New Kingdom — 1550-1075 B.C.

The New Kingdom was established with a new capital at Thebes.

Senmut, Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, ca. 1490-1460 B.C., Deir el-Bahri (near Thebes)

 

The Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut is located at Deir el-Bahri (which is near Thebes).  The practice of building for the dead continued during the New Kingdom.  However, this was a mortuary temple built for the only woman pharaoh of Egypt. 

Note that this is no longer a pyramid, but rather an elaboration of the rock cut tomb.  This is post and lintel architecture that was erected in stages that move closer and closer to the cliffs.  When built, these terraces were used as gardens.  Thus, this is naturalistic architecture that tends to blend in with the natural environment.  Originally, there were brightly painted low relief sculptures which represented Hatshepsut's great deeds, her coronation, and her divine birth (she was believed to be the daughter of Amen-Re, whose sanctuary was on the upper most level). We know who the architect of this complex was.  His name was Senmut, and he was the Queen’s chancellor, an architect-engineer, and perhaps her lover. 

Who was Hatshepsut?  She was the wife (and half sister) of Thutmose II.  Together, they had no sons. However, Thutmose II did have a harem and had a son by another minor wife.  The son was Thutmose III.  When Thutmose II died, therefore, the kingship went 12-year old Thutmose III. Hatshepsut first became regent for the boy-king (a regent is someone who acts as a ruler when the sovereign ruler is either too young or incapacitated for some reason). Within a few years, however, Hatshepsut declared herself pharaoh and said that it had been the wish of Thutmose II. She reigned for two decades.

Hatshepsut with offering jars, ca. 1473-1478 B.C.

As queen, Hatshepsut adopted the attire that was associated with the male — including the ceremonial beard and nemes headdress.  Typically, she was depicted with a flat, male chest (although in some cases she is depicted with breasts.)  Note that this sculpture was reconstructed from fragments.  When Hatshepsut died, many of her statues were destroyed by Thutmose III (note, this same impulse was in seen in Iraq when the statue of Saddam Hussein was toppled after the Americans captured Baghdad and is a testimony to the power and symbolism of political images).

Temple of Amen-Mut-Khonsu, Luxor

 

Another innovation associated with the New Kingdom was the pylon temple.  This example was erected approximately 1000 years later than the Pyramids. “Pylon” is the Greek word for gate.   The gate was a massive structure with sloping or battered walls.  These were not funerary monuments, but built to honor the gods.  Access to these New Kingdom temples was determined by one’s position in society.

Pylon Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak , ca. 1275-1225 B.C. — Plan 

 

1. Pylon; 2. Courtyard; 3. Hypostyle Hall; 4. Inner Sanctuary; 5. Enclosure Wall; 6. Colossal statues of pharaoh; 7. Obelisks; and 8. Avenue of Sphinxes 

All access was through the pylon gate.  Peasants could only go as far as the courtyard which was surrounded by columns — a peristyle courtyard.  This part of the temple was open and full of sunlight.

Selected members of the upper class could enter the middle stage, which was an enclosed forest of columns.  This was the “Hypostyle Hall” with “clerestory windows” (stone screens) — Egyptians were the first to use these.   The columns were richly carved with low relief and painted.

Then came a sanctuary, where only the pharaoh and priests could enter.

Notice that the plan is bilaterally symmetrical along a single axis (although the interior was not strictly bilateral).

Hypostyle Hall, Model at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

 

The columns used during the New Kingdom were apparently were based on an early building technique where sheaves of reeds and swamp plants were bound together and used as supports.  These forms were later translated into stone.  Notice that the capitals resembled lotus or papyrus as either buds or flowers.

Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amen-Re, Karnak, 1290-1244 B.C.

 

Pylon Temple of Horus at Edfu, 237-47 B.C.

 

This the pylon gate form the Temple of Horus at Edfu.  The grooves in the pylons were probably for flags

In this example, the surface is embellished with relief sculpture. Horus and Hathor stand as witnesses as large King Ptolomy XIII smites his tiny enemies.  The point here that the traditional style and imagery of Egyptian art remained consistent through the centuries.

Fowling Scene from the Tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, Egypt, ca 1400-1350 B.C.

This Fowling Scene from the Tomb of Nebamun is an example of New Kingdom Painting. This is from the tomb of a deceased nobleman whose official title was “scribe and counter of grain.” He is shown on his boat. with his wife and daughter.  He is holding his walking stick in one hand and chasing birds out of a stand of papyrus’s with the other hand.  Notice the open and closed buds of the papyrus.  Also notice that the composition includes a cat catching birds (to the left of Nebamun, adjacent to the papyrus). Below, the water is alive with fish. 

There are many examples of New Kingdom painting that differ very little from the Old Kingdom style.  Nebamun and his environment is, perhaps, a little more lively than most. 

Musicians and dancers, from the Tomb of Nebamun, Thebes, Egypt, ca 1400-1350 B.C.

 

This is a detail another fresco from the Tomb of Nebamun. The complete scene includes four noble women and two semi-nude dancing girls.  It probably depicts the funeral banquet held in honor of Nebamun.  This ceremony was reenacted each year.  At right are wine jars (look at the reproduction in Gardner's).  There's much more informality in this endless banquet to be enjoyed in Nebamun’s afterlife.