This document provides a timeline for ancient Egyptian history from 5000-332 BCE. It summarizes the major historical periods including the Predynastic, Early Dynastic, Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, New Kingdom, and Late Egyptian periods. Key developments are outlined such as the first dynasties, important rulers like Khufu, Khafre, and Hatshepsut, the rise and fall of Akhenaten's monotheism, and artistic achievements spanning sculpture, architecture, and mummification.
Ancient Egypt, Ch. 3, Stokstad, Art History, Fall 2013
1.
2. ANCIENT EGYPT – TIME SEQUENCE
Predynastic – 5000-2950 BCE
Early Dynastic - 2950-2575
BCE
Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
New Kingdom - 1630-1520
BCE
Late Egyptian - 715-332 BCE
3. Predynastic – 5000-2950 BCE
• Ceramic figurines
• Decorated pottery
• Ivory carved in relief
• Stone plaques carved in relief
• Wall paintings (found in mud brick
houses at Hierakonpolis)
4. DYNASTIES AND MANETHO’S LIST
• Chronological list of rulers compiled by
Manetho, Egyptian priest/historian in 3rd
century BCE
• 30 dynasties confirmed by temple
records, from 3000 to 332 BCE (when
Alexander the Great conquered.)
5. RELIGION IN EGYPT - POLYTHEISTIC
Ra (Ra-Atum) = sun god
Tefnut & Shu = gods of wetness and
dryness
Geb (earth) and Nut (sky)
Osiris (king) married sister, Isis;
killed by brother, Seth. Nepthys & Isis
pieced Osiris back together with Anubis’
(jackal) help. Isis birthed Horus (king of
the earth; falcon-headed; defeated Seth)
and Osiris became king of the dead.
• Kings=divine
• Ensure gods’ favor
• Ordered cosmos/ Afterlife
6. Early Dynastic - 2950-2575
BCE
Narmer Palette, 2950-2775 BCE. Green
schist, height 25”.
7. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Canon of Proportions – male body
18 units
1 unit =width of fist
Grid
Twisted perspective
Groundlines
10. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Great Pyramids at Giza (2575-2450 BCE)
http://www.airpano.com/360Degree-VirtualTour.php?3D=Egypt-Cairo-P
Yramids
Giza Plateau follows the sun’s east-west course.
12. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Khufu: oldest/largest pyramid (13 acre base!), 481’ high
2.3 million
Blocks of
Stone…2.5 tons
each block!
13. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Khafre - Great Sphinx, 65’
14. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
SCULPTURE
• Block-like/solid/compact
• Diorite
Khafre, in the Valley
Temple of Khafre at
Giza. (Ruled 2520-
2494 BCE).
15. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Menkaure and a Queen, Giza (ruled 2490-2472
BCE)
16. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Seated Scribe, 2450-2325 BCE
Writing:
• Hieroglyphic
• Hieratic -simplified
• Demotic – 8th century BCE
• Religious: hieratic
• Monuments: hieroglyph
• All else: demotic
• Coptic (Greeks 332 BCE)
• Rosetta Stone 196 BCE,
discovered in 1818
17. Old Kingdom - 2575-2150
BCE
Ti Watching a Hippopotamus Hunt, Tomb
of Ti, Saqqara. 2450-2325 BCE. 45”
18. Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
Head of Senusret III,
Twelfth Dynasty (2938-1755
BCE).
• 150 years of unrest until
11th dynasty (3 successive
kings named Mentuhotep);
reunited.
• Powerful, unified
government
• Arts flourished
• Military expansion
• Rock-cut tombs
(solid/painted)
• Faience (glass paste;
glossy finish)
20. Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
• Well-observed accurate detail
• Faience: glass paste fired to produce shiny, smooth, opaque finish
• Glass: sand +lime + sodium carbonate (or sodium sulfate), fired
Hippopotamus, Tomb of Senbi (Tomb B.3),
Meir. Twelfth Dynasty, 1938-1755 BCE.
Faience, 20 cm long. Metropolitan Museum of
Art, New York.
21. Middle Kingdom - 1957-1640 BCE
Stele of Amenemhat I, Assasif. Twelfth Dynasty, 1938-1755 BCE. Painted
22. New Kingdom - 1539-1075
BCE
• Hyksos invasion; 18th Dynasty regains control
• Thutmose III - 1479-1425 BCE, 18th
dynasty, (first to use the term “pharoah”, which
means “great house.” )
• 15 military campaigns/diplomacy
• Great Temple Complexes along Nile River
• Pylon – tapered wall gateway
• Hypostyle hall – vast hall with columns
• Peristyle court – courtyard surrounded by
columns
27. HATSHEPSUT ENTHRONED, 18TH DYNASTY
-Queen Ahmose and god Amun
-Regent for Thutmose III; kept him from rule for 20 years
-Funerary Temple at Deir el-Bahri – buried in Valley of kings, though,
Northwest half a mile…
28. AKENHATEN, COLOSSAL FIGURE
• 1353 BCE – ascended the throne (18th
Dynasty)
• 17 year reign
• NEW RELIGION – honoring the sun-
god, Aten
• “maat” divine truth
“One who is effective on behalf of Aten” -
1348 BCE
• New capital : not Thebes, but Akhetaten
(Tell el-Amarna)
• AMARNA PERIOD ART: glassmaking,
sculpture, etc.
34. Late Egyptian -
715-332 BCE
Mummy Wrapping of a Young Boy, 100-120 CE : linen wrappings with giled
stucco buttons and inserted portrait in encaustic on wood. 53 3/8”