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A history of
art in ancient Egypt
Pfel!!''''fp|^
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A HISTORY
OF
ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT.
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A HISTORY
OF
^xi in ^ndznt Sggpt
FROM THE FRENCH
OF
GEORGES PERROT,
PROFESSOR IN THE FACULTY OF LETTERS, PARIS ; MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE
AND
CHARLES CHIPIEZ.
ILLUSTRATED^ WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY-BIOHT ENQRAVINQ8 IN THE TEXT
AND FOURTEEN STEEL AND COLOURED PLATES.
IJV TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. II.
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY
WALTER ARMSTRONG, B.A., Oxon.,
AUTHOR OF "ALFRED STBVBNS," ETC.
1Lon^on: chapman and hall, Limitei..
1883.
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/^^
HARVARD
UNIV6RSI1Y
LIBRARY
]
R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor,
BREAD STREET HILL.
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CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
CIVIL AND MILITARY ARCHITECTURE.
PAGE
1. The Graphic Processes employed by the Egyptians in their
representations of Buildings i— 8
2. The Palace 8—26
3. The Egyptian House 26 — 38
4. Military Architecture 38 — 50
CHAPTER II.
METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION, THE ORDERS, SECONDARY FORMS.
§ I. An Analysis of Architectural Forms necessary 51 — 52
§ 2. Materials 52—55
§ 3. Construction 55 — 76
§ 4. The Arch 77—84
§ 5. The Pier and Column. — The Egyptian Orders 85—133
Their Origin 85 — 91
General Types of Supports 91 — 133
§ 6. The Ordonnance of Egyptian Colonnades 133 — 147
§ 7. Monumental Details 147 — 155
§ 8. Doors and Windows 156 — 162
Doors 156 — 161
Windows 162
§ 9. The Illumination of the Temples 162 — 169
§ 10. The Obelisks 169—176
§ 1 1 . The Profession of Architect 176 — 179
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vi Contents.
CHAPTER III.
SCULPTURE.
PAGE
§ I. The Origin of Statue-making i8o — 184
§ 2. Sculpture under the Ancient Empire 184 — 225
§ 3. Sculpture under the First Theban Empire 226 — 238
§ 4. Sculpture under the Second Theban Empire 239 — 265
§ 5. The Art of the Saite Period 265 — 274
§ 6. The Principal Themes of Egyptian Sculpture 275 — 284
§ 7. The Technique of the Bas-reliefs 284 — 288
§ 8. Gems 288—291
§ 9. The Principal Conventions in Egyptian Sculpture 291 — 326
§ 10. The General Characteristics of the Egyptian Style 326 — 330
CHAPTER IV.
PAINTING.
§ I. Technical Processes 331 — 341
§ 2. The Figure 341—351
§ 3. Caricature 351—355
§ 4. Ornament 355—363
CHAPTER V.
THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS.
§ I. Definition and Characteristics of Industrial Art % . 364 — 367
§ 2. Glass and Pottery 367 — 377
§ 3. Metal-work and Jewelry 377 — 390
§ 4. Woodwork 390 — 398
§ 5. The Commerce of Egypt 399 — 400
CHAPTER VI.
THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF EGYPTIAN ART, AND THE PLACE
OF EGYPT IN ART HISTORY 40I — 408
APPENDIX 409—416
INDEX 417—434
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
COLOURED PLATES.
Thebes, the Pavilion of Medinet-Abou, restored To face page 24
Portico in the temple of Medinet-Abou, restored .... „ 144
Rahotep and Nefert, Boulak Museum „ 186
The Scribe^ Louvre „ 192
The Queen Taia, Boulak Museum „ 240
Funerary offerings, fragment of a painting upon plaster, Louvre „ 334
Tomb of Ptah-hotep, fragment of Western Wall „ 356
Tomb of Ptah-hotep, ceiling and upper part of Western Wall „ 360
FIG. PAGE
1. House 3
2. The adoration of the solar disk by Amenophis IV 6
3. Egyptian plan of a villa 7
4. Part of the plan of a house and its offices 9
5. Partial restoration of a palace at Tell-el-Amarna 17
6. Ground plan of the " Royal Pavilion " 19
7. Plan of the first floor of the " Royal Pavilion" 19
8. Longitudinal section of the pavilion 19
9. Transverse section of the pavilion 20
10. Brackets in the courtyard of the Royal Pavilion 23
11. Plan of a part of the city at Tell-el-Amarna 29
12. BirdVeye view of a villa 31
13. Model of an Egyptian house 34
14 — 17. Plans of houses 34
18. Piece of furniture in the form of a house 35
19. House from a Theban wall painting 35
20. House with a tower 35
21. Battlemented house 36
22. Decorated porch 36
23. House with inscription 36
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viii List of Illustrations.
