The Origins of Register Composition in Predynastic Egyptian Art
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3964233 |
|---|---|
| Authors | W Davis (0000-0001-7937-3966, corresponding author), Whitney M Davis |
| Year | 1976 |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 404 |
| Publication date | 1976-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of the American Oriental Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-0279 • E-ISSN: 2169-2289 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/599058 |
| OpenAlex | W2321770882 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
The compositions and arrangements of predynastic art are widely supposed to be chaotic, and the formal ordering of the historic period is often taken to be the major point of separation between predynastic and early dynastic art. A strict division between Egypt's dynastic art and the art of its prehistory is thus frequently accepted. The paper takes issue with this thesis, for it supposes that there is much more of a link between prehistoric and historic art than is generally believed. Concentrating upon the origins of the characteristically dynastic system of register composition in predynastic art, the paper points out that the register system gradually evolved from certain devices and techniques of the predynastic period. Certain early features of predynastic art, such as the depiction of reality, the evolution of narrative, the differentiation between locales in landscape art, and the sequence-patterns on vase-paintings, are discussed in order to show that the art of the predynastic period did indeed possess an order designed to represent three-dimensional reality on a two-dimensional surface. It is shown that the register system was in part derived from these early features of art; in particular, that it was derived from the use of imaginary base-lines and separation of space in narrative representation and groundlines and seriality in decorative representation. Phases in the evolution of the register system, such as a period of coincidence of themes, of coalescence, and of experimentation, are postulated and considered to set out a possible history of the developments
Ancient history · Art · Composition (language) · Linguistics · Literature · Register (sociolinguistics) · Ancient Egypt and Archaeology · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Historical and Architectural Studies · History · Philosophy
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| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,13 |
| Citation span | 1978 - 2018 (41) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |