Recorded Books Inc. - A Short Walk Around the Pyramids & Through the World of Art

Copyright 1993 by Philip M. Isaacson

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ember, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, New York, in 1993.

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition of this work as follows:

Isaacson, Philip M., 19242013

A short walk around the Pyramids & through the world of art. by Philip M. Isaacson.

p. cm.

Summary: Introduces tangible and abstract components of art, and the many forms art can take including sculpture, pottery, painting, photographs, and even furniture and cities.

ISBN 978-0-679-81523-5 (trade)

ISBN 978-0-679-91523-2 (lib. bdg.)

1. ArtJuvenile literature. [1. Art.] I. Title.

N7440.18 1993 91-8854 700dc20

ISBN9780679815235

eBook ISBN9781101933220

Photograph credits follow the index.

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FOR DEBORAH

I would not have embarked on this adventure without the encouragement of my editor, Stephanie Spinner. For her advice and gentle I am more grateful than I can say.

Frontispiece / This is a photograph of one of the wonders of ancient Egypt, the pyramid complex of Zoser. The sand plain in the foreground is called the Great Court. It leads to the Step Pyramid, the oldest of all of Egypts magnificent structures.

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T his is a place called 4,600 years ago by an Egyptian king with a wonderful imagination. His name was Zoser.

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The pyramid that came from Zosers imaginationwith help from his architect, ). It is made of pieces of stone stacked to form six huge steps. Its sides were once covered by a layer of white limestone that transformed it into a star, dazzling in the pure desert air. The Step Pyramid was the first pyramid ever built. Although it is such a simple, logical shape, no one before Zoser and Imhotep had ever thought of it, and when it was finished, those steps climbing high above the desert must have caused hearts to jump with surprise and fear. They still do.

The Step Pyramid, which may have been King Zosers tomb, inspired other Egyptian rulers to build even larger pyramids. At Giza, a few miles north of Saqqara, sit three great pyramids, each named for the kingor Pharaohduring whose reign it was built. No other buildings are so well known, yet the first sight of them sitting in their field is breathtaking. When you walk among them, you walk in a place made for giants.

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They seem too large to have been made by human beings, too perfect to have been formed by nature, and, when the sun is overhead, not solid enough to be attached to the sand ().

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In the minutes before sunrise, they are the color of faded roses ()

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and when the last rays of the desert sun touch them, they turn to amber (). But whatever the light, their broad proportions, the beauty of the limestone, and the care with which it is fitted into place create three unforgettable works of art.

What do we learn about art when we look at the pyramids?

First, when all of the things that go into a workits componentscomplement one another, they create an object that has a certain spirit, and we can call that spirit harmony. The pyramids are harmonious because limestone, a warm, quiet material, is a cordial companion for a simple, logical, and pleasing shape. In fact, the stone and the shape are so comfortable with each other that the pyramids seem inevitableas though they were bound to have exactly the form, color, and texture that they do have.

The pyramids also show us that simple things must be made with care. The fine workmanship that went into the building of the pyramids is a part of their beauty. Complicated shapes may conceal poor worksuch shapes distract our eyebut in something as simple as a pyramid, there is no way to hide flaws. Because any flaw would mar its beauty, the craftsmanship must be perfect.

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Look at a recent pyramid (itself in the pools around it. Any building less beautifully designed or made with less skill would have looked awkward in the company of the dignified old structures near it.

Finally, pyramids show us that light helps to shape our feelings about art. As the sun moves above the desert, the pyramids seem to change. As they do, our feelings about them also change.

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In the early morning they sit squarely on the horizon, and we feel that they have become the kings after whom they are named (); and at dusk they settle down and regain their power.

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The pyramids will always work their magic on us. Their forms, so simple and reasonable, and their great size lift us high above the ordinary moments in our lives.