Architecture

The great pyramids and the sun god re:

The Egyptians always buried their dead on the west side of the Nile, where the sun sets.

Khafre's temple and guardian sphinx:

From the remains surrounding the Pyramid of Khafre at Gizeh, archeologists have been able to reconstruct an entire funerary complex.

3-8 Great Pyramids, Gizeh, Dynasty IV. From left: Pyramids of Menkaure, ca. 2490-2472 B.C.; Khafre, ca. 2520-2494.; and Khufu, ca. 2551-2528 B.C.

1. Great Pyramids
2. Great Pyramids
3. Great Pyramids
4. Great Pyramids
5. Great Pyramids

3-9 Section of the Pyramid of Hufu, Gizeh

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3-10 Reconstruction drawing of the Dynasty IV Pyramids of Khafre, ca. 2520-2494 B.C., and Khufu, ca. 2551-2528 B.C., Gizeh.

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3-11 Great Sphinx (with Pyramid of Khafre in the background at left), Gizeh, Dynasty IV, ca. 2520-2494 B.C. Sandstone, approx. 65' high, 240' long.

1. Great Sphinx
2. Great Sphinx
3. Great Sphinx
4. Great Sphinx
5. Great Sphinx

Sculpture

Statues to serve for eternity:

As already noted, in Egyptian tombs statues fulfilled an important function.

3-12 Khafre (right side and front), from Gizeh, Dynasty IV, ca. 2520-2494 B.C. Diorite, approx. 5' 6" high. Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

1. Khafre
2. Khafre
3. Khafre
4. Khafre

An emotionless royal embrace:

The seated statue is one of only a small number of basic formulaic types the sculptors of the Old Kingdom employed to represent the human figure.

3-13 Menkaure and Khamerenebty, from Gizeh, Dynasty IV, ca. 2490-2472 B.C. Slate, approx. 4'6 1/2 " high. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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Painted statues and Egyptian realism:

The timeless quality of the portraits of Khafre, Menkaure, and Khamerernebty is enhanced by the absence of any color but that of the dark natural stone selected for the statues.

3-14 Seated Scribe (Kay?), from his mastaba at Saqqara, Dynasty V, ca. 2450-2350 B.C. Painted Limestone, approx. 1'9" high. Louvre, Paris.

1. seated scribe
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3. seated scribe
4. seated scribe
5. seated scribe

A portrait in wood and rock crystal:

A second portrait illustrating this rule of relaxed formality and increased realism is the Fifth Dynasty wooden statue of an official named Ka-Aper.

3-15 Ka-Aper, from his mastaba at Saqqara, Dynasty V, ca. 2450-2350 B.C. Wood, approx. 3'7" high Egyptian Museum, Cairo.

1. Ka-Aper
2. Ka-Aper
3. Ka-Aper
4. Ka-Aper

Hunting and farming in the afterlife:

In Egyptian tombs, the deceased were not represented exclusively in freestanding statuary.

3-16 Ti watching a hippopotamus hunt, relief in the mastaba of Ti, Saqqara, Dynasty V, ca. 2450-2350 B.C. Painted limestone, hunting scene approx. 4" high.

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3-17 Goats treading seed and cattle fording a canal, reliefs in the mastaba of Ti, Saqqara, Dynasty V, ca. 2450-2350 B.C. Painted limestone.

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