Exam 1 Flashcards
1
Q
Predynastic Period
A
- 4000 - 3000 BCE
- Characteristics of the Predynastic Period:
- Division between Upper and Lower Egypt
- Increasing social stratification
- Increasing settlement nucleation
- Craft specialization
- More trading; long-distance economy
- Emerge of first writing
- 2 main cultural groups:
- Naqada = Upper Egypt (South)
- Buto/Ma’adi = Lower Egypt (North)
2
Q
Naqada II Pottery Vessel
A
- Ubiquitous scene in Naqada art = boat scene
- Painted in red line
3
Q
Naqada II Burial
A
- Used natural mummification (cist burials)
- Dig out a shallow hole in hot sert sand, line it with bricks, place the deceased in a specific position with grave goods
- Naqada II Tomb Complexes (Hierakonpolis)
4
Q
Painting from Tomb 100, Hierakonpolis
A
- Naqada II
- Grave tombs with paintings are a new feature of Naqada II
- 3450 BCE
- Smiting scene (bottom left)
- King holding a mace with string tied around necks of 3 prisoners
- Shows the power of the King; living embodiment of the gods
- Boats, animals, and human figures
- Human figures lack detail (stick limbs)
- No registers used
5
Q
Naqada III/Dynasty 0
A
- 3200-3000 BCE
- In Naqada III, Naqada invades and conquers the Delta; unifying Egypt for the first time and establishing Dynasty 0
- Ideology of Kingship formed:
- Sophisticated ideology about that a king is, his powers, and connection to the gods
- Way to legitimize and explain power of the King
- Aspects of this ideology:
- Sanction of the gods, religious role as head priest
- Administrative head
- Provisioner of the people
- Long-dstance trade
- Warfare
6
Q
Palette of Narmer
A
- 3050 BCE Dynasty 0/1
- Subject matter: Expansion of the south into the northern region; military power; creation of order by the King
- Transition from ‘stick’ figures (Naqada II) into composite human figures
- Use of registers and scale; King always shown as the same size as the gods
- Combining different perspective of the body in a single figure:
- Profile head with frontal view eye
- Profile lower body with frontal torso
- Not interested in naturalism
- Front side:
- Upper register:
- Serekh = Hieroglyph of the King’s Horus name; usually has a falcon on it (Horus) to show that King is living manifestation of Horus
- Two cow heads = sky God Bat (cosmic frame)
- Middle register:
- Smiting scene: Narme holding a mace in an upraised hand while gripping the hair of man (scene of dominance); King is wearing white crown and royal kilt
- Royal sandal bearer behind the King
- Above the prisoner, there is a schematized representation of papyrus (symbol of Lower Egypt) growing out of another prisoner with the same haircut; tell us who victim is
- Horus falcon = falcon god deminating the Delta population (rope attacked to head and held by falcon)
- Lower register:
- Individuals of lower Egypt (same hairstyle); under the feet of the King and naked to show vulnerability
- Upper register:
- Back side:
- Middle Upper Register
- Narmer wearing red crown; officials carrying banners in front of him; walking toward decapitated individuals
- Middle Lower Register:
- Two leopard-like creatures with intertwined necks
- “Master of animals” motif; the creation of order
- Lower register:
- King in the form of a bull, attacks a walled and fortified town
- Middle Upper Register
7
Q
Stela of Pepi
12th century BCE
A
8
Q
Egyptian Writing
A
- 3 scripts, 1 language
- Hieratic: Cursive form of hieroglyphs; script used for everday writing
- Hieroglyphic
- “Holy writing”
- Appropriate to only certain sacred contexts; only used on the walls of temples, tombs, pyramids, statues, and small sacred objects
- Believed that if you wrote something in hieroglyphic, you actually made it happen; not symbols
- Read into the face of the signs
- Combination of ideograms and phonograms
- Demotic: Most recent, 8th century BC after the fall of the new Kingdom
9
Q
The Rosetta Stone
A
- 3200 - 3150 BC
- Hieroglyphs on top; Ancient Greek on the bottom helped crack hieroglyph code
10
Q
Tomb U-J
A
- 3200-3150 BC, Abydos
- Located in Cemetary U
- Most important tomb of early pre-dynastic king
- Mastaba tomb
- Oldest evidence for writing; small pieces of bone pierced and tied around ceramic jars wit string; labels that signal commodity and quantity
11
Q
Mastaba Tombs
A
- Royal/elite burials
- Subterranean component
- False Door: Portal for the spirit of the deceased individual to move between worlds to receive the goods they need in the afterlife; hieroglyps of magical spells activate false door as a portal
12
Q
Early Dynastic Cemetery at Abydos: Umm el-Qa’ab
A
- Tomb of Djet (Dynasty 1)
- Tomb of Den
- Tomb or Djer
- Tomb of Aha
13
Q
Tomb of Aha
A
- Dynasty 1
- 3 separate mastabas and tons of subterranean chambers containing human sacrifices (subsidiary graves)
14
Q
Tomb of Den
A
- Abydos, Dynasty 1
- Large central burial chamber; subsidary graves
15
Q
Tomb of Djer
A
- Abydos, Dynasty 1
- Ritually deposited human forearms covered in jewelry in the walls
- Surrounded by subsidary graves
17
Q
Statue of Khasekhemwy
A
- Dynasty 2
