HUM200: Presentation on Ancient Egyptian Artifacts

This presentation examines two key artifacts from ancient Egypt: the Bust of Nefertiti and the Egyptian calendar. It explores the shared theme of "Religion, Gods, and Mythology," illustrating how ancient Egyptians viewed their pharaohs as divine figures and utilized calendars to track time. The presentation highlights the significance of these artifacts as physical symbols of power and belief, reflecting the advanced skills and knowledge of the era. The presenter's personal interest in ancient civilizations is discussed, along with the impact on the field of archaeology. The presentation also mentions resources like Ancient-egypt-online.com for further research. This presentation is designed to provide insights into the cultural and historical context of ancient Egypt, and the importance of artifacts in understanding its civilization.

Presentation
Tania Farhat
HUM200
1. Overview
My first artifact is The Bust of Nefertiti Nefertiti’s Bust is stucco coated and painted
limestone bust of the Royal Wife of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh named Akhenaten. This
artwork is supposed to crafted back in 1345 BC, by the royal sculptor named Thutmose,
as it was discovered on the floor of an excavated workshop in Amarna, Egypt. This piece
of artwork is amongst the most copied works from the ancient Egypt. Taking into account
the work Nefertiti have become an ideal for the feminine beauty and one of the famous
women from the ancient world (Nefertiti's Bust. 2017). My other artifact is The Egyptian
Calendar - Egyptian Calendar has been invented around 5000 years ago. Fundamentally
this ancient calendar was based upon the lunar cycle having 12 months, and have been
divided in the three seasons having four months each in order to accord with increase and
decrease in the water of Nile. This ancient calendar was known by the name of “Annus
Vagus” meaning wandering year. Astrologers in the ancient Egypt studied stars which
helped them in forecasting different seasons such as floods and sowing of seeds, which
was critical for the prosperity of the Egypt. In the Egyptian Sky the brightest star was
Sirius and it used to disappear for time duration of 70 days and then used to reappear on
the horizon of the East on 19th July which was in accord with floods in Nile and
therefore this date was the Ancient Egyptian New Year (Egyptian calendar | dating
system. 2017).
2. Audience Impact

The common theme in the two artifacts is “Religion, Gods and Mythology”. In Ancient
Egypt people used to take Pharaoh’s as Gods who are ruling on earth thus, made their
statues and sculptors in order to make them immortal, till the end of time. The Bust of
Nefertiti is one such example of the theme, as she was co-regent and wife to the Ancient
Egyptian Pharaoh named Akhenaten. Similarly Egyptian Calendar was also utilized in
order to keep track of duration of reign of the Pharaoh’s back then (What Were the
Themes of Egyptian Art? 2017).
3. Evidence
Both the artifacts are of the same civilization i.e. Egypt. In ancient Egypt sculptures were
considered as physical symbols of pharaohs and gods on earth, and thus allowing the
spirit to as long as the statue will exist. Various statues of the gods and pharaohs were
created in order to make them immortal and statues of workers would also be placed in
the tombs, so that they can serve the pharaoh later. Even at that time Egyptians were able
to make such statues shows that what skills and knowledge they possessed at that time
(Caitloon.com. 2017).
4. Personally
. Due to the personal interest in the study of ancient civilizations and various related
facts, this theme of calculation of time and cultural artifacts that are being discussed in
the assignment, is related to me personally. I found it interesting to study about the
Egyptian civilization as various facts related to the civilization have air of mystery, due to
which I like to study about ancient artifacts of the Ancient Egypt. Besides this I am also a
student of humanities, and thus reading about artifacts is related to the course.
5. Studying the Humanities

Archaeologist is one profession that might get affected with the identified theme in the
above paragraphs. Any new information regarding the old artifacts increases the
knowledge of Archaeologists and might provide links to the better understanding of the
subject. By finding out various related information to ancient calendars and artifacts,
Archeologists might find how the concept of lunar calendar and solar calendar come into
existence, who were the civilizations who first invented such calendars and how it
evolved over time become the calendar that modern society uses today.
6. Humanities
Various resources that can be utilized in order to search for the materials related to the
theme “Religion, Gods, and Mythology” is Ancient-egypt-online.com. Form here various
information regarding the Bust of Nefertiti can be extracted, which will be helpful for
various students who are studying the humanities (Nefertiti's Bust. 2017). How the
artifact was discovered, its analysis and various controversies surrounding the artifact can
also be studied.