googling to answer 6 questions about art history in egypt

Question 1

Is Egyptian art similar stylistically to any Mesopotamian culture from that time? Which culture and how are they similar or different in style and cultural context? Compare and contrast the formal and iconographic characteristics of Ti Hunting Hippopotamus and Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions. Identify formal and iconographic characteristics ancient Egyptian art shares with prehistoric Near Eastern images

Question 2

Many of the examples of Egyptian art seen in this chapter belong to North American and European museums, since foreign archeologists made many of the early discoveries. Travelling shows of Egyptian art are very popular and are potentially huge revenue producers. While today removing a country’s cultural patrimony is illegal, this was not the case in the past. Should these works now be returned to Egypt?

Question 3

You have been asked why scholars use the word “conservative” to describe ancient Egyptian pictorial arts. How do you answer the question? Describe the Egyptian canon of proportion and how it was applied. Make sure to discuss the significance of the Amarna Period and explain its formal and iconographic characteristics.Why does a change in religion bring about a change in art in ancient Egypt? We have seen that the style and iconography of Egyptian art changed with the introduction of a new religious system. Do you think that Akhenaton’s religious and artistic “revolution” was brave or foolhardy? Explain your position.

Question 4

There are many conventions within Egyptian imagery that go against our own iconography. One example is the stylization and formalization of royal portraiture while making those lower on the social hierarchy more naturalistic, and presumably a closer approximation to how they might have actually looked. Some art historians have also argued that Egyptian culture was far more matricentric then once thought. They look to the importance of Hathor, the mother goddess within Egyptian culture and in examples like Double Portrait in FIGURE 3-13 as evidence. In this image we see the woman holding the man in complete reversal of how our own images of male and female coupling are depicted. the argument has been made that although the Pharaoh had absolute power, that power came from his marriage to the woman and the female line of power. If true, it shows how we privilege our current world view and transpose it to the past. Discuss these and other ways in which our interpretation and view of Egyptian art might be determined by our own cultural prerogatives.

Question 5

Watch the video attached to the image in MindTap of the Pyramids of Gizeh prior to answering the question.

Ancient Egyptian culture provides us with immense subject matter for fantasy and entertainment. Why do you think it holds sway over our culture in ways that other civilizations do not? Is it because it is more foreign and strange than Greek and Roman culture, therefore the mystery surrounding it making it more curious and allowing our imaginations to run abound? Or is it that the monuments and artworks are so monumental?

We live in an age of incredible technological advances, with towers of glass and steel that spring to the heavens and the construction of a space station in earth’s orbit. Does it put our advances in perspective when we wonder how an ancient civilization like that in Egypt was able to construct monuments of such size with such geometric accuracy without modern machinery, mathematics or instruments? Is there an iconic structure that will represent our civilization in 4000 years

Question 6

Although Pyramids are a distinct symbol of Egypt, large-scale pyramidal construction is limited to a relatively short period in the Old Kingdom of Egyptian history. What would be some reasons for the modification of pyramid scale and institution of rock-cut tombs as seen at Beni Hasan. Evaluate the effectiveness of later architecture in communicating Egyptian and Pharonic power.