FIG. PAGE
24. House, storehouse, and garden 36
25. Brewing 37
26. Granaries 37
27. Granaries 38
28. Military post at Abydos 42
29. Military post 42
30. Bird's-eye view of the fortress of Semneh 43
31. A besieged fort 46
32. Siege of a fortress 47
33. Brick stamped with the royal ovals 54
34. The Sarcophagus of Mycerinus 57
35. Door of a tomb at Sakkarah 60
36. Stele from the fourth dynasty 5i
37. Stele from the fourth dynasty 62
38. Flattened form of lotus-leaf ornament, seen in front and in section ... 63
39. Lotus-leaf ornament in its elongated form 63
40. Wooden pavilion 64
41. Horizontal section, in perspective, of the first pylon at Karnak .... 67
42. Workmen polishing a monolithic column 69
43. Transport of a colossus 73
44. Arch in the necropolis of Abydos 78
45. Arch in El-Assassif 79
46. Arch in El-Assassif 80
47. Vaults in the Ramesseum 81
48. Vault in the Ramesseum 81
49. Elliptical vault 82
50. Foundations with inverted segmental arches 82
51. Transverse section of a corridor at Dayr-el-Bahari 83
52. Section in perspective through the same corridor 83
53. Vaulted chapel at Abydos 84
54. Bas-relief from the fifth dynasty 86
55. Detail of capital 86
56. Bas-relief from the fifth dynasty 87
57. Details of columns in Fig. 56 87
58. Pavilion from Sakkarah 87
59. Details of columns in Fig. 58 87
60. Bas-relief from the fifth dynasty 88
61. Details of the columns 88
62 — 65. Columns from bas-reliefs 89
66. Quadrangular pier 92
67. Tapering quadrangular pier 92
68. Pier with capital 92
69. Hathoric pier 92
70. Osiride pillar 93
71. Ornamented pier 94
72. Octagonal pillar 96
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List of Illustrations. ix
FIG. PAGE
73. Sixteen-sided pillar 96
74. Polygonal column with a flat vertical band 98
75. Polygonal pier with mask of Hathor 98
76. Column from Beni-Hassan 99
77. Column at Luxor loi
78. Column at Medinet-Abou loi
79. Column at Medinet-Abou 102
80. Column from the Great Hall at Kamak 103
81. Column from the Hypostyle Hall of the Ramesseum 103
82. Column of Soleb 104
83. Column of Thothmes at Kamak 104
84. Corner pier from the temple at Elephantine 106
85. Pier with capital 107
86. Osiride pier 109
87. Hathoric pier from Eilithya iii
88. Hathoric pier from a tomb in
89. Column at Kalabch^ 112
90. Column of Thothmes HI 113
91. Base of a column 115
92. Bell-shaped capital 117
93. Capital at Sesebi 119
94. Capital from the temple of Nectanebo, at Philse 119
95. Capital from the work of Thothmes, at Karnak 120
96. Arrangement of architraves upon a capital 120
97. The Nymphaea Nelumbo 123
98. Papyrus plant 127
99. Small chamber at Kamak 134
100. Apartment in the temple at Luxor 134
loi. Hall of the temple at Abydos 134
102. Plan of part of the Hypostyle Hall at Kamak 134
103. Tomb at Sakkarah 135
104. Hall in the inner portion of the Great Temple at Karnak 135
105. Portico of the first court at Medinet-Abou 135
106. Portico of the first court at Luxor 135
107. The portico of the pronaos, Luxor 136
108. Part plan of the temple at Elephantine 136
109. Luxor, plan of the second court 136
no. Portico in the Temple of Khons 137
111. Luxor, portico of the first court 137
112. Part of the portico of the first court, Luxor 138
113. Portico in front of the fa9ade of the temple of Goumah 138
114. Part of the Hypostyle Hall in the Great Temple at Karnak 138
115. Second Hypostyle Hall in the temple of Abydos 139
116. Hall in the speos of Gherf-Hossein 139
117. Medinet-Abou; first court 139
118. Medinet-Abou; second court 139
VOL. II. b
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List of Illustrations.
PIG. PAGE
19. Portico of the Temple of Khons 140
20. Portico of first court at Luxor 140
21. Anta, Luxor 141
22. Anta, Goumah 141
23. Anta, Medinet-Abou 141
24. Anta in the Great Hall of Karnak 141
25. Antae, Temple of Khons 142
26. Anta and base of pylon, Temple of Khons 142
27. Antae, Medinet-Abou 143
28. AntSB, Medinet-Abou 143
29. Anta and column at Medinet-Abou 145
30. Column in the court of the Bubastides 146
31. Stereobate 148
32. Stereobate with double plinth 148
33. Pluteus in the intercolumniations of the portico in the second court of
the Ramesseum 150
34. Doorway 151
35. Cornice of the Ramesseum 152
36. Cornice of a wooden pavilion 152
37. Pedestal of a Sphinx 153
38. Cornice under the portico 153
39. Fragment of a sarcophagus 154
40. Fragment of decoration from a royal tomb at Thebes 154
41. Plan of doorway, Temple of Elephantine 157
42. Plan of doorway, Temple of Khons 157
43. Plan of doorway in the pylon. Temple of Khons 157
44. 145. The pylon and propylon of the hieroglyphs 157
46. Gateway to the court-yard of the small Temple at Medinet-Abou . . . 158
47. A propylon with its masts 158
48. A propylon 159
49. Gateway in the inclosing wall of a Temple 159
50. Doorway of the Temple of Khons 160
51. Doorway of the Temple of Goumah 160
52. Doorway of the Temple of Seti 161
53> 154- Windows in the Royal Pavilion at Medinet-Abou 162
55. Attic of the Great Hall at Karnak 163
56. C7a«j/ra of the Hypostyle Hall, Karnak 165
57. C/a/^J/r« in the Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Khons 166
