The document provides information on early civilizations that emerged around 5,000 years ago along major river systems such as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia, the Nile River in Egypt, the Indus River in India, and the Yellow and Blue Rivers in China. Writing first appeared in Mesopotamia around 5,000 years ago, marking the beginning of recorded history. Early civilizations had hierarchical societies led by powerful kings. They engaged in large-scale construction projects and developed systems of writing.

1. UNIT 9: EARLY
CIVILIZATIONS

2. THE INVENTION OF
WRITING
WHAT WERE THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS?
 Writing appeared in
Mesopotamia over 5,000 years
ago. This invention was so
important that it marks the end
of Prehistory and the beginning
of History.
 As villages grow into
towns, writing was a way of
storing informations about
taxes, trade and populations.

3. THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS
The first great civilizations appeared in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China around 5,000 years ago.
These river civilizations developed along large rivers surrounded by fertile land. These rivers were:
 The Tigris and Euphrates in Mesopotamia
 The Nile in Egypt
 The Indus River in India
 The Yellow (Huang He) and Blue (Yangtze) Rivers in China

4. WHAT WERE THE FIRST
CIVILIZATIONS?
In river civilizations:
 The king was the
most powerful
person. He made
laws, led the army
and often had
religious functions.
The kings were
served by civil
servants, and they
created large armies.
Ramesses II

5. WHAT WERE THE FIRST
CIVILIZATIONS?
 Society was hierarchical: it was divided into
clearly differentiated groups. A minority of
privileged people owned most of the land
and wealth, and had important posts in
public institutions. The majority of the
populations was much poorer.

6. WHAT WERE THE FIRST
CIVILIZATIONS?
 There were large-scale building works.
The kings built
palaces, temples, tombs and canals.
Ziggurat of Ur

8. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION
LIKE?
 Mesopotamia means “between rivers”, and
was the territory between the Rivers Tigris
and Euphrates. Mesopotamian civilization
was the first to use writing 5,000 years ago.

9. TIMELINE OF ANCIENT
MESOPOTAMIA
 Ancient Mesopotamia is called the cradle of
civilization. The first cities and empires
formed here.
 As you will see from the timeline, power
changed hands many times throughout the
ancient history of this area. It went from the
Sumer to the Akkadians to the Babylonians to
the Assyrians back to the Babylonians back
to the Assyrians and finally to the Persians.

10. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION
LIKE?
 Mesopotam
ia was a
very dry
area.
However, irr
igation
canals
allowed
agriculture
to develop.

11. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN CIVILIZATION
LIKE?
 Its geographical situation made this a key
region for trade between Asia Minor, the
Mediterranean area and Syria.

12.  Cuneiform writing was essential. It
consisted of sings drawn on clay
tablets with a reed. It is called
cuneiform because the patterns look
as if they were made by a wedge (the
Latin word is cuneus).
 The earliest writing was based on
pictograms. Pictograms were used to
communicate basic information about
crops and taxes.

13.  Over time, the need for writing
changed and the signs developed into
a script we call cuneiform.
 Over thousands of years,
Mesopotamian scribes recorded daily
events, trade, astronomy, and
literature on clay tablets.
 Cuneiform was used by people
throughout the ancient Near East to
write several different languages.

15.  Writing made it possible to organize
the state, for example, by recording
how much grain there was.
 Writing was also used to record
stories of important divinities or
heroes. This was the beginning of
written literature.
Epic of Gilgamesh

16. WRITE YOUR NAME IN
CUNEIFORM

17. DID YOU KNOW?
 The Code of Hammurabi is
one of the earliest law
codes we know about. It
was engraved on a rock in
Mesopotamia around
1,800 BC. It is based on
the law of retaliation (“an
eye for an eye”), which
established that the
punishment should match
the crime.

18. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIETY LIKE?
 The aristocracy
consisted of the king’s
family and the nobility.
They owned the land and
occupied the highest
government positions.
Mesopotamian society
Privileges groups had the most wealth and all the
power:

19.  Priests controlled
religious rituals. They
owned some of the land
and co-operated with the
government.
 Civil servants, such as
scribes, could
read, write and count.
Their tasks were
registering laws and
commercial transactions.

20. Part of the population was free, while slaves
had no rights
 Peasants rented the lands around cities.
This lands belonged to the king or the
temple. In exchange, peasants had to
give them part of the harvest. They
cultivated crops, such as barley, wheat
and beans. The used simple ploughs.

