Principles of Egyptian Art: Part 4

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From the course by University of Pennsylvania

Wonders of Ancient Egypt

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University of Pennsylvania

Wonders of Ancient Egypt

261 ratings

Colossal pyramids, imposing temples, golden treasures, enigmatic hieroglyphs, powerful pharaohs, strange gods, and mysterious mummies are features of Ancient Egyptian culture that have fascinated people over the millennia. The Bible refers to its gods, rulers, and pyramids. Neighboring cultures in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean wrote about its god-like kings and its seemingly endless supply of gold. The Greeks and Romans describe aspects of Egypt's culture and history. As the 19th century began, the Napoleonic campaign in Egypt highlighted the wonders of this ancient land, and public interest soared. Not long after, Champollion deciphered Egypt's hieroglyphs and paved the way for other scholars to reveal that Egyptian texts dealt with medicine, dentistry, veterinary practices, mathematics, literature, and accounting, and many other topics. Then, early in the 20th century, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun and its fabulous contents. Exhibitions of this treasure a few decades later resulted in the world's first blockbuster, and its revival in the 21st century has kept interest alive. Join Dr. David Silverman, Professor of Egyptology at Penn, Curator in Charge of the Egyptian Section of the Penn Museum, and curator of the Tutankhamun exhibitions on a guided tour of the mysteries and wonders of this ancient land. He has developed this online course and set it in the galleries of the world famous Penn Museum. He uses many original Egyptian artifacts to illustrate his lectures as he guides students as they make their own discovery of this fascinating culture. This course focused on five key areas in the study of Ancient Egypt: 1) Principles of Egyptian Art, 2) The Basics of the Language of Ancient Egypt: Hieroglyphs, 3) Egyptian Magic, 4) Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, and the Religion of the Aten, and 5) The Burial of Tutankhamun and the Search for his Tomb. This course is intended to accompany, and ideally to follow, Introduction to Ancient Egypt (also available on Coursera).

From the lesson

Principles of Egyptian Art

Principles of Egyptian Art: Part 18:32

Principles of Egyptian Art: Part 29:08

Principles of Egyptian Art: Part 36:53

Principles of Egyptian Art: Part 48:01

Principles of Egyptian Art: Part 58:07

Principles of Egyptian Art: Part 67:04

Meet the Instructors

David P. Silverman
Eckley Brinton Coxe, Jr. Professor of Egyptology
Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations

We have been looking primarily at sculpture in two dimensions,

what we call relief.

The type of carving that the Egyptians used as the state was developing.

The earliest form of it is raised, that is,

the figure itself is higher than the background.

The same rule applies to hieroglyphs in

inscriptions as this early relief from the Penn Museum will show.

As you can see, from many images,

it makes no difference.

If the medium is of stone or wood,

the carved image is higher than the background in raised relief,

and this method emphasizes the imagery.

The raise relief is also called by-relief.

The second type is called sunk relief,

and it comes into vogue in the fourth dynasty.

The first monumental sunken hieroglyphs appear in the temple before the Sphinx.

All of the signs are cut down below the level of the smooth background.

Some experts have suggested that this development made use of the exterior light of

the sun that could cast dramatic shadows on the details of the sunken relief.

Old Kingdom text clearly shows such effects on both the figure and the text.

It may seem that more sunk relief occurs on outside surfaces,

while raised relief appears within the chapel,

but the opposite can also occur.

As in the use of raised relief on figures,

on the exterior walls of a variety of

different chapels from several different time periods, in some cases,

both styles can appear in the same location,

and we can see this, for example,

in the Penn Museum's tomb of Kapure,

especially at its false doors,

where the figures are raised,

but the hieroglyphs were sunk.

Occasionally, both types of relief can occur right on a single image.

And this occurs in Sykora a few times in the sixth dynasty and also in the 12th dynasty.

In terms of composition,

both raised and sunk relief followed the same rules.

For the figural parts where there are extended scenes,

the walls are set up primarily in horizontal rows or registers.

And we can see this again in the tomb of Kapure.

In general, you would read the rows from top to

bottom as if they were a vertical hieroglyphic inscription.

And of course, there are similarities.

In terms of each row, however,

you would begin at one end,

either the left or right and then continue to the other side.

The orientation is the same as that which governs a horizontal hieroglyphic inscription,

that is, the figures face toward the beginning of the line.

If they face toward the right,

you would read the scenes from right to left.

And if they face to the left,

you would read from left to right.

The size of the figures is a significant factor.

And usually, the most important standing individual is the tallest,

as is the case in the tomb of Kapure when he's shown with his son who is rather tiny.

It is more likely that the most important seeded individuals will be those on the left.

If a male and female figure sits at opposite ends,

the male is ordinarily at the left.

But occasionally, we can see that the wife will take precedence.

Occasionally, the situation will also tell you who is the most important.

For example, a text associated with only one figure may indicate that

that individual is of consequence and may label the action of the tomb owner.

Lower classes can have text,

but these are usually smaller,

and they often consist of either labels or names and titles,

but sometimes, they describe the action that's depicted.

And occasionally, they even consist of pithy remarks of speech,

sort of like the balloons in cartoons,

and they actually record what each individual is saying to the other.

We have an example of this also in the tomb of Kapure.

Colors play a very important role in Egyptian art.

For example, during different time periods,

the background color of the walls of private tombs scenes will vary,

sometimes beige, sometimes blue,

sometimes even gold as we have in the burial chamber of Tutankhamun.

The color of the skin of a god may tend toward one color or another,

but it can also vary.

Osiris, for example, can be tinted green.

But sometimes, he can also be painted black.

Colors also play a role occasionally in

depicting the concept of space between or among figures.

And this was done in order to show depth into dimensions,

which is very hard to do.

The Egyptians would overlap several figures,

that is, the first figure appears in full form.

But the one who is beside him actually is shown as

a parallel image that runs pretty much along

the same lines and only shows part of the figure.

When the figures have alternating colors between them,

it can even be more successful.

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