How did ancient Egyptians define “art”—and how did the myriad of artistic works they produced mirror their worldview? A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art presents a comprehensive collection of original essays exploring key concepts, critical discourses, and theories that shape the discipline of ancient Egyptian art. Themes and topics include methodological approaches and theoretical concepts, the development of Egyptian art and its connections with other cultures, technology and interpretation, and current debates surrounding field and museum conservation.

In addition to providing overviews of past and present scholarship on a broad range of topics relating to art in ancient Egypt, readings pave the way for new avenues of exploration that are certain to stimulate ongoing and future debate. With its unprecedented breadth of coverage and impeccable scholarship, A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art is an indispensable reference resource for the field of ancient Egyptian art history.

“No other work comes close to providing such an introduction to the ideas and bibliography of Egyptian art history; many of its chapters stand alone as thought-provoking essays of particular use to students; and in documenting the state of Egyptian art history it points to several productive paths forward. . . A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art thus serves not only as an introduction to art-historical theory for Egyptologists but also as a call to arms for the field.  We should answer.”  (College Art Association, October 2015)

"Such a multidisciplinary approach to Egyptian art is new. These articles describe, from a number of different perspectives, how ancient Egyptian art 'worked' and will be of special interest to those who wonder why Pharaonic imagery is so distinctive." (Ancient Egypt, 1 February 2015)

“Edited volumes can vary in consistency and relevance but A Companion to Ancient Egyptian Art is strong in these areas. This work certainly fulfills a need in the current literature of ancient Egyptian art history and I am very glad to have it on my shelf, both for myself and for my students. (I am currently using this volume extensively in an upper-level undergraduate Egyptian art course.)” (Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 52, 2016) 

THE EDITOR

Melinda K. Hartwig is a Professor of Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Art and Archaeology at Georgia State University, USA. She is the author of Tomb Painting and Identity in Ancient Thebes, 1419–1372 BCE (2004) and the Tomb Chapel of Menna (Theban Tomb 69): The Art, Culture, and Science of Painting in an Egyptian Tomb (2013).