21.  Craftsmen worked in workshops. There
were different types of craftsmen, such as
weavers, carpenters and jewellers.
 Women were men’s property. If they
worked, their salary was half of that of an
adult man.

22. The Royal Standard of Ur
This commemorates a Mesopotamian victory. The Standard should be
read from right to left, beginning at the bottom
Noblemen covered themselves with a
cape and wore shoes. Religious and military leader slaves
Four-wheel chariot
Defeated
enemies
Sumerian warriors covered their heads
with a leather or metal helmet

23. The Royal Standard of Ur
This commemorates a Mesopotamian victory. The Standard should be
read from right to left, beginning at the bottom
The 'Peace' panel depicts animals, fish and other goods brought in
procession to a banquet. Seated figures, wearing woollen fleeces or
fringed skirts, drink to the accompaniment of a musician playing a
lyre.

24. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE LIKE?
 Mesopotamians were polytheistic: they
believed in many gods. Their gods were
similar to human beings, and had the same
passions. However, they were immortal.
 There were hundreds of gods who were
responsible for everything in the world, from
rivers and trees to making bread and pottery.
 Temples were the gods’ residences on Earth.
Some were built on stepped pyramids called
ziggurats.
Religion in Mesopotamia

25. Gods, goddesses, demons &
monsters
Apkallu
griffin Ea (Enki)
Ashur
Dumuzi
Ishtar (Inanna)
Ellil (Enlil)
Sin (Nanna)
Marduk

26. A Mesopotamian myth about
how and why humans were
created.
At the beginning of time there
were only gods and goddesses
on earth. They had to work the
land to grow crops to eat. This
was difficult and they worked very
hard.
Each god and goddess had a job
to do. Some dug the fields and
planted the crops. Others brought
water to the fields in ditches
which had to be kept clear of
weeds.

27. A Mesopotamian myth about
how and why humans were
created.
The work was hard, and they
were not happy. They got together
to discuss what could be done to
lighten their workload.
They went to get advice from
Enki, who was wise and clever.
Enki was fast asleep in his
underwater house.

28. A Mesopotamian myth about
how and why humans were
created.
Enki suggested that he create
creatures to serve them by
working the land. Then the gods'
and goddesses' lives would be
easier.
The gods and goddesses thought
that Enki's plan was a good
solution. Enki collected clay from
around his watery home and used
it to make humans.

29. A Mesopotamian myth about
how and why humans were
created.
He breathed life into the clay
figures, but he limited how long
they would live. Only the gods
and goddesses would live forever.
The humans were put to work in
the fields. As servants of the gods
and goddesses they had to
provide them with food and drink
for their tables.

30. A Mesopotamian myth about
how and why humans were
created.
The humans took water from the
rivers and fed the dry and lifeless
lands. They dug the soil and
planted crops.
With hard work the humans
brought life to the land, and the
gods and goddesses, who had
brought life to the humans, were
happy......... for the
moment...........

31. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE LIKE?
 The first schools were in Mesopotamia.
Originally, they specialized in training scribes.
Later, scholars, scientists and theologians
attended schools.
 Only male children from rich families went to
school. There was no education for girls.
The first schools

32. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE LIKE?
In Mesopotamia, both architecture and
sculpture were exceptional.
 Architecture: Mesopotamians built
magnificent palaces such as
Khorsabad, and monumental gates, such
as the Ishtar Gate. They invented the arch
and the vault. Brick and adobe (mud brick)
were used for construction.
Mesopotamian art

33. THE PALACE OF
KHORSABAD

34.  The Ishtar Gate
was the eighth gate
to the inner city of
Babylon.
 It was constructed
in about 575 BC by
order of King
Nebuchadnezzar II
on the north side of
the city.
THE ISHTAR
GATE

35. THE ZIGGURAT OF
UR
 Ziggurats are large
solid mud-brick stepped
towers. Stairways lead
to the top where there
was a small temple.
 No one knows for certain
why ziggurats were built
or how they were used.
They are part of temple
complexes, so they were
probably connected with
religion.
The Ziggurat of Ur today

36. WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE LIKE?
 Sculpture: they made stone statues of
kings, gods, animals and bulls with human
heads.
 Reliefs showed political and religious
scenes.
Mesopotamian art
The Lady of Warka c.3200 BC
(Sumerian)
The Warka Vase or The Uruk Vase c.3200 BC
(Sumerian)

