Ancient Egyptian Art Vs Ancient Near Eastern Art

When looking at the Sculpture of Menkaure and a Queen as well as Augustus of Primaporta, one can see some strong similarities as well as some vast differences in the way the Egyptians and Ancient Romans portrayed the desired qualities of their rulers. Some of the similarities include more detailed sculpture. You can see some fine details in the Sculpture of Menkaure and a Queen, but the Romans took this detailing to the next level. Both cultures also used symbolism. The usage of symbolism differed a lot, but it is seen in both cultures. I can also see that both cultures had a tendency to idealize what they wanted to see in their ruler. Both cultures focused on a broad-shoulder, strong, youthful leader. However, there are certainly more differences than there are similarities between the two cultures.

Throughout history the human figure has been demonstrated in Middle Eastern, Egyptian and Greek sculptures and paintings. Most of these artifacts tend to focus more on humanism than realism due to Rulers and Gods, geographical areas, resources and events thus, giving them the idea for the theme of the art they create. These are the reasons that might explain their commonalities or differences in the representation of the human figure.

The ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek civilizations are two of the oldest known civilizations in our history. The Egyptian civilization, based in the eastern part of North Africa, is believed to have started around 3150 BC and continued till the end of the Pharaoh rule in 31 BC. The ancient Greek civilization is believed to have been in effect from 1100 BC till about 146 BC. Many similarities and differences existed between these two civilizations, as even though they co-existed during a certain timeframe (1150 BC to 146 BC), they were located in different geographical areas. Because of these differences in geography, both these civilizations were subjected to different kinds of exposure, which included contact with other civilization and cultural inheritance. In the political sphere, we find that the Egyptian civilization had stronger emphasis on central authority, while the Greeks had a more decentralized structure, where powers were distributed over the cities and the states as well. As far as art is concerned, we find that the Egyptians were more involved in creating great monumental and gaudy structures, while the Greeks were more involved in creating smaller, more literary pieces of art.

The artworks of Ancient Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt are both strikingly different and similar at the same time. Consistent is the theme of serving the different gods the two cultures believed in. In Mesopotamia the various city-states each had their own protective deity, and in Egypt they sometimes differed from one dynasty to the next. Whatever the case, with the beginning of kingdoms and rulership came the need to justify a position of power and establish a hierarchy. And as more time passed came also the human need to leave an impression on their world. Looking at the example of the statues of Gudea from the Neo-Sumerian period and the Temple of Ramses II from the New Kingdom of Egypt in the 19th dynasty, will show how both rulers of

The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.

Art of the Egyptians and Africans express ………………………..In art, style is a characteristic, or a number of characteristics that we can identify as constant, recurring, or coherent.(Art Terminology 1) Artists express their emotions through their art-making, their finished product will reflect that emotion. They might also create a piece of art that makes the viewer create an emotional response. Emotion is any strong agitation of the feelings actuated by experiencing love, hate, fear, etc.(Dictionary 1)

Egyptian culture has many contrasts and contradictions between the old and the new. The two cultures are much different from each other. But in its entirety, the culture of Egypt has successfully combined the best of both worlds. Keeping the appeal and magnificence of its ancient culture unharmed, modern Egypt has absorbed the contemporary ways of life. Egypt Culture is a balanced culture, both in its ancient times as well as its stylishness.

During the old kingdom, Ma’at was part of the peoples’ everyday life, was not just a false façade and advocated social justice and equality.

Throughout different time periods and civilizations come many different types of art that would never be comparable to those of another time or place. There are also the pieces that come from a completely different time and place, but yet they can still be compared to one another. The Torso of a God (Egyptian, New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, last decade of the reign of Amenhotep III, Granodiorite, 1359-1349 B.C.) and the Statue of Asklepios (Greek, Hellenistic period, Pentelic Marble, 2nd century B.C.) are two sculptures made hundreds of years apart, yet they both display many similarities and show how art is constantly changing whilst keeping the same core ideas.

A civilization refers to “a particular and distinctive type of human society” (Strayer, pg. 90). Civilizations aren’t always different from one another nor are they the exact same. Each civilization has some form of a unique characteristic that differentiates itself from the rest. For example, the Ancient Egyptians and the Hindus from Ancient India. They both have a permanent arrangement of societal roles, yet they aren’t constructed or operated in the same manner. These two locations are the main topics of this discussion/comparison.

When analyzing the artwork one can see the influence of what we now understand to be art form, through the numerous art elements the painting of Queen Nefertari and Isis has. Starting with lines, the artist uses many types of both regular and irregular, to create the hieroglyphics and the shape of the women along with what they wear. The ancient Egyptians liked to have things in order and consistent. We see the proof for this behind their canon of proportions method. In order to make complex figures easier to depict, the traditional style and trademark of ancient Egyptian artworks show everything drawn or carved to be two-dimensional in shape. However, they also wanted to show the aspects they valued the most as a society. As stated in the film How Art Made The World, in the case of the human body ancient Egyptian chose to show each body part from its clearest angel; and as a result of a keeping the figures 2-D, the chest is shown straight on, the face is shown in profile but the eyes were drawn straight on, the arms and hands can be

The Egyptian city of Amarna was a capital built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten which was abandoned shortly after his death in 1332 BCE. The city of Amarna was where Akhenaten pursued his vision of a society dedicated to the devotion of the power of the sun god, the Aten. It remains the largest accessible living site of Ancient Egypt. It is a key to the history of the religious experiences of Egypt and to a fuller extent the life of an egyptian. There is no other site like it. The website mentions that the site is in danger of encroachment. This sounds very interesting to me and I’d like to see how the life of an Egyptian was at the time. I don’t know much about the Egyptians, but I’d like to learn more

Just from looking at a few pieces of the art of the ancient Egyptians, you begin to notice many defining characteristics about it that make it unique and different from other styles of art. There are an ample amount of recurring features in the art, so this must mean that these traits and aspects are noteworthy. This next section of the essay will go into detail about a few of the many types of art and the stylistic elements that define ancient Egyptian art and make it special and distinguishable from other types of art, and why some particular aspects of the art are important.

Over the years of art history, there are many great empires that we think of and two of those were ancient Greek and Egyptian. When talking about Greek and Egyptian art history, it is the sculptures that come to mind when you are comparing and contrasting artworks. Egyptian art and Greek art both had mesmerizing sculptures but Egyptian art was more oriented towards religion and Greek art was more focused on philosophy. The Egyptian statue of the Menkaure and a Queen was similar to the Greek statue of Metropolitan Kouros in their posture but both of these statues also had many differences. Menkaure and a queen statue was created from an unusual stone and the statue was discovered in Menkaure’s valley temple. The sculpture has a hard texture and because of the time-consuming task of polishing this sculpture was never completely polished. So, the sculpture is greywacke and has traces of red paint on king’s face, ears and neck because male figures were traditionally painted red and there are traces of black in queen’s hair. The sculpture itself is 54 ½ inches in height and is displayed in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Metropolitan Kouros was created from marble which seems like it has a rough and hard texture. The statue is 6 feet in height and is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

The world has slowly but surely evolved over the years. We have had our Stone Age periods and by Stone Age I mean Fred Flinstone type of Stone Age. We have had our major evolution when technology became an ever so increasing demand and how it has significantly grown till this present day and age. But I would like to take you back to the stone age before wheels and tires to a period where we still used horses, where we still wore robes, where we communicated through horns and burn fires. I would like to take you back to Ancient Egypt, more specifically ancient Egyptian art.