The novelty of the scene resides in one single element: horses, and by extension, chariots. Horses and chariots were introduced to Egypt by the Hyksos invaders. Never before had Egyptians has such creatures, but they realised quickly the advantage of breeding such splendid animals. From then on, the military prowess of the king adorned the walls of temples and tombs.

Credits: Jackie Jay

Queen Hatschepsut's reign (Eighteenth Dynasty) was one of peace and formidable artistic activity. Her majestic funerary temple at Deir el-Bahari is an architectural jewel and the reliefs decorating the various rooms, such as her trading expedition to the mysterious land of Punt, are perfectly executed and extremely detailed. Even the class of fish depicted in the river can be identified by biologists! A trip to Egypt is incomplete without a day expedition to Deir el-Bahari.

Although the king was now a military leader, he nevertheless did not neglect his priestly duties. Regularly, he was depicted making offerings and libations to Amun, the national god of the New Kingdom, and various other deities of the pantheon. Pharaoh was also depicted fraternising with the gods, as he was considered as their equal after death. Such scenes were present in the Old and Middle Kingdoms, but since temples and shrines of those epochs have not survived as well as those of the New Kingdom, there are less reliefs and paintings of that nature. Indeed, by the Middle Kingdom, Old Kingdom temple reliefs were already falling into decay, and remaining structures still standing were demolished under Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties in order to obtain good quality construction material!

Credits: EgyptVoyager

Private tombs of the New Kingdom were decorated with paintings as colourful as those of the Old Kingdom. The deceased and his family were depicted in their everyday life activities as well as banquet scenes, and excerpts from the Book of the Dead were also painted on the walls. Scenes from the Book of the Dead showed the journey of the deceased to the Afterlife such as the Judgement of the Dead, where the heart of the deceased is weighed against the feather of Maat, and so forth.

New Kingdom Egyptians dressed differently from their ancestors from the Old and Middle Kingdoms. Men and women both sported quite elaborate long, diaphanous, pleated gowns with sleeves, as well as ordinary kilts and tight sheet dresses. New Kingdom women generally wore their hair long, although there was a shorter hairstyle in vogue at the time, and, previously unseen, earrings. Men also had short or shoulder length hair and nobles were also known to wear earrings.

Credits: Dana Bisping

Like Old Kingdom kings, New Kingdom pharaohs had delusions of grandeur and the well being of economy during the New Kingdom permitted them to indulge in such artistic folly. Instead of building pyramids, they built magnificent temples of incredible proportions as well as absolutely gigantic statues. Ramses the Great was by far the most prolific builder (although not the only one) and the size of his monuments renders one breathless! Massive architecture and monumental sculptures, such as Ramses' rock-cut temple at Abu Simbel (Nubia), were important political standpoints reasserting the king's power.

Amarna Period

The Amarna period is, without any doubt, the most surprising period in ancient Egyptian history. Akhenaton's religious revolution had serious repercussions in Egyptian art since the promotion of Aten as the sole god not only rejected all the other gods of the pantheon, but the entire mythology associated with them. Any scenes depicting other gods or any reference to Osiris and the cult of the dead were proscribed.

New scenes that decorated tombs, stelae, and the Aten temple at Karnak (dismantled and recycled in later construction projects) broke with artistic conventions and traditions, since Aten itself had no mythology of its own. Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and the princesses were the only people to allowed to worship Aten, and they were depicted making offerings of raising their hands in praise in front of the solar disk with arms that represented their god. New, quite expressive, family scenes taking place under the solar disk also decorated walls: Akhenaton and Nefertiti sit together (sometimes Nefertiti on her husband's lap) cajoling and playing with their daughters - a most unusually display of affection in Egyptian art.

Decoration of private tombs rarely included scenes of everyday life, hunting, fishing and fowling, or even banqueting. The limited artistic repertoire was entirely focused on Akhenaton and his family. Loyal subjects were depicted almost literally throwing themselves on their belly, prostrating before the King and his family as they appeared in public. Since they could not worship Aten, they worshipped Akhenaton and his family. Akhenaton rewarded worthy courtiers by throwing them gold from a 'window of appearance,' where he stood with his family.

Akhenaton and his family dressed in the regular New Kingdom fashion, although Nefertiti did sport a new type of headdress. However, apart from the unconventional scenes, the most disturbing difference in Amarna art resides in the physical appearance of Akhenaton, his wife and his daughters. Their elongated craniums, drooping features, long necks, pot bellies, large hips and thighs, spindly arms with spidery digits, and short legs have left Egyptologists wondering as to the exact reason for this most unusual portraiture.

Credits: Caroline Rocheleau

Late Period

Various dynasties - some of which were not even Egyptian - ruled Egypt during the Late Period, the most important (and interesting) being the Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Sixth Dynasties. The Twenty-Fifth Dynasty pharaohs were Nubians, the same Nubians who had lived for so long under Egyptian domination. In fact, the Nubians were almost more Egyptian than the Egyptians themselves! They, like the Libyans and Persians who also ruled Egypt during the Late Period, did not bring any stylistic changes in Egyptian art. Except for the occasional lesser degree of execution, their art resembled and followed New Kingdom style in every way possible. The Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, however, opted for a return to Middle Kingdom art style, a renaissance or revival of the so-called classical Egyptian art. Accurate and skilled copies of Middle Kingdom sculptures and reliefs make it difficult for Egyptologists to differentiate and ascribe pieces to the correct period.

All in all, even though Egypt did not have the powerful political leaders it once had, it remained rooted enough in tradition for its art to survive virtually intact for seven centuries.

Greco-Roman Period

The Greeks who ruled Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great evidently found Egyptian art quite attractive considering they adopted ancient Egyptian artistic conventions but changed the entire administrative system, declared Greek the official language of the country, and moved the capital all the way north to Alexandria, the new city Alexander had had built. The Greeks supported an extensive building programme, and the pylons and walls of the various temples they built at Philae, Edfu, and Dendera, for example, are all covered with sculptured reliefs that follow traditional conventions and the square-grid of 21 and a quarter units adopted during the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty.

Credits: EgyptVoyager

The Romans, however, often altered Egyptian art to such an extent that it can barely be recognised as Egyptian. It is with Roman influence that Egyptian art truly died. The glorious Pharaonic civilisation was soon to follow.

(Caroline Rocheleau)