58. Method of lighting in one of the inner halls of Karnak 167
59. Auxiliary light-holes in the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak 167
60. Method of lighting one of the rooms in the Temple of Khons . . . . 167
61. Light openings in a lateral aisle of the Hypostyle Hall in the Ramesseum 168
62. The Temple of Amada 168
63. Claustra 168
64. Window of a house in the form of ^/<:7«x/!r£Z 169
65. Window closed by a mat 169
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List of Illustrations. xi
FIG. PAGE
i66. Funerary obelisk 171
167. The obelisk of Ousourtesen 173
168. The obelisk in the Place de la Concorde 173
169. The obelisk of Beggig 175
170. Upper part of the obelisk at Beggig 175
171. Limestone statue of the architect Nefer 177
172. SepaandNesa 186
173. Ra-hotep 188
174 — 176. Wooden panels from the tomb of Hosi 191,193,195
177. Limestone head 196
178. Wooden statue 198
179. Bronze statuette 199
180. Bronze statuette 201
181. Ra-nefer 204
182. Statue in the Boulak Museum 205
183. Statue of Ti ,. . . 205
184. Wooden statue 206
185. Statue in limestone 206
186. Limestone group 207
187. Wooden statuette 208
188. Nefer-hotep and Tenteta 208
189. Limestone statue 209
190. Limestone statue 209
191. Limestone statue 210
192. Limestone statue 210
193. Woman kneading dough 211
194. Woman making bread 212
195. Bread maker 213
196. 197. Details of head-dresses 213
198, 199. Nem-hotep 214
200. Funerary bas-relief 215
201. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ti 217
202. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ti 218
203. Sepulchral bas-relief 219
204. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ra-ka-pou 219
205. Statue of Chephren 222
206. Wooden statue 227
207. Sebek-hotep III 229
208. Sphinx in black granite 231
209. Head and shoulders of a Tanite Sphinx in black granite 233
210. Group from Tanis 234
211. Side view of the same group 235
212. Upper part of a royal statue 236
213. Fragmentary statuette of a king 237
214. Thothmes III 241
215. Thothmes III 243
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xii List of Illustrations.
FIG. PAGE
2 1 6. Statuette of Amenophis IV 245
217. Funeral Dance 251
218. Bas-relief from the tomb of Chamhati 253
219. Portrait of Rameses II. while a child 255
220. Statue of Rameses II 256
221. Prisoners of war 257
222. Statue of Rameses 11. in the Turin Museum 259
223. Head of Menephtah 260
224. Seti II 261
225. The Goddess Kadesh 263
226. Statue of Ameneritis 264
227. Bronze Sphinx 267
228. Statue of Nekht-har-heb 268
229. Statue of Horus 269
230. 231. Bas-relief from Memphis 270, 271
232. Horus enthroned 273
233. Roman head 274
234. Wooden statuette 279
235. Bronze cat 280
236. Lion 281
237. Bronze lion 282
238. Sphinx with human hands 283
239. Quadruped with the head of a bird 284
240. Portrait of Rameses II 286
241. Intaglio upon sardonyx, obverse 289
242. Reverse of the same intaglio 289
243. Intaglio upon jasper 290
244. Reverse of the same intaglio 290
245. Seal of Armais 290
246. Bas-relief from Sakkarah 295
247. The Queen waiting on Amenophis IV 296
248. Bas-relief from the eighteenth dynasty 297
249. Horus as a child 299
250. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ti 306
251. Bas-relief at Thebes 307
252. From a painting at Thebes 308
253. Painting at Thebes 309
254. Painting at Thebes 310
255. Painting at Thebes 311
256. Bronze statuette 312
257. Spoon for perfumes 313
258. Design transferred by squaring 320
259. Design transferred by squaring 321
260. Head of a Cynocephalus 323
261. Head of a Lion 323
262. Head of a Lioness 323
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List of Illustrations. xiii
FIG. PAGE
263. Outline for a portrait of Amenophis III 333
264. Portrait of Queen Taia 339
265. Painting at Beni-Hassan 341
266. Painting at Beni-Hassan 342
267. Painting at Beni-Hassan 342
268. Painting at Beni-Hassan 343
269. Painting at Thebes 343
270. Painting at Thebes 344
271. Harpist 345
272. European prisoner 347
273. Head of the same prisoner 347
274. Ethiopian prisoner 348
275. Head of the same prisoner 348
276. Winged figure 349
277. Winged figure 350
278. Battle of the Cats and Rats 352
279. The soles of a pair of sandals 354
280. 281. The God Bes 354
282. Vultures on a ceiling 356
283,284. Details from the tomb of Ptah-hotep 357
285. Carpet hung across a pavilion 358
286. Specimens of ceiling decorations 359
287. Painting on a mummy case 361
288. Winged globe 361
289. 290. Tables for offerings 363
291. Pitcher of red earth 368
292. Red earthenware 369
293. Gray earthenware 370
294. The God Bes 370
295. Pendant for necklace 371
296,297. Enamelled earthenware 371
298. Enamelled faience 372
299. Doorway in the Stepped Pyramid at Sakkarah 372
300 — 302. Enamelled plaque from the Stepped Pyramid 373
303 — 305. Enamelled earthenware plaques 374
306, 307. Glass statuettes 376
308. Mirror-handle 379
309. Bronze hair-pin 379
310. Bronze dagger 379
311. Pectoral 381
312. 313. Golden Hawks 382
314. ^gis 383
315. Necklace 385
316. Osiris, Isis, and Horns 387
317. 318. Rings 387
319, 320. Ear-rings 387
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XIV List of Illustrations.
