Ancient Egyptian Art and Architecture: A Very Short Introduction

Christina Riggs

Oct 2014 · OUP Oxford

About this ebook

From Berlin to Boston, and St Petersburg to Sydney, ancient Egyptian art fills the galleries of some of the world's greatest museums, while the architecture of Egyptian temples and pyramids has attracted tourists to Egypt for centuries. But what did Egyptian art and architecture mean to the people who first made and used it - and why has it had such an enduring appeal? In this Very Short Introduction, Christina Riggs explores the visual arts produced in Egypt over a span of some 4,000 years. The stories behind these objects and buildings have much to tell us about how people in ancient Egypt lived their lives in relation to each other, the natural environment, and the world of the gods. Demonstrating how ancient Egypt has fascinated Western audiences over the centuries with its impressive pyramids, eerie mummies, and distinctive visual style, Riggs considers the relationship between ancient Egypt and the modern world. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

About the author

Christina Riggs is a senior lecturer at the School of Art History and World Art Studies, University of East Anglia, where she specializes in ancient Egyptian art, the history of archaeology, and museum studies. Christina has worked in several museums with important ancient Egyptian collections, including the Manchester Museum, the Ashmolean Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is the author of Unwrapping Ancient Egypt (Bloomsbury, 2014) and The Beautiful Burial in Roman Egypt (Oxford, 2006).