Ancient Egypt was a civilization in eastern North Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern nation of Egypt. A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. The civilization began around 3150 BC[1] with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh, and it developed over the next three millennia. Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions known as Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods [2] Its history occurred in a series of stable periods, known as kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as Intermediate Periods. The History of Ancient Egypt spans the period from the early predynastic settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the Roman conquest in 30 After the end of the last kingdom, known as the New Kingdom, the civilization of ancient Egypt entered a period of slow, steady decline, during which Egypt was conquered by a succession of foreign powers. The New Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in Ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and The rule of the pharaohs officially ended in 31 BC when the early Roman Empire conquered Egypt and made it a province. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra [3]
The civilization of ancient Egypt thrived from its adaptation to the conditions of the Nile River Valley. The Nile (النيل, Ancient Egyptian iteru or Ḥ'pī, Coptic piaro or phiaro) is a major north-flowing River Controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which fueled social development and culture. Irrigation is an artificial application of water to the soil usually for assisting in growing crops With resources to spare, the administration sponsored mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions, the early development of an independent writing system, the organization of collective construction and agricultural projects, trade with surrounding regions, and a military that defeated foreign enemies and asserted Egyptian dominance. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek The Ancient Egyptians were a people who lived in northeastern Africa from about 3150 BC to 31 BC The civilization stretched from the Nile Delta to Jebel Barkal Motivating and organizing these activities was a bureaucracy of elite scribes, religious leaders, and administrators under the control of a divine pharaoh who ensured the cooperation and unity of the Egyptian people through an elaborate system of religious beliefs. Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Egypt from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity [4][5]
The many achievements of the ancient Egyptians included a system of mathematics, quarrying, surveying and construction techniques that facilitated the building of monumental pyramids, temples and obelisks, faience and glass technology, a practical and effective system of medicine, new forms of literature, irrigation systems and agricultural production techniques, and the earliest known peace treaty. Egyptian mathematics refers to the style and methods of Mathematics performed in Ancient Egypt. A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or Minerals are extracted The Egyptian pyramids are pyramid shaped structures located in Egypt, and were built as a tomb for dead pharaohs For the architectural material see Glazed architectural terra-cotta. Ancient Egyptian Medicine refers to the practices of healing common in Ancient Egypt from Circa 3300 BC until the Persian Ancient Egyptian literature comprises texts written in the Egyptian language during the pharaonic period of Egypt. [6] Egypt left a lasting legacy: art and architecture were copied and antiquities paraded around the world, and monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of tourists and writers for centuries. Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of painting sculpture crafts and architecture developed by the Civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 The Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential Civilizations which developed a vast array of diverse structures encompassing Ancient Egyptian A newfound respect for antiquities and excavations in the early modern period led to the scientific investigation of Egyptian civilization and a greater appreciation of its cultural legacy for Egypt and the world. Egyptology (from Egypt and Greek grc -λογία -logia. علم المصريات مصر شناسی is a major field of Archaeology [7]
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History
By the late Paleolithic period, the arid climate of northern Africa had become increasingly hot and dry, forcing the populations of the area to concentrate along the Nile valley, and since nomadic hunter-gatherers began living in the region during the Pleistocene some 1. The History of Ancient Egypt spans the period from the early predynastic settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the Roman conquest in 30 The Predynastic Period of Egypt (prior to 3100 BC is traditionally the period between the Early Neolithic and the beginning of the Pharaonic monarchy beginning with King The Protodynastic Period of Egypt (generally dated 3200 BC - 3000 BC) refers to the period of time at the very end of the Predynastic Period. The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement The First Intermediate Period is the name conventionally given by Egyptologists to that period in Ancient Egyptian history between the end of the Old The Middle Kingdom is the period in the history of Ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty The Second Intermediate Period marks a period when Ancient Egypt once again fell into disarray between the end of the Middle Kingdom, and the start of the New The New Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in Ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and The Third Intermediate Period refers to the time in Ancient Egypt from the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 BC to the foundation of the The Late Period of Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family The History of Ancient Egypt spans the period from the early predynastic settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the Roman conquest in 30 The history of Egypt is the longest continuous history as a unified state of any country in the world The term Paleolithic (or Palaeolithic) (from Greek παλαιός palaios, " Old " and λίθος Lithos, "stone" 8 million years ago, the Nile has been the lifeline of Egypt. [8] The fertile floodplain of the Nile gave humans the opportunity to develop a settled agricultural economy and a more sophisticated, centralized society that became a cornerstone in the history of human civilization. [9]
Predynastic Period
By about 5500 BC, small tribes living in the Nile valley had developed into a series of unique cultures demonstrating firm control of agriculture and animal husbandry. Animal husbandry, also called Animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding The earliest were established in Lower Egypt at el-Omari, Merimda, and in the Faiyum. Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Helwan, also spelled Hilwan or Hulwan or Holwan, is a place in Egypt on the bank of the Nile river opposite the ruins of Memphis Faiyum ( Arabic: الفيوم Coptic:) is a city in Middle Egypt and the capital of the Faiyum Governorate. At the intersection of routes from the Sahara, the Nile valley, and the Near East, the Faiyum Neolithic culture displayed characteristics of each and was noted for advanced stone tools which shaped the prehistoric lithic industry in Egypt. The Ancient Near East refers to early Civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq The Neolithic (from Greek νεολιθικός — neolithikos from νέος neos, "new" + λίθος lithos In Archeology, lithic technology refers to a broad array of techniques and styles to produce usable tools from various types of stone [10][11] Merimda was one of the largest northern communities, and was unique for its sophisticated forms of vases and pottery ring-stands and ladles, and the stone maceheads that became popular during the Old Kingdom. [12]
The earliest cultures in southern Egypt, the Badari, were established a few centuries after their northern counterparts. The Badarian culture provides the earliest direct evidence of agriculture in Upper Egypt. Contemporaneous with the Maadi, Buto and Heliopolitan cultures to the north,[13] the Badari culture was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools, and its use of copper. Maadi (معادي el-Ma‛adi) is a wealthy Suburb south of Cairo, Egypt. Buto or Butos or Butosos ( Greek:, Herod ii 59 63 155, Steph B Heliopolis (or On) ( Greek: or) meaning sun-city was one of the most ancient cities of Egypt, and capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome The Badarian culture provides the earliest direct evidence of agriculture in Upper Egypt. [14] Badarian burials, simple pit graves with signs of social stratification, suggest that the culture was coming under the control of more powerful leaders. [15] In the north, Maadian pottery was occasionally decorated with birds and serekhs bearing the first Horus names, a sign of increasing cultural sophistication. The serekh (ser-ik is a stylised rectangle which contained the Horus name of ancient Egyptian Pharaohs (they had five regal names each) The royal titulary or royal protocol of an Egyptian Pharaoh is the standard naming convention taken by the kings of Ancient Egypt [16] Maadi was also the main source of basalt vessels, whose distribution becomes more widespread in the south after northern Egypt falls under the control of the Upper Egyptian rulers. [17]
In the south, the Naqada culture gradually developed into a civilization along the Nile by about 4000 BC. This article is about the Egyptian village See also Naqahdah for the fictional element from the Stargate setting It had power centers at Nekhen and Abydos and it expanded its control of Egypt northwards. Hieraconpolis redirects here for the ancient fortress in Egypt called Hieracon see Hieracon Nekhen, ( Greek:, Strabo xvii Abydos ( Egyptian Abdju, 3bdw, Arabic: أبيدوس Greek Αβυδος one of the most ancient cities of [18] The people of Naqada manufactured painted pottery, high quality decorative stone vases, cosmetic palettes, and jewelry made of gold, lapis, and ivory. They also engaged in trade with Nubia, the oases of the western desert, and the Levant. This article is about the region in Africa for other uses see Nubia (disambiguation. See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the [19] Naqada developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. Egyptian faience is a non-clay ceramic displaying surface vitrification which creates a bright blue-green luster [20] During the last phase of the predynastic, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that evolved into a full system of hieroglyphs for writing the Egyptian language. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek Egyptian is an Afro-Asiatic language most closely related to the Berber, Semitic, Somali and Beja languages [21]
Early Dynastic Period
The ancient Egyptians chose to begin their official history with a king named "Meni" (or Menes in Greek) who they believed had united the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt. Menes is the name of the Egyptian Pharaoh credited with founding the First dynasty, sometime around 3100 BC Upper Egypt (صعيد مصر Sa'id Misr) is a narrow strip of land that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan to the area between Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet [23] The transition to a unified state actually happened more gradually than the ancient Egyptian writers would have us believe, and there is no contemporary record of Menes. Scholars now believe, however, that the mythical Menes may have actually been the pharaoh Narmer, who is depicted wearing royal regalia on the ceremonial Narmer Palette in a symbolic act of unification. Narmer was an Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled in the 31st century BC. The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find dating from [24] The third century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs following Menes into 30 dynasties, a system still in use today. Manetho (or Manethon) was an Egyptian Historian and Priest from Sebennytos ( Ancient Egyptian: Tjebnutjer) who [25]
In the Early Dynastic Period about 3150 BC, the first pharaohs solidified their control over lower Egypt by establishing a capital at Memphis, from which they could control the labor force and agriculture of the fertile delta region as well as the lucrative and critical trade routes to the Levant. Memphis was the ancient capitol of the first nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and The increasing power and wealth of the pharaohs during the early dynastic period was reflected in their elaborate mastaba tombs and mortuary cult structures at Abydos, which were used to celebrate the deified pharaoh after his death. A mastaba was a flat-roofed rectangular building with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period. [26] The strong institution of kingship developed by the pharaohs served to legitimize state control over the land, labor, and resources that were essential to the survival and growth of ancient Egyptian civilization. [27]
Old Kingdom
Stunning advances in architecture, art, and technology were made during the Old Kingdom, fueled by the increased agricultural productivity made possible by a well developed central administration. Menkaura (or Men-Kau-Re Mycerinus in Latin; Mykerinos in Greek) was a Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt (c [28] Under the direction of the vizier, state officials collected taxes, coordinated irrigation projects to improve crop yield, drafted peasants to work on construction projects, and established a justice system to maintain peace and order. A Vizier ( - wazīr) (sometimes also spelled Vazir Vizir Vasir Wazir Vesir, or Vezir - grammatical vowel changes are common in many western Asian [29] With the surplus resources made available by a productive and stable economy, the state was able to sponsor construction of colossal monuments and to commission exceptional works of art from the royal workshops. The pyramids built by Djoser, Khufu, and their descendants are the most memorable symbols of ancient Egyptian civilization, and power of the pharaohs that controlled it. Netjerikhet or Djoser ( Turin King List "Dsr-it" Manetho "Tosarthros" is the best-known Pharaoh of the Third dynasty Khufu (in Greek known as Χέωψ Cheops; ˈkiɑps was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt 's Old Kingdom.
