| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-Lined Ware | Abydos | White decoration on red burnished pottery, specific to Naqada I only. | |
| Black-Topped Redware | Naqada I | Black-Topped Redware (née Double Vessels) were ceramics developed in Naqada I (ending in Naqada II) with black oxidization at the top of red burnished pottery. |
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Decorated ware | White pottery with red painted decoration. | ||
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomb U-j | The tomb of King Scorpion I, which is the oldest tomb at Abydos and which contained many small ivory plaques which may have been among the earliest hieroglyphs. | ||
| Cities Palette | Naqada III | Abydos | |
| Limestone macehead of King Scorpion II | 3100 BC | This demonstrates that the principle of arranging figures in horizontal registers was firmly in place by this time. The king is shown as larger than his followers, but it still took longer than the register principles to fully develop the notion of a single gargantuan figure. |
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tomb of Den | Abydos | The most elaborate Dynasty I structure at Abydos, his tomb included space for his own burial and those of many servants. These servants may have been sacrificed upon King Den’s death, a practice not continued in later dynasties. The Tomb of Den heralded the first known tomb at Abydos with a stepped entrance, and the earliest known use of stone on a large scale. Links: Tour Egypt. | |
| Narmer Palette | The king’s figure is considerably larger than those of his followers, and the beheaded enemies are shown in several rows, one above the other. Along with the macehead of King Scorpion, this is toward the beginning of the tradition of arranging figures in horizontal registers. On the reverse of the Narmer Palette is a falcon figure leading an enemy by the nose, in front of the king. However, the enemies are the same size as the king. | ||
| Limestone macehead of King Narmer | 3100 BC | A clear juxtaposition of royal and nonroyal images, with the largest figure being the king, medium figures interacting with the king and the smallest figures following the king on several register levels. |
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone statue of King Khasekhem | |||
| Seal impressions of King Khasekhemwy | |||
| Statue of Khasekhemwy | |||
| Tomb of Khasekhemwy |
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramid of Djoser | Saqqara | ||
| Limestone statue of King Djoser | Dynasty III | Saqqara | |
| Relief of Djoser from burial chamber | Characterized by broad shoulders, a narrow and low waist and finely modeled musculature in the legs. | ||
| Red Granite Statue of Ankhwa | 2650 BC | Saqqara | One of the earliest statues of a non-royal person. The statue is static, frontal and idealized. Granite was quarried by the king, so this stone was likely given to Ankhwa as a gift and it was probably sculpted in a royal workshop. (British Museum) |
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Schist statue of King Userkhaf | 2460 BC | Abusir | |
| Pyramid complex of King Sahura | |||
| Relief from funerary temple of King Sahura | |||
| Limestone relief of King Sahura | A magnificent example of having a large focal figure with rows of smaller figures. The depiction of the desert hunt of King Sahure was originally in the corridor south of the pyramid temple’s central courtyard. The simple figural lineup in front of a large image of the king has been transformed into a densely packed mass of animals in a myriad of postures, groupings, direction and overlaps — wounded, dying and frightened. | ||
| Sun temple of King Neuserra | Abusir | ||
| Relief from the sun temple of Neuserra | Abusir | ||
| Pyramid texts of King Unas | Saqqara | Located within his burial chamber, this was the first appearance of the Pyramid Texts. | |
| Limestone relief of goddess suckling King Wenis |
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pyramids of King Snefru | He first built the Meidum Pyramid (a stack of mastabas whose outer case collapsed); followed by the Bent Pyramid at Dashur (whose incline was changed midway to avoid collapse); and the first true pyramid ever, the North Pyramid (née Red Pyramid) at Dashur. | ||
| Bent pyramid of King Snefru | |||
| Red pyramid of King Snefru | The pyramid temple of Snefru’s North Pyramid (née Red Pyramid) heralded the first pillared court with statue sanctuary behind it. These two developments were continued by his successor King Khufu. | ||
