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Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool...
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Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance

A special issue of Arts (ISSN 2076-0752).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (29 February 2024) | Viewed by 19541

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Kathlyn Cooney

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Interests: 21th Dynasty funerary practices and coffins reuse; robbery; innovation in times of crisis; materiality of funerary rituals
Dr. Alisee Devillers

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Interests: artists’ self-depictions and social-professional representations; appropriation of elite’s visual culture by the subelite; identity strategies

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will focus on ancient Egyptian Art as a dynamic. Artistic production is here envisioned as being in motion and taking part in a constant feedback loop of competing actors.

Art itself is understood as an agent, which works on multiple people: the artists, the commissioners and the consumers.

This Issue will underline how art acts upon society as a tool of power and eventually leads to identity questions, both for people who controlled human and economic resources and for those who could not afford monumental self-commemoration. Inclusion into certain parts of “high” society created opportunities and/or demands for art production; those close to but not within “high” society tried to emulate elite creations. Craftsmen/artist-producers and merchant-procurers found themselves negotiating much of this dynamic and are, thus, a part of it. In this highly competitive context, elite and non-elite were, thus, part of a never-ending competing sphere, using art production as a means of messaging their social place.

Art starts with the actors and their agenda. It is, thus, socially reactive. Commissioners both innovated newness and reverted to the past, sometimes with the same social goals in mind. Art, therefore, encapsulated the hierarchy dynamics and social changes of ancient Egyptian society while forcing its multiple actors to interact.

From this perspective, this Issue will re-examine epistemological and ontological questions about ancient Egyptian art and its fundamental actors. It will question how innovations were created, in which circumstances people manipulated past productions and how iconographic motives were put into motion for the purposes of creating useful social identities. It will underline how powerful art can be, whether put into the hands of the upper elite or their subordinates.

Prof. Dr. Kathlyn Cooney
Dr. Alisee Devillers
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Arts is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ancient Egyptian art and design
  • production/consumption
  • emulation/competition
  • privileged elite/sub-elite
  • agentivity
  • innovation/archaism
  • power and social impact
  • identity and legitimacy

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Published Papers (17 papers)

