¶ … Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Other Ancient Symbols on 18th, 19th and 20th Century Surface Pattern Design and Their Influences on Contemporary Design
Hieroglyphics are a system of picture-writing, from the Greek, literally meaning "sacred carvings"; these symbols were used extensively on the walls of Egyptian tombs and temples, as well as columns and in written texts (Cavendish 1970). This paper will provide an analysis of the influence of Egyptian hieroglyphics and other ancient symbols on 18th, 19th and 20th century surface pattern design and their influences on contemporary design, taking account of the impact on design practice of digital techniques today. A discussion of designers from these periods illustrating their work will be followed by suggestions for critical analysis, and an examination of possible philosophical questions to be considered related to a future professional practice. A summary of the research will be provided in the conclusion.
Review and Discussion.
Background and Overview. According to Pile (1979), because alphabetic symbols do not represent true analogs for the sounds they actually represent, alphabets have become arbitrary codes that have no meaning until a user receives instruction; this can be readily discerned by a casual review of the sample Egyptian hieroglyphics in the figures below. In fact, "Once the code meaning is unavailable, it cannot be rediscovered by any logical means. The well-known story of the role of the Rosetta stone in unlocking the mystery of the lost meaning of Egyptian hieroglyphics is a good illustration of this" (Pile 112). The discovery of the meaning of the hieroglyphics was recorded in 1847 by Morrison and Von Schlegel: "For more than a millennium and a half had the hieroglyphics of an ancient race remained unintelligible to and undeciphered by a posterity of aliens, when at last, amid the recent commotions and tempests of the political world, a happy accident brought the secret to light" (55). Today, though, the design of objects is more concerned with analogous relationships between form and reality; consequently, writing as a system of visual communication tends to lead practitioners away from, rather than toward, the significance of design. Pile points out that in writing, true meaning is two steps removed from reality: Idea (meaning) = word (= sound) = alphabetic symbols (1979). The evolution of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics according to the above formula can be seen in the figures below.
Figure 1. Section from painted scroll called Papyrus of Ani, Eighteenth dynasty. This part of the Book of the Dead shows the weighing or judgment of Ani's soul. Painting in tempera, writing in ink [Source: Stites 1940:100].
Figure 2. Detail showing flight of soul, Papyrus of Ani. Hieroglyphs in ink becoming cursive. Now changing to demotic style of Egyptian writing [Source: Stites 1940:100].
The addition of cartouches allowed for the phonetic representation of virtually any word through hieroglyphics; cartouches were oval or oblong figures in hieroglyphics that represented the names, titles, descriptions, etc., of Egyptian deities and persons of high rank. "These were executed on practically every material known to the Egyptians, and often accompanied their owners into the tomb at death" (Wolf 1951:134). Wherever they were used by the ancient Egyptians, hieroglyphics were frequently accompanied by a rich array of colorful design elements that complemented their addition rather than detracted from them: "Every part of the column was richly decorated in color. Lotus leaves or petals swathed the swelling lower part of the shaft, which was elsewhere covered with successive bands of carved pictures and of hieroglyphics. The capital was similarly covered with carved and painted ornament, usually of lotus-flowers or leaves, or alternate stalks of lotus and papyrus" (Hamlin 25).
Figure 3. Example of Cartouches [Source: Pile 1979:110].
Egyptian Hieroglyphics in Design. Over 8,000 years ago, the Egyptians were already a highly civilized people, skilled in the arts of peace and war. "The narrow valley of the Nile, fertilized by the periodic overflow of the river, was flanked by rocky heights, nearly vertical in many places, which afforded abundance of excellent building stone, while they both isolated the Egyptians and protected them from foreign aggression" (Hamlin 1911:6). According to Hegel and Knox (1998), the fundamental character of Egyptian temple architecture was first made familiar to contemporary practitioners principally by French scholars. "It consists in the fact that they are open constructions, without roofing, gates, or passages between partitions, especially between porticos and whole forests of columns. There are works of enormous extent outside and variety inside" (Hegel & Knox 643). These structures dazzled the people of the day, of course, but even their ruins continue to attract interest...
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