Art was created for religious, symbolic, or magical purposes, not artistic expression. Each part of a scene had to convey the exact message intended. Though most scenes were stereotyped set pieces based on conventional themes, the best Egyptian art works are still graceful and lively.
The Rosetta Stone
This famous stone, dating from 196 B. C.E. and discovered in 1799, was the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics. The same text appears in hieroglyphics on top, then demotic, then Greek.
Egyptian artists were careful observers of nature and excellent draftsmen. But in depicting people, they followed long-established traditions, conventions, and proportions. Heads appear in profile, eyes are face-on. Torsos turn toward the viewer, legs are twisted into profile. All five fingers are extended and visible. Nobles are larger than commoners. Men are larger than women. Children are tiny, but with adult proportions. The king is always much bigger than anyone else. Everything is drawn literally and exactly, with bold outlines and no shading or shadows. There is no doubt about the scene’s subject and purpose.
Each scene was carefully planned and designed. The artist sketched a grid on his surface and laid out figures with traditional proportions (see page 22). As long as he followed the conventions, he was free to arrange people and objects as he liked.
The Egyptians loved vibrant color. Paints, manufactured from minerals and plants, included black (from lead ore and lampblack), blue and green (from malachite and copper), white (from limestone), and brown, red, and
Yellow (from colored earth and plants). Colors had religious and symbolic meanings. People were painted either red-brown (men) or yellow (women) to indicate they were alive, or green or black if they were dead. Osiris was green, Amun-Re blue. Other gods had yellow skin because their flesh was made of gold. White symbolized hope or pleasure. Red meant evil.
Most statues were idealized forms, not personal portraits. They were designed for specific settings, such as a tomb or temple. Sculptors worked with mostly stone-age tools, in alabaster, basalt, diorite, granite, limestone, marble, and quartzite. Eyes were made of white quartz, rock crystal, ebony, and copper for a lifelike quality. Many sculptures were painted. The painted limestone bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum is among the world’s most famous sculptures.
In early Predynastic times, the Nile valley still had some large trees, and woodworking achieved its highest level. Later woodworkers were at a disadvantage because of the lack of good quality large timber. Native woods were available only in small sizes and quantities. Imported wood-cedar, cypress, ebony, juniper, fir, yew, and oak-was used for columns, temple doors, flagpoles, fine coffins, furniture, and seagoing ships.
World History
