Ancient egyptian art

 One of the characteristics of Egyptian art was the monumental works that generally had a symbolic, funerary or religious character. Although the concept of art is modern, it is perfectly usable in Egyptian architecture, sculpture, painting and jewelry, many of its achievements being authentic works of art and not simple works of classical craftsmanship.

 

Egyptian art was characterized by the fixing of pillars or constant motifs from the beginning of the history of unified Egypt until the end of Roman domination. This period of almost three thousand years involved a development in artistic patterns, motifs, figures and forms of expression, with breaks or revolutionary innovations such as the Amarna period, where art would be totally innovative with respect to its centuries-old artistic heritage.

 

 

Narmer palette, classic image of the pharaoh "destroying" the enemies. It is a constant motif and a clear example of art as an expression of political power.

The knowledge we have of Egyptian art is mainly due to the materials used, be it stone (limestone, sandstone or granite), metals (gold, electrum, copper and bronze), wood (ebony and cedar) and others no less valuable such as ivory, faience and glass.

 

One facet that characterizes Egyptian culture is the constant effort to convey a concept of tradition. This effort translates into the adoption of certain models or images as icons that are repeated in the succession of pharaohs. So even though Egyptian history can be categorized into major stages such as the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, many of these art forms can be repeated as they have been transformed into icons.

 

Art as an expression of political power

It is one of the first bindings since the beginning of the story. Current political ideas and positions would provide the main reason for the production of countless artistic works with a clear idea of ​​propaganda.

 

Under this approach, the main axis is the reason for the work. Said motif is the fundamental pillar of it and determines its parameters: the distribution of the images on the plane (or surface) to be used, the sizes of the images to be represented according to an order of priority based on the importance of the characters, and the use of certain forms as a synthesis of the concept to be transmitted.

 

The use of art in clearly propagandistic works was a common element. During the New Kingdom it was common for military campaigns to Nubia, Syria and Canaan to be represented in successive additions to the temples of Amun at Karnak. Thus, the consecutive pylons of such temples were adorned with multiple reliefs where the reigning pharaoh was battling against Asian or Nubian enemies.

 

 

In Egyptian architecture, adobe was identified as the most used material in its buildings, both in palaces for people with good economic position and for poor people in towns. The difference between the upper social class in Egyptian architecture and the lower social class was the number of rooms in the house, such as bathrooms, utility rooms and a large courtyard, the interior adorned with countless monuments, ornaments and decorations. murals painted in various kinds of colors, while the house of the people of the lower social class had only one room. It is also mentioned that the roofs were used as bedrooms, due to the excessive heat in the area. Both houses were characterized by having very few and small windows, also due to the climate of the region.

 

Art as religious expression

Ancient Egyptian spirituality greatly influenced everyday life. The symbiosis of art and religion was observed throughout almost the entire history of Egyptian art. In the religious aspect, the multitude of deities also meant a need to identify them. Art was in aid of this need by conceptualizing and synthesizing each deity with certain elements that were clearly attributed to them. Thus, each representation of a god necessarily had a set of elements that made it possible to identify it both in images of reliefs or paintings and in sculptures: Amun with the two ostrich feathers as a headdress, the image of Osiris wrapped in white, a simile mummy, Horus with his classic falcon head, Toth with that of the ibis, etc.

 

One of the main edges occurs in the plane of the sculptures. The statues of the gods not only represented them, but were clear elements for worship in the temples, called "the Mansions of the god". In the most remote of the temples the statue of the god was located, which was worshiped and cared for as a living being. In fact, the sculptures were cleaned, dressed and perfumed as if they were the god himself, since, within the Egyptian worldview, the gods nested within the very body of the sculpture. These could be modeled in stone, metal (usually gold) or wood.