B02-Mesopotamia and Egyptian Art Study Guide

Instructions: Fill in this guide as you read the lesson. Use the word bank below to help you fill in the blanks. Use this study guide to help you prepare for the test. Student Note: In order to do well on your test, you need to fully understand the information in each lesson. The study guide will help prepare you for the test, but it will be your responsibility to memorize, understand, and apply the information from the lesson and study guide to successfully pass the test. Word Bank cuneiform pictographs King Tutankhamen Ka sun-dried brick ziggurats Egypt hieroglyphics afterlife tombs and pyramids mummification Pharaohs curse of the pharaoh blunt reed or stylus Mesopotamia Sumerians votive figures sled ramps The Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza human figure in a stiff fashion ____________________________ Mesopotamia Long, long ago, the earliest civilizations on record emerged. These civilizations were Mesopotamia located in ____________________________ between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now modern day Iraq. The Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Akkadians are some of the more familiar civilizations associated with this period in time. The Sumerians ____________________________ established their first city-state about 3,500 B.C. They cuneiform developed the first writing system called____________________________, record keeping, schools, law, mathematics, and architecture. Oh yeah, they also invented the wheel! ____________________________ Cuneiform Its important to note that art historians dont just look art the typical items of a culture such as paintings and pottery to understand how and what they created; they will also look at how they communicated. Look at the picture of cuneiform writing. These pictographs ____________________________began as simple symbolic pictures that later evolved into a series of lines and geometric symbols written on clay tablets with Continue

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blunt reed or stylus a____________________________. The reed markings left a wedge shape, thus the name cuneiform. (wedge-shaped cuneus is Latin for wedge) The cuneiform writing here shows the development of the sign SAG "head" that transforms from a head symbol to a few straight lines. _________________________ The First Urban Planners

Mesopotamians developed complex cities that were made sun-dried brick of____________________________. In the center of each city was a mountainous temple surrounded by workshops, storehouses, and homes. For the first time life was organized. Every city-state had its own god with the priest as ruler. Their giant stairziggurats stepped temples were called____________________________.

The most famous zigguart was the Tower of Babel. The artist Brugel, in 1563, tried to recreate what the tower might have looked like based on collected records and stories. Many of these structures have not survived however, due to the fragile material of sundried brick from which they were made. _________________________ Mesopotamian Sculpture Sculpture during this time was associated with religion. The most recognizable sculptures votive figures were the____________________________.(see image) Thousands of these small sculptures were placed in temples to represent Sumerian men and women who left prayers at the temple. Artists would carve them at the temple complexes for a price, most likely depending on the size, and possibly which type of stone was used _________________________ The image was typically an accurate depiction of what that person looked like, including human figure in a stiff fashion how they dressed. The statues represented the____________________________. Artist attention to detail was usually minimal such as curly hair, beards, and texture to clothing. Writing on the back or bottom stated who the statue represented and what they were praying for. A common prayer found on a statue was "One who offers prayers". The wide open eyes represented better contact with the god, and the large head and shoulders were an elaboration of where they believed the soul resided. _________________________ Egypt The Art of Immortality Around the same time that city-states were being developed along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, similar communities were forming along the upper and lower Nile Egypt River in____________________________. These communities consisted of slaves, priests, soldiers, scribes, artists, farmers, and herdsmen. The Nile Valley was protected from invasion by mountains in the south, deserts on both sides, and the Mediterranean Sea to the North, allowing the Egyptian culture to flourish for several thousand years. Continue

