NAME: __________________________ DATE: _______ PERIOD: ______
D
irections
Read the article titled “Appreciating & Understanding Ancient Egyptian Art” by Dr. Amy Calvert.
When you are finished, answer the 15 questions seen below and the essay. Remember to express yourself fully
and carefully in your answers, using the skills you have learned in Language Arts class this year. Use your own
paper to answer.
READING
ASSIGNMENT:
UNDERSTANDING
ANCIENT
EGYPTIAN ART
PART I: SHORT ANSWER:
Organizing Concept: 1. Why have people looked more favorably on Greek or Roman art
Elements of culture including
that Egyptian art?
history, traditions, beliefs
2. Which period of Egyptian history had serenely beautiful statues?
and ideologies. 3. If Egyptian art was NOT meant to be seen – what WAS the purpose
or Egyptian images?
4. What kinds of daily rituals were performed before Egyptian statues?
5. What three gifts might a family give during the festivals that honor the dead?
6. How do the artifacts in a museum basement differ from the artifacts put on display upstairs?
7. What does the author mean when she says that statuary made from stone was “quite closed”?
8. Statues of which kinds of people displayed the widest “range of possible actions”?
9. What was the action depicted in the painted wooden images seen on page two of your
reading?
10. In two-dimensional art, what part of the human figure is shown from the front and not in profile?
11. What is the purpose of a “register” in Egyptian art?
12. What did the artist imply when he drew or carved overlapping figures?
13. What type of Egyptians were often shown at the same scale as the gods?
14. What did Egyptians artists often put on the back pillar or the base of a statue?
15. What does it mean to say that a hieroglyph is “logographic”?
PART II: ESSAY:
Write a well-composed ten-sentence short-constructed-response on the following topic:
Pretend your friend who attends Drake Middle School was studying Egypt
and was assigned turn in a project on Ancient Egyptian art. Write them a letter
telling them what they need to know to get an “A” on their project.
[Remember that you need at least ten-sentences, and that your letter must showcase
your knowledge of the rules of Ancient Egyptian art.]
STANDARDS FOR GRADING THIS READING ASSIGNMENT:
GRADE C:
1. The requirements for a C are the same as for a B except that there are one or two errors or omissions that would
prevent the student from getting a B.
GRADE B:
1. The report answers all of the short answer questions in complete sentences.
2. The short answer section shows only minor factual errors.
3. The essay question or questions are of proper length and written in complete sentences.
4. The essay question addresses the topic clearly.
5. Paper is neatly written and carefully proofread with no more than four typos or spelling errors.
GRADE A:
1. The report meets all the requirements for a “B”.
2. The essay question or questions show outstanding effort and analysis as well as an exceptional overall
understanding of the topic chosen.
3. The report is carefully proofread with no more than two typos or spelling errors.
4. The report is word-processed.
APPRECIATING &
UNDERSTANDING
ANCIENT
EGYPTIAN ART
By DR. AMY CALVERT
Khan Academy
October, 2014
Beautifully preserved life-size painted
limestone funerary sculptures of Prince
Rahotep and his wife Nofret. Note the lifelike
eyes of inlaid rock crystal (Old Kingdom).
Photo: Dr. Amy Calvert
Ancient Egyptian art must be viewed from the standpoint of
the ancient Egyptians to understand it. The somewhat static,
usually formal, strangely abstract, and often blocky nature of much Egyptian imagery has, at times,
led to unfavorable comparisons with later, and much more ‘naturalistic,’ Greek or Roman art.
However, the art of the Egyptians served a vastly different purpose than that of these later cultures.
Art not meant to be seen
While today we marvel at the glittering treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamun, the amazing reliefs
in New Kingdom tombs, and the serene beauty of Old Kingdom statuary, it is important to remember
that the majority of these works were never intended to be seen—that was simply not their purpose.
The function of Egyptian art
These images, whether statues or relief, were designed to benefit a god or a deceased person.
Statuary provided a place for the recipient to “live” and receive the benefit of ritual action. Most
statues show a formal frontality, meaning they are arranged straight ahead, because they were
designed to face the ritual being performed before them.
