Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Egyptian Art. Introductory Studies

1924; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 10; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/3854005

2514-0582

T. Eric Peet, Jean Capart, Warren R. Dawson,

Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History

natural introduction to lessons on Egyptian Art is a study, however summary, of the physical conditions of the country.Without exaggerating the influence of this medium upon artistic productions, it is nevertheless necessary to take into account the chief peculiarities of the Nile Valley, and to show in what respects this region essentially differs from almost every other land, (i) It is not intended to repeat here the pages of a handbook of physical geography, (2) still less to transcribe the intro- ductory paragraphs of a traveller's guide to Egypt, but rather to attempt to convey as succinct an impression as possible of the divers aspects of the Nile Valley, which, on the whole, has altered very little since ancient times.Let us glance at a map of Egypt.Across the great desert regions of North-Eastern Africa the Nile forms a giant oasis, exceedingly elongated, which can be divided into two principal parts : the triangular estuary, called the Delta, and the course of the stream, which stretches far away towards the interior of Africa.The Delta is known as Lower Egypt, and the river proper, as far as the First Cataract, Upper Egypt.Egypt is situated at the point of contact of three worlds : on its northern frontier it adjoins the eastern basin of the Mediterranean ; on the eastern frontier of the Delta it i8 EGYPTIAN ART touches Asia ; and, by the course of the river, it effects a penetration into African regions.The natural frontiers of the north, the east and the west (Libyan or Sahara desert) have never changed, but that of the south, on the contrary, has reached farther and farther up the course of the Nile just as the power of the kings of Egypt has extended to remoter regions. TheFirst Cataract, in the Assuan district, constitutes, however, in a general way the southern frontier of Egypt proper towards the south.The Pharaohs of the Ancient Empire rarely went beyond it : those of the Middle Empire con- quered Lower Nubia ; and later, Egyptian domination extended to Upper Nubia and even to the Sudan.Descriptions of Egypt have often been written, by ancient travellers, Greek and Roman, by the Arabs of the Middle Ages, (3) and by countless writers in modern times.(4) When at last the time comes when the waters cease to be necessary to the fertility of the soil, the docile river retreats within the banks which destiny has marked out for it, leaving the treasures which are hidden in the bosom of the THE COUNTRY: CHARACTERISTICS 19 earth to be gathered in.A people protected by Heaven, and who, like the bee, seem destined to work only for the benefit of others without profit to themselves of the fruit of the sweat of their brows, busily open up the earth's surface to sow there the seeds which will be fertilised by Him who makes the harvests grow and ripen.The germ develops, the shoot appears, the ear forms by the aid of the dew which takes the place of rain and which maintains the fruitful moisture with which the soil is charged : then sterility once more succeeds the most abundant of harvests.It is thus, O Prince of the Faithful, that Egypt displays the picture, each in turn, of a dusty desert, a watery plain, a black and slimy bog, a verdant meadow, a garden decked with flowers, and a landscape covered with golden har- vest."(5)A modern scholar, Gaston Maspero, has given in his great work.The Dawn of Civilisation : Egypt and Chaldteaâ precise description of the different aspects of the Nile.Few travellers have had occasion to traverse Egypt in all its nooks and corners in so thorough a fashion as Maspero, As Director-General of the Service of Antiquities it was his duty to examine personally the ruins and excavations.Each year he delighted to make a tour of inspection, which gave him the opportunity ever and again of seeing afresh these riverside scenes, thereby adding to and seasoning the impressions which he felt.This is why his testimony, particularly important as it is, enables us to lay aside the mass of other descriptions and to concentrate upon the principal features of his.First, then, let us see how he characterises the two principal parts of Egypt.After having noted the three chief mouths of the Nile, which empty themselves into the sea and thus divide the Delta into two nearly equal sectors, Maspero expresses himself as follows : " These three great waterways are united by a tracery of artificial rivers and canals and by ditches, some natural, others dug by the hand of man, which silt up, close, open again and shift ceaselessly, ramifying into innumerable branches over the surface of the soil, spreading life and fertility broadcast.This network