...Egyptian art is expressed in many forms, such as paintings and sculptures. It is both physically attractive, and highly symbolic. Because of the highly religious nature of Ancient Egyptian civilization, many of the great works of ancient Egypt depict gods, goddesses, and Pharaohs, who were also considered divine. During my visit to the Metropolitan museum of art, I performed an analysis on the Egyptian sculpture of Isis-Aphrodite, a symbolic goddess in Egyptian culture. The sculpture of Isis-Aphrodite dates to the Roman period. This time period was around the second century A.D. The Metropolitan museum of art purchased the sculpture in 1991. The piece of Isis-Aphrodite is a terracotta figure. It is made of alluvial clay. It is painted with brown, black, red, and pink paint on a white englobe. This rather small delicately painted figurine of Isis gives great gratification to sight upon first glance. It has a height of only 19.5 inches, and a width of approximately 5 inches. It is however, truly astonishing. The sculpture has a narrow expressionless face. She has brown shoulder length hair is fixed with twists like curls, and bangs. Aside from a few elaborate accessories, Isis is nude. Isis wears a large attention grabbing crown on her head, which steals the emphasis from other features. The crown is actually an exaggerated calathos (the crown of Egyptian Greco-Roman deities) emblazoned with the sun disk and horns of Isis. She also wears a bracelet, anklet, and sash. The...
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...Eternal Life in Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egyptian culture cannot be talked about without its pyramids and the mummification process because they are the greatest achievements of their civilization I believe. The Egyptian pyramids were not build in isolation, rather they are a part of a larger complex dedicated to the dead, in fact they are also known as the city of dead. The National Museum of Natural History exhibition focuses more on the mummification process than the pyramids but the entire exhibits makes this ancient Egyptian tradition more meaningful. The first chapter of the text talks about the mummification, and pyramids of Egypt, but touring the exhibit makes it more meaningful. The process also gave me a better understanding of the phrase “Egyptian mommies.” Touring the...
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...actions, as these two aspects of life are the ones that tell us most about the needs and beliefs of a culture. Learning about the needs and beliefs of ancient Egyptian culture brings up these barriers. In order to get an idea of the events and actions that pertained to the needs and beliefs of ancient Egyptians, we can look at certain physical artifacts from the time. Art and everyday objects can explain a lot about the daily events and actions of ancient Egyptians. However, these objects cannot give a thorough explanation about aspects of the culture on their own. In order to make the most out of the interpretation of ancient artifacts, they must be compared to similar artifacts from a culture that is known by the individual conducting the comparison. Finding the similarities and differences between the objects’ appearance and usage can lead to conclusions about the culture as a whole. One aspect of Egyptian culture that can be learned about and analyzed through certain artifacts is the depiction of women, and how women were viewed by other members of ancient Egyptian society. The way women are depicted in art during the times of ancient Egypt, can help show how they perceived in Egyptian culture. In order to gage this perception two similar representations of women from different cultures (one from ancient Egyptian society, and one from Western society that most are familiar with) must be compared. The two objects that will be compared are both statues of couples. These statues...
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...Greek and Egyptian cultures both value strong men, and women who needed their men. However, one difference that the Egyptians and Greeks have in their values is simplicity. The Egyptians favored elaborateness and the Greeks preferred simplicity. Both the Greek and Egyptian cultures value strength in their men. The images of the Greek men show these men in the prime of their abilities. The well muscled bodies depicted in the images show vitality and power that men in their prime have. The image "Theseus and the Amazons" shows strong and militarily powerful men defeating the Amazons. Competition of any kind, athletic or militaristic, was a way for men to prove themselves in Greek society. If a man showed arete he had honor (Burger, 49). Because of the Greek's chase of arete, men had to be strong both physically and intellectually in order to win. When Greek artists depicted men, the only men worthy to make art of were strong men with arete, so looking at the Greek culture, strong men were valued. The Egyptian images two and three show powerful men as well. In image two, showing Nebamum hunting, Nebamum is larger than his wife and servant. He is also closer to the foreground of the image with the other two in the background. Another instance of the man being larger and more forward is with image three. King Ramesses II is much larger than his wife, with Nefertari only coming up to his knee. The king is also more forward on the platform than her as well. Egyptian artists used...
