Sahara Rock Art

The Climate Change of the Sahara Region

Egyptian Art

Egyptian Art

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Eugen Weber 

Akhenaton

Akhenaten (or Echnaton, Ikhnaton and Khuenaten) changed his name from Amenhotep IV, to emphasize the most daring act of his reign, the change of the state religion from a polytheistic to ahenotheistic religion. Many sources speculate that he founded the first monotheistic religion, but that is not true. Still, the changes in the style of art were profound, clearly connected to a new life philosophy.
The artwork shows him and his wife, Nefertiti and their three children in the new 'everyday family life' style. The sun represents the new god Aten, with it's rays sending 'eternal life' to the family, represented through the 'ankh' symbol.
His drastic changes to the Egyptian culture were not embraced by the powerful priesthood, who restored the old religion after his death.

 http://portal.bentonvillek12.org/kimwilliams/Egyptian/Akhenaten%20and%20his%20family.JPG

Nebamun's Garden

Nebamun's Garden is part of a large wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun, a rich scribe living in Thebes. The entire scene shows him, his wife Hatshepsut and their daughter enjoying life near the river Nile. There are many more details to discover, though. The purpose of this artwork was the depiction of Nebamun's afterlife. Forever happy, young and involved in pleasurable activities, that was the idea of life after death. The particular rules of Egyptian painting are clearly displayed, based on the idea that everything must be depicted 'easily recognizable'. The sacrifice of 'perspective' was obviously not a problem.

Nebamun’s garden, fragment of a scene from the tomb-chapel of Nebamun. Thebes, Egypt; Late 18th Dynasty, around 1350 BC; Height: 64 centimetres (max), Width: 73 centimetres (painting only) Length: 104.2 centimetres, Width: 61 centimetres.
 http://www.egyptological.com/wp/wpcontent/uploads/2011/10/IMG_8469a.jpg


http://www.newscientist.
com/gallery/dn16421-nebamun-tomb-paintings/5

http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/ancient_egypt/room_61_tomb-chapel_nebamun/nebamun_animation.aspx


http://www.britishmuseum.org/search_results.aspx?searchText=nebamun

The Sphinx

The Khufu Pyramide

The Book of the Dead

Mesopotamia

MESOPOTAMIA

Eugene Weber: The Western Tradition: From Bronze to Iron

Kenney Mencher

Fertile Crescent 2 Cuneiform

Languages and Literatures: Cuneiform Civilizations

Kenney Mencher

Fertile Crescent 3 Typical Examples

Smarthistory, Art History at Khan Academy

Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi, 1792-1750 B.C.E.

Smarthistory, Art History at Khan Academy

Victory Stele of Naram-Sin, 2254-2218 B.C.E.

Kenney Mencher

Fertile Crescent 6 Kings Naram Sin and Hammurabi

Ishtar Gate and Processional Way (reconstruction), Babylon, c, 575 BCE

 

Rosa Steffensen

Berlin Museum Island 2011.mp4 - Ishtar Gate from 6.35

King Khafre 

(Chephren, Khaf-Re, Khauf-Re, Khephren, Khafra, Rachaf) is the same pharaoh that built the pyramid by the same name. He reigned approximatly between 2558 and 2532 in the 4th Dynasty.

This artwork is a masterpiece, realized in one of the hardest stones, making it difficult to execute, but explains the excellent condition, except for his left leg and arm being compromised. The hardness of the stone can also be read as a metaphor for Khafra's character.

Statue of Khafre in diorite. 2540-2250 BCE.  Valley Temple of Khafra, Giza. Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Diorite: height 168 cm, width 57 cm, depth 96 cm.

http://www.touregypt.net/images/touregypt/khafre2.jpg

http://www.art.com/asp/View_HighZoomResPop.asp?apn=11726615&imgloc=13-1352-Z000SIUJ.jpg&imgwidth=670&imgheight=894

http://www.art-prints-on-demand.com/a/
egyptian/statue-of-khafre-2520-249.html
  http://www.oocities.org/unforbidden_geology/ancient_
egyptian_copper_coring_drills.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khafra         http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nige-d-smith/nelea/khafre.html



The artists worked within a formula (style), which dictated the frontal position, the youthful perfect body and the dress code. The freedom lies in the treatment of the face, which is stylized and yet reveals individual features. In the photo above you can clearly see the "Sema Tawy" , the symbol for the union of the upper (lilies) and lower (papyrus) Egypt.

Chronology

How to memorize D A T E S ???

We all struggle to put dates to events, and that is no problem, if you got an idea about the chronology (what happened when) of events anyway. 

But we often don't!

Here are some suggestions to help us to remember these 'numbers' anyway...

1. http://www.wikihow.com/Memorize-History-Lessons

This website gives you nice pictures and advice - what I like is the ' warning' : 

• Don't treat learning history like learning vocabulary. You won't do well if you just try to memorize a list of facts. The key is to understand how dates and people and things fit into the story of the past.

which is very true!

2. http://www.twainquotes.com/HistoryDates/HistoryDates.html

Not serious, but seriously good : Mark Twain's methods - I think as visual artists, that might work for us...

3. http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/art-history-timeline.html

These are a few websites, that try to make the chronology of events simple and therefore easy to understand...

4. http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/for-the-beginner.html  or the more complex site http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/

5. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/  I am quite sure (not?!) you are familiar with this great site...

6. http://www.sporcle.com/games/Almasa/Painters   is for those of you who like quizzes...one can get quite good and it is fun....

Prehistory

Overview Prehistory

Eugene Weber 'The Western Tradition' - The Dawn of History

Renaissance

Renaissance art

Civilisation

Civilisation: The Skin of Our Teeth