Glossary: Many statues were also originally placed in recessed
sculptural relief - sculpture consisting of
niches or other settings—locations that would make
shapes carved on a surface so as to stand
frontality their expected and natural situation.
out from the surrounding background.
frontality - a frontal view, as in a statue or
other work of art.
idealized art - to represent (someone or
something) as being perfect.
hierarchy - a system or organization in
which people are ranked one above the
other according to status or authority.
Statuary, whether divine, royal, or elite, provided a kind of
pathway for the spirit (or ka) of that being to interact with
the earthly world. Household-sized statues (few of which
survive) were the subject of daily rituals of clothing,
anointing, and perfuming with incense and were carried in
processions for special festivals.
Royal and elite statuary served as gobetween from the people to the gods.
Family chapels with the statuary of a
deceased forefather could serve as a sort
of 'family temple.' There were festivals in
honor of the dead, where the family would
come and eat in the chapel, offering food
for the Afterlife, flowers (symbols of
rebirth), and incense (the scent of which
was considered divine).
What we see in museums
Generally, the works we see on display in
museums were products of royal or elite
workshops; these pieces fit best with our
modern ideas of beauty. Most museum
basements, however, are packed with
hundreds (even thousands!) of other
objects made for people of lower status—
Hard stone group statue of Ramses II with
that are completely recognizable, but rarely
Osiris, Isis, and Horus in the Egyptian Museum,
displayed. These pieces generally show
Cairo (New Kingdom). Photo: Dr. Amy Calvert
less quality in the workmanship, however,
these objects served the exact same
function of providing benefit to their owners as those made for the elite.
Types of three-dimensional art
Three-dimensional representations, while being quite formal, also aimed to reproduce the realworld—statuary of gods, royalty, and the elite was designed to convey an idealized version of that
individual. Stone statuary, was quite
closed—with arms held close to the
sides, limited positions, a strong
back pillar that provided support,
and with the fill spaces left between
limbs.
Wood and metal statuary, in
contrast, was more expressive—
arms could be extended and hold
separate objects, spaces between
the limbs were opened to create a
more realistic appearance, and
more positions were possible.
Stone, wood, and metal statuary of
elite figures, however, all served the
same functions and retained the
same type of formalization and
frontality. Only statuettes of lower
status people displayed a wide
range of possible actions, and these
pieces were focused on the
actions, which benefitted the elite
owner, not the people involved.
Painted wooden model of the deceased overseeing the counting of cattle in the
Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Middle Kingdom). Photo: Dr. Amy Calvert
Types of twodimensional art
Two-dimensional art
represented the world quite
differently. Egyptian artists
embraced the two-dimensional
surface and attempted to
provide the most
representative aspects of each
element in the scenes rather
than attempting to create art
that replicated the real world.
Each object or element in a
scene was rendered from its
most recognizable angle and
these were then grouped
together to create the whole.
This is why images of people
show their face, waist, and
Painted sunk relief showing orderly registers in the Temple of Ramses II at Abydos
(New Kingdom). Photo: Dr. Amy Calvert
limbs in profile, but eye and
shoulders frontally. These
scenes are complex composite images, rather than ones designed from a single viewpoint.
Registers
Scenes were ordered in parallel lines, known as registers. These registers separate the scene as well
as provide ground lines for the figures. Registers were also used to convey information about the
scenes—the higher up in the scene, the higher the status; overlapping figures imply that the ones
underneath are further away.
Hierarchy of scale
Difference in scale was the most commonly used method for conveying hierarchy—the larger the
scale of the figures, the more important they were. Kings were often shown at the same scale as
gods, but both are shown larger than the elite and far larger than the average Egyptian.
Text and image
Text accompanied almost all images. In statuary, identifying text will appear on the back pillar or
base, and relief usually has captions or longer texts that complete and elaborate on the scenes.
Hieroglyphs were often rendered as tiny works of art in themselves, even though these small pictures
do not always stand for what they depict; many are instead phonetic sounds. Some, however, are
logographic, meaning they stand for an object or concept.