Did the Ancient Egyptians Actually Walk Like…Well, Egyptians

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chances are you know the exact pose that they're referring to torso forward head sideways one foot behind the other arms bent into a z-shape bonus points for shuffling forward while rocking your arms back and forth accompanied by that stereotypically Egyptian Melody variously known as the Arabian Rift or Snake Charmer song [Music] over the years this bizarre pose and gay to become inextricably linked with ancient Egypt appearing in countless cartoons illustrations films and other pieces of popular media but did the ancient Egyptians actually walk like that and if so why the answer it may not surprise you to hear is no but like all myths and stereotypes this one does contain a small kernel of Truth in this case the peculiarless stylized manner in which ancient Egyptian are depicted the human form so why did they do this nowadays we're used to art even highly abstracted art hewing to a certain kind of realism we expect objects to look roughly as they would in real life following the rules of perspective only certain sides visible closer objects are larger the more distant objects Etc however this kind of realistic representation is a fairly recent development in art with the use of a mathematically accurate perspective dating to the early 15th century prior to this artist particularly those creating religious artwork often had different priorities and follow different artistic rules for example size was often used to convey the relative importance of objects within a work rather than their physical relation to one another in early Christian depictions of biblical scenes like the Nativity or the last supper for example the figure of Jesus both as a baby and as an adult often dwarfs those around him this convention was also used by the ancient Egyptians along with a long list of other culturally specific rules it is important to point out that artists an ancient Egypt filled very different role than they do today producing works not as a means of individual self-expression but for religious or political purposes the images painted or carved onto the walls of ancient palaces served a wide variety of practical functions such as glorifying the Pharaoh praising the gods or guiding the spirit of the deceased to the afterlife practical functions the Egyptians believed that the written words and visual images could perform magic and that the correct execution of such Works was vital to obtaining the desired effect for example drawings or sculptures of food left in tombs were supposed to magically become real in order to nourish the deceased in the afterlife Artisans were thus not seen as creative and expressive individuals but rather the highly skilled Craftsmen or copyists tasked with carrying out the instructions of the Creator God tar who had already laid out the conventions of ritual artwork in exacting detail these conventions included how to write down hieroglyphics what specific colors to use for certain subjects and how to represent the human form ancient Egyptian Artisans prioritize narrative Clarity and ideal forms over absolute realism and thus depicted human figures with their chest facing outward toward the viewer and their head legs and arms in profile the extremities were also depicted identically with figures having two left or two right hands or feet while physically awkward such poses allowed the most important features of the body to be simultaneously represented in their most immediately recognizable forms something that would be impossible in a more realistic rendering objects and scenes were also not layered atop one another but rather placed beside each other in linear horizontal Fields known as registers layering and non-horizontal compositions were very rare and typically only used to convey chaotic scenes like battles the thus in their minimalism formality and linearity Egyptian two-dimensional art has much more in common with modern comic strips both seek to convey a particular scene or narrative as clearly and as unambiguously as possible three-dimensional Egyptian statutory also followed a strict set of conventions male Figures were typically depicted in a peculiar rigid striding pose with the head gazing forward the arms pointing stiffly downward and the left foot forward this pose was intended to convey strength Vitality intelligence and will while the left foot was favored as it lay on the same side of the body as the heart the seat of the soul and the most important organ in Egyptian mythology women by contrast were typically depicted with their feet together conveying their more passive and supportive role in Egyptian society when sculpted seated or laying down people are typically either with their hands resting on their legs or with one or both arms crossed over their chest pharaohs depicted in this manner typically hold in their hands the shepherd Crook and the flail the traditional Royal symbols which represent respectively the pharaoh's leadership of his people and the fertility of the land guaranteed by his Divine rule the cross armed posture is especially common in funerary art while mummies were often posed with their arms in this position this was intended to Echo the traditional depiction of Osiris god of the underworld interestingly this posture may have been inspired by the so-called Lazarus sign a common and totally not creepy at all to witness phenomenon whereby a brain dead