Along with the rising importance of a central administration arose a new class of educated scribes and officials who were granted estates by the pharaoh in payment for their services. Pharaohs also made land grants to their mortuary cults and local temples to ensure that these institutions would have the necessary resources to worship the pharaoh after his death. By the end of the Old Kingdom, five centuries of these feudal practices had slowly eroded the economic power of the pharaoh, who could no longer afford to support a large centralized administration. [30] As the power of the pharaoh diminished, regional governors called nomarchs began to challenge the supremacy of the pharaoh. Nomarchs were the semi- Feudal rulers of Ancient Egyptian provinces This, coupled with severe droughts between 2200 and 2150 BC,[31] ultimately caused the country to enter a 140-year period of famine and strife known as the First Intermediate Period. The 42 kiloyear BP aridification event was one of the most severe climatic events of the Holocene period in terms of impact on cultural upheaval [32]
First Intermediate Period
After Egypt's central government collapsed at the end of the Old Kingdom, the administration could no longer support or stabilize the country's economy. Regional governors could not rely on the king for help in times of crisis, and the ensuing food shortages and political disputes escalated into famines and small-scale civil wars. Yet despite difficult problems, local leaders, owing no tribute to the pharaoh, used their newfound independence to establish a thriving culture in the provinces. Once in control of their own resources, the provinces became economically richer—a fact demonstrated by larger and better burials among all social classes. [33] In bursts of creativity, provincial artisans adopted and adapted cultural motifs formerly restricted to the royalty of the Old Kingdom, and scribes developed literary styles that expressed the optimism and originality of the period. [34]
Free from their loyalties to the pharaoh, local rulers began competing with each other for territorial control and political power. By 2160 BC, rulers in Hierakonpolis controlled Lower Egypt, while a rival clan based in Thebes, the Intef family, took control of Upper Egypt. Thebes ( Thēbai) was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean on the east bank of the river Nile ( Intef I was a local Egyptian ruler at Thebes, and a member of the Eleventh dynasty during the First Intermediate Period. As the Intefs grew in power and expanded their control northward, a clash between the two rival dynasties became inevitable. Around 2055 BC the Theban forces under Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II finally defeated the Herakleopolitan rulers, reuniting the Two Lands and inaugurating a period of economic and cultural renaissance known as the Middle Kingdom. Nebhotepre Mentuhotep II (2046 BC &ndash 1995 BC was a Pharaoh of the 11th dynasty, the son of Intef III of Egypt and a minor queen called Iah [35]
Middle Kingdom
The pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom restored the country's prosperity and stability, thereby stimulating a resurgence of art, literature, and monumental building projects. [36] Mentuhotep II and his 11th Dynasty successors ruled from Thebes, but the vizier Amenemhet I, upon assuming kingship at the beginning of the 12th Dynasty around 1985 BC, shifted the nation's capital to the city of Itjtawy located in Faiyum. Amenemhat I, also Amenemhet I, was the first ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty (the dynasty debated to be the beginning of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt) Itjtawy (full Egyptian name Amenemhat-itj-tawy &mdash "Amenemhat &ndash the Seizer of the Two Lands" is the as-yet unidentified location of the royal The Faiyum Oasis is a distinctive region with character between the main Nile Valley and other desert oases. [37] From Itjtawy, the pharaohs of the 12th Dynasty undertook a far-sighted land reclamation and irrigation scheme to increase agricultural output in the region. Moreover, the military reconquered territory in Nubia rich in quarries and gold mines, while laborers built a defensive structure in the Eastern Delta, called the "Walls-of-the-Ruler", to defend against foreign attack. The Walls-of-the-Ruler was a fortification or possibly a whole string of them built by Amenemhat I in the 14th Nome of Lower Egypt to protect the eastern [38]
Having secured military and political security and vast agricultural and mineral wealth, the nation's population, arts, and religion flourished. In contrast to elitist Old Kingdom attitudes towards the gods, the Middle Kingdom experienced an increase in expressions of personal piety and what could be called a democratization of the afterlife, in which all people possessed a soul and could be welcomed into the company of the gods after death. Democratization ( British English: Democratisation) is the transition to a more democratic Political regime. [39] Middle Kingdom literature featured sophisticated themes and characters written in a confident, eloquent style,[34] and the relief and portrait sculpture of the period captured subtle, individual details that reached new heights of technical perfection. A relief is a Sculptured Artwork where a modeled form is raised (or alternatively lowered from a flattened background without being disconnected from it [40]
The last great ruler of the Middle Kingdom, Amenemhat III, allowed Asiatic settlers into the delta region to provide a sufficient labor force for his especially active mining and building campaigns. Amenemhat III, alt Amenemhet III, (c 1860 BC-1814 BC was a Pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. These ambitious building and mining activities, however, combined with inadequate Nile floods later in his reign, strained the economy and precipitated the slow decline into the Second Intermediate Period during the later 13th and 14th dynasties. Flooding of the Nile is an important cycle in Egypt. It is celebrated by Egyptians as an annual holiday for Two weeks starting During this decline, the foreign Asiatic settlers began to seize control of the delta region, eventually coming to power in Egypt as the Hyksos. The Hyksos ( Egyptian heqa khasewet, "foreign rulers" Greek,, Arabic,) were an Asiatic people who invaded the eastern Nile [41]
Second Intermediate Period and the Hyksos
Around 1650 BC, as the power of the Middle Kingdom pharaohs weakened, Asiatic immigrants living in the Eastern Delta town of Avaris seized control of the region and forced the central government to retreat to Thebes, where the pharaoh was treated as a vassal and expected to pay tribute. Avaris ( Egyptian: ħt wʕrt Hatwaret, Greek: αυαρις Auaris) located at Tell ed-Dab'a, was the ancient capital of the [42] The Hyksos ("foreign rulers") imitated Egyptian models of government and portrayed themselves as pharaohs, thus integrating Egyptian elements into their Middle Bronze Age culture. The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced Metalworking (at least in systematic and widespread use included techniques for [43]
After their retreat, the Theban kings found themselves trapped between the Hyksos to the north and the Hyksos' Nubian allies, the Kushites, to the south. Kush civilization centered in the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, and the confluence of the River Atbara and Nile in what Nearly 100 years of tenuous inaction followed, and it was not until 1555 BC that the Theban forces gathered enough strength to challenge the Hyksos in a conflict that would last more than 30 years. [42] The pharaohs Seqenenre Tao II and Kamose were ultimately able to defeat the Nubians, but it was Kamose's successor, Ahmose I, who successfully waged a series of campaigns that permanently eradicated the Hyksos' presence in Egypt. Seqenenre Tao II, (also Sekenenra Taa called The Brave, ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the Kamose was the last king of the Theban Seventeenth Dynasty. He was probably the son of Sekenenra Tao II and Ahhotep I and the full brother See Amasis II for the 26th Dynasty pharaoh whose name sometimes appears as Ahmose II In the New Kingdom that followed, the military became a central priority for the pharaohs seeking to expand Egypt’s borders and secure her complete dominance of the Near East. B Syria - Belka Woman from Damascus Arab from Baghdadjpg|thumb|Inhabitants of the Near East late nineteenth century [44]
New Kingdom
The New Kingdom pharaohs established a period of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbors. Military campaigns waged under Tuthmosis I and his grandson Tuthmosis III extended the influence of the pharaohs into Syria and Nubia, cementing loyalties and opening access to critical imports such as bronze and wood. Thutmose I (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis I) was the third Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Thutmose III (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis III and meaning Thoth is Born) was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Bronze is any of a broad range of Copper alloys, usually with Tin as the main additive but sometimes with other elements such as Phosphorus [45] The New Kingdom pharaohs began a large-scale building campaign to promote the god Amun, whose growing cult was based in Karnak. Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples chapels pylons and other buildings They also constructed monuments to glorify their own achievements, both real and imagined. The female pharaoh Hatshepsut used such propaganda to legitimize her claim to the throne. Hatshepsut (or Hatchepsut, hætˈʃɛpsʊt meaning Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth Pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of [46] Her successful reign was marked by trading expeditions to Punt, an elegant mortuary temple, a colossal pair of obelisks and a chapel at Karnak. See also Puntland The Land of Punt, also called "Pwenet" by the Ancient Egyptians at times synonymous with Ta netjer, the 'land of Despite her achievements, Hatshepsut's nephew-stepson Tuthmosis III sought to erase her legacy near the end of his reign, possibly in retaliation for usurping his throne. [47]
Around 1350 BC, the stability of the New Kingdom was threatened when Amenhotep IV unexpectedly ascended the throne and instituted a series of radical and chaotic reforms. Changing his name to Akhenaten, he touted the previously obscure sun god Aten as the supreme deity, suppressed the worship of other deities, and attacked the power of the priestly establishment. Akhenaten (often alt: Akhnaten, or rarely Ikhnaton) (In English ˌɑkəˡnɑtən or approximately "AHK-en-AHT-en" his royal name Amenhotep Alternative use the Aten asteroids named after 2062 Aten Aten (or Aton was the disk of the Sun in ancient Egyptian [48] Moving the capital to the new city of Akhetaten (modern-day Amarna), Akhenaten turned a deaf ear to foreign affairs and absorbed himself in his new religion and artistic style. The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly as Tel el-Amarna; see below ( Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnah) is located After his death, the cult of the Aten was quickly abandoned, and the subsequent pharaohs Tutankhamun, Aye, and Horemheb quietly erased all mention of Akhenaten's heresy, now known as the Amarna Period. Aye is a tiny village located near Marche-en-Famenne in Belgium. Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt 's 18th Dynasty from 1319 BC to late 1292 BC The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly as Tel el-Amarna; see below ( Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnah) is located [49]
The 18th Dynasty ended when its last three kings—Tutankhamun, Aye, and Horemheb—all died without an heir. Ramesses II, also known as Ramesses the Great, ascended the throne around 1279 BC at the age of 18 and built more temples, erected more statues and obelisks, and sired more children than any other pharaoh in history. [50] A bold military leader, Ramesses II led his army against the Hittites in the Battle of Kadesh and, after fighting to a stalemate, finally agreed to the first recorded peace treaty around 1258 BC. The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established } The Battle of Kadesh (also Qadesh) took place between the forces of the Egyptian Empire under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under [51] Egypt's wealth, however, made it a tempting target for invasion, particularly by the Libyans and the Sea Peoples. Ancient Libya was the region west of the Nile Valley. It corresponds to what is now generally called Northwest Africa. The Sea Peoples is the term used for a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, caused political Initially, the military was able to repel these invasions, but Egypt eventually lost control of Syria and Palestine. The impact of external threats was exacerbated by internal problems such as corruption, tomb robbery and civil unrest. The high priests at the temple of Amun in Thebes accumulated vast tracts of land and wealth, and their growing power splintered the country during the Third Intermediate Period. The Precinct of Amun-Re, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main enclosed areas that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. [52]
