H.R Giger's Egyptian Mysteries

leading from
 H.R Giger's Black Room, Egyptian Burial chamber,
on the third floor of his parents' house at Storchengrasse 17, Chur, 
1958 (source,  WWW.HRGIGER.COM (book) p9)
a) H. R. Giger in his artwork has often used ancient Egyptian themes and ideas, and some of these he brought into the concept work for Alien, many of which can be found as illustrations in the Egyptian Book of the Dead.  

b) When he was about six years, every Sunday he went to the civic museum in Chur and in the basement with the amputated hands and feet they kept a beautiful mummified body of what he believed was an Egyptian princess and her sarcophagus.

c) His keen interest in such Egyptian imagery can be seen on the decorations of the wall of his black room (above) where he used to hold parties and play with his band as a teenager. In the centre of the photo is an image of the God Ra holding a was-sceptre.

d) The way he did his portraits Giger consider typically Egyptian as well, in the way they presented a view from from the side and the front. So the Egyptian style was something that he considered part of his way of expressing through art. 
 
 



Giger visited the mummy at the Rätisches Museum in Chur as a child, face his fears of it and came to be inspired.
 
 


In the final design for the Space Jockey, Giger was able to incorporate elements of the Henu Barque of Seker./Sokar  


 


 
In his work for the Alien Life Cycle Hieroglyphic tableau, he incorporated the image of the Goddess Nut.  
 
 


In his early design for the Facehugger, he incorporated the idea a pair of pliers in the creatures mouth to open it's victim's mouth up inspired by the idea of tools used for opening the jaws of the mummy up to allow the soul into the body for the reanimation rite
 
 


Giger's painting Necronom IV which became starting point for the final adult alien creature, but where did the idea for the thing spring from. While it's composed of ideas that he developed over time, one can see that it incorporates elements from depictions of the ancient Egyptian embalming ritual images.
 
 
 
 
 
Aker or Ruti, the god in the form of two lions
 
The strange rounded shoulder of the Necronom IV displays a likeness to those in the Ancient Egyptian's depictions of lions. 
 
 
 

http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/g-vestigial-remains-of-eye-of-horus.html

Giger's Necronom IV backpipes when the painting is flipped over become the upper eyeline and eyebrow of the eye of Horus. 
 
 
 

http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/1979/01/influence-of-was-sceptre-on-design-of.html

 
 
The general form of the head of the Necronom IV looks inspired by the general form of the stylised head of a was-sceptre. The was-sceptre in the photo, now to be found at the Victorian and Albert museum resembles Giger's initial design for the derelict ship's hammer head.
 
 
 

http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/1979/09/the-eye-goggles-of-alien-stage-iii.html

 
This second concept design for the Alien stage 3 beast appears to have goggles. Was it inspired by Egyptian depictions of lotus blossoms? 
 
 



Was the initial derelict concept inspired by the Solar Barge of Egyptian mythology and does it just naturally loosely merge with the concept of a "Barge of a million years".
 
 
 

http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/1976/12/necronom-ii.html
 
Was the Egyptian scarab as book of the dead imagery and jewelry the foundations of Necronom II?
 
 


http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/hr-giger-apparition-of-bes-hittite.html

Looking for signs of the variations of Bes in the details
 
 


http://alienexplorations.blogspot.co.uk/1976/11/the-treasures-of-tutenkhamun-1976.html


Necronom II directly references the Desert Glass pectoral which as a piece has inspired many artists and designers over the decade and so the Desert Glass Pectoral creeps in transformed way into a number visually famous pieces.
 
 
 
 

 Is Eliphas Levi's Baphomet partly inspired by the ancient Egyptian Sema-Tawy?
 


