Culture Reflected in Egyptian Art and Archetecture

Many of the first art works every created clearly reflect the culture in which the artist or craftsmen lived. This is one of the key factors that make art history so interesting; it generates the possibility to learn about a society through the art work produced during that time and place.

Annubis, God of the Dead, Leaning over Sennutem's Mummy. Dynasty 18.

Tomb of Sennutem in the cemetery of Deir el-Medina, Luxor-Thebes, Egypt

Ancient Egyptian art and architecture is one of the ways Egyptian history is understood and studied today.  Egyptian art reflects the history, culture and society of the era in which it was created. The art produced also adheres to certain rules of style, which would have been prevalent in that culture and time period. In this work of Annubis, god of the dead, leaning over Sennutem’s mummy, the Egyptian culture is reflected in many ways. Firstly their beliefs and ideas on death and the after life are shown, as the god of the dead Anibus who is represented with a jackal head comes to attend to the dead pharaoh. The style of Egyptian art is also recognisable, the painting is flat and does not suggest a great depth of field. Egyptian paintings and reliefs also depict the subject’s profile angle rather than front view of the face. This stylistic feature has probably led to the interesting way the eyes come further across the side of the face, in order to keep the important facial features in view from this profile perspective. Although the face is depicted in a profile angle often the chest and shoulders can be illustrated from a front on veiwpoint, this can be seen in the image of the relief stone carving. While the head is turned to the side, the body is still facing frontward to the viewer. As mentioned by Gombrich Egyptian art did not change much in three thousand years, there was a certain style expected of these artists and they were not given any artistic freedom to differ from the rules laid down in this culture.

EGYPT, NILE RIVER, KOM OMBO TEMPLE, RELIEF CARVING, INNER HYPOSTYLE, HORUS AND HATHOR

 

   “Seated statues had to have their hands on their knees; men had to be painted

    with darker skin than women; the appearance of every Egyptian god was strictly

    laid down: Horus, the skygod, had to be shown as a falcon or with a falcon's head;

    Anibus, the god of funeral rites, as a jackal or with a jackal's head.”

    (Gombrich, n.d.)

Egyptian art therefore clearly reflects the culture it was created in, ancient Egyptian art is instantly recognisable due to these stylistic conventions that the craftsmen in this culture held fast to.

Gombrich, E. H. (n.d.) Artichive. Retrieved November 11 2010 from

     http://www.artchive.com/artchive/E/egyptian.html