An important achievement of ancient Egyptian art. Achievements of ancient egypt. Architectural monuments of Ancient Egypt

The ancient Egyptian civilization existed on Earth for more than 3 thousand years. During this huge time interval, a certain way of life, way of life, traditions and customs were developed. For the past 200 years, scientists have carefully studied all this, based on archaeological excavations, architectural structures, wall paintings in tombs and temples, as well as on preserved handwritten documents and inscriptions on stones.

Today, the achievements of Ancient Egypt represent a fairly complete picture. Much is known about the ancient civilization that existed on the banks of the Nile, despite the long period of time that separates modern people from that distant era.

The ancient Egyptians were of the Caucasian type. Their skin was dark, because their whole life passed under the sultry African sun. Most of the population was engaged in agriculture. In the cities, various crafts occupied a priority position. The most important of these was embalming or mummification.

The most high-class embalmers prepared pharaohs and high-ranking nobles for another world. The whole process of mummification took 2 months. The body of the deceased was impregnated with special compounds and dried with crystalline soda. Then they were tightly wrapped with wide strips of linen fabric. The fabric was pre-soaked in plaster to harden it. The mummy swaddled in this way was placed in a small sarcophagus, and that, in turn, in a large one.

Mummification of the body of the deceased

Egyptian sculptors and painters were of great skill. They made sculptural portraits, figurines, wall drawings. At the same time, they used primitive tools of labor, but their creations were distinguished by incredible skill and perfection and perfectly characterize the achievements of Ancient Egypt.

Masters of pottery and jewelry were also revered in the Nile Valley. The latter made necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry. Most of them were made of gold. It was mined in gold mines located between the 1st and 5th rapids of the Nile.

Shoemakers were also respected in the country. But the shoes were not very diverse. People mostly wore sandals made of leather. At the same time, many Egyptians generally preferred to walk barefoot, given the warm climate.

Pharaoh Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenamun

The weaving industry was also well developed in the Nile Valley. Linen was used to make both coarse and fine fabrics. The fabric was also used to make sails for ships. And shipping was very important for the development of trade with remote regions and other countries. It was noteworthy that the ships did not have decks, and the goods lay directly in the open air.

The trade was bargaining. In other countries, merchants brought grain, jewelry, wine, and in return they brought timber. There was no wood in Ancient Egypt, so it was valued on a par with gold. Although there was no money in the country, there was a measure of the value of goods. It was deben which corresponded to 90 grams of silver. Silver, by the way, was in no way inferior to gold in the eyes of the Egyptians.

Writing

The most important achievement of Ancient Egypt was writing. She was hieroglyphic. In other words, it used ideograms or pictures to denote whole words. For example, a drawing of a bird meant the word "bird". True, there were drawbacks in this form of the letter. With birds and other animals everything is clear, but how to depict, for example, the word "important". The ancient Egyptians coped with this using clarifying signs, and later switched to syllabic, and then letter writing.

The texts were applied to papyrus using reed pens and special ink. The scribes, who were government officials, practiced cursive writing. She represented simplified hieroglyphs.

For numbers, their own icons were invented for 1, 10 and 100. But for 0 and numbers from 2 to 9 there were no icons. To represent, for example, the number 275, there were two icons 100, seven icons 10 and 5 icons 1.

Noble nobles, priests and scribes were obligatory literate in the country. The rest of the population learned to read and write if they could afford such a luxury. Classes were held in temple schools, and the teachers were priests or scribes. Learning to read and write was considered a difficult science, because hundreds of hieroglyphs had to be learned by heart. The course also included mathematics and geometry. With their help, volumes and areas were measured. Therefore, both builders and merchants needed to know the mathematical sciences.

Agriculture

Most of the Egyptians were engaged in agriculture. People grew crops and raised livestock. The land was fertile and gave good yields of barley and wheat. It also grew vegetables and fruits. The cattle provided milk and meat. Ducks and pigeons were bred from birds. But the inhabitants of the Nile Valley did not know chickens.

The flooding of the Nile was a natural feature. The river overflowed its banks and flooded the fields. For this period, villagers were obliged to work on the construction of pyramids, palaces and temples. When the water subsided, the peasants returned to their agricultural activities.