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20 pages, 23235 KiB  
Article
Soldiers and Prisoners in Motion in Mesopotamian Iconography during the Early Bronze Age
by Barbara Couturaud
Arts 2024, 13(4), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040132 - 6 Aug 2024
Viewed by 1163
Abstract
Military images of the ancient Near East during the Early Bronze Age are characterized by one of their main features: the serial reproduction of soldiers and prisoners, side by side, the former clearly identifiable by the visual signs of power they bear and [...] Read more.
Military images of the ancient Near East during the Early Bronze Age are characterized by one of their main features: the serial reproduction of soldiers and prisoners, side by side, the former clearly identifiable by the visual signs of power they bear and the latter by their humiliation. These images are usually and almost naturally conceived as the ideological prerogative of city-states in conflict for territorial domination or as signs of visual identity intended to reinforce the powers that be. However, the end of the Early Bronze Age is marked by the hegemony of the Akkadian dynasty and the iconographic changes that it generated. While strongly maintaining the military iconographic theme in its visual discourse, it broke with the motif of static parades of prisoners and introduced many details intended to clearly identify the protagonists, the enemies, or the environment of the battles. It could represent a transition from a discourse based on evocative repetition in order to present an ideal to one founded on detailed narration in order to assert the authenticity of an event. This paper investigates the phenomenon of repetition through soldiers and prisoners on images. Analyzing the message lying behind the series of hindered prisoners and battalions of soldiers also underlines the way the change of iconographic discourse during the Akkadian period can be understood, particularly given that the power of the Akkadian dynasty mainly rested on its military victories. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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17 pages, 32864 KiB  
Article
Emotions and the Manifestation of Ancient Egyptian Royal Power: A Consideration of the Twin Stelae at Abu Simbel
by Tara Prakash
Arts 2024, 13(6), 174; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13060174 - 20 Nov 2024
Viewed by 281
Abstract
Drawing on methods and theories from the history of emotions, this paper examines the Twin Stelae that flank the entrance into Ramses II’s Great Temple at Abu Simbel in order to investigate the feelings associated with ancient Egyptian kingship from an ideological perspective. [...] Read more.
Drawing on methods and theories from the history of emotions, this paper examines the Twin Stelae that flank the entrance into Ramses II’s Great Temple at Abu Simbel in order to investigate the feelings associated with ancient Egyptian kingship from an ideological perspective. As the ruler, what was the king himself supposed to feel, and what feelings was he meant to elicit in his subjects? How did the feelings of the king differ from those of his subjects, and how did all these feelings reinforce and reify the institution of kingship and royal power? In order to propose some answers to these complex questions, I offer a close reading of key words and passages on the Stelae, considering the choice of hieroglyphic signs that the artists used to write them, the ways in which the artists depicted these signs, and the context of the words and passages within the inscriptions. I then use the Stelae’s text to consider how ancient viewers were meant to see and experience the monumental façade of the Great Temple. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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17 pages, 2888 KiB  
Article
Marginalized Textile Producers in New Kingdom Egypt
by Jordan Galczynski
Arts 2024, 13(6), 171; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13060171 - 18 Nov 2024
Viewed by 274
Abstract
Textiles were ubiquitous in the elite Egyptian cultural sphere—from clothing, furniture coverings, and wall decorations to grave goods and temple offerings. The Egyptian world was draped in cloth, yet the producers were often marginalized members of society—immigrants, war captives, and women, who produced [...] Read more.
Textiles were ubiquitous in the elite Egyptian cultural sphere—from clothing, furniture coverings, and wall decorations to grave goods and temple offerings. The Egyptian world was draped in cloth, yet the producers were often marginalized members of society—immigrants, war captives, and women, who produced for a select few to whom they did not often belong. This paper aims to use textiles as a medium to investigate how the New Kingdom textile industry maintained social inequalities and power differentials. This paper highlights the efforts of marginalized labor in the production of textiles in New Kingdom Egypt, utilizing an intersectional approach to understand the interactions of the producers, varying levels of management, and elite consumers. Textiles were a high-value resource and one of the only goods that increased in value with labor, unlike other crafted goods, like metals, for example. I posit that this was inherently linked to the marginalization of the labor involved. The fabrics woven were a display of the Egyptian hegemony and reaffirmed the social order between the elites and the rest of society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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24 pages, 17070 KiB  
Article
The “Invisible” Side of Yellow Coffins—The Set of the Chantress of Amun Tanethereret in the Musée du Louvre and Some Considerations on the Production of Yellow Coffins in the First Half of the 21st Dynasty
by Stefania Mainieri
Arts 2024, 13(6), 170; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13060170 - 11 Nov 2024
Viewed by 941
Abstract
Through the coffin set of Tanethereret—dated to the first half of the 21st Dynasty—this article aims to underline the importance of analysing the masks and human features of ancient Egyptian yellow coffins and their value in disclosing new and important information about the [...] Read more.
