Symbolism of Images and Motives in the Image Texts of the Nagada Culture and Their Transformation in the Cultural and Historical Development of Ancient Egypt

Abstract

Motives of hunting and battles were the most popular in the fine arts of predynastic and early dynastic time. This article analyzes the painted vessels of type C and D, related respectively to the early and middle phases of the Nagada I (amrat) and Nagada II (gerzean) cultures, as well as ceremonial slate palettes of the protodynastic period (Nagada III) with their complex compositions. These artifacts reflectedmytho-religious ideas and the ritual that played the most important role in the struggle of order against chaos. It served as the main mechanism for the preservation of the cosmos as a cosmogonic principle. The ritual consolidated society around a social leader (king), who was symbolized on some artifacts by images of animals: a bull, a lion, fantastic animals projecting magical power, mana onto him. Along with geometric ornamentation, including floral and figurines of the inhabitants of the Nile waters: hippos and crocodiles, type C vessels were painted with scenes of hunting, battles and the victory of leaders - leaders or regional kings over enemies. The visual arts of Nagada II-III were still dominated by the motifs of hunting and battles, but they were executed in a new stylistic manner. Symbolically, the motif of hunting and battles, culminating in the triumph of the leader / king, reveals the internal identity of the theme of hunting the inhabitants of the Nile, wild animals of the desert and defeating enemies in the dynamics of the development of ancient Egyptian culture.