieroglyphic and pictorial carvings in brilliant colors were abundantly used to decorate Egyptian structures.

Senusret III is known for his construction of massive forts to defend the region after his many military campaigns.

The Karnak Temple Complex is an example of fine architecture that was begun during the Middle Kingdom and continued through the Ptolemaic period.

Key Terms

hieroglyph:An element of an Egyptian writing system.

As the pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom restored the country's prosperity and stability, there was a resurgence of building projects. When Egypt had secured military and political security and vast agricultural and mineral wealth, its architecture flourished. Grand tombs in the form of pyramids continued to be built throughout the Middle Kingdom, along with villages, cities, and forts. The reign of Amenemhat III is especially known for its exploitation of resources, in which mining camps-previously only used by intermittent expeditions-were operated on a semi-permanent basis. A vast labor force of Canaanite settlers from the Near East aided in mining and building campaigns.

Ancient Egyptian architects used sun-dried bricks, fine sandstone, limestone, and granite for their building purposes. As in the Old Kingdom, stone was most often reserved for tombs and temples, while bricks were used for palaces, fortresses, everyday houses, and town walls. Mud was collected from the nearby Nile River, placed in molds, and left to dry and harden in the hot sun until they formed bricks for construction. Architects carefully planned all their work, fitting their stones and bricks precisely together. Hieroglyphic and pictorial carvings in brilliant colors were abundantly used to decorate Egyptian structures, and motifs such as the scarab, sacred beetle, solar disk, and vulture were common.

The "Black Pyramid" of Amenemhat III

The Black Pyramid, the first to house both the pharaoh and his queens, was built for Amenemhat III (r.
1860-1814 BCE). It is one of the five remaining pyramids of the original eleven pyramids at Dahshur in Egypt. Originally named Amenemhet is Mighty, the pyramid earned the name "Black Pyramid" for its dark, decaying appearance as a rubble mound. Typical for Middle Kingdom pyramids,
the Black Pyramid, although encased in limestone, is made of mud brick
and clay instead of stone. The ground-level structures consist of the
entrance opening into the courtyard and mortuary temple, surrounded by
walls. There are two sets of walls; between them, there are ten shaft
tombs, which are a type of burial structure formed from graves built
into natural rock. The capstone of the pyramid was covered with inscriptions and religious symbols.

Workers' Villages and Forts

Workers' villages were often built nearby to pyramid construction sites. Kahun (also known as El-Lahun), for example, is a village that was associated with the pyramid of Senusret II. The town was laid out in a regular plan, with mud-brick town walls on three sides. No evidence was found of a fourth wall, which may have collapsed and been washed away during the annual inundation. The town was rectangular in shape and was divided internally by a mud brick wall as large and strong as the exterior walls. This wall divided about one third of the area of the town, and in this smaller area the houses consisted of rows of back-to-back, side-by-side single room houses. The larger area, which was higher up the slope and thus benefited from whatever breeze was blowing, contained a much smaller number of large, multi-room villas, indicating perhaps a class separation between workers and overseers. A major feature of the town was the so-called "acropolis" building; its column bases suggest its importance.

Senusret III was a warrior-king who helped the Middle Kingdom reach its height of prosperity. In his sixth year, he re-dredged an Old Kingdom canal around the first cataract to facilitate travel to upper Nubia, using this to launch a series of brutal campaigns. After his victories, Senusret III built a series of massive forts throughout the country to establish the formal boundary between Egyptian conquests and unconquered Nubia. Buhen was the northernmost of a line of forts within signaling distance of one another. The fortress itself extended more than 150 meters along the west bank of the Nile, covering 13,000 square meters, and had within its wall a small town laid out in a grid system. At its peak, it probably had a population of around 3500 people. The fortress also included the administration for the whole fortified region. Its fortifications included a moat three meters deep, drawbridges, bastions, buttresses , ramparts, battlements, loopholes, and a catapult. The walls of the fort were about five meters thick and ten meters high .

The Karnak Temple Complex

The Karnak Temple Complex is an example of fine architecture that was begun during the Middle Kingdom and continued through the Ptolemaic period. Built by Senusret I, it was comprised of a vast mix of temples, chapels, pylons , and other buildings. The White Chapel, also referred to as the Jubilee Chapel, is one of the finest examples of architecture during this time. Its columns were intricately decorated with reliefs of a very high quality. Later in the New Kingdom, the Chapel was demolished; however, the dismantled pieces were discovered in the 1920s and carefully assembled into the building that is seen today.

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Innovations during the Middle Kingdom included the solemnity evident in portraits of Senusret III and block statues. Discuss the sculptural innovations during Egypt's Middle Kingdom Key Points Mentuhotep II was the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom , restoring stability after a period of pharaonic weakness and civil war.

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The Pyramids of the Old Kingdom

Known as the "Age of the Pyramids," the Old Kingdom was characterized by revolutionary advancements in architecture.

