The Emotional Bond of Maternity: Revealing Human-Animal Connection in Ancient Egyptian Sculpture

Document Type : Original Research

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Lecturer, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University

Abstract

The ancient Egyptian artist succeeded in sensibly capturing and highlighting the emotions and feelings of motherhood in both humans and animals, which he observed in family life. His artistic creativity is evident in the way he transferred these emotions into various forms of art, whether on the walls of tombs or in sculptures. These works confirm the nature and identity of the society in which the ancient Egyptian lived, reflecting the behavioral patterns and familial emotions that permeated and spread among family members, both human and animal. Moreover, the ancient Egyptian artist did not limit himself to depicting human emotions but also extended to capturing the feelings between other living creatures that interacted with the ancient Egyptian. His ability to convey the emotions of motherhood in these statues with artistic sensitivity makes it difficult to distinguish between the emotions depicted in the statues and the real emotions in society. This research will explore the subject by presenting various examples of motherhood artifacts from the Old Kingdom to the Late Period, featuring both human and monkey figurations. The examples will center on both human and animal, with monkeys serving as specific examples to explore the concept of animal motherhood. These instances highlight specific gestures that emphasize maternal bond, ultimately revealing the common feature of maternity in both human and monkey sculptures through shared postures.

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