Guide to Ancient Egyptian Art

Reviewed by John Russell, Professor, History of Art Department, Massachusetts College of Art and Design on 5/2/26

Comprehensiveness rating: 1 see less

Despite the publisher's claim, this is very far from "all of Smarthistory’s content for Ancient Egyptian art." The book has three excellent introductory chapters, very good academic coverage of 4th Dynasty pyramids, and six video conversations between Smarthistory editors Beth Harris and Steven Zucker that treat a small selection of 4th and 18th Dynasty sculpture and one papyrus, all of them in European and U.S. museums. As it stands, the book omits the Predynastic (except for the Narmer Palette, which is at the threshold between Predynastic and Dynasty 1), the early and late Old Kingdom (there's only one passing mention of Djoser's crucial Step Pyramid), the entire Middle Kingdom, and the Late, Ptolemaic, and Roman periods, even though Smarthistory has excellent units on all of these. New Kingdom architectural coverage is also lacking except for a very brief look at Karnak temple. The "Ancient Egypt" menu at https://smarthistory.org/ancient-egypt-an-introduction/ shows dozens of units on Ancient Egypt, and a few more under Ancient Nubia. Anyone seeking more balanced coverage might prefer to assemble their own choice of units from the wide range available on Smarthistory.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

The scholarship is accurate. The chapters by Dr. Amy Calvert are especially thorough, accurate, and accessible, especially considering their short length. The focus on Egyptian objects in European and U.S. museums in all six of the "conversations" reinforces the bias that it is natural for wealthy Western powers to possess Egyptian cultural heritage. This issue is explicitly critiqued in an excellent "Backstory" attached to the conversation on the bust of Nefertiti, but that comes late in the book and its impact is largely negated by the conversations' actual focus on exactly these types of contested objects.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is remarkably up to date, including very recent scholarship. The pdf format should make updates easy.

Clarity rating: 3

I prefer structured scholarly writing, as exemplified by the excellent chapters by Dr. Amy Calvert, instead of the less formal back-and-forth structure of the transcripts of the conversations. For example, the conversation on Queen Tiye refers to her at the beginning as the wife of a pharaoh and mother of a pharaoh, but doesn't identify her husband at all (Amenhotep III), and doesn't mention the name of her son until near the end. The conversations do include links to the actual videos, which provide excellent multiple views of the works being discussed. Incidentally, it's hard to imagine a textbook on ancient Egyptian art that doesn't appear to include the name of Amenhotep III anywhere in it.

Consistency rating: 3

Terminology is consistent. The framework doesn't really reflect the trajectory of ancient Egyptian art history, with coverage instead clustering primarily on a couple of relatively brief periods.

Modularity rating: 4

The chapters by Dr. Amy Calvert are well organized and have clear subheadings. The "conversations" lack subheadings, but are relatively brief. They are much better experienced by watching the videos. The chapters are self-contained, so it would be easy to assign any of these chapters as free-standing units.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The first three chapters constitute the introduction, with the remaining chapters arranged chronologically. Exceptions to the chronological arrangement are the chapter that features primarily the Hypostyle Hall at Karnak, which is 19th Dynasty and therefore should be second to last, and the chapter on Queen Tiye, which might better be placed before the one on her son Akhenaten.

Interface rating: 3

The interface in the pdf is fine. Most of the links in the "Additional resources" sections that are placed at the end of some chapters still work, and the resources cited are relevant and excellent. The conversations lack "Additional resources" sections, leaving users who want additional information on the chapter topic having to find resources on their own. This is a serious problem in the case of ancient Egypt, where most information turned up in online searches is inaccurate.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive as far as it goes, but Smarthistory has several units on Nubian pharaohs and monuments, and at least one of those could be included here. In addition, a chapter on Egypt's relations with, and depictions of, its neighbors would provide a broader cultural background. Currently no such unit seems to exist on Smarthistory.

I'm teaching "Art of Egypt in the Middle and New Kingdoms" this term, and as it stands, this book has relatively little to offer as a textbook. In future, I might assign some of the conversation videos, with students accessing them directly from Smarthistory through our college LMS. I will consider assigning the first half of the book as supplementary reading for my "Art of Egypt to the End of the Old Kingdom" class since the introductory and pyramid chapters are exemplary.