Through the coffin set of Tanethereret—dated to the first half of the 21st Dynasty—this article aims to underline the importance of analysing the masks and human features of ancient Egyptian yellow coffins and their value in disclosing new and important information about the Third Intermediate Period society. By moving between different visualisations, overlapping layers, measuring, and comparing, the sculpted human forms can be, for example, further indices of the quality of the production/”workshop”/artist and of the socio-economic power of the client. The possibility of making a three-piece set—coherent not only in decoration but also in form—suggests the existence of workshops capable of producing high-quality coffins and, consequently, that some people could still economically afford such coffin sets. Gaining access to such “workshops” and this type of production may indeed represent a further attempt to “manufacture social power” for the middle or high elites. Moreover, this specific case study also shows the dynamism of ancient Egyptian artistic production in a period of crisis, with artists able not only to re-adapt and re-commodify an ancient object but also to create possible new compositions with a balanced mix of styles between tradition and innovation. The study of this “invisible” part of the yellow coffins thus represents a new way of reconstructing the history of the people “hidden behind” the yellow coffins and the socio-economic sphere of ancient Egyptian society in the Third Intermediate Period, manifested through the resulting art and material culture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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16 pages, 11928 KiB  
Article
Artistic Production in a Necropolis in Motion
by Nico Staring
Arts 2024, 13(6), 165; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13060165 - 30 Oct 2024
Viewed by 441
Abstract
The present article studies aspects of the artistic production at New Kingdom Saqqara, a necropolis of the ancient Egyptian royal residence city Memphis. Following a brief review of the functions of ancient Egyptian tombs, this article will first set out to scrutinize the [...] Read more.
The present article studies aspects of the artistic production at New Kingdom Saqqara, a necropolis of the ancient Egyptian royal residence city Memphis. Following a brief review of the functions of ancient Egyptian tombs, this article will first set out to scrutinize the tomb-making section of society (e.g., size, membership). Second, the corpus of tombs will be reviewed to uncover the diverse nature of the tomb owners and to investigate access to resources required for tomb making. Third, the article will proceed to place the tombs in spatial and temporal context and reflect on the artistic production in a necropolis in motion. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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22 pages, 7593 KiB  
Article
Lebanese Cedar, Skeuomorphs, Coffins, and Status in Ancient Egypt
by Caroline Arbuckle MacLeod
Arts 2024, 13(6), 163; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13060163 - 22 Oct 2024
Viewed by 917
Abstract
In ancient Egypt, as with many cultures, funerary objects often communicated aspects of access, power, and social status. Lebanese cedar, for instance, was selected as a particularly desirable material from which to craft the coffins of Egypt’s upper echelons. This imported timber was [...] Read more.
In ancient Egypt, as with many cultures, funerary objects often communicated aspects of access, power, and social status. Lebanese cedar, for instance, was selected as a particularly desirable material from which to craft the coffins of Egypt’s upper echelons. This imported timber was both structurally superior to local woods and had important social and religious significance. For the slightly lower-ranking elite of Egypt, for whom cedar was inaccessible, local wood skeuomorphs that imitated cedar coffins were created in their place. The skeuomorphs enabled these individuals to demonstrate their knowledge of elite styles and tastes, and, due to the power of the image in ancient Egypt, also allowed for them to borrow the religious power of cedar wood to protect and enhance their own coffins. In this paper, a selection of Old to Middle Kingdom coffins are discussed to demonstrate the ways that cedar was emphasized as a construction material by the upper elite and mimicked by the middle and lower elite. This helps to demonstrate both the value of cedar in ancient Egypt, as well as the means by which imagery could be manipulated to gain access to the power of this potent material. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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14 pages, 8084 KiB  
Article
Shaping New Identities in the First Intermediate Period (2160–2050 BC): Archers and Warriors in the Iconography of Upper Egypt
by Juan Carlos Moreno García
Arts 2024, 13(5), 157; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13050157 - 11 Oct 2024
Viewed by 865
Abstract
The First Intermediate Period was a time of cultural innovation and social competition. The collapse of the monarchy and the cultural productions it sponsored paved the way for the emergence of new artistic and cultural expressions, better adapted to a context of fragile [...] Read more.
The First Intermediate Period was a time of cultural innovation and social competition. The collapse of the monarchy and the cultural productions it sponsored paved the way for the emergence of new artistic and cultural expressions, better adapted to a context of fragile authorities and competing local powers. Warfare between rival regional polities became frequent, so tomb scenes and funerary stelae from Middle and Upper Egypt began depicting military actions and men posing as archers. Moreover, local authorities sought the support of local levies and fellow citizens to strengthen and legitimate their fragile rule. Therefore, many monuments and inscriptions celebrate successful command, effective leadership, and caring about one’s city and its inhabitants. These conditions favoured the emergence of cultural innovations and social values aiming to express new identities. Depicting weapons, mainly bows, was crucial in this respect in some areas of Southern Egypt and echoed comparable phenomena occurring in neighbour regions like Nubia and the Levant. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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44 pages, 53744 KiB  
