A Study On The “Pray” Image In Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egyptian culture is notable for its monuments and a large number of images,among which the image of "pray" is one of the most common and representative images in the colorful images of ancient Egypt.It not only frequently appears on private steles and funeral papyrus,it also often appears in the reliefs and murals of temples and tombs."Pray" images,often showing a person standing or kneeling with their hands raised,palms outward,have become iconic for expressions of pray,as such images are often associated with deities expressing pray to them.However,the form of "pray" images is not single,but complex and diverse.As the characters,related objects,and backgrounds of "pray" images change,their symbolic meanings will also vary."Pray" images began to appear in the Old Kingdom with diverse expressions and rich connotations,but it was not until the late Old Kingdom that such images began to express the meaning of praying.The objects of praying were never depicted before in the Middle Kingdom,and the "pray" images in the Middle Kingdom began to show a breakthrough in the traditional rites,but the development and change were slow in general.During the New Kingdom period,"pray" images not only saw an explosion in number,but also showed new changes in expression forms and intrinsic meanings.Since the later dynastic period,more women and foreigners have been featured in "prayer" images.Compared with other ancient civilizations,the combination of ancient Egyptian text and images is particularly close,and there is a relationship of mutual confirmation and mutual interpretation between the two.Therefore,this article takes the image of "pray" as the core historical material,and uses the explanatory notes of the inscriptions attached to the image to improve the understanding of the image of "pray" in ancient Egypt.The thesis mainly includes three parts.The first part introduces the reasons why the ancient Egyptians "prayed" to the gods,analyzes the ancient Egyptian vocabulary related to "praying",and roughly summarizes the performance of the ancient Egyptians’ "pray" in images.The second part discusses the form and characteristics of "pray" images from the ancient kingdom to post dynasty,analyzes the reasons for the development and changes of "pray" images in different periods,and clarifies the symbolic meaning,the ideology and hierarchical concepts embodied in "pray" images,so as to realize the grasp of the vertical development of the "pray" image.The third part focuses on the significance of the "pray" image to constitute reality,combines images and texts to reconstruct the ritual activities embodied in the "pray" image,and analyzes the close connection between the "pray" image and the concept of the afterlife in ancient Egypt.