37. The Dying Lion (Neo-Assyrian, ca. 645-640 B.C.)
Statue of king Gudea with a vase. Around 2140
BCE.
Bust of an Akkadian ruler, probably
Sargon, Nineveh, c. 23rd – 22nd century BC.
Panel of Ashurbanipal, about 645 BC

39. WHY WAS THE NILE CRUCIAL
TO ANCIENT EGYPT?

40. THE NILE
 Ancient Egypt
is one of the
most important
civilizations in
History. It
emerged more
than 5,000
years ago,
along the River
Nile in the
north-east of
Africa

41. THE NILE
 Ancient Egyptians lived near the River
Nile, because the land was fertile there.
Each year, water from the Nile rose and
flooded the area. When the water went
back, it left mud which made the fields
fertile.
 The Egyptians built dams to hold back the
water, and canals to carry water inland.

42. THE NILE
 The River Nile was also the main means
of communication. Sailing ships
transported people and good along the
river.

43. THE NILE
 Egyptian civilization would not have
existed without the Nile. Egyptians knew
how important it was: they had a
god, Hapi, which represented the river.

44. WHO WERE THE
PHARAOHS?
 The origins of
Ancient Egypt date
back to about 3,100
BC, when king
Menes united all the
territories along the
River Nile. Egyptian
civilization lasted
about three
thousand years.
Egypt was
conquered by the
Romans in the first
century BC.
The Narmer Palette is a significant Egyptian
archeological find, dating from about the 31st century
BC. Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the
Early Dynastic Period (c. 31st century BC).
Egyptological consensus identifies Narmer with the
First Dynasty pharaoh Menes.

45.  Egyptians called
their king a
pharaoh.
 The pharaoh was
all-powerful. He
passed laws, ruled
the country, owned
most of the
land, controlled
trade and led
armies.
Ramesses II, at the battle of Kadesh. (Relief
inside his Abu Simbel temple.)

46. WHO WERE THE
PHARAOHS?
 Egyptians believed that the pharaoh
were gods. Nobody could look at the
pharaoh in the eye or touch his body.
They also believed that the pharaoh
had magical powers. For
example, they thought that pharaohs
could make the water or the Nile rise.

47. SOME IMPORTANT
PHARAOHS
Khufu (4th
Dinasty, 2589–2566 BC).
He built the Great
Pyramid of Giza.
Hatshepsut (18th
Dinasty, 1479-1458 BC).The
second known female
ruler, though quite possibly
the seventh (the reigns of five
other women are likely, but
disputed).
Thutmose III (18th
Dynasty, 1479–1425 BC).

48. SOME IMPORTANT
PHARAOHS
Akhenaten (18th
Dinasty, 1353–1336 BC).
Founder of brief period of
a solar-centered religion.
Tutankhamun (18th dynasty
(ruled ca. 1332 BC – 1323
BC).
Ramesses (19th
Dynasty, 1279 BC – 1213
BC). He is often regarded as
the greatest, most
celebrated, and most
powerful pharaoh of the
Egyptian Empire.

49. The vulture was the
symbol of Upper
Egypt
The Nemes was a
headdress to show
royal power
The whip
symbolized the
pharaoh as a guide
The serpent was the
symbol for Lower
Egypt
The crook
symbolized
protection
A ceremonial beard
marked them as a
divinity
A royal
sarcophagus
The pharaohs used
ornaments as
symbols of
royalty, power and Royal Sarcophagus of Tutankhamen

50. WHAT WAS ANCIENT EGYPTIAN
SOCIETY LIKE?

51. THE ELITE
Noblemen, priests and scribes were a privileged
minority:
 The noblemen received
land and treasures from the
pharaoh. They ruled the
provinces.
 The priests organized
religious rituals. They also
owned land.
 The scribes were able to
read, write and count. They
were in charge of the official
documents

52. THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION
Most people lived in mud brick houses along the
Nile:
 Peasants cultivated the lands belonging to
the pharaoh, the priests and the noblemen.
 Craftsmen made sculptures and pottery.
They also made papyrus, a kind of paper,
and linen, which was used to make clothes
Tomb of Menna