FIG. PAGE
321. Ivory Plaque 388
322. Ivory Castanet 389
323. Fragment of an Ivory Castanet 391
324. Workman splitting a piece of wood 392
325. Joiner making a bed 392
326. Coffer for sepulchral statuettes 393
327. 328. Chairs 394
329—331- Perfume spoons 395, 396
332 — 334. Walking-stick handles 397
335. Wooden pin or p^ 398
336. Hathoric capital 398
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A HISTORY
OF
ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT.
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A HISTORY OF
ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT
CHAPTER I.
CIVIL AND MILITARY ARCHITECTURE.
§ I. The Graphic Processes employed by the Egyptians in their
representations of Buildings.
We have seen that sepulchral and religious architecture are
represented in Egypt by numerous and well preserved monuments.
It is not so in the case of civil and military architecture. Of
these, time has spared but very few remains, and all that the
ancient historians tell us on the subject amounts to very little.
Our best aids in the endeavour to fill up this lacuna are the
pictures and bas-reliefs of the tombs, in which store-houses,
granaries, houses and villas of the Pharaonic period are often
figured.
It is not always easy, however, to trace the actual conformation
and arrangement of those buildings through the conventionali-
ties employed by the artists, and we must therefore begin
by attempting to understand the ideas with which the Egyptians
made the representations in question. Their idea was to show
all at a single glance ; to combine in one view matters which
could only be seen in reality from many successive points, such
as all the fa9ades of a building, with its external aspect and
internal arrangements. This notion may be compared to that
which recommends itself to a young child when, in drawing a profile,
VOL. II. B
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A History of Art in Ancient Egypt.
he insists upon giving it two ears, because when he looks at a
front face he sees two ears standing out beyond either cheek.
In these days when we wish to represent an architectural
building exhaustively, we do it in geometrical fashion, giving
plans, elevations, and sections. To get a plan we make a horizontal
section at any determined height, which gives us the thickness
of the walls and the area of the spaces which they inclose. An
elevation shows us one of the faces of the building in all its
details, while the transverse or longitudinal section allows us
to lay the whole of the structural arrangements open to the
spectator. Plan, elevation, and section, are three different things
by the comparison of which a just idea of the whole building and
of the connection of its various parts may be formed.
The Egyptians seem to have had a dim perception of these
three separate processes, but they failed to distinguish clearly
between them, and in their paintings they employed them in the
most naive fashion, combining all three into one figure without
any clear indication of the points of junction.
Let us take as an example a representation of a house from a
Theban tomb (Fig. i), and attempt to discover what the artist
meant to show us. In the left-hand part of the picture there is
no difficulty. In the lower stage we see the external door by
which the inclosure surrounding the house is entered ; in the two
upper divisions there are the trees and climbing plants of the
garden. It is when we turn to the house, which occupies two-
thirds of the field, that our embarrassments begin. The following
explanation is perhaps the best — that, with an artistic licence which
is not rare in such works, the painter has shown us all the four
sides of the building at once. He has spread them out, one after
the other, on the wall which he had to decorate. This process
may be compared to our method of flattening upon a plane
surface the figures which surround a Greek vase, but in modem
works of archaeology it is customary to give a sketch of the
real form beside the flat projection. No such help is given by
the Egyptian painter and we are forced to conjecture the shapes
of his buildings as best we can. In this case he was attempting
to represent an oblong building. The door by which the
procession defiling across the garden is about to enter, is in one
of the narrow sides. It is inclosed by the two high shafts
between which a woman seems to be awaiting on the threshold
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Egyptian Perspective.
the arrival of the guests. On the right we have one of the lateral
faces ; it Is pierced at one angle by a low door, above which are
two windows and above them again an open story or terrace
with slender columns supporting the roof. Still further to the
right, at the extremity of the picture, the second narrow fa9ade
is slightly indicated by its angle column and a portal, which
appears to be sketched in profile. Want of space alone seems to
have prevented the artist from giving as much detail to this
portion of his work as to the rest. The left wing, that which is
contiguous to the garden, remains to be considered. Those who
agree with our interpretation of the artist's aims, will look upon
this as the second lateral fa9ade. It presents some difficulty,
however, because it shows none of the plain walls which inclose
the rest of the building and exclude the eye of the spectator ;
its walls are left out and leave the interior of the house completely
open.
It may be said that this part of the picture represents an
awning or verandah in front of the house. But, in that case, how
are we to explain the objects which are arranged at the top of
it — jars, loaves of bread, and other house-keeping necessaries ?
It cannot be a verandah with a granary on the top of it. Such
a store-room would have to be carefully closed if its contents were
to be safe-guarded from the effects of heat, light, and insects.
It would therefore be necessary to suppose that the Egyptian
painter made use of an artistic licence not unknown in our
own days, and suppressed the wall of the store-room in order to
display the wealth of the establishment. By this means he
has given us a longitudinal section of the building very near the
external wall. There is no trace of an open story above. The
latter seems to have existed only on that side of the house
which was in shade during the day and exposed after nightfall
to the refreshing breezes from the north.
This picture presents us, then, with a peculiar kind of elevation ;
an elevation which, by projection, shows three sides of the house
and hints at a fourth. Representations which are still more
conventionalized than this are to be found in many places. The
most curious of these are to be found in the ruins of the capital
of Amenophis IV., near the village of Tell-el-Amarna. It was in
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A history of
art in ancient Egypt
Pfel!!''''fp|^
Digitized by
Digitized by
Digitized by
A HISTORY
OF
ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT.