Priests

Priests in Ancient Egypt were a privileged stratum of the population. Their opinion was taken into account not only by government officials, but also by the pharaohs. The priesthood possessed a lot of knowledge. Astronomy occupied not the last place in them. The priests, guided by the movement of the stars, predicted lunar and solar eclipses, which at that time caused superstitious horror among people. It was the priesthood who invented the calendar. It had 365 days, which were divided into 3 seasons of 4 months each.

The priests cannot be denied knowledge of medicine. Subsequently, many ancient Egyptian healing recipes were adopted by the ancient Greeks. The servants of the gods knew chemistry well. It was they who prepared special solutions, which were then impregnated with the bodies of the deceased and turned into mummies.

Temples served as dwellings for the priests. They were one of the most important parts of urban architecture. Temples were entire complexes that included ritual rooms, living rooms, grain storage, workshops, dining rooms and study rooms. They represented an isolated world that was accessible only to the priest.

Life of the ancient Egyptians

The ancient Egyptians attached great importance to gluttony, which cannot be attributed to the achievements of Ancient Egypt. Wealthy people regularly held feasts. On them the tables were laden with various dishes, and the wine flowed like a river. Before the beginning of each feast, praise to Amon was necessarily ascended, then everyone sat down at the table. At the same time, both men and women sat down, but only on opposite sides of the banquet table.

Such feasts have never been complete without dancing and music. In wealthy houses there were dancers who delighted guests with their skill. The dances were accompanied by music. It was in the Nile Valley that strings and wind instruments such as the flute and harp were invented. These are the real achievements of Ancient Egypt, because these musical inventions have survived to this day.

The flute and harp were invented by the ancient Egyptians

The poor strata of the population lived in cares and labors. However, judging by the excavations, the standard of living of ordinary Egyptians cannot be called low. By modern standards, he was tall. Those who were busy building the pyramids lived especially well.

The usual standard dwelling was built of adobe bricks and consisted of 4 rooms. The first room was dedicated to the gods. In it there was a semblance of an altar and images of the gods. Next came the second room. For the family, she served as a living room. From it one could get into two more rooms. One of them apparently served as a bedroom, while the other was a storage room.

Many houses had cellars for storing food. There was a courtyard in front of the house. The family took food in it. There was also an oven for cooking and dishes were kept. Ordinary Egyptians who were not in power lived in such houses. It seems that there were no housing problems and housing issues in Ancient Egypt, and therefore this side of people's life could not spoil.

House and courtyard of a wealthy Egyptian

The ancient Egyptians knew a lot about good food. All segments of the population ate ducks, geese, fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, and drank wine. All this was consumed in abundance, since the country was rich in both livestock and crops. Bread in the form of cakes was baked in clay ovens. They made it from barley or wheat.

They ate from plates, but did not use knives, spoons, or forks. Despite all the achievements of Ancient Egypt, these simple and necessary devices were not invented by the Egyptians. And most likely, the inhabitants of the Nile Valley simply did not feel the need for this, because fingers in all centuries were a universal tool.

The wine was prepared in special large containers. Grapes were kneaded and crushed in them. The resulting juice was filtered and poured into earthen vessels. Fermented juice turned into wine. A barley drink was also prepared, resembling beer in quality. They drank it at any time to quench their thirst. They even took this barley drink with them to work in the field.

Rich and noble men had many wives. And the pharaohs numbered hundreds. But there was a rigid hierarchy among the wives of the rulers. The eldest wife was at the head of all. It was she who was responsible for the household. Itself, of course, did not work, but made sure that order was maintained in the house. Each wife had servants who helped her dress, do her hair, and preen herself.

Wives did not have complete equality with their husbands. This is indicated at least by the fact that the husband was not subjected to any punishment for treason, and the unfaithful wife was thrown to be devoured by the Nile crocodiles. This law was widespread in the Nile Valley and has been practiced for thousands of years. So the huge toothy reptiles have never been hungry for centuries.