source quotes
  1. Vincent Castiglia- - Co uważasz za źródło największej inspiracji?
    HR Giger- Starożytnych Egipcjan. Gdy miałem ok. 6 lat, co niedzielę chodziłem do muzeum w Chur. W piwnicy trzymali tam piękną mumię. Miała stary zapach i to mnie fascynowało. Później, gdy zacząłem rysować i używać airbrush, tamto wspomnienie było dla mnie dużą inspiracją. Potem postarałem się, aby na mojej wystawie w muzeum w Chur była mumia egipskiej księżniczki i jej sarkofag. W ten sposób chciałem ludziom pokazać, co mnie inspiruje. W sztuce egipskiej jest dużo śmierci – w mumiach, czaszkach etc. W mojej twórczości też. Poza tym sposób, w jaki robię portrety jest typowo egipski – przedstawiam widok od przodu i z boku (Tatuaz #28, May 2008)
    Google Translation-
    Vincent Castiglia--What do you think is the biggest source of inspiration?
    HR Giger    -- Ancient Egyptians. When I was about six years, every Sunday I went to the museum in Chur. In the basement there kept beautiful mummy. She had an old smell, and it fascinated me. Later, when I started to draw and use the airbrush, those memories for me was a big inspiration. Then I tried to make on my show in museum in Chur was the mummy of an Egyptian princess and her sarcophagus. In this way, I wanted to show people what inspires me. In Egyptian art is a lot of death - in mummies, skulls etc.. In my work, too. Besides, the way I'm doing portraits is typically Egyptian - present the view from the front and side (Tatuaz #28, May 2008) 
  2. Vincent Castiglia--Co byś poradził artystom szukającym własnych środków wyrazu? HR Giger-- W dzisiejszych czasach jest o wiele trudniej znaleźć swój własny styl jako artysta. Wydaje się, że każdy styl, każden punkt widzenia w sztuce został już przez kogoś zutylizowany. Gdy byłem młodszy, nie było telewizji ani internetu. Dzisiaj media propagują i rozpowszechniają wszystko. Już nie ma co odkrywać. Ja sam np. zaadoptowałem styl egipski i nie wiem, co innym pozostało?! Wszystko już było. W komputerze i w sieci są pewnie możliwości odkrycia czegoś nowego i znalezienia innych stylów. Ja nie mam pojęcia o komputerach, więc może ktoś inny coś tam nowego wypatrzy. (Tatuaz #28, May 2008) Google Translation-
    Vincent Castiglia- - - What would be your advice to artists looking for their own means of expression?
    -HR Giger- Nowadays, it is much harder to find your own style as an artist. It seems that every style, every point of view in art has already been disposed of by someone. When I was younger, there was no television or Internet. Today, the media promote and disseminate all. Already there is nothing to discover. I myself, for example, I adopted Egyptian style and do not know what else is left? Everything has been done. The computer and the network is probably the ability to discover something new and find other styles. I do not have a clue about computers, so maybe someone else will spot something new. (Tatuaz #28, May 2008)
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illustration by Peter Till for the Risk Business (For Wednesday, 24th October, 1979, in the Radio Times) references the Drax space station illustration by Ken Adam for Moonraker?


leading from


a) illustration by Peter Till for the Risk Business (For Wednesday, 24th October, 1979, in the Radio Times)


illustration by Peter Till for the Risk Business (For Wednesday, 24th October, 1979, in the Radio Times)


b) Drax space station illustration by Ken Adam for Moonraker (film released 1979)

Drax space station illustration for Moonraker (1979)



c) Right side of illustration and hands on the right




d) Antenna on the lower left and hand




e) Lower left pod and hand




f) Central main pod and hand, with the tube transformed into the small finger




g) Far left pod and hand





h) Solar panel array and head from the Risk Business illustration




i) Lower part of space station illustration and lower right side of the Risk Business illustration




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August 2015

Leading from

Monday 31st August 2015
1) Separated a section Vlad Tepes (1978)'s foundations in a Hugo Steiner-Prag illustration for The Golem from the article about Giger's Vlad Tepes, (1978) which is linked to the page
2) Also separated the section Change from Micky Mouse to Vlad The Impaler
from  Giger's Vlad Tepes, (1978) but still it is linked to the page.


Sunday 30th August 2015
1) Added Vlad Tepes, 1978 which as it seems took Hugo Steiner-Prag's "Vice"as a starting point once again.
2) Vlad Tepes inspired the Eldon character in the "Fire and Stone" comic book series?

Saturday 29th August 2015
Added Biomechanoid III, 1974, memories of the mummy of the Rätisches Museum of Chur? 

Friday 28th August 2015
Okay, now I've discovered a picture of some little creation by Walter Pichler, "Gebäudemodell" in Ernst Fuchs' Architectura Caelestis book which Giger read and was very inspired by. So Giger would have been conscious of Pichler.

