Art and life in ancient Egypt: Online Course from OpenLearn

Around 1350 BC, the Egyptian grain accountant Nebamun commissioned the walls of his tomb-chapel to be painted with scenes depicting his afterlife, and the world in which he lived. Nebamun worked in...

Syllabus

- Week1Week 1 The influence of Egyptian art
- Introduction
- 1 European exploration of Egypt
- 2 The lens of ‘Orientalism’
- 2.1 Gustave Flaubert – novelist
- 2.2 Amelia Edwards – traveller
- 2.3 Howard Carter – archaeologist
- 3 West versus East
- 3.1 The views of G.W.F. Hegel
- 4 Orientalism and European art
- 4.1 Inspiring the Victorians
- 5 The avant-garde and Paul Gauguin
- 5.1 Paul Gauguin
- 6 Twentieth-century popular culture
- 7 Beyond the myths
- Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week2Week 2 History of the Nebamun paintings
- Introduction
- 1 Painting modern life
- 2 A modern view of ancient Egypt
- 2.1 Egyptian painting
- 3 Contrasting purposes
- 4 Beginning to decode Egyptian art
- 5 Decoding the Nebamun paintings
- 6 Easel painting
- 7 Wall painting
- 8 How the paintings were obtained
- Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week3Week 3 The Nebamun paintings
- Introduction
- 1 Funerary offerings
- 1.1 Exploration
- 1.2 Reconstruction
- 1.3 Summary
- 2 The banquet scene
- 2.1 Exploration
- 2.2 Reconstruction
- 2.3 Summary
- 3 Produce and offerings
- 3.1 Exploration
- 3.2 Reconstructions
- 3.3 Summary
- 4 Hunting in the marshes
- 4.1 Exploration
- 4.2 Reconstruction
- 4.3 Summary
- 5 Garden of the west
- 5.1 Exploration
- 5.2 Summary
- 6 Acquisition of the paintings
- 6.1 Original locations
- 7 Selecting the fragments
- 8 Selection based on subject
- 8.1 The Bible
- 8.2 Animals
- 8.3 Orientalism
- 8.4 Conclusion
- Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week4Week 4 Nebamun the man and his tomb
- Introduction
- 1 Exploring the evidence
- 1.1 A man of wealth
- 2 Belief in an afterlife
- 3 Daily life
- 3.1 A hierarchical society
- 3.2 Death rituals
- 4 Tomb-chapels
- 4.1 The west bank of the Nile
- 5 Tomb layout
- 6 Tomb decoration
- 6.1 Tomb graffiti
- 7 Symbolism
- Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Week5Week 5 The creative process
- Introduction
- 1 Modern thinking about art
- 1.1 Exercising artistic skill
- 1.2 Autonomy
- 1.3 Artistic authors
- 2 A paradox and its consequences
- 2.1 Art or cultural product?
- 2.2 Towards acceptance
- 2.3 The nature of artistic practice
- 2.4 Returning to Nebamun
- 3 Preparing the tomb
- 4 Designing the decoration
- 4.1 From plan to wall
- 4.2 The use of reliefs
- 5 Applying the paint
- 6 The skills of the painters
- 7 Conventions of representation
- 7.1 The skill of ‘foreshortening’
- 7.2 Dissimilarity within conventions
- 8 Conventions of Egyptian art
- 8.1 Beyond the stereotype
- 9 Principles of Egyptian art
- 9.1 Schäfer’s principles
- 9.2 The principles in practice
- 9.3 The lack of shadows
- 9.4 Ramifications
- 9.5 Hunting in the marshes
- 9.6 Produce of the Estates
- 10 Symbolic dimension
- 10.1 Egyptian ‘genres’
- 11 Change and innovation
- 12 Nebamun: the lesson of looking
- Summary
- References
- Acknowledgements

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