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...Many researchers have done their work to find out who built the Egyptian Pyramids, and how they were built. Did the slaves build the pyramids? Here, we are going to find out. “ The pyramids are remarkable not only for the great technical skill they demonstrate, but also for the concentration of resources they represent” (Craig 11). The pyramids were not all built and designed by the same people. The pyramids were built under the name of pharaoh, meaning the term “great house.” Djoser, a third dynasty king, was the first to build a monumental six-step pyramid of hard stone. Khufu was the son of Djoser was the leader in building the largest pyramid ever constructed, plateau of Giza. It is 481 feet high, 765 feet long on each side, and with the base covering 13.1 acrs. The pyramid is made of 2.3 million stone blocks averaging 2.5 tons each. Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure built the exact same three pyramids at Giza. Beyond that there are over 120 pyramids throughout Egypt. The workers who built the pyramids were Egyptians, not slaves, as many people do believe. Farmers lived in villages made for workers of the pyramids. They built the Pyramids while the nile was flooding. There are three burial chambers in or under the Great Pyramid. The first chamber was built under the Great Pyramid and it was no finish. This was then followed by the Queen's and Kings chambers. These pyramids were built to serve as tombs for kings and queens. After a ruler had passed away, his or her body was...
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...The pyramids were so important to the ancient egyptians because they were built to put the pharaohs and queens in their tombs. The ancient egyptians worshipped their gods and that was important to them because their pharaohs who they worshipped is in the pyramids. The pyramids were also important because of all the hard work they put into the pyramids. The ancient egyptians were also because after they died they had to put the pharaohs and queens somewhere for their afterlife. The pyramids symbolized that they had a place to go after death. And that they were for the pharaohs and queens. The pyramids also symbolized that they honored the pharaohs and queens and they were buried to get ready for their afterlife. They had to build pyramids...
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...Ancient Egyptian art is over 5000 years old. It has lasted generation through generation. Their art was a very important aspect of their lives and it was often expressed through colorful paintings and detailed sculptures. It was very symbolic and interesting to look at; its purpose was to keep their history alive. A lot of their artwork was for spiritual purposes only. That being said, most of the artwork and sculptures were actually never meant to be seen by anyone but the gods. These beautiful works of art were used to benefit the deceased in which the art was for. Statues were places where the spirit could dwell which is why they would fill their tombs up with as many statues and paintings as they could. They would go through all this trouble just for one person to have a good after life. Early Egyptian art had a very distinct style. The artists of this era all carefully followed the popular trends of representing humans, gods, and animals in a kind of disproportional way. Gods and humans were notably different in artwork. You could tell because of the way the gods dress verses...
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...But let me his straight: the beginning of the ancient Egyptian era began about 5,000 years ago. (Around 3100 BCE) Egyptians were very religious, and they believed that everything in their lives depended on gods and goddesses. We know over 2,000 names of gods, but I'll only tell you about a few important ones. Egyptians believed that the god Ptah was the creator of earth. A very...
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...Engrained into the culture, mentality, and practices of the ancient Egyptians was their polytheistic religion. Their spiritual concepts and gods’ mythologies and affected how they approached everyday life, but also death. The Egyptians believed that the gods watched over Egypt, could influence its destiny, and were present as physical, worldly forces (David 58). The gods existed with them. In the afterlife, however, the pharaoh and elite would experience them face-to-face to be taken through the underworld to join them (David 58; Silverman 46). Much knowledge of the Egyptian religion comes from remaining funerary texts, primarily consisting of Pyramid Texts, Coffin Texts, and the Book of the Dead (also known as Coming Forth by Day) (Silverman...
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...Social media’s role in 2011 Egyptian revolution Egyptian revolution in 2011 was part of Arab Spring, a series of demonstrations, protests and revolutions. All of those revolts have one thing in common and it is the important role of social media. This essay is going to investigate the social media’s effect on Arab Spring, particularly on the revolution in Egypt. Social media have a great power, because thanks to them, people can share their thoughts in every single minute of their life. Even though there are other ways of communication, social media, such as blogs, Twitter or Facebook, had a great impact on Egyptian revolution in 2011 because people could organize their dissidence fast and could easily share their ideas of the free Egypt. When Hosni Mubarak became a president in 1981, he became suppressing all his opponents. People were not happy, but they were not united in order to oppose Mubarak. Everyone trying to oppose Mubarak without the support of the people put his life and lives of his family into the risk. There was no simple nor easy way to connect with people who shared the same opinion about the government, because having such a discussion at any public place was dangerous at that time. Although it was possible to find people with the same political views, the idea of making any non-violent protest was unrealistic. To make such a protest many people need to join the demonstration, but without internet, people couldn’t share the information about the demonstration...
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...childhood in America. A big difference between the two countries is that while Americans do have small chores around the house, Egyptian children bare bigger responsibilities, such as tending to livestock and helping around at a family business. Egypt school systems were much stricter, with punishments being hits with a paddle. Along with this, mid-day lunches were much different from here. Children were usually fed a traditional Egyptian snack; cheese, bread, and cucumbers. Another large lifestyle difference between the two countries is that it’s common for children to roam the streets and stay up during the nights because the day was sometimes too hot to bare....
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...2011 Egyptian Religion Religion is defined by many people as a belief in a “greater power” as well as personal morals. Most religions usually include a system of values as well as various practices. Egyptian religion included their ancient gods, the mythology of the gods, and other parts of their religion. For example their religion explained and included creation, death and the afterlife, and the cults that worshiped the gods. In Egypt, the king or pharaoh played a very important part in their religion and what the gods expected of the people also. Egyptian religion consisted of many myths and rituals too. Religion was a very influential part of Ancient Egyptian culture and shaped their ancient civilization of the Nile greatly. Like most other cultures, the ancient Egyptians wanted to find the meaning for their existence, but there were also other influences on their religion, such as the need to justify kingship, along with many others. Egyptians have numerous Gods in there culture and they feel that the Gods walk among them, invisibly on Earth. Ra is the most central God of the Egyptian gods. Known as the sun god, Ra was the most important element of life in ancient Egypt and represented light, warmth, and growth. Ra embodies the Egyptian beliefs of order and truth, and he signifies the cycle of birth, life and death. Of all the ancient Egyptian Gods Anubis is frequently the one referred to as the gatekeeper of the underworld and god of death. The Egyptian goddess...
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...Religion guided every aspect of Egyptian life. Egyptian religion was based on polytheism, which means the worship of many deities, except for during the reign of Akenaton. During the reign of Akenaton, more than 3,000 years of development, Egyptian religion underwent significant changes of emphasis and practice, but in all periods religion had a clear consistency in character and style. The Egyptians had as many as 2000 gods and goddesses. Some, such as Amun, Isis, Osiris, and Horus, were worshipped throughout the whole country, while others had only a local following. There were two essential foci of public religion: the king and the gods. Both are among the most characteristic features of Egyptian civilization. The king had a unique status between humanity and the gods, partook in the world of the gods, and constructed great, religiously motivated funerary monuments for his afterlife. The Egyptian "Book of the Dead" contains the major ideas and beliefs in the ancient Egyptian religion. Because their religion stressed an afterlife, Egyptians devoted much time and wealth to preparing for survival in the next world. Tombs were placed if possible in the desert. Vast resources were expended on creating prestigious burial places for absolute rulers or wealthy officials. Tombs contained elaborate grave goods (mostly plundered soon after deposition), representations of “daily life,” or less commonly of religious subjects, and some texts that were intended to help the deceased attain...
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...Could ancient Egypt’s religion have survived for such a long time if it did not incorporate artwork? While that remains unknown, it is still quite clear that art played a big role in the religion of ancient Egypt. Whether it be through wall monuments, the Book of the Dead, the mummification process or something else, these two things are closely related to each other. The religion in ancient Egypt was closely centered around the different gods and the afterlife, and art reflected this. Ancient Egyptians associated many different traits that animals had with attributes of the gods, which lead to them being depicted with the heads of animals. The gods were shown in all types of artwork, a common one being narrative art, which told a story often honouring the achievements of someone. The style of art in Egypt was also created to appease the gods. People were drawn in both side and front perspectives at the same time to show the gods the most of their bodies that they could, and pharaohs and gods were also much larger than other figures to highlight their significance....
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...The pyramids of Giza hold the secrets of an ancient culture that thrived over 4500 years ago, they are the last standing wonder of the world. This civilization made such a wonder than has a very unquiet astronomical mystery. The Egyptians where smarter than the time era would indicate, placing the pyramids in such a pattern with Orin’s belt or with the path of the Sun is astronomically magnificent and incredible use of Trigonometry. Throughout history we have seen cultures that have advanced gratefully in their own respect but nothing like the Egyptians. Egyptians pyramids and the Great Sphinx have some great Mathematical and Astronomical significance. They were not randomly placed and randomly built, they had a purpose and still have a...
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