Third Intermediate Period
Following the death of Ramesses XI in 1078 BC, Smendes assumed authority over the northern part of Egypt, ruling from the city of Tanis. Ramesses XI (also written Ramses and Rameses) reigned from 1107 BC to 1078 BC or 1077 BC and was the tenth and final king of the Twentieth dynasty of Egypt Hedjkheperre Setepenre Smendes was the founder of the Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt and succeeded to the throne after burying Ramesses XI in Lower Egypt &ndash Tanis (Τάνις the Greek name of ancient Djanet (modern صان الحجر Ṣān al-Ḥaǧar) is a city in the north-eastern Nile delta The south was effectively controlled by the High Priests of Amun at Thebes, who recognized Smendes in name only. [53] During this time, Libyans had been settling in the western delta, and chieftains of these settlers began increasing their autonomy. Libyan princes took control of the delta under Shoshenq I in 945, founding the so-called Libyan or Bubastite dynasty that would rule for some 200 years. Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I ( Egyptian ššnq) also known as Shishak, Sheshonk or Sheshonq I (for discussion of the spelling Sheshonq also gained control of southern Egypt by placing his family members in important priestly positions. Libyan control began to erode as a rival dynasty in the delta arose in Leontopolis, and Kushites threatened from the south. This article is about the large ancient city of Lower Egypt for other uses of Leontopolis see Leontopolis (disambiguation Leontopolis ( Cushi ( Kushi) is a Hebrew term generally used to refer to a dark skinned person usually of African Descent and is very similar in its usage Around 727 BC the Kushite king Piye invaded northward, seizing control of Thebes and eventually the Delta. Piye, (whose name was once transliterated as Piankhi) (d 721 BC was a Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt [54]
Egypt's far-reaching prestige declined considerably toward the end of the Third Intermediate Period. Its foreign allies had fallen under the Assyrian sphere of influence, and by 700 BC war between the two states became inevitable. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Between 671 and 667 BC the Assyrians began their attack on Egypt. The reigns of both Taharqa and his successor, Tanutamun, were filled with constant conflict with the Assyrians, against whom Egypt enjoyed several victories. Taharqa was pharaoh of Egypt, and a member of the Nubian or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt. Tantamani (Assyrian pronunciation identical to Tandaname or Tanwetamani ( Egyptian) or Tementhes (Greek (d Ultimately, the Assyrians pushed the Kushites back into Nubia, occupied Memphis, and sacked the temples of Thebes. [55]
Late Period
With no permanent plans for conquest, the Assyrians left control of Egypt to a series of vassals who became known as the Saite kings of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. The Saite or Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest (although others followed and had its capital at By 653 BC, the Saite king Psamtik I was able to oust the Assyrians with the help of Greek mercenaries, who were recruited to form Egypt's first navy. Greek influence expanded greatly as the city of Naukratis became the home of Greeks in the delta. Naucratis or Naukratis, (Ναύκρατις loosely translated as "(the city that wields power over ships" (Piemro in Egyptian, now Kom Gieif was a The Saite kings based in the new capital of Sais witnessed a brief but spirited resurgence in the economy and culture, but in 525 BC, the powerful Persians, led by Cambyses II, began their conquest of Egypt, eventually capturing the pharaoh Psamtik III at the battle of Pelusium. Pelusium was a city in the eastern extremes of Egypt 's Nile Delta, 30 km to the southeast of the modern Port Said. Cambyses II then assumed the formal title of pharaoh, but ruled Egypt from his home of Susa, leaving Egypt under the control of a satrapy. Susa ( Biblical שושן ( Shushan) also Greek: Σοῦσα Transliterated as Sousa; Latin Susa) A few successful revolts against the Persians marked the 5th century BC, but Egypt was never able to permanently overthrow the Persians. [56]
Following its annexation by Persia, Egypt was joined with Cyprus and Phoenicia in the sixth satrapy of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun See also the related deity Satrapes. Satrap (Persian ساتراپ was the name given to the governors of the Provinces of ancient The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of This first period of Persian rule over Egypt, also known as the Twenty-Seventh dynasty, ended in 402 BC, and from 380–343 BC the Thirtieth Dynasty ruled as the last native royal house of dynastic Egypt, which ended with the kingship of Nectanebo II. The Thirtieth Dynasty of ancient Egypt followed Nectanebo I 's deposition of Nefaarud II, the son of Hakor. Nectanebo II (ruled 360 - 343 BC also known by the name Nakhthoreb, was the third and last king of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt and also the last native A brief restoration of Persian rule, sometimes known as the Thirty-First Dynasty, began in 343 BC, but shortly after, in 332 BC, the Persian ruler Mazaces handed Egypt over to Alexander the Great without a fight. The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire ( haχɒmaneʃijɒn (558–330 BC was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' [57]
Ptolemaic Dynasty
In 332 BC, Alexander III of Macedon conquered Egypt with little resistance from the Persians and was welcomed by the Egyptians as a deliverer. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most The Greek government established by Alexander's successors, the Ptolemies, was based on an Egyptian model and based in the new capital city of Alexandria. Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια The city was to showcase the power and prestige of Greek rule, and became a seat of learning and culture, centered at the famous Library of Alexandria. The Royal Library of Alexandria or Ancient Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was once the largest library in the ancient world [58] The Lighthouse of Alexandria lit the way for the many ships, which kept trade flowing through the city, as the Ptolemies made commerce and revenue-generating enterprises, such as papyrus manufacturing, their top priority. The lighthouse of Alexandria (or The Pharos of Alexandria, Greek:) was a tower built in the 3rd century BC (between 285 and 247 BC on the Island [59]
Greek culture did not supplant native Egyptian culture, as the Ptolemies supported time-honored traditions in an effort to secure the loyalty of the populace. They built new temples in Egyptian style, supported traditional cults, and portrayed themselves as pharaohs. Some traditions merged, as Greek and Egyptian gods were syncretized into composite deities, such as Serapis, and classical Greek forms of sculpture influenced traditional Egyptian motifs. Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contradictory beliefs often while melding practices of various schools of thought Serapis (Latin spelling or Sarapis in Greek was a syncretic Hellenistic - Egyptian god in Antiquity. Despite their efforts to appease the Egyptians, the Ptolemies were challenged by native rebellion, bitter family rivalries, and the powerful mob of Alexandria which had formed following the death of Ptolemy IV. Ptolemy IV Philopator ( Greek:, Ptolemaĩos Philopátōr, reigned 221-205 BC son of Ptolemy III and Berenice II of Egypt was [60] In addition, as Rome relied more heavily on imports of grain from Egypt, the Romans took great interest in the political situation in the country. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Continued Egyptian revolting, ambitious politicians, and powerful Syrian opponents made this situation unstable, leading Rome to send forces to secure the country as a province of its empire. [61]
Roman domination
Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 BC, following the defeat of Marc Antony and Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII by Octavian (later Emperor Augustus) in the Battle of Actium. Ægyptus redirects here See Egypt Province for the province of the Ottoman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Marcus Antonius (in Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N ( c January 14 83 BC&ndash August 1, 30 BC known in English as Mark Ptolemaic Egypt began when Ptolemy I Soter declared himself Pharaoh of Egypt in 305 BC and ended with the death of queen Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator (in Greek, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ; January 69 BC &ndash 30 BC was a Hellenistic ruler of Egypt Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC The Battle of Actium was the decisive engagement in the Final War of the Roman Republic between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony The Romans relied heavily on grain shipments from Egypt, and the Roman army, under the control of a prefect appointed by the Emperor, quelled rebellions, strictly enforced the collection of heavy taxes, and prevented attacks by bandits, which had become a notorious problem during the period. [62] Alexandria became an increasingly important center on the trade route with the orient, as exotic luxuries were in high demand in Rome. [63]
Although the Romans had a more hostile attitude towards the Egyptians than the Greeks, some traditions such as mummification and worship of the traditional gods continued. [64] The art of mummy portraiture flourished, and some of the Roman emperors had themselves depicted as pharaohs, though not to the extent that the Ptolemies had. Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy portraits (also Faiyum mummy portraits) is the modern term for a type of realistic painted Portraits on wooden boards The former lived outside Egypt and did not perform the ceremonial functions of Egyptian kingship. Local administration became Roman in style and closed to native Egyptians. This article is about the contemporary North African ethnic group [64]
From the mid-first century AD, Christianity took root in Alexandria and spread. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings Incompatible with paganism, Christianity sought to win converts and threatened popular religious traditions. This led to persecution of converts to Christianity, culminating in the great purges of Diocletian starting in 303 AD, but eventually Christianity won out. Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus ( ca. December 22 244 The modern historian Timothy Barnes takes December 22 as his birthdate [65] As a consequence, Egypt's pagan culture was continually in decline. While the native population continued to speak their language, the ability to read hieroglyphic writing slowly disappeared as the role of the Egyptian temple priests and priestesses diminished. Egyptian is an Afro-Asiatic language most closely related to the Berber, Semitic, Somali and Beja languages Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek The temples themselves were sometimes converted to churches or abandoned to the desert. [66]
Government and economy
Administration and commerce
The pharaoh was the absolute monarch of the country and, at least in theory, wielded complete control of the land and its resources. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods The king was also the supreme military commander, who relied on a bureaucracy of officials to manage his affairs. In charge of the administration was his second in command, the vizier, who acted as the king's representative and coordinated land surveys, the treasury, building projects, the legal system, and the archives. A Vizier ( - wazīr) (sometimes also spelled Vazir Vizir Vasir Wazir Vesir, or Vezir - grammatical vowel changes are common in many western Asian [67] At a local level, the country was divided into as many as 42 administrative regions called nomes each governed by a nomarch, who was accountable to the vizier for his jurisdiction. A nome (from Νομός “district” was a subnational administrative division of Ancient Egypt. Nomarchs were the semi- Feudal rulers of Ancient Egyptian provinces The temples formed the backbone of the economy. Not only were they houses of worship, but were also responsible for collecting and storing the nation's wealth in a system of granaries and treasuries administered by overseers, who distributed grain and goods to the populace. A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or Animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries Pottery is the most [68]
