Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #403

by Christina Riggs

From Berlin to Boston, and St Petersburg to Sydney, ancient Egyptian art fills the galleries of some of the world's greatest museums, while the architecture of Egyptian temples and pyramids has attracted tourists to Egypt for centuries. But what did Egyptian art and architecture mean to the people who first made and used it - and why has it had such an enduring appeal?
In this Very Short Introduction, Christina Riggs explores the visual arts produced in Egypt over a span of some 4,000 years. The stories behind these objects and buildings have much to tell us about how people in ancient Egypt lived their lives in relation to each other, the natural environment, and the world of the gods. Demonstrating how ancient Egypt has fascinated Western audiences over the centuries with its impressive pyramids, eerie mummies, and distinctive visual style, Riggs considers the relationship between ancient Egypt and the modern world.
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: History, Art, Egypt, Nonfiction, Architecture, Egyptology, Ancient

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2014

About the author

Christina Riggs is Professor of the History of Visual Culture at Durham University in the northeast of England. Her most recent book is Treasured: How Tutankhamun Shaped a Century (2021), an 'utterly original' account which Kirkus Reviews has described as 'an imaginative weaving of the personal and political into a fresh narrative of an archaeological icon.'

Riggs is a former museum curator who studied art history, archaeology, and Egyptology in her native United States before moving to the UK to complete her doctorate at Oxford University. She has held a number of prestigious fellowships, and her writing has appeared in Apollo, History Today, the Times Literary Supplement, the London Review of Books, and Italia magazine, the last reflecting her love of all things Italian. She lives between the north of England and the north of Italy – and wherever she is, she writes first thing in the morning, with a strong cup of coffee.

Reviews

[Iset · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like other books in the Very Short Introduction series, this book is geared towards the general audience and clearly and simply explains the basics of the subject. But what made this book stand out to me was that the author undertakes an art historian’s approach. She doesn’t just examine the art itself, how it was made, and the materials used. She also explores how Egyptian art has been received by later modern audiences, and how that art has been displayed in galleries and museums. This provided some interesting snippets, although I didn’t agree with Riggs about everything.

7 out fo 10

[Daniel Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a misconception about the Ancient Egyptians that they were obsessed with death. In fact, as Riggs explains, though they did put a disproportionate amount of their resources into decorating the dead (at least the rich and powerful dead), they were not as preoccupied as they seem. The problem is that in Egypt, space near the Nile - i.e. space inhabitable by the living - is extremely precious, so everything from the ancient period that had anything to do with life has long since been built over and erases, many times over. But the dead can live in the desert, so they did. And thus they have survived - there is no shortage of space in the desert.

This book carefully subverts everything you think you know about the intersection of 'ancient', 'Egypt', 'art', and 'architecture', then explains in lucid terms exactly where their beauty and excellence lie, and why they matter.

Chapter 1: Four little words
Chapter 2: Egypt on display
Chapter 3: Making Egyptian art and architecture
Chapter 4: Art and power
Chapter 5: Signs, sex, status
Chapter 6: Out of Egypt

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, incisive and intelligent. I found it a more stimulating route into ancient Egyptian history than Ancient Egypt: A Very Short Introduction from the same Oxford University Press series

[george · Rating 3 out of 5]

i read this about a week late so i didn’t really gain as much from it as i would have had i read it before the lecture i had on this exact theme, however i will say it is really really interesting. i don’t think it’s as good as the very short introduction to the renaissance however it is still very accessible and easy to read and creates a good overview with very good examples of egyptian art. i particularly like the postcolonial views and questions expressed about the displaying of ancient egyptian things within museums, i really like the emphasis on the viewing experience that people have in western museums that have exhibitions on ancient egypt.

read the entire thing in the glink in one of the armchairs whilst listening to selected ambient works 2 and j almost fell asleep also so i don’t think my information absorption was quite up to scratch (but i already have loads of notes from the lecture it’s fine)

[Sonic · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is well done! :)

[Rob Roy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very short introduction it is. I expected information on architecture and building materials and methods. Not much of that is there. Don't bother.

[شمس]

As with other Egyptian deities, the representation of Sekhmet is just that, a representation. Such images don’t mean that any Egyptians thought his or her gods looked like humans with animal heads stuck on them. Art offers a way to express what can never otherwise be seen with the eye—in this case, the power and beauty of a god.
__________
The oft-repeated idea that mummification was necessary to preserve the body for the afterlife is a simplification. In fact, applying natron salt (with its cleansing, drying effect), resin (used as temple incense), and linen (linked to healing and rebirth) was a way to treat the dead bodies of high-status individuals as if they were sacred objects, like the statues of gods carefully tended in temples. The preservative quality of these materials, especially after the body’s organs had been removed, may have been a secondary effect which developed over time as part of an increasingly elaborate, specialised procedure used when certain people died.
__________
Knocking down waterfowl and spearing fish were not the only ways to conquer death, metaphorically speaking. Enjoying the pleasures of the natural world, and having friends and family to keep your memory alive, helped too—so did sex.

__________
In medieval and early modern Europe, words for ‘artist’ and ‘artisan’ were essentially interchangeable util the 18th century, when Enlightenment thinkers started to consider some forms of cultural expression superior to others. Painting, culture, architecture, together with certain kinds of music, theatre, and literature, became known as the fine arts, or beaux arts in French. For the visual arts, this meant that certain art forms, including textiles, ceramics, and jewellery, now held lesser status as decorative arts or, even lower down the ranks, examples of craft.

