1000 artworks to see before you die: Ancient Egypt

It is in Egyptian art that proportion, geometry and the idea of beauty first appear. The grace and sensuality, not just of Greek art but of all the cultures of the Mediterranean, grew out of Egypt.

The most famous sculpture in Africa seems to be slowly melting back into the desert out of which it was carved. The Great Sphinx is hewn out of the natural bedrock beneath the sands of Giza in Egypt, where it sits in leonine grandeur by the causeway leading to the pyramid of Khafre, the middle-sized of the site's three pyramids. It was created in about 2500BC, early in ancient Egypt's long artistic triumph; more than two-and-a-half millennia later the Roman emperor Hadrian would build an Egyptian religious garden at his villa in Tivoli, drawing on a style of sculpture that was still very much alive in the early Christian era.

If many people's idea of art is dominated by the European model of a succession of styles and movements from Greek classicism to American minimalism and beyond, the art of ancient Egypt has — alone among non-European cultures — long been accepted into this grand narrative. When the sculptor Gianlorenzo Bernini placed an Egyptian obelisk on the back of a marble elephant in Rome as a homage to the "wise Egyptian", or Napoleon exorted his army at the Battle of Pyramids, they did not see Egyptians as a lesser people but as the oldest sages and artists, the fount of Europe's culture. But were they right?

In defiance of the reverence for Egypt so visible in Renaissance and Enlightenment Europe, modern art historians have often found ways to cut the Egyptian influence out of their subject. In his famous book The Story of Art, EH Gombrich pointed out that Egyptian art changed little in its 3,000-year history and that Egyptian artists never progressed from stately profiles and sidelong views of feet to the fully rounded, action-packed art of Greece that, in his view, embodied a European "great awakening". But that is to look through the wrong end of the telescope. The Greeks developed skills the Egyptians never explored — but they did this entirely on the back of the Egyptian achievement. It is in Egyptian art that proportion, geometry and the idea of beauty first appear. The grace and sensuality, not just of Greek art but of all the cultures of the Mediterranean, grew out of Egypt. You can see this in the Head of Nefertiti or the great wooden Ka statue in the Cairo Museum. The cliched image of Egyptian art as highly formalised and static is totally wrong: it abounds in realism, humour and variety, from the moving portrait sculpture of the dwarf Seneb sitting next to his long-legged wife that dates from the same era as the Sphinx to all the miniature painted models of farmers, sailors and domestic scenes to be seen in museums around the world.

If Europe got its idea of beauty from ancient Egypt, what did Africa get? It is often considered dangerous to trace equatorial African art back to Egypt because in the past this has been a racist excuse to deny original creativity south of the Sahara. But there might be something equally destructive about denying any connection between the monuments of Egypt and later African masterpieces such as the bronze and terracotta sculptures made at Ife in the 12th century, with their strong sense of beauty. Africa and Europe meet between the paws of the Sphinx.

Source - The Guardian

Egypian Red Sea Culture & Traditions

For majority of the population (peasant farmers), life and lifestyle have changed little for hundreds of years. The 20th century has introduced coco-cola, Levis and TV. Elements of western pop music are increasingly being integrated into contemporary Egyptian music. A common saying among most Egyptians is "malesh" meaning, "What can I do?"

Islam is the major religion in Egypt with Coptic Christians being the second. The essence of Islam is the belief that there is only one God, and that it is the duty of the people to believe in and serve Him in the manner laid out in the Quran. In Arabic, Islam means submission and a Muslim is one who submits to God's will. Muslims are called to prayer five times a day, every day from the minarets of mosques. Islamic law forbids drinking alcohol.

Before the arrival of Islam, Christianity was the major religion in Egypt. The Coptic Church is ruled by a patriarch. The Coptic language is still used in religious ceremonies with some Arabic for the benefit of the congregation. Their language is based on the Greek alphabet with seven additional characters taken from hieroglyphics.

Egypt is famous for belly dancing which has been found recorded in tomb paintings dating as far back as the Pharaohs. In the past, there has been much conflict in Egypt over the respectability of belly dancing. However, belly dancing is an Egyptian art form that has made it internationally where it is taught at night schools and community centers worldwide. Cairo hosts an annual belly dancing festival.


Ahwa is the Arabic word that means both coffee and coffeehouse. An age-old tradition and national pastime, drinking coffee at one of Egypt's many coffeehouses is an experience not to be missed. Most of the coffeehouses still cater to men who meet with their friends to sip coffee, play backgammon, smoke sheeshas and converse. However, women and sometimes even families are a more common sight today. Ahwa can be ordered many ways - ahwa sada is black, ahwa ariha is slightly sweet, ahwa mazboot is medium sweet and ahwa ziyada is extremely sweet. Most Egyptian like their coffee very sweet because it cuts any bitterness the coffee may have. Traditional ahwa is not served with milk.