When some people see a piece of art, they think, “So what?” They just think that art is unimportant, when really, it is important. It helps us understand the culture from which it has derived . Egyptian art is no exception. The art of Ancient Egypt plays a major role in helping us understand all sorts of things about Egypt, its leaders, its religion, even the daily life of its people. But, in many ways, Egyptian art was different.
The Egyptians had very strong religious beliefs. Art was a way of serving their man y, many gods. They made statues of the gods and pictures of them on stone. There were even rules for depicting the pharaoh, which the Egyptians considered a god. Nothing could be shown in front of him. When someone died and there was a tomb for them, they always had art put in their tomb because the Egyptians believed it would help them in the afterlife.
Even though religion was the dominant subject of Egyptian art, Egyptian art styles did change over time. In the Old Kingdom, which was the beginning of the civilization of Ancient Egypt, artists made all of their work flawless; they put much more care into their art. Also, they depicted daily life much more often in their art. In the Middle Kingdom, the artists were sloppier and took shortcuts in their work. In the New Kingdom they made paintings of events in the many new temples. Also, during the New Kingdom, there was the Amarna Period, in which artist experimented much more often.
You may be thinking, “Well with what did they do all their work?” Good question. For brushes, they made a small knot in a piece of rope and cut the loose ends so that they just had a knot of rope about the size of the half of your forearm closest to your wrist. They frayed one end and used that to paint. For the paint itself, they ground minerals till they were very fine, and mixed them with vegetable gum or a solution of water and egg yolk. If an artist had a rough surface to work on such as one made of stone or bumpy wood, he would cover it with a chalky liquid to make it smooth and easy to paint on.
Now, enough about painting, what about statues? The Egyptians made many statues as models of the gods. They also used them for other purposes. They made small wooden statues of people to put in tombs. The wooden statues would come to life during the “tomb-inhabitants” “next life”. To shape statues, artists use chisels and mallets. The actual materials they would make statues out of were ivory, wood, metals (such as bronze), and stone. They polished their near-finished creations with sand, water, and small stones.
When King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered, newly emerged “Deco Artists” were influenced by the many treasures in his tomb. Also, the famed Hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt inspired many graphic Designers. Even the Romans and Greeks interpreted Egyptian Art into their own architecture, design, and art. The Egyptians had such great art that no civilization can turn down their techniques.
Now, back to, “So What?” Without Egyptian Art we would be at loss for much information about their civilization. We would not be able to decipher their religious system, or what life was like for a regular citizen. It would be hard to understand how much splendor their Pharaohs lived in, or what Egyptians ate. Overall, it helps us understand that Ancient Egypt was really an amazing place.
So now you see why art is really so important, not just something to look at. Egyptian art was unique; it practically 80% religious art, you can see for yourself how it changed overtime, and without it, a lot of more modern art techniques would not be what they are today. Well, then again, it is fun to look at.
