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Role of art in religion
Compare Mesopotamian and Egyptian art
difference between egyptian and mesopotamian art
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When comparing two forms of artwork, it may be quite difficult to tell them apart. And when those artworks are thousands upon thousands of years old, it certainly does not help the issue. When looking at both Egyptian and Sumerian art, there is certainly a resemblance to some degree. Both are from before our time, and both express the beliefs and culture of their respective lineage. But if you delve deeper, you can certainly start to see a difference. Egyptian art is known widely for its hieroglyphics, while Sumerian art may be seen as focusing more on the naturalistic views on the human form. Both these cultures deserve the utmost respect, for their artwork to survive through the millenniums as they have, we can only give credit where credit is due. Some may not know the reason behind many of these artworks, but during these time periods, you did not make something for no reason at all. Everything had a purpose, or it was considered a waste of precious resources. Since Egyptian art is perhaps the most well known, we will delve into it's culture and reasons behind the artwork first.
Egyptian art is known widely for its depiction on telling a story with artwork. The Egyptian hieroglyphics portray this perfectly, though the main focus of these interesting forms may have a different meaning than some are used to. This is also true for the way many Egyptians portray their human figures. There is a continuous quality about them that has spanned many centuries. The figures are almost always stiff, posed in a manner that shows authority and drives the point of the artwork home. Even the astounding hieroglyphics are depicted in a manner that shows the figure at the best angle, even if it is contorted. Most of them are based around ...
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...do what pleases us? Do we put effort into things that do not matter? It can almost certainly be said that we do not, just as the Sumerian and Egyptian cultures did. Perhaps this means we are all simply human, or perhaps we are closer to our past than we want to believe.
Works Cited
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Moortgat, Anton. The Art of Ancient Mesopotamia. 1st. New York: Phaidon Publishers Inc., 1969. Print.
Sweeney, Emmet John. The Pyramid Age. New York: Algora Pub, 2007. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) Web. 10. Feb 2014.
The Judgement of Hu-Nefer. 1995. Photograph. British Museum, London, UK. Web. 12 Feb 2014.
The Standard of Ur. N.d. Photograph. Penn MuseumWeb. 12 Feb 2014. .
Sumerians and Egyptians can be different in many ways; they can be different in geography, religion, and kings. In Sumer rivers flooded but they were very unpredictable, different of Egypt where the river was very predictable. Sumerians hated their afterlife, but the Egyptians loved their afterlife. Hammurabi was very different from the Pharaohs in Egypt. They ruled differently. Sumer and Egypt are both ancient civilizations, but they are very different from each
Wallenfels, Ronald and Sasson, Jack M. The Ancient Near East (New York, Detroit, San Francisco, London, Boston, Woodbridge CT.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, The Gale Group 2000)
The statue of King Menkaure and his Queen exhibits with clarity the Egyptian devotion of art to a cannon of proportions. Its strictly frontal view point, the rigid poses of the figures, and a faithful accordance to rules and established customs can be interpreted as manifesting the nature of the Pharaoh’s authority over his subjects while at the same time exemplifying the highly regulated, hierarchical structure of ancient Egyptian society. The measured grid of verticals and counterbalancing horizontals, the stiff artificial postures and the overall idealized anatomical shapes of the bodies combined with naturalism is indicative of Egyptian taste for art and a representation of the character of Egyptian culture.
Egyptian art is infamous across the world - classified by the monumental pyramids, and the Sphinx. Although these are both valid forms of Egyptian art, they do not make up the entire artistic history of the country. On the contrary, perhaps the most replicated example of classic Egyptian art, from the Old Kingdom, can be found in their rendering of the human form. An interest in portraiture developed early in Egypt. (Gardner, 75) Whether painted on pottery, or cut into rock, the figures all had notably Egyptian characteristics. "The seated statue is one of only a very small number of basic formulaic types employed by the sculptors of the Old Kingdom." (Gardner, 75)
Hause, S., & Maltby, W. (2001). The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Egypt, Phoenicia and Israel. Essentials of Western Civilization (pp.7-15). California: Wadsworth.