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Hieroglyphics Pyramids and Pharaohs (reflection of the culture) Upper and Lower Egypt were unified into a single kingdom around 3,100 B.C. It was hieroglyphics during this time that____________________________, the Egyptian system of writing with picture-symbols developed, allowing detailed recording of their culture. Even their writing was considered art. Much of what we know about ancient Egypt comes from their art and religious obsession. afterlife Egyptians believed in living for eternity (____________________________), and that Ka the pharaohs____________________________, or spirit, was immortal. This led to the tombs and pyramids construction of____________________________. The pyramids housed the god-kings Pharaohs (____________________________) food, servants, art, and everything they would need to travel to the afterlife. _________________________ Everything in the pyramid tomb, including paintings on the wall, was a recording of the pharaohs life, kind of like an instant replay. Because the decayed mummy could not hold the spirit of the king, portrait statues were created for the soul to reside within. Look at the tomb relief which depicts workers plowing the fields, harvesting the crops, and threshing the grain under the direction of an overseer. This image here depicts one detail of a pharaohs life that was carved and painted onto the pyramid wall, insuring adequate amounts of food. _________________________ Mummy Art (purpose of the pyramid) Pyramids werent just interesting buildings; they had a purpose which was to secure the burial remains of the pharaoh. The remains themselves went through a process called mummification. Over time, Egyptians perfected the art mummification of____________________________. The process took 70 days and involved removing the internal organs, removing the brain through the nose, and desiccating the body in a mixture of salts called natron.

Organs such as the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were removed and placed in individual urns. The body was then literally hung out to dry after being soaked in a salt solution. Padding was placed inside to fill the cavity, then the entire body was wrapped with clothe bandages. Finally, the mummy was placed in the coffin, and the coffin in a stone sarcophagus. The dry Egyptian climate would help to preserve the mummys remains for centuries.

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Egyptian Architecture - How the pyramids were made The pyramids themselves are considered art due to their unique construction and design elements. Even the inside of the pyramids were filled with artistic items and images that tell us a great deal about the Egyptian culture. Inside the tombs clothing, jewelry, food, servants, and weapons were stored, all placed there to help the spirit of the deceased in their travel in the afterlife. No one knows for sure how the pyramids were created due to the fact that there were no written records or pictures describing the process. What we do have are tools and physical evidence that indicate how the pyramids were constructed.

The pyramid blocks were hewn (carved) from quarries using stone tools. The blocks were taken down the Nile River on barges where sled ____________________________dragged by man or animal, carried them directly to the ramps worksite. (see sled image) It is theorized that ____________________________were built along the sides of the pyramid walls as it was being created so the large blocks could be brought up to the workmen. (see ramp image) _________________________ Pyramid Construction Continued The interior of the pyramid consisted of two burial chambers which were left incomplete. The final chamber was reached through the Grand Gallery and was ventilated by two small air shafts. After the sarcophagus was placed in the tomb, the ascending corridor was sealed from within by stone plugs. Workers had to escape through shafts and up the Descending Corridor.
The Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza For 4,000 years ____________________________was the largest stone structure in the world, covering up to 13 acres. The structure which sits on a perfectly square base, contains over two million blocks of limestone and weighs over two and a half tons. This was an incredible feat considering the primitive tools the architects had at the time. It took over 4,000 construction workers (probably slaves) 23 years (average life span at the time 35 years) to complete the pyramid without the help of draft animals, the wheel, or block and tackle.

Discovery of King Tuts Tumb

King Tutankhamen ____________________________who died at the age of 19 was not remembered for his life accomplishments but for having the only tomb undisturbed for over 3,000 years. In 1922, Howard Carter, a British archeologist, discovered King Tuts tomb full of gold and riches never seen before. One of the most striking objects discovered in the tomb is the pharaohs coffin. The coffin displays Tut wearing a royal headdress and holding a shepherds crook and a flail. The flail is a whip-like tool for beating grain loose from the husk. Both the crook and flail are s symbols of Egyptian royalty.

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Some of the items found in Tutankhamens tomb were baskets of fruit, flowers that still had some color to them, a toy box, four golden chariots, golden couches, and throne. Even the walls were covered in gold. A golden Mask of King Tutankhamen was placed on the face of the mummy, then the body was placed in the coffin, afterward the coffin was placed in the sarcophagus. Heres a bit of superstition I couldnt resist sharing. Have you ever heard of the curse of the pharaoh ____________________________? It was reported that 20 people connected with the tombs discovery mysteriously died. This notorious story developed days after Tutankhamens tomb was opened. No one can confirm the connection between the deaths and the tombs disturbance, however, the fact that so many people died who were connected to its unsealing makes you wonder if there could be a link.

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