Egyptian art

A presentation at Ahantaman Girls' Senior High School

1. EGYPTIAN ART
PRESENTATION BY
IMPRAIM –SWANZY ENOCK
(M.PhilAfrican Art & Culture, B.EdArt)

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3. •Egypt is a country located at the northern part
of Africa. Their capital is Cairo. Their kings are
called Pharaohs. They were powerful and
considered as gods.
•Egypt is found along the river Nilewith
abundance of papyrus plants along it banks.
•Egypt became the center of civilization around
5000BC.

4. •Egyptian Art refers to the paintings, sculpture,
decorative arts and architecture produced by the
Egyptians between 5000BCand 300BCto honour
the dead (ancestor)
•Their arts were considered as “Art for Eternity”
or “Funeral Art”
•Their arts were for religious purposes

5. Religion and Beliefs
•Egyptians were polytheist; believed and worshiped
many gods such as Ra(the sun god), Osiris(god of
the Nile), Horus(the sky god) etc.
•The gods appear in human or animal forms or
combinations
•They belief in life after death, when a person dies,
the soul continues to live in another world in the
same body

6. Artforms
•Paintings
•Sculpture
•Architecture
•Decorative arts
•Pottery
•Literature

7. Paintings
•Paintings were done on papyrus paper,
wooden panels, and walls of temples and
tombs.
•Images appear in profile
•Men were painted bigger and darker than
women
•Slaves were painted very small

8. •The ancient Egyptians decorated tombs
with paintings to ensure that the
deceased spent eternity in a
comfortable and familiar environment

9. Fig. 1 Paintings on the walls inside the Pyramid

10. Sculpture
•Life size figures were carved in stones
•Standing figures had their left feet placed
in a forward position
•Huge statues (sphinxes) were placed in
front of the pyramids to guard the tombs

11. •In ancient Egypt, many sculptures were
placed in tombs, where they
represented the deceased and received
offerings from the living

12. Fig. 2 Statues of seated Pharaoh inside the Pyramid
•Fig. 3 Paintings on the walls inside the
Pyramid

14. Sphinx
Fig. 4 Sphinx and Pyramid

15. Architecture
•Egyptians made one of the greatest structures
ever built in the world e.g. Royal tombs and
pyramid
•Mastaba
•Tombs of the elite
•Temples
•Palaces

16. Mastaba
•Means “house for
eternity”. It is an
ancient Egyptian tomb
in a form of flat roofed
rectangular structure
with sloping sides
constructed out of mud
bricks from the Nile
river

17. Fig. 5 Egyptian Pyramids

18. Temples
Fig. 7Temple of AmonFig. 6 Temple of Luxor

19. •The Egyptians wore jewelry and amulets
(charms) not only as decoration, but
because they believed these items
protected them against harm. They
buried their dead with jewelry and
amulets for the same reason: to protect
against the perils(dangers) of the
afterlife.
Decorative arts

20. Relevance and Influence of Egyptian Art on other
cultures
•Egyptians influenced Greek sculpture
•Introduced a system of picture writings called
hieroglyphics
•The Ancient Egyptians invented the calendar
system
•They invented paper from papyrus reed, a plant
found in Egypt
•They believed that when they die, their soul (ka)
will live in another world but in the same body.

21. Thank you
We will discuss the foreign influence on Egyptian Art
on our next meeting