Leisure of a wealthy Egyptian family

Building pyramids

The construction of the majestic structures began in the XXVIII century BC. e., and ended in the 17th century BC. NS. That is, they were built for over 1000 years. To date, there are about 100 known pyramids. All of them are located on the left bank of the Nile and perfectly characterize the distant era that is known modern people like the ancient Egyptian civilization.

1. Developed a solar calendar. They used this calendar to determine when the Nile River flooded. These floods coincided with the rising of Sirius. The year was divided into 3 seasons, 4 months each, the month had 30 days, which were divided into decades. And each decade was dedicated to a specific constellation.

2. Developed a sundial and water clock (It is known in the period of the new kingdom) The Egyptians divided the day into 24 hours. But, despite the appearance of the clock, the most important sign of the worldview, the Egyptians will always be such a category as the category of eternity.

3. Maps of the sky. The Egyptians grouped the stars into constellations and actively watched them.

4. Discoveries in the field of mathematics. They introduced a ten-thousandth counting system, they operated with simple fractions. They could calculate the circumference, the surface area of ​​the ball, they knew the arithmetic progression, etc.

5. In the field of anatomy and medicine. Development of the process of embalming the body of the deceased, discovered the connection between brain damage and paralysis of the limbs, they used the basics of chemical knowledge (poisons, herbs, potions)

6. historical records of kingdoms. Which recorded certain events

7.the discovery of writing

Features of the written culture of Egypt.

In antiquity, Egyptian letters were called hieroglyphs i.e. sacred texts, many scientists worked on deciphering: the priest Kircher, Count Palin, Thomas Jung, Champalien and some others.

Egyptian letters are not puzzles. Not symbols, despite their drawing, but these are signs that convey the sound speech of the ancient Egyptians. In modern Egyptology, it is customary to group hieroglyphs into sections, the basis of this division is the image. There are 26 groups:

1) The image of male figures and their actions (wars, pharaohs, priests, slaves). This gives us information about the nature of the action of the ancient Egyptians.

2) Female (signs depicting a simple woman - mistress, pregnant, lactating, giving birth)

3) the image of strange creatures, half-humans, half-beasts (Ra)

4) signs that represent parts human body(lips, eye, leg ..)

5) representatives of the animal world were depicted, and they were assigned to different groups (crocodile, bull, cat, jackals, elephants, cobras)

6) signs depicting parts of the animal's body (wings, beak, head)

7) plants that the Egyptians grew

8) symbolic and realistic symbols

9) the image of buildings, furnishings

10) signs that cannot be deciphered.

The main mystery is related to the fact that for a long time researchers believed that behind each sign there is some kind of symbol that can be deciphered either by a phrase or by making a story. Only Champollion realized that Egyptian hieroglyphs convey sound speech. The scribes used 700 hieroglyphs, but did not convey vowels. Therefore, scientists use "school reading". The essence of the principle is that they insert the vowel e between any consonants. At the moment, only an approximate reconstruction of the sounds of Egyptian words is possible. Esida - Essa

Hieroglyphic texts were not divided into words and sentences. In Egypt, there were dumb determinants in the text - these are signs that divided the text into separate words, there was no spelling in Egyptian writing, the text obeyed the tastes, habits of a particular scribe (the titles of the pharaohs, when describing the gods, the dates did not change)

8. Despite the fact that Egyptian culture created the foundations of scientific knowledge, an important role in the life of the ancient Egyptians was played by not scientific, but sacred knowledge. This is knowledge that was passed on only by the priests. Access to this knowledge could be obtained only through the rites of initiation into the priestly elite - these rites were called the mystery. In modern culture, most are lost or encrypted. The embodiment of sacred knowledge is the Cheops pyramid, as the place where the Cheops rite is performed. The pyramid is the archetype of the divine mountain. The pyramid is an ideal geometric body, the base of the pyramid indicates the inviolability of the house of knowledge, which is built on 4 states: silence, depth, reason, truth. The 4 sides of the pyramid embody warmth and cold (South and North), light and darkness (East and West), the triangular side of the pyramid symbolizes the three-dimensionality of the divine being. The sum of the faces of the pyramid = 28, this is a sacred number. The pyramid is considered a symbol of the sacred universe (universe). Mystery knowledge teaches that the divine energy of the power of the gods tends to the top of the pyramid. That is why a stone in the form of a pyramid was installed on the top of the pyramid, and then again and again, which symbolized the incompleteness of eternity, the fact that only God can be perfect.