Learning Objectives

Describe the layout and function of the Pyramids of Giza

Key Takeaways

Key Points

The Old Kingdom (2686 BC-2182 BC) was a period of political stability and economic prosperity, during which great tombs were built for Egyptian Kings in the form of pyramids .

Early Egyptians built mastabas to mark the tombs of their deceased. The first king to launch a major pyramid building project was King Djoser, who built his famous "Step Pyramid" at Saqqara.

The Pyramids of Giza are the greatest architectural achievement of the time and include three pyramid structures and the Great Sphinx monument.

While we know that the stone for the pyramids was quarried, transported, and cut from the nearby Nile , we still cannot be sure just how the massive stones were then put into place.

Key Terms

mastaba:A rectangular structure with a flat top and slightly sloping sides, built during Ancient Egyptian times above tombs that were situated on flat land.

sphinx:A creature with the head of a human and the body of an animal (commonly a lion).

limestone:An abundant rock of marine and freshwater sediments, primarily composed of calcite (CaCO₃); it occurs in a variety of forms, both crystalline and amorphous.

quarry:To obtain (mine) stone from an excavation pit, usually by blasting, cutting, or digging.

Pyramid Texts:A collection of spells to assure the resurrection of the deceased and protect the Pharaoh from various malignant influences.

The Old Kingdom of Egypt existed from the third through the sixth Dynasties (2686 BC-2182 BC). A period of political stability and economic prosperity, it is characterized by revolutionary advancements in royal funerary architecture. Both Egyptian society and the economy were greatly impacted by the organization of major state-sponsored building projects, which focused on building tombs for their kings. These tombs were built in the form of great pyramids, and for this reason, the Old Kingdom is frequently referred to as the "Age of the Pyramids."

Evolution of the Mastaba

During the Old Kingdom, royal mastabas eventually developed into rock-cut "step pyramids" and then "true pyramids," although non-royal use of mastabas continued to be used for more than a thousand years. As the pyramids were constructed for the kings, mastabas for lesser royals were constructed around them. The interior walls of the tombs were decorated with scenes of daily life and funerary rituals . Because of the riches included in graves, tombs were a tempting site for grave-robbers. The increasing size of the pyramids is in part credited to protecting the valuables within, and many other tombs were built into rock cliffs in an attempt to thwart grave robbers.

Djoser's "Step Pyramid"

The first king to launch a major pyramid building project was King Djoser, who ruled in the 3rd Dynasty. He built his famous "Step Pyramid" at Saqqara, not far from the capital city of Memphis (near modern-day Cairo). In the following dynasties, the pyramid design changed from the "step" pyramid to a true pyramid shape as kings continued to build tombs for their kings. Among these, the Pyramids of Giza are considered the greatest architectural achievement of the time.

The Pyramids of Giza

The Pyramids of Giza, also known as the Giza Necropolis , are one of the oldest remaining wonders of the world. The Necropolis includes three pyramid complexes: the Great Pyramid (built by King Khufu of the 4th Dynasty); the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (buit by Khufu's son); and the relatively modest-sized Pyramid of Menkaure.

The Necropolis also includes several cemeteries, a workers' village, an industrial complex, and a massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx. The Great Sphinx is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx-a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head. It is commonly believed that the head is that of King Khafra, who ruled during the 4th dynasty. It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 241 ft long, 63 ft wide, and 66.34 ft high.

We still do not know exactly how the huge and impressive stone monuments were built. Most of the stone for the interior seems to have been quarried immediately to the south of the construction site. The smooth exterior of the pyramid, however, was made of a fine grade of white limestone that was quarried from the other side of the Nile River. These exterior blocks had to be carefully cut, transported by river barge to Giza, and dragged up ramps to the construction site. Theorists disagree as to the method by which the stones were then put into place and how possible the method was. It's also possible that the architects developed their techniques over time.

The sides of all three of the Giza pyramids were astronomically oriented to the north-south and east-west within a small fraction of a degree. To ensure that the pyramid remained symmetrical, the exterior casing stones all had to be equal in height and width. Workers might have marked all the blocks to indicate the angle of the pyramid wall and trimmed the surfaces carefully so that the blocks fit together.

The work of quarrying, moving, setting, and sculpting the huge amount of stone used to build the pyramids might have been accomplished by several thousand skilled workers and unskilled laborers. Evidence from the tombs indicates that a workforce of 10,000 laborers working in three-month shifts took around 30 years to build a single pyramid.

Mummification and Burial Ritual

In order to preserve the body and, therefore, the soul of the deceased, Egyptians used the process of mummification. This involved removing the internal organs, wrapping the body in linen, and burying the mummy in a rectangular stone sarcophagus or wooden coffin. Because it was believed that the deceased would continue his or her earthly life in the afterlife, accommodations were made to ensure this transition. The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony was a ritual involving the symbolic animation of a mummy by magically opening its mouth so that it could breathe, speak, eat, and drink in the afterlife.

