Symbolism In Ancient Egyptian Art

Improved Essays
Art has affected religion for centuries in every culture. Furthermore, it displayed what the artist thoughts and ideas were. Ancient Egypt is a great example of historical art. The Egyptians used art to communicate not only with the living but also the dead. To do this they used sculptures, reliefs, paintings, symbolism, and more.

One of the most common ways to show artistic ability in Ancient Egypt was to carve sculptures and reliefs. Sculptures and reliefs were one of the few forms of art seen by the common people. Many different types of wood and stone were used when carving statues and reliefs. Both reliefs and statues were carved into the shape of the gods and Pharaohs.

Paintings are the most popular type of Egyptian art today, but in Ancient Egypt, most people never saw the beautiful paintings that decorated the Pharaoh's tomb. In fact, the only people who saw King Tut's tomb were the artists who designed the tomb,
…show more content…
Symbolism is seen nearly everywhere in Egyptian Art. Ranging from hieroglyphics to the designs painted on the sarcophagus, to even the colors on the walls. Symbolism was an and still is an important part of the art.
One great example of symbolism in Ancient Egyptian art is hieroglyphics. Hieroglyphics was the Ancient Egyptian alphabet. One thing that is special about their alphabet though is that it was entirely made up of symbols or pictures. Hieroglyphics are important because they let the Egyptians leave records and communicate.

The art found inside of King Tut's tomb is perhaps one of the best examples of Ancient Egyptian art. King Tut’s tomb was filled with all different types of art. On the walls were paintings of him in the afterlife being served. Hieroglyphics are carved into the walls of telling magnificent stories. Sculptures surround his sarcophagus, including his fan, his scarab, and a statue of Anubis. Even the colors tell the amazing story of the boy king and his amazing

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Everyday we pass by a work of art and don't even acknowledge its existence. Art is everywhere we go, for example, a statue in a park is a work of art, it’s not only there for decorations. It has a purpose for being at that particular location, with hope that someone may notice it. Having the opportunity to learn about previous artworks, one of them really stood out to me from ancient Egypt. When an individual hears Egyptian art they mostly think about mummies, pyramids, or Pharaohs.…

    • 284 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hatshepsut The Great Essay

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages

    From Ahmose, the man who removed the Hyksos from the land of Egypt, to Tutankamun, the boy king, the beautiful Queen Nefertiti, and the well known Rameses ‘The Great’, it becomes clear the Egypt had amazing leaders, however the focus of this essay is one exceptional Pharaoh, whom we are about to learn about. It was the year 1903 when archeologist Howard Cater entered tomb known as KV20. It was empty apart from for three empty sarcophagus for a pharaoh. The scholars had no idea at the time where the king’s mummy was or who the tomb belonged to. It was in a nearby quarry where they found the destroyed statues of a Pharaoh.…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Qin Shi Tomb

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages

    One day in the early 1970’s a farmer was on his land in Lintong the Shazznxi province digging a water well when he discovered a mass grave of statutes. As the mass graves were unearthed the magnitude of this tomb housed more than seven thousand statues of chariots, horses, and soldiers. Some of the soldiers were high ranking while others were infantry units. There were four main pits that were found east of the burial mound of first emperor Qin Shi Huang as if they were protecting him in the afterlife.…

    • 770 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King Tut In Ancient Egypt

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages

    King Tut was a huge part of Ancient Egyptian’s history. The artifacts King Tut left behind have taught us about Egypt's past. King Tut was famous for his family, tomb, and curse. King Tut was famous for his rich and powerful family.…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Back in England his dog Howled and then simple dropped dead. The Mummys curse is said to have killed. The Great Sphinx, a very old and wonderful moument made by the Eqyptains. Covered in sand it was able to persever itself to last to our day and age.…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Egyptian Disruption In the year 1352 BC a pharaoh named Amenhotep IV came to power in Egypt. He inherited a peaceful nation at the height of its prosperity from his father Amenhotep III. However, he attempted to lead a religious, political and artistic revolution that was so disruptive that he was met with resistance from nearly every level.…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Medium- Medium refers to the material used to create a piece of artwork. Most artworks are created for different purposes and to tell distinctive stories and by using various mediums the artist can achieve this. Two examples of unlike mediums include paintings and hand-colored prints. An interesting example of an unconventional medium is an artwork called “Maple Leaves on a River” created by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849).…