According to sacred knowledge, a person entered the pyramid as a person, and left as a deity

Today we will consider the culture of Ancient Egypt - briefly. At first, what is civilization? Civilization is a set of interacting different parts of the life of society as a whole (religion, culture, art, etc.). If we talk briefly about the culture of ancient Egypt, then we can say that we still feel this ancient culture. These are various architectural monuments that have survived in good condition even after thousands of years, and the great works of astronauts, and very much more.
Egypt's contribution to the development of mathematics, medicine, astronomy is invaluable.

The language and writing of ancient Egypt

One of the greatest achievements of Egyptian culture is writing. A lot of documents have come down to us, written on ancient papyri and carved in stone.

We were not lucky to find a native speaker of that time in our time, so in 1822 the French scientist J.F. Champollion very professionally coped with the task of decoding the language.

The language of ancient Egypt is the most ancient language in the world. He received writing - the most ancient texts date back to 4-3 millennia BC. The Egyptians were very culturally advanced people. They were well versed in arithmetic, used the numbers 5.6 and even 7 orders in their calculations. Thanks to their writing, literature was born. Literature of Ancient Egypt included poetry, poems, religious hymns, biographies of the pharaohs. Many famous philosophers have been gifted to us by Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian art

Fine art appeared at the very beginning of the development of Egyptian civilization. At that time, the principles of the image were already developed, as well as the technologies by which the images were applied. The principle of the image was simplicity of drawing in two-dimensional form. It is thanks to the simplicity that a sense of order and balance of the picture is created. Paintings, frescoes were applied to the walls of temples, tombs, palaces, some images have survived to our times and, practically, without loss of colors.

Religion of ancient Egypt

In the culture of Egypt, there was no one single religion. There were a large number of cults that were dedicated to some one gods. But at the same time, during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten, a reform of religion was carried out, according to which the idea of ​​monotheism was defined. Deities, as a rule, were the patrons of natural forces and divine phenomena.

Talking about heritage of ancient Egypt the most important is the decimal numbering system, which we still use today.

Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of ancient peoples Published on 12/21/2015 10:46 AM Hits: 7711

The art of Ancient Egypt is divided into three periods:

Old Kingdom Art, Middle Kingdom Art, and New Kingdom Art. In each of these periods, its own style was formed, its own canons were developed and innovations were introduced. These periods can be briefly characterized as follows.

General characteristics of the art of Ancient Egypt

The Art of the Old Kingdom (XXXII century-XXIV century BC)

The main canons of Egyptian art, which were then preserved over the centuries, were formed in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. NS. It was a monumental style, due to the fact that the art of Egypt was an integral part of the funeral ritual, is closely associated with religion, which deified the forces of nature and earthly power.
The Great Pyramids and the Great Sphinx date back to this time.

Egyptian pyramids

The Egyptian pyramids are the greatest architectural monuments of Ancient Egypt. These are huge pyramidal stone structures that were used as tombs for the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. In total, more than 100 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt.

Pyramid of Neferefra in Abusir

Great sphinx

The Great Sphinx in Giza is the oldest surviving monumental sculpture on Earth. It is carved out of a monolithic limestone rock in the shape of a sphinx - a lion lying on the sand, whose face is given a portrait resemblance to the pharaoh Khefren (c. 2575-2465 BC). The length of the statue is 72 m, the height is 20 m; between the forepaws in ancient times there was a small sanctuary (an altar dedicated to a deity).

Great Sphinx and Cheops pyramid
Since ancient times in Egypt, it was customary to depict the pharaoh in the form of a lion, destroying his enemies. The circumstances and the exact time of the construction of the Sphinx have not yet been precisely determined. For local residents, the Sphinx was a kind of talisman, the ruler of the Nile. They believed that the flood level of the great river and the fertility of their fields depended on him.