53. Tomb of Rehkmire
Craftsmen, Tomb of Nebamun

54. THE MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION
 Merchants sold wood, minerals and
perfumes.
 Servants were free people who worked for a
salary, in the form of bread, beer, grain, meat
and cloth rations.
 Slaves were war prisoners and had no rights.
They built monuments, worked in mines or
fought
as soldiers.
Tomb of Rekhmire

55. THE ROLE OF WOMEN
 Egyptian women had some rights and
more freedom than other women in
Antiquity. For example, they could inherit
and own property, and they could also get
divorced.
 Most Egyptian women did house work, or
worked as peasants or servants. It was rare
for women to hold posts in the
administration. However, some women, like
Hatshepsut or Cleopatra, became
pharaohs.

56. Kitchen model; women workers grinding, baking
and brewing. Bread- and beer-making (made of
fermented bread) were usually women's tasks.
Twelfth dynasty, 2050-1800 BCE. Egyptian
Museum of Berlin.
Dancers and musicians. Nebamun’s tomb
A wall painting from the New Kingdom tomb of
Sennedjem, a Theban tomb builder. He and his
wife Iyneferet are shown sowing and plowing the
fields.

57. HOW DID ANCIENT EGYPT CHANGE?
The chronology of the Kingdoms
There were three main periods
un the history of Ancient
Egypt:
 The Old Kingdom lasted
around 1,000 years. The basic
structure of society and the
state were established. The
pharaoh was already a divine
and powerful figure. The
capital city was Memphis.
The Old Kingdom collapsed
around 2,200 B.C.
Khafra was an important pharaoh of
the Old Kingdom

58.  The Middle Kingdom
lasted about 4,000
years. In this period, the
power of the pharaohs
increased. New cities
were built, and the
capital moved to
Thebes. The country
expanded its frontiers
to the south. A foreign
invasion brought this
period to an end in
1,800 BC.
Senusret I was an important pharaoh
of the Middle Kingdom

59.  The New Kingdom started around 1,600
BC and lasted about 500 years. Some of
the most famous pharaohs reigned in this
period: Thutmose I, Amenhotep
III, Akhenaten, Tutankhamun and
Ramesses II. Egyupt conquered Libya
and Syria. Large palaces and temples
were built.
After the year 1,100 BC, Egypt was invaded
by different foreign peoples: the
Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks and
the Romans.

60. WHAT WERE EGYPTIAN RELIGIOUS
BELIEFS?
 The Egyptians were polytheistic: they
worshipped many gods. The principal god
was the Sun, called Ra, Amun or Atum.
Other important gods were Isis, Osiris and
Horus.
 Each one had a role to play in maintaining
peace and harmony across the land.
 The ancient Egyptians believed that it was
important to recognise and worship these
gods and goddesses so that life continued
smoothly.

61. EGYPTIAN GODS

62. EGYPTIAN GODS

63. EGYPTIAN GODS

64.  The Egyptians also worshipped:
◦ Certain animals, such as the crocodile
◦ Natural features, such as the River Nile
◦ People, such as the pharaoh
Sobek was connected with the Nile, and protected the
king. Live crocodiles were kept in pools at temples
built to honor Sobek.

65.  Egyptians believed that religion preserved
the order of the universe. For
example, religious rituals ensured that the
Nile flooded each year.
 Each god had a temple, where a group of
priests made offerings to its statue. On the
god’s feast day, the statue was taken out in
procession.
Temple of Isis, at
Philae

66. AFTERLIFE
 Egyptians believed there was an
afterlife, as long as the body was
preserved. Consequently, a dead body
was dried to make a mummy, which was
put in a sarcophagus.

67. MOMMIFICATION
 Making a mummy was a very long process.
It took almost 3 month to make one of them.
 First, the body was taken to the tent known
as 'ibu' or the 'place of purification'. There
the embalmers wash the body with good-
smelling palm wine and rinse it with water
from the Nile.

68. MOMMIFICATION
 One of the embalmer's
men made a cut in the
left side of the body and
removed many of the
internal organs. The
liver, lungs, stomach
and intestines were
washed and packed in
natron to dry them out.
The heart was not taken
out of the body because
it was the centre of
intelligence and feeling
and the man would
need it in the afterlife.
 A long hook was used
to smash the brain and
pull it out through the
nose.

