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Sculpture of the Old Kingdom of antique EgyptIntroduction Egypt is situated in the north-eastern corner of the African continent. It is undisturbed of two very different regions--Upper Egypt and Lower 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 Red 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 founded the graduation dynasty. That was the beginning of the Old Kingdom--the completion of stability 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 canon that lasted for two millenniums was established.Influences Even t hough 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 al about 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 puzzle out 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 only bits and pieces of ideas here and there. Probably the most important thing that the Bronze Age should be noted for in this context is the development of the canon of Egyptian sculpture.hither is quite long, but very complete 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 conditioned 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 nature but brought down to specific and constant proportions.