Great Pyramid of Cheops

Cheops - the second pharaoh of the IV dynasty of the Ancient Kingdom of Egypt (2589-2566 BC or 2551-2528 BC presumably), the builder of the Great Pyramid in Giza. Cheops had a reputation as a classic oriental despot and a brutal ruler. He reigned for about 27 years. The pyramid is his greatest achievement, as well as the first of the seven wonders of the world in the ancient world. She is the only one of the wonders of the world that has survived to this day. The original height of 146.6 m (today only 137.5 m), was considered the tallest structure in the world for 3500 years.

Art of the Middle Kingdom (XXI century-XVIII century BC)

The art of the Middle Kingdom carefully observed the traditions and canons of the Ancient, but also introduced its own characteristics. The beginning of the Middle Kingdom: after a long period of turmoil and the disintegration of Egypt into separate nomes, it united under the rule of the Theban rulers. But now centralization was not as absolute as before. Local rulers (nomarchs) became richer and more independent and appropriated royal privileges to themselves. The tombs of the nobles began to be located not at the foot of the royal pyramids, but separately. pyramids have become more modest and smaller in size. During this period, the development of jewelry began.
With the decrease in the pathos of monumentality, genre diversity begins to develop. The portrait develops, and the individual traits gradually intensify in it.

Art of the New Kingdom (XVII century-XI century BC)

In the art of the New Kingdom, the manifestation of human feelings and reflections became noticeable.
The tombs have ceased to be above ground and are hiding in gorges. The architecture of temples began to prevail. The priests became an independent political force, competing even with the power of the king. Although the pharaohs were glorified in the temples, their exploits and conquests.
For several centuries, the famous temples of Amun-Ra were built and completed in Karnak and Luxor, near Thebes.

The main temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak
An innovative stage is associated with the reign of the reformer Pharaoh Akhenaten in the XIV century. BC NS. Akhenaten opposed the Theban priesthood, abolished the entire ancient pantheon of gods, made the priests his implacable enemies.

Akhenaten
The art of Akhenaten's time appealed to the simple feelings of people and their states of mind. Lyrical scenes of Akhenaten's family life appear in art: he hugs his wife, caresses the child.
But the reaction to his reforms began already under one of his closest successors, Tutankhamun. All the old cults were soon restored. But many of Akhenaten's innovative ideas and techniques have survived in ancient Egyptian art.

Ramses II
The last glorified conqueror, Ramses II, began to cultivate a solemn and monumental style, and after Ramses followed a period of long wars, the conquest of Egypt by Ethiopians and Assyrians. Egypt lost its military and political power, and then cultural primacy. In the VII century. BC NS. For a time, the Egyptian state unites again around the Sais rulers, and ancient Egyptian art in its traditional forms was revived. But in him there was no longer the former vitality, fatigue is felt, the depletion of creative energy. The world historical role of Egypt has been exhausted.

Ancient Egyptian architecture

Early Kingdom architecture

Monuments of monumental architecture of this period have practically not survived, tk. The main building material was raw bricks, which were easily destroyed. Clay, reed and wood were also used. The stone was used only as a finishing material. The type of palace facades belongs to this era. Religious and memorial buildings are better preserved: sanctuaries, chapels and mastabas. During this period, some design techniques were developed: concave cornices, ornamental friezes (painting or sculptural), the design of the doorway with a deep ledge.

Ancient Kingdom architecture - "time of the pyramids"

During this period, a powerful centralized state was created under the rule of the pharaoh, who is considered the son of the god Ra, this also dictated the main type of architectural structure - the tomb. The largest in size royal tombs-pyramids were created, on the structures of which not only slaves, but also peasants worked for tens of years. The pyramids indicate that exact sciences and crafts were well developed in Ancient Egypt at that time.

Step pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara
Other pharaohs of the 3rd dynasty also built step pyramids. Towards the end of the Old Kingdom period, a new type of building appears - a solar temple, which was usually built on a hill and surrounded by a wall.