- Costume = sed festival robe + white crown
- Religious festival in which king ritually renewed his reign to reconnect him to the gods
- Hieroglyohs at base: Defeated enemies in chaotic positions; Horus name surrounded by schematic depictions of defeated enemies; domination and physical power
- Left arm is helf horizontally across the front of his body underneath the robe while the other arm lies along the top of the thigh with clenched first
20
Q
Step Pyramid of Djoser
A
- 3rd dynasty, c. 2650 BCE
- Saqqara
- Components:
- Enclosure wall
- Entrance corridor
- Pyramid
- Mortuary temple: Protects the entrance of the burial chamber; location for mortuary cult services
- Serdab: Contains ka statue wearing nemes headress and ceremonial beard; eye holes in the serdab so Ka statue can look out and see the offerings that are brought
- Dummy buildings = Fake chambers
- Sed festival court
- South court: Boundary markers (crescent-shaped stones) that symbolize the limits of the King’s territory; royal ritual in which the king runs around these
-
South tomb = receptable created for organs of Djoser in jars (canopic jars)
- Relief on walls showing Djoser participating in sed festival
22
Q
Relief from the South Tomb (Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, 3rd dynasty)
A
- Shows Djoser running between territorial markers in the sed festival
- Performing in front of the baboon god
- The King is surrounded by symbols of his office:
- Was-hieroglyph: Scepter frequently held by dieties; symbolizes the power and authority that is associated with kingship
- Bird holding shen in its claws: Signals eternity
- Ankh sign: “Life”
- Semi-circular marker stones: Royal authority over his territory
- Horus name within the serekh
- King is wearing the white crown, white gown, and ceremonial beard
- Presence of birds = presence of gods
- Portrayal of the king as powerful and athletic
23
Q
Ka statue of Djoser
A
- 3rd dynasty
- Found in the serdab of the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
- King is wearing nemes headdress (striped royal headcloth) and ceremonial beard
- Provides a place where the king’s ka could manifest itself in order to observe and benefit from the festival that would be carried in front of the serdab (by looking through holes in the serdab wall)
- Base of statue: King’s name and titles; along with name of official Imhotep
- King’s feet are place on a series of nin archery bows cut in relief on the surface of the base: Represents hum as triumphant over his enemies and forces of chaos (duty to maintain Ma’at)
25
Q
Elements of canonical pyramid complex
A
- Develops in the 4th Dynasty
- Laid out on E-W axis
- Pyramid at west end
- Function: Solar symbol; reference to the God Ra
-
Mortuary temple on east side of pyramid
- Function: Location for mortuary cult practices; where food and drink would be presented daily; stelae with king’s name and title
-
Causeway running east connect to Valley Temple
- Valley temple function: Usually built on canal; location of the arrival and preparation for the king’s body after death
26
Q
The Maidum Pyramid of Sneferu
A
- 4th dynasty, 2575-2500 BCE
-
Sneferu’s first attmept at smooth pyramid
- Originally began as mastaba step structure; outer casing was added later to make it a smooth pyramid; casing eventually collapsed
27
Q
The Bent Pyramid of Sneferu
A
- 4th dynasty, 2575-2500 BCE
- Located at Dashur
- Cenotaph = pseudotomb that functions as a memorial, but never used as a tomb
- Contains a satellite pyramid = smaller side pyramids built for amily members
- Angle of building materials change halfway up
28
Q
The Red Pyramid of Sneferu
A
- 4th Dynasty, 2575-2500 BCE
- Sneferu’s 3rd attempt; sucessful
- Built using horizontal courses that are stacked and built from the bottom up
- White limestone outer casing originally
- Entrance into temple is high up on the side of the pyramid; long sloping tunnel that connects to 3 interior chambers
29
Q
Giza Plateau
A
- 3 royal pyramid complexes: Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure
- Limestone plateau provided steady supply of building materials
- Each pyramid follows same W-E formula (pyramid –> mortuary temple –> causeway –> valley temple)
30
Q
Great Pyramid of Khufu
A
- Largest temple built in Egypt
- Built using horizontal courses mortated with paste made out of gypsum
- Khufu: Son of Sneferu
- Covered with special white limestone (gone today)
- Aligned perfectly with sun’s course
- Very complicated interior (ascending passages, subterranean chambers
- The Grand Gallery
- Made using corbeling technique
- Burial Chamber
- Made of special aswan granite
- Contains remnants of King’s sarcophagus
31
Q
Jebel Sahaba Cemetery
A
- Lower Nubia, Late Paleolithic
- Early evidence for group conflict; evidence of violent death from skeletons
- As humans become more successful, they are more likely to compete with each other for resources
32
Q
Stone Circle at Nabta Playa
A
- Early Neolithic
- Large-scale alignment with celestial observations (development of religious ideas)