Much of the economy was centrally organized and strictly controlled. Although the ancient Egyptians did not use coinage until the Late period, they did use a type of money-barter system,[69] with standard sacks of grain and the deben, a weight of roughly 91 grams (3 oz) of copper or silver, forming a common denominator. A currency is a unit of exchange, facilitating the transfer of Goods and/or services It is one form of Money, where money is The Late Period of Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian The deben was an ancient Egyptian weight unit Old and Middle Kingdom Stone weights from the Old Kingdom have been found weighing about 13 [70] Workers were paid in grain; a simple laborer might earn 5½ sacks (200 kg or 400 lb) of grain per month, while a foreman might earn 7½ sacks (250 kg or 550 lb). Prices were fixed across the country and recorded in lists to facilitate trading; for example a shirt cost five copper deben, while a cow cost 140 deben. [70] Grain could be traded for other goods, according to the fixed price list. [70] During the 5th century BC coined money was introduced into Egypt from abroad. At first the coins were used as standardized pieces of precious metal rather than true money, but in the following centuries international traders came to rely on coinage. [71]
Social status
Egyptian society was highly stratified, and social status was expressly displayed. Farmers made up the bulk of the population, but agricultural produce was owned directly by the state, temple, or noble family that owned the land. [72] Farmers were also subject to a labor tax and were required to work on irrigation or construction projects in a corvée system. Corvée is labour often but not always unpaid that persons in power have authority to compel their subjects to perform unless commuted in some way such as by a cash payment sometimes this was [73] Artists and craftsmen were of higher status than farmers, but they were also under state control, working in the shops attached to the temples and paid directly from the state treasury. Scribes and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, the so-called "white kilt class" in reference to the bleached linen garments that served as a mark of their rank. Scribes is a programmers' text editor for GNOME with a simple design [74] The upper class prominently displayed their social status in art and literature. Below the nobility were the priests, physicians, and engineers with specialized training in their field. Slavery was known in ancient Egypt, but the extent and prevalence of its practice are unclear. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another [75]
The ancient Egyptians viewed men and women, including people from all social classes except slaves, as essentially equal under the law, and even the lowliest peasant was entitled to petition the vizier and his court for redress. A Vizier ( - wazīr) (sometimes also spelled Vazir Vizir Vasir Wazir Vesir, or Vezir - grammatical vowel changes are common in many western Asian [76] Both men and women had the right to own and sell property, make contracts, marry and divorce, receive inheritance, and pursue legal disputes in court. Married couples could own property jointly and protect themselves from divorce by agreeing to marriage contracts, which stipulated the financial obligations of the husband to his wife and children should the marriage end. Compared with their counterparts in ancient Greece, Rome, and even more modern places around the world, ancient Egyptian women had a greater range of personal choices and opportunities for achievement. Women such as Hatshepsut and Cleopatra even became pharaohs, while others wielded power as Divine Wives of Amun. God's Wife of Amun ( Egyptian: ḥmt nṯr n ỉmn) was the highest ranking Priestess of the Amun cult an important Ancient Egyptian Despite these freedoms, ancient Egyptian women did not take part in official roles in the administration, served only secondary roles in the temples, and were not as likely to be as educated as men. [76]
Legal system
The head of the legal system was officially the pharaoh, who was responsible for enacting laws, delivering justice, and maintaining law and order, a concept the ancient Egyptians referred to as Ma'at. Maat or Mayet, thought to have been pronounced as *Muʔʕat (Muh-aht was the Ancient Egyptian concept of Truth, balance order— Law [67] Although no legal codes from ancient Egypt survive, court documents show that Egyptian law was based on a common-sense view of right and wrong that emphasized reaching agreements and resolving conflicts rather than strictly adhering to a complicated set of statutes. [76] Local councils of elders, known as Kenbet in the New Kingdom, were responsible for ruling in court cases involving small claims and minor disputes. [67] More serious cases involving murder, major land transactions, and tomb robbery were referred to the Great Kenbet, over which the vizier or pharaoh presided. Plaintiffs and defendants were expected to represent themselves and were required to swear an oath that they had told the truth. In some cases, the state took on both the role of prosecutor and judge, and it could torture the accused with beatings to obtain a confession and the names of any co-conspirators. Whether the charges were trivial or serious, court scribes documented the complaint, testimony, and verdict of the case for future reference. [77]
Punishment for minor crimes involved either imposition of fines, beatings, facial mutilation, or exile, depending on the severity of the offense. Serious crimes such as murder and tomb robbery were punished by execution, carried out by decapitation, drowning, or impaling the criminal on a stake. Punishment could also be extended to the criminal's family. [67] Beginning in the New Kingdom, oracles played a major role in the legal system, dispensing justice in both civil and criminal cases. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature The procedure was to ask the god a "yes" or "no" question concerning the right or wrong of an issue. The god, carried by a number of priests, rendered judgment by choosing one or the other, moving forward or backward, or pointing to one of the answers written on a piece of papyrus or an ostracon. An ostracon ( Greek: ostrakon, plural ostraka) is a piece of Pottery (or stone usually broken off from a Vase or other [78]
Agriculture
- See also: Ancient Egyptian cuisine
.jpg/140px-Tomb_of_Nakht_(2).jpg)
A combination of favorable geographical features contributed to the success of ancient Egyptian culture, the most important of which was the rich fertile soil resulting from annual inundations of the Nile river. The ancient Egyptians were thus able to produce an abundance of food, allowing the population to devote more time and resources to cultural, technological, and artistic pursuits. Land management was crucial in ancient Egypt because taxes were assessed based on the amount of land a person owned. [79]
Farming in Egypt was dependent on the cycle of the Nile River. The Egyptians recognized three seasons: Akhet (flooding), Peret (planting), and Shemu (harvesting). The flooding season lasted from June to September, depositing on the river's banks a layer of mineral-rich silt ideal for growing crops. After the floodwaters had receded, the growing season lasted from October to February. Farmers plowed and planted seeds in the fields, which were irrigated with ditches and canals. Egypt received little rainfall, so farmers relied on the Nile to water their crops. [80] From March to May, farmers used sickles to harvest their crops, which were then threshed with a flail to separate the straw from the grain. A sickle is a hand-held Agricultural Tool with a curved Blade typically used for harvesting grain crop or cutting grass for Hay. Threshing is the process of loosening the edible part of Cereal Grain from the scaly inedible Chaff that surrounds it Winnowing removed the chaff from the grain, and the grain was then ground into flour, brewed to make beer, or stored for later use. Wind winnowing is an agricultural method developed by ancient cultures for separating grain from Chaff. Chaff (tʃɑːf or /tʃæf/ depending on dialect &ndash both to rhyme with "half" is the inedible dry scaly protective casings of the seeds of Cereal grain, or [81]
The ancient Egyptians cultivated emmer and barley, and several other cereal grains, all of which were used to make the two main food staples of bread and beer. Emmer wheat ( Triticum dicoccon) also known as farro especially in Italy is a low yielding awned Wheat. Barley ( Hordeum vulgare) is an annual Cereal Grain, which serves as a major animal Feed crop, with smaller amounts used for [82] Flax plants, uprooted before they started flowering, were grown for the fibers of their stems. Flax (also known as common flax or linseed) (binomial name Linum usitatissimum) is a member of the genus Linum These fibers were split along their length and spun into thread, which was used to weave sheets of linen and to make clothing. Linen is a Textile made from the Fibers of the Flax plant Linum usitatissimum. Papyrus growing on the banks of the Nile River was used to make paper. Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus Vegetables and fruits were grown in garden plots, close to habitations and on higher ground, and had to be watered by hand. Vegetables included leeks, garlic, melons, squashes, pulses, lettuce, and other crops, in addition to grapes that were made into wine. [83]
Animals
The Egyptians believed that a balanced relationship between people and animals was an essential element of the cosmic order; thus humans, animals and plants were believed to be members of a single whole. [84] Animals, both domesticated and wild, were therefore a critical source of spirituality, companionship, and sustenance to the ancient Egyptians. Domestication (from Latin domesticus) refers to the process whereby a Population of Animals Cattle were the most important livestock; the administration collected taxes on livestock in regular censuses, and the size of a herd reflected the prestige and importance of the estate or temple that owned them. In addition to cattle, the ancient Egyptians kept sheep, goats, and pigs. Poultry such as ducks, geese, and pigeons were captured in nets and bred on farms, where they were force-fed with dough to fatten them. [85] The Nile provided a plentiful source of fish. Bees were also domesticated from at least the Old Kingdom, and they provided both honey and wax. [86]
The ancient Egyptians used donkeys and oxen as beasts of burden, and they were responsible for plowing the fields and trampling seed into the soil. The slaughter of a fattened ox was also a central part of an offering ritual. [85] Horses were introduced by the Hyksos in the Second Intermediate Period, and the camel, although known from the New Kingdom, was not used as a beast of burden until the Late Period. [85] Dogs, cats and monkeys were common family pets, while more exotic pets imported from the heart of Africa, such as lions, were reserved for royalty. Herodotus observed that the Egyptians were the only people to keep their animals with them in their houses. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash [84] During the Predynastic and Late periods, the worship of the gods in their animal form was extremely popular, such as the cat goddess Bastet and the ibis god Thoth, and these animals were bred in large numbers on farms for the purpose of ritual sacrifice. In Egyptian mythology, Bast (also spelled Ubasti, and later Bastet) is an ancient Solar and War Goddess, worshipped at For other meanings of "Thoth" or of "Djehuti" and similar see Thoth (disambiguation. [87]
Natural resources
- Further information: Mining in Egypt
