The Age of the Pyramids was one of the most glorious in human history. Also known as the Old Kingdom, the period lasted from about 2650 to about 2150 B.C.E., encompassing the Third through Sixth of the thirty-one dynasties into which ancient Egyptian history is traditionally divided. During these five centuries, Egyptians created their famous pyramids—the world's most abstract building form—and defined once and for all the essence of their civilization's art.

At the center of Egyptian art were the human figure and the animals and plants of the Nile Valley. Artists of the Old Kingdom created a limited number of conventions to depict this rich environment; the resulting artistic canon governed Egyptian art for the next three thousand years. Predominantly youthful and vigorous, Old Kingdom images exude an air of utter confidence in human achievement. At the same time, gentle gestures express the intimate relationships between king and deity, man and wife, mother and child.

The primary medium of Old Kingdom art was stone, a material whose durability best served the culture's all-encompassing goal of defeating death. Most works of art were created for temples attached to the royal pyramids and for the surrounding tombs of officials and their families. Some sculptures have been discovered in middle-class tombs of administrators, scribes, and craftsmen. The peasants and servants of Old Kingdom society have left almost nothing of themselves to posterity, but their lives are depicted in the reliefs and small sculptures of elite tombs.

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