The term kouros translates to boy in Ancient Greek . The metropolitan Kouros is one of many kouros statues, as they were very popular in Greece to use in tombs. Many of the kouros statues are similar, another well known is the Getty Kouros, which in my opinion looks more developed and possibly depicting an older boy. As for the Metropolitan Kouros, the medium used is solid marble, and there is no certainty of who crafted the piece. The statue is that of a nude young man striding forward.
|The Old and the New, Djoser’s Step Pyramid and Hatshepsut’s Mortuary Temple | | | | | Djoser’s Step Pyramid Built to hold his body after death, Djoser’s Step Pyramid rises 62 meters high and is built entirely of stone. Until the beginning of the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, the main building materials were wood, reeds, and mudbrick. The first building to be constructed complexly in stone was the Step Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara (Garret). Before this only a few details, such as doorways or the paving of a tomb chamber, had been made of stone. According to Manetho, the inventor of the art of building in stone was Imhotep.
In her dress, there is a notion of cosmic web suggesting that she is the weaver of the web of life. The meaning and significance of the Goddess holding two snakes is that life and death is beyond opposition. Life and death is one thing. The Goddess represents the goal of transcending or reconciling opposites. She maintains the balance between the two snakes (life and death), preventing them from being opposite to one another.
It Reflects that the pyramids blocks are actually exceptionally high-quality limestone concrete, Synthetic stone cast directly in place. The blocks were not quarried but rather made of geopolymeric cement. Limestone blocks did not have to be cut, finished, or even moved at all. Instead, buckets of slurry were simply toted up the pyramid by men who poured it into a wooden mold. This theory just does not confirm to known details.
The statue was found on the Aegean island of Melos on April 8, 1820. An inscription that is not displayed with the statue states that “Alexandros, son of Menides, citizen of Antioch of Maeander made the statue.” The Venus de Milo statue has been depicted by many as the epitome of Hellenistic art and is one of the most popular pieces of ancient Greek sculpture. The statue is made from Parian marble and stands roughly 6 feet 8 inches tall, without its pedestal. It is thought to portray Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of physical love and beauty. It is commonly known as Venus since she is the Roman equivalent to the goddess (Venus de Milo).
The “King Sahure and a Nome God” is a fascinating statue because of the many meanings and details that have been captured in it. This small gneiss high-relief statue of a King and a Nome that only stands sixty-four centimeters in height and forty-six centimeters in width dates back to around 2458 B.C.E. to 2446 B.C.E. The statue is of King Sahure, the second Egyptian King of the fifth Dynasty, sitting on his throne wearing the Nemes head cloth, false beard, and flaring hood of the Uraeus. On the King’s brow is the Cobra Goddess who protects Egyptian Kings.
world’s most famous pyramids are the three great pyramid tombs at Giza in Egypt. They were built around 589 to 2503 by the three fourth-dynasty kings: Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Ziggurats are much like Ancient Egyptian pyramids in the way they are built. They both have four sides which are meant to raise up towards the gods. However, unlike Egyptian pyramids, Ziggurats are not smooth on their exteriors.
The author Susan Woodford compares archaic Greek style and classical Greek style by explaining their history and showing their different sculptures. Archaic Greek style was based on the Egyptian statues made from stone. Therefore, the Greeks implemented the Egyptian method of carving and the system of proportions. Archaic Greek style involved balanced statues, facing straight forward avoiding poses containing twist, turns, or bends. However, the adventurist Greeks started to transform the traditional statues by having the head slightly turned and the hip raised.
In the fourth century BC there was a sculptor known as Praxiteles whom created the life-size naked statue of Aphrodite. It had been placed inside a shrine in her temple in south-western Turkey at Knidos. Most statues of Aphrodite,
Votive Statue of Eannatum, Prince of Lagash My museum object is on Eannatum, the prince of Lagash, and I chose this particular piece because it was the most unique from all the other pieces. The votive statue is from the Early Dynastic II period, which lasted from, 2600 to 2340 B.C. The unique fact about this statue is that, on the back of the statue, there is a genuine inscription on his back, where the cuneiform script for ‘Eannatum, prince of Lagash, son of Akurgal has been carefully chipped out of the rock (Lin). The inscription has a pictographic base and on the statue if looking closely, you can see the prince’s name inscribed in the upper right shoulder. Eannatum means, “worthy of e-anna” and was given in respect to the planetary goddess, Inanna, who was basically the Venus of the Romans.