With Chapter 2 we enter the historical period of art in Egypt and the Ancient Near East. These two great cradles of Western art history and civilization have much in common and also important differences.
In this chapter, you will :
- Grasp the uniqueness of those civilizations that grew up along the Nile and in Mesopotamia
- Appreciate the similarities as well as the differences between the two great centers
- Discover the centrality of death and belief in an afterlife to Egyptian society and art
- Understand the almost three thousand years of essential continuity that is the history of ancient Egypt
- Understand the political turmoil that runs throughout the history of Mesopotamia
- Appreciate the subtle differences among the successor states of Mesopotamia as well as finding the threads of continuity
- Acquire an appreciation of the important artistic tool of scale in helping the viewer understand the social relationships presented in ancient art
- Become acquainted with the unique conventions of representing the human figure in Egyptian art
