Create Your Own Egyptian Jewelry

A reader requested more Egypt projects so I thought now would be a good time to post this. The ancient Egyptians used semi-precious stones and gold to make many types of jewelry, like these bracelets. You’ll notice that blue and orange/brown were especially common colors. Today, create your own jewelry inspired by the ancient Egyptians.

Supplies Needed:

Old magazines or colored construction paper
Glue Stick
Scissors
Paintbrush
Pipe Cleaner or Yarn
Mod Podge (optional)

Choose magazine pages with a lot of blue or orange on them. If you don’t have any old magazines, use construction paper instead. Make sure to get permission before you cut any magazines. Cut thin, triangular strips of magazine or construction paper. I used some aluminum foil, too. I like the way the metal shines.

Flip a strip over so that the colorful side is down. Beginning at the wide end of the triangle, roll your strip of paper around the end of your paintbrush. (A pencil will work instead of a paintbrush.) Put a little glue on the thin end of the strip so your bead doesn’t unravel.
If you want your beads to last, brush them with a thin coat of Mod Podge. This will also give your beads a nice shine. Allow your beads to dry.

Thread your beads onto a pipe cleaner or a piece of yarn.
Enjoy your ancient Egyptian jewelry!

If you’re interested in ancient Egyptian art, check out these previous posts:

Ancient Egyptian Paintings

Ancient Egyptian Carvings

Ancient Egyptian Sculpture

Amarna Art

Fayum Portraits

Draw Like an Egyptian

Create Your Own Ancient Egyptian Mask

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Draw Like an Egyptian

You already read about how the ancient Egyptians created such perfect paintings for their tombs. They first drew a small picture on papyrus, then created a grid on the wall, then painted a larger version of their picture onto the wall. You can do this too.

Supplied Needed:

Graph paper
Pencil
Eraser
Poster board
Measuring stick
Crayons

Draw a picture onto your graph paper. Create your own picture or trace an image from a book.

Use your pencil to lightly draw a grid onto your poster board. (Note: You could instead use easel paper or cut pieces of paper from a roll.) You should measure carefully to be sure that each square is an equal size. This is something an adult can help you with. Also, be sure you include enough squares when you create your grid. If your original picture took up ten squares by twenty squares, you should draw a ten square by twenty square grid onto your poster board.

Now you can transfer your picture onto your poster board. Focus on one square at a time. Before you know it, you’ll have your own poster-board-sized drawing!

Color your picture. When it is perfect, erase the pencil lines of your grid.

What do you think? Would you have liked to paint in an ancient Egyptian tomb?
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To create your own ancient Egyptian mask, check out yesterday’s post.

To read all about Egyptian art, click on any of the following links:
Paintings, Carvings, Sculpture, Amarna Art, Fayum Portraits

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Create Your Own Ancient Egyptian Mask

I posted five articles about ancient Egyptian art (read them here: 1,2,3,4,5) but I didn’t post any projects. That was silly. I’ll post a second project tomorrow.

Today, I’ll show you how to create your own ancient Egyptian mask. Egyptians never would have worn these masks when they were alive. Masks were tucked into the wrappings of mummies before they were put into tombs. You can enjoy yours now, though.

Supplies Needed:

Paper Plate
Construction Paper in several colors
Large Tongue Depressor
Scissors
Glue Stick
Tape
Red and Black Markers

I cut an oval out of cardboard but you should use a paper plate instead. It will be much easier to cut the eye holes!

Begin by choosing construction paper colors. I used red and blue but any two colors will work. Draw one side of your headdress onto a piece of construction paper. You will need to use the entire length of the construction paper. When you are happy with the way it looks, cut it out. Then trace it and cut out a second copy. You now have both sides of your headdress.
On another piece of construction paper, trace the top part of your paper plate to create a half circle. Cut out the half circle and glue it to the top of your paper plate.
Cut strips of your other color and use them to decorate the headdress of your mask. Next, draw the eyes onto your paper plate. The eye holes should be about the size of a quarter. Have an adult cut out the eye holes. Draw the rest of the features of the face, then trace the lines with your markers.
Glue the sides of the headdress to the back of the plate. Tape a tongue depressor to the bottom of your mask so you can hold the mask over your face. If you choose, decorate the tongue depressor to look like a beard.

