Egyptian Art

The Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone, 196 B.C.E., Ptolemaic Period, 112.3 x 75.7 x 28.4 cm, Egypt (British Museum, London) (photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). The Rosetta Stone was discovered in Egypt, at Fort St Julien in el-Rashid, known as Rosetta.

https://smarthistory.org/the-rosetta-stone/

    The Rosetta Stone is a large piece of granodiorite with writing covering the entire front surface of the stone. It was made in the Ptolemaic period of Egypt. This stone has great significance, both at the time it was created, and currently. It is covered in religious text, that at the time was used for ceremonies, but now currently, is used to translate hieroglyphics. The stone itself is rather large, and consisting entirely of rock is rather heavy. The words around the rock seems to have change languages due to the difference in shapes of the writing. If you look closely, you can pick out 3 different formats of writing, all in a different language. This is likely what lead to many of the translations being created. The piece of stone pictured is fractured and broken, as it was once part of a much larger piece. The fractures around the stone do not seem to be smooth, or orderly, and this cuts off much of the text.


 

Comments

  1. Kylie FitzsimmonsSeptember 2, 2021 at 1:28 PM

    It is amazing to see what people were able to do with so little. I saw that you said there are 3 different formats of writing possibly in different languages. I wonder if multiple people wrote this or it was just one person with all of the knowledge.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kayli CooperSeptember 2, 2021 at 5:12 PM

    Hi Stephen,
    I really liked the piece you decided to describe as it's such an amazing artifact to have now, and it is crazy to believe that this was their language during that time and how much it has changed for the years of different cultures evolving throughout the centuries. It is also so crazy how big this piece is when it is just a small chunk of a larger piece makes me wonder how big the actual piece was, and if it was super tall, did they use a ladder every time they needed to read it?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Emerald Buddha of the Siamese Empire

Image
       The Emerald Buddha Shown above is the Emerald Buddha, a statue that resides in Thailand and has been around since about 44 C.E. The legend of the statue is that it was made with a wish granting stone inside of it, and that the statue itself descended from the heavens. Despite the name, the statue is made with no emerald at all, except fro some small jewels dotting the clothes of the statue. The statue is primarily made of jade. It has been noted that the statue has spent time in a large amount of Southeast Asia, in nations such as India, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, and eventually modern day Thailand, where it has remained. Buddhism is still in fact practiced in Thailand, with the statues arrival marking a change of culture in the region. The form of Buddhism practiced in Thailand can actually be traced as one of the oldest and most original forms of Buddhism, with the teachings echoing those of the Buddha's own dharma, or decrees. The most interesting thing about the...
Read more

Chorrera Ceramics

Image
Chorrera Ceramics              These ceramics are found in a region located in Ecuador. These sculptures would leave a significant imprint on future art found in the region. The Chorrera would be known for their depictions of the human body, and more specifically how they distinguished differences between male and female art pieces. Females were often depicted with accentuated curves. It is suspected many of the female figures were meant to represent fertility, but this is not known for sure.  The influences of these pieces were spread all throughout the Andes, likely due to trade routes found in the region. These pieces can be rather large, and with some measuring well over a foot tall. They also were usually made hollow. The art was often made with very simplified faces, but could form complex shapes and patterns throughout the rest of the piece. There was often jewelry associated with the art, as many of the pieces would be depicted w...
Read more

The Dome of the Rock Analysis

Image
 The Dome of the Rock Qubbat al-Sakhra, otherwise known as the Dome of the Rock, is an Islamic structure constructed in the early days of the creation of Islam, and is considered to be one of the first buildings constructed by the religion. The building is located in what would be known as Old Jerusalem, and is located upon the highest point in the region. The Dome of the Rock was completed in the year 691 AD, some 60 years after the death of the prophet Mohammad. In between these two points in time, Islam there was warfare between the first early Arab armies, and the Holy City of Jerusalem. The Arabic armies won this conflict, and then constructed the Dome of the Rock. The exact purpose of the building is unknown, as it was not used as a mosque, but there is deep religious significance to the building. There is a rock at the center of the building, for which the building received its namesake, and is believed to have been the rock that Abraham would have sacrificed his son Isaac o...
Read more