THE PREDYNASTIC PERIOD — 3500-3000 B.C.

As implied by the name, we do not have reliable history of the Predynastic period.  We are not sure “who” the early Egyptians were — whether they were Africans or whether they peoples who had migrated from Mesopotamia into  North-East Africa .  What we do know is that Egypt was not a unified country during this period.

Upper Egypt (Southern part of the Nile ) — dry, rocky, rustic

Lower Egypt (Northern part of the Nile ) — populated, urban

At the end of the Predynastic period, Upper and Lower Egypt were united over a period of several centuries.  The Palette of Narmer was created to commemorate this unification.   

Technically, this is a makeup palette made of slate and embellished with low relief sculpture; the well on the front between the intertwined lion's necks would have been used to grind and mix pigments that were applied to the face.  However, this particular palette was never used as such.  It functioned strictly as a work of art and, as noted above, was a commemorative piece that celebrated the unification of Upper and  Lower Egypt.  It was difficult to execute and was probably an expensive piece.

Palette of King Narmer, ca. 3100-3000 B.C.

FRONT

BACK

Back of the Palette of Narmer:

At the top are two heads of Hathor.  According to Egyptian mythology, Hathor was a goddess who could transform herself into a lioness.  She was also commonly depicted as a young women with a cow’s head.  Here she is a supporter of Narmer.  Namer’s name appears in the central hieroglyph.  Altogether, she is depicted four times at the top (i.e. on the front and back).  The position at the top is associated with the sky and the number four represents the four corners of the sky.  Thus, Hathor's presence in this composition implies that the King’s power is universal.  The sky is also linked to the eternal cosmos.

In the large, central register, we see King Narmer.  He is, not surprisingly, the largest figure, and he wears the high, white bowling-pin-shaped crown of Upper Egypt .  Before he Upper and Lower Egypt were united, he was the leader of Upper Egypt .  (As an aside, note that Menes was the Greek name for the King).  We see a profile head, a frontal torso, and the legs in side view -- the twisted perspective that we have seen in other examples of ancient art.  We also see some rudimentary muscles in the legs.  The emphasis is on the King and not on all the chariots that must have been involved in the battle.  We do, however, see the King is slaying one of his foes.

On the left, the King is accompanied by an official who is carrying his sandals.

Of the right, Horus — here as a human-armed falcon — is holding captive a man with papyrus growing from his back.  This is a hieroglyph for the people of Lower Egypt .

Here I want to digress for a bit and provide some information about the complicated mythology associated with Horus. 

This story begins with two brothers — Osiris and Set — and two sisters — Isis and Nephthys. 

Osiris was a good and beneficent Egyptian king who was murdered by his brother Set (this recalls the biblical story of Cain and Abel).  Osiris was deeply mourned.  His body was recovered and temporarily restored to life by Isis.  Isis then conceived a child with Osiris — the child was Horus. 

When Horus reached manhood, Isis assisted him in battling and defeating Set.  Set became identified with Egypt’s enemies. 

Horus was identified with royalty.  In ancient Egypt, the King (or Pharaoh) was addressed by the name Horus (as the first of his five official names) and was believed to be a god —  the living Horus.  Horus was also the god of the midday sun and could take on various forms, one of which was the falcon.  The falcon is a predator and has a strong eye.  Is also associated with speed, the sky, the  sun.  The sun conquers darkness.  

At the very bottom register, we see two fallen enemies.  

Front of the Palette of Narmer:

At the top, we again see the two heads of Hathor. 

In the second register, King Narmer appears wearing the red cobra crown of Lower Egypt .  He is part of a procession to a field of his dead enemies, all of whom have been beheaded.  King is again the largest figure.

In the third register, the lions of Upper and Lower Egypt are symbolically united with their long necks intertwined.

In the bottom register, we see the King as a bull knocking down the walls of a great fortress

Although the perspective is not consistent, notice that the horizontal lines are used to establish a ground line.

Although this is an interesting work of art with a lot of symbolism, it should be noted that commemorative art of any sort is is rare in Ancient Egypt.  Most of the art that survives is funerary in nature and is associated with the dead.

Mastaba tombs 

In Egyptian culture, the perception was that life was a very short blip, but that life after death was eternal.  Therefore, funerary structures were meant to endure.

During the Predynastic period and continuing during the period of the Old Kingdom , the major funerary monument was the mastaba — a tomb made of mud brick and usually for the burial of administrators, high priests, and functionaries of the Pharaoh.   The mastaba had battered or sloped walls.  Later, they were made of solid masonry or natural rock; these had a rectangular superstructure with sloping walls that were covered with a smooth limestone casing.  These would then have a shaft leading a burial chamber and coffin.  The term "mastaba" means bench in Arabic. They were situated within a necropolis, the Greek word for “city of the dead.”

The Egyptians believed that the spirit was separate from the body.  There were three aspects of the spirit:

Because the Egyptians believed that the body could be inhabited by the spirit after death, part of their funerary ritual required preservation of the body — or mummification. They believed that the body inhabited by the ka required all that had been required on earth — food, clothing, utensils.  In case the mummy disintegrated, there were sculpted figures that the ka could inhabit.

Imhotep, Stepped Pyramid of King Zoser (Djoser) at Saqqara , ca. 2650 B.C.

Throughout the Predynastic period and continuing during the period of the Old Kingdom, mastaba tombs were still erected, though they began to increase in size  With the beginning of the Old Kingdom, however, came a new funerary monument — the pyramid. 

Shown here is the Pyramid of King Zoser at Saqquara.  It is not a ziggurat (though it might look like one) because the function is completely different.  Recall that a ziggurat consisted of a a series of stages (or plateaus) that culminated in a temple used for worship.  Pyramids were funerary monuments.

Saqqara was the necropolis associated with the city of Memphis, which was the first capital city of Egypt and established under King Narmer.  Today, virtually nothing remains of Memphis.

The Pyramid of King Zoser is the first monumental royal tomb.  It was located to the west of the city — the location was symbolic because the sun set in the west, and it was believed that the sun god, Re, descended into his grave every night.  This pyramid was a mastaba with the four corners oriented toward each of the four cardinal points of the compass — north, south, east, west.  It was enlarged twice before taking its final shape, which appears to be a series of sequentially smaller mastabas.  To repeat an important point, these appeared similar in form to the ziggurats of Mesopotamia, but were not used as a temple — but rather a tomb.  This is a key difference.

Note that the pyramid stood on top of a burial chamber that was meant for the King.  Around this room was a network of underground passages and corridors.  Some of the walls were decorated with relief carvings of King Zoser, while some passages were filled with vases that were carved from alabaster, serpentine, rock crystal and other fine stones. 

When completed, the Pyramid of King Zoser was part of a large funerary complex that was surrounded by a wall of white limestone — the perimeter is approximately 1 mile in length and is about 33 feet high.  There are 14 large gateways — all of which are false except for one.  Inside the wall are a series of courtyards and chapels — all executed in cut stone and most of them sham (these were for the ka of the deceased, not the living visitors to the site).  They imitate temporary structures that were erected to for celebrations in honor of the King. 

Adjacent to the Pyramid is the funerary temple of King Zoser (which was real).  This is where living priests would perform daily rituals in celebration of deceased pharaoh.

Note that the complex did include engaged columns — that is, half columns that are attached to a wall and which are not independently load-bearing.  These were Inspired by native vegetation, specifically, the papyrus. 

This is also the first time in history where we know the name of the architect — IMHOTEP. 

Notes:

Egyptian Art in the Age of the Pyramids ( New York : Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999).