bornemania.com - The Slides: Ancient Egypt - Old Kingdom

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Ancient Egypt - Old Kingdom
 

"The Old Kingdom is the first of the three great periods of Egyptian History, called the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms, respectively... [The] traditional division of Kingdoms places Djoser [Zoser] and the Third Dynasty in the Old Kingdom.  It ended with the demise of the Eighth Dynasty around 2134 B.C.  During the Old Kingdom, Egyptian sculptors, painters, and architects codified the modes of representation and methods of construction that would become the rule in the land of the Nile for more than two thousand years."

 - Gardner's Art Through The Ages, 11th edition, Vol. I, pp. 50 - 51


Zozer's [Djoser's/Zoser's] Pyramid

"One of the most renowned figures in Egyptian history is Imhotep, the royal builder for King Djoser (r. 2630 - 2611 B.C.) of the Third Dynasty.  ... He is the first known artist of recorded history.  After his death, Imhotep was revered as a god.  Imhotep designed the Stepped Pyramid of Djoser [Zoser], at Saqqara, the ancient necropolis (Greek for "city of the dead") for Memphis, the capital city Menes founded.  Built before 2600 B.C., the pyramid is one of the oldest stone structures in Egypt and the first monumental royal tomb."

- Gardner's Art Through The Ages, 11th edition, Vol. I, p. 48

 

  

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Pyramids at Giza

The Great Pyramids were built in the 4th Dynasty.  The tallest one, in the center, is the pyramid of Khafre built between 2520 and 2494 B.C.  The pyramids of Khufu and Menkaure flank it.

 "The immensity of the Gizeh pyramids and that of Khufu in particular is indicated by some dimensions.  At the base, the length of one side of Khufu's tomb is approximately 775 feet, and its area is some 13 acres.  Its present height is about four hundred and thirty feet (originally four hundred and eighty feet).  The structure contains roughly 2.3 million blocks of stone, each weighing an average of two and one-half tons.  Napoleon's scholars calculated that the blocks in the three great pyramids were sufficient to build a wall one foot wide and ten feet high around France."

- Gardner's Art Through The Ages, 11th edition, Vol. I, pp. 52 - 53

  


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Sphinx and Pyramids at Giza

The famous Sphinx seems to originally have been intended as a guardian for the pyramid of Khafre (seen in the background with a bit of the limestone facing remaining).  The Sphinx is, for the most part, actually carved, not constructed, from a rock protrusion.  Most likely the face is a depiction of Khafre himself.
 

  

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King Narmer's Palette

     "In Pre-dynastic times, Egypt was divided geographically and politically into Upper Egypt, which was dry, rocky, and culturally rustic, and Lower (northern) Egypt, which was opulent, urban, and populous.  The ancient Egyptians began the history of their kingdom with the unification of the two lands.  Until recently this was thought to have occurred during the rule of the first dynasty pharaoh Menes, identified by many scholars with King Narmer.  Narmer's image and name appear on both sides of a ceremonial palette found at heirakonpolis.  The palette is one of the earliest historical (versus pre-historical) artworks preserved.  Although it is no longer regarded as commemorating the foundation of the first of Egypt's thirty-one dynasties around 2920 B.C. (the last ended in 332 B.C.), it does record the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt at the very end of the Pre-Dynastic Period."

- Gardner's Art Through The Ages, 11th edition, Vol. I, pp. 45 - 46