Article
The Author Takes a Bow: A Self-Portrait in Assistenza in the Temple of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahari
by Anastasiia Stupko-Lubczynska
Arts 2024, 13(5), 142; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13050142 - 20 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1486
Abstract
In art-historical terms, a self-portrait in assistenza refers to an artist having inserted their own likeness into a larger work. In Renaissance-era art, more than 90 examples have been identified, famously including Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi (c. 1478/1483). There, Botticelli glances out [...] Read more.
In art-historical terms, a self-portrait in assistenza refers to an artist having inserted their own likeness into a larger work. In Renaissance-era art, more than 90 examples have been identified, famously including Botticelli’s Adoration of the Magi (c. 1478/1483). There, Botticelli glances out from the painting, making direct eye contact with the viewer, a feature that appears in other self-portraits of the type. In ancient Egypt, it was not commonly accepted that an artist would lay claim to it, especially when the work’s scale imposed diversification of tasks to be performed or teamwork organized on a workshop basis. This article will present evidence discovered in the Chapel of Hatshepsut in her temple at Deir el-Bahari that can be interpreted as a self-portrait in assistenza and indicates that Djehuty, Overseer of the Treasury under Hatshepsut, took the lead role there. If this identification is valid, the room’s decoration gains an additional layer of meaning and may be “read” in terms of Djehuty’s message, comparable to Botticelli gazing out from his Adoration of the Magi. This ancient Egyptian case will illustrate how that artist-designer, in interweaving subtle indicators of his involvement in the work, expresses awareness both of his intellectual skills and of his pride in creation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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16 pages, 6931 KiB  
Article
Exploring Artistic Hierarchies among Painters in Ramesside Deir el-Medina
by Jennifer Miyuki Babcock
Arts 2024, 13(5), 141; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13050141 - 20 Sep 2024
Viewed by 813
Abstract
Scholarship has described Deir el-Medina as a sophisticated community composed of highly trained and educated individuals, at least compared to most ancient Egyptian villages that were primarily focused on agrarian labor. The tombs at Deir el-Medina indicate that some community members were well-off [...] Read more.
Scholarship has described Deir el-Medina as a sophisticated community composed of highly trained and educated individuals, at least compared to most ancient Egyptian villages that were primarily focused on agrarian labor. The tombs at Deir el-Medina indicate that some community members were well-off financially and may have aspired to reach elite levels in ancient Egypt’s social hierarchy. However, this understanding of Deir el-Medina’s community lacks the nuance of the hierarchical structure that defines success and status among the workers, artists, and craftspeople living in the community. This paper will investigate how one’s status within the community might dictate the allocation of artistic roles in the execution of painted royal tomb scenes. It will explore who within the community would have the privilege of depicting the primary motifs of a tomb and who would be responsible for less noticeable areas of the tomb. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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13 pages, 10232 KiB  
Article
Imperial Art: Duality on Tanwetamani’s Dream Stela
by Christopher Cox
Arts 2024, 13(4), 128; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040128 - 29 Jul 2024
Viewed by 950
Abstract
In the 7th century BCE, the Kushite king Tanwetamani commissioned his “Dream Stela”, which was to be erected in the Amun Temple of Jebel Barkal. The lunette of the stela features a dualistic artistic motif whose composition, meaning, and significance are understudied despite [...] Read more.
In the 7th century BCE, the Kushite king Tanwetamani commissioned his “Dream Stela”, which was to be erected in the Amun Temple of Jebel Barkal. The lunette of the stela features a dualistic artistic motif whose composition, meaning, and significance are understudied despite their potential to illuminate important aspects of royal Kushite ideology. On the lunette, there are two back-to-back offering scenes that appear at first glance to be nearly symmetrical, but that closer inspection reveals to differ in subtle but significant ways. Analysis of the iconographic and textual features of the motif reveals its rhetorical function in this royal context. The two strikingly similar but meaningfully different offering scenes represented the two halves of a Kushite “Double Kingdom” that considered Kush and Egypt together as a complementary geographic dual, with Tanwetamani presiding as king of both. This “Mirrored Motif” encapsulated the duality present in the Kushite ideology of kingship during the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, which allowed Tanwetamani to reconcile the present imperial expansion of Kush with the history of Egyptian activity in Nubia. The lunette of the Dream Stela is therefore political art that serves to advance the Kushite imperial agenda. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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24 pages, 15801 KiB  
Article
Egyptian Art in Colonized Nubia: Representing Power and Social Structure in the New Kingdom Tombs of Djehutyhotep, Hekanefer and Pennut
by Rennan Lemos
Arts 2024, 13(4), 118; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040118 - 14 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1339
