The Art and Culture

of Egypt
Submitted by: Jovimaeh S. Fuselero
Third Year – Blessed Margaret of Castelo
Made by: Jovimaeh S. Fuselero :P
 The Art of Egypt: An introduction

In ancient Egypt, art was created in celebration of religion. Officially

sanctioned art was produced according to strict religious tenets and
rigid artistic conventions.

Painters and sculptors worked in communal studios with metal

smiths, joiners, and jewelers. They created their pieces under the
guidance of a master artisan, a mentor who was often familiar with
several crafts. Schools of artisans worked with infinite patience and
care, their skill the result of rigorous apprenticeship. For larger
pieces, tasks were divided.

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Egyptian Art
The wall paintings done in the
time of the Pharaohs followed a
rigid code of visual rules and
meanings.

Both highly figurative and

symbolic

Much of the surviving art

comes from tombs and
monuments, where there is an
emphasis on life after death and
the preservation of knowledge of
the past.
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 Early Egyptian art is characterized by absence of linear
perspective, which results in a seemingly flat space.
Objects in these artworks generally do not decrease in size as they
increase in distance and there is little shading to indicate depth.

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Egyptian Architecture
They used both sun-dried and kiln-baked bricks, fine sandstone, granite
and limestone
Some pictorial carvings were widely used to adorn the structures,
including many motifs, like the scarab, sacred beetle, the solar disk and the
vulture.
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 . Construction of these monuments commenced as soon as a
Pharaoh was named, and continued till he was dead.
Ramps were used to allow workmen to move up as the height of the
construction grew.

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Egyptian
Pottery
They used steatite and
soapstone to carve small
pieces of vases, amulets,
images of deities, of
animals and several other
objects.

They also discovered the

art of covering pottery with
enamel.

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 It was customary to craft on the walls of the tombs cones of
pottery, engraved or impressed with legends relating to the
dead occupants of the tombs.
The cones contained the names of the deceased, their titles,
offices which they held, and some expressions proper for the
memorial services.
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Egyptian
Sculpture
Enormous and
magnificent statues were
built to represent gods and
famous kings and queens.

They were intended to

give eternal life to the
"god" kings and queens.

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 The ancient art of Egyptian sculpture
evolved to symbolize the ancient Egyptian
gods, and Pharaohs, the divine kings and
queens, in their physical form.

Very strict conventions were followed while

crafting statues: male statues were darker than
the female ones; in seated statues, hands were
required to be placed on knees and specific
rules governed appearance of every Egyptian
god

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 It is one consisting of an array of
pictures and symbols, some of
which had independent meanings,
whereas some were used in
combinations.

This style of writing continued to

be used by the ancient Egyptians
for nearly 3500 years.

Hieroglyphics
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 Egyptian Painting
They created paintings to make the after life of the deceased
a pleasant place and accordingly, beautiful paintings were
created.
The paintings survived due to the extremely dry climate.
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The paintings are painted in such a way that it shows
a profile view, and a side view of the animal or
person. Their main colors were red, blue, black, gold,
and green.

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 Egyptian
Pyramids
The most elaborate Egyptian
tombs imposing structures designed
to house the spirits of the pharaohs.

Built over a period of nearly 1,000

years.

The climax of pyramid building,

however, occurred at Giza, where the
kings of the Fourth Dynasty erected
three large stone structures.

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Archaeologists are still unsure how the pyramids were built, but some
propose that the massive blocks were moved up earthen ramps that
wound around the growing structures. Once this limestone core was
built, the outside was sheathed in yet finer limestone. Workers would
then have worked down from the top, dismantling the ramp as they
Made by: Jovimaeh S. Fuselero :P moved.
 The Culture of Egypt: An Introduction

Egypt is perhaps the most fascinating of the ancient civilizations.

It's one of the longest in the west, beginning in approximately 3000
B.C., and lasting until nearly 300 B.C. With a recorded history of
five thousand years it's among the earliest civilizations. For years,
Egypt maintained a markedly complex and steady culture that
influenced later cultures of Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
What is remarkable about Egypt's culture is not their rapid growth
and development, but their ability to conserve the past and succeed
with fairly little change. Ancient Egypt is the foundation in the
history of western art. Pyramids and sphinxes have symbolized
Egypt for a long time, and a closer look reveals artistic genius in
many forms.

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 Today, many aspects of Egyptian ancient culture exist in
interaction with newer elements, together with the
influence of modern Western culture, whose roots has itself
been in Ancient Egypt. The cities of Egypt including its
capital, Cairo has been renowned for centuries as a center
of learning, culture and commerce.

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 Egyptian Language

The first written ancient Egyptian language is known from

hieroglyphic inscriptions preserved on monuments and sheets of
papyrus.
The "Koiné" dialect of the Greek language which was later studied
by Arabic scholars, was central in Hellenistic Alexandria, and was
used in the philosophy and science of that culture.

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 Egyptian Literature
The mythology and rituals carved around the tombs of rulers and the later,
secular literature of ancient Egypt includes the 'wisdom texts', a form of
philosophical instruction.
Egyptian novelists and poets were among the first to experiment with
modern styles of Arabic literature, the styles of which were widely imitated.
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 As early as 4000 BC, Egyptians
were playing harps and flutes,
including two indigenous
instruments, the 'ney' and the 'oud'.

It's a rich mixture of indigenous

Egyptian, Arabic, African and
Western influences.

Egyptian folk music is also

popular and played during
weddings and other festivities.

Egyptian Music
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 Egyptian
Religion
Egypt was indeed one of the
strongest early Christian communities
with the Coptic Christianity becoming
popular in the Roman and Byzantine
periods.

Christians constitute about 10% of

the population today.

Islam, today being the dominant

faith with 90% of the population in
Egypt, came to the country with the
successors of Mohammed.

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 References:
http://www.123independenceday.com/egypt/art-
and-culture.html

Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt, Bill Manley

(1996) pg83

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Egypt

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