Literature in the New Kingdom
Between the Middle Kingdom and the era known as the New Kingdom falls the time scholars refer to as the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782-c.1570 BCE). During this era rule in Egypt was divided between the foreign kings of the Hyksos in Lower Egypt at Avaris, Egyptian rule from Thebes in Upper Egypt, and control of the southern reaches […]
Second Intermediate Period/New Kingdom Art
The art of the Second Intermediate Period of Egypt continued the traditions of the Middle Kingdom but often less effectively. The best artists were available to the nobility at Thebes and produced high-quality work, but non-royal artists were less skilled. This era, like the first, is also often characterized as disorganized and chaotic, and the artwork held […]
The Art of Ancient Egypt
Much of what the modern world knows about Ancient Egypt can be attributed to Ancient Egyptian art. Everything from knowing what they looked like to what they did for a living, what they held dear and even the clothes they wore are things that have been made possible by viewing and examining the art that […]
Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture
The ancient Egyptians were best known for their pyramids. These impressive and stately works of architecture are not only grand displays of art themselves, they also represent incredible mathematical and technological knowledge. Over 80 pyramids still stand today that are over 3,000 years old. The Great Pyramid stood as the world’s tallest structure for 4,000 years until the 20th […]
Middle Kingdom Literature
The Middle Kingdom is considered the classical age of Egyptian literature. During this time the script known as Middle Egyptian was created, considered the highest form of hieroglyphics and the one most often seen on monuments and other artifacts in museums in the present day. Egyptologist Rosalie David comments on this period: The literature of […]
Appreciating & understanding ancient Egyptian art
Ancient Egyptian art must be viewed from the standpoint of the ancient Egyptians to understand it. The somewhat static, usually formal, strangely abstract, and often blocky nature of much Egyptian imagery has, at times, led to unfavorable comparisons with later, and much more ‘naturalistic,’ Greek or Renaissance art. However, the art of the Egyptians served […]
Modes of representation for two-dimensional art
Two-dimensional art represented the world quite differently. Egyptian artists embraced the two-dimensional surface and attempted to provide the most representative aspects of each element in the scenes rather than attempting to create vistas that replicated the real world. Each object or element in a scene was rendered from its most recognizable angle and these were […]
Hyksos
The Hyksos were a Semitic people who gained a foothold in Egypt c. 1782 BCE at the city of Avaris in Lower Egypt, thus initiating the era known in Egyptian history as the Second Intermediate Period (c. 1782 – c. 1570 BCE). Their name, Heqau-khasut, translates as ‘Rulers of Foreign Lands’ (given by the Greeks as Hyksos), suggesting to some scholars that they were kings or nobility […]
Ancient Egyptian Literature
Ancient Egyptian literature comprises a wide array of narrative and poetic forms including inscriptions on tombs, stele, obelisks, and temples; myths, stories, and legends; religious writings; philosophical works; autobiographies; biographies; histories; poetry; hymns; personal essays; letters and court records. Although many of these forms are not usually defined as “literature” they are given that designation in Egyptian studies because […]
Horus & Jesus Controversy
The Cult of Horus in Egypt, as noted, was already ancient by the time the Osiris Myth became popular and that myth elevated the worship of Osiris, Isis and Horus to a national level. The Cult of Isis became so popular that worship of the goddess traveled through tradeto Greece and then to Rome where it became the […]