Abstract
Monumental rock-cut tombs decorated with wall paintings or reliefs were rare in New Kingdom colonial Nubia. Exceptions include the 18th Dynasty tombs of Djehutyhotep (Debeira) and Hekanefer (Miam), and the 20th Dynasty tomb of Pennut (Aniba). The three tombs present typical Egyptian artistic [...] Read more.
Monumental rock-cut tombs decorated with wall paintings or reliefs were rare in New Kingdom colonial Nubia. Exceptions include the 18th Dynasty tombs of Djehutyhotep (Debeira) and Hekanefer (Miam), and the 20th Dynasty tomb of Pennut (Aniba). The three tombs present typical Egyptian artistic representations and inscriptions, which include tomb owners and their families, but also those living under their direct control. This paper compares the artistic and architectural features of these decorated, monumental rock-cut tombs in light of the archaeological record of the regions in which they were located in order to contextualize art within its social setting in colonized Nubia. More than expressing cultural and religious affiliations in the colony, art seems to have been essentially used as a tool to enforce hierarchization and power, and to define the borders of the uppermost elite social spaces in New Kingdom colonial Nubia. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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20 pages, 13906 KiB  
Article
Reviving Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance Hieroglyph: Humanist Aspirations to Immortality
by Rebecca M. Howard
Arts 2024, 13(4), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040116 - 8 Jul 2024
Viewed by 1548
Abstract
In his On the Art of Building, Renaissance humanist Leon Battista Alberti wrote that the ancient Egyptians believed that alphabetical languages would one day all be lost, but the pictorial method of writing they used could be understood easily by intellectuals everywhere [...] Read more.
In his On the Art of Building, Renaissance humanist Leon Battista Alberti wrote that the ancient Egyptians believed that alphabetical languages would one day all be lost, but the pictorial method of writing they used could be understood easily by intellectuals everywhere and far into the future. Amidst a renewed appreciation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics found on obelisks in Italy and the discovery of Horapollo’s Hieroglyphica, which purported to translate the language, Renaissance humanists like Alberti developed an obsession with this ancient form of non-alphabetical writing. Additionally, a growing awareness of the lost language of their Etruscan ancestors further ignited an anxiety among Italian humanists that their own ideas might one day become unintelligible. As Egyptomania spread through the Italian peninsula, some saw an answer to their fears in the pictorial hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians, for they perceived, in Egyptian writing, the potential for a universal language. Thus, many created Renaissance hieroglyphs based on those of the Egyptians. This essay examines the successes and failures of these neo-hieroglyphs, which early modern humanists and artists created hoping that a language divorced from alphabetical text might better convey the memory of their names and contributions to posterity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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21 pages, 22234 KiB  
Article
How Many Lives for a Mesopotamian Statue?
by Imane Achouche
Arts 2024, 13(4), 111; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040111 - 21 Jun 2024
Viewed by 869
Abstract
Among the indicators of the value and power ascribed to statues in Mesopotamia, reuse is a particularly significant one. By studying some of the best-documented examples of the usurpation and reassignment of a new function to sculptures in the round from the 3rd [...] Read more.
Among the indicators of the value and power ascribed to statues in Mesopotamia, reuse is a particularly significant one. By studying some of the best-documented examples of the usurpation and reassignment of a new function to sculptures in the round from the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC, our study reveals the variety of motives and methods employed. We hereafter explore the ways in which the status of such artefacts is maintained, reactivated, or adapted in order to secure their agency. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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22 pages, 17689 KiB  
Article
The Creative Impulse: Innovation and Emulation in the Role of the Egyptian Artist during the New Kingdom—Unusual Details from Theban Funerary Art
by Inmaculada Vivas Sainz
Arts 2024, 13(3), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030109 - 19 Jun 2024
Viewed by 1343
Abstract
The present research analyses the role of the Egyptian artist within the context of New Kingdom art, paying attention to the appearance of new details in Theban tomb chapels that reflect the originality of their creators. On the one hand, the visibility of [...] Read more.
The present research analyses the role of the Egyptian artist within the context of New Kingdom art, paying attention to the appearance of new details in Theban tomb chapels that reflect the originality of their creators. On the one hand, the visibility of the case studies investigated is explored, looking for a possible explanation as to their function within the tomb scenes (such as ‘visual hooks’) and offering a brief experimental approach. Tomb owners benefitted from the expertise and originality of the artists who helped to reaffirm their status and perpetuate their funerary cults. On the other hand, iconography can include examples of the innate creativity of artists, including ancient Egyptian ones. The presence of such innovative details reflects the undeniable creativity of artists, who sought stimulating scenes which were sometimes emulated by contemporaries and later workmates. Significantly, some of these innovative details reveal unusual poses and daily-life character, probably related to the individuality of the artists and their innovative spirit. In other words, the creative impulse is what leads artists to innovate. In this sense, creativity must be understood as the dynamic of the visual arts that determines constant evolution of styles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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11 pages, 3315 KiB  
