Ancient Egyptian Art Symbolism

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The word civilization derives from the Latin word ‘civils’. In the 18th century this word was used to distinguish the behavior of the people. It is characterized by social stratification, urban development and symbolic communication forms. In recent years the definition of this term has changed, it commonly refers to human societies with technological development and high level of societies. Today every person has a different understanding of civilization. Childe a scientist believed that civilization could only be distinguished by comparing to other forms of society by their types of livelihood, literacy system, technology and economic systems. Egypt is a country located in North Africa, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is among the oldest civilizations on the earth. The name Egypt was taken from the Greek Aegyptos , it is the Greek pronunciation (Egyptian name) ‘Hwt- ka- Ptah’ meaning house of the spirit of Ptah, who was the early god of the ancient …show more content…

The Egyptian art reached a high level in painting and sculpture; they were both highly symbolic and stylized. Symbolism played an important role in creating a sense of order. Animals were usually highly symbolic in the Egyptian art. Colors were seen as more expressive and so for women yellow skin was used. Whereas blue and gold were used to signify the divine to show its unnatural appearance associated with precious materials. Black color expressed royal figures and fertility of Nile from which Egypt was born Today, The Metropolitan Museum of Art consists of approximately 26000 objects of historical, artistic and cultural importance dating from Paleolithic to the Roman period (ca.300,000 BC-AD. 4th century). Most of the collection of the museum is taken from the Museum’s 35 years of archeological work in parts of Egypt. It was initiated in 1906 in response to the increasing western interest in the Egyptian