Egypt is rich in building and decorative stone, copper and lead ores, gold, and semiprecious stones. Mining in Egypt has had a long history that goes back to predynastic times. These natural resources allowed the ancient Egyptians to build monuments, sculpt statues, make tools, and fashion jewelry. [88] Embalmers used salts from the Wadi Natrun for mummification, which also provided the gypsum needed to make plaster. Embalming, in most modern Cultures is the Art and Science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall Decomposition Wadi El Natrun (" Natron Valley" is located in Beheira Governorate, Egypt. A mummy is a Corpse whose Skin and Flesh have been preserved by either intentional or Incidental exposure to Chemicals extreme Gypsum is a very soft Mineral composed of Calcium sulfate dihydrate with the Chemical formula Ca[[sulfur S]] O 4·2 [89] Ore-bearing rock formations were found in distant, inhospitable wadis in the eastern desert and the Sinai, requiring large, state-controlled expeditions to obtain natural resources found there. Wadi (وادي) (also Vadi) is traditionally a valley In some cases it can refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain There were extensive gold mines in Nubia, and one of the first maps known is of a gold mine in this region. "Gold mine" redirects here See Goldmine for other uses of the term This article is about the region in Africa for other uses see Nubia (disambiguation. The Wadi Hammamat was a notable source of granite, greywacke, and gold. ar Wadi Hammamat (Valley of Many Baths is a dry river bed in Egypt 's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Qusier and Qena. Greywacke ( German grauwacke, signifying a grey earthy rock is a variety of Sandstone generally characterized by its hardness dark color and poorly-sorted Flint was the first mineral collected and used to make tools, and flint handaxes are the earliest pieces of evidence of habitation in the Nile valley. Flint (or flintstone) is a hard sedimentary Cryptocrystalline form of the Mineral Quartz, categorized as a variety of Chert Nodules of the mineral were carefully flaked to make blades and arrowheads of moderate hardness and durability even after copper was adopted for this purpose. [90]
The Egyptians worked deposits of the lead ore galena at Gebel Rosas to make net sinkers, plumb bobs, and small figurines. Galena is the natural mineral form of Lead sulfide. It is the most important Lead Ore mineral Copper was the most important metal for toolmaking in ancient Egypt and was smelted in furnaces from malachite ore mined in the Sinai. Malachite is a carbonate mineral normally known as "copper carbonate" with the formula Cu 2 CO3[[hydroxide [91] Workers collected gold by washing the nuggets out of sediment in alluvial deposits, or by the more labor-intensive process of grinding and washing gold-bearing quartzite. Alluvium (from the Latin, alluvius, from alluere, "to wash against" is Soil or Sediments deposited by a river or other running Iron deposits found in upper Egypt were utilized in the Late Period. [92] High-quality building stones were abundant in Egypt; the ancient Egyptians quarried limestone all along the Nile valley, granite from Aswan, and basalt and sandstone from the wadis of the eastern desert. Deposits of decorative stones such as porphyry, greywacke, alabaster, and carnelian dotted the eastern desert and were collected even before the First Dynasty. Porphyry is a variety of Igneous rock consisting of large-grained Crystals such as Feldspar or Quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained Alabaster is a name applied to varieties of two distinct Minerals Gypsum (a hydrous sulfate of Calcium) and Calcite Carnelian, sometimes spelled cornelian, is a red or reddish-brown variant of Chalcedony. In the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods, miners worked deposits of emeralds in Wadi Sikait and amethyst in Wadi el-Hudi. Emeralds are a variety of the Mineral Beryl (Be3Al2(SiO36 colored Green by trace amounts Amethyst is a violet variety of Quartz often used as an Ornamental stone in Jewelry. [93]
Language
Historical development
| r n kmt 'Egyptian language' in hieroglyphs | ||||||
The Egyptian language is a northern Afro-Asiatic language closely related to Berber and Semitic. Egyptian is an Afro-Asiatic language most closely related to the Berber, Semitic, Somali and Beja languages Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek Egyptian is an Afro-Asiatic language most closely related to the Berber, Semitic, Somali and Beja languages The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa Nomenclature The term Berber has been used in Europe since at least the 17th century and is still used today The Semitic languages are a Language family whose living representatives are spoken by more than 467 million people across much of the Middle East, [94] It has the longest documented history of any language, having remained in written use from c. 3200 BC to the Middle Ages and as a spoken language for longer. Two major phases of the language are identified: Earlier Egyptian comprising Old and Middle Egyptian (Classical Egyptian), and Later Egyptian, which includes the Late, Demotic and Coptic stages of the language. Old Egyptian is the stage of the Egyptian language spoken from 2600 BC to 2000 BC during the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period Middle Egyptian is the typical form of the Egyptian spoken from 2000 BC to 1300 BC (after Old Egyptian and before Late Egyptian) Late Egyptian is the stage of the Egyptian language that began to be written in the New Kingdom around the Amarna period. Demotic (from δημοτικός dēmotikós, "popular" refers to either the Ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of Hieratic Coptic or Coptic Egyptian ( MetRemenkīmi) is the final stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt [95] While pre-Coptic writing does not convey dialectal differences, it is likely that Egyptian was spoken in several regional dialects centered around Memphis and later Thebes. [96]
The transition from Earlier to Later Egyptian displays a number of innovations, namely a change from synthetic to more analytic patterns that undergo grammaticalization, and the development of different scripts for writing the language. A synthetic language, in Linguistic typology, is a Language with a high Morpheme -per- word ratio In morphological typology (in linguistics an isolating language (also analytic language) is any Language in which words are composed of In Historical linguistics, grammaticalisation (also known as grammaticisation or grammatisation) is a process of linguistic change by which a Content Later Egyptian develops prefixal definite and indefinite articles, which replace the earlier suffix markers of inflectional categories, and undergoes a change from the older VSO word order to SVO. Verb Subject Object ( VSO) is a term in Linguistic typology. It represents one type of languages when classifying languages according to the sequence of these In Linguistics, word order typology refers to the study of the different ways in which languages arrange the constituents of their sentences relative to each other and the systematic In Linguistic typology, subject-verb-object ( SVO) is a sentence structure where the subject comes first the Verb second and the object [97] The older Egyptian writing systems, namely the native hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts, eventually give way to the more phonetic Coptic alphabet. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek Hieratic is a Cursive writing system used in pharaonic Egypt that developed alongside the hieroglyphic system to which it is intimately Demotic (from δημοτικός dēmotikós, "popular" refers to either the Ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of Hieratic The Coptic alphabet is the script used for writing the Coptic language. The last phase of Egyptian, Coptic, continues to be used in the liturgy of the Egyptian Orthodox Church, and traces of it are found in modern Egyptian Arabic. History of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Apostolic foundation Egypt is identified in the Bible as the place of refuge that the [98]
Sounds and grammar
Egyptian has a phonemic inventory of about 25 consonants similar to those of other Afro-Asiatic languages. The phoneME project is Sun Microsystems reference implementation of Java virtual machine and associated libraries of Java ME with source licensed under the GNU These include the characteristic pharyngeal and to a lesser extent emphatic consonants, in addition to voiced and voiceless stops, voiceless fricatives and voiced and voiceless affricates. A pharyngeal consonant is a type of Consonant which is articulated with the root of the Tongue against the Pharynx. Emphatic consonant is a term widely used in Semitic Linguistics to describe one of a series of Obstruent Consonants which originally contrasted Fricatives are Consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together Affricate Consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or) but release as a fricative (such as or or occasionally into Three long and three short vowels, which expanded in Later Egyptian to about nine, are distinguished. [99] The basic word in Egyptian, similar to Semitic and Berber, is a triliteral or biliteral root made up of a sequence of consonants and semiconsonants to which affixes are attached to indicate grammatical categories. In the terminology used to discuss the grammar of the Semitic languages and some other Afro-Asiatic languages, a triliteral ( Arabic: جذر ثلاثي An affix is a Morpheme that is attached to a stem to form a word Finite verbs correspond to the forms of the person markers, yielding a paradigm of 11 in Earlier Egyptian. A finite verb is a Verb that is inflected for person and for tense according to the rules and categories of the languages in which it occurs Grammatical person, in Linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event such as the speaker the Addressee, or others The triconsonantal skeleton S-Ḏ-M is the semantic core of the word 'hear'; its basic conjugation is sḏm=f 'he hears'. In most cases, a non-finite verb heads a clause if the subject is nominal:[100] sḏm ḥmt 'the woman hears'. In Linguistics, a non-finite verb (or a verbal) is a Verb form that is not limited by a subject and more generally is not fully inflected by
Adjectives are formed derivationally from a noun through a process that Egyptologists call nisbation due to its similarity with that of Arabic. In Linguistics, derivation is "Used to form new words as with happi-ness and un-happy from happy, or determination from Arabic is a Semitic language See Arabic language for more information on the language in general Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language [101] The typical order of constituents is PREDICATE-SUBJECT in sentences with verbal and adjectival predicates, and SUBJECT-PREDICATE in sentences in which the predicate is a noun phrase or an adpositional phrase. In traditional Grammar, a predicate is one of the two main parts of a sentence (the other being the subject, which the predicate modifies An adpositional phrase is a Linguistics term that includes (a prepositional phrase(s (which are usually found in head-first languages like English) and [102] Verb arguments can be topicalized at the beginning of sentences if they are long noun phrases, and are followed by a coreferential pronoun. A syntactic verb argument, in Linguistics, is a Phrase that appears in a relationship with the Verb in a Clause. In Linguistics, the topic (or theme) is the part of the proposition that is being talked about ( predicated) In Linguistics, coreference occurs when multiple expressions in a sentence have the same referent. [103] Negation in Middle Egyptian is usually expressed through the addition of the particle n before a verb form or a noun phrase, or nn to negate a clause with an adverbial or adjectival predicate. In Linguistics, the term particle is a word lacking a strict definition but has the function of changing the relation of the parts of the sentence to one another and is therefore Stress falls on the ultimate or penultimate syllable, which can be open (CV) or closed (CVC). In Linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain Syllables in a word [104]
Writing
Hieroglyphic writing dates to c. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek 3200 BC, and is composed of some 500 symbols. A hieroglyph can represent a word, a phoneme, or a silent determinative; and the same symbol can serve different purposes in different contexts. Hieroglyphs were a formal script, used on stone monuments and in tombs, that could be as detailed as individual works of art. In day-to-day writing, scribes used a cursive form of writing, called hieratic, which was quicker and easier. Hieratic is a Cursive writing system used in pharaonic Egypt that developed alongside the hieroglyphic system to which it is intimately While formal hieroglyphs may be read in rows or columns in either direction (though typically written from right to left), hieratic was always written from right to left, usually in horizontal rows. A new form of writing, Demotic, became the prevalent writing style, and it is this form of writing—along with formal hieroglyphs—that accompany the Greek text on the Rosetta Stone. Demotic (from δημοτικός dēmotikós, "popular" refers to either the Ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of Hieratic