Article
Leaving the “Discomfort” Zone: The Correlation between Politics and New Artistic Practices at the Beginning of the 19th Dynasty
by Gema Menéndez
Arts 2024, 13(3), 98; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030098 - 30 May 2024
Viewed by 985
Abstract
At the end of the Amarna Period, a process of political and religious restoration began. This attempt at recovery went beyond the strictly official, as the Egyptian society seemed to demand a moral reparation. It was a much-needed change that would encompass all [...] Read more.
At the end of the Amarna Period, a process of political and religious restoration began. This attempt at recovery went beyond the strictly official, as the Egyptian society seemed to demand a moral reparation. It was a much-needed change that would encompass all aspects of society and it was imperative that the changes be visible. It is for this reason that visual art would be one of the main means of communication. The artistic image was the propaganda necessary to reconstruct historical memory and religious sentiment. This was most evident in the early years of the 19th dynasty, when, in addition, the need to legitimize the new royal lineage was reflected in private tombs. The Egyptian artist used art to visually consolidate these changes, and the owner of the tomb was keen to do so. This article aims to analyze the artistic changes, mainly in the private sphere, that occurred in funerary art in opposition to the religious changes that had been made during the Amarna Period and that were most evident from the reign of Horemheb until the first half of the reign of Ramesses II. Politics and art intermingled at a time when reconstructing the past and the relationship with divinity was an urgent necessity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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17 pages, 5150 KiB  
Article
Through the Eyes of the Beholder: Motifs (Re)Interpreted in the 27th Dynasty
by Marissa Stevens
Arts 2024, 13(3), 76; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030076 - 23 Apr 2024
Viewed by 1714
Abstract
This paper aims to highlight examples of artistic motifs common throughout Egyptian history but augmented in novel ways during the 27th Dynasty, a time when Egypt was part of the Achaemenid empire and ruled by Persian kings. These kings represented themselves as traditional [...] Read more.
This paper aims to highlight examples of artistic motifs common throughout Egyptian history but augmented in novel ways during the 27th Dynasty, a time when Egypt was part of the Achaemenid empire and ruled by Persian kings. These kings represented themselves as traditional pharaohs within Egypt’s borders and utilized longstanding Egyptian artistic motifs in their monumental constructions. These motifs, however, were manipulated in subtle ways to send targeted messages to audience(s) of this art. Art historians tend to situate visual styles and motifs within the longue durée of artistic tradition and pick a singular, official, and centralized perspective to narrate the history and reception of that art. In the case of Egypt, this perspective is often that of the king, and there is an assumption that there was a monolithic message sent to his people. But we are not dealing with a homogenous people; a diverse population would have had varied reactions to and interpretations of this visual signaling. By highlighting both the augmentation of traditional motifs undertaken by the Achaemenid administration and the multiplicity of perspectives they held for their audience(s), we can better understand ancient art as being dynamic in function and interpretation, rather than as a static snapshot of carbon-copied royal authority. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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15 pages, 4546 KiB  
Article
Dialogues between Past and Present? Modern Art, Contemporary Art Practice, and Ancient Egypt in the Museum
by Alice Stevenson
Arts 2024, 13(3), 99; https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13030099 - 30 May 2024
Viewed by 1451
Abstract
Whenever twentieth-century modern art or new contemporary artworks are included amongst displays of ancient Egypt, press statements often assert that such juxtapositions are ‘surprising’, ‘innovative’, and ‘fresh’, celebrating the external perspective they bring to such collections. But contemporary art’s relationship with museums and [...] Read more.
Whenever twentieth-century modern art or new contemporary artworks are included amongst displays of ancient Egypt, press statements often assert that such juxtapositions are ‘surprising’, ‘innovative’, and ‘fresh’, celebrating the external perspective they bring to such collections. But contemporary art’s relationship with museums and other disciplines needs to be understood in a longer-term perspective. Pairings of twentieth- and twenty-first-century artistic works with objects of antiquity is an activity that has been undertaken for more than a century in what has been a relatively long period of mutually reinforcing influences between modern/contemporary art, museum display, the art market, and Egyptian heritage. Together, they have decontextualised ancient Egyptian culture and shaped the language and perspectives of scholars, curators, and artists. In this paper, rather than considering how artists have been inspired by ancient Egypt, I will give a few examples of how more recent art practices from the late nineteenth century onwards have impacted the language and discourse of Egyptology and its museum representation. Then, using more recent artist engagements with the British Museum, I argue for greater interdisciplinary dialogues between artists and Egyptologists, as both take more critical stances towards research that recontextualises the power and agency of collections, representation, and knowledge production. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance)
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