Ancient Egypt- Egyptian Culture

Ancient Egypt Art was very important to the Egyptian culture. It symbolized Egyptian beliefs and their way of life. In western culture, art is a form of self-expression, for the Egyptians it was more about religion. The Egyptians were critical of their art and followed strict specific rules (canon), and believed that imperfect art (art that did not stick to the rules) upset the gods. Egyptian art comes almost exclusively from tombs and temples, which emphasized some basic elements, engraving, sculpture, and painting. Egyptian art was not intended for decoration, but rather to replicate the living world for the dead. Egyptian art forms included architecture, in which the style developed during the Pre-dynasty period and remained unchanged for 2000 years; sculpture, symbolic elements were used and strict laws were applied; paintings, these pictures found in the Egyptian tombs were symbolically connected with the idea of afterlife; literature, this was characterized by it’s diversity with a wide array of topics; lastly, music had considerable attention since the 1st Dynasty.
The most common form of Egyptian art is the engraving that lines the inside of the tombs. These engravings portray the pharaoh's life, the gods, and all legends about them. Paintings, another common art form, also portray legends about the gods and have captions below to explain them. Another form of Egyptian art was sculpture, which usually honored pharaohs and gods, but sculptures of animals have also been discovered. The Egyptians followed the rules of frontalism, and strictly adhered to them. The subject's head is always drawn in profile form with the full eye shown. The upper body is shown from the front and the legs face in the same direction as the head, and one foot is always in front of the other. The individual is usually sitting or standing in a formal posture, but the facial expression remains calm and the head is usually tilted up. When looking at portraits, I notice

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