Desert Hunting Scenes in Egypt from the 4th to the 14th Century A.D

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 faculty of tourism and hotels, Suez Canal University

2 Tourist guidance department, Faculty of Tourism & Hotels- Suez Canal University

Abstract

The first light of Christianity in Egypt coincided with the emergence of an art famed as ‘Coptic art’. Later on a weak and secreted beginning; this art reached its peak in the 3rd century and up to the 8th century A.D. With the Arabs conquest in Iraq, Iran, Syria, and afterwards in Egypt; was the advance of Islamic artwork. Initially, this art depended on outdoor and indoor influences. Outdoor influences were Greco-Roman, Byzantine, Sassanid, and Hellenistic arts. Nevertheless, indoor influence varied; in Egypt, the local art of the Copts was the main factor. This research concentrates on desert hunting scenes on murals besides the applied masterpieces of wood, metal, textile, glass, ceramic, etc. Moreover, it throws the light on hunting either as an entertaining activity for the elite or as a need of daily life for the public. This research depends on historical and descriptive methodology, deals with the history of painting, its sequential development, and typical attributes. Also, in that respect is a mention to samples of desert hunting scenes of Coptic and Islamic art in a comparable position. This research aims to: (I) define the relation between Coptic and Islamic arts; (II) outline the typical attributes of both Coptic and Islamic artwork.

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