Digitized by
Digitized by
A HISTORY
OF
^xi in ^ndznt Sggpt
FROM THE FRENCH
OF
GEORGES PERROT,
PROFESSOR IN THE FACULTY OF LETTERS, PARIS ; MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE
AND
CHARLES CHIPIEZ.
ILLUSTRATED^ WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND NINETY-BIOHT ENQRAVINQ8 IN THE TEXT
AND FOURTEEN STEEL AND COLOURED PLATES.
IJV TWO VOLUMES.— VOL. II.
TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY
WALTER ARMSTRONG, B.A., Oxon.,
AUTHOR OF "ALFRED STBVBNS," ETC.
1Lon^on: chapman and hall, Limitei..
1883.
Digitized by
/^^
HARVARD
UNIV6RSI1Y
LIBRARY
]
R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor,
BREAD STREET HILL.
Digitized by
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
CIVIL AND MILITARY ARCHITECTURE.
PAGE
1. The Graphic Processes employed by the Egyptians in their
representations of Buildings i— 8
2. The Palace 8—26
3. The Egyptian House 26 — 38
4. Military Architecture 38 — 50
CHAPTER II.
METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION, THE ORDERS, SECONDARY FORMS.
§ I. An Analysis of Architectural Forms necessary 51 — 52
§ 2. Materials 52—55
§ 3. Construction 55 — 76
§ 4. The Arch 77—84
§ 5. The Pier and Column. — The Egyptian Orders 85—133
Their Origin 85 — 91
General Types of Supports 91 — 133
§ 6. The Ordonnance of Egyptian Colonnades 133 — 147
§ 7. Monumental Details 147 — 155
§ 8. Doors and Windows 156 — 162
Doors 156 — 161
Windows 162
§ 9. The Illumination of the Temples 162 — 169
§ 10. The Obelisks 169—176
§ 1 1 . The Profession of Architect 176 — 179
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vi Contents.
CHAPTER III.
SCULPTURE.
PAGE
§ I. The Origin of Statue-making i8o — 184
§ 2. Sculpture under the Ancient Empire 184 — 225
§ 3. Sculpture under the First Theban Empire 226 — 238
§ 4. Sculpture under the Second Theban Empire 239 — 265
§ 5. The Art of the Saite Period 265 — 274
§ 6. The Principal Themes of Egyptian Sculpture 275 — 284
§ 7. The Technique of the Bas-reliefs 284 — 288
§ 8. Gems 288—291
§ 9. The Principal Conventions in Egyptian Sculpture 291 — 326
§ 10. The General Characteristics of the Egyptian Style 326 — 330
CHAPTER IV.
PAINTING.
§ I. Technical Processes 331 — 341
§ 2. The Figure 341—351
§ 3. Caricature 351—355
§ 4. Ornament 355—363
CHAPTER V.
THE INDUSTRIAL ARTS.
§ I. Definition and Characteristics of Industrial Art % . 364 — 367
§ 2. Glass and Pottery 367 — 377
§ 3. Metal-work and Jewelry 377 — 390
§ 4. Woodwork 390 — 398
§ 5. The Commerce of Egypt 399 — 400
CHAPTER VI.
THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF EGYPTIAN ART, AND THE PLACE
OF EGYPT IN ART HISTORY 40I — 408
APPENDIX 409—416
INDEX 417—434
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
COLOURED PLATES.
Thebes, the Pavilion of Medinet-Abou, restored To face page 24
Portico in the temple of Medinet-Abou, restored .... „ 144
Rahotep and Nefert, Boulak Museum „ 186
The Scribe^ Louvre „ 192
The Queen Taia, Boulak Museum „ 240
Funerary offerings, fragment of a painting upon plaster, Louvre „ 334
Tomb of Ptah-hotep, fragment of Western Wall „ 356
Tomb of Ptah-hotep, ceiling and upper part of Western Wall „ 360
FIG. PAGE
1. House 3
2. The adoration of the solar disk by Amenophis IV 6
3. Egyptian plan of a villa 7
4. Part of the plan of a house and its offices 9
5. Partial restoration of a palace at Tell-el-Amarna 17
6. Ground plan of the " Royal Pavilion " 19
7. Plan of the first floor of the " Royal Pavilion" 19
8. Longitudinal section of the pavilion 19
9. Transverse section of the pavilion 20
10. Brackets in the courtyard of the Royal Pavilion 23
11. Plan of a part of the city at Tell-el-Amarna 29
12. BirdVeye view of a villa 31
13. Model of an Egyptian house 34
14 — 17. Plans of houses 34
18. Piece of furniture in the form of a house 35
19. House from a Theban wall painting 35
20. House with a tower 35
21. Battlemented house 36
22. Decorated porch 36
23. House with inscription 36
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viii List of Illustrations.
