Egyptian art, ancient

A wooden sculpture of Queen Ahmose Merit-Amon, wife of Amenophis I (18th dynasty), from Deir el-Bahari (Cairo Museum, Egypt).

A wooden ointment spoon decorated with plants and birds, from Memphis New Kingdom, c. 1300 BC (British Museum, London). Such spoons and other small household items represent some of the most delicate and finely decorated objects of Egyptian woodwork.

Limestone ostracon from Deir el-Medina, Egypt (New Kingdom, c. 1300–1200 BC), now in the Egyptian Museum, Turin, Italy. Ostraca are fragments of pottery or limestone that were widely used in antiquity as a surface for drawing or (as an alternative to papyrus) for writing, as well as for calculating accounts. The ostracon pictured is thought to be a business record of Prince Sethikhopsef, son of Ramses III.

Two pictures from the Heruben papyrus of the Book of the Dead, a script that was found in most Egyptian burials. In one picture is a scene from daily life where two people are ploughing with oxen. In the other the jackal-headed Anubis, the god of the dead, stands among the gods.

Mummy mask of Prince Yuya from the New Kingdom 18th dynasty, 1403–1365 BC. Covered with gold and semi-precious stones, the mask was placed on the mummy to help the deceased's soul recognize it in the afterlife. (Cairo Museum, Egypt).

The Great Sphinx at Gîza, Egypt. Dating to the 3rd millennium BC, the Great Sphinx consists of the body of a lion and the head of a king or god – a legendary creature that symbolized strength and wisdom. It is carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau and stands 58 m/189 ft in height. The monument has been buried by sand over the centuries and repeatedly dug out.

The art of ancient Egypt falls into three main periods – the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms – beginning about 3000 BC and spanning 2,000 years overall. During this time, despite some stylistic development, there is remarkable continuity, representing a deeply religious and traditionalist society. Sculpture and painting are highly stylized, following strict conventions and using symbols of a religion centred on the afterlife and idealization of the dead, their servants, families, and possessions. Depictions of the human form show the face and legs in profile, the upper torso facing forwards, the hips three quarters turned, and the eye enlarged and enhanced.

During Egypt's slow decline in power, the style of art remained conservative and subservient to religion, but the level of technical expertise continued to be high, with an almost constant and prolific production of artefacts. Major collections of Egyptian art are to be found in the National Museum, Cairo, and in the British Museum, London.

the early dynastic period and the Old Kingdom (2920–2134 BC) is exemplified by the monumental statue of the Great Sphinx at El Gîza, about 2530 BC. A gigantic lion figure with a human head, the sphinx is carved from an outcrop of natural rock, 56.4 m/185 ft long and 19.2 m/63 ft high, and guards the path to the pyramid of Khafre. A rich collection of grave goods survive from the period, including clothes, ornaments, jewellery, and weapons, as well as statues in stone and precious metals. The stylistic conventions of painting – such as showing the human figure with head, legs, and feet in profile, the eyes and shoulders frontally – are established. Vivid wall paintings, such as Geese of Medum (National Museum, Cairo) about 2530, show a variety of scenes from the life of the time.

Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 BC), a period when Egypt was reunited under one ruler, is typified by tombs hewn from rock, attempts at realism in frescoes, and deepened perception in portrait sculpture, for example the head of Sesostris III (National Museum, Cairo). Typical of the period are sculptures of figures wrapped in mantles, with only head, hands, and feet showing.

New Kingdom (1550–1070 BC) is represented by a softer and more refined style of painting and a new sophistication in jewellery and furnishings. The golden age of the 18th dynasty, 1550–1070 BC, saw the building of the temples of Karnak and Luxor and the maze of tombs in the Valley of the Kings. The pharaohs of the period, Akhenaton and Tutankhamen, inspired a most extravagant style, as exemplified in the carved images of these godlike creatures, the statues of Akhenaton, the golden coffins of Tutankhamen's mummified body (National Museum, Cairo) about 1361–1352 BC, and the head of Akhenaton's queen, Nefertiti (Museo Archaeologico, Florence) about 1360 BC. The monumental statues of Ramses II in Abu Simbel date from the 13th century BC.