Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia: Art, Culture, and History
Egypt
Egypt is located in northern and northwestern Africa, in the Middle East, bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, on the east by Israel and the Red Sea, and on the southwest by Sudan and Libya.
The country has a maximum length from north to south of 1,085 km and a maximum width, near the southern border, of about 1,255 km, with an area of 1,000,000 km2. Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt.
Egyptian Iconography
The imagery continues to revolve around the pharaoh and his family; most of the scenes are chaired by the ideogram of the Aten. It is interesting to note that typical scenes, such as representing the party thirst or coronation rites, are not present in the repertoire of love. Aesthetically expressive features are comparable to the round bust sculpture of the pharaoh, and his family appear with the same physical characteristics.
Egyptian Formalism
The stylization and formalism of Egyptian art remained unchanged for about four thousand years. The artist, whether with brush or chisel, always displayed great technical ability, a great sense of design, and a great skill to bring natural elements for decoration.
Horizontal Records
These are all those large blocks perfectly matched and lintel system and robust high columns with capitals inspired motifs. The most characteristic temple for the rule again, which is formed by a molding and a band whose profile is similar to that of the human throat.
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is the name given to the area of the Middle East located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but extends to the fertile areas adjacent to the strip between the two rivers, which roughly coincides with the non-desert areas of current Iraq. The term refers primarily to the area in ancient times.
Mesopotamian Formalism
This is divided into art, sculpture, painting, and architecture in the protruding art forms and styles. Sculpture highlighted the human representation in the form of monumental relief. On the painting, but there are very few samples, the technique of parental attention was used. And these were mosaics architecture painted in bright colors, had no windows and the ceiling light was obtained.
Seal of Mesopotamia
The cylinder seals were used as early as the third millennium BC in Mesopotamia to certify the cuneiform documents (shelf and bullae, i.e., lumps of clay to seal doors or items for close objects), usually representing some sort of approval of officer specific operation (seal a tablet as a witness, seal the door closing a store, put your own stamp on a clay pot as a sign of ownership, etc.).
The Code of Hammurabi
The text of the code is to know what were the most common crime at the time that is, if there is intent or not, just tell us what is the status of the victim and assailant. The penalty is higher if done deliberately and is lower if it was an accident and higher if the victim is a free man and smaller if it is a slave.
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is part of an ancient Egyptian stela granodiorite with engraved text that provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphics. The inscription records a decree was issued in Memphis in 196 BC, on behalf of King Ptolemy V.