Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture Graduate Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Philosophy, Interpretation and Culture Graduate Program, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

By the mid-1970s, Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) became one of the most commercially successful pop music bands in the world. Their dynamic sound thrilled listeners and their elaborate concerts captivated audiences. EWF stood out from other artists with their philosophical messages and their use of ancient Egyptian symbols and imagery in their visual art. The ancient Egyptian themes intrigued fans but drew criticism from others. This study examines the ancient Egyptian themes incorporated into the lyrics of the songs recorded by the band. This study also examines the ancient Egyptian symbols used in the EWF’s visual art, including album covers, music videos, and concerts. A content analysis was conducted to study the lyrics and identify themes related to ancient Egyptian spirituality. A content analysis was also used to study the visual art and decipher what the symbols may signify. This research was based on the premise that Earth, Wind & Fire used their artistry to be a positive influence. When the lyrics and visual art were examined, the researcher found that they both contain themes of ancient wisdom and universal truths. The conclusions drawn from the findings suggest that EWF’s mission was to raise the consciousness of the world, and the way people responded is an indication that the mission was accomplished. The findings also suggest that the negative criticism EWF has received is unjustifiable.

The icon represents a great part of the heritage of Christian arts in Egypt. In this thesis the early stages of iconic art are studied to find out the influential factors leading to the formation of the icon as it is now. The Coptic icon in particular is studied, both the icon itself and how it differs from the Byzantine icon. The religious factor is focussed on as an effective and modelling element in defining the icon, and the symbols are studied in order to go back to their historical roots. This study also aims at tracing the phenomenon of iconic art, by studying its characteristics and the works themselves and by clarifiying the iconic symbols as part of the cultural and creative activity. The important artworks in iconic art are analysed, and the effect of iconic art on human and social life is shown / Master of Arts (Hons)

This thesis establishes the basic images of the gazelle in ancient Egyptian art and their meaning. A chronological overview of the categories of material featuring gazelle images is presented as a background to an interpretation. An introduction and review of the characteristics of the gazelle in the wild are presented in Chapters 1-2. The images of gazelle in the Predynastic material are reviewed in Chapter 3, identifying the desert hunt as the main setting for gazelle imagery. Chapter 4 reviews the images of the gazelle in the desert hunt scenes from tombs and temples. The majority of the motifs characteristic for the gazelle are found in this context. Chapter 5 gives a typological analysis of the images of the gazelle from offering processions scenes. In this material the image of the nursing gazelle is given particular importance. Similar images are also found on objects, where symbolic connotations can be discerned (Chapter 6). References to healing and regeneration are found, particularly in relationship to the context of the objects. The gazelle is found in a divine context in a limited material (Chapter 7). A discussion of these sources sees a focus on the gazelle as representative for the desert mountains as the setting for death and rebirth. This relates to the gazelle as a feminine image with a connection to the models of female divinity (Chapter 8).

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2103. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Ancient Egyptian art and artefacts reveal a great deal about the culture and beliefs of this civilization. It was a civilization steeped in myth, symbolism and imagery. Tomb art has been extensively analysed and studied in an effort to reveal the essential way of life of the Ancient Egyptians, their religious beliefs and their philosophy of life. It is agreed that symbolism was an inherent part of their lives and beliefs. They looked to nature and observed the behaviour of animals, plants, the environment and also the weather to attempt to rationalize the world they lived in. Their close observation of behaviour patterns in nature resulted in a complex hierarchy of gods and goddesses who were accountable for successful living. Among the animal kingdom, certain animals gained such distinction that they were linked to certain deities. The scarab beetle is one such creature. Insects featured variously in their art, their myths and their belief in magic. While the scarab beetle is possibly the most documented of the insects, other insects such as the bee, the fly, the locust and the praying mantis have all been investigated. The butterfly features frequently in Ancient Egyptian art and yet has not been the subject of in-depth study. This investigation attempts to examine the symbolism and significance of the butterfly in Ancient Egypt. Richard Wilkinson (1994) has provided a framework for analysing symbolism in Egyptian art. He suggests nine aspects which can be examined in order to reveal symbolism. In this study, a selection of art from various dynasties is systematically examined according to these nine aspects. Each art work portrays the butterfly. Through this careful examination it is hoped that a clearer indication of the role of the butterfly in Ancient Egypt will be obtained. Having discussed all nine aspects for each of the sources, a discussion and various conclusions follow which look at the trends which appear. Certain patterns emerge which indicate that the butterfly does indeed play a significant role as a symbol in Ancient Egypt. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Antieke Egiptiese kuns en artefakte openbaar baie oor die kultuur en oortuigings van hierdie beskawing. Dit was 'n beskawing ryk aan mites, simboliek en beelde. Grafkuns is deeglik ontleed en bestudeer in 'n poging om die wesenlike lewenswyse van die antieke Egiptenare, hul godsdienstige oortuigings en lewensfilosofie te openbaar. Daar word saamgestem dat simboliek 'n inherente deel van hul lewens en oortuigings uitgemaak het. Hulle het op die natuur gesteun en die gedrag van diere, plante, die omgewing en ook die weer waargeneem om te probeer om hul lewenswêreld te verklaar. Hul noukeurige waarneming van natuurverskynsels het tot 'n komplekse hiërargie van gode en godinne gelei wat vir 'n suksesvolle lewe verantwoordelik was. Sekere diere in die diereryk was so besonders dat hulle met sekere gode en godinne verbind was. Die skarabee kewer is een so 'n skepsel. Insekte verskyn onder andere in hul kuns, hul mites en hul geloof in magie. Terwyl die skarabee moontlik die mees gedokumenteerde insek was, is ander insekte soos bye, vlieë, sprinkane, en die bidsprinkaan ook almal ondersoek. Die skoenlapper verskyn gereeld in die antieke Egiptiese kuns, maar was nog nie die onderwerp van 'n grondige studie nie. Hierdie studie poog om die simboliek en belangrikheid van die skoenlapper in antieke Egipte te ontleed. Richard Wilkinson (1994) verskaf 'n raamwerk vir die ontleding van simboliek in Egiptiese kuns. Hy het nege aspekte voorgestel wat bestudeer kan word om die simboliek te openbaar. In hierdie studie, word 'n seleksie kuns van verskillende dinastieë, sistematies aan die hand van dié nege aspekte ontleed. Elke kunswerk beeld die skoenlapper uit. Deur hierdie noukeurige ondersoek, word daar gehoop dat die rol van die skoenlapper in antieke Egipte duideliker voorskyn. Na die bespreking van al nege aspekte vir elk van die bronne, volg daar 'n bespreking met verskillende gevolgtrekkings wat kyk na die tendense wat voorkom. Sekere patrone kom te voorsyn wat daarop dui dat die skoenlapper wel 'n belangrike rol as 'n simbool in antieke Egipte gespeel het.

