Ancient Egyptian Daily Life And After Life

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In the Albany Institute of History and Art there is a gallery that is focused only on Ancient Egypt artwork. The different pieces of artwork throughout the gallery include a highlight of ancient Egyptian daily life and after life. The artworks that are included in this gallery, range from, the colors and materials in jewelry, food and drink, gods and goddesses, everyday objects to preparing for the afterlife.
However, one piece of artwork stood out in the entire gallery. The Stela fragment of Mut and Amun is located in the Albany Institute of History and Art in their Ancient Egypt gallery. The term stela means, “a stone slab placed vertically and decorated with inscriptions or reliefs. Used as a grave marker or commemorative monument” (Stokstad & Cothren, 2014). Steles such as this one were set up in an individuals’ temple by worshippers hoping that their connection to the gods would last for all time.
“If the typical Egyptian stela looks suspiciously like a traditional tombstone, the reason is because traditional tombstones are a modern rendition of these ancient markers. Stela is a Latin word derived from the Greek stele, which means pillar or vertical tablet. In English, the usual forms are stele and steles. In ancient Egypt, stelae are slabs of stone or wood, of many different shapes, usually bearing inscriptions, reliefs or paintings” (Egypt, 1996).
The Stela fragment of Mut and Amun was created during the New Kingdom, Egypt predicted to be sometime between 1,550 and 1,069 BCE. However, the artist’s name of this stela fragment is currently unknown, but the medium of the stela is limestone. Egyptian art is broken up into three different parts, which include, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom.
“By this time, the co...

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... the Stele of the Sculptor Userwer was unfinished and during this time period figures were designed to be eighteen squares tall. “The unfinished decoration of this stela is particularly interesting: the lower part is still covered with the grid used for ensuring that the proportions of the figures were correct” (“Limestone stela of the Sculptor Userwer,” n.d.).
The Stela fragment of Mut and Amun is in fact an important piece of artwork that was preserved from New Kingdom Ancient Egypt. The stela itself symbolizes the beliefs and the culture during the time period in which it was created. However, the entire stela isn’t together anymore, individuals can receive a lot of information from the piece itself. The Stela fragment of Mut and Amun truly illustrates how Ancient Egyptian civilization was based on religion and their beliefs of after life during this time period.

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