Old Kingdom

also: Age of the Pyramids

tradition c. 2686-2181 BC Egypt Africa

The Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2181 BC), Egypt's first sustained golden age, produced the art against which pharaonic civilization is still measured. Under the Third to Sixth Dynasties the king became a living god, and the state's wealth poured into monuments built for eternity: Djoser's step pyramid at Saqqara, conceived by Imhotep, and the great pyramids of Sneferu, Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure at Giza. Art served this project of permanence. Sculpture presented the human body as an idealized, ageless type rather than a particular individual - the enthroned king, the seated official, the striding scribe - carved in hard stone to outlast time. Tomb reliefs and paintings, drawn with precise line and flat, ordered color, depict banquets and offering scenes meant to sustain the dead forever. Hieroglyphic text and image interlock; proportion follows a strict canon.

A Map of the Old Kingdom of Egypt showing trade relations, nomes, other polities as well as cities and settlements from that era.
A Map of the Old Kingdom of Egypt showing trade relations, nomes, other polities as well as cities and settlements from that era.CC BY 4.0 (credit: Cattette) · source

Defining characteristics

  • Idealized, ageless human types rather than individualized portraits
  • Frontal torsos with profile heads, arranged in ordered registers
  • Strict proportional canon and precise, confident outline
  • Flat, unmodeled areas of color and shallow relief depth
  • Monumental stone construction - pyramids, temples, statuary - built for eternity
  • Hieroglyphic text interlocked with image in tomb decoration

Key figures

  • Imhotep (fl. late 27th century BC) — Chancellor to Djoser credited with conceiving the step pyramid, the first colossal stone building
  • Sneferu (fl. c. 2600 BC) — First king of the Fourth Dynasty, under whom pyramid building was perfected
  • Khufu (fl. 26th century BC) — Commissioner of the Great Pyramid at Giza
  • Khafre (d. c. 2532 BC) — Builder of Giza's second pyramid; the Great Sphinx is attributed to him

Example works

  • Khafre Enthroned — Unknown (Old Kingdom Egypt) (c. 2500 BC)
  • The Seated Scribe — Unknown (Old Kingdom Egypt) (c. 2450-2325 BC)
  • Geese of Meidum — Unknown (Old Kingdom Egypt) (c. 2600 BC)

Sources

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