Around the 1st century AD, the native demotic script gave way to the Coptic alphabet, a modified Greek alphabet with the addition of demotic graphemes. [106] Although formal hieroglyphs were used in a ceremonial role until the 4th century AD, towards the end only a small handful of priests could still read them. As the traditional religious establishments were disbanded, knowledge of hieroglyphic writing was mostly lost. Attempts to decipher them date to the Byzantine[107] and Islamic periods in Egypt[108], but only in 1822, after the discovery of the Rosetta stone and years of research by Thomas Young and Jean-François Champollion, were hieroglyphs almost fully deciphered. Thomas Young (13 June 1773 &ndash 10 May 1829 was an English Polymath who contributed to the scientific understanding of vision, Light Jean-François Champollion ( 23 December 1790 – 4 March 1832) was a French classical scholar, philologist [109]
Literature
Writing first appeared in association with kingship on labels and tags for items found in royal tombs. Ancient Egyptian literature comprises texts written in the Egyptian language during the pharaonic period of Egypt. It was primarily an occupation of the scribes, who worked out of the Per Ankh institution or the House of Life. The latter comprised offices, libraries (called House of Books), laboratories and observatories. [110] Some of the best-known pieces of ancient Egyptian literature, such as the Pyramid and Coffin Texts, were written in Classical Egyptian, which continued to be the language of writing until about 1300 BC. The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian religious texts from the time of the Old Kingdom. The Coffin Texts are a collection of Ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins beginning in the First Intermediate Period. Later Egyptian was spoken from the New Kingdom onward and is represented in Ramesside administrative documents, love poetry and tales, as well as in Demotic and Coptic texts. The Ramesside Period encompasses the Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties of Ancient Egypt. During this period, the tradition of writing had evolved into the tomb autobiography, such as those of Harkhuf and Weni. Harkhuf was a governor of Upper Egypt in the 23rd century BC. Weni the Elder (or Uni) was a court official of the 6th dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The genre known as Sebayt (Instructions) was developed to communicate teachings and guidance from famous nobles; the Ipuwer papyrus, a poem of lamentations describing natural disasters and social upheaval, is a famous example. Sebayt ( Manuel de Codage transcription sbAyt is the ancient Egyptian term for a genre of pharaonic literature. The Ipuwer Papyrus is a single surviving Papyrus holding an Ancient Egyptian poem called The Admonitions of Ipuwer or The Dialogue of
The Story of Sinuhe, written in Middle Egyptian, might be the classic of Egyptian literature. The Tale of Sinuhe is a work of Ancient Egyptian literature. It is a narrative set in the aftermath of the death of Pharaoh Amenemhat I, founder Middle Egyptian is the typical form of the Egyptian spoken from 2000 BC to 1300 BC (after Old Egyptian and before Late Egyptian) [111] Also written at this time was the Westcar Papyrus, a set of stories told to Khufu by his sons relating the marvels performed by priests. Westcar Papyrus (P Berlin 3033 is a fragmentary ancient Egyptian text containing a cycle of five stories about marvels performed by priests Khufu (in Greek known as Χέωψ Cheops; ˈkiɑps was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt 's Old Kingdom. [112] Towards the end of the New Kingdom, the vernacular language was more often employed to write popular pieces like the Story of Wenamun and the Instructions of Ani. Late Egyptian is the stage of the Egyptian language that began to be written in the New Kingdom around the Amarna period. The Story of Wenamun (alternately known as the Report of Wenamun, The Misadventures of Wenamun, or as just Wenamun) is a literary text written The former tells the story of a noble who is robbed on his way to buy cedar from Lebanon and of his struggle to return to Egypt. From about 700 BC, narrative stories and instructions, such as the popular Instructions of Onchsheshonqy, as well as personal and business documents were written in the demotic script and phase of Egyptian. Demotic (from δημοτικός dēmotikós, "popular" refers to either the Ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of Hieratic Many stories written in demotic during the Graeco-Roman period were set in previous historical eras, when Egypt was an independent nation ruled by great pharaohs such as Ramesses II. [113]
Culture
Daily life
Most ancient Egyptians were farmers tied to the land. Their dwellings were restricted to immediate family members, and were constructed of mud-brick designed to remain cool in the heat of the day. A mudbrick is a firefree Brick made of Clay, or mud mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw Each home had a kitchen with an open roof, which contained a grindstone for milling flour and a small oven for baking bread. [114] Walls were painted white and could be covered with dyed linen wall hangings. Floors were covered with reed mats, while wooden stools, beds raised from the floor and individual tables comprised the furniture. [115]
The ancient Egyptians placed a great value on hygiene and appearance. Most bathed in the Nile and used a pasty soap made from animal fat and chalk. Men shaved their entire bodies for cleanliness, and aromatic perfumes and ointments covered bad odors and soothed skin. [116] Clothing was made from simple linen sheets that were bleached white, and both men and women of the upper classes wore wigs, jewelry, and cosmetics. Children went without clothing until maturity, at about age 12, and at this age males were circumcised and had their heads shaved. Mothers were responsible for taking care of the children, while the father provided the family's income. [117]
The staple diet consisted of bread and beer, supplemented with vegetables such as onions and garlic, and fruit such as dates and figs. Wine and meat were enjoyed by all on feast days while the upper classes indulged on a more regular basis. Fish, meat, and fowl could be salted or dried, and could be cooked in stews or roasted on a grill. [118] Music and dance were popular entertainments for those who could afford them. Early instruments included flutes and harps, while instruments similar to trumpets, oboes, and pipes developed later and became popular. In the New Kingdom, the Egyptians played on bells, cymbals, tambourines, and drums and imported lutes and lyres from Asia. Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck (either Fretted or unfretted and a deep round back or more specifically to an instrument from The lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity and later [119] The sistrum was a rattle-like musical instrument that was especially important in religious ceremonies. A sistrum (plural sistrums, sistra) is a Musical instrument of the percussion family chiefly associated with ancient Egypt.
The ancient Egyptians enjoyed a variety of leisure activities, including games and music. Senet, a board game where pieces moved according to random chance, was particularly popular from the earliest times; another similar game was mehen, which had a circular gaming board. Senet (or senat) a board game from predynastic and ancient Egypt, is the oldest board game whose ancient existence has been confirmed dating In Ancient Egypt, Mehen is both what appears to be a mythological character Snake - God The character Texts which do not Juggling and ball games were popular with children, and wrestling is also documented in a tomb at Beni Hasan. Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) (بني حسن is a village in Middle Egypt about 25 km south of Al Minya [120] The wealthy members of ancient Egyptian society enjoyed hunting and boating as well.
Architecture
The architecture of ancient Egypt includes some of the most famous structures in the world: the Great Pyramids of Giza and the temples at Thebes. The Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential Civilizations which developed a vast array of diverse structures encompassing Ancient Egyptian The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. The Karnak temple complex, universally known only as Karnak, describes a vast conglomeration of ruined temples chapels pylons and other buildings Building projects were organized and funded by the state for religious and commemorative purposes, but also to reinforce the power of the pharaoh. The ancient Egyptians were skilled builders; using simple but effective tools and sighting instruments, architects could build large stone structures with accuracy and precision. [121]
The domestic dwellings of elite and ordinary Egyptians alike were constructed from perishable materials such as mud bricks and wood, and have not survived. Peasants lived in simple homes, while the palaces of the elite were more elaborate structures. A few surviving New Kingdom palaces, such as those in Malkata and Amarna, show richly decorated walls and floors with scenes of people, birds, water pools, deities and geometric designs. Malkata (or Malqata) is a place located on the west bank of Thebes Egypt, in Egypt, in the desert south of Medinet Habu. The site of Amarna (commonly known as el-Amarna or incorrectly as Tel el-Amarna; see below ( Arabic: العمارنة al-‘amārnah) is located [122] Important structures such as temples and tombs that were intended to last forever were constructed of stone instead of bricks. The architectural elements used in the world's first large-scale stone building, Djoser's mortuary complex, include post and lintel supports in the papyrus and lotus motif. Netjerikhet or Djoser ( Turin King List "Dsr-it" Manetho "Tosarthros" is the best-known Pharaoh of the Third dynasty For lintel as a decorative element see Lintel (architecture For beam as load-bearing member see beam
The earliest preserved ancient Egyptian temples, such as those at Giza, consist of single, enclosed halls with roof slabs supported by columns. In the New Kingdom, architects added the pylon, the open courtyard, and the enclosed hypostyle hall to the front of the temple's sanctuary, a style that was standard until the Graeco-Roman period. Pylon is the Greek term for a monumental gateway of an Egyptian temple (Egyptian bxn In Architecture, a hypostyle Hall has a flat ceiling which is supported by columns as in the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. [123] The earliest and most popular tomb architecture in the Old Kingdom was the mastaba, a flat-roofed rectangular structure of mudbrick or stone built over an underground burial chamber. A mastaba was a flat-roofed rectangular building with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period. The step pyramid of Djoser is a series of stone mastabas stacked on top of each other. Step Pyramids The construction of step pyramids has been an ancient part of several cultures throughout history Pyramids were built during the Old and Middle Kingdoms, but later rulers abandoned them in favor of less conspicuous rock-cut tombs. [124]
Art
The ancient Egyptians produced art to serve functional purposes. Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of painting sculpture crafts and architecture developed by the Civilization in the lower Nile Valley from 5000 For over 3500 years, artists adhered to artistic forms and iconography that were developed during the Old Kingdom, following a strict set of principles that resisted foreign influence and internal change. [125] These artistic standards—simple lines, shapes, and flat areas of color combined with the characteristic flat projection of figures with no indication of spatial depth—created a sense order and balance within a composition. Images and text were intimately interwoven on tomb and temple walls, coffins, stelae, and even statues. The Narmer Palette, for example, displays figures which may also be read as hieroglyphs. The Narmer Palette, also known as the Great Hierakonpolis Palette or the Palette of Narmer, is a significant Egyptian archeological find dating from [126] Because of the rigid rules that governed its highly stylized and symbolic appearance, ancient Egyptian art served its political and religious purposes with precision and clarity. [127]
