The Symbolism Of Ancient Egyptian Art

In Egypt, the social structure was very important to everyday life. At the top they had their main gods, Ra, Osiris, and Isis. They even elevated some of their own people to the top, giving the god status. These were the Pharaohs. The Pharaohs had total control and power over their subjects and pyramids were built as their graves. There is also a chain of command at the top of hte social structure. After Pharaohs came his appointed assistant, known as the Vizier who collected and kept track of the taxes. Under the vizier came their scribes to helped record all the documents. These were vitally important because they were largely the only ones in the entire community who could read and write. Then came the soldiers, quite high up on the ladder compared to many of the other civilizations. This was because fighting for the Pharaoh was highly appraised work. The middle class was made up of the craftsmen, traders and merchants, and artisans. These are the people who created the everyday tools for people up and down the entire social structure. And finally at the very bottom came the farmers and slaves, doing the unsklled work unlike the middle

The people groups in ancient Egyptian were very different than our societies social groups today. Ancient Egyptians were grouped in a hierarchical system with the Pharaoh at the top and farmers and slaves at the bottom. The groups of people nearest to the top of society were the richest and most powerful. The Pharaoh was believed to be a god on earth and had the most power. He was responsible for making laws and keeping order. Ensuring that Egypt was not attacked or invaded by enemies and for keeping the gods happy so that the Nile flooded and there was a good harvest. The Vizier was the Pharaoh's chief advisor

Social Hierarchy This proved to be a double edged sword, as carrying such power also meant that when locusts hit the fan, the Pharaoh was also to blame for bad crops, weathered, droughts, and famine. With the hierarchy of under the Pharaoh, came government officials, priests, scribes, craftsmen, and finally, peasants and slaves. Of these, next to the pharaoh, the priests and scribes carried the most importance. As religion was a way of life, how would we know anything about the ancient Egyptians without the trusty scribes? And working in uniformity to create consistency in writing was very important. As colors, sizes, and postures had their importance when creating historical writings. Due to these writings, we know that Menes was

The ancient civilisation of Egypt has always been an admirable one, and until this day it is still full of mysteries. Despite all the discoveries that archeologists have made, there are many unexplained matters that they are still trying figure out. People considered pharaohs as they were descended from gods; however pharaohs knew that they are normal beings. Of Course they couldn’t show that to the people, and in order to keep their majestic image they turned to making such spectacular breathtaking status, tombs, and paintings.

Egypt was a very advanced city. It had all seven indicators, from Well-Organized Government to a Complex Religion. We all know that a society needs a Well-Organized Government and Ancient Egypt well exceeded that standard. To start off they had viziers, who would oversee everything on the land and report to the Pharaoh. Although the Pharaoh would make all of the executive decisions.

In Mesopotamia, the high class consisted of kings and nobles. The royal class was looked upon highly, and soon became hereditary. Next in the social chain were the priests and priestesses, many of whom were related to the rulers in some way. Their main responsibility was to intervene with the gods and ensure good fortune for their cities. Lower class people worked as farmers in the countryside or in other manufacturing jobs just as welders. Slaves were at the very bottom of the ladder in Mesopotamia. Slaves were typically: prisoners of war, convicted criminals, and people who sold themselves into slavery in order to pay off their dues. Most slaves were domestic servants in wealthy households, but some worked as agricultural laborers as well. Like the Mesopotamians, Egyptians had a

They believed in Gods ruling their world. The Pharaohs got their name by ancient Egyptian dynasties. Pharaohs were God like people to ensure things were in order and to make sure that things were working correctly. Pharaohs would ask regular citizens to defend civilizations. Government officials is the second highest in the social structure. Officials were very wealthy and had lots of respect. Priest also belong in that category. Male and female priests were servants of the Gods. Priest were only allowed to enter sacred areas of the temple. Soldiers were the third highest of the structure, but they were not trained professionals. Scribes were typically men who knew how to read, write and were the only ones that were able to do so. The Merchants were the ones to trade. Merchants would return the items for grains and goodies. The last one would be slaves and servants. Slaves, who were mainly house servants, had to sell their children into slavery. Slaves lived a good life because they were fed, cared for and did not have to pay taxes. Servants were most popular but had limited rights like not being able to inherit land. They had jobs like cooking, weavers, and

Pharoahs or the royal family are at the top of the social system next are the nobles after the nobles is a vizier chief minister oversees the government. Then there are merchants, artisans, sodiers and scribes then at the bottom are slaves, most of the times

