Cave Paintings The Dawn of History

A solitary figure crouched in a shadowy cave, illuminated by the flicker of a small campfire, prepares for tomorrow's hunt for bison to feed his family.

He hones his spears, sharpens his hunting implements and takes a charred glowing ember from the fire and etched his impression of the bison he hunts on the walls of his cave, He believes this superstitious ritual will insure a successful hunt.

He embellishes the drawing with color from flowers, berries, charred bones and the blood of previous kills. These murals were the first recorded artifacts which represent his ambitions through creativity and art 5000 years ago.

Egyptian Civilization

Massive granite pyramids stand in the desert for 3000 years. The mystery of the afterlife shrouded in these ancient tombs was brought to light when Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankamen in 1924.

He and his team of archaeologists dug in the desert sand for 20 years until they uncovered the stone steps to this shrine.

Inscribed above the portal were hieroglyphs.

The Rosetta stone unlocked the key to this forgotten language. The foreboding message revealed, warned all who entered this tomb would surely be a tortured soul and die a miserable death.

In spite of the warning, the team broke the seal to gain access to the hidden wealth, culture and riches inside.

The Egyptians built these huge structures to house the mummified remains of the fallen Pharaoh who ruled the kingdom. The mummy was prepared for the afterlife by removing all internal organs and bathed in a special solution to preserve the king's body forever.

The Egyptians believed that the final resting place of their fallen king would be immortalized for all time. The inside walls of the pyramids were decorated with hieroglyphs which were "pictograms", recorded stories of the events of the times to commemorate the king's life.

The sculpture created during this time period were massive and monumental in stature.

Go to Classical Greece

The Mask of King Tutankhamun
Copyright © 1995 Kenneth J. Stein
All Rights Reserved

Visit Dr. Stein's Tour of Egypt at:
http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/forestry/wildlife/stein/egypt.html