ART 320-01, Art and Archaeology of Egypt and the Near East, Spring 2003

Abstract

This course is a survey of the artistic and other material remains of Egyptian and Near Eastern cultures, beginning with the pre-dyanstic era in Egypt and ending with the last of the Persian courts in the 7th c. and the last of the Egypt’s dynasties in the 1st c. BCE. The lectures will be concerned primarily with funerary and public artworks, but will include some consideration of private art. Our examination will cover a variety of media, including architecture, sculpture, and painting. We will consider the works within their cultural and political contexts with an eye to understanding how these cast light and the goals of the patron and on the lived experience of an ancient viewer.