Product Description

For over three thousand years, ancient Egyptian sculptors created statues of deities, kings and lite officials and their families. These were set up mainly in temples or tombs and played a vital role in temple and funerary ritual, being places where non-physical entities - deities, the royal ka-spirit and the ka-spirits of the dead - could manifest themselves in this world. This book examines the materials and techniques employed by sculptors and various statue types and poses that occur. Next it explores the function of statues and the different contexts for which they were made. This is followed by a chapter explaining the notion of the ideal image: statues were not intended to be exact likenesses but rather ideal images reflecting the identity, role and status of the subject. A final chapter considers what was constant and what changed over time and looks at the influence that Egyptian statues had on the origins of monumental Greek sculpture.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #476977 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 64 pages

About the Author
Dr Gay Robins studied Egyptology at the University of Durham as an undergraduate and then went to Oxford to undertake research on queens of the Eighteenth Dynasty, obtaining a DPhil in 1981. From 1979 to 1983 she was the Lady Wallis Budge Research Fellow in Egyptology at Christ's College, Cambridge. She is now Professor of Ancient Egyptian Art in the Art History Department at Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and Faculty Consultant for Ancient Egyptian Art in the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory.

Customer Reviews

excellent overview of Egyptian statuary
Egyptian sculpture makes a fascinating study of Ancient Egyptian art. It evolves over the years, thus letting interested individuals know about the various styles as they came to life. The author, an expert on Ancient Egyptian art, examines herein materials and techniques the Ancient Egyptian sculptors used over the numerous dynasties. She discusses the function of statues and the 'ideal image.' She also looks at the influence of Ancient Egypt on Greek sculpture. A short, well-illustrated, extremely useful book, recommended to every student. -- Francesca Jourdan

Excellent

I have been to Egypt, the first time was in 1993, and I made my mind up that I'd like to study Egyptology.

Although in my second year of studying Egyptology, during my first year one of the subjects I studied were statues. Although it wasn't one of the study books I was required to read I decided to purchase it.

This provides you with a lot of information on the different kind of statues that were sculptured, the materials they used, and the different functions that they were used for. I found this book informative, interesting and enjoyable to read.

Whether you are studying Egyptology or just want a little more knowledge then Shire Publications are all great books. Have a look at the rest of my reviews, you'll find number of Shire books mentioned.

It makes an excellent edition to my little Egyptian library, which now stands at nearly 1000 books on this subject. :-)