How Did Egyptian Art Influence Greek Art

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In the ancient time, Mediterranean trade greatly spread the influence of the Egyptian art on Greek sculptures such as the Greek Kouroi and Korai from Archaic period (600-480 BCE). Many artworks from the Egyptian Old Kingdom and Greek Archaic are shown to have similar compositional elements. In particular, a funerary statue of Khafre from the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (r. 2520-2494 BCE) influenced the form of Greek Anavysos Kouros by its perfect body, idealized facial features, and postures. Although both forms are similar, Greek developed its own distinct style of art as reflected in its composition: the Archaic smile, nudity, naturalistic proportion, and motion that could not be seen in the rigid enthroned Khafre. Greek innovation of its…show more content…
For the Egyptians, the statue of Khafre played a very important role in their afterlife beliefs. However, for the Greeks, Anavysos Kouros played a role as a grave marker; its religious significance was nowhere near that of the Egyptians. [hold different religious value] pharaoh  connection of afterlife to earth The form of Khafre Enthroned and Anavysos Kouros both follows their function. The Egyptian beliefs in the eternal life greatly impacted the composition of its sculpture, as in the statue of Khafre. In Egyptian religion, the belief in the afterlife was held very significant. The Egyptians believed that when they die, their soul which is called the “ka” would continue to live on in the afterlife. However, to ensure immortality, many pharaohs went through the mummification process in order to have their bodies preserved for ka to reside in. Often times ka statues would be erected as a substitute home for ka in case the mummy disintegrated. These ka statues would later be placed in a serdab in a mortuary temple, where priests brought offerings such as food, drink, clothing, utensils, and furniture to pharaohs in order to fulfill the requirements for

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