Memorial Temple of Seti I at Abydos

Middle Kingdom architecture

After Mentuhotep I in 2050 BC. e re-united Egypt and restored the unified power of the pharaohs under the auspices of Thebes, the psychology of individualism began to dominate: everyone began to care about their own immortality. Now not only the pharaoh, but also ordinary mortals began to claim privileges in the other world. The idea of ​​equality after death arose, this immediately reflected on the technical side of the cult of the dead. Mastaba-type tombs became an unnecessary luxury. To ensure eternal life, one stele was already enough - a stone slab on which magical texts were written.
But the pharaohs continued to build tombs in the form of pyramids, although their size decreased, the material for construction was not two-ton blocks, but raw bricks, the way of laying changed. The base is 8 solid stone walls. The other 8 walls departed from these walls at an angle of 45º, and the gaps between them were filled with fragments of stone, sand, and bricks. From above, the pyramids were faced with limestone slabs. The upper memorial temple adjoined the eastern side of the pyramid, from which there was a covered passage to the temple in the valley. Currently, these pyramids are heaps of ruins.

The funeral temple of Pharaoh Mentuhotep II
A new type of burial structures also appeared: tombs. The main part of the burial vault was a memorial church decorated with a portico; in the center, a ramp led to a second terrace, where a second portico surrounded a columned hall on three sides, in the center of which a pyramid made of boulders rose. Its base was a natural rock. On the west side there was an open courtyard. The pharaoh's tomb was located under the columned hall.

New Kingdom architecture

Thebes began to play a major role in the architecture and art of the New Kingdom. Magnificent palaces and houses, magnificent temples are being built in them. The glory of the city has been preserved for many centuries.
The construction of the temples was carried out in three main directions: ground, rocky and semi-rocky temple complexes.

Facade of the rocky temple of Ramses II

Late Kingdom architecture

Since the era of the XXVI dynasty, Thebes lost their political and artistic significance, and the city of Sais became the new capital of Egypt. The architectural monuments of the Sais period have hardly survived. In the few that have survived, there are ground and rock structures, some elements of temple architecture: hypostyle, pylons, hall chains.
Hypostille - a large hall of a temple or palace supported by columns with numerous, regularly placed columns.

Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak (Egypt)
In the architecture of the era of the Persian domination, there is a gradual abandonment of the type of monumental ensembles; temples are getting much smaller. The type of the classical colonnade from the times of the New Kingdom is preserved, but the splendor and detailed elaboration of the decor are noticeably increasing.
After the conquest of Egypt by the Greeks, the local artistic culture was synthesized with the traditions of antiquity.

Philae Temple - Evidence of the Evolution of Ancient Egyptian Art Traditions during the Hellenistic Period

Sculpture of ancient egypt

The sculpture of Ancient Egypt is original and strictly canonically regulated. It was created and developed to represent the ancient Egyptian gods, pharaohs, kings and queens in physical form... Statues of gods and pharaohs were put on public display, usually in open spaces and outside temples. The most sacred image of God was in the temple. Many carved figurines have survived. Such figurines were made of wood, alabaster, or a more expensive material. Wooden images of slaves, animals and property were placed in tombs to accompany the dead in the afterlife.

Statues of Hatshepsut and Thutmose III (Karnak)
There were also many images of Ka in the tombs of ordinary Egyptians, mostly in wood, some of which have survived. Ka is the spirit of a person, a being of a higher order, divine life force. After the death of the man, Ka continued to exist inside the tomb and accepted offerings.
Ka was depicted as a man with raised arms bent at the elbows on his head.
Inanimate objects also had ka. The gods had several Ka.
The canon of the creation of an ancient Egyptian sculpture: the color of a man's body had to be darker than the color of a woman's body, the hands of a seated person had to be exclusively on his knees. The rules for depicting Egyptian gods: the god Horus should be depicted with the head of a falcon, the god of the dead Anubis - with the head of a jackal, etc. The sculptural canon of Ancient Egypt existed for 3 thousand years.
The flowering of small-scale sculpture began in the art of the Middle Kingdom. Although it was still associated with a funeral cult, the figurines were already covered with soil and painted, and whole multi-figured compositions were created in a round sculpture.
In the New Kingdom, monumental sculpture began to develop actively, the purpose of which began to go beyond the confines of the funeral cult. Traits of individuality appear in the Theban sculpture of the New Kingdom. For example, portraits of Hatshepsut. Hatshepsut is a female pharaoh of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt from the 18th Dynasty. Hatshepsut completed the rebuilding of Egypt after the Hyksos invasion and erected many monuments throughout Egypt. She, along with Thutmose III, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun, Ramses II and Cleopatra VII, is one of the most famous Egyptian rulers.

