Late Old Kingdom Private

Below are some discussion questions that were originally prepared for class on Monday 04 April. Please feel free to comment or ask more questions!

-Peter and Julia

In the article by Ann Macy Roth, she questions this accepted idea of hierarchic proportion, that simply put, more important people are portrayed at a larger scale that less important individuals. Her conclusions result in some identifiable patterns, but mostly suggest variation dependent on time, site, context, and origin of the scene. When some idea in Egyptian art varies so much on context, such as presented here, can we take it as 'rule' that, for example, the larger the person, the more important? What other examples can you think of such 'rules' that in actuality are maybe not as stolid as often conceived?

Rita Freed in her article, “Rethinking the Rules for Old Kingdom Sculpture,” highlights specific attributes of Old Kingdom sculpture through 'non-conventional' portrayals. When a change in traditional convention in Egyptian Art appears, should it be seen as a mistake or intentional? Can we even tell and what might be some clues?

The idea of emotion being expressed in sculpture and relief has surfaced both this week and previously in the course (ex. through naturalism in relief and pair statues, etc.). However many scholars, Freed included, state that the Old Kingdom is noted for its lack of emotional display in art. Is there really a lack of emotion in these pieces or are we being confounded by modern conceptions? Can we classify a period as having unemotional art based on what comes after it?

As you read Smith, consider the changes and innovation in chapel scenes and motifs – such as the introduction of the scenes of life, the growing frequency of funeral processions scenes (although Smith comments that the first funeral scene is found the Fifth Dynasty tomb of Akhethetepher, there is additional evidence of the funeral procession from private Fourth Dynasty mastabas) and the introduction of decoration within the burial chamber of private individuals (a practice we have seen before in royal contexts, but not in the private sector). What do these changes indicate? Is this change also reflected in the royal sector or is it unique to the private?

Consider the chapel of Ti which is most innovative and an incredible example, rich with detail for a private Fifth Dynasty mastaba.

We discussed last class the degree to which royal art in the late Old Kingdom reflects a lack of skill or technique or a conscious development of a Second Style, and the proposal that there was a general decrease in scale and number of pieces, etc. As we studied and read about private art in the late Old Kingdom this week, do you think there is corroborating evidence to support either the suggestions that the late Old Kingdom marks the initiation of a Second Style or a decrease in skill and technique?

The Fifth and Sixth Dynasty witnessed a trend among royal burials, moving from the site of Giza, to Abusir and Saqqara. Private elite burials no longer clustered around their King’s tomb as Fourth Dynasty elites did around the Great Pyramids. Private burials continued primarily at Saqqara and Giza. These private burials instead were clustered into groups typically determined by familial relations. Why does this happen? What does this mean? Is this a reflection of the decentralization of Egyptian royal authority at the end of the Old Kingdom – that the afterlife of the elites were no longer centered around their relationship with their King but instead their identity in the afterlife was constructed by their familial relations?

Amanda: I think the answer here is two-fold: for my piece this week I looked at the Tomb of Ptahshepses which is an excellent example of this change in private elite burials where these individuals rather consciously appear to be taking elements of royal architecture and applying it to their own mastabas. Why is this? I would say it reflects a shift not only in the social hierachy of the Old Kingdom, where individuals of the early Old Kingdom depended on their proximity to the king not only in this life but in the next, but also a change in funerary beliefs of the 5th and 6th dynasty. In the same way that these grandiose tombs such as Ptahshepses and Ti are being built by elite private individuals, in the later part of the Old Kingdom they are also being built for the first time AWAY from the king (except in Ptahshepses case he decided to still hang out with the kings at Abusir). This also reflects the growing bureaucracy of the later Old Kingdom, from tomb biographies such as Harkhuf and Weni we get the picture that they very much depended on the favors of the king for their position and it is a big deal to mention this relationship in a tomb context, but still, they are buried far away in Aswan and Abydos respectively. I would say that they still very much emphasize their relationship to the king, but its no longer a major funerary belief that one has to be buried near him to attain favors in the afterlife. One of my readings for this week offered that this is perhaps an example of the "democratization of the afterlife," where private individuals' tombs too are now the focus of mortuary cults, functioning like the king's mortuary temples where many took architectural elements from. It is no longer just a "house for the dead" but a place to sustain and worship the dead person, a location for the continuation of his sustenance in the afterlife. Prior to this, offerings were made to the deceased but in these tombs the offering chapels appear as more secondary elements, while the emphasis is on the deeds, titles and accomplishments of the deceased. Tombs get bigger and stocked with fancy stuff, and the king is no longer the only one who is worshipped after death. The change in location may also reflect a growing emphasis on familial relationships in the later Old Kingdom, as officials are buried closer to their own homes in family clusters, again revealing the shift from the belief that one had to be buried next to the king for social rank in the afterlife.

Consider the use of color in private tomb scenes. What can we ascertain from the use of certain colors? Green and black can represent fertility and renewal. Black is the color of fertile soil (and also the name for Egypt – the Black Land, Kemet), and green the vegetation that spurs from it. White and yellow can be references to light and the solar or lunar cycles that thrust life forward for continuity. Examples of this can be seen in the colors used to depict the offerings upon the offering table for the deceased. Is there symbolic use of colors in your art piece this week?