Transcript Chapter One: The Beginnings of Civilization

Ancient Egypt
• Manetho’s History of Egyptian Greek
• 31 dynasties / 4 groups:
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Old Kingdom (2700 B.C.E.)
Middle Kingdom (1990 B.C.E.)
New Kingdom (1570 B.C.E.)
Late Period (1185-500 B.C.E.)
Ancient Egyptian Culture
• Unified and consistent
• Resistant to change
• Worldview affected by external events
Political Structure
• Pharaoh
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Head of the central government
Regarded as a living god
Exercised absolute power
Ordered and controlled visible world
• Priests
• Preservation of religious beliefs
• Divine kingship of Pharaohs
Egyptian Religion
• Obsession with immortality / life after
death
• Book of the Dead
• Osiris, Isis, Horus
• Deities, subdeities, nature spirits
• Responsible for all aspects of existence
Egyptian Art
• Principal function of artists: to produce
images of deities
• Form of worship
• Standards set forth by Pharaoh
• Artists also provided temples and
shrines for honoring deities
The Old Kingdom
• Imhotep
• First architect known to history
• Pyramids
• Funerary monuments for pharaohs, upper
class
• Mummification
• Preservation of the body was necessary
for the survival of the soul
Great Age of the Pyramid
• Pyramids at Giza (Dynasty IV)
• Cheops
• Chefren
• Mycerinus
• Who built the pyramids?
• Farmers
• Slaves
Pyramids
• Constructed of limestone blocks
• Quarried, ferried, cut, dragged into place
• Center chamber contained mummified
body of pharaoh surrounded by
treasures
• Plundered by robbers
Chefren’s Sphinx
• Created as the guardian for Chefren’s
tomb at Giza
• Adopted as a divine symbol of the
mysterious and enigmatic (Greeks)
Art of the Old Kingdom
• Reflects confidence and certainty
• Idealized realism
• Conceptual, symbolic
Art of the Middle Kingdom
• Loss of trust in divine providence
• Artists attempted to recapture lofty
serenity of Old Kingdom
• Troubled spirit captured in weight and
somber expressions
The New Kingdom
• Artistic traditions continued
• Conceptual
• Pharaoh Amenhotep IV/ “Akhenaton”
• Massive religious/political reform
• Tel el-Amarna Art
• Tutankhamen
• Howard Carter (1922-1923)
The Late Period
• Artists revisited earlier period styles
• Recapture realism, volume
• Return to pyramid-shaped tombs
• Egypt invaded by Nubians (the Cush)
750-720 B.C.E.
• Nubians and Nobatae preserved ancient
culture
Tomb Reliefs
Rules of Art in Ancient Egypt
• Size of figures commensurate with
their social standing
• Gods were always depicted with their
symbols
• Male statues were darker than female
statues
Symbolism of Colors
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Egyptians used six basic colors
Red = power (life and victory)
Green = new life and fertility
Blue = creation and rebirth
Yellow= the eternal (Ra & Pharoahs)
White = purity
Black = death
Book of the Dead papyrus
Aegean Culture
• Crete
• King Minos / Knossos
• Cyclades Islands
• Bronze tools
• Imaginative/humorous pottery
• Marble statues/idols
The Bronze Age in Crete
• Arthur Evans, 1894-1900
• Early Minoan
• Increasing growth
• Contacts with Egypt and Mesopotamia
• Scattered Towns
Middle Minoan
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Evolution of large urban centers
Art = lively and colorful
Little interest in monumental art
Writing system of hieroglyphic signs
[Image 1.22]
Palace of Minos at Knossos
[Image 1.25]
Wasp Pendant
[Image 1.27]
Snake Goddess
Late Minoan
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Period of rebuilding after earthquakes
High point of Minoan culture
Wall paintings
Religion centered upon mother goddess
connected with fertility
[Image 1.28]
Funerary Mask
Mycenaean Culture
• Heinrich Schliemann, 1870-1873
• The Trojan War (1250 B.C.E.)
• Strongly influenced by Minoan Culture
• Art = preoccupied with death and war
• Fall of the Mycenaean empire (1200
B.C.E.)
Chapter 1: Discussion Questions
• What can be determined about the roles of women in early
civilizations based on their artistic depictions? Explain, citing
examples from each culture.
• Based on the universal questions evoked in the Epic of
Gilgamesh, what can we assume about the Sumerian people
and their lifestyles? In what ways are their concerns shared by
people of our culture and generation? Explain.
• What role did geography play in the development and
preservation of Ancient Egyptian culture? In what fundamental
ways was Egyptian culture different from the Mesopotamian
and Aegean cultures?
• Discuss the role of the archeologist. What impact do the
discoveries of ancient cultures have on us today? Explain.