Unit 2 Individual Project
Egyptian and Hittite Empire Ancient Art
By Christopher Mincey
09/08/2014
Art Appreciation (HUMA205 -1404A-01)

There are so many different types of art form that I could have chosen. I want to possible see the similarity of Art in the same ancient time period but among different cultures. I have chosen art work of the Canopic Jar Lid from the Egyptian Dynasty and the Seated goddess with a child from the Anatolia and the Caucasus or Hittite Empire. Both of the work of art is from the time period of 2000 BC to 1000 BC. Both of these pieces of art is part of their own culture but holds an magnificent piece of their own cultures past. The Ancient Egyptian Jar lid was an very important piece in this ancient civilizations culture. The jar lids main purpose was to store the internal organs of the body. The organs that were individually wrapped were the stomach, liver, lungs and the intestines. According to the history of Canopic Jars the heart was left in the body due to the Egyptians believed the heart carried the soul or spirit of an individual. For each organ that was removed they placed them all four different containers. The Metropolitan Museum of Art list the Canopic jar of Queen Kiya which has been identified by the hieroglyphic and the outer appearance of the facial lid part of the jar. The Egyptians placed the face of whoever may have died on the upper jar lid. The art form of the lids was that of pottery, this piece of Egyptian history is a three dimensional art piece. The material that was used to produce the lids was alabaster, wood, glass and stone. The jars were sculptured first out of what material they may want to use. Then they would design the four jars depending on what organs were placed in them. The head of the lids were stated as the Four Sons of Horus. Egyptians believed these four gods would protect their organs in the afterlife. This is an representational type of art form, but the color that was put into these antique pieces is amazing. As displayed and stated by the Smithsonian Institute, they came in different colors and materials. They were brown, blue off whitish color to represent stone. By the lids being pottery art form the design for some of them are amazing. The line work of this masterpiece is very detailed, the shape of most of the jars are that of an oval with a lid. The next wonder piece of art work is stated a the seated goddess with a child. This art form is of the Hittite Empire; it was possibly created around the 15th or 13th century BC. This pendant that was created was meant to worn around whomever neck that it belonged to at the time. The pendent is all gold with two pieces that were placed upon each other. The description of this wonder is an woman that is sitting in a chair. When looking at the chair it believe that the chair have lion paw prints on it. The seated goddess is wearing an necklace and have earrings on as well. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art there is an disk that sits above the goddess head which is an representation that it the sun that they pendent is depicting. The goddess that this pendent is portraying is the sun goddess Arinna. Arinna is stated to be an major god in the Hittite Culture. Not only on this pendent Arinna is sitting in the chair while an child is sitting on her lap. This art form was found and passed to the musem by Norbert Schimmel in 1989.
This beautiful gold pendent was an three dimensional art work. The process that was used to create this pendent is known as lost- wax process. This is when you pour metal into a mold and has been created into the shape of the mold. In this process there were not addition color that was put on the pendent at all. One thing that stands out the best is the curve line in the necklace and the facial structure of the pendent. The oval eyes the circular earring that has indentions in them. The nose that is connecting to the eye brows is just marvelous how this small item has so much detail in that century. It’s also an symmetrical that has an base on the bottom to just sit idle if needed. This art work is a representational art form, due to the simple fact you can clearly tell what it. When I look at this pendent I see an woman sitting on an throne with lion foot print placed on the throne. To me that signify an strong woman. Sitting on an thrown with an child sitting on her lap meaning that their has to be some type of love or caring for individuals period. The main function of this art piece was primarily personal. Due to the simple fact that it is an religious piece of art. With both of these extraordinary pieces of from the Egyptian and Hittite cultures. When looking at both of these art work the only similarity that both of these cultures used. The symbolization of the sun in both culture shows that both of these nations were closer than we may know. They way that we know that most ancient Egyptian artifacts are ancient is due to the hieroglyphs that are placed on the items. The craftsmanship of items that both nations produce was entirely different, but the product of making figurines was common from both nations when looking at the timeline. Reviewing both of these ancient cultures and seeing that they made some beautiful items out of little or nothing. It’s just an amazing thing to see art at its best.

References
"Seated goddess with a child [Hittite]" (1989.281.12) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1989.281.12. (October 2006)
Canopic Jar Lid [Egyptian; From KV55, Valley of the Kings, western Thebes]" (30.8.54) InHeilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/30.8.54. (October 2006)
Varry, S. (n.d.). Work The four canopic jars of Horemsaf. Retrieved September 8, 2014, from http://www.louvre.fr/en/oeuvre-notices/four-canopic-jars-horemsaf
Ancient Egyptian Art | Inlay in the form of Qebehsenuef | F1909.744. (n.d.). Retrieved September 8, 2014.