Previous research about dance has chiefly been focused on categorization of dance but no earlier study has specifically dealt with dance scenes where men and women occur in the same register, or over a longer time frame. This study concerns scenes where men and women dance in the same register and scenes included comes from the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms. The study investigates in what contexts men and women occur in the same register, and why and the study grasps dance at its widest sense with movements that also could be related to acrobatics and play. The study is an iconographic investigation and analyses will be made according to culture-specific art-conventions. 12 scenes and one fragment are included and analyzed. The conclusion shows that in each time period the occurrence of scenes are concentrated to specific places, and sometimes they are located in close approximation geographically, had the same artist or have tomb-owners that are related to each other. This points to a local expression of dance scenes with mixed gender rather than it was usual nation-wide. The men and women occur in contexts that where usual for dance scenes to be in such as presentation, procession and funerary scenes. Physical contact between the two genders is rare, and is only seen once in the tomb of Baqet III of the Middle Kingdom. Even though the female and male dancers are in the same register they are likely to be seen separated by people clapping their hands or by empty spaces between them. If this separation reflects the reality is hard to tell but the Egyptians seemed to have preferred, esthetically, to depict the two genders separated in these ways in dance scenes.

L’objet de cette étude est la représentation de l’architecture dans la peinture (ou architectura picta), en Égypte ancienne, à travers une étude de cas : la tombe comme motif iconographique au Nouvel Empire et au début de la Troisième Période intermédiaire.Après une mise au point sur les principes de représentation égyptiens et l’image architecturale en Égypte, dans toute sa diversité, l’étude porte sur l’évocation de la nécropole et des abords de la tombe dans l’iconographie. Une part importante de l’analyse est consacrée à la montagne en tant qu’objet figuré, notamment sa genèse à la XVIIIe dynastie, et aborde la question de la « représentation paysagère » en Égypte ancienne.L’architecture funéraire fait l’objet d’une mise en image à partir de la XVIIIe dynastie, dans le cadre de la représentation de rites funéraires sur les parois des tombes. Si les premières représentations sont conventionnelles et renvoient à l’architecture sacrée, elles intègrent au cours de la XVIIIe dynastie des éléments du réel, prenant pour modèle les tombes telles que se présentent au Nouvel Empire, c'est-à-dire des tombes pourvues d’une structure pyramidale. Cette image de la tombe à pyramide devient un motif du répertoire iconographique égyptien et perdure sur les cercueils et les papyri funéraires à la Troisième Période intermédiaire, après que les tombes à pyramide cessent elles-même d’exister. L’étude pose donc la question, en filigrane, du rapport au réel dans la peinture égyptienne, mais aussi de la fonction d’une telle image. / The study examines the representation of architecture in painting (or architectura picta) in ancient Egypt, through a case study of the tomb as an iconographical motif during the New Kingdom and the early Third Intermediate Period.After an overview of the principles of Egyptian representation and the architectural images in ancient Egypt, in all their diversity, the study focuses on the iconographical evocation of the necropolis and the tomb’s surroundings. An important part of this study concerns the mountain as an object of representation and in particular, its origins during the XVIIIth Dynasty, as well as dealing with landscape depictions in ancient Egypt.The funerary architecture is put in painting during the XVIIIth Dynasty, within depictions of funerary rites in private tombs. If the first tomb depictions refer to sacred architecture, according to representational conventions ; they show realistic elements in the course of the XVIIIth Dynasty, being modeled after the tomb architecture as it is during the New Kingdom, which is to say a pyramid-topped tomb. This tomb motif is integrated into the Egyptian iconographical repertoire and remains on coffins and funerary papyri, after the pyramid tomb itself disappeared from architecture in the Third Intermediate Period.The underlying question in this study is the relation to reality in Egyptian painting, but also the function of the tomb image.

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The master thesis Art Criticism of Ramses Younan focuses on text analysis of theoretical work by Egyptian painter and critic Ramses Younan which deals with the topics of art criticism and theory. It examines and analyzes main topics of his work and offers their interpretation in the art-history and art-theory contexts. It also discusses its meaning in the wider perspective of Egyptian modernity and modern art and its possible value for reevaluation of the art theory field in the Middle East. The paper consists of three main chapters and appendix. The appendix contains a collection of selected essays of the author, translated from Arabic to Slovak. The first chapter deals with the art- historical background of author's theoretical production. The second one concentrates around the text analysis. The third chapter presents critical reactions on author's work by theorists of different geographical and cultural background. It suggests different ways of reading and understanding of the cultural and art-history impact on the local and global modern art history.