Sunday 23rd August 2015
1) Added Vincent Ward and Alien 3 which is still being developed

2) Added William Gibson on Alien just about his initial interests in the movie, and of course I'll be adding a page about his involvement in Alien 3

 Friday 21st August 2015
1) Added a page about the Alien Warrior Heads, but there is nothing interestingly new to speak of there.
2) Added a page about Adding the queen to the life cycle, and once again, but there is nothing interestingly new to speak of there, it's all been seen before

Wednesday 19th August 2015
1) Hugo Steiner-Prag's "Vice" and "Aaron Wassertrum" inspire Biomechanic Landscape II (1976)

 Tuesday 18th August 2015
1) Necronom IV As Hugo Steiner Prag's face of the golem
2) Created a name page for Hugo Steiner-Prag


Monday 17th August 2015
1) a) I've put a page up for my interpretation of Mordor VII.  I'm sorry to admit that there isn't very much to this comparison to Meyrink's The Golem , but it is the association which I mean and I've documented it. Perhaps something more will reveal itself in good time. Being sorry to admit one idea after another in relation to Giger's work must be the biggest part of the fun. b) However this evening I have also found an Golem illustration that Giger seems to have used as the basis for Mordor VII
2) Updated Brett's death in the Claw Room - Temple Environment with information from Cinefex #1

Sunday 16th August 2015
1) Rejuggled the contents of The Death of Parker page. What is mentally menacing about this thing is that Yaphet Kotto had some very abstract but interesting ideas about what's going on but he didn't have any insight into the actual behind the scenes special effects where his head gets demolished
2) Updated Alien production timeline: december 1978 with details from Alien call sheet 15 that has come to the surface that seems to coincidentally tie in with my adding to the Death Of Parker scene.

Saturday 15th August 2015
Updated The Death of Parker with information from Nick Allder about the special rig set up for the scene where Parker is killed

Wednesday 12th August 2015
Re-edited Evolution of space jockey from Egyptian Of The Dead: The Henu Barque


Monday 10th August 2015
Have attempted to replace all non quoted references to the Sokar Funerary Barque with Henu Barque although either terms apply still to the object. it's just shorter.

Friday 7th August 2015
Updated the list of the Depictions of the Sokar Funerary Barque with images for each link

Thursday 6th August 2015
1) Added a page for Zdzislaw Beksinski which will be further developed
2) Added a page Martin Rezard's Fifield 02 inspired by Zdzisław Beksiński's Creeping Death ?
3) Updated The Fifield Monster, barely beginning to do a write up about the general creation process for The Fifield entity but really I am not happy with the whole story of what went on because it's so fragmented, or it seems that nothing really much has been shared by those involved that would give the whole story any coherency
Wednesday 5th August 2015 

1) Added a page with photos of Alien premieres at the Egyptian Theatre

Tuesday 4th August 2015
1) Added Modern Sokar Funerary barque at Hollywood Egyptian Theatre 
2) Added Ridleygram of The Space Jockey Chair shows more inspiration from the Sokar Funerary Barque and also Moebius?  (I am starting to wonder if Moebius had seen the Sokar Funerary Barque at the Egyptian Theatre which looks like almost a pharaoh with his body covered by a triangle standing on the back of a giant bird with no wings and a banana shaped body.) 


Sunday 2nd August 2015
Added Duncan Jones and "Alien"
Added Gareth Edwards (director of Godzilla (2014)) and his relationship with "Alien"


Saturday 1st August 2015
1) Added statement about comparison to uterine cysts in Giger's National Park's comparison to the uterus
2) Added an interpretation of Giger's painting ZDF 
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Alien: Egg Silo exterior (work 378) for Alien (1978) by HR Giger references photo of Barbie's tent ( as seen in the 1978 Barbie catalogue) by Mattel?

leading from
and

 

 

a) photo of Barbie's tent ( as seen in the 1978 Barbie catalogue) by Mattel? 

Originally the egg silo was going to be presented as a pyramid shaped structure. 

Perhaps the triangular opening of the tent has some connection with this original idea when choosing it, but they dropped the idea of the pyramid since it seemed too recognisably like what you will find in Egypt. 

So the tent becomes the egg silo as far as planning out the composition, and the dolls become the ancient fossilized remains of ancient people or their sculptures merged with the magma


 

 

b) Egg Silo exterior (work 378) (1978) by  HR Giger (uploaded by me, taken from Giger's Alien)

 


c) One above the other


 

d) The large pebble in the background becomes a Cthulhu. The head of the doll and her bright orange tope become its bear like claws.

 

e) The women sitting around the camping table become ancient fossilised remnant of alien people, or the worn down remnants of their sculptures. The man becomes something barely visible at all

 

e.i) A doll of a woman standing behind the table becomes this seemingly seated fossil like remains figure

 

e.ii) A doll of a woman sitting to the right of the table becomes this seemingly seated fossil like remains figure


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Alien: Filming The Chestburster Scene

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Alien : Evolution of the Space Jockey via
the Egyptian Book of the Dead:
The Henu Barque
(AKA The Sokar Funerary Barque)

 
"Pilot in Cockpit" (work 380) (1978) by HR Giger


 
a)  Towards the Henu Barque
 
a.i) It looks at me  as if Giger appears to have taken the design of the Space Jockey in another direction far beyond Ridley's initial concept, for a good couple of decades I wondered what exactly it could have been, to me it seemed as if there was some completely unimaginable source of inspiration that took the the direction of the design into something incomprehensibly different.
 
a.ii) If there was a mysterious sculpture or design to know about from the Ancient Egyptian traditions I didn't know about it.

