Despite the many thousands of artists involved in producing Egyptian Gods Art the depictions of the ancient gods and goddesses remained the same. Explore the fascinating world of Egyptian Gods Art.

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Religion and Egyptian Cults

Egyptian Gods Art
Egyptian Gods Art was both highly stylized and symbolic and examples are found in ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics, artefacts and relics. Examples of Egyptian Gods Art can be found in the tombs, temples, manuscripts and hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. Discover the significance, symbolism and symbols used in Egyptian Gods Art with some hints and tips about important elements used in the art of ancient Egypt and, in particular, Egyptian Gods Art. One of the important aims of this website is to provide facts and information to enable the instant recognition and identification of the many different ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses.  Larger, full, length Egyptian Gods Art can be found on specific articles relating to individual deities and goddesses.

• The representations of these ancient deities, together with an understanding of the symbols that surround them, allow everyone to understand the stories that the artists of Egyptian Gods Art are conveying

Facts about Egyptian Gods Art - Male and Female Deities
Representations of Egyptian Gods Art depict some of the gods and goddesses with the heads of humans wearing various styles of crowns and headdresses whilst other gods and goddesses are depicted as 'human hybrids'  with the bodies of humans but with the heads of animals. The ancient Egyptians did not worship animals as such, the impressions of deities with animal heads in Egyptian Gods Art was a simple device used to visually convey the qualities and attributes of the deity. In Egyptian Gods Art depict male deities appear with a dark reddish-brown skin color and goddesses with a yellowish colored skin.

Facts about Egyptian Gods Art - Colors
The images of the deities contained in Egyptian Gods Art reflected different meanings by the colors used. The meaning of colors, or color symbolism, was extremely important in Egyptian Gods Art and held clues and the key to many different meanings. It is interesting to note that the ancient Egyptian hieroglyph conveying the meaning 'color' was translated using words such as “being”, “character”, “disposition”, “nature” or “external appearance”. The colors used in Egyptian Gods Art was highly significant. Six basic colors were used in creating ancient Egyptian Gods Art, in terms of both figures and the mysterious symbols that surrounding the figures. A small pestle and mortar was used for grinding colors. The basic colors used in Egyptian Gods Art and the materials used to create the colors were:

• White: The color white was made from clay, limestone, eggshells or sea shells
• Black: Black was made from carbon compounds such as charcoal mixed with animal fat
• Red: The color red was made from red ochre or hematite
• Yellow: The color was made from yellow ochre
• Blue: The color blue was made from copper silica, calcium, powdered azurite and lapis
• Green: The color green was made from malachite (a natural copper ore) or from a paste manufactured by mixing oxides of copper and iron with silica and calcium

As time went by new materials were used to produce richer and stronger colors and this is evident in Egyptian Gods Art dating from the New Kingdom from 1400 to 1250 BC.

Picture of the 'heretic' Akhenaton worshipping Aten - note the different, vibrant and stronger shades of blue than on the earlier picture of Osiris and the lotus

Facts about Egyptian Gods Art - Color Symbolism
The use of color in Egyptian Gods Art was largely symbolic and all of the colors had different meanings. The colors used in Egyptian Gods Art were traditionally painted with a dark reddish-brown color for the skin of a man reflecting a lifestyle of outdoor pursuits such as hunting. Whereas the skin color of a woman was painted as lighter, yellow-brown color reflecting a more secluded, indoor lifestyle. The symbolism of the colors used in Egyptian Gods Art had the following meanings.

