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Sculpture of the Old demesne of Ancient EgyptIntroduction Egypt is situated in the north-eastern corner of the African continent. It is composed of two very different regions--Upper Egypt and pooh-pooh Egypt. Lower Egypt--the Black Land as it was also called by the ancient Egyptians--with its fertile soil strip along the Nile River makes up the northern part of the country. The inflamed Land--the Upper Egypt--is a desertous southern part with the red, sun-baked soil. The history of ancient Egypt starts around 3000 B.C. when, according to the tradition, Menes Narmer unified the two lands and beted the first dynasty. That was the beginning of the Old Kingdom--the period of stableness of the state that lasted until 2263 B.C. and included the dynasties Ist to VIth. Old Kingdom is known as the Golden Age of Egyptian art during this period the famous pyramids of Giza and the legendary Sphinx were built and the commandment that lasted for two millenniums was established.Influences Ev en though Egyptians were the first to build a civilization they werent the first artists. Obviously the first artists on Earth were the cavemen who produced the beautiful cave paintings found all over the world. However, the artworks that date tens of thousands of years back had little influence--or at least little direct influence--on the Egyptian art. The characteristic features of the art of the Old Kingdom were derived almost exclusively from the works of the Bronze Age (4500-3000 B.C.). Made in that period, there were sculptures of animals that were the predecessors of the statues of Egyptian gods and goddesses in the shape of animals. There were terra-cotta figures of women--probably the slaves from the African tribes--which probably were to represent the Mother Goddesses. However the art of the Old Kingdom had much more to borrow from that prehistoric period than just bits and pieces of ideas here and there. Probably the most grand thing that the Bronze Age should be noted f or in this context is the development of the canon of Egyptian sculpture.Here is quite long, but very end up and precise definition of the word canon given by the Polish Egyptologist Kazimierz Michalowski in his book called Great Sculpture of Ancient Egypt 1) The canon is a historically knowledgeable element of indigenous character. 2) It is a result of a mass of observations and experiences that lead to the fixing in art of the most typical forms found in temperament but brought down to specific and constant proportions.