Perhaps Giger's painting Necronom IV featuring the creature that inspired the main structure of the final alien life form design in the movie was also loosely inspired by the same images of the funerary barque.
 
 
Henu Barque from Papyrus of Ani.
 

 
b) My introduction to the Henu Barque 
 
b.i)  "The Egyptian Book of the Dead" exhibition at the British Museum 
 
On January 14th 2011, I went to see "The Egyptian Book of the Dead" exhibition at the British Museum

When I looked at the section displaying the the Papyrus of Ani, a very curious detail jumped out at me as it if were a strange creature with a rib cage extending behind it and a long legless trunk like body and an animal head at the top of the body supported by a cradle with three pillars.

I immediately thought that this could easily be the inspiration for a Giger biomechanoid.

This small image was in fact a depiction of a Henu Barque that was a sacred bark/ barge dedicated to the funerary god Sokar.

b.ii) Obvious Egyptian imagery in Giger's work
 
We had seen his obvious use of the sky goddess Nut in the Life Cycle hieroglyphics tableau, and we might well see enough from the image from Ani's version of the Book of the Dead in the Space Jockey to how this is a key structure that served as a basis for the Space Jockey and its chair.
 
We can also know about how Giger often visited an Egyptian mummy at his local museum in Chur, Switzerland as a child

However there was absolutely nothing in the book H.R.Giger's Alien about this matter regarding the Henu Barque,  it was not mentioned at all in any of the known books or interviews with Giger but, but we know that he does draw ideas from Ancient Egyptian Culture from looking at his paintings.

 
  
drawing of the Henu Barque from the temple of
Ramesses II


A diagram that I have made to explore the way
that the image of the Henu Barque was adapted by Giger		 



"Pilot in Cockpit" (work 380) (1978) by HR Giger


c) Referencing multiple Henu Barques
 
c.i) Despite all we have discovered about the evolution of the space jockey's seat from the Necronom V painting through  Ridley Scott's storyboard, we can take a step back and examine Giger's final Space Jockey design and note the strange bulbous structure projecting from it's back and the three pillars that make the support frame connected to the runners of a sledge, have become the support frame for  the space jockey's telescope.

c.ii) The presence of the horizontal structures such as the curving pipe as seen in the fourth image down on the right or if not, the sledge runners are likely to have inspired the horizontal pipes at the base of the Space Jockey's seat.

c.iii) Giger ought to have been familiar with more than one version of the Henu Barque if the horizontal pipe at the bottom was based on the pipe shown in the second image of the funerary bark.  

c.iv) Other versions of the image of this type of Henu Barque found around the internet show a much larger precise image of the barge but with four pillars, but the writer here would perhaps find it less easy to recognise it as something transformable into a space jockey along with its seat. See link to images at the bottom  

See:  Depictions of the Henu Barque.

  

d) Referencing a falcon head
 
d.i) Someone might have the view that if the boat images contained a telescope, it might seal the whole statement that this was the inspiration.
 
d.ii) Giger's earlier sketch for a space jockey chair design, work 340c from Giger's Alien, p39 where there is a telescope that might be considered roughly like a giant stylised falcon head shape ending with a sharp beak tip where the Space Jockey's telescope eyepiece would be, and on the barque itself, this is where a small falcon head would be found.


 
Early drawing of the Space Jockey , work 340c,  for Alien by HR Giger (1978)
(source Giger's Alien , p39)
 

Enlargement of detail


 
d.iii) On the final painting, the space jockey's visor in conjunction with the shape of his helmet provides a stylised falcon like representation when rotated to the left
 
space jockey and visor become stylised falcon head
 
 
 
 


 
 
f) Von Dänikenisation
This process of using a strange ritual image left behind from an ancient civilisation and re-imagining it as an alien in its pilot seat can be said to be cheekily labeled as "Von Dänikenisation" as if inspired by Erich Von Däniken's idea that the sarcophagus lid of the Tomb of Pakal, depicted an astronaut in a rocket ship cockpit.  

 See:  Inspired by "Erich Von Däniken?"

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