Reviewed by Rosina Catalan, Adjunct Professor, Butler University on 3/14/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This guide is a serves as a good reference or introduction for Ancient Egyptian Art - it covers all of the most well-known works of art. Most of the main time periods (Pre-Dynastic/Old Kingdom and New Kingdom) are represented with one or two works of art from each main time period. However, only a few dynasties are represented overall. This guide could be more comprehensive by using more examples of art from a variety of time periods. The introduction is superb. This book could use a closing chapter with a mention of Late Period Egyptian Art to make the guide more comprehensive.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The guide is accurate. The prose is unbiased in its presentation and form. The authors do a good job of introducing concepts and explaining them for a reader that is not familiar with Ancient Egyptian motifs.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The content is reliable and relevant. If any updates were necessary they would be easy to implement.

Clarity rating: 5

This guide is very clear. The text is written in an accessible prose - friendly and still academic.

Consistency rating: 5

The terms used to reference the art remain consistent throughout the guide. The framework alternates between standard academic prose and transcripts of conversations between the authors. At first this could be distracting but in the end it creates a variety of text that is interesting.

Modularity rating: 4

This book relies on several transcripts of conversations between the authors while looking at art in museums. For some this format is helpful and for others it can be distracting. Instructors should be aware and guide students accordingly.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The text is well-organized and easy to follow. The chapters are set up by time period (Introduction, Pre-Dynastic/Old Kingdom, etc.) and are easy to access.

Interface rating: 5

The interface is straightforward and easy to navigate within a pdf format.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The guide is free from grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The authors do a good job of acknowledging the longevity and consistency of imagery in Ancient Egyptian Art. Several examples of art are housed in collections outside of Egypt - in countries which could remind the reader of the colonial contexts of some archaeology. The text could use more examples of art housed in Egyptian museums.

This guide is a great introduction to Ancient Egyptian Art. It is well-used in the context of other art (a course in Mediterranean Art for example).

Reviewed by Leah McCurdy, Senior Lecturer, University of Texas at Arlington on 10/5/20

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

The introductory material is nicely presented and informative but the artworks included are sparse, focusing primarily on only two (4th and 18th) of the 33 dynasties recognized in Egyptian history. This perpetuates the popular version of Egyptian art history that it is either pyramids or King Tut (and his relatives). This text falls short in offering a picture of the diversity and variation in Egyptian (and surrounding) art history. It would be better called a "brief guide."

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I see no issues with the accuracy of the information, except that the overall presentation is overly generally and thus lacking specifics that bolster accuracy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The information is up-to-date and can be updated easily. The format of individual chapters primary focused on single objects also allows for more objects to be added easily in the future.

Clarity rating: 5

The text is approachable and appropriate for an undergraduate audience.

Consistency rating: 5

The introductory information offers a good starting point for terminology, chronological frameworks, and key research themes.

Modularity rating: 5

The object-based chapter approach allow for this.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

What is presented is logical but (as noted in a previous comment) the objects chosen are sparse and not fully representative of Egyptian art history.

Interface rating: 5

I found no such issues.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The grammar was appropriate.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

I did not encounter any feeling of prejudice or bias in the text. Given that the subject matter is focused on one culture in history, it makes sense that the point of view is primarily limited to their belief and cultural systems. There is some mention of other parallel and geographically related traditions. However, it is important that texts focused on Egyptian art do not perpetuate the falsehood that Egyptian culture was "white" (and continually linked with western traditions because it became influential on Greek and Roman traditions). There is not a recognition here of the participation and contribution of black African populations, such as Nubians and those of the Sudan region of the Nile. The chapter on Queen Tiye does not mention that many scholars believe she was black. There is no mention of the Kingdom of Kush, the Nubian takeovers, or the potential for "Black Pharaohs" in Egyptian history. This is a big shortcoming of this text.

It is important that options like this are provided for students to reduce costs of higher education. I am happy to see that Smart History is offering flexibility for their content. With this product, students can download a pdf and not have to rely entirely on internet access to engage with reading material.