egyptian art Essay

Egypt peaked in three different Kingdom periods with it's continuous growth in civilization. The Old Kingdom has taken place in the 3rd millennium BC. The Old Kingdom was a period of riches and peace but was then followed by a downfall of cultural decline and disagreements of the people. Most known as the time between the third dynasty to the sixth dynasty

Ancient Egyptians developed a writing system based on pictures, known as hieroglyphics. The difference between cuneiform and hieroglyphics was hieroglyphics stood not only for ideas or objects, but also sounds. According to document four, Egyptians also created papyrus, the first paper, in order to keep records.

Ancient Egypt was a captivating and intricate civilization. Over the years, historians have found it easier to study this civilization, rather than other historical civilizations, because the Egyptians went through great lengths to record their history. Besides being decent record keepers, they were very religious, and “ahead of their time,” due to their technological and economic breakthroughs. Because of the aspects of this culture, it has to be one of the greatest civilizations of the world.

Owners could be recognized by the artwork and inscriptions carved around their tomb entrance (Harpur, 1987:1). Lastly, the changes made to the tombs styles can be clearly shown over time throughout the years. In Egypt, life and religion were so intertwined that it would have been impossible not to believe in a life after death (Brewer, 1999: 98). Hence religion basically defined Egyptian way of life and their customs.

    The river valley civilizations developed writing systems. Each writing system was unique, but they also had similarities between them. The people from Mesopotamia had a writing system called “cuneiform.” The Egyptians had a writing system called “hieroglyphics.” Cuneiform was a writing system based on pictures (3.) Just like cuneiform, hieroglyphics was also based on pictures (11.) Both writing systems presented objects or ideas. Also, they were both carved into stone.

Ancient Egyptian art is five thousand years old. It emerged and took shape in the ancient Egypt, the civilization of the Nile Valley. Ancient Egyptian art was shown with emotion beautifully in painting and sculpture, and was both highly symbolic and stylized. The exceptional traditions in Egypt is one of the most important things in the history of art. The tombs and temples of the Egyptians have expressed the grandeur of the kingdom of the Nile. Egyptian sculptors and painters began to formulate patterns to represent figures and stories. Egyptians used the art to represent a continuation of life after death, it was an important part of their culture. They believed that, in order for the spirit to live on, the dead person's body had to be preserved, or mummified, and buried along with supplies of food and drink, tools and utensils, valued possessions. (Scholastic) Egyptian art was becoming more realistic, which moved away from the ways of

In Ancient China, they developed a writing system for preservation. In China, people would use logograms, which are symbols that represent a word or a meaning.In the early days of the ancient Chinese civilization, people would write on oracle bone or tortoise shell.In Ancient India, writing systems were developed for recording data and information. The Indus script used signs and words and it was written from right to left. By 1800 BCE, the Indus valley civilizations started to fall and writing were often used anymore. Ancient Egyptians started to developed a writing system called, hieroglyphics because they needed a way to record important information. They believed that recording data and communicate information about government and religion was essential. Scribes were only ones to write in hieroglyphics and were written from left to right or top to bottom. In Mesopotamia, people started developing a writing system to information. Mesopotamia created a writing system called, cuneiform. Mesopotamian scribes would record important dates and event, and position of the stars. These ancient civilizations started to create their own writing system to record history and communicate information.

Advances in architecture and record keeping occurred during the Egypt civilization. In the old kingdom of Egypt, huge structures of stone called pyramids. Those who worked on the structures had to be skilled in mathematics, geometry, and architecture. The building of the pyramids required a ton of mental thinking and planning, and was a huge success for architecture advancement. Today we know much about ancient pharaohs of Egypt because of written records that were left. These records were kept in hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics were a new form of writing invented by the Egyptians that were based on pictures. Since they were invented, we know a good deal as to what happened during the Egyptian time

Furthermore, the Egyptians were polytheistic meaning that they believed in many gods. They also believed in the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that if they mummified their dead and buried the dead’s riches with them, then they would be well off in the afterlife.

This script dates back to the Middle Bronze Age which would be approximately 2500 BC. They have not ascertained if this was an example of proto-writing (symbols) or if it is actual writing of the syllabic type. It has been suggested this might be a mature style of writing. Historians learned about the early Chinese Shang Dynasty from 1200 BC from the written documents on bones, bronze or turtle shells. A stone slab, with 3,000 BC year old writing, was discovered in the Mexican State of Veracruz. This would be the oldest script in the Western Hemisphere. The Phoenician alphabet is basically the proto-Canaanite alphabet from the Iron Age (1050 BC). The Greeks borrowed the Phoenician alphabet and adapted it to their own language. The tribe known as Latin (Romans) adopted writing from the Etruscans (tribe from Tiras, son of Japheth) and the Western Greeks in the fifth century. The first pure alphabet with single symbols emerged around 1800 BC in ancient Egypt. Semitic workers in Egypt developed this alphabet as a representation of language. Historians make a distinction between prehistory and the history of early writing, but have disagreed if proto-writing is considered true writing. Papyrus (reed) was the principle writing

Ancient Egypt has many great achievements. Two of their biggest achievements were the Egyptian pyramids, and the sphinx. Another achievement was their use of hieroglyphics, which is a form of writing based on pictograms. Examples of hieroglyphic writing can be found on the Rosetta stone which was uncovered by archeologists. The Egyptians also used mummification which was an achievement in preserving bodies. Over time there were ten different pharaohs and each of them accomplished advancements in society, math, astronomy and medicine.

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

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.

We are still finding evidence of paintings and artifacts as of today. Some of the paintings of ancient Egypt have stood the test of time due to Egypt’s dry climate. Most of the paintings were done on walls and in caves and in funeral tombs to depict the life of the deceased and offer a pleasant passage. A famous painting that was done by the Egyptians is called Judgment before Osiris. This painting was done on papyrus and depicted a scale and judgment. If the heart of the deceased was lighter than the feather of truth then their soul could enter afterlife.

At Abydos and Saqqara tombs for the kings of the early dynasties were built in imitation of palaces or shrines. The large amounts of pottery, stonework, and ivory or bone carving found in these tombs attest to a high level of development in Early Dynastic Egypt. Hieroglyphic script (picture writing), the written form of the Egyptian language, was in the first stages of its evolution.