Hatshepsut
In the art of the New Kingdom, a sculptural group portrait also appears, especially images of a married couple.
An innovation was the image of the figures entirely in profile, which was previously not allowed by the Egyptian canon. The fact of the preservation of ethnic traits in the portrait was also new. The lyrical beginning is manifested in the Amarna reliefs, filled with natural plasticity and do not contain canonical frontal images.
The culmination of the development of the fine arts is rightly considered the works of the sculptors of Thutmes' workshop. Among them is the famous head of Queen Nefertiti in a blue tiara.

Bust of Nefertiti. New Museum (Berlin)
Neferti is the "main wife" of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the XVIII dynasty Akhenaten (c. 1351-1334 BC). It is believed that never before has Egypt spawned such a beauty. She was called "Perfect"; her face adorned temples all over the country.
In the sculpture of the Late Kingdom, the skills of the ancient high craftsmanship of sculpture are partly extinguished. The static nature, conditional outlines of faces, canonical poses and even a semblance of an "archaic smile", characteristic of the art of the Early and Ancient Kingdoms, are again becoming relevant. Sculptures of the Ptolemaic period are also mainly made in the traditions of the Egyptian canon. But the Hellenistic culture influenced the nature of the interpretation of the face, there is a greater plasticity, softness and lyricism.

Statue of Osiris. Louvre (Paris)

Painting of Ancient Egypt

All sculptural images in Ancient Egypt were brightly colored. Paint composition: egg tempera, viscous substances and resins. No real fresco was used, only “fresco a secco” (wall painting done on hard, dried plaster, re-moistened. Paints crushed on vegetable glue, egg or mixed with lime are used). From above, the painting was covered with a layer of varnish or resin in order to preserve the image for a long time. Most often, small statues, especially wooden ones, were painted this way.
Many Egyptian paintings have survived thanks to the dry climate of Ancient Egypt. The paintings were created to improve the life of the deceased in the afterlife. The scenes of travel to the afterlife and a meeting in the afterlife with a deity (the judgment of Osiris) were depicted.

Part of the Book of the Dead from Ahmim, depicting the judgment of Osiris (IV-I centuries BC)
The earthly life of the deceased was often depicted to help him do the same in the kingdom of the dead.
In the New Kingdom, together with the deceased, they began to bury the Book of the Dead, which was considered important for the afterlife.

Book of the Dead

In the era of the Old Kingdom, there was a custom of reading aloud spells for the deceased king. Later, similar texts began to be recorded in the tombs of Egyptian nobles. By the time of the Middle Kingdom, collections of memorial incantations were already recorded on the surface of the sarcophagi and became available to anyone who could purchase such a sarcophagus. In the New Kingdom and later, they were recorded on papyrus scrolls or on leather. These scrolls are called "The Book of the Dead": a heap of prayers, chants, praises and incantations associated with the funeral cult. Gradually, elements of morality penetrate the Book of the Dead.

Osiris Judgment

This is the 125th chapter, which describes the posthumous judgment of Osiris (king and judge of the underworld) over the deceased. To the chapter illustration: Osiris with a crown and a rod sits on a throne. Above there are 42 gods. In the center of the hall there are scales on which the gods weigh the heart of the deceased (a symbol of the soul among the ancient Egyptians). On one scale is the heart, that is, the conscience of the deceased, light or burdened with sins, and on the other is Truth in the form of a feather of the goddess Maat or a figurine of Maat. If a person led a righteous life on earth, then his heart and feather weighed the same, if he sinned, then his heart weighed more. The justified deceased was sent to the afterlife, the sinner was eaten by the monster Amat (a lion with the head of a crocodile).
At the trial, the deceased turns to Osiris, and then to each of the 42 gods, justifying himself in mortal sin, which this or that god knew. The same chapter contains the text of the excuse speech.

