New-York tribune., 1883-06-05
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
ART IN ANCIENT EGYPT.

\ HISTORY ,F.11 OF All Ind d CaErRrz TRANSLATED by
W.ITsR Aaxsrrosc ilastra,es a,Iass soU SON. 'S
=. .. not many years since onr kno"io"so =,
ss..t art was confined 70 Greclan sou'p'u Eran
- ' bnoxu only through Roman copies Even
r..;.a Mul,er could end no forerunner 1or ursc'an
~. .,d concluded .hat it sprans 70 iigh' seil-
s,..a Ike its GODS tbs splendid product OF unpar
un,.a oenjus The last few years have been lui' oi
-;der knowledge. Olympia and ferRahos ha'o
v;s,aed up their treasures and we nave seen "i.
80. ort not only in its magnificent prime, puV in
..rlv archaic forms Very different from tnose hoio
tofors Thought characteristic OF 1t, and much inoi'
nearly allied to primitive Oriental concep'iohs,
Meanv hie Nineyeh has been explored oy Dot.s anu
Rayard, Asia Minor by Hamilton anu fello"' IsSp'
sv Ien,ius. Brugsch, Marietta, and Maspero' ana
o,hor closely allied discoveries have been
mad. bv other explorers. Even since This voiune
as written important royal tombs at Thebes have
.o to light and il is understood that Dr. Brugsch
"a NJ ReyiIlout are at last decipherng with sue
case the demotlc Egyptian text. which VIII rehoor
intellipible thousands OF papyri la the European
collections describing everyday lie IN 'ho ooa'io
of civilization four five thousand years ago. anu
st is not impossible that we may yet orloee o'o,
tno,e two gre at gaps which enguf nearly 'houS'H'
years of her history "a,
n
;ra.ad IL is as tue preliminary to fuer eAa"ln'-
49,; f Crecan art tst it is written. Professor fer-
-, :. not :, professed Egyptoogist, though his DooS
.,.u,s n ,xeath of erudition. His collaborateur Nj.
Cbaurez IA successful architect; but THIS training
sreus ONLY to have given them wider View III N
case where far sighted penetration ana accurate
cerspectye ale quite as important as specialists
details. ~.
Al. Perrot begins by devoting large part OF his
t~o portly volumes TO the religion and customs Vi
Fgypt from which her art spraDg, and inis IN "se'
for art on the Nile the handmaid, not the queen
of architecture Art existed there for its own
sake for the pure expression OF beauty. Ii was only
,sos a.. n ns,u,o art to dignity and beautify some
other meaning 1t was until 1t reached the ireer
dir NJ Greece that it could create and ideai~e lis
own forms Iree constraint. In Egypt painting
was merely decorative with coloring applied wlth-
ont attempt at imitation. shading or perspective.
Their sculpture made splendid progress under the
onc;snt a,npire at Memphis but il never achieved a
separation from religion. and when the last aheses
,as.e5 AWAY at Thebes aud the nation lost its war
i;la ,roorsssiye character and fell under a priesty
despotism art. like all else became conventional
and uetrited in those quaint forms that we are ap'
IN biiudly accent as representing her at her best
How mistaken this is a short examination OF NJ
Psrrot will show the reader quickly.
One of the best things in this book lslts eShioon
of the patrarchal origin of the art Of tins Iace
which had such wonderful power IN It's unknown
voutb. Egypt was already in her prime AT il'
earliest point to which we can trace her history o"ef
in the rock records of pyramid and SPHINX Alreau,
tbere WINS wealthy anu firmly knit kingdom, VIII
some notion of art, science and literature Inc 10
lipiop was a curious but vigorous form OF aristo
cratic ancestor worship mixed with an outgrowl
and half extinct fetichsm in the form OF ANNA
w,rsbin nv the lower classes. The Egyptian hrhi,
beIeyed that every man had a spiritual body cor
responding in everv respect to his phys'cal oouS
and that when he died this ethereal double was sep
arated from its corporeal body but would kee
alive here If body was preserved Tor II Icltaer I'll
enbalmed corpse or a statue IN It's sempiance', "i
IL was supplied with habitation and with iood an
occupation by proper sacrifices or Tie portrayal
Their semblance the walls of the tomb. iheir al
aimed thus at vlvifying the future. not preservln
<b. nost-at un,ting the family alive and dead. Th
continued performance of the Itinerary rites wa
necessary to preserve the existence OF the departe
on the one hand. aud on the other the Joining
them was a proof of membership OF the family an
i.ut rights in its estate II is easy to see now IN
brl,ef made the family q unit and forwarded I'll
social crystalzation from which rary cI'ilizatio
sprung. We find its remnants in Rome and Greec
Egypt India, and China, and II Is doubtful wheth'
any rae, ever emerged independently from savager
without III.
the s,ciaI organzation and when under the lat
dynasties at Sais the family unicn at the iami
tomb seems to have died out, the last oDstacie
despotisln had gone.
The form of rel gion which appears III the ear
remains required no temple There wa' funeral
chanel with an avenue for the approach OF the 10
and his vassals and in this chapel were periorm
the symbolic rites which nourished the disemood'
sp,rt of his ancestor. In a secret receptacle Tar
dercrouna the corpse deposited; and IN other
cesses were hidden number OF statues OF the
ceased so placed that the smell ana sound OF I
sacr,fice should reach them; and the spirit was III
ther provided with occupation by the spirits atleh
ing the sculptures which covered the walls OF I
fon,b. From these portrait statues and synbo
seul,tures Egyptian art arose ana its sonrcc ma
IL intensely alive and realistic but cut oil any a
yanccd ideal development while the imperiecton
their cutting tools In their age Of progress hatura
imneded any elevation of design. All tic early
mains with the exception of the aniinistic sphii
belong 70 this class. The main pecnila1ty OF
pyramids was the wide separation OF the funera
chapel from the lofty pile which protected the ro'
sareophagus: and here should give more wcii
chan professor Perrot does to the as,roogic fnl
tou of soto of the pyI amids in preserving the no
scope OF the deceased.
In the second great epoch IN Egypts history, WI
the empire had grown moro powerful ana the ca
tai had been removed to Thebes, the gods are M
recognized and temples appear. modelled, howev
upon tombs With them 10 an established prie
hood; and now appear pictures Of the judgm
after death which became such characters
feature of Egyptian ethics. and the divine relati
ship of the king and the gods is dwelt upon.
rod. were local deties worshipped generally
rx;rs or trinets OF whom one was female. and h
ing generstive power for their most marked al
butte Traces of their feral origin fingered onl,
the boast heads Of their statues, and advancing
ture connected with them solar symbolism