Foreign website sheds light on role of art in ancient Egyptians’ life

CAIRO – 18 May 2021: Ancient Egyptian art was created with a great deal of attention and effort. 

Artists played a special role in documenting the public’s life and willingness to embark on the afterlife; tomb drawings followed consistent rules.

Artists were creative in drawing characters and sculpting their statues, believing that this helps the soul identify the body, however, the size of statues was not the same as that of the real people. According to ancient-origins, kings for example, are portrayed as being larger than other people or animals in scenes to amplify their importance.

It is worth noting that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has a particularly beautiful example of an ancient Egyptian artist's tool - a painter's coloring pallet dating back to 1390-1352 BC. It was discovered in Upper Egypt, possibly in Thebes, and was acquired by Lord Carnarvon in 1923.

The pallet is 17.5 cm (7 inches) long and is made of a single piece of ivory and includes six oval wells for paint. The ancient Egyptians made their paints from the minerals they found in the country. They used to grind the minerals into a clay mortar and mix it with water and an adhesive such as wood gum or egg albumen to create paints.