Abstract

Art was a large part of ancient Egyptian culture, driven by the importance of preserving their lives and their world and it created a storyline of physical art that we can follow today. With snakes so prevalent in society, having strong ties to their royalty, their religions and their daily lives, it is logical to assume that their imagery would be intertwined with the art culture among other reasons; their geographic commonality and the danger they posed to individuals, their physical body language of each specific species, a human need to comprehend and subsequently own things that they fear, and their cultural symbolic importance in many facets of Egyptian society. This thesis focuses on two very different snakes, both deadly to humans and found commonly in the most populated areas of Egypt. The inclusion of these two specific species satisfy different sets of information and they are both important to ancient Egyptian imagery because they are the only two types of snakes depicted in this time period that can be visually recognized from their unique physical features and traits. With the ample archaeological evidence presented, this research and my following theories explore the following statement: serpent imagery of ancient Egyptian art features two physically identifiable species of snakes from everyday life that each fulfill important cultural roles.

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