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Post by Shan on Jun 14, 2006 23:20:06 GMT
Priest carrying an effigy of Osiris of Canopus found on the Antirhodos Island near the two sphinxes.
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Post by Shan on Jun 14, 2006 23:27:53 GMT
Sphinx found on the Antirhodos Island near to the priest carrying Osiris-Canopis.
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Post by Shan on Jun 14, 2006 23:30:59 GMT
Disformed by natural erosion, the sphinx' face is beyond identification.
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Post by Shan on Jun 14, 2006 23:32:33 GMT
This head from marble resembles Antonia Minor (36BC-37AC), daughter of Marc anthony and Octavia. She later became mother of the emperor Claudius. The head show the symbiosis of the Greek and Egyptian cultures.
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Post by Shan on Jun 14, 2006 23:36:46 GMT
An archaeological diver is studying a stone block showing royal insignia of the pharaoh Apries (589-570 BC). In them idle of it the sign Ankh, meaning eternal life.
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Post by Shan on Jun 26, 2006 2:35:06 GMT
Sphinx of Senwosret III1878–1841 B.C.E.; Dynasty 12, reign of Senwosret III; Middle Kingdom
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Post by Shan on Jun 26, 2006 2:40:51 GMT
The Temple of DendurThe Temple of Dendur, ca. 15 B.C.E.; Roman period Egyptian; Nubia, Dendur Given to the United States by Egypt in 1965, awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967, and installed in The Sackler Wing in 1978
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Post by Shan on Jun 26, 2006 2:47:58 GMT
Egyptian Statues
The combination of geometric regularity is characteristic of all ancient Egyptian art which was often described as cubed and constrained. Its purpose was to keep alive the history of the individual and give eternal life to the Pharaohs. The divine nature of the rulers evolved the art of sculpture. In order for the people to be able to see what they worship, statues became the most important symbol of divinity. Enormous sculptures where built up to represent famous Pharaohs and their queens.
Most sculptures depicted the individual as eternally young and beautiful, staring straight ahead, their gaze lost in contemplation. To the uninformed tourist the statues, paintings and architectural forms seem to fall into place as if they obeyed one law. No one seemed to want anything different. The artist was never told to be original. On the contrary, he was graded and praised for how precise his work was and how exact it resembled the past statues. The goal seemed to be completeness, the task to preserve everything as clearly as possible. Needles to say, Egyptian art changed very little.
Another major component of Egyptian statues lies in the fact that they had to adhere to strict rules. These were a set of very strict laws, which every artist had to follow. Seated statues had to have their hands on their knees; statues of males had to be made using darker materials than females. This was mostly because of the socio-economic structure of the males having a darker complexion from being outside all day. There were only three options for statue figures. People could either stand, sit, or kneel. This was because artists did not free the sculpted form from the block of stone.
As they were primarily to be viewed from the front, the images and symbols of the hieroglyphs, were clearly and accurately carved in stone. The finished product was more or less an idealized manner, the way the individual would have wanted to be for the rest of their eternal lives.
Aside from the position, there was an emphasis on the size of the individual. This was to show the divinity, or the social status and power of the Pharaoh. However powerful his queen, she was most often depicted rather small, barely taller than a child. These children were easily recognizable simply by the fact that they were depicted naked. Nudity indicated the young age an innocence of the child. However, adults were sometimes depicted naked, but more so as a symbol of rebirth in the afterlife, more commonly found in the case of a funeral statue.
Children were depicted with their index finger on their lower lip, a 'side lock of a braid of hair worn usually at one side. Representations of older children were fully clothed and usually wore a wig, marked by a second hairline. Although older, these children were still depicted smaller than their parents, sometimes barely knee- high - of course you have to remember that none of Egyptian art is based proportionately.
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Post by Shan on Jun 26, 2006 2:50:13 GMT
Egyptian Painting
For 3000 years the Ancient Egyptian people practiced an art form and style that is almost immediately recognizable as Egyptian. In those 3000 years there was almost no change in the style, meaning of color, or meaning of body placement in a painting, with the exception of the Armarna Period. To the untrained eye it would seem that the Egyptians were a people of little imagination to continue a style for so long, however to those who know anything about Ancient Egyptian art the story is quite complex.
Egyptians used a special code of colors in each painting they did, with each color representing a different quality of the people represented. There were six colors the Ancient Egyptians used in their paintings red, green, blue, yellow, black, and white. They made these colors of mineral compounds and that is why they have lasted so long. The color green was symbolic of new life, growth, vegetation, and fertility. Depictions of Osiris often show him with green skin. Red was the color of power it symbolized life and victory, as well as anger and fire. Red was associated with the god Isis and her blood, which red could also represent. It also represented the God Set who was considered evil and who caused storms. The color blue was the color of the heavens and the water and it symbolized creation and rebirth. The god Amun, who played a part in the creation of the world, is depicted with a blue face. Anything yellow symbolized the eternal and indestructible, the qualities of the sun and gold. It was the color of Ra and of all the pharaohs, which is why the sarcophagi and funeral masks were made of gold to symbolize the eternalness of the pharaoh who was now a god. The color of death was black. Black also represented the underworld and the night. Both the gods Annubis and Osiris were depicted in black as the gods of the embalming and the afterlife respectively. Lastly white was the color of purity, it symbolized all things sacred and simple. Normally used in religious objects and tools used by the priests.
The same way that the colors of Egyptian art meant something so did the position of the figures represented. The figures were usually shown motionless or only walking. There are a few other identifying features of Ancient Egyptian art that are common throughout time. In nearly all paintings the heads of the people were represented from the side with one eye staring out of the side of the face. The arms and legs of the person are also in profile but the mid-body is facing forward. This made the figure look twisted into a position nearly impossible to achieve in reality. Another aspect of the Ancient Egyptian painters was to depict the gods, pharaohs, or other important figures as larger than the other people in the painting to signify their higher importance.
So although it may seem strange to us that the Egyptians didn't change their style for so long it did have a reason. The lack of change, especially in painting commissioned by the pharaoh, connect each ruler to the last and was seen as evidence of that they belonged in this continuing line.
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Post by Alrik on Nov 13, 2006 19:02:49 GMT
I found an really *excellent* book for getting to know the Egyptian language : The original title is "decoding egyption hieroglyphs", was written by Bridget McDermott, and was originally published by Duncan Baird Publishers Ltd. in 2001. I can really recommend it !
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