By the rise of Greek civilization, Egyptian artists had been developing their art for close to 2,200 years, and Greek artists, like many others in that part of the world, could not help but be influenced by what had come before. Rhys Carpenter observes, ôIn the course of the eighth century [BC], commercial contact with the eastern borderlands of the Mediterranean brought the hitherto severely isolated Greeks into contact with the long-established and highly evolved art of Syria, eastern Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egyptö (20). All of these artistic traditions influenced the Greeks, but the Egyptian impact may have been most significant simply because it was so extensive and rich.

Many of the same kinds of images used by the Egyptians found their way into

Yet the Greeks employed such figures differently in their own art, and this ultimately led to the establishment of a different artistic tradition and style. Human figures in particular serve different purposes for the Greeks from those in Egyptian works, and those differences become evident as soon as apparently similar figures are compared between cultures. As Bullock, et al, note:

Carpenter, Rhys. Greek Art: A Study of the Formal Evolution of Style. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1962.

Both civilizations created enduring, distinctive art. Both traditions continue to resonate for contemporary viewers seeking to understand two very different worldviews.