By Alisa Cherkashina<\/p>\n\n\n
When I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, NY, I quickly passed through or entirely skipped the Ancient Egyptian section (it wasn\u2019t as familiar or ‘photo-worthy’ as the Renaissance statues). I then learned how prominent Egyptians were to the rest of the ancient world. Though we typically dedicate much more time to understanding the Greeks and Romans in Classical Studies, these cultures were all Mediterranean neighbors, living close together and influencing each other\u2019s artforms and religious values.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We\u2019ve heard of ancient Egypt in pop culture references such as \u201cwalk like an Egyptian” or seen Katy Perry\u2019s never forgotten <\/span>Dark Horse<\/span><\/i> music video. However, it feels impolite to not look further into the context of a civilization, letting these references dictate our perception of them. <\/span>Through understanding the Egyptian society better, its citizens and their art gained so much depth and humanity. This is by no means an art history analysis of these artifacts, rather a collection of conclusions that arose from a simple mindset shift of seeing Egyptians less as historical objects, and more as humans with rich and complex lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n