Analysis Of The Poem ' Ankh '

Early on in his reign Akhenaten began introducing new artistic styles, both in relation to religion and personal portrayals of the royal family. After moving the capital from Thebes to Amarna in search of new land on which to worship Aten (the God of sun/light) the artistic portrayal of the god changed to become one the most symbolic and abstract depictions of a God in Ancient Egypt (Weigall 1922, 120). The new depiction of Aten became a sun disc with long rays extending hands down to earth, and often to the royal family or the king himself. This can be thought of as symbolising the power given to the king by the Gods (Kempt 1989, 173). Akhenaten also introduced his own style of royal artwork, in which the royal family was represented in an exaggerated manner. The most notable of these exaggerations was the changes to facial features, such as the long skull and chin, and large oval eyes. This is thought to perhaps represent the separation of the royal family from everyday Egyptian people, however this contradicts with the meaning of another change to Amarna artwork, the personal, intimate portraits of the king’s family life (Kempt 1989, 265).

This is shown in the portal of Anubis, Anubis the protector of the dead, was the god associated with mummification and the afterlife. Through the association with mummification and the afterlife he was generally portrayed as a half human half-jackal form. Animals were usually also highly symbolic figures in Egyptian art, however the Egyptians did not worship animals, the animals were used as powerful symbols for the gods in which they worshiped, the use of the jackal portrayed the ideals of death. As the jackal itself was strongly associated with the cemeteries of ancient Egypt, it was a creature whose scavenging habits threatened the preservation of the body, in an effort to counter this threat and employ it for protection the jackal head was a symbol for Anubis. The distinct black colour of Anubis, was symbolic not of the jackals skin but that of rotting flesh and the fertility of the black soil of the Nile Valley which symbolized that of rebirth, as shown in the artwork below.

The brimstone symbol some time known as the leviathan cross. At the bottom there is the infinity sign in this cross and at the top there is a double cross. This is related to the Satanism, the double cross is for the protection and balance between male and female. The infinity symbol is for the internal happiness and relaxes. This is used to represent the kingdom of Satan that is called the hell. This is about the afterlife pleasure, happiness and relaxes; this symbol is made of the alchemical elements. This symbol is discovered and generated by the Anton Lavey, he is the founder of the church of Satan. This symbol is related to the Christian religion, and it becomes very popular in the revolution time.

In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight the poet describes the shield: “With the pentangle painted on it in pure gold./ That the mild Queen of Heaven found in her child./ Her image depicted on the inside of his shield,” (620,647,649). The pentangle, five-pointed star, that is on the front of Sir Gawain’s shield is a symbol commonly associated with pagan culture. The Pythagoreans used it to represent perfection, the Sumerians used it to represent the five known planets, to the Greeks it represents the goddess of the underworld. There are many other cultures that use that pentagram to represent aspects of their culture. The pentagram is representing the pagan culture while the Queen of Heaven on the inside of the shield represents the Christian culture. The queen of heaven is another name for the Virgin Mary. Mary is on the back of the shield with the pentagram on the front. The shield is a perfect representation of the cultural duality because it has both pagan and Christian symbols upon

The reliefs of Ankh-neb-ef are limestone panels with paint that originated from the Old Kingdom of Egypt in 2150 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Pepy II. The delicate carving of the panels in the sunken relief presents a magnificent image. They portray Ankh-neb-ef, an ancient Egyptian priest whose name translates to “may his lord live.” In the reliefs, Ankh-neb-ef holds a Kherep-sceptor and a walking stick, which were symbols of authority in ancient Egypt. Egyptian civilization was extremely religious and most ancient Egyptian artworks involved the portrayal of gods, goddesses, and Pharaoh, as well. Moreover, the Egyptian reverence for order and conservative ideals led to the institution of intricate rules that governed how artists represented both humans and gods (Saylor.org 4). For instance, the apparel worn by Ankh-neb-ef in the painting is not a simple fashion statement. The priest is wearing a prestigious sarong and ornamentation, bracelets, and a wide collar. The jewelry kept their owner safe in a dangerous passage to the afterlife. This formula for representing the human figure in a painting remained popular over several centuries (Robins 24).