The different levels of this pyramid supported many different lifestyles. The king or queen was at the top of the society, and he or she ruled everyone and everything. Although they were in charge, they had to follow many rules too. Their days were usually planned out for them. The rulers had to follow all of the laws when making important decisions16. Alongside the ruler was a close group of some friends, also known as philoi17. These friends had some influence on what the ruler did. Priests typically held a pretty high status in society because they could make the gods happy. After them on the administrative hierarchy came the Royal Secretary for Diplomatic Affairs. Next was the Chief Secretary and then the Drafter of Royal Edicts. After that were the higher military officials. People with power who were closer to the common man’s daily life were nomarchs. Nomes were smaller areas within a satrap and they were the rulers of them. The nomarchs’ jobs were to oversee agricultural production and manage the finances of the nome18. Everyone mentioned so far lived a good life with generally a good amount of money. Of course, the kings and queens had the most money and it went down from

The Ancient Egyptians used color for much more than aesthetical purposes. Not only do they employ color to enhance the artwork in appearance, but they would often use color for symbolic reasons. When looking at the artworks which used paint, such as the paintings and carvings, it is obvious that the Ancient Egyptians did not use many colors. They used about 6 colors, and the same colors were used for a range of different objects in the artworks, sometimes with minor changes. For instance, male figures in the art were depicted with darker skin than the female figures. To the Ancient Egyptians, color was a way to symbolize the importance of a figure, and

Both ancient Athens and Egypt adhered to a strict hierarchical framework, ranking people as superiors or inferiors. Old Kingdom Egyptian hierarchy is described as having the king and queen at the top, with priests, administrators, governors and army commanders coming second, then the commoners who worked mostly in agriculture, and finally, slaves, who had been captured in war. (Hunt, pg. 22). According to Esolen, (pg. 35), Egyptian society was structured as such: the Pharaoh came first, and was believed to be God on earth. Next came the “Vizier”, who was the pharaohs chief advisor. Nobles were next in the hierarchy, responsible for making local laws. Priests came next, and were responsible for performing rituals and ceremonies. Scribes were a very important group, as they were the only ones who could read or write, so they were the record keepers. A small percentage

First and foremost, Ancient Egypt was structured in the form of a pyramid. The top of the pyramid of course was the gods. These gods included Ra, Osiris, and Iris, and according to the people of Egypt, these gods controlled almost the entire earth. Leaders in Egypt were called pharaohs so they were believed to be Gods in human form which is amazing. The ruler in status were powerful nobles and priests. Only nobles could hold government posts and in those positions they profited from tributes paid to the pharaoh. Priests were responsible for pleasing the gods. While soldiers fought in wars or quelled domestic uprisings. When there was no war to fight, the soldiers supervised

After reading Chapter 3 Art of Ancient Egypt, I have learned that the art and the architecture from the Egyptian’s beliefs have derived from tombs and temples. The majority of these tombs and temples were located in a private secured place and were built with extreme durability. They made sure they have built the tombs with durable materials so that these sacred catacombs will be preserved to the fullest. The ancient art of Egypt originally came from within their religious beliefs and practices. Their artistic beliefs were a way of representing things like the character of the deceased one.

The ancient Egyptians are known for many of the incredible aspects of their culture and everything they have produced. Some of the well known ancient Egyptian relics are the ones like the ancient pyramids, the Great Sphinx of Giza, mummies, and their many forms of art. Ancient Egyptian art is one of the most recognized styles of art. The most commonly known types of ancient Egyptian art are types like paintings, ceramics, and sculptures. Not only is Egyptian art beautiful, but it carries a huge deal of value and significance with it. A great portion of the time, the art has some kind of religious meaning to it. Consequently it is very difficult to discuss the art itself without delving into the various gods and goddesses presented in it.

Since the beginning of western civilization, Egypt's sought out ways to adequately express their ideas, beliefs, feelings, and experiences with others in society. In 3100BEC Egyptians created a form of symbols that utilized images known as hieroglyphics. Each picture had a specific meaning, which one symbol alone failed to relay. No matter where you are if you take a moment to observe the environment or even the device in your hand it becomes apparent that we convey the most important messages through symbols. That said, this paper is meant to provide a lucid insight to how Egypt's overcame their illiteracy barrier, explain why Egyptian symbols were so intricate, how images were symbols in itself, discuss their three primary symbols and meaning, and whether the US displays Egypt symbolism.