The ancient Egyptians are known for many of the incredible aspects of their culture and everything they have produced. Some of the well known ancient Egyptian relics are the ones like the ancient pyramids, the Great Sphinx of Giza, mummies, and their many forms of art. Ancient Egyptian art is one of the most recognized styles of art. The most commonly known types of ancient Egyptian art are types like paintings, ceramics, and sculptures. Not only is Egyptian art beautiful, but it carries a huge deal of value and significance with it. A great portion of the time, the art has some kind of religious meaning to it. Consequently it is very difficult to discuss the art itself without delving into the various gods and goddesses presented in it. Something that particularly struck me about ancient Egyptian art was their proneness to use animals in their art. Not only do they use the animal’s full figure, but they also put individual parts on human bodies. This intrigued me because not many cultures have art that embrace animals to this extent. I will be exploring why the ancient Egyptians depict animals in their art repeatedly, and considering what they meant to them.
The Fourth Dynasty was a time of peace in Egyptian history and the transition between pharaohs was believed to be seamless allowing for a great amount of artistic work to be produced (Hawass). It is believed that the temple workshops formulated the cannon for which Egyptian art could be fashioned (Hawass). In statue the pharaoh and the royal family were only depicted based on the strictest of guidelines; “the human figure was usually represented with the head in profile, the eye and shoulders in front view, and the pelvis, legs, and feet in profile (Egyptian Art),” known as the “law of frontality (Egyptian Art).” Like the stature of Khafra from Giza, he was carved with in an unyielding frontal pose. Smooth and perfect, his phys...
Nagle, D. Brendan. The Ancient World: Readings in Social and Cultural History. Prentice Hall 2001
Damrosch, David, and David Pike. The Longman Anthology of World Literature. The Ancient World. Volume A. Second Edition. New York: Pearson/Longman, 2009. Pgs. .656-691. Print.
For quite some time now I have taken a great interest in Ancient Egyptian artwork and the history behind it. The Ancient Egyptian were once a powerful civilization, they left behind thousands of ancient enriched artifacts. Religion played a significant role in Ancient Egyptian artwork and had a huge influence on their civilization. The vast majority of Ancient Egypt artwork illustrates images of gods, goddesses, and rulers known as pharaohs. The Ancient Egyptians paid close attention to balance, proportions and rich details. If a person were to closely look at Egyptian art it would be clear to see that they used vibrant shapes with simple figures and smooth spaces of color assisting in creating a sense of direction and poise in
The artworks of Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, the Aegean cultures, and Ancient Greece have similarities that not only reflect objects and images, but also the media, style and representation. These countries were not always wealthy, clever, creative and powerful enough to gain supplies, but they all find a way to create art with what they had. They have all influenced on each other’s cultures and belief through their artistic values and ways, ranging from the materials and tools they use, position and representation of their monuments and their religious intent.
Nagle, Brendan D. The Ancient World: A Cultural and Social History. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1979.
As women age, their bodies change in various ways such as the development of wrinkles and white hair. However, Egyptian art did not necessarily combine these features in a consistent, fixed order when they show women as they grew older. This may reflect the reality of the ageing process: people do not always age in the sa...
Centuries before Julius Cesar, Galileo, Aristotle, Socrates, and albert Einstein; There was an ancient civilization that arose out of nowhere. They Settled upon the Tigris, and Euphrates Rivers, known as the fertile crest of Mesopotamia. These settlers are known as the Sumerians. The Sumerians were an agricultural society, who lived off their crops and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to trade goods. So when presented the terrible question “Why they existed?” The Sumerians believed that they existed to serve their gods by worship and dedicated work. Through the Sumerian Literature, architecture, and artwork the Sumerians let their purpose be known.
Richardson, Seth. "An Assyrian Garden of Ancestors: Room I, Northwest Palace, Kalhu." State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 13 (1999): 145-216.