Envision a world where the single purpose in life was to obey the gods who indirectly controlled people through your king. Rituals, duties, and praising were all part of a manifest to pass the tests of the Underworld to achieve eternal life after death. While this may seem like a radical lifestyle to us, this was how the real world was for the civilians during the Ancient Egyptian times. To truly express their fondness and devotion to the gods, people constructed works of art to represent this; remembrances of their collective significant figures in their locality were highly practiced in order to please them. In particular, the State of Khafre was created to honor their deceased king who held significant power in their society as a part of their funeral liturgy. It epitomized the repercussion he held over his nation and the respect he had acquired. The Statue of Khafre did not just illustrate a polytheistic community, but it also prompted the civilians to be respectful towards their god whom were expressed with kings through their practice of rituals, and additionally exhibited how their religion was ultimately integrated as an essential part of life.

The Grandmother, a main character, is one of the most major portrayals of this symbol. She has an obsession with being perceived in a certain way and when she finally reveals her true self, it it too late. According to Sunny Suffolk Education, "The heroine of this story, the Grandmother, is in the most significant...She is facing death. And to all appearances she, like the rest of us, is not too well prepared for it. She would like to see the event postponed. Indefinitely." She was never ready for death and was not true to herself until she was threatened and inevitably, this was the main cause of her abrupt

I chose to deviate from more traditional versions of this symbol in order to encompass multitudinous levels of symbolism from a range of magickal schools that have influenced me. The entire piece is dedicated to the God form Thoth (hence the use of the Ibis head in place of the more common eagle) as he stands in judgment of us after death. According to the Egyptians, by weighing our hearts on a scale he can determine our worth in life and therefore our appropriate path in the

Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and three daughters is a carving on limestone. The mood is informal and anecdotal. Akhenaton lifts one of his daughters in order to kiss her. Another daughter sits on Nefertiti's lap and gestures toward her father while the youngest daughter reaches out to touch a pendant on her mother's crown. Such an intimate portrayal of the pharaoh and his family is unprecedented in Egyptian art. In the upper part, in the middle of the stela is the disk of the Aten, whose rays end in hands holding the symbol of life (Ankh) and are thereby depicted as life-bringing. In the background there are various inscriptions with the names and titles of the people depicted. The stela is bordered on three sides by a band of further hieroglyphs,

The Ankh is one of the most identifiable symbols from ancient Egypt, known as "the key of life" or the "cross of life”. It first appeared in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 - 2613 BCE), and has developed over many years. The origin of the symbol is unknown but many believe the ankh developed from a sandal strap with the top loop going around one's ankle and attaching to a sole at the toes. They believe this because the sandal was a daily part of an Egyptian's life and the ankh symbol came to symbolize life. The ankh was often symbolized in Egyptian houses as mirrors were made in the shape of ankhs.

Culture includes the behaviors, beliefs, values, religion, and many other characteristics of life. I have already explicated the behaviors revealed by the artifact, but the hawk also shows what the people of Egypt at this time valued and believed. We can see that they were religious. The Egyptian gods were oftentimes associated with certain animals, so the Egyptian peoples would worship those animals as manifestations of the god’s power (David, 2003). The hawk was probably either a sacred animal that was mummified, or a votive mummy (Cornelius et al., 2012). Votive mummies are animals that were mummified and placed in catacombs or other locations as offerings to the gods (David, 2003). According to the Museum of Anthropology, hawks were associated with the god Horus (n.d.). In general, the mummification of animals shows how much the ancient Egyptians loved and valued their pets. Rich Egyptians chose to mummify many of their beloved pets in order to take them into the afterlife after their death. Closely related to this is the Egyptian outlook on death and the afterlife. The mummification of the hawk reveals the religious aspect of the Egyptian culture. The people of this time in Egypt believed that there was an afterlife and that they needed to preserve (or mummify) bodies to “preserve [them] for ‘eternity’” (Cornelius, et al., 2012). The purpose of mummifying the animals was to take them into

But what really attract my attention was two art works. The first is from baroque period and it is a cross representing a figure of the Catholic Church where believers adore when they

Symmetrically arranging his serious, handsome face and mass of shoulder length hair deliberately invite comparison with the image of Christ. The idealized arrangement and strict symmetry of the face is based on a construction made up of circle and a triangle, a formula used down to the Byzantine period for images of the Redeemer. The frontal pose and symmetrical composition have recurred in many images of Christ, particularly in the form of the vera icon, or "true image" (Strieder14).

During early dynasty Egypt period, Egypt’s kings were reverted as gods in human form. So, Egyptian sculptor created statues of their kings and queens. After creating the statue

One notices that all of these symbols are from times nearing the end (or at the end) of Jesus' life. (Think of a point to do with this).