Ancient Mediterranean

This course is a part of AP®︎ Art History, a 13-course Topic series from Khan Academy.

Artistic traditions of the ancient Near East and dynastic Egypt focused on representing royal figures and divinities and on the function of funerary and palatial complexes within their cultural contexts. Works of art illustrate the active exchange of ideas and reception of artistic styles among the Mediterranean cultures and the subsequent influence on the classical world. By permission, © 2013 The College Board

This course contains 5 segments:

Ancient Near East

Religion plays a significant role in the art and architecture of the ancient Near East, with cosmology guiding representation of deities and kings who themselves assume divine attributes. By permission, © 2013 The College Board

Ancient Egypt

The art of dynastic Egypt embodies a sense of permanence. It was created for eternity in the service of a culture that focused on preserving a cycle of rebirth. By permission, © 2013 The College Board

Ancient Greece

The art of Ancient Greece and Rome is grounded in civic ideals and polytheism. Etruscan and Roman artists and architects accumulated and creatively adapted Greek objects and forms to create buildings and artworks that appealed to their tastes for eclecticism and historicism. Contextual information for ancient Greek and Roman art can be derived from contemporary literary, political, legal, and economic records as well as from archaeological excavations conducted from the mid-18th century onward. Etruscan art, by contrast, is illuminated primarily by modern archaeological record and by descriptions of contemporary external observers. By permission, © 2013 The College Board

Ancient Etruria

Ancient Rome