I know that there are different historical periods of art in which certain styles come in and out of popularity, but why does it seem like all ancient Egyptian art is done in the exact same style for all of its history?
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this is not as true as it appears to be, because most of the art we have from ancient Egypt (especially the well-preserved stuff that still looks mostly like it used to) is from very late in Egyptian history. but there is still a decent bit of similarity.
the best analogy I can think of is Washington, D.C. if you look at the most important governmental buildings in the US, they all look neoclassical; they are designed to look as if they might be standing on the acropolis next to the Parthenon. this is because we here in America see political legitimacy as inherently tied to democracy (and the people who invented it). this also means that, on some level, we think that political legitimacy looks like Athens and Rome.
in the same way, ancient Egyptians thought that political legitimacy looks like Pharaohs. Even when there were foreign conquerors, they had to put on the Pharaoh outfit in order to rule. There are stories of the Macedonian 33rd Dynasty, in the second century BC, where Ptolemy the VI wore a traditional Greek diadem outside of Egypt. However, when he was in Egypt, he had to wear the double crown of Menes. That crown, symbolizing the union of Upper and Lower Egypt, had first been created 3000 years before. The crown, the hieroglyphics, the pyramids, these were all fashion statements. Unlike modern fashion, which usually seeks to be new and innovative, Pharaonic fashion strove towards continuity and consistency.
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