Today's tour of ancient Egyptian art takes us to museums all around the world. We'll be stopping in London, Detroit, Seattle, Paris and New York. Sorry, no frequent flyer miles will be rewarded.
"Board games were very common in ancient Egypt and people from all levels of society played them. Many game boards from ancient Egypt have been found by archaeologists." This British Museum exhibit (my pick of the day) doesn't focus exclusively on Egyptian art, but rather presents a marvelous interactive overview of ancient Egyptian life. Each of the ten topics (for example Pyramids, Geography, Pharaoh) feature a Shockwave challenge such as playing a board game or matching tools to the correct tradesman. Teachers will find curriculum notes in the Staff Room.
"For over three thousand years the Egyptians adhered to a prescribed set of rules as to how a work of art in three dimensions should be presented. Egyptian art was highly symbolic." All Egyptian sculpture, for example, can be described as cubic (it takes it shape from the material it was carved from and can be viewed from four sides) and frontal (the front of the sculpture is the most important side -- with the figure either standing or sitting.) Take a gallery tour by clicking on the artwork and following the Next icons.
"Religion was an omnipresent element in the Egyptian world, and art that expressed the tenets of this religion flourished." This Seattle Art Museum exhibit is divided into two sections. Egyptomania presents and analyzes the ten eternal truths of ancient Egypt ("1. The balance of man and nature is essential.") This section is for the high school crowd (and grown ups too!) The second section, Discover Egypt, contains interactive games suitable for elementary ages such as Barbershop ("Egyptians loved to wash and scent their hair. Wigs were very common and worn by men, women and children") and the story of eight-year-old Soho.
To begin your tour, enter The Exhibition, where you'll be presented with a time line. Ancient Egyptian history spanned 3,000 years. Egyptologists divide this time period into thirty dynasties. The dynasties are then grouped together into broad periods. The Great Pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom, four Egyptian dynasties that covered 2700 to 2200 BC. In this exhibit, each of the Old Kingdom dynasties is represented by a handful of artwork. You can traverse from one piece to the next by following the triangular arrow, or jump around on the time line displayed at the bottom. The question and answer page (click To Find Out More) is excellent.
"The collection of ancient Egyptian art at the Metropolitan Museum ranks among the finest outside Cairo. It consists of approximately 36,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance. ... Fifty highlights from the department are presented online in approximate chronological order, and are identified by dynasty and/or period."
The following links are either new discoveries or sites that didn't make it into my newspaper column because of space constraints. Enjoy!
Ancient Egyptian ArtCyber Mummy | Institute of Egyptian Art and Archeology |
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