The Egyptian and Greek cultures made significant contributions to western art and culture. The Egyptians introduced idealized sculpture, while the Greeks perfected the human image. The two culture's history, geography, and philosophy all caused the difference in contribution.
The history of the Egyptian and Greek cultures certainly directed the development of art and culture. Egyptian culture, being the oldest of the two, existed around 1500 BC. The Egyptian culture was, was of course, one of the first and had to answer many basic questions with its arts. For instance, how was Egypt unified, who is the responsible leader, and what happens after death. Egyptian art attempts to answer these questions with idealized figures. For example, the Palette of Narmer is a carving of low relief that depicts the unification of Egypt under King Narmer. The carvings are not realistic representations, but the story is told. In Egyptian art, the human figure that is the largest is the more powerful. Egyptians also made statues to be placed in burial sites so that if the physical body did not survive death, the statues could hold the dead person's soul. The Greek culture existed around 600 BC. The Greeks had inherited much of the Egyptian cultural contributions. Greece's history of being a stable and powerful society on the Aegean Sea, enabled it to specialize and perfect the human sculpture such as with the Kouros.
The geography of the two cultures also influenced their artistic and cultural contributions. Egypt was founded on the Nile. With the rise and fall of the Nile, came fertile soil, via flooding. Egyptian culture adapted to this way of life and represented the Nile in much of its art, such as the Onk. Greece's geography of mainland Aegean provided for the agriculture of the olive tree. The explanation for the Greeks was that the olive tree was a gift from Athena. To honor Athena, many statues were made of her, perfecting the female figure such as the Athena statue in the Parthenon, by Phidias.