I want to know what some Ancient Egyptain art experts thought of the
carving techniques on the Chapel of Sekhm-ankh-ptah, False Door of
Khufu Ankh, and Mastaba of Nofret. I want to know what they thought of
the quality of the carving, techniques amd interior details. Also, I
wanted to know what they thought about the usage of sunk versus raised
relief carvings.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 30 Oct 2004 14:35 PDT

Hello halaksa,

I've been looking at some pictures of magnificent surviving carvings
from the ancient dynasties of Egypt, and they are quite impressive to
behold.

However, it isn't an easy matter to know if the text and illustrations
I'vebeen looking over pertain to the same objects you're referencing. 
Different spellings and names over the years confound the matter.

It would help to have a bit more context for each item (dates,
dynasties) so they can be identified more precisely.

For instance, I found this text regarding Sekhem (note the different
spelling), but it's hard to know if it's relevant to the "Chapel" you
refer to:


"We can no longer assign a rock carving at Sinai to Dynasty I, since
the name long read Semerkhet is now recognized to be that of Sekhem
-khet, who followed Zoser in constructing a step pyramid at Saqqara in
Dynasty III. Except for the badly damaged granite raised reliefs of
Khasekhemuwy from Hierakonpolis and El Kab (see p. 20 ), which, like
the statues of Khasekhem to be discussed presently, show a great
advance in skill, the only other temple reliefs of royal workmanship
which have survived betray the same rather faltering draughtsmanship
and cutting as do the private pieces we have just been considering..."


Can you give me some feedback on this?  Is it along the lines of what
you need, or is it totally off-base?


Any additional information would be a great help in further
researching this question.  Thanks.


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by halaksa-ga on 30 Oct 2004 15:52 PDT

Hello pafalafa,

I had seen some of these in person and was very intrigued by the
different styles of carvings on these works. I wanted to know more
about the use of these techniques on the indivitual peices from a sort
of artistic point of view.
The peices I am most interested in are: 
* Chapel of Sakhm-ankh-ptah: Saqqara, Late Dynasty 5 (painted limestone)
* False door of Khufu Ankh: Giza, Dynasty 5
* Mastaba of Nofret: Giza, Dynasty 4 (limestone)
* False Door of Redines: Giza, Dyn 6 (limestone)

Thank you for the help.

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Clarification of Question by halaksa-ga on 30 Oct 2004 16:00 PDT

Also, and I forgot to incorporate this into the question, I wanted to
know how the overall quality of the stone work and decorations of
bowls changed from the 4th Dynasty to the 6th Dynasty.
Thank you.

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Clarification of Question by halaksa-ga on 30 Oct 2004 16:02 PDT

I'm sorry. For the bowls, I meant from the 1st to the 4th Dynasty.