Many mummies were provided with some form of funerary literature, often consisting of spells and instructions for navigating the afterlife. During the Old Kingdom, only the pharaoh had access to this material, which scholars refer to as the Pyramid Texts . The Pyramid Texts are a collection of spells to assure the royal resurrection and protect the pharaoh from various malignant influences.

Sculpture of the Old Kingdom

Egyptian artisans during the Old Kingdom perfected the art of sculpting and carving intricate relief decoration out of stone.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the role of ka statues and funerary art in the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt

Key Takeaways

Key Points

Egyptian sculpture took the form of statues (which were often life-sized) and reliefs (which were carved into blocks of stone). Many sculptures were painted using natural minerals.

Sculptures from the Old Kingdom are characteristically more natural in style than their predecessors.

Sculptures, such as the ka statues , often served as funerary art , accompanying the deceased in burial tombs with the intention of preserving life after death.

Reserve heads, found in the tombs of commoners, might have served as an equivalent of the ka statue, but the exact purpose remains a matter of debate. The Great Sphinx , located among the Pyramids of Giza, is the largest monolith statue in the world.

Key Terms

Ka statue:A type of ancient Egyptian statue intended to provide a resting place for the ka, or spirit, of the person after death. The ancient Egyptians believed the ka (or life-force), along with the physical body, name, ba (personality or soul), and šwt (shadow) made up the five aspects of a person.

funerary art:Any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead (such as a tomb).

ochre:An earth pigment containing silica, aluminum, and ferric oxide.

monolith:A large single block of stone used in architecture and sculpture.

Egyptian sculptors created the first life-sized statues and fine reliefs in stone, copper, and wood. They perfected the art of carving intricate relief decoration and produced detailed images of animals, plants, and even landscapes, recording the essential elements of their world for eternity in scenes painted and carved on the walls of temples and tombs. Kings used reliefs to record victories in battle, royal decrees, and religious scenes, and sculptures of kings, goddesses, and gods were common as well. Sculptures from the Old Kingdom are characteristically more natural in style than their predecessors. Toward the end of the Old Kingdom, images of people shifted toward formalized nude figures with long bodies and large eyes.

The Great Sphinx, located among the Pyramids of Giza, is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 241 feet long, 63 feet wide, and 66.34 feet high. Carved out of limestone , it represents a mythical creature known as a sphinx, with a lion's body and a human head. It is commonly believed that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of the Fourth Dynasty (2680-2565 BCE) pharaoh Khafre, whose pyramid stands directly behind the giant sculpture.

While most sculptures were made of stone, wood was sometimes used as a cheap and easily carved substitute. Paints were obtained from minerals such as iron ores (red and yellow ochres), copper ores (blue and green), soot or charcoal (black), and limestone (white). Paints could be mixed with gum arabic as a binder and pressed into cakes, which could be moistened with water when needed.

By the Fourth Dynasty, the idea of the ka statue was firmly established. Typically made of wood or stone, these statues were placed in tombs as a resting place for the ka, or spirit, of the person after death. Other sculptural works served as funerary art, accompanying the deceased in burial tombs with the intention of preserving life after death. Strict conventions that changed very little over the course of Egyptian history were intended to convey the timeless and non-aging quality of the figure's ka.

The Fourth Dynasty also witnessed the production of so-called "reserve heads," plain and hairless naturalistic busts found primarily in non-royal tombs. Each head bears a striking individuality despite many common features, leading to the argument that they were portraits. Some scholars believe that they were intended as the commoners' equivalent of ka statues, although the exact purpose remains a matter of debate.

Very strict conventions governed the crafting of deity figures, and these rules were followed so strictly that over three thousand years, the appearance of statues changed very little. For example, the sky god (Horus) was to be represented with a falcon's head, while the god of funeral rites (Anubis) was to be always shown with a jackal's head.

In addition to funerary art, Egyptians surrounded themselves with objects to enhance their lives in this world, producing cosmetic vessels and finely carved and inlaid furniture. Over time, Egyptian artists adopted a limited repertoire of standard types and established a formal artistic canon that would define Egyptian art for more than 3,000 years while remaining flexible enough to allow for subtle variation and innovation.

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Known as the "Age of the Pyramids," the Old Kingdom was characterized by revolutionary advancements in architecture. Describe the layout and function of the Pyramids of Giza Key Points The Old Kingdom (2686 BC-2182 BC) was a period of political stability and economic prosperity, during which great tombs were built for Egyptian Kings in the form of pyramids .

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A timeline showing the dates, periods, dynasties and significant events in the history and art of ancient Egypt from the Predynastic Period (before 3100 BCE) to the end of the Roman Period (395 CE).

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Check out the slides - great design!

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Quick video about the famous story of Caesar, Mark Anthony & Cleopatra.

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Fantastic images of primary sources.

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Ancient Egypt: Mummies and Mysteries - Google Arts & Culture

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Crack the hieroglyphic code, explore the pyramids, and meet the mummies

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Great up to about 6:19 mins