Now you too can be an ancient Egyptian pharaoh!

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Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 5- Fayum Portraits

In 30 BC the Romans took over Egypt. Of course, this affected Egyptians in many important ways, but I will only talk about how it changed Egyptian art. You have already read that Egyptians used art (paintings, carvings,and sculpture) to help them in the afterlife. You know that the art was not realistic but idealized and showed perfect bodies in perfect proportion. You have also read about how Akhenaten created his own art movement, called Amarna Art, which featured more realistic portraits.

When the Romans took over, they brought a classical style of art with them. This can be seen in the mummy portraits that were found in the Fayum (notice the map) and, to a lesser degree, throughout Egypt.
At first portraits were painted during a person’s life and then, after death, attached to the mummy. Later portraits were only created after a person died.

The portraits showed only the face and possibly the shoulders. The person always faced forward, which is different from other Egyptian art in which people always faced sideways. You’ll notice the big, open eyes and the fancy clothes worn in the portraits. Many even showed jewelry and flowers.
A portrait was painted on a wood panel and tucked into the wrappings of the mummy. The portrait’s face was lined up with where the person’s real face was.

If you compare the Fayum Portraits with artwork from earlier Egypt, I think you’ll see a huge difference. There’s not much more I can say that you won’t notice by looking at the two paintings below.
That’s it for Egyptian art (for now, anyway). Check back tomorrow for something new.

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Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 4- Amarna Art

So far you have read about the paintings, carvings, and sculpture of ancient Egypt. In the art you have seen so far, people were always shown in perfect shape and health. The men looked muscular and masculine. Also, the art followed a formula so that the people were always in the right proportion.

During the Eighteenth Dynasty, Akhenaten (the pharaoh at the time) started a new art movement. We call it the Amarna Period. During the Amarna Period, the pharaoh, his family, and the people of Egypt were shown in a more realistic way.

In all types of art (paintings, carvings, sculpture), the pharaoh (and others) was shown with a long, thin face and a round skull. His chin always stuck out and his eyes were almond-shaped. He had a feminine round belly and wide hips. The pharaoh’s wife was shown in much the same way. It can sometimes be difficult to tell them apart.
Akhenaten was often shown with his daughters. In the artwork, he played with them and showed them affection. This kind of behavior was never shown in art during the other dynasties. Pharaohs thought it made them look weak so they didn’t want anyone to see that side of themselves. They were supposed to look like strong warriors. Akhenaten didn’t think the people of Egypt would think he was weak if he played with his children and loved his family so he wasn’t afraid to have artwork show it.
You’ll also notice that the sun is shown in many of the images of the pharaoh. That is the sun god, Aten. He is shown as a disc with many rays. The rays have hands that reach toward the pharaoh, surrounding Akhenaten in warmth and protection. Aten is the only god shown in art of the Amarna Period.

When the Eighteenth Dynasty ended, Egyptian art reverted back to what it had been before Akhenaten.

EDITED TO ADD: Part 5- Fayum Portraits

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Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 3- Sculpture

The sculpture of the ancient Egyptians followed many of the same strict rules as the paintings and carvings. Since most of the sculptures showed pharaohs or gods and were expected to help in the afterlife, it makes sense that the Egyptians would take the art form seriously.

Sculptures never showed illness. They never showed injury or deformity. These things had no place in the afterlife which was supposed to be just like life—if things were always perfect. The sculptures usually showed the pharaoh, sometimes with animal-formed gods, sometimes with family, sometimes holding offerings to the gods. The pharaoh always wore a peaceful expression and stood (or sat or knelt) in a confident pose that made him look young and strong.

The sculptures were also very well finished and perfectly polished. In the 1000s BC, the power of the pharaohs weakened and the quality of the statues worsened. The sculptures were still pretty spectacular (and huge), and the quality of the early centuries of Egyptian sculpture eventually returned.
Because the sculptures of rulers were often several stories tall, scaffolding had to be used. The Egyptians tied sturdy reeds together to create wide ladders. The sculptors could stand on the ladders to reach the middles and tops of the sculptures. Using chisels and wooden mallets, teams of sculptors chipped away at blocks of stone to create sculptures.