Ancient Egyptian artisans used stone to carve statues and fine reliefs, but used wood as a cheap and easily carved substitute. Paints were obtained from minerals such as iron ores (red and yellow ochres), copper ores (blue and green), soot or charcoal (black), and limestone (white). Paints could be mixed with gum arabic as a binder and pressed into cakes, which could be moistened with water when needed. [128] Pharaohs used reliefs to record victories in battle, royal decrees, and religious scenes. A relief is a Sculptured Artwork where a modeled form is raised (or alternatively lowered from a flattened background without being disconnected from it Common citizens had access to pieces of funerary art, such as shabti statues and books of the dead, which they believed would protect them in the afterlife. Funerary art is any work of Art forming or placed in a repository for the remains of the dead. The ushabti (also called shabti [129] During the Middle Kingdom, wooden or clay models depicting scenes from everyday life became popular additions to the tomb. In an attempt to duplicate the activities of the living in the afterlife, these models show laborers, houses, boats, and even military formations that are scale representations of the ideal ancient Egyptian afterlife. [130]
Despite the homogeneity of ancient Egyptian art, the styles of particular times and places sometimes reflected changing cultural or political attitudes. After the invasion of the Hyksos in the Second Intermediate Period, Minoan-style frescoes were found in Avaris. The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. Avaris ( Egyptian: ħt wʕrt Hatwaret, Greek: αυαρις Auaris) located at Tell ed-Dab'a, was the ancient capital of the [131] The most striking example of a politically driven change in artistic forms comes from the Amarna period, where figures were radically altered to conform to Akhenaten's revolutionary religious ideas. Akhenaten (often alt: Akhnaten, or rarely Ikhnaton) (In English ˌɑkəˡnɑtən or approximately "AHK-en-AHT-en" his royal name Amenhotep [132] This style, known as Amarna art, was quickly and thoroughly erased after Akhenaten's death and replaced by the traditional forms. The Ancient Egyptian art style known as Amarna Art was a style of art that was adopted in the Amarna Period (i [133]
Religious beliefs
Beliefs in the divine and in the afterlife were ingrained in ancient Egyptian civilization from its inception; pharaonic rule was based on the divine right of kings. The Divine Right of Kings is a general term that refers to the philosophy and ideas used to justify the authority and legitimacy of Monarchs in Medieval and The Egyptian pantheon was populated by gods who had supernatural powers and were called on for help or protection. However, the gods were not always viewed as benevolent, and Egyptians believed they had to be appeased with offerings and prayers. The structure of this pantheon changed continually as new deities were promoted in the hierarchy, but priests made no effort to organize the diverse and sometimes conflicting creation myths and stories into a coherent system. [134]
Gods were worshiped in cult temples administered by priests acting on the king's behalf. At the center of the temple was the cult statue in a shrine. Temples were not places of public worship or congregation, and only on select feast days and celebrations was a shrine carrying the statue of the god brought out for public worship. Normally, the god's domain was sealed off from the outside world and was only accessible to temple officials. Common citizens could worship private statues in their homes, and amulets offered protection against the forces of chaos. [135] After the New Kingdom, the pharaoh's role as a spiritual intermediary was de-emphasized as religious customs shifted to direct worship of the gods. As a result, priests developed a system of oracles to communicate the will of the gods directly to the people. An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature [136] An oracle could be a statue of a god that could be asked a yes or no question, to which it would "respond" by hidden manipulations of a priest, who could also pose questions behind closed doors. Oracles became very popular for appealing legal verdicts or for justifying military actions and political decisions. [136]
The Egyptians believed that every human being was composed of physical and spiritual parts or aspects. In addition to the body, each person had a šwt (shadow), a ba (personality or soul), a ka (life-force), and a name. [137] The heart, rather than the brain, was considered the seat of thoughts and emotions. After death, the spiritual aspects were released from the body and could move at will, but they required the physical remains (or a substitute, such as a statue) as a permanent home. The ultimate goal of the deceased was to rejoin his ka and ba and become one of the "blessed dead", living on as an akh, or "effective one". In order for this to happen, the deceased had to be judged worthy in a trial, in which the heart was weighed against a "feather of truth". If deemed worthy, the deceased could continue their existence on earth in spiritual form. [138]
Burial customs
The ancient Egyptians maintained an elaborate set of burial customs that they believed were necessary to ensure immortality after death. The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of burial customs that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death These customs involved preserving the body by mummification, performing burial ceremonies, and interring, along with the body, goods to be used by the deceased in the afterlife. A mummy is a Corpse whose Skin and Flesh have been preserved by either intentional or Incidental exposure to Chemicals extreme [129] Before the Old Kingdom, bodies buried in desert pits were naturally preserved by desiccation. Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness or the process of extreme drying The arid, desert conditions continued to be a boon throughout the history of ancient Egypt for the burials of the poor, who could not afford the elaborate burial preparations available to the elite. Wealthier Egyptians began to bury their dead in stone tombs and, as a result, they made use of artificial mummification, which involved removing the internal organs, wrapping the body in linen, and burying it in a rectangular stone sarcophagus or wooden coffin. Beginning in the Fourth Dynasty, some parts were preserved separately in canopic jars. Canopic jars were used by Ancient Egyptians during the mummification process and were commonly made of Limestone, Pottery, wood or Bronze [139]
By the New Kingdom, the ancient Egyptians had perfected the art of mummification; the best technique took 70 days and involved removing the internal organs, removing the brain through the nose, and desiccating the body in a mixture of salts called natron. Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of Sodium carbonate decahydrate ( Na 2 C[[oxygen O]]3 · 10 H2O The body was then wrapped in linen with protective amulets inserted between layers and placed in a decorated anthropoid coffin. Mummies of the Late Period were also placed in painted cartonnage mummy cases. Cartonnage is a type of material composing Egyptian funerary masks from the First Intermediate Period onward Actual preservation practices declined during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras, while greater emphasis was placed on the outer appearance of the mummy, which was decorated. [140]
Wealthy Egyptians were buried with larger quantities of luxury items, but all burials, regardless of social status, included goods for the deceased. Beginning in the New Kingdom, books of the dead were included in the grave, along with shabti statues that were believed to perform manual labor for them in the afterlife. ' The Book of the Dead' is the common name for the Ancient Egyptian Funerary text known as ' Spells of Coming' (or ' Going') ' Forth By Day' The ushabti (also called shabti [141] Rituals in which the deceased was magically re-animated accompanied burials. After burial, living relatives were expected to occasionally bring food to the tomb and recite prayers on behalf of the deceased. [142]
Foreign relations
Trade
The ancient Egyptians engaged in trade with their foreign neighbors to obtain rare, exotic goods not found in Egypt. The following is a chronicle of predynastic and ancient Egyptian foreign contacts up through 343 BC. In the Predynastic Period, they established trade with Nubia to obtain gold and incense. They also established trade with Palestine, as evidenced by Palestinian-style oil jugs found in the burials of the First Dynasty pharaohs. [143] By the Second Dynasty, the ancient Egyptians had established trade with Byblos, a critical source of quality timber not found in Egypt. Byblos ( Βύβλος) is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal (earlier Gubla) In the Fifth Dynasty, trade was established with the Land of Punt, which provided gold, aromatic resins, ebony, ivory, and wild animals such as monkeys and baboons. See also Puntland The Land of Punt, also called "Pwenet" by the Ancient Egyptians at times synonymous with Ta netjer, the 'land of [144]
Egypt relied on trade with Anatolia for essential quantities of tin as well as supplementary supplies of copper, both metals being necessary for the manufacture of bronze. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The ancient Egyptians prized the blue stone lapis lazuli, which had to be imported from far-away Afghanistan. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Egypt's Mediterranean trade partners also included Greece and Crete, which provided, among other goods, supplies of olive oil. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca [145] In exchange for its luxury imports and raw materials, Egypt mainly exported grain, gold, linen, and papyrus, in addition to other finished goods including glass and stone objects. [146]
Military
The ancient Egyptian military was responsible for defending Egypt against foreign invasion, and for maintaining Egypt's domination in the ancient Near East. The Ancient Egyptians were a people who lived in northeastern Africa from about 3150 BC to 31 BC The civilization stretched from the Nile Delta to Jebel Barkal The military protected mining expeditions to the Sinai during the Old Kingdom and fought civil wars during the First and Second Intermediate Periods. The military was responsible for maintaining fortifications along important trade routes, such as those found at the city of Buhen on the way to Nubia. Buhen was an Ancient Egyptian settlement situated below the Second Cataract. Forts also were constructed to serve as military bases, such as the fortress at Sile, which was a base of operations for expeditions to the Levant. See also Names of the Levant The Levant (lə'vænt is a geographical term that denotes a large area in Western Asia, roughly bounded on the north by the In the New Kingdom, a series of pharaohs used the standing Egyptian army to attack and conquer Kush and parts of the Levant. Kush civilization centered in the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, and the confluence of the River Atbara and Nile in what [147]
Typical military equipment included bows and arrows, spears, and round-topped shields made by stretching animal skin over a wooden frame. In the New Kingdom, the military began using chariots that had earlier been introduced by the Hyksos invaders. Weapons and armor continued to improve after the adoption of bronze: shields were now made from solid wood with a bronze buckle, spears were tipped with a bronze point, and the Khopesh was adopted from Asiatic soldiers. Khopesh ( ḫpš) is the Egyptian name of the Canaanite " sickle-sword " (actually more like a type of axe [148] The pharaoh was usually depicted in art and literature riding at the head of the army, and there is evidence that at least a few pharaohs, such as Seqenenre Tao II and his sons, did do so. Seqenenre Tao II, (also Sekenenra Taa called The Brave, ruled over the last of the local kingdoms of the [149] Soldiers were recruited from the general population, but during, and especially after, the New Kingdom, mercenaries from Nubia, Kush, and Libya were hired to fight for Egypt. [150]
Technology, medicine, and mathematics
In technology, medicine and mathematics, ancient Egypt achieved a relatively high standard of productivity and sophistication. The characteristics of Ancient Egyptian technology are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years Traditional empiricism, as evidenced by the Edwin Smith and Ebers papyri (c. In Philosophy, empiricism is a theory of Knowledge which asserts that knowledge arises from Experience. The Edwin Smith Papyrus is the only surviving copy of part of an Ancient Egyptian Textbook on trauma Surgery. The Ebers Papyrus of about 1550 BC is among the most important Medical papyri of Ancient Egypt. 1600 BC), is first credited to Egypt, and the roots of the scientific method can also be traced back to the ancient Egyptians. Scientific method refers to bodies of Techniques for investigating phenomena The Egyptians created their own alphabet and decimal system.
