StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Near Eastern and Egyptian Art - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The essay explores Eastern and Egyptian art and culture. The cultures of early Israelites and the ancient Egyptians may not seem to have any similarities with each other. For one thing, the Egyptians have much more tangible surviving legacies, such as the ruins of their ancient temples. …
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.4% of users find it useful
Near Eastern and Egyptian Art
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Near Eastern and Egyptian Art"

Near Eastern and Egyptian Art The cultures of early Israelites and the ancient Egyptians may not seem to have any similarities with each other. Forone thing, the Egyptians have much more tangible surviving legacies, such as the ruins of their ancient temples, and as for the early Israelites, their ancient holy books or scriptures were one of the few things that were able to remain intact up to this date. However, upon closer inspection of each group there are certain characteristics that have similarities, such as those in the social and political context. Such similarities can be attributed to the bureaucratic society present in both civilizations, as well as their values focusing on the family and religion. It can be observed that in most of the world’s civilizations, there is a certain kind of interaction involving a deity, a holy person and the people of a nation. Such interactions are exemplified by passages from the Revised Standard Version of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible like in Numbers 21:4-9 and 27:1-11, and Leviticus 8:1-9 as given from the readings. In all three readings, it is written that God speaks to His people, the Israelites through his prophet, Moses. He does not speak directly to the people, and He does not show Himself to them, but only to Moses. The people, on the other hand speak to God only through Moses, as they are not allowed to even set foot on holy ground. Moses is seen as an intermediary between God and His people, and he can speak to God directly and tell Him the pleas of the people, and he can tell the people the words of God. Based on this situation, there is a certain distance between the deity and the people through a mediator chosen by the deity as his representative to the people. Such similarities in religious customs can also be seen in the polytheism of ancient Egyptians. Much like in the early Israelites, the deities of ancient Egypt also do not speak to the people directly, but through medium such as the high priests in their holy temples, or through pharaohs that were given the same status as the gods. Such division between gods and men can be seen in the layout of the temple of Amun-Re, where there are only designated areas where the common faithful can reside, and there are restricted areas where only the priests and the pharaoh can enter (Stokstad and Cothren 66). The ordinary worshippers can only go within the forecourts, although during religious festivals they could go further to bring their offerings to the gods, through the priests. The most sacred place of the temple is in the farthest room inside the compound, where the designs of the building are much more ornate, and less light gets inside the structure. Such a setting keeps the sanctity of the place, and also to keep away most unauthorized people. Similarly, such an interaction between a god and man can be seen in the artwork depicting Hammurabi and the god Shamash, the Stele of Hammurabi (Stokstad and Cothren 37). This interaction mirrors how Moses received the Ten Commandments from Mount Sinai, and based on the shape of the Stele, Hammurabi also received his own set of laws while on a mountain. It can be inferred from the depiction that Hammurabi acts as the intermediary of Shamash and the citizens, creating a certain distance between two parties. This setup is very much similar with God, Moses and the Israelites, as well as with the ancient Egyptians, the priests and their numerous deities. Due to the rules of the deities to the people of not entering holy ground, except for the prophet or other holy men alone, a distance between the gods and the people are made. This is a setup that keeps everything in order and the people following only one person, especially since only the prophet is able to talk to and relay instructions from the god. Based on context, the prophet or holy man also act as the law enforcer of the people, and to prevent chaos within the society, laws must be made and put into order. This is the main reason why the Ten Commandments and the Code of Hammurabi were written. Based on the given readings as well as the two artworks mentioned, the people during the ancient times were governed under bureaucratic governance, with the main emphasis on religion. The most powerful people in this kind of social structure are the royal families and the priests, or in the case of the early Israelites, the prophet chosen by God. Since most of the rules and laws were supposedly given by their gods, the people treated the commandments with utmost respect. Also, disobeying the rules would have severe punishments, so people took care to please the gods as well as keep their lives by dutifully following them. In short, religion was taken as seriously as politics. In other samples of architecture, the distance between the gods and the people are also exemplified by the ancient temple structures in Dur Sharrukin in present-day Iraq. Based on the reconstruction of the Palace Complex of Sargon II, the ziggurat or the place of worship is built inside the citadel and near the palace of the king (Stokstad and Cothren 40). By building a wall surrounding the ziggurat, the distance between common people and the holy ground is kept fairly well, and only the holy men or the members of the royal family are able to enter. In similar fashion, the temple built during the reign of Rameses II also gives distance between common people and the god, by putting the sacred room at the farthest end of the whole structure, as seen from the reconstruction (Stokstad and Cothren 75). The entrance of the temple has four large statues which seemingly impose authority over the onlookers, as if forcing them to stay out. This shows the need for people to keep their distance while on the premises of the holy ground. As implied by such laws, the distance of gods to men not only keeps people in following the rules set by the gods, but also keeps the peace and order within their society. Works Cited Division of Christian Education, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Holy Bible, Revised Standard Version. National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, 1971. Print. Stokstad, Marilyn and Michael Cothren. Art History, Volume 1 (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. Print. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Near Eastern and Egyptian Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Near Eastern and Egyptian Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/culture/1604214-near-eastern-and-egyptian-art
(Near Eastern and Egyptian Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
Near Eastern and Egyptian Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words. https://studentshare.org/culture/1604214-near-eastern-and-egyptian-art.
“Near Eastern and Egyptian Art Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/culture/1604214-near-eastern-and-egyptian-art.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Near Eastern and Egyptian Art

