... we cannot be certain of the ancient Egyptian skin tone, we have come to recognize the fundamental nature of a people who perceived their world as consisting of more than a physical reality. In order to understand Egypt, we must recognize that Egyptian art is primarily conceptual and symbolic in nature, serving to encode cultural information. Symbolism pervades all aspects of Egyptian art from method to material.2 The seemingly regimented system of symbolism was a means of interpreting life from the Creation to the Afterlife, as well as the perpetual struggle between creative and destructive forces. For a more complete understanding of Egyptian art, it is helpful to consider the concepts which defined the culture and shaped their world. In the Egyptian cosmic view there existed before all else a state termed Nun, which can be likened to the primordial ocean, the infinite source of all creation. The Nun represented ...

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