Culture of Ancient Egypt: briefly about architecture and literature

Egypt was, perhaps, the most developed state in the period of the first civilizations. The culture of Ancient Egypt reached its peak. Briefly to present it is rather difficult, because the ancient period, equal to 2000 with superfluous years, is conditionally divided into three kingdoms (Ancient, Middle, New), the development of each of which had its own characteristics.

Culture of Ancient Egypt: briefly about the Ancient Kingdom

This era is for Egypt a period of real heyday - a golden age for the development of culture. The greatest development is achieved by architecture, which is characterized by features of monumentalism. Most of the buildings are associated with a funeral cult. The ancient Egyptians denied death. They believed that the soul of man will necessarily return to him. Therefore, tombs were created, and the deceased were mummified. Together with architecture in the Ancient Kingdom, sculpture developed. She had some special techniques of the "Egyptian style", in which the main features of the culture of Ancient Egypt. So, the distinctive feature of the sculptures was that they were created on tiles, which were covered on both sides by relief images of people. In this case, the face and shoulders were represented in the front, and the legs and head in profile. The plate of the pharaoh Narmer is famous. Its height is 64 meters. On it, in addition to the relief pictures, there are hieroglyphic inscriptions telling about the personality of the person whose image is carved on the stove. By the way, in the era of the Old Kingdom, writing was finally formed, a sheet of papyrus was invented and a counting system was created. The letters in Egypt were mainly taught by the priests and scribes who kept accounts in the household, and sculptors. Another feature is the perfect symmetry of the figures depicted.

Middle Kingdom

The culture of Ancient Egypt, briefly about the Middle Kingdom, can tell us the following. In this era, the construction of temples for the Egyptian gods begins , which were depicted either in the form of people, or half-animal-half-human. The temples not only served religious purposes, but also were considered administrative institutions, to which only priests-priests had access. The Supreme God is considered to be the God of the Sun, and Pharaoh was the son of the sun. If before that the funerary structures were mainly built, in the Middle Kingdom, along with them, sacred temples were created, decorated with giant columns, obelisks, chic decor elements. The most grandiose was the temple of Amenemhet III, which was later called the Labyrinth by the Greeks. The architecture of this period includes the legendary pyramid of Cheops, the Sphinx, etc. The art and culture of Ancient Egypt in this era developed in other directions. For example, flourishing of fiction is observed. Was written, perhaps, the first novel in the world - "The History of Sinuheta", and the story "Conversation of the Disappointed with his soul" - a real philosophical treatise on pessimism, disappointment and faith. This is the mysterious and amazing culture of Ancient Egypt.

Briefly about the New Kingdom

During this period, the art of relief is improved. On the walls of the temples, with the help of this technique, the whole history of Egypt is depicted. Until now, the temple of Hatshepsut, located in Deir el-Bahri, has been preserved. The relief images decorating the walls of the temple are so realistic that one involuntarily dives into the past. The most valuable examples of the sculptures of this period, which have reached us, are works of the sculptor Tutmes - portraits of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his legendary wife Nefertiti. As for literature, in the New Kingdom it becomes a multi-genre. "Book of the Dead", belonging to this period, is considered a religious encyclopedia of that time. Among the "masterpieces" of secular literature can be called a fairy tale "About Two Brothers", as well as works related to love lyrics - "songs for the delight of hearts."