    • 1307 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    New Kingdom Egypt was an era that was fit for a king and queen, but to be specific it was fit for a Pharaoh. Being a Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, meant that they had a lot of responsibility and was looked up to. Well known today and youngest Pharaoh during the New Kingdom era was no other than the Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Otherwise known as King Tut. In many of the wall paintings in his burial chamber, it depicts his accomplishments during the time he was alive and the welcoming he received from the gods during the afterlife.…

    • 1386 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although there are many differences between Ancient Egypt and modern times, Ancient Egypt has made an impact on today’s world because of their art, architecture, and food. First of all, their art influences how we live today and how art affects us today. Their art influences us today because we make statues or sculptures of people who have passed away that we want to honor because of their importance. Ancient Egyptian art also influences us because we sometimes use art, such as statues or paintings, for religious purposes. For example, Christians may have paintings or sculptures of a cross, for that represents the Christian religion.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The olden Egyptians believed in a cosmos order and assumed that the entire natural existing had once been established when the world was created by Ptah/ God. And so god rested after all creations had been made with all divine words. There is an Egyptian scholar, John Wilson has rephrase the word divine by stated Ptah had made a system into which all elements should be in appropriate order while being created. [1]Page 7-8. The association of divine powers with animals was understandable for the ancient Egyptians.…

    • 299 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    She said that the characteristics of the ancient Egyptians are demonstrated by things that lasted for thousands of years such as basic machines and other simple things they used in their day to day life. They used the ramp and the lever during construction processes, and rose trusses to stiffen the beam of ships. Egyptian paper was made from papyrus and pottery was seen everywhere she went. Makinson got to see for herself egyptian hieroglyphs, a photogenic writing system, served as the basis for the Phoenician alphabet where later other alphabets were created. With this ability, writing and record keeping, the Egyptians developed one of the first decimal system.…

    • 1382 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Egypt Blue Symbolism

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The color blue (irtiu and khesbedj) in ancient Egypt represented the color of royalty. Egyptian jewelry and regalia was usually blue and gold. Synthetic pigments were used to produce dyes and pigments. Blue is associated with the sky, water, prime-evil waters and the heavens. It signified the Nile River and all of it’s associated offerings, fertility, and crops.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ancient Egypt was a place of magnificent art, and inventions, with huge pyramids, and a variety of different gods. It may seem like you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between each ancient civilization, but they contrast in many ways. Ancient Egypt was responsible for many technological advances, and some we still use today. Ancient Egyptians way of life fascinates all that take the time to learn about it. Egyptians had strong religious beliefs, as they worshipped over 2,000 gods.…

    • 379 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    King Tut Research Paper

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages

    His name alone summons images of glittering gold and gleaming jewels, of assets beyond the mind’s eye, and of a life cut awfully short. It was not long after the discovery that rumors surfaced surrounding a “Pharaoh’s Curse”, a commonly…

    • 400 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The life they had known was a suffrage for the deities and that the life to come was almost like a reward and completely different from the lives they had already known (Connor, 167). Egyptians emphasized on geometric shapes, outlining, color and chiaroscuro, they built many pyramids and tombs for the dead in order to experience an afterlife in comfort and to have their possessions with them. A famous piece of work was the “Funerary Mask of Tutankhamun” it’s beautifully done with much detail, style and the use of complementary colors. This is the funerary mask of the young Egyptian ruler, Tutankhamun, the emblems on the forehead the vulture and cobra and on the shoulders falcon heads were symbols of the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt of divine ruler ship. It was patterned with blue glass and gold and was composed of semiprecious stones, the stripes used to portray this work of art was to establish the abstract look as well as the geometrical position Egyptians often took.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays