Egyptian art and architecture

Introduction
Predynastic period
Dynastic Egypt
- Architecture
  - Tomb architecture
    - Royal tombs
    - Pyramid of Khufu
    - Private tombs
  - Temple architecture
    - Cult temples
    - Funerary temples
  - Domestic architecture
- Sculpture
  - Emergence of types in the Old Kingdom
  - Refinements of the Middle Kingdom
  - Innovation, decline, and revival from the New Kingdom to the Late period
- Relief sculpture and painting
- Plastic arts
  - Pottery
  - Faience
  - Glass
- Applied arts
  - Jewelry
  - Copper and bronze
  - Gold and silver
  - Wood
  - Ivory and bone
Greco-Roman Egypt

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images & Videos

Ancient Egyptian illustration from the Book of the Dead showing Anubis weighing the soul of the scribe Ani, with gods seated above and hieroglyphic text throughout.

The obverse side of the Narmer Palette, an ancient Egyptian slate artifact, features three horizontal registers with carved figures, animals, and symbolic scenes.

Diagram of a cross section of the Great Pyramid of Khufu near Giza, Egypt, showing labeled internal features such as the King's Chamber, Queen's Chamber, Grand Gallery, passageways, air shafts, and subterranean chamber.

Stone with Egyptian hieroglyphs and a pottery shard with Greek script, linked by a blue arrow; faint pyramids in the background.

At a Glance

Egyptian art summary

Quizzes

Hagia Sophia. Istanbul, Turkey. Constantinople. Church of the Holy Wisdom. Church of the Divine Wisdom. Mosque.

Architecture: The Built World

Related Questions

How accurately was the Great Pyramid of Giza aligned with the cardinal directions?
How did Beni Hasan tombs use columns, porticoes, and painted murals carved into limestone cliffs?
How did Egyptian artists use grids to draw human figures?
How did Egyptian beliefs about the afterlife shape tomb architecture?
How did Egyptian stoneworkers copy the appearance of wood and brick buildings in Djoser’s complex?
How did Hatshepsut’s temple at Dayr al-Bahri use terraces, ramps, and colonnades?
How did Ramses III’s funerary temple at Madinat Habu combine religious spaces with royal buildings?
How did a cult temple differ from a funerary temple in ancient Egypt?
How did ancient Egyptian artists prepare and paint tomb walls?
How did ancient Egyptian artists show the human body in paintings and reliefs?
How did columns and lintels shape the design of ancient Egyptian temples?
How did relief sculpture differ from painted decoration in ancient Egyptian tombs?
How did the Great Pyramid of Khufu compare in size with the pyramids of Khafre and Menkaure?
How did the Step Pyramid of Djoser develop from the earlier mastaba form?
How did the design of Karnak’s hypostyle hall control light inside the building?
How did the tomb of Mentuhotep II at Dayr al-Bahri combine a temple and a royal burial monument?
How large was the Step Pyramid of Djoser complex at Saqqarah?
How many columns stood in the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak?
How many workers may have been needed to build the Great Pyramid of Giza?
How was the Luxor Temple expanded by Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun, Horemheb, and Ramses II?
How were cosmetic palettes used in predynastic Egypt?
How were hieroglyphic writing and ancient Egyptian art connected?
How were limestone and granite quarried in ancient Egypt?
How were mastabas built and used in ancient Egypt?
How were royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings designed to hide them from robbers?
What events were shown in the reliefs at Hatshepsut’s temple at Dayr al-Bahri?
What main architectural features appeared in a traditional ancient Egyptian temple?
What purpose may the valley temple have served in an Egyptian pyramid complex?
What rooms and passageways are inside the Great Pyramid of Giza?
What structures were included in an Old Kingdom royal pyramid complex?
What subjects appeared in the tomb paintings of nobles at Thebes?
Which Old Kingdom tomb paintings are known for their detailed depiction of geese?
Who were the three Pyramids of Giza built for?
Why did New Kingdom kings choose rock-cut tombs in the Valley of the Kings instead of pyramids?
Why did ancient Egyptian artists follow traditional styles for so many centuries?
Why did ancient Egyptian builders use mud brick for houses and stone for temples and tombs?
Why did ancient Egyptian craftspeople import wood from foreign lands?
Why does sunlight reach the inner sanctuary of the Abu Simbel temple on two days each year?
Why have more ancient Egyptian temples and tombs survived than ordinary houses?
Why were granite relieving chambers built above the King’s Chamber in the Great Pyramid?
Why were illustrations included in Egyptian Book of the Dead papyruses?
Why were important people shown larger than other figures in ancient Egyptian art?
Why were large stone arches rarely used in ancient Egyptian temple architecture?
Why were later Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom pyramids generally smaller than the Great Pyramid?
Why were murals sometimes left unfinished in ancient Egyptian tombs?
Why were scenes of warfare common on the walls of New Kingdom temples?
Why were tomb walls decorated with scenes of daily life in ancient Egypt?
What is Japanese art?
What is Japanese art known for?
How does religion influence Japanese art?

Visual Arts Architecture

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External Websites

Smarthistory - Ancient Egyptian art
Carleton University - Lifelong Learning Program - Eternal Egypt: Art and Architecture
Art in Context - Egyptian Art ï¿½ The Rich Art History of Ancient Egypt
World History Encyclopedia - A Brief History of Egyptian Art
Public Broadcasting Service - Egypt's Art and Architecture
Boise State Pressbooks - Ancient Egypt

Egyptian art and architecture

ancient Egypt

Written by

Peter F. Dorman

Peter Dorman received his PhD. from the University of Chicago in 1985 and served as the president of the American University of Beirut from 2005 to 2015. He has received numerous research grants and is...

Peter F. DormanAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

Egyptian art and architecture, the ancient architectural monuments, sculptures, paintings, and applied crafts produced mainly during the dynastic periods of the first three millennia bce in the Nile valley regions of Egypt and Nubia. The course of art in Egypt paralleled to a large extent the country’s political history, but it depended as well on the entrenched belief in the permanence of the natural, divinely ordained order. Artistic achievement in both architecture and representational art...