CHAPTER 4

From Ramses II to Cleopatra

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From Ramses II to Cleopatra
From Ramses II toCleopatra CHAPTER 4
From Ramses II to Cleopatra
From Ramses II toCleopatra CHAPTER 4
1
The Middle Kingdom
In the Middle Kingdom, the Pharaohs had their work cut out…

 …protecting the kingdom, conquering new territories and building fortresses.

Fortress of Bouhen,
12th Dynasty. Photo: UNESCO, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
Sesotris as an old man
around 1850 BC, diorite and gabbro, Temple of Medamoud, Louvre Museum, Paris. Photo: © Louvre Museum, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais / Christian Decamps

To make sure everyone knew who the boss was, the Pharaohs had a lot of portraits of themselves painted. Paintings of Pharaoh Sesostris lll portrayed him as old and tired. Why did he have shadows under his eyes and wrinkles? This was the first time it had happened to an Egyptian Pharaoh, usually portrayed as perfect.

 

The Pharaoh, however, wanted to be seen as more human and closer to his people in those difficult times. We should note that he was still the strongest because his body looked like that of a young, fit athlete!

In a nutshell

Portraits of the Pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom showed their power and beauty (even to the point of exaggeration).

2
The New Kindgom

The next kingdom was a period of great prosperity. The Pharaohs had conquered extremely rich territories and wanted to show it! 

 

For example, in Karnak, temples were built and decorated in honour of Amon, the god responsible for the great military victories.

Plan of Karnak Temple, Luxor
  1. A vast entrance known as a pylon, greets arrivals in the world of the gods.
  2. As you move further to the back of the temple where the statues of the god are located, the ceiling gets lower and the floor higher. This is the most sacred part.

Sometimes history is “slightly” rewritten. This is the case in this portrayal of Ramses ll on the Temple of Abu Simbel. We see him during the battle of Kadesh crushing his enemies with great ease.  It is said that, in reality, it was not far from a catastrophe…

Battle of Qadesh, Ramses II crushes and tramples on his enemies,
around 1300 BC, Abou Simbel Temple, Abydos Egypt. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0
In a nutshell

The Pharaohs liked to portray their military victories, sometimes enhancing them.

3
The Pharaoh’s accessories

Nothing could be easier than recognizing the Pharaoh on the works of art! He often wore the same accessories:

 

  • The Nemes: a headdress in striped fabric.
  • The Uraeus: a protective cobra on the front of the Nemes.
  • The sceptres: one in the shape of a cross and the other shaped like a whip.
  • The double crown: to show that he ruled over Upper and Lower Egypt!
  • The False Beard: this false beard was a symbol of the king’s power.
Gold death mask of Tutankhamen,
14th century BC, gold and semi-precious stones, Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photo: Roland Unger, CC BY-SA 3.0
Replica of the external sarcophagus of Tutankhamen,
14th century BC, gold and semi-precious stones. Photo: Mary Harrsch, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Replica of the external sarcophagus of Tutankhamen,
14th century BC, gold and semi-precious stones. Photo: Philippe Kremer, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Osirian Pillars
Hatshepsut Funeral Temple, Deir el-Bahari Photo: Steve F-E-Cameron (Merlin-UK), CC BY-SA 3.0
Thutmosis III
basalt, Luxor Museum
In a nutshell

The Pharaohs’ accessories – sceptres and false beard or nemes – have become iconic.

4
Hatchepsout, the Pharaoh queen
  • Hatchepsout was a special kind of Pharaoh – a woman!
  • Dates : 1478 – 1458 BC.
  • Her husband, the Pharaoh, died whilst his heir was still a child. She therefore became his successor.
  • She reigned over the whole of Egypt and discovered the “Land of Punt”, an abundantly rich region in the south-east of Egypt.
  • The next Pharaoh, her son-in-law, wanted to ensure she was forgotten so he destroyed numerous works where she was represented – all to no avail!
  • For her portraits, the craftsmen used the same symbols of power as for any Pharaoh, such as the false beard.
Queen Hatshepsut
around 1460 BC, pink granite, 5’7” (height), Luxor, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Photo: Rob Koopman, CC BY-SA 2.0
Queen Hatshepsut
Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el-Bahari, Theban Necropolis, Egypt. Photo: Rémih CC BY-SA 3.0
In a nutshell

Hatchepsout was a woman Pharaoh who lived two thousand years before our time.

5
Akhenaton and Nefertiti

How about that! The New Empire was full of untypical Pharaohs. Overnight, Pharaoh Akhenaton decide to merge all the gods into a single image, that of Aton, the sun.

 

And to drive the point home, he modified the rules of Egyptian art – no way did he want to look like his predecessors!

 

The same was true of his wife, Queen Nefertiti.

Bust of Nefertiti,
around 1340 BC, limestone, stucco; beeswax and crystal, 1’7” x 9” x 14”, Neues Museum, Berlin. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0
Comparer
Amenhotep III, 1400 – 1350 BC, Luxor Museum, Egypt. Photo: Rüdiger Stehn, CC BY-SA 2.0

Representation codes before Akhenaton

Osirian giant representing Akhenaton, around 1350 BC, stoneware, Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra, CC BY 2.0

Akhénaton lengthens his body and skull.

He accentuates his features.

He has a round, protruding stomach, whereas before this the preference was for lean muscular frames.

In a nutshell

Akhenaton and Nefertiti created the cult of Aton as the only deity and overturned Egyptian art codes.

6
The Bas relief
After the upheavals brought about by Akhenaton, things got back to normal.

Artistic traditions were re-established. If we take a closer look, we discover that two techniques existed for decorating Egyptian monuments that even Akhenaton had used: 

Bas-relief of Horus
around 180 BC, Sacrifice Room, Temple of Sobek an Haroëris, Kom Ombo, Egypt. Photo: Rémih, CC BY-SA 3.0

Bas-relief :

 

The wall is hollowed out around the design to give it relief

Location: usually inside monuments

Temple of Horus,
around 237-57 BC, Edfou, Egypt. Photo: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0

Reverse bas-relief :

 

The reverse is true here. The design is carved into the wall.

Location: usually the external surfaces of monuments

In a nutshell

Egyptian monuments are decorated using two types of bas-relief techniques (relief or sunken relief).

7
Cleopatra

All good things come to an end, even the Egypt of the Pharaohs! After invading the Persian Empire (as in Mesopotamia), then the Greeks, General Ptolemy took over leadership of the country. He founded the “Ptolemaic” dynasty of which the last queen was none other than Cleopatra.

 

The “Queen of queens” fought tooth and nail to protect her country’s independence from Rome, but the Battle of Actium (in 31 BC) proved fatal. From then on, Egypt belonged to Rome!

Head of Cleopatra VII,
around 50 BC, marble and gilding, 11 x 6 x 8.5 inches, Antikensammlung, Berlin
In a nutshell

Cleopatra, who was from the Ptolemaic dynasty; tried to defend Egypt’s independence but Rome got the upper hand in 31 BC.

In summary, you have discovered:

  • The Middle Kingdom
  • The New Kindgom
  • The Pharaoh’s accessories
  • Hatchepsout, the Pharaoh queen
  • Akhenaton and Nefertiti
  • The Bas relief
  • Cleopatra
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