Egypt had the longest unified history of any civilization in the ancient Mediterranean, extending with few interruptions from about 3000 BC through the 4th century AD. The nature of the country, fertilized and united by the Nile, and its semi-isolation from outside cultural influences, produced an artistic style that changed little during this long period.

Art in all its forms was devoted principally to the service of the king (the pharaoh), who was considered a god on earth, the state, and religion. From early times a belief in a life after death dictated that the dead be buried with material goods to ensure well-being for eternity. The regular patterns of nature—the annual flooding of the Nile, the cycle of the seasons, and the progress of the sun that brought day and night—were considered gifts of the gods for the people of Egypt. Egyptian thought, morality, and culture were rooted in a deep respect for order and balance. Change and novelty were not considered important in themselves; as a consequence Egyptian art was based on tradition and was to a certain extent unvarying. Manners of representation and artistic forms were worked out early in Egyptian history and were used for more than 3000 years. To the modern viewer this may seem to have resulted in a stiff and static art; the basic intention of Egyptian art, however, was not to create an image of things as they look to the eye, but rather to represent the essence of a person or object for eternity.

Every example of Egyptian art from any time period strictly adheres to the same style. There is a code, or a set of rules for producing the artwork. The style is called frontalism. In reliefs or paintings, frontailsm means that the head of the character is always drawn in profile, while the body is seen from the front. Although the face is to the side, the eye is drawn in full. The legs are turned to the same side as the head, with one foot placed in front of the other. The head is at right angles to the body. Every figure, in paintings or sculptures, stands or sits with a formal, stiff, and rigid posture. The stance of the body is severe, but the faces are calm and serene, and almost always tilted slightly towards the sky, as if the figures were basking in the warm sun.

Egyptian art exerted a powerful influence on the cultures of the invaders. Early Greek artists acknowledged a debt to Egypt in the development of their own styles. The Romans so loved Egyptian art that they carried off to their homeland countless examples and even had imitations of Egyptian sculpture carved by Roman artists. The influence of Egyptian art and an interest in Egyptian antiquity have lasted to the present day.

HISTORY OF EGYPT

Egypt is one of the most fertile areas of Africa, and one of the most fertile of the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Because it is so fertile, people came to live in Egypt earlier than in most places, probably around 40,000 years ago. At first there were not very many people, but gradually Egypt became more crowded, so there was more need for a unified government. Around 3000 BC (5000 years ago), Egypt was first unified under one ruler, who was called the Pharaoh.

From that time until around 525 BC, when Egypt was conquered by the Persians, Egypt's history is divided into six different time periods. These are called the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom, the Second Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom, and the Third Intermediate Period.

We know so much about the Ancient Egyptians because they loved writing, especially on walls. They used a kind of picture writing called hieroglyphics.

But there was one problem. As the centuries went by there was no one left who could remember how to read Egyptian!! Sounds incredible, but it's true.

Walls full of writing, papyrus scrolls .... that no-one could read.

In 1799 a stone was found at Rosetta in Northern Egypt. There were three kinds of writing on it. At the bottom the writing was in Greek, in the middle Demotic and at the top ... hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek.

It was a wonderful stroke of luck. People could read Greek and Demotic .... the stone told the same story in both languages. So the same story must be told in hieroglyphics too. Unfortunately the clever people still couldn't work out what each hieroglyph meant.

Then in 1822, a frenchman, Jean-Francois Champollion, managed to work things out. He discovered that many of the hieroglyphs stood for a single sound. Some were for 'ideas' .... soon Archaeologists were able to read the walls and rediscover the mysteries of Egypt.

Important Dates:

about 3100 BC King Menes unified Upper and Lower Egypt and established his capital at Memphis, near present-day Cairo.

about 2600 BC The Old Kingdom was notable for the construction of pyramids. The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza was built around this time

about 1400 BC The Egyptian Empire reached its height during the reign of Thutmose III. Egypt controlled the Middle East from Syria to Ethiopia.

332 BC Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and founded Alexandria.

31 BC Battle of Actium Mark Antony and Cleopatra

AD 642 Arabs conquered Egypt and introduced Islam and the Arabic language into the country.

973 Shiite Fatimid rulers moved the capital from Alexandria to the new city of Cairo. Cairo quickly became a center of the Islamic world.

1798 Napoleon Bonaparte led a French invasion of Egypt. The invasion eventually failed, but many important archaeological treasures were found, including the famous Rosetta Stone, which was uncovered in 1799

1882 British troops occupied Egypt. A nationalist movement soon sprang up.

Pyramids Stepped pyramid of King Zoser, 3rd dynasty, 2737 BCE, designed by Imohtep, The largest is the Great Pyramid built as a tomb for the pharaoh Khufu at Giza. Originally standing 147 m (481 ft) high, the pyramid was made of over 2.3 million large stone blocks.

Cleopatra (69-30 BC), ill-fated queen of Egypt (51-30BC), celebrated for her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Cleopatra, or more precisely, Cleopatra VII, was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, king of Egypt. On her father's death in 51BC Cleopatra, then about 17 years old, and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, a child of about 12 years, succeeded jointly to the throne of Egypt with the provision that they should marry. In the third year of their reign Ptolemy, encouraged by his advisers, assumed sole control of the government and drove Cleopatra into exile. She promptly gathered an army in Syria but was unable to assert her claim until the arrival at Alexandria of Julius Caesar, who became her lover and espoused her cause. He was for a time hard pressed by the Egyptians but ultimately triumphed, and in 47BC Ptolemy XIII was killed. Caesar proclaimed Cleopatra queen of Egypt.