• Color Blue symbolism: The color blue represented water, the sky, life, fertility and re-birth
• Color Green symbolism: Green was the color of vegetation and represented new life, rebirth and regeneration
• Color White symbolism: White was a sacred color, representing purity, power and greatness
• Color Black symbolism: The color black represented death, the night and the Afterlife 
• Color Red symbolism: The color red represented life and victory and was also used to convey anger
• Color Yellow symbolism: The color yellow was used to represent gold which was imperishable and indestructible

Note: When used to represent resurrection, the colors black and green were interchangeable

Interesting Information and Facts about the Egyptian Gods Art - Color Symbolism
Understanding the different elements included in the Egyptian Gods Art can help you unlock the secrets of Ancient Egypt and enable you to look at the Egyptian Gods Art as the people of ancient Egypt recognising the symbols and their meaning that can be discovered just by understanding what the Egyptian Gods Art convey. The following facts, hints and tips will enable you to decipher the art of ancient Egypt which were, both highly stylized and symbolic, and understand the meanings behind the Egyptian Gods Art and appreciate the art style used in ancient Egypt. The article on Egyptian symbols and signs will also prove useful.

Facts about Egyptian Gods Art

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 1: The Skin color of Male gods were usually painted in a dark red -brown color (the gods Osiris and Ptah are notable exceptions)

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 2: The Skin of Goddesses were painted in a yellow or light brown color

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 3: The figures of the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt were usually drawn in profile against a flat background, with just one eye visible and both shoulders shown front facing

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 4: The arms of the deities generally had to be visible to right and left of the body

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 5: The legs of the deities generally were shown to the best advantage when viewed sidewise, so the artists of ancient Egypt always depicted them in this style depicting parted legs (where not seated)

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 6: The deities depicted with animal heads represented the attributes of the deities and their domains

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 7: The colors were all symbolic and had different meanings. The Basic colors used in Egyptian Gods Art were white, red, yellow, black, blue and green

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 8: The Art students of ancient Egypt produced their work in black, which was cheap and readily available.  The master craftsman corrected errors in red!

• Art Students used slabs of limestone or cheap drawing boards
• Reeds were used as paint brushes which varied in size according to the size of the stem
• The artists used oblong wooden palettes which contained a groove where the brush could be rested

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 9: The crowns and headdresses depicted in Egyptian Gods Art were all symbolic and had different meanings. The different types of crowns and headdresses identified the wearer, the status, the cult location and the identity of the god

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 10: The items carried by, or surrounding the deities were highly symbolic. Refer to articles on:

• The symbolism of the Scarab
• The symbolism of the Lotus
• The symbolism of the Eye of Horus
• The symbolism of the Uraeus Cobra
• The symbolism of the Tree of Life
• The symbolism of the Was Scepter
• The symbolism of the Djed Pillar
• The symbolism of the Ankh

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 11: After painting, a varnish was usually applied as a protective coating

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 12: The characteristic outlines used when painting figures were capable of being easily reproduced in pure line upon a flat surface

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 13: The artists of Ancient Egypt used their own rules of perspective, completely different to modern perspective rules

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 14: Horizontal and vertical reference lines were used by artists in order to maintain correct proportions of the images.

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 15: The art style adopted by the artists of Ancient Egypt resulted in somewhat 'stilted' forms which were caused by a lack of perspective.

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 16: The statues and bas-reliefs which decorated the temples and tombs were made of sandstone, limestone or wood. Upon completion the statues and bas-reliefs were either painted or, in many cases, the natural color of stones such as granite, basalt, diorite and alabaster were also used instead of paint.

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 17: The sculptors of ancient Egypt therefore produced the statue or prepared the tomb surface and his work was followed by that of the painter. Gifted artists were adept at both sculpting and painting.

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 18: The highly stylized and symbolic techniques of ancient Egyptian art was used, with little deviation, for nearly 3000 years.

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 19: There was a divergence from the strict form and styles applied to Egyptian art during the transient Armana art period. Armana art period emerged during the reign of Akhenaten, the heretic Pharaoh and the father of Tutankhamen. Armana was the site of a city entirely built under the instructions of Akhenaten and a new art style developed in this period

Egyptian Gods Art Fact 20: Akhenaten instigated radical changes in art and how people were portrayed. Gone were the stylised images of kings and pharaohs, who were only depicted as perfect, dignified young men, to be replaced with a far more realistic approach with everyday scenes and images

Facts about Egyptian Gods Art