Faience and glass
Even before the Old Kingdom, the ancient Egyptians had developed a glassy material known as faience, which they treated as a type of artificial semi-precious stone. Egyptian faience is a non-clay ceramic displaying surface vitrification which creates a bright blue-green luster Faience is a non-clay ceramic made of silica, small amounts of lime and soda, and a colorant, typically copper. The Chemical compound silicon dioxide, also known as silica or silox (from the Latin " Silex " is an Oxide Calcium oxide ( CaO) commonly known as burnt lime, lime or quicklime, is a widely used Chemical compound. Sodium oxide is a Chemical compound with the formula Na 2 O. It is used in Ceramics and Glasses Treatment with water [151] The material was used to make beads, tiles, figurines, and small wares. Several methods can be used to create faience, but typically production involved application of the powdered materials in the form of a paste over a clay core, which was then fired. By a related technique, the ancient Egyptians produced a pigment known as Egyptian Blue, also called blue frit, which is produced by fusing (or sintering) silica, copper, lime, and an alkali such as natron. Egyptian blue is chemically known as calcium copper silicate (CaCuSi4O10 or CaO·CuO·4SiO2 Sintering is a method for making objects from powder, by heating the material (below its Melting point - solid state sintering until its particles adhere The product can be ground up and used as a pigment. [152] The ancient Egyptians could fabricate a wide variety of objects from glass with great skill, but it is not clear whether they developed the process independently. [153] It is also unclear whether they made their own raw glass or merely imported pre-made ingots, which they melted and finished. However, they did have technical expertise in making objects, as well as adding trace elements to control the color of the finished glass. A range of colors could be produced, including yellow, red, green, blue, purple, and white, and the glass could be made either transparent or opaque. [154]
Medicine
The medical problems of the ancient Egyptians stemmed directly from their environment. Living and working close to the Nile brought hazards from malaria and debilitating schistosomiasis parasites, which caused liver and intestinal damage. Malaria is a vector -borne Infectious disease caused by Protozoan Parasites It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions including Schistosomiasis (also known as bilharzia, bilharziosis or snail fever) is a Parasitic disease caused by several species of fluke Dangerous wildlife such as crocodiles and hippos were also a common threat. The life-long labors of farming and building put stress on the spine and joints, and traumatic injuries from construction and warfare all took a significant toll on the body. The grit and sand from stone-ground flour abraded teeth, leaving them susceptible to abscesses (though caries were rare). An abscess (abscessus is a collection of Pus (dead Neutrophils) that has accumulated in a cavity formed by the tissue on the basis of an infectious process Dental caries is a disease that damages Tooth structures resulting in what is commonly called tooth decay or cavities which are holes in the teeth [155] The diets of the wealthy were rich in sugars, which promoted periodontal disease. [156] Despite the flattering physiques portrayed on tomb walls, the overweight mummies of many of the upper class show the effects of a life of overindulgence. [157] Adult life expectancy was about 35 for men and 30 for women, but reaching adulthood was difficult as about one-third of the population died in infancy. [158]
Ancient Egyptian physicians were renowned in the ancient Near East for their healing skills, and some, like Imhotep, remained famous long after their deaths. Imhotep (sometimes spelled Immutef, Im-hotep, or Ii-em-Hotep, circa ( fl [159] Herodotus remarked that there was a high degree of specialization among Egyptian physicians, with some treating only the head or the stomach, while others were eye-doctors and dentists. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash [160] Training of physicians took place at the Per Ankh or "House of Life" institution, most notably those headquartered in Per-Bastet during the New Kingdom and at Abydos and Saïs in the Late period. Bubastis ( Greek:, Herod ii 59 137 or, Strabo xvii p 805 Diodorus xvi Abydos ( Egyptian Abdju, 3bdw, Arabic: أبيدوس Greek Αβυδος one of the most ancient cities of Medical papyri show empirical knowledge of anatomy, injuries, and practical treatments. Medical papyri are Ancient Egyptian texts written on papyrus which permit a glimpse at medical procedures and practices in ancient Egypt [161] Wounds were treated by bandaging with raw meat, white linen, sutures, nets, pads and swabs soaked with honey to prevent infection,[162] while opium was used to relieve pain. Garlic and onions were used regularly to promote good health and were thought to relieve asthma symptoms. Asthma is a chronic Condition involving the Respiratory system in which the airways occasionally constrict become inflamed, and are Ancient Egyptian surgeons stitched wounds, set broken bones, and amputated diseased limbs, but they recognized that some injuries were so serious that they could only make the patient comfortable until he died. [163]
Mathematics
The earliest attested examples of mathematical calculations date to the predynastic Naqada period, and show a fully developed number system. Egyptian mathematics refers to the style and methods of Mathematics performed in Ancient Egypt. This article is about the Egyptian village See also Naqahdah for the fictional element from the Stargate setting [164] The importance of mathematics to an educated Egyptian is suggested by a New Kingdom fictional letter in which the writer proposes a scholarly competition between himself and another scribe regarding everyday calculation tasks such as accounting of land, labor and grain. [165] Texts such as the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus and the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus show that the ancient Egyptians could perform the four basic mathematical operations—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—use fractions, compute the volumes of boxes and pyramids, and calculate the surface areas of rectangles, triangles, circles and even spheres. The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus (RMP (also designated as papyrus British Museum 10057 and pBM 10058 is named after Alexander Henry Rhind, a Scottish The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus is also called the Golenischev Mathematical Papyrus, after its first owner Egyptologist Vladimir Goleniščev. They understood basic concepts of algebra and geometry, and could solve simple sets of simultaneous equations. Algebra is a branch of Mathematics concerning the study of structure, relation, and Quantity. Geometry ( Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth metria = measure is a part of Mathematics concerned with questions of size shape and relative position In Mathematics simultaneous equations are a set of Equations containing multiple variables [166]
| 2⁄3 in hieroglyphs | ||
Mathematical notation was decimal, and based on hieroglyphic signs for each power of ten up to one million. Egyptian hieroglyphs (ˈhaɪərəʊɡlɪf from Greek grc-Grek ἱερογλύφος " sacred carving " also hieroglyphic = grc-Grek Each of these could be written as many times as necessary to add up to the desired number; so to write the number eighty or eight hundred, the symbol for ten or one hundred was written eight times respectively. [167] Because their methods of calculation could not handle most fractions with a numerator greater than one, ancient Egyptian fractions had to be written as the sum of several fractions. An Egyptian fraction is the sum of distinct Unit fractions such as \tfrac{1}{2}+\tfrac{1}{3}+\tfrac{1}{16} For example, the fraction two-fifths was resolved into the sum of one-third + one-fifteenth; this was facilitated by standard tables of values. [168] Some common fractions, however, were written with a special glyph; the equivalent of the modern two-thirds is shown on the right. [169]
Ancient Egyptian mathematicians had a grasp of the principles underlying the Pythagorean theorem, knowing, for example, that a triangle had a right angle opposite the hypotenuse when its sides were in a 3–4–5 ratio. In Mathematics, the Pythagorean theorem ( American English) or Pythagoras' theorem ( British English) is a relation in Euclidean geometry A hypotenuse is the longest side of a Right triangle, the side opposite of the Right angle. [170] They were able to estimate the area of a circle by subtracting one-ninth from its diameter and squaring the result:
- Area ≈ [(8⁄9)D]2 = (256⁄81)r2 ≈ 3. Circles are simple Shapes of Euclidean geometry consisting of those points in a plane which are at a constant Distance, called the 16r2,
a reasonable approximation of the formula πr2. IMPORTANT NOTICE Please note that Wikipedia is not a database to store the millions of digits of π please refrain from adding those to Wikipedia as it could cause technical problems [171][170]
The golden ratio seems to be reflected in many Egyptian constructions, including the pyramids, but its use may have been an unintended consequence of the ancient Egyptian practice of combining the use of knotted ropes with an intuitive sense of proportion and harmony. In Mathematics and the Arts two quantities are in the Golden ratio if the Ratio between the sum of those quantities and the larger one is the The Egyptian pyramids are pyramid shaped structures located in Egypt, and were built as a tomb for dead pharaohs [172]
Legacy
The culture and monuments of ancient Egypt have left a lasting legacy on the world. The cult of the goddess Isis, for example, became popular in the Roman empire, as obelisks and other relics were transported back to Rome. Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial [173] The Romans also imported building materials from Egypt to erect structures in Egyptian style. Early historians such as Herodotus, Strabo and Diodorus Siculus studied and wrote about the land which became viewed as a place of mystery. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher. [174] During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Egyptian pagan culture was in decline after the rise of Christianity and later Islam, but interest in Egyptian antiquity continued in the writings of medieval scholars such as Dhul-Nun al-Misri and al-Maqrizi. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Dhul-Nun al-Misri (ذو النون المصري born in 796 in Akhmim, Upper Egypt - 859) was an Egyptian Sufi saint Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi (1364 &ndash 1442 Arabic: ar تقى الدين أحمد بن على بن عبد القادر بن محمد [175]
In the 17th and 18th centuries, European travelers and tourists brought back antiquities and wrote stories of their journeys, leading to a wave of Egyptomania across Europe. Egyptomania is a concept that describes the Western fascination with ancient Egyptian culture and history. This renewed interest sent collectors to Egypt, who took, purchased, or were given many important antiquities. [176] Although the European colonial occupation of Egypt destroyed a significant portion of the country's historical legacy, some foreigners had more positive results. See Colony and Colonization for examples of colonialism which do not refer to Western colonialism Napoleon, for example, arranged the first studies in Egyptology when he brought some 150 scientists and artists to study and document Egypt's natural history, which was published in the Description de l'Ėgypte. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Egyptology (from Egypt and Greek grc -λογία -logia. علم المصريات مصر شناسی is a major field of Archaeology [177] In the 19th century, the Egyptian Government and archaeologists alike recognized the importance of cultural respect and integrity in excavations. The Supreme Council of Antiquities now approves and oversees all excavations, which are aimed at finding information rather than treasure. The Supreme Council of Antiquities (commonly abbreviated SCA is part of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and is responsible for the conservation protection and regulation The council also supervises museums and monument reconstruction programs designed to preserve the historical legacy of Egypt.
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ Only after 664 BC are dates secure. See Egyptian chronology for details. The creation of a reliable Chronology of Ancient Egypt is a task fraught with problems Chronology. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-25. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1199 - Richard I is wounded by a crossbow bolt while fighting France which leads to his death on April 6.
- ^ Dodson (2004) p. 46
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 217
- ^ James (2005) p. 8
- ^ Manuelian (1998) pp. 6–7
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 153
- ^ James (2005) p. 84
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 17
- ^ Shaw (2002) pp. 17, 67–69
- ^ Hayes (1964) p. 220
- ^ Midant-Reynes (2000) p. 106
- ^ Hayes (1964) p. 230
- ^ Midant-Reynes (2000) pp. 210–19
- ^ The Badarian Civilisation. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 39
- ^ Midant-Reynes (2000) p. 211
- ^ Mallory-Greenough (2002), p. 84
- ^ Chronology of the Naqada Period. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 61
- ^ Faience in different Periods. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Allen (2000) p. 1
- ^ Robins (1997) p. 32
- ^ Shaw (2002) pp. 78–80
- ^ Clayton (1994) pp. 12–13
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 6
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 70
- ^ Early Dynastic Egypt. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ James (2005) p. 40
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 102
- ^ Shaw (2002) pp. 116–7
- ^ Fekri Hassan. The Fall of the Old Kingdom. British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 241 BC - First Punic War: Battle of the Aegates Islands - The Romans sink the Carthaginian fleet bringing
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 69
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 120
- ^ a b Shaw (2002) p. 146
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 29
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 148
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 79
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 158
- ^ Shaw (2002) pp. 179–82
- ^ Robins (1997) p. 90
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 188
- ^ a b Ryholt (1997) p. 310
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 189
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 224
- ^ James (2005) p. 48
- ^ Hatshepsut. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2007-12-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 536 - Byzantine General Belisarius enters Rome while the Ostrogothic garrison peacefully leaves the city
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 108
- ^ Aldred (1988) p. 259
- ^ Cline (2001) p. 273
- ^ From his two principal wives and large harem, Ramesses II sired more than 100 children. Clayton (1994) p. 146
- ^ Tyldesley (2001) pp. 76–7
- ^ James (2005) p. 54
- ^ Cerny (1975) p. 645
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 345
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 358
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 383
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 385
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 405
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 411
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 418
- ^ James (2005) p. 62
- ^ James (2005) p. 63
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 426
- ^ a b Shaw (2002) p. 422
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 441
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 445
- ^ a b c d Manuelian (1998) p. 358
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 363
- ^ Meskell (2004) p. 23
- ^ a b c Manuelian (1998) p. 372
- ^ Walbank (1984) p. 125
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 383
- ^ James (2005) p. 136
- ^ Billard (1978) p. 109
- ^ Social classes in ancient Egypt. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2007-12-11. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 359 - Honoratus, the first known Prefect of the City of Constantinople, takes office
- ^ a b c Janet H. Johnson. Women's Legal Rights in Ancient Egypt. University of Chicago. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Oakes (2003) p. 472
- ^ McDowell (1999) p. 168
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 361
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 514
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 506
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 510
- ^ Nicholson (2000) pp. 577 and 630
- ^ a b Strouhal (1989) p. 117
- ^ a b c Manuelian (1998) p. 381
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 409
- ^ Oakes (2003) p. 229
- ^ Greaves (1929) p. 123
- ^ Lucas (1962) p. 413
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 28
- ^ Scheel (1989) p. 14
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 166
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 51
- ^ Loprieno (1995b) p. 2137
- ^ Loprieno (2004) p. 161
- ^ Loprieno (2004) p. 162
- ^ Loprieno (1995b) p. 2137-38
- ^ Vittman (1991) pp. 197–227
- ^ Loprieno (1995a) p. 46
- ^ Loprieno (1995a) p. 74
- ^ Loprieno (2004) p. 175
- ^ Allen (2000) pp. 67, 70, 109
