Discover Top Posts Tagged with #first intermediate period

Detail of the coffin of Mesehti

(Wood, limestone, obsidian (i.e. volcanic glass)

Mesehti was an ancient Egyptian nomarch (provincial governor) of the 13th nome of Upper Egypt ("the Upper Sycamore") during the 11th Dynasty, around 2000 BCE. Based in Asyut, he was also a seal-bearer and overseer of the priests of Wepwawet.

He is most famous for his richly equipped tomb discovered in 1893, which contained detailed, painted wooden models of Egyptian spearmen and Nubian archers.

#ancient egypt #kemet #kemetic #egypt #egyptian art #Governor Mesehti #Dynasty 11 #11th Dynasty of Anciet Egypt #First Intermediate Period #coffin #funerary

AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE RELIEF FRAGMENT FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD, CIRCA 2180-2040 B.C.

#AN EGYPTIAN LIMESTONE RELIEF FRAGMENT #FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD #CIRCA 2180-2040 B.C.#limestone sculpture #ancient artifacts #archeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #ancient egypt #egyptian history #egyptian hieroglyphs #egyptian art #ancient art

Egyptologist Dr. Salima Ikram talks about the burials in tomb MMA 507 at Deir el-Bahari from the late First Intermediate Period (Egypt’s Darkest Hour 2019).

#egypt #ancient egypt #egyptology #archaeology #historyedit #mine #my edit #documentary #doc: egypt's darkest hour #salima ikram #first intermediate period #MMA507

Ancient Egyptian portrait statuette (painted limestone) of one Inech. Artist unknown; ca. 2100 BCE (First Intermediate Period). Now in the Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich. Photo credit: ArchaiOptix/Wikimedia Commons.

#art #art history #ancient art #Egypt #Ancient Egypt #Egyptian art #Ancient Egyptian art #First Intermediate Period #sculpture #portrait sculpture #statuette #stonework #limestone #carving #Staatliches Museum Agyptischer Kunst

~ String of beads.

Period: Late Old Kingdom to First Intermediate Period

Date: 2323–2040 B.C.

Place of origin: Mesheikh, Egypt

Medium: Carnelian, rock crystal, amethyst, faience, amazonite, ivory.

#ancient #ancient art #history #museum #archeology #ancient egypt #ancient history #ancient jewelry #jewelry #string of beads #Egyptian #old kingdom #first intermediate period #mesheikh #2323 b.c.#2040 b.c.#faience #amethyst #carnelian

Limestone slab of Nefer-safkhy (First intermediate period; c. 2475-2160 BC.) Penn Museum

Nefer-safkhy was a priest of Onuris at This, near Abydos where this slab was found. The piece was featured prominently as part of a behind-the-scenes look at the museum’s archives. It’s a shame its not on display formally, I think it’s a great work of art! It comes from the first intermediate period, dynasties VII-X, a period of time characterized by a collapse in the central government and a rise in power of local governors (nomarchs).

I think this piece wonderfully captures the artistic freedom that artisans enjoyed during the first intermediate period. It is evident that without a central government to dictate artistic style and convention, local artists could “let loose”. Look at the huge eyes and beak-like noses. Even the cows look like they can see into next week. Nefer-safkhy (left), for whose tomb this was commissioned, has two left hands. Sure, it may lack the refinement of the old kingdom, but who says that’s necessarily a bad thing?

Well, I do. Through art, people project their societal values. This piece, to me, indicates a sort of cultural anxiety. The huge eyes are looking to the future, anxious to see what is in store for their fledgling society. The king was god on earth, for him to lose dominion over the land must have been stressful. It may have seemed like the gods had withdrawn their favor.

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