Other sculptors then worked on smoothing out the stone. They created sandpaper by pressing sand between a rock and the sculpture. The sculptor would rub until the sand had all fallen away, then added more and continued. You can imagine that this would take a long time if only one person worked on it. This is one reason why Egyptian sculptors worked in teams.
When the sculpture is smooth and perfect, the sculptors carved the name of the pharaoh into the back of the sculpture.
There were, of course, smaller sculptures made for the tombs of other Egyptians, but they weren’t as large or well-finished as those created for the pharaoh.

More Egyptian art to come! Check back tomorrow.

EDITED TO ADD: Part 4- Amarna Art, Part 5- Fayum Portraits

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Ancient Egypt Art, Part 2- Carvings

Ancient Egyptians sometimes decorated tombs and monuments with carvings called reliefs. Yesterday you read about how they created paintings. The process of creating relief carvings was very similar.

A thin layer of plaster was spread over the wall, polished, and smoothed. An apprentice then marked the wall with a red grid pattern and copied the image from a piece of papyrus, carefully keeping the same proportion. At this point, the wall was ready for carving. The sculptor used a large, wooden mallet and a copper or bronze chisel to make the carving.

There were two types of reliefs: raised reliefs and sunken reliefs. When creating a raised relief, the sculptor chiseled away the parts of the stone around the image. This made the image stand out, like the one shown below.

To create a sunken relief, the sculpture carved away the image, leaving the background higher than the picture. An example is shown below.
Egyptians often combined the two styles when decorating tombs and monuments, as in the example below. The pharoahs were done in raised relief and the hieroglyphics around them were done in sunken relief.
When the carving was complete, the wall was whitewashed before the natural, Egyptian paints were added.
Stay tuned for more about Egyptian Art.

EDITED TO ADD: Part 3- Sculpture, Part 4- Amarna Art, Part 5- Fayum Portaits

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Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 1- Painting

This will be the first post in a series on ancient Egyptian art. Today, I’ll focus on paintings.

Not just anyone could paint the pictures that appeared inside ancient Egyptian tombs and monuments. Those paintings were extremely important and had to be done perfectly because they were meant to help the dead in the afterlife.

Painters usually worked as teams with one master craftsman overseeing the work of several apprentices. First, a grid was drawn on a piece of papyrus. Then the image was drawn on top of the grid. In ancient Egyptian art, each figure had to be a specific size. For example, a grown man was always 19 squares from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head.

Egyptian art was standardized. Not only were certain figures always the same number of squares tall and wide, but the there was a formula for the way to draw figures. When you look at Egyptian paintings (and carvings) you’ll notice that the face is always sideways, the upper body always faces forward, and the legs and feet face sideways. This is not a natural position. You’ll also notice that the one eye that shows is always painted on the side of the face. The Egyptians wanted to show only the most important parts of the body and they wanted to show those parts in the most attractive way. They painted the eye on the side of the face so it could be shown looking straight out. Feet don’t look like feet from straight on so the Egyptians painted them from the side.

When the drawing was perfect, a thin layer of plaster was spread over the area to be painted. It was sanded and smooth until it was shiny. Some of the apprentices would then use cords dipped in red paint to create a grid on the wall. The image was then painted onto the wall in red paint by the apprentices. They had to be careful to paint the figure exactly the way it looked on the papyrus. The master craftsman corrected the pictures in black before the apprentices filled in the figure with colored paints.

Egyptians used only eight colors, all mixed from natural materials likes rocks and plants. The colors have stayed bright in some place because the sun doesn’t reach the inside of tombs to bleach away the paints.

Sometimes paintings were done on papyrus scrolls instead of on walls. The figures still followed the same formulas.

Check back tomorrow for the next post in this series on Egyptian art!

EDITED TO ADD: Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 2- Carvings, Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 3- Sculpture, Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 4- Amarna Art, Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 5- Fayum Portraits

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