69. MOMMIFICATION
 The body was then covered and stuffed with
natron which would dry it out. All of the
fluids, and rags from the embalming process
will be saved and buried along with the body.
 After forty days the body was washed again
with water from the Nile. Then it was covered
with oils to help the skin stay elastic.

70. MOMMIFICATION
 The body was stuffed with dry materials
such as sawdust, leaves and linen so that
it looks lifelike.
 Finally the body was covered again with
good-smelling oils, and wrapped in linen.

71. MOMMIFICATION
 In the past, when the internal
organs were removed from a
body they were placed in
hollow canopic jars. Over
many years the embalming
practices changed and
embalmers began returning
internal organs to bodies after
the organs had been dried in
natron. However, solid wood
or stone canopic jars were still
buried with the mummy to
symbolically protect the
internal organs.
Canopic jars of Neskhons, wife of Pinedjem II. Made of
calcite, with painted wooden heads. Circa 990–969 BC. On
display at the British Museum.

72. Imsety the human-headed god looks
after the liver.
Hapy the baboon-headed god
looks after the lungs
Duamutef the jackal-headed god
looks after the stomach Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed
god looks after the intestines.

73. MOMMIFICATION
 Between the layers
of wrapping, the
embalmers place
amulets to protect
the body in its
journey through the
underworld.
 A papyrus scroll
with spells from the
Book of the Dead
was placed
between the
wrapped hands.
 A cloth was
wrapped around the
body and a picture
of the god Osiris
was painted on its
surface.
This is the 'Isis knot'
amulet which will protect
the body.
This is the 'Plummet' amulet
which will keep the person
balanced in the next life.

74. MOMMIFICATION
 Finally, a large cloth was wrapped around the entire
mummy. It was attached with strips of linen that run
from the top to the bottom of the mummy, and around
its middle. A board of painted wood was placed on top
of the mummy before the mummy was lowered into
its coffin. The first coffin was then put inside a second
coffin.
 Finally, the body and its coffins were placed inside a
large stone sarcophagus in the tomb.

75. Ramesses II
Seti I

76. THE BOOK OF
THE DEAD
The Book of the Dead is an ancient
Egyptian funerary text, used from
the beginning of the New Kingdom
(around 1550 BCE) to around 50
BCE.
The Book of the Dead is made up
of a number of individual texts and
their accompanying illustrations.

77. AFTERLIFE
 A wealthy person’s tomb contained the things which
were necessary in the afterlife, such as food, jewels
or statues of servants.
 Furniture, clothing, valuable objects, food and drink
are arranged in the tomb for the deceased.
Objects from the tomb of Kha and Merit

78. THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMUN

80. EGYPTIAN
TOMBS
There were three kinds of tombs. All had funeral chambers which were hidden from
thieves.
 A mastaba (meaning "house
for eternity" or "eternal
house"), is a type of ancient
Egyptian tomb in the form of a
flat-roofed, rectangular
structure with outward sloping
sides that marked the burial
site of many eminent Egyptians
of Egypt's ancient period.
 Mastabas were constructed out
of mud-bricks (from the Nile
River) or stone. In the Old
Kingdom, kings began to be
buried in pyramids instead of
mastabas, although non-royal
use of mastabas continued for
more than a thousand years.

81. EGYPTIAN MASTABAS
The Mastaba of Shepseskaf
Tomb of Nefermaat in Meidum

82. EGYPTIAN
TOMBS
 The ancient Egyptians built
pyramids as tombs for the
pharaohs and their queens.
The pharaohs were buried in
pyramids of many different
shapes and sizes from before
the beginning of the Old
Kingdom to the end of the
Middle Kingdom.
 There are about eighty
pyramids known today from
ancient Egypt. The three
largest and best-preserved of
these were built at Giza at the
beginning of the Old Kingdom.
The most well-known of these
pyramids was built for the
pharaoh Khufu. It is known as
the 'Great Pyramid'.

83. EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS
The Step Pyramid of Djoser

84. EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS
The Pyramids of Giza

85. EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS
This pyramids were all
made by pharaoh Sneferu
(4th Dinasty)
The Bent Pyramid
The Red Pyramid
The Meidum Pyramid

86. EGYPTIAN
TOMBS
 Hypogea were tombs dug out
of rock. They are not visible
from the outside.
 The Valley of the Kings is a
valley in Egypt where, for a
period of nearly 500 years from
the 16th to 11th century
BC, tombs were constructed for
the Pharaohs and powerful
nobles of the New Kingdom
(the Eighteenth to the
Twentieth Dynasties of Ancient
Egypt).
 The Valley was used for
primary burials from
approximately 1539 BC to 1075
BC, and contains at least 63
tombs, beginning with
Thutmose I (or possibly
earlier, during the reign of
Amenhotep I), and ending with

87. THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS

88. THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS

89. THE VALLEY OF THE KINGS
Tomb of Ramesses IV
Tomb of Sety I
Tomb of Thutmose III

90. DEIR EL-MEDINA
 Deir el-Medina is
located in a small valley
southeast of the Valley
of the Kings and
northeast of the Valley of
the Queens.
 It was home to the
workmen who excavated
and decorated the tombs
in the Valley of the
Kings.
 The daily life of the
workmen and their
family is well-known
thanks to the vast
number of documents
found at Dayr al
Madinah.

91. EGYPTIAN ART
 Artists were the pharaho’s civil
servants. They worked in teams, and
were considered craftsmen rather than
artists.
 Most Egyptian art had a religious
meaning. Temples and tombs were
decorated with paintings and reliefs.
 Other works of art had a political
meaning. Large statues showed the
pharaoh’s power.

92. EGYPTIAN ART:
ARCHITECTURE
 Egyptian buildings stand out for their colossal
size.
 Temples and tombs were constructed almost
entirely of stone. Other buildings were
constructed with sun-baked mud bricks.
 They used columns profusely. Its a post and
lintel architecture, with the predominance of
straight lines above a curve.
 Exterior and interior walls, as well as the columns
and piers, were covered with hieroglyphic and
pictorial frescoes and carvings painted in brilliant
colors.
 Two types of buildings stand out: temples and
tombs.

93. EGYPTIAN ART:
ARCHITECTURE
 Temples are spaces designated to the worship of a
certain god.
 Egyptian temples had various parts:
◦ An avenue of sphinxes, fabulous images that had the
body of a lion and the head of a human.
◦ An interior patio, where they received the faithful.
◦ A room of columns, which the believers did not have
access to. It had the name “hypostyle”.
◦ The sanctuary or place with the statue of the god or
goddess.

94. EGYPTIAN ART:
ARCHITECTURE
Karnak

95. EGYPTIAN ART:
ARCHITECTURE
Luxor

96. EGYPTIAN ART:
ARCHITECTURE
Temples of Abu Simbel

97. EGYPTIAN ART:
ARCHITECTURE
Temples of Abu Simbel
Philae
Edfu
Dendera

98. EGYPTIAN ART: PAINTING
 Painting changed very little in 3,000
years. Artists followed strict rules:
 Figures are painted without
perspective.
 Objects are seen from the front. The
human body is also shown from the
front, but the head, arms and legs are
seen in profile.
 The person is idealized. He or she is
always young and beautiful.
 Human figures are static. The aim is to
show stability and continuity.

99. EGYPTIAN ART: PAINTING
 Painting was used to decorate the walls of
the temples and tombs, as well as to
illustrate on papyrus.
 Fresco was a very commonly-used
technique. To produce colours, the pigments
were dissolved in water before being applied
to a damp wall.
 The themes were very varied and fluctuated
between religious representations with
symbolic character (gods, rituals) and scenes
from daily life, executed with great realism.
There are numerous representations of
plants and animals.

100. EGYPTIAN ART: PAINTING

101. EGYPTIAN ART: PAINTING

102. EGYPTIAN ART: PAINTING

103. EGYPTIAN ART: SCULPTURE
 A great amount of Ancient Egyptian sculptural pieces are
conserved, the majority of which, come from temples and
tombs. They were made of stone, wood or bronze.
 There are different types:
◦ Statues of Pharaohs and people from the court. They
are figures are represented with idealized, rigid, and
static (motionless) characteristics, with arms stuck to
the body (law of frontality). They tried to give the
sensation of being majestic. There is also an
abundance of sculptures of gods and deified
animals.
◦ Statues of people from an inferior class that were
represented by natural and realistic postures and
shapes (for example, the Mayor of the village).
◦ There are many figurines that represented scenes
from daily life (agricultural
work, soldiers, servants, craftsmen, etc.).

104. EGYPTIAN ART: SCULPTURE

105. EGYPTIAN ART: SCULPTURE

106. EGYPTIAN ART: SCULPTURE