FIG. PAGE
24. House, storehouse, and garden 36
25. Brewing 37
26. Granaries 37
27. Granaries 38
28. Military post at Abydos 42
29. Military post 42
30. Bird's-eye view of the fortress of Semneh 43
31. A besieged fort 46
32. Siege of a fortress 47
33. Brick stamped with the royal ovals 54
34. The Sarcophagus of Mycerinus 57
35. Door of a tomb at Sakkarah 60
36. Stele from the fourth dynasty 5i
37. Stele from the fourth dynasty 62
38. Flattened form of lotus-leaf ornament, seen in front and in section ... 63
39. Lotus-leaf ornament in its elongated form 63
40. Wooden pavilion 64
41. Horizontal section, in perspective, of the first pylon at Karnak .... 67
42. Workmen polishing a monolithic column 69
43. Transport of a colossus 73
44. Arch in the necropolis of Abydos 78
45. Arch in El-Assassif 79
46. Arch in El-Assassif 80
47. Vaults in the Ramesseum 81
48. Vault in the Ramesseum 81
49. Elliptical vault 82
50. Foundations with inverted segmental arches 82
51. Transverse section of a corridor at Dayr-el-Bahari 83
52. Section in perspective through the same corridor 83
53. Vaulted chapel at Abydos 84
54. Bas-relief from the fifth dynasty 86
55. Detail of capital 86
56. Bas-relief from the fifth dynasty 87
57. Details of columns in Fig. 56 87
58. Pavilion from Sakkarah 87
59. Details of columns in Fig. 58 87
60. Bas-relief from the fifth dynasty 88
61. Details of the columns 88
62 — 65. Columns from bas-reliefs 89
66. Quadrangular pier 92
67. Tapering quadrangular pier 92
68. Pier with capital 92
69. Hathoric pier 92
70. Osiride pillar 93
71. Ornamented pier 94
72. Octagonal pillar 96
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List of Illustrations. ix
FIG. PAGE
73. Sixteen-sided pillar 96
74. Polygonal column with a flat vertical band 98
75. Polygonal pier with mask of Hathor 98
76. Column from Beni-Hassan 99
77. Column at Luxor loi
78. Column at Medinet-Abou loi
79. Column at Medinet-Abou 102
80. Column from the Great Hall at Kamak 103
81. Column from the Hypostyle Hall of the Ramesseum 103
82. Column of Soleb 104
83. Column of Thothmes at Kamak 104
84. Corner pier from the temple at Elephantine 106
85. Pier with capital 107
86. Osiride pier 109
87. Hathoric pier from Eilithya iii
88. Hathoric pier from a tomb in
89. Column at Kalabch^ 112
90. Column of Thothmes HI 113
91. Base of a column 115
92. Bell-shaped capital 117
93. Capital at Sesebi 119
94. Capital from the temple of Nectanebo, at Philse 119
95. Capital from the work of Thothmes, at Karnak 120
96. Arrangement of architraves upon a capital 120
97. The Nymphaea Nelumbo 123
98. Papyrus plant 127
99. Small chamber at Kamak 134
100. Apartment in the temple at Luxor 134
loi. Hall of the temple at Abydos 134
102. Plan of part of the Hypostyle Hall at Kamak 134
103. Tomb at Sakkarah 135
104. Hall in the inner portion of the Great Temple at Karnak 135
105. Portico of the first court at Medinet-Abou 135
106. Portico of the first court at Luxor 135
107. The portico of the pronaos, Luxor 136
108. Part plan of the temple at Elephantine 136
109. Luxor, plan of the second court 136
no. Portico in the Temple of Khons 137
111. Luxor, portico of the first court 137
112. Part of the portico of the first court, Luxor 138
113. Portico in front of the fa9ade of the temple of Goumah 138
114. Part of the Hypostyle Hall in the Great Temple at Karnak 138
115. Second Hypostyle Hall in the temple of Abydos 139
116. Hall in the speos of Gherf-Hossein 139
117. Medinet-Abou; first court 139
118. Medinet-Abou; second court 139
VOL. II. b
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List of Illustrations.
PIG. PAGE
19. Portico of the Temple of Khons 140
20. Portico of first court at Luxor 140
21. Anta, Luxor 141
22. Anta, Goumah 141
23. Anta, Medinet-Abou 141
24. Anta in the Great Hall of Karnak 141
25. Antae, Temple of Khons 142
26. Anta and base of pylon, Temple of Khons 142
27. Antae, Medinet-Abou 143
28. AntSB, Medinet-Abou 143
29. Anta and column at Medinet-Abou 145
30. Column in the court of the Bubastides 146
31. Stereobate 148
32. Stereobate with double plinth 148
33. Pluteus in the intercolumniations of the portico in the second court of
the Ramesseum 150
34. Doorway 151
35. Cornice of the Ramesseum 152
36. Cornice of a wooden pavilion 152
37. Pedestal of a Sphinx 153
38. Cornice under the portico 153
39. Fragment of a sarcophagus 154
40. Fragment of decoration from a royal tomb at Thebes 154
41. Plan of doorway, Temple of Elephantine 157
42. Plan of doorway, Temple of Khons 157
43. Plan of doorway in the pylon. Temple of Khons 157
44. 145. The pylon and propylon of the hieroglyphs 157
46. Gateway to the court-yard of the small Temple at Medinet-Abou . . . 158
47. A propylon with its masts 158
48. A propylon 159
49. Gateway in the inclosing wall of a Temple 159
50. Doorway of the Temple of Khons 160
51. Doorway of the Temple of Goumah 160
52. Doorway of the Temple of Seti 161
53> 154- Windows in the Royal Pavilion at Medinet-Abou 162
55. Attic of the Great Hall at Karnak 163
56. C7a«j/ra of the Hypostyle Hall, Karnak 165
57. C/a/^J/r« in the Hypostyle Hall of the Temple of Khons 166
58. Method of lighting in one of the inner halls of Karnak 167
59. Auxiliary light-holes in the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak 167
60. Method of lighting one of the rooms in the Temple of Khons . . . . 167
61. Light openings in a lateral aisle of the Hypostyle Hall in the Ramesseum 168
62. The Temple of Amada 168
63. Claustra 168
64. Window of a house in the form of ^/<:7«x/!r£Z 169
65. Window closed by a mat 169
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List of Illustrations. xi
FIG. PAGE
i66. Funerary obelisk 171
167. The obelisk of Ousourtesen 173
168. The obelisk in the Place de la Concorde 173
169. The obelisk of Beggig 175
170. Upper part of the obelisk at Beggig 175
171. Limestone statue of the architect Nefer 177
172. SepaandNesa 186
173. Ra-hotep 188
174 — 176. Wooden panels from the tomb of Hosi 191,193,195
177. Limestone head 196
178. Wooden statue 198
179. Bronze statuette 199
180. Bronze statuette 201
181. Ra-nefer 204
182. Statue in the Boulak Museum 205
183. Statue of Ti ,. . . 205
184. Wooden statue 206
185. Statue in limestone 206
186. Limestone group 207
187. Wooden statuette 208
188. Nefer-hotep and Tenteta 208
189. Limestone statue 209
190. Limestone statue 209
191. Limestone statue 210
192. Limestone statue 210
193. Woman kneading dough 211
194. Woman making bread 212
195. Bread maker 213
196. 197. Details of head-dresses 213
198, 199. Nem-hotep 214
200. Funerary bas-relief 215
201. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ti 217
202. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ti 218
203. Sepulchral bas-relief 219
204. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ra-ka-pou 219
205. Statue of Chephren 222
206. Wooden statue 227
207. Sebek-hotep III 229
208. Sphinx in black granite 231
209. Head and shoulders of a Tanite Sphinx in black granite 233
210. Group from Tanis 234
211. Side view of the same group 235
212. Upper part of a royal statue 236
213. Fragmentary statuette of a king 237
214. Thothmes III 241
215. Thothmes III 243
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xii List of Illustrations.
FIG. PAGE
2 1 6. Statuette of Amenophis IV 245
217. Funeral Dance 251
218. Bas-relief from the tomb of Chamhati 253
219. Portrait of Rameses II. while a child 255
220. Statue of Rameses II 256
221. Prisoners of war 257
222. Statue of Rameses 11. in the Turin Museum 259
223. Head of Menephtah 260
224. Seti II 261
225. The Goddess Kadesh 263
226. Statue of Ameneritis 264
227. Bronze Sphinx 267
228. Statue of Nekht-har-heb 268
229. Statue of Horus 269
230. 231. Bas-relief from Memphis 270, 271
232. Horus enthroned 273
233. Roman head 274
234. Wooden statuette 279
235. Bronze cat 280
236. Lion 281
237. Bronze lion 282
238. Sphinx with human hands 283
239. Quadruped with the head of a bird 284
240. Portrait of Rameses II 286
241. Intaglio upon sardonyx, obverse 289
242. Reverse of the same intaglio 289
243. Intaglio upon jasper 290
244. Reverse of the same intaglio 290
245. Seal of Armais 290
246. Bas-relief from Sakkarah 295
247. The Queen waiting on Amenophis IV 296
248. Bas-relief from the eighteenth dynasty 297
249. Horus as a child 299
250. Bas-relief from the tomb of Ti 306
251. Bas-relief at Thebes 307
252. From a painting at Thebes 308
253. Painting at Thebes 309
254. Painting at Thebes 310
255. Painting at Thebes 311
256. Bronze statuette 312
257. Spoon for perfumes 313
258. Design transferred by squaring 320
259. Design transferred by squaring 321
260. Head of a Cynocephalus 323
261. Head of a Lion 323
262. Head of a Lioness 323
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List of Illustrations. xiii
FIG. PAGE
263. Outline for a portrait of Amenophis III 333
264. Portrait of Queen Taia 339
265. Painting at Beni-Hassan 341
266. Painting at Beni-Hassan 342
267. Painting at Beni-Hassan 342
268. Painting at Beni-Hassan 343
269. Painting at Thebes 343
270. Painting at Thebes 344
271. Harpist 345
272. European prisoner 347
273. Head of the same prisoner 347
274. Ethiopian prisoner 348
275. Head of the same prisoner 348
276. Winged figure 349
277. Winged figure 350
278. Battle of the Cats and Rats 352
279. The soles of a pair of sandals 354
280. 281. The God Bes 354
282. Vultures on a ceiling 356
283,284. Details from the tomb of Ptah-hotep 357
285. Carpet hung across a pavilion 358
286. Specimens of ceiling decorations 359
287. Painting on a mummy case 361
288. Winged globe 361
289. 290. Tables for offerings 363
291. Pitcher of red earth 368
292. Red earthenware 369
293. Gray earthenware 370
294. The God Bes 370
295. Pendant for necklace 371
296,297. Enamelled earthenware 371
298. Enamelled faience 372
299. Doorway in the Stepped Pyramid at Sakkarah 372
300 — 302. Enamelled plaque from the Stepped Pyramid 373
303 — 305. Enamelled earthenware plaques 374
306, 307. Glass statuettes 376
308. Mirror-handle 379
309. Bronze hair-pin 379
310. Bronze dagger 379
311. Pectoral 381
312. 313. Golden Hawks 382
314. ^gis 383
315. Necklace 385
316. Osiris, Isis, and Horns 387
317. 318. Rings 387
319, 320. Ear-rings 387
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XIV List of Illustrations.