| Relief from valley temple of King Snefru | Dashur | Women in a row providing offerings. | |
| Painted limestone statues of Rahotep and Nefret | Dynasty IV | These statues are a crucial step toward realistic representation. The statues of Rahotep (a son of King Snefru) and Nefret are nearly lifesize. Individuality arise from the nude torso, facial features, dress details, rich polychromy and inlaid eyes. | |
| Statue of King Khufu | |||
| Ivory statuette of King Khufu | Abydos | ||
| Gneiss head of King Khafre | |||
| Valley temple of King Khafre | A gigantic limestone building cased in granite with granite pillars and architraves. Located on the bank of a canal, the valley temple had an enormous quay and platform to allow boats to land i front of the building. A transverse entrance hall with two gates and a T-shaped interior pillared hall made for a remarkable entry. Sockets in the alabaster pavement indicate the installation of twenty-three seated statues, included a complete preserve statue of Khafre with the falcon behind his head — a depiction of him being transformed into Horus. | ||
| Painted limestone statue of Ankhaef | Dynasty IV | An emerging trend that stressed sensitivity to modeling, softness and a taste for detail. The bust’s delicate, subtle and precise modeling conjures the weary and wise visage of King Khafre’s vizier. Few other nonroyal statues from Dynasty IV are so securely dated. | |
| Graywacke triad of king Menkaure | Dynasty IV | Giza | Bodywise, King Menkaure is depicted with very broad and muscular shoulders, a modeled chest, a line between the abdominal muscles and a pinched waist above his navel. The females are depicted with small breasts, a pinched waist, elongated hips and an accented pubic triangle. Facewise, King Menkaure is depicted with hooded eyes with rimmed lids, a shortened forehead and large lips with a deep line between them; the females are depicted with large ears projected forward and wide rounded lip corners. |
| Limestone statue of seated scribe | Dynasty IV | Sharply different from royal models are statues of scribes. Great emphasis is placed on their weight, a sign of education and status and the sedentary opulence which ensues. |
| Term | Time | Provenance | Overview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Painted limestone statue of Katep and Hetepheres | 2300 BC | Giza | Links: British Museum. |
| Pyramid complex of King Teti | |||
| Calcite statue of King Pepy I | |||
| Copper statues of King Pepy I | Dynasty 6 | Hierakonpolis | A statue of Pepy I made by hammering strips of copper against a wooden statue and the soldering together the copper strips to form a hollow copper statue. |
| Calcite statue of King Pepy II and Queen Ankhnesmerira | 2240 BC | Saqqara | He came to the throne perhaps as early as age five, and the statuette shows him as a child on the lap of his mother. Despite his young age, he is depicted as a miniature adult due to the contradiction of meanings in showing a king as a child. Notably, his mother has the image of the falcon god Horus (?) directly on the back of her head, the first instance of such an intimate connectino. |
First found in an Egyptian royal tomb in Abydos, Abydos Ware has since been found in Egyptian royal tombs elsewhere as well. Abydos Ware is of Canaanite origin and indicates extensive trade. Abydos Ware was important in trading wine and oils, and includes several different groups:
| Ware | Abbrev | Overview |
|---|---|---|
| Red Polished | RPW | |
| Deep-Grooved Lattice Burnished | Ceramic vessels effectively sweat, keeping insides much cooler than outside while losing liquid. This will basically ruin wine by losing liquid, creating some sort of awful vinegar liquid. Polishing the ceramic and applying combs are strategies to prevent it from sweating. | |
| Light-Faced Painted | A light colored ware with red decorations such as stipling and matching. | |
| Metallic Combed |
With origins in the Middle Kingdom (~1,900-1,700 BC; early 2nd millennium), execration texts were Egyptian clay bowls or figurines of bound human captives that were inscribed in hieratic with the names and locations of enemies. In an attempt to magically curse Egypt’s foes, powerful imprecations were recited and the objects were then broken. Princes as far north as Damascus have been named in execration texts. There are two groups of execration texts, all found in fortresses of the border of Nubia in Egypt: the Berlin Group, which are older and name 20 places; and the Brussels group, which are more recent and name 62 places.
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