FNAT2703 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Ramesses Ii, Amarna Period, Hatshepsut
Document Summary
In the north, artists copied the idealized images found within the grand tombs of old kingdom pharaohs. In the south, artists did not have these images to copy. Their royal statues display a movement towards a more natural imagery. With the new era of peace and prosperity came a return to the construction of large temple complexes. The rulers of dynasties 18-20 built more architectural and sculptural monuments than all of the other dynastic periods combined. The majority of the construction took place around the capital city of thebes. During dynasty 18 there was a radical change in the traditional egyptian culture. This challenge came during the reign of amenhotep iv, who questioned the power of the priest class and introduced the new form of religion closely associated with the sun-disk god, aten. Amenhotep changed his name to akhenaten and moved the capital to tell-el-amarna. Architecture-new kingdom architecture was built on a monumental scale.
