Constructing the image, ordering reality. Painted vases from the 4th millennium in Egypt.
Wandering| N° d'inventaire | 16846 |
| Format | 16 x 24 |
| Détails | 152 p., numerous illustrations, paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2013 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | |
Long overshadowed by the gold and splendor of the pharaonic period, the iconography of the cultures of predynastic Upper Egypt appears today as a coherent and original ensemble, expressed mainly in sculpture in the round, but also through painting or engravings on desert rock faces. It sheds valuable light on this culture at the crossroads between Prehistory and History in Egypt. This study addresses the iconography of predynastic Egypt through painted vases. These appear in Upper Egypt, within a culture that bears the name of its most prestigious site, Nagada. These vases were painted between 3900 and 3400 BC, mainly in Upper Egypt. They constitute a particularly well-documented collection, with nearly 700 objects referenced. We have selected twenty of them. These show the main forms of supports but also the different themes treated by the painters. Three of them stand out: the renewal of life, power and domination, and finally the determination of ordered and controlled spaces. These themes are not addressed separately but jointly, on the same medium. They are articulated and intertwined. This iconography, neither “ornamental” nor narrative, clearly serves a dominant ideology within the production society. We will see what implications and repercussions this may have had in Egypt in the 4th millennium. We will also cross the theoretical gap between Prehistory and History to grasp the origins of the developments we have here.
Long overshadowed by the gold and splendor of the pharaonic period, the iconography of the cultures of predynastic Upper Egypt appears today as a coherent and original ensemble, expressed mainly in sculpture in the round, but also through painting or engravings on desert rock faces. It sheds valuable light on this culture at the crossroads between Prehistory and History in Egypt. This study addresses the iconography of predynastic Egypt through painted vases. These appear in Upper Egypt, within a culture that bears the name of its most prestigious site, Nagada. These vases were painted between 3900 and 3400 BC, mainly in Upper Egypt. They constitute a particularly well-documented collection, with nearly 700 objects referenced. We have selected twenty of them. These show the main forms of supports but also the different themes treated by the painters. Three of them stand out: the renewal of life, power and domination, and finally the determination of ordered and controlled spaces. These themes are not addressed separately but jointly, on the same medium. They are articulated and intertwined. This iconography, neither “ornamental” nor narrative, clearly serves a dominant ideology within the production society. We will see what implications and repercussions this may have had in Egypt in the 4th millennium. We will also cross the theoretical gap between Prehistory and History to grasp the origins of the developments we have here.