The ceiling height dropped and the floor level rose, enhancing the sense of penetrating a secluded space . . .

Water lily (usually referred to as ‘lotus’)

An entire temple may be the most impressive exhibit an ancient Egyptian collection can boast, and a shanti or statue the most common—but a mummy is by far the most popular.

Some museums divide their displays into ‘daily life’ and the ‘afterlife’ because so much of their collection comes from burials. 

Balancing public curiosity about ancient Egypt with ethical considerations about the display of human remains and sacred objects is difficult to do.

Seeing works of art—and architecture—in person is an excellent way to understand it better, because it lets you appreciate the materials the artist used, the decisions taken about form and design, and the differences of scale, colour, quality, and style. But seeing things in museums is also a reminder of the difference between what the modern world has value, and the role the same objects had in antiquity.

When Egyptian artists look to works from the past for inspiration, Egyptologists characterise the result as ‘archaism’., meaning an artistic style that looks old-fashioned on purpose . . . The past is created in the present, so each instance of ‘archaism’ usb be seen as the product of its own time. Re-use, revival, or re-interpretation may be more precise and helpful words for discussing art and architecture that makes a knowing nod to earlier forms and styles.

However, specialists in Egyptian art speak about the ‘smiting scene’ as a shorthand way to identify images of the signs raising a weapon against a cowering captive.

Perhaps the most noticeable signs of kingship are the cobra on the forehead, which warded off danger, and various head coverings and crowns, each symbolising some aspect of the king’s role.

In fact, the phrase ‘abracadabra’ derives from the name of the mystical deity Abraxas, invoked in the distinctive mixture of Egyptian, Greek, and ancient Near Eastern magic practised in Roman times.

Recognising some key features enables a better understanding of what significance a work had in antiquity, and why it was designed to look the way it does. Protective signs or identifying hieroglyphs, colour symbolism, and hidden references—such as in-jokes and sexual innuendoes—hep open lip the world of Egyptian art beyond its calm outward appearance. 

No one other than the king could be shown in the role of smiting enemies . . .

Sweet scents were signs of the gods. Collecting, wearing, and smelling blue water lilies had erotic overtones, which I why all the women in the scene and wearing and holding them; the Egyptian words for ‘scent’ and ‘ejaculation’ sounded similar, making this a visual and verbal pun as well. The lily leaves and roots had an intoxicating effect is—as some research has suggested—they were pulped and added to wine, enhancing or encouraging romantic liaisons.

How the Egyptian poor were buried, no one knows; the simplicity of their burials means that archaeology may never recover them.

When shown as a child (as on the Metternich Stela), Horus always took human form, rather than the falcon-headed form of his adulthood.

[Spencer Reads Everything · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christina Riggs’s Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture is a strong installment in the Very Short Introduction series. I really liked this little volume. It certainly delivers the essential overview of the major artistic and architectural traditions of ancient Egypt, but what impressed me most was how Riggs uses that foundation as a starting point rather than an endpoint. Instead of offering a straightforward list of masterpieces or monuments, she continually asks the reader to think about what the words art, ancient, and Egyptian actually mean. Those three terms seem simple on the surface, yet each carries a long history of interpretation, assumption, and debate.

Riggs handles these questions with clarity and care. She explains the familiar features of Egyptian statuary, tomb paintings, burial architecture, and temple design, but she also shows how each of these reflects a complex blend of religious belief, social hierarchy, and political authority. At the same time, she reminds the reader that our modern categories do not always align with how ancient Egyptians understood the functions and meanings of these works. This tension between ancient intention and modern interpretation forms one of the most compelling threads of the book.

Another strength of Riggs’s approach is her attention to the role of archaeology and museum culture in shaping what we think we know. Many of the images and objects that dominate popular imagination reached us through particular excavation histories, colonial encounters, and curatorial decisions. Riggs encourages readers to reflect on how those processes influence the way Egyptian identity has been presented over time. Rather than treating Egyptian art as a static and easily defined tradition, she shows how it continues to be constructed, reconstructed, and sometimes simplified for modern audiences.

What I found especially rewarding is the way Riggs opens a larger conversation about time and perception. Ancient Egyptian art is often described as timeless, yet she demonstrates how that idea emerged from modern tastes and scholarly traditions rather than from the material itself. Her discussion invites readers to consider how we assign value, how we decide what counts as representative, and how the passing of millennia complicates our desire for neat categories.

This is a smart and thoughtful introduction, suitable for anyone who wants more than a list of styles or dynasties. Readers interested in art history, archaeology, or cultural identity will find plenty to consider. Riggs offers clear explanations while also challenging her audience to think critically about the study of the ancient world. It is an excellent reminder that even the most familiar civilizations become richer and more complex when we pay attention to the questions behind the objects.

For more of my thoughts, check out my video:
https://youtu.be/zMcVCKpfkIA
For more reviews, check out my channel:
http://www.youtube.com/@SpencerReadsE...

[CëRïSë · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm an art historian, but this straightforward, readable introductory text was just what I needed to brush up on (and, in cases, learn for the first time) ancient Egyptian art, architecture, and history before our winter trip. Highly recommended for anyone traveling to the region!