FIG. PAGE
321. Ivory Plaque 388
322. Ivory Castanet 389
323. Fragment of an Ivory Castanet 391
324. Workman splitting a piece of wood 392
325. Joiner making a bed 392
326. Coffer for sepulchral statuettes 393
327. 328. Chairs 394
329—331- Perfume spoons 395, 396
332 — 334. Walking-stick handles 397
335. Wooden pin or p^ 398
336. Hathoric capital 398
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A HISTORY
OF
ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT.
Digitized by
Digitized by
A HISTORY OF
ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT
CHAPTER I.
CIVIL AND MILITARY ARCHITECTURE.
§ I. The Graphic Processes employed by the Egyptians in their
representations of Buildings.
We have seen that sepulchral and religious architecture are
represented in Egypt by numerous and well preserved monuments.
It is not so in the case of civil and military architecture. Of
these, time has spared but very few remains, and all that the
ancient historians tell us on the subject amounts to very little.
Our best aids in the endeavour to fill up this lacuna are the
pictures and bas-reliefs of the tombs, in which store-houses,
granaries, houses and villas of the Pharaonic period are often
figured.
It is not always easy, however, to trace the actual conformation
and arrangement of those buildings through the conventionali-
ties employed by the artists, and we must therefore begin
by attempting to understand the ideas with which the Egyptians
made the representations in question. Their idea was to show
all at a single glance ; to combine in one view matters which
could only be seen in reality from many successive points, such
as all the fa9ades of a building, with its external aspect and
internal arrangements. This notion may be compared to that
which recommends itself to a young child when, in drawing a profile,
VOL. II. B
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A History of Art in Ancient Egypt.
he insists upon giving it two ears, because when he looks at a
front face he sees two ears standing out beyond either cheek.
In these days when we wish to represent an architectural
building exhaustively, we do it in geometrical fashion, giving
plans, elevations, and sections. To get a plan we make a horizontal
section at any determined height, which gives us the thickness
of the walls and the area of the spaces which they inclose. An
elevation shows us one of the faces of the building in all its
details, while the transverse or longitudinal section allows us
to lay the whole of the structural arrangements open to the
spectator. Plan, elevation, and section, are three different things
by the comparison of which a just idea of the whole building and
of the connection of its various parts may be formed.
The Egyptians seem to have had a dim perception of these
three separate processes, but they failed to distinguish clearly
between them, and in their paintings they employed them in the
most naive fashion, combining all three into one figure without
any clear indication of the points of junction.
Let us take as an example a representation of a house from a
Theban tomb (Fig. i), and attempt to discover what the artist
meant to show us. In the left-hand part of the picture there is
no difficulty. In the lower stage we see the external door by
which the inclosure surrounding the house is entered ; in the two
upper divisions there are the trees and climbing plants of the
garden. It is when we turn to the house, which occupies two-
thirds of the field, that our embarrassments begin. The following
explanation is perhaps the best — that, with an artistic licence which
is not rare in such works, the painter has shown us all the four
sides of the building at once. He has spread them out, one after
the other, on the wall which he had to decorate. This process
may be compared to our method of flattening upon a plane
surface the figures which surround a Greek vase, but in modem
works of archaeology it is customary to give a sketch of the
real form beside the flat projection. No such help is given by
the Egyptian painter and we are forced to conjecture the shapes
of his buildings as best we can. In this case he was attempting
to represent an oblong building. The door by which the
procession defiling across the garden is about to enter, is in one
of the narrow sides. It is inclosed by the two high shafts
between which a woman seems to be awaiting on the threshold
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Egyptian Perspective.
the arrival of the guests. On the right we have one of the lateral
faces ; it Is pierced at one angle by a low door, above which are
two windows and above them again an open story or terrace
with slender columns supporting the roof. Still further to the
right, at the extremity of the picture, the second narrow fa9ade
is slightly indicated by its angle column and a portal, which
appears to be sketched in profile. Want of space alone seems to
have prevented the artist from giving as much detail to this
portion of his work as to the rest. The left wing, that which is
contiguous to the garden, remains to be considered. Those who
agree with our interpretation of the artist's aims, will look upon
this as the second lateral fa9ade. It presents some difficulty,
however, because it shows none of the plain walls which inclose
the rest of the building and exclude the eye of the spectator ;
its walls are left out and leave the interior of the house completely
open.
It may be said that this part of the picture represents an
awning or verandah in front of the house. But, in that case, how
are we to explain the objects which are arranged at the top of
it — jars, loaves of bread, and other house-keeping necessaries ?
It cannot be a verandah with a granary on the top of it. Such
a store-room would have to be carefully closed if its contents were
to be safe-guarded from the effects of heat, light, and insects.
It would therefore be necessary to suppose that the Egyptian
painter made use of an artistic licence not unknown in our
own days, and suppressed the wall of the store-room in order to
display the wealth of the establishment. By this means he
has given us a longitudinal section of the building very near the
external wall. There is no trace of an open story above. The
latter seems to have existed only on that side of the house
which was in shade during the day and exposed after nightfall
to the refreshing breezes from the north.
This picture presents us, then, with a peculiar kind of elevation ;
an elevation which, by projection, shows three sides of the house
and hints at a fourth. Representations which are still more
conventionalized than this are to be found in many places. The
most curious of these are to be found in the ruins of the capital
of Amenophis IV., near the village of Tell-el-Amarna. It was in
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