Joann Fletcher - Exploring the Life, Myth, and Art of Ancient Egypt

JO ANN FLET CHE R

This edition pub lished in 2010 b y: The Rosen Pub lishin g Gr oup , Inc . East 21st Str eet Ne w Y ork, NY Add ition al end ma tter co p yr ight b y The Rosen Pub lishing Gr oup , Inc . Co v er de sign b y Ma tthe w Cauli. All r ig hts r eser v ed . No par t of this book ma y be r epr oduced in an y for m without per m issio n in wr it in g fr om the pub lisher , exce pt b y a r e vie w er . Libra r y of Cong r ess Ca talog ing-in-Pub lica tion Da ta Fle tc h er , J . (J oann) Ex plo r ing the life , m yth, and ar t of ancie nt Egypt / J oann Fletc her . p . cm.(Civiliza t io ns of the w orld) In clu des in dex. ISBN-13: 978-1-43 -5616-5 (Librar y bin ding) EgyptCiviliza tion T o B .C .Juv enile lite ra tur e . EgyptSocial lif e and cu stoms T o B .C .Juv en ile lite ra tur e . EgyptAntiquitiesJuv enile litera tur e . I. Title . DT61.F583 2010 2d c22 09008 Manuf actur ed in Mala ysia Cop yr ight Duncan Baird Pub lisher s T ext cop yr ight Duncan Baird Pub lisher s Commissioned ar tw ork cop yr ight Duncan Baird Pub lisher s

I M A G E A N D I M A G I N A T I O N The Soul of Ancie nt Egypt The Stor y of Ancie nt Egypt The Riv er of Life The Ar t of Anc ie nt Egypt Colo r and Spir it W ords of the God s Gl yph and Symbol Symbols in Stone T H E S E D G E A N D T H E B E E Boun ties of the Blac k Land Ar t and Na tur e Roles and Images F ashion and Fine r y T H E C E L E S T I A L W O R L D The Man y fr om the On e The Lord of the Hor izo n The Sacr ed Scarab S e a t s o f R e : T h e P y r a m i d s Bir thplace of the Sun : Pyramid F or ms The Her etic of Amar n a The Unkno w ab le Lord The Domain of Am un The Mighty Godde sses Den dera: House of Ha thor The Divin e Mother The Ba ttles of Hor us The Ey e of Hor us T H E S O N S O F R E Lords of the T w o Lands Smitin g the F oe The Sun King s The Gu ardian in the Sand In F ear of Hor us The Age of Empir e F aith and Glo r y: Luxor The F ace of P o w er Ro y al W omen The T emple of the Go ddess Kin g W I S D O M , R I T E S , A N D M A G I C W h a t T h o t h H a s W r i t t e n Rite s and F estiv als Ed fu: P alace of the Ha wk God The Hea v enl y Realm The Lad y of the Skie s Mag ic and Myster ies Char ms and Am ulets T H E R E A L M O F O S I R I S The Saga of Isis and Osir is Guar dians of the Dead Pr epar in g fo r the After life In the Hall of Osir is V ision s of P aradise Cr ea tur es of the Underw orld The V alle y of the Kings Glossar y For More Infor ma tion For Fur ther Reading Index

he civiliza tion of ancient Egypt w as largel y the pr oduct o f i t s g e o g r a p h y , p a r t i c u l a r l y i t s r i v e r , t h e N i l e . E g y p t i a n s called their countr y K emet, Blac k Land, whic h r efer s to the str ip of fer tile r iv erbank, bounded b y Deshr et, Red Land, the v ast, ster ile deser t. The dominant color s of the Egyptian w o r l d b l u e s k i e s , g o l d e n s u n , r e d d e s e r t , g r e e n r i v e r m a r g i n s , b lac k, silt-laden Nilear e the c hief hues of Egyptian ar t, whic h also r eflects the la y er s of r iv er , field, deser t, and sky . T h i s w o r l d e x i s t e d i n a s t a t e o f e q u i l i b r i u m , o f f i n e l y b a l a n c e d o p p o s i t e s : K e m e t a n d D e s h r e t , da y and night, life and dea th, order and c haos . LEF T Rising from the sands on the fr inge of the g rea t W ester n Deser t, the 4th- d ynasty p yramids of Giza, n e a r m o d e r n C a i r o , a r e t h e m o s t p o t e n t a n d unmistaka b le mon uments o f a n c i e n t E g y p t i a n ci viliza tion, linking the ear th and the sk y i n a ro y al stairw a y to t he hea v ens. BELO W The f alc on-headed sun god, Re-Harakht y , is depicted recei ving the pharaoh Sety I (ca. 1290 1279 BCE ). The pre v alent b lues, y ello ws, reds, and b lacks of this painted relief scene are inspired b y the color s of the Egypt ian landsca pe.

he Egyp tians belie v ed tha t the balance of orde r and c haos in the univ er s e co uld o nl y be maintain ed b y the gods and goddesses and their r epr esenta tiv e on ear th, the kin g . Or i g i nall y , these de itie s simpl y r epr esente d aspects of the na tural w orldthe sun, the sky , the land, and the r iv erunti l eac h g r aduall y de v e loped a mor e c omplex p er sonality and histor y as e v er y ar ea of the co un tr y embellished the stor i es and m yths sur r ound in g its o wn local de ity . Ev en tuall y , man y di vin itie s came to shar e titles and a ttr ib utes, and thus e merged the highl y sophistica te d p a tter n of r elig iou s belief tha t w as so c h aracte r istic o f anci en t Egyp t. T h e d i v i n e f o r c e s r e q u i r e d c o n s t a n t r e p l e n i s h m e n t t h r o u g h w o r s h i p i f t h e y w e r e to guarantee the contin ui ty of the cosmic equi libr iu m. Consequentl y , the y w er e honor ed in r epea ted por tra y als tha t ador n e v er ything fr om mon umental temple s to delica te w orks o f a r t. Bu t it w as abo v e all in the perfo r man ce of dail y r ites in the te mple s tha t the Egypti ans v ene ra ted their dei ties . The temples w er e stor ehous es fo r divin e po w er , whi c h w as maintain ed an d d ir ecte d b y the pr ie sthood fo r the good of the whole countr y . T h e h i g h p r i e s t a l w a y s d e l e g a t i n g f o r t h e k i n g , the c hild of the godsacte d as inter med iar y betw een the mor tal and di vine w orlds . He and his fello w pr iests and pr i estesses honor ed t h e d e i t i e s w i t h a c o n s t a n t s t r e a m o f o f f e r i n g s , m usic , and dance , whic h w as belie v ed to en cou rage the di vine spi r it to r esid e within the templeessenti al if the co smic order w as to be upheld. E X P L O R I N G T H E L I F E , M Y T H , A N D A R T O F A N C I E N T E G Y P T T H E S O U L O F A N C I E N T E G Y P T LEFT The god dess of the s y c a m o r e t r e e ( r i g h t ) p r e s e n t s w a ter to the dead man Kamose w ho kneels in front of her to mak e an offer ing to the di vine tr iadOsir is, Isis, and Hor usand Ha thor . The limestone stela w as made dur ing the 20t h d ynasty ca. 1200 BCE. RIGHT The Grea t Sphinx embodie s the di vine forces of ro y al po w er as it crouches protecti v el y in the midst of the Giza necropolis. Or ig inall y b uilt as a por trait of King Khafre of the 4th d ynasty , this massi v e mon ument came to be regarde d b y man y as a mani fe sta tion of the sun god.