The gods weigh the heart of the deceased (Book of the Dead)
The main colors of painting in Ancient Egypt were red, blue, black, brown, yellow, white and green.

Ancient Egypt is one of the first states on earth, located in Northeast Africa, in the lower reaches of the Nile River. Natural conditions are an essential factor in the development of this civilization. It is known that in the Nile Valley, the Egyptians harvested twice a year. About 3 thousand BC in Egypt there was already a state. The level of culture of Ancient Egypt is evidenced by the pyramids and the developed irrigation system. The pyramids were a tribute to the Sun, the channels were a tribute to the Nile. One of the remarkable phenomena of Egyptian antiquity is the sphinxes - fantastic creatures with the head of a pharaoh and the body of a lion, personifying the unity of man and nature, wisdom, mystery and strength of the Egyptian ruler. Writing and counting were developed as early as 3000 BC. The name of a person was considered by the Egyptians as his soul, they believed in the immortality of the soul, in the afterlife. That is why the pharaohs (living likeness of the Sun with the eternal soul Ka) - the ancient Egyptian kings, during their lifetime began the construction of the pyramids - their tombs. The desire for immortality gave rise to a funeral cult, in this regard, embalming, the art of making mummies, developed in Egypt.
The ancient Greeks called the Egyptians the wisest of people. The cultural achievements of Ancient Egypt are really significant: papyrus, monumental stone architecture, pyramids, sculptural portrait, knowledge in astronomy, medicine and mathematics.
The Sumerian-Akkadian civilization is the oldest on earth. Its population lived in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (the whole valley was called Mesopotamia or Mesopotamia). In the IV - III millennium BC. the highest culture arose here: Sumer - Akkad - Babylonia - Assyria - Iran. They mixed, fought with each other, built cities, created the highest culture.
It is the Sumerians who are the ancestors of the entire Babylonian culture. Their achievements are great and indisputable: they wrote the first elegations, compiled a library catalog. The Sumerians were the first authors of medical books - collections of recipes, they developed and recorded the first calendar of the farmer, left the first information about protective plantings. Even the idea of ​​creating the first fish reserve in history was also recorded in writing by the Sumerians. The first stringed musical instruments - the lyre and the harp - also appeared among the Sumerians.
The most ancient writing on earth belongs to the Sumerians. It arose in the middle of the 4th century. BC. and represented wedge-shaped lines, squeezed out of raw clay on tablets. Over time, cuneiform from drawings and images became more and more symbolic. The first example of a literary work of human society, which has come down to us thanks to cuneiform writing, "The Legend of Gilgame-she", the king of the city of Uruk.
The ancient Sumerian civilization was replaced by Babylonia (II century BC). Since that time Babylon (the word “Babylon” is translated as “The Gate of God”) for almost two thousand years remained the economic and cultural center of the entire ancient world. The city of Babylon united all regions of the Mesopotamia valley under its rule. The ancient Babylonian kingdom reached its highest flowering under King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) - an experienced military leader, politician and legislator. Babylon has its own set of rules - the laws of Hammurabi, written in cuneiform on a 2-meter clay pillar. These laws reflected the economic life, customs, way of life, worldview of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. The supreme deity of the Babylonian pantheon was Marduk, he was the patron saint of the city of Babylon. The seven major astral gods served as the basis for the modern seven-day week. Babylon was a huge and bustling eastern city. It was surrounded by a powerful, thick wall, on which two chariots could freely part. There were 24 avenues in the city. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Assyrian queen, one of the seven wonders of the world, were a sightseeing attraction.
In the middle of the III millennium BC. in the northern Mesopotamia, the state of Assyria was formed. It was distinguished by an extremely militaristic spirit, and the Assyrian rulers amazed the entire ancient East with their thirst for power and unheard of cruelty. Assyrian art is filled with the pathos of power, it glorified the victories of the conquerors, gave images of royal cruelty unparalleled for world art, and performed without a shadow of pity or regret. This testifies to the cruelty of the morals of the Assyrian society, its low religiosity.