Aldred, Middle kingdom Art in Ancient Egypt

MIDDLE KINGDOM ART IN

ANCIENT EGYPT 2300-1590

B.C.

by

CYRIL ALDRED

1950 ALEC TIRANTI LTD. 72 CHARLOTTE STREET LONDON, W.l

PUBLISHERS' ACKNOWLEDGMENT The Publishers wish to express their thanks to the EGYPTIAN EXPLORA· TION SOCIETY of London for their kind assistance and encouragement, and to their old friend, George W. Allan, of Cairo, for his great help.

They also wish to thank the EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS and G. W. Allan for the use of plates 8, 21, 36, 64, .72, 73, 77, 79 and 82.

Made and printed in Britain

PREFACE Die bildende Kunst ist die direkteste Sprache Agyptens-H. G. Evers.

The main difficulty that faces the writer of a book of this scope is where to draw the line. The Ancient Egyptian adorned so much of what he touched that very little can be excluded from a survey of his art. In this book, however, as in its companion volume, the main emphasis has been placed upon sculpture, which is the most forceful and characteristic expression of the artistic genius of the Egyptian, and which alone can provide a common standard for measuring , the development of his