Egypt has been creating its own special art for a period
of 5000 years. Egyptian Art has used the state religion as
its prime theme for this period of thirty dynasties. Egypt
is best known for its carvings. The art of carving reached
its first peak in 2600 B.C.. Egyptian Art includes a range
of art forms like stone carving of large and small statues
and wall art. Egyptian figures (human forms)tend to posesss
a certain regal presence which glorifies the ruling case.The innate style of Egyptian art has resisted outside
influence over centuries. Perfect observation and
representation of life forms and symbolism (specially the
use of symbols for Gods and Godesses) with less weightage to
beautification characterizes Egyptian Art.
An important reason for the emphasis on vivid depiction
of life forms is the Egyptian belief in life after death and
their expectation that the dead would bank on their art for
company in the “other world”.
A mortar was not used in Egyptian architecture. Work was
planned such that the stones - made of sun-dried and kiln
baked bricks, granite, limestone or fine sandstone – fit
exactly into one another like a jigsaw. Monumental Pyramids
and decorative tombs like that of King Tutankhamen are world
renowned Egyptian architectural works.
Papyrus texts ( on a kind of paper derived from the plant
papyrus) written in a hieroglyphic(pictorial script from
which some common languages like Roman evolved) are purely
Egyptian. In fact, the word ‘paper’ itself was derived from
‘papyrus’!
Ancient Egyptian literature also gave the world some of its
most common and widely read stories such as ‘Cinderella’ (“Rhodopis”
was her name in the oldest Egyptian version of the story).
Seatite was often used by ancient Egyptians for their
sculpture and pottery. They sculpted images of their Gods,
Kings and Queens – called ‘Pharaohs’. Some of their pottery
represented internal organs of the body (removed prior to
embalming) and carved vases, etc were placed with the dead
(embalmed bodies) in chambers where they were buried.
The themes of Egyptian painting included protective Gods of
the underworld and man’s voyage through life after death.
Some paintings in tombs give an overview of the lives of the
deceased and their great deeds. Egyptian paintings survived
for centuries because of the dry climate and their impact
has survived in the minds of people for lifetimes due to the
strong beliefs behind them and the sheer excellence with
which they have been portrayed.
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