Political Instability in Egypt

Subject: English    Topic:  Identify a current situation where a group or the government is trying to dicate what people can do and there is conflict because some think they should have the right to free choice One of the hottest topics that dominated the realms of the political sphere was the political instability that plagued Egypt....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Egyptian Style Rendering

hellip; Introduction Ancient egyptian art was created as a way of interpreting the perceptions of the Egyptian culture with regard to nature and how the culture interpreted the world around them and the supernatural world.... The creativity aspect of egyptian art is evident in the variety of art created with some seemingly contradicting one another.... An analysis of the drawing will bring out some key characteristics of egyptian art.... Figure 1 Essence of the Drawing An important aspect of ancient egyptian art was to bridge the gap between mortals and the gods and to improve the understanding of the mortals of the gods....
4 Pages (1000 words) Assignment

Analysis the artwork

Full name Professor Subject Date Reflections on Ancient near eastern Art Artworks are often beautiful yet they are not just known for their ornamental features but the story that they tell as well.... hellip; From the Ancient near eastern Art gallery, “Tribute bearer with an Oryx, a Monkey and a Leopard Skin” is exhibited at the metropolitan Museum of Art.... art is a part of history and it oftentimes reflects the customs and traditions of the creator and the source....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Present-Day Egyptian Culture

Foreigners… The egyptian currency is in pounds.... Cairo is also one of the overcrowded cities of Egypt. The communities of Egypt are considered to be one of the Agricultural practices have emancipated in Egypt since five thousand years and due to this the egyptian community is considered to be highly deep rooted.... Maximum level of cooperation can be observed in the egyptian community and they have a central government that deals with regulating all types of issues amongst the community....
6 Pages (1500 words) Research Paper

Ancient Egyptian Music

It is mainly because of the massive influence of this art that it came to be found in many aspects of Egyptian life ranging from the palaces of the royal family and nobility to the workshops of artisans and all the way to the tombs of the wealthy.... The ability of the priests to make use of music in religious ceremonies ensured that the music of worship was completely improved by the temple musicians so that it was not only used for religious purposes, but temple music also developed into an art form....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

The Historical Influence of the Nile Valley

The objective of this dissertation is to access, analyze and describe the influence of the Nile Valley in the process of establishment of the egyptian civilization.... hellip; The egyptian civilization consists of so many wonders, developments, establishments, and artefacts of evidence of its past activities to the extent that there is no proper documentation of all these features and its historical development....
7 Pages (1750 words) Dissertation

Affecting of Changes in Technology the Conduct of Warfare

Raising armies and developing state of the art weaponry was essential for the survival of both the empires.... During this period the egyptian Kingdom attained its maximum size (Shaw, 1991).... The ancient world before Christ had witnessed promulgation of several empires and their fall....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Egyptian Economy and Its Peculiarities

This paper under the headline 'egyptian Economy and Its Peculiarities" focuses on the fact that Egypt is a land of a rich cultural heritage.... egyptian cotton and fabric are still treasured today by many persons.... There are many resources that have helped the country and its people to survive above years of hardships and problems....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us