Books of Art(1)- Cyril Aldred "The Development of Ancient Egyptian Art"

Ancient Egyptian Art from 32oo to 1315 B.C.

At first view, the word "development" with its modern overtones suggesting a n evolutionary progress, may be considered inappropriate when employed in an Egyptian context: for the Egyptian view of reality was essentially static. 

The periodic inundation of the Nile created a predictable environment in which change was but a sequence of recurring dualities- of red desert and black alluvium, of drought and flood, of abundance and scarcity, sterility and fruitfulness.

Egyptian culture reflects in its art and religion, its social structure and habits of thought, the same inevitable and unchanging rhythms.