CHAPTER 3ANCIENT EGYPT ROCK-CUT TOMBS burial places hollowed out of the faces of cliffs.

Rock-cut tombs, Beni Hasan. Dynasty 12, c. 1991-1785 BCE. Plan and elevation of a typical rock-cut tomb at Beni Hasan

Wall painting in the tomb of Khnumhotep, Beni Hasan, Dynasty 12, c. 1928-1895 CE

EGYPTIAN PAINTING AND RELIEF SCULPTURE Relief Scuplture was also painted Colorful Figural Scenes and Hieroglyphic texts

Relief of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II, Middle Kingdom, Dynasty 11, ca. 20512000 B.C.

SCULPTURE

Senworset III. Dynasty 12, c. 1878-1842 BCE. Black granite, height 21 1/2 (54.8 cm.). The Brooklyn Museum

EGYPTIAN FAIENCE is a sintered-quartz ceramic displaying surface vitrification which creates a bright lustre of various blue-green colours.

Egyptian Turquoise Faience with Spread wings, 712-30 B.C. Lotiform Cup, Third Intermediate Period, Dynasty 22, ca. 945715 B.C

CORE GLASS The first objects to be made entirely of glass in Egypt were produced by the technique known as core glass.

Core-formed vessels, 15001000 BCE

THE NEW KINGDOM HYPOSTYLE HALL a vast hall filled with columns.

Hypostyle Hall of the Mentuhotep Temple

Hypostyle Hall, Great Temple of Amun, Karnak

Plan of the Great Kingdom of Amun, Karnak. New Kingdom

PYLONS towers or posts set off each of massive gateways separate elements

Pylon and Festival Court of Thutmose II

Pylon of Ramesses II with obelisk in the foreground, Temple of Amun, Mut, and Khonsu, Luxor. Dynasty 19, c. 1279-1212 B.C.

THE FUNERARY TEMPLE OF HATSHEPSUT The dynamic female ruler Hatshepsut (Dynasty 18, ruled c. 1478-1458) is a notable figure in a period otherwise dominated by male warrior-kings. The daughter of Tuthmose I, Hatshepsut married her half-brother, who reigned for fourteen years as Tuthmose II, When he died, she became regent for his underage sonborn to one of his concubinesTuthmose III. Hatshepsut had herself declared king by priests of Amun.

Funerary temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahri. At the far left, ramp and base of the funerary temple of Mentuhotep III. Dynasty 11, c. 2009-1997 BCE

Statue of Hatshepsut on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hatshepsut as Sphinx, from Deir elBahri. Dynasty 18, c. 1478-1458 BCE. Red Granite, height 54 (164 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

THE TEMPLE OF RAMESSES II AT ABU SIMBEL At the time of Ramesses II (ruled c. 1279-1212 BCE), who some believed to be the pharaoh of the biblical story of Moses and the Exodus, Egypt was a mighty empire. Ramesses was a bold military commander and an effective political strategist.

Temples of Ramesses II, Abu Simbel, Nubia. Dynasty 19, c. 1279-1212 BCE

AKHENATEN AND THE ART OF AMARNA PERIOD The most unusual ruler in the history of ancient Egypt was Amenhotep IV, who came to the throne in 1352 BCE (Dynasty 18). He founded a new religion honoring a single supreme god, the life-giving son disk Aten, and accordingly changed his own name in 1348 BCE to Akhenaten. Borrowing from the modern name for this site, Tell el-Amarna, historians refer to his reign as the Amarna period. SUNKEN RELIEF the outlines of the figure have been carved into the surface of the stone, making it unnecessary to cut away the background.

Akhenaten and His Family, from Akhenaten (modern Tell el-Amarna). Dynasty 18, 1348-1336/5 BCE. Painted limestone relief, 12 x 15 1/4. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, gyptisches Museum

Queen Tiy, from Kom Medinet Ghurab (near el-Lahun). Dynasty 18, c. 1390-1352 BCE. Boxwood, ebony, glass, gold, lapis lazuli, cloth, clay and wax, height 3 3/4 (9.4 cm). Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, gyptisches Museum

Nefertiti, from Akhetan (modern Tell el-Amarna) Dynasty 18, c. 1348-1336/5 BCE. Limestone, height 20 (51 cm). Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, gyptisches Museum This famous head discovered along with the various drawings and other items relating to commissions for the royal family in the studio of the sculptor Tuthmose at Akhetaten.

BOOK OF DEAD By the time of the New Kingdom, the Egyptians had come to believe the only a person free from sin could enjoy an afterlife. The dead were thought to undergo a last judgment consisting of two tests presided over Osiris and supervised by Annubis, the overseer of funerals and cemeteries, represented as man with jackals head. The deceased were first questioned by a delegation of deities about their behavior in life. Then their heats, which the Egyptians believed to be the seat of the soul, were weighed on a scale against an ostrich feather, the symbol of Maat, goddess of truth.

Judgement before Osiris, illustration from a Book of the Dead. Dynasty 19, c. 1285 BCE. Painted papyrus, height 15 5/8 (39.8 cm). The British Museum, London