1. The Arts and Culture of Egypt
The Greatest Contribution of Egypt to World Culture
Art and Culture of Egypt
Egypt is perhaps the most fascinating of the ancient civilizations. It's one of the
longest in the west, beginning in approximately 3000 B.C., and lasting until nearly 300
B.C. With a recorded history of five thousand years it's among the earliest
civilizations. For years, Egypt maintained a markedly complex and steady culture that
influenced later cultures of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. What is remarkable
about Egypt's culture is not their rapid growth and development, but their ability to
conserve the past and succeed with fairly little change. Ancient Egypt is the
foundation in the history of western art. Pyramids and sphinxes have symbolized
Egypt for a long time, and a closer look reveals artistic genius in many forms.
Today, many aspects of Egyptian ancient culture exist in interaction with newer
elements, together with the influence of modern Western culture, whose roots has
itself been in Ancient Egypt. The cities of Egypt including its capital, Cairo has been
renowned for centuries as a center of learning, culture and commerce.

2. Language
The first written ancient Egyptian language which
formed a separate branch among the family of the
Afro-Asiatic tribe is known from hieroglyphic
inscriptions preserved on monuments and sheets of
papyrus. The "Koiné" dialect of the Greek language
which was later studied by Arabic scholars, was central
in Hellenistic Alexandria, and was used in the
philosophy and science of that culture. The Arabic
language came in the 7th century and Egyptian Arabic
has since become the modern speech of the country.

3. Literature
• Egyptian literature dates back to the Old Kingdom, in the third millennium B.C., the
oldest being the Pyramid Texts, the mythology and rituals carved around the
tombs of rulers and the later, secular literature of ancient Egypt includes the
'wisdom texts', a form of philosophical instruction.
The Middle Kingdom was known as the golden age of Egyptian literature. Some
well-known texts include the Tale of Neferty, the Instructions of Amenemhat I, the
Tale of Sinuhe, the Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor and the Story of the Eloquent
Peasant.
During the first few centuries of the Christian era, Egypt was the final source of a
great deal of ascetic literature in the Coptic language. Egypt's vast and rich
literature constituted an important cultural element in the life people and in the
Middle East as a whole. Egyptian novelists and poets were among the first to
experiment with modern styles of Arabic literature, the styles of which were
widely imitated. The first modern Egyptian vernacular novel Zaynab by
Muhammad Husayn Haykal was published in 1913. Vernacular poetry is the most
popular literary genre amongst Egyptians, represented by Ahmed Fuad Nigm
(Fagumi) and Abdel Rahman el-Abnudi.

4. Religion
Ancient Egyptian religion saw the world as in conflict
between forces of 'order' and 'chaos' and the Pharaoh,
representing order on Earth, was seen as divine and
descendent of the falcon god Horus.
Egypt was indeed one of the strongest early Christian
communities with the Coptic Christianity becoming popular
in the Roman and Byzantine periods. Christians constitute
about 10% of the population today.
Islam, today being the dominant faith with 90% of the
population in Egypt, came to the country with the
successors of Mohammed.

5. Arts
Contemporary Egyptian art can be as diverse as any
works in the world art scene. The Egyptians codified
design elements in art and were one of the first major
civilizations to do so. The wall paintings done in the
time of the Pharaohs followed a rigid code of visual
rules and meanings. Egyptian art as shown in painting
and sculpture is both highly figurative and symbolic.
Much of the surviving art comes from tombs and
monuments, where there is an emphasis on life after
death and the preservation of knowledge of the past.

6. Arts

7. Architecture
Ancient Egyptian used both sun-dried and kiln-baked bricks, fine
sandstone, granite and limestone, as with the absence of trees it
prevented the use of woods as building materials. Over time primitive
structures of clay and reeds matured, and there emerged great
monumental structures of granites, with very thick walls. Hieroglyphic and
pictorial carvings were widely used to adorn the structures, including
many motifs, like the scarab, sacred beetle, the solar disk and the vulture.
The certainty of existence of life beyond death resulted into massive and
remarkable architectural style to house the mummified bodies.
Construction of these monuments commenced as soon a pharaoh was
named, and continued till he was dead. Some of constructions are very
large and finely decorated, while some are moderately small like King
Tutankhamen's tomb, as he died very young. Two of the famous
architectures of Egypt are the Great Pyramids and the Great Sphinx of
Gaza.

8. Architecture

9. Pyramid of Giza

10. Pottery
• Ancient Egyptians used steatite and soapstone to
carve small pieces of vases, amulets, images of deities,
of animals and several other objects. They also
discovered the art of covering pottery with enamel.
These varied types of pottery items were deposited in
the burial chambers of the dead. It was customary to
craft on the walls of the tombs cones of pottery,
engraved or impressed with legends relating to the
dead occupants of the tombs. The cones contained the
names of the deceased, their titles, offices which they
held, and some expressions proper for the memorial
services.

11. Pottery

12. Sculpture
The ancient art of Egyptian sculpture evolved to
symbolize the ancient Egyptian gods, and Pharaohs,
the divine kings and queens, in their physical form.
Enormous and magnificent statues were built to
represent gods and famous kings and queens. They
were intended to give eternal life to the "god" kings
and queens, as also to allow the subjects to see them
in physical forms. Well known examples are that of the
Sky God, Horus and the God of funeral rites, Anubis.

13. Sculpture

14. Hieroglyphs
A hieroglyphic script is one consisting of
an array of pictures and symbols, some of
which had independent meanings, whereas
some were used in combinations. This style of
writing continued to be used by the ancient
Egyptians for nearly 3500 years. Many art
works of the period included hieroglyphs and
it constituted an amazing part of ancient
Egyptian arts.

15. Paintings
The ancient Egyptians created paintings to
make the after life of the deceased a pleasant
place and accordingly, beautiful paintings were
created. The paintings survived due to the
extremely dry climate. The paintings are painted
in such a way that it shows a profile view, and a
side view of the animal or person. Some
examples of such paintings are the paintings of
Osiris and Warriors.

16. Music
As early as 4000 BC, Egyptians were playing
harps and flutes, including two indigenous instruments,
the 'ney' and the 'oud'. It's a rich mixture of indigenous
Egyptian, Arabic, African and Western influences.
Drumming and vocal music also became an important
part of the local music tradition. Contemporary
Egyptian music can be traced back to the work of
creative people such as Abdu-l Hamuli, Almaz and
Mahmud Osman. Egyptian folk music is also popular
and played during weddings and other festivities.

17. Festivals
Egypt is quite famous for its various festivals and
religious carnivals, also known as 'mulids'. Though usually
associated with a particular Coptic or Sufi saint, they are
often celebrated by all Egyptians irrespective of creed or
religion. Ramadan, celebrated with sounds, local lanterns-
'fawanees' and much flare has a special flavor in Egypt and
many Muslim tourists from the region flock here to witness
this spectacle. The ancient spring festival of Sham en Nisim
has also been celebrated by Egyptians for thousands of
years, usually between the Egyptian months of Baramouda
(April) and Bashans (May) following Easter Sunday.