person will reflexively raise their arms and cross them over their chest despite being subject to a whole Cannon of rules and conventions sculptural depictions of ancient Egyptian people tended to be more realistic than painted ones with more accurate anatomical details and individually recognizable features the reason for this uh was also religious in nature the ancient Egyptians believed that in order to cross over to the afterlife a person's effective Spirit or required a vessel to inhabit typically this role was filled by the deceased body itself which is why the ancient Egyptians preserved bodies via the process of mummification but in case something happened to their body the deceased were often provided with a realistic looking statue of themselves in which their Ark could immediately recognize and inhabit but while the conventions of Egyptian artwork remained remarkably unchanged for thousands of years this doesn't mean there was no innovation or Evolution one of the greatest periods of artistic Innovation took place during the reign of the Pharaoh Arman hotep IV better known as akanatan breaking radically from tradition akonaton abandoned the old Egyptian Pantheon of gods and established a monotheistic religion centered around a sun god known as the artem in 1346 BCE he also moved to Capital City from Thebes to a site in southern Egypt now known as Tel El Amana hence his Reign is typically known as the Amana period along with the changing religion artwork during the Amana period experienced a dramatic shift in style the rigid formula style of the past gave way to a more organic naturalist star with male figures being given more feminine features such as longer heads and faces full of lips and larger hips stomachs and breasts arms legs feet and hands were rendered in Greater detail with figures depicted with both right and left hands and feet the type and composition of images also change radically Figures were shown participating in a wide variety of dynamic activities while the Pharaoh and his family were depicted more naturalistic and intimate domestic scenes rather than Rigid power poses however despite these Innovations much of the old formalism still remained with figures still being depicted in the same awkward chest forward style as before and sadly this flourishing of creativity was not to last following his death in 1336 BCE akhenatum was declared a heretic and the old Egyptian Pantheon was quickly restored and with it the old four ball style of ritual art by the time akanaton's successor Tutankhamun took the throne in 1332 BCE nearly all traces of the Amana style had disappeared yet despite the wide variety of scenes and activities depicted in ancient Egyptian art from religious rituals to beer brewing to sports and warfare one pose is conspicuously absent the stereotypical z-shaped Egyptian walk though Evan did this post come from unfortunately the answer has been lost to history though as the earliest depictions of this posal dance come from the early 20th century it likely originated during one of the many egyptomania crazes that swept the Western World during this period indeed around this time that the familiar Arabian rear for Snake Charmer song that stereotypically accompanies the Egyptian walk first came to prominence the tune being used to accompany a widely popular belly dancing act during the 1893 Chicago World's Colombian Exposition the tune went on to become a popular hit being republished on the various titles including the streets of Cairo the huchikuchi dance and the southern part of France but the tune did not originate at the fair having appeared in the Arabian song in French composer Jean-Baptiste R bars 1864 complete Conservatory method for trumpet but just where the tune originated prior to this is also a mystery with most music historians believing that it was adapted from a traditional Algerian Melody called cardotia whatever the case just like the idea that Vikings wore horned helmets originated with the production designer for one of Wagner's operas it's more likely that the Egyptian dance was the fanciful orientalist creation of some early 20th century choreographer as for where the Bangles came about their quirky 1986. here to The Story Goes that songwriter Liam Sternberg was sailing across the English Channel when the fairy encountered Rapha water struggling to keep their balances fellow passengers jerked their arms and legs outward in poses that reminded Sternberg of ancient Egyptian paintings after scribbling down the words Walk Like An Egyptian in his notebook in 1984 Sternberg composed the rest of the song and recorded a demo with Marty Jones on vocals and percussion performed on kitchen utensils after being offered do and rejected by Tony Basil of Mickey Fame the demo caught the attention of producer David Khan Who convinced The Bangles to record it and include it on their 1986 album different light and the rest as they say is history thank you

Channel: Today I Found Out

Views: 398,875

Keywords: today i found out, tifovidz12, tifo, awesome, facts, didn't know, ancient egyptian afterlife, egyptian mythology anubis, egyptian mythology stories, egyptian mythology explained, egyptian afterlife, egyptian mythology, egyptian mythology documentary, ammit egyptian god, osiris egyptian god, egyptian mythology vs greek mythology, messed up mythology, very messed up mythology

Id: GLqYUeNH98o

Length: 10min 41sec (641 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 08 2023