What makes ancient egyptian art and architecture stand out?

Egyptian civilization is known for its influence on other civilizations, but what makes it stand out is its distinctive, changing, and developed artistic style, its bright colors that have survived until now, and its letters that tell us about the lives of the ancient Egyptians, their beliefs, and their special stories. So come with Egypt Tours Group on a journey to explore the depth and importance of Egyptian art.

The Historical Progress in Ancient Egyptian Art

Egypt is one of the countries that went through many historical stages, each with its own different artistic style. Even just asking, “What makes ancient Egyptian art and architecture stand out?” gives a glimpse of the diversity of ancient Egyptian arts and their importance.

1. Predynastic period: from 6000-3100 BC

• The art of this era was simple, like simple pottery and rock carvings, which early represented animals and humans. 

2. Early dynastic period: from 3100-2686 BC

• The Palette of Narmer: it tells the story of the unification of Egypt by King Narmer
• Art began to follow themes on power or religious features of the kings

3. Old Kingdom: from 2686-2181 BC

• Pyramids and statues
• Reliefs representing the divine king

4. Middle Kingdom: from 2055-1650 BC

• Art began to be more realistic 
• Statues with far more details

5. New Kingdom: from 1550-1070 BC

• Wealthy monuments like temples 
• A new capital for a short time
• Return to the traditional capital

6. Late period: from 664-332 BC

• Art began to follow abroad cultures due to the invasion
• A little interest in the old kingdom-style

The Greek and Roman eras enjoyed a style of architecture similar to the style in their countries until the 4^th century.

Purpose of Ancient Egyptian Art

Art without goals seems plain, but Egyptian Art throughout history has been distinguished by its importance, the known question ‘What makes ancient Egyptian art and architecture stand out’ The answer to this question has many points but here is one of them “the purposes”.

• Religious purpose; Art represents a means to connect with the gods
• Afterlife preparation; like tombs, funerary figures, artifacts, and amulets
• Political propaganda to show the king’s power 
• As documentation; storytelling and inscriptions of battles
• Reflecting on daily life activities

Know More About How were pyramids built step by step

Symbolism in Ancient Egyptian Art

Symbols of Egyptian art and Egyptian architecture characteristics are considered some of the most beautiful characteristics ever in the old cultures, here are some of their meanings so you understand them and feel a real connection with the ancient Egyptians’ life.

• Symbols of power and authority like the flail or the long stick  or the tail of the bull
• Symbols of the gods; like the falcon head ( Horus), jackal head (Anubis), or the crossed arms ( Osiris)
• Colors like gold which represented eternity, white represented purity, and many others.
• Nature symbols; the sun disk represents the sun god, the Nile represents life, and several types of plants.

Ancient Egyptian Art Colors

Ancient Egyptian life was distinguished by its unique and beautiful aesthetic features and The art and architecture of ancient Egypt are distinguished by many types of symbols and colors ( you can make a pdf about it). We will talk a little about colors and their meanings.

• Black; represents the afterlife, fertility, and resurrection 
• White: represented purity, simplicity, and sacredness
• Red; represents chaos and danger
• Green; represents health and fertility
• Blue; represents heaven, water, and sky

Know More About What is the best tour company for Egypt?

Hieroglyphics and Literature in Ancient Egypt Art

Hieroglyphics is a way of writing in ancient Egypt. It is one of the most famous writings and is widespread in temples and tombs.

It’s a way of writing represented on statues, funerary buildings, books of the Dead, and many other important structures.

It was carved into stones, painted on walls, and written on papyrus.

Writing was a sacred act; writing played a very important part in guiding people through books on what to do in the afterlife.

The job of “scribes” was one of the most important jobs in ancient life, in writing religious books, laws, or orders from the kings.

This way of writing used nature as its letter like animals or plants.

Know More About What is an important holiday that is celebrated in Egypt?

Paintings in Ancient Egypt

Paintings in Ancient Egypt had a special balance and picturesque features.

• Balance: order and harmony are represented goddess Maat
• Kings were always the largest figures in the painting
• Usage of colors which was explained above
• The usage of different stuff to get the right color like malachite for green and black from carbon and so on
• Paintings were depicted on limestone walls or papyrus
• Many other paintings like decorations of tombs, scenes of daily life activities, or books 
• We also depicted mythology  like the story of Osiris and Isis
• Animals and their connection with gods like cats, cows, or others

Know More About What Did Ancient Egypt Look Like? Explore Its Civilization

Sculptures in Ancient Egypt

Sculptures were mass projects all over the country so they had many characteristics.

• They were carved from specific stones like limestone, granite, and sandstone.
• Wood was used for small statues
• Metals like gold, silver, copper, and bronze were used everywhere
• Most of the sculptures were made to be viewed from the front

Sculptures represented everything, jobs, gods, kings, and anything important like scribes or priests.

Ancient Egyptian Art Styles

1. Heads and legs

• Kings/Queens used to be the largest in the paintings

2. Scenes 

• Multiple actions were depicted in the same place, with horizontal bands

3. Arts from different eras;

• During the ” Age of pyramids’, we had the art style depicting daily life activities in tombs
• During the Middle Kingdom, art style changed a little depicting individual features
• During the New Kingdom, the art reached its peak, in temples like Karnak, and Luxor or in toms like the Valley of the Kings
• During the late period, art became more ornate

Jewelry, reliefs, sculptures, and paintings helped transport the difference in art styles to us and show us that with every era, a new style was born.

Ancient Egyptian Tomb Art

1. purpose: 

• honoring the dead 
• representing immortality

2. themes:

• religious/afterlife scenes like offering scenes, or the judgment scene
• daily life scenes like hunting, crafting, or fishing
• symbolic like the usage of food or tools

3. styles:

• color symbolism
• statuettes were placed in tombs to help the dead in the afterlife
• carved reliefs for more detailed scenes

4. Famous tomb arts:

• Theban tombs
• Valley of the kings’ tombs
• Tomb of Tutankhamun

5. Symbolism:

• The protective deities
• The judgment scene 
• Weight of the hearts and if you are going to heaven or not

Know More About Is 3 days in cairo enough

Ancient Egyptian Animals Art

Symbolism of animals in ancient Egyptian art;

Religious significance:

Cat; linked to the goddess of protection “ Bastet”

• Falcon; linked to the god of the sky “ Horus”
• Cow; linked to the goddess of motherhood “ Hathor”

Protective symbols:

• Snake: represents danger with protection
• Lion: represents strength and is used to guard temples or tombs

• Symbols like cattle, birds, and fish were used for daily life scenes
• Wild animals were used for hunting scenes
• We have sacred animals like cats and crocodiles

Amazing Tours to Egyptian Civilization

How to know the arts of ancient Egyptians and how they stand out through some of the wonderful tours with Egypt Tours group.

• Nile River Cruise: Luxor to Aswan
• Cairo & Giza complex
• Alexandria 
• Eastern Luxor tours like Karnak temple
• Western Luxor tours like Valley of the Kings
• Siwa oasis tour
• Abu Simbel; the temple of Ramesses II
• Nubian temples  like the Philae temple

Faience, Pottery, and Glass

These things represented an important and large part of the daily life of the ancient Egyptians and showed their talent in crafts, of course.

• Faience; This type of ceramic material was highly appreciated because of its surface.
• It was used for making small figurines and amulets
• Pottery: one of the oldest materials, used for food storage, cooking, and rituals
• They were made out of clay 
• The glass was used for decorative objects
• The early glass was made out of heated sand

The scarab beads and the glass bottle of Tutankhamun are some of the notable examples.

Create Your Own Trip

Innovations in Ancient Egyptian Construction Techniques

Egypt is one of the oldest countries in the world, due to this fact, the ancient Egyptians innovated many techniques which we can notice in their structures.

• Granite is; a hard and durable material used for chambers of tombs, it was made in Aswan. 
• Limestone, the most used one, was used for the pyramids and the temples, quarried near the Nile.
• Mudbrick: common for building houses and walls, was easily available
• Ramps; were used for transporting stones like Limestone
• Wooden rollers: to move stone blocks across the ground
• Canals, to control the flooding of the Nile and direct it to somewhere else
• Usage of flat roofs for houses it was made from stone slaps or wood

Unique Color Palettes in Egyptian Wall Paintings

1. Brown & Beige; 

Brown; fertility, human life, used for men in paintings

Beige; Earth, used for the background

2. white and red together;

Upper and Lower Egypt, representing the unification of Egypt

• God ra; golden hue “ the sun”
• God Osiris; green or black  ( rebirth /resurrection)
• God Horus; blue or Green (connection with heaven)

The Legacy of Monumental Structures like Karnak

Karnak temple in eastern Luxor is one of the largest and marvelous structures ever made in Egypt

• Technique; massive columns and large stone blocks and transportation of heavy materials
• Size; Karnak complex is the largest complex in Egypt with the largest temple  “Karnak”
• Religious reason; it was the center of worship, it was built to worship the Theban triad, which is God Amun, Mut, and Khonsu
• Political power; kings used this temple as a sign of their authority and as a sign of Egypt’s progress
• Influence; this was the hugest structure from the new kingdom until the Roman era, every king came and made a part of this temple to make sure his name would be known

Conclusion

To sum up, Egyptian art and civilization did not come without effort, thought, and creativity, especially since it is one of the oldest civilizations in existence. It was necessary to think differently and outside the box, and this is what appeared in the temples, tombs, and pyramids. We must marvel at these artistic styles and learn from them.

FAQ

What is the characteristic of ancient Egyptian architecture?

Ancient Egyptian architecture is known for its grand scale, symbolic design, and use of stones and hypostyle halls.

What makes ancient Egyptian architecture stand out?

It is the integration of correct thinking with the magnificence of engineering hands and the greatness of combining the correct colors in their correct places with expressive symbols so their real lives are conveyed to us.

What are the important features of Egyptian art and architecture?

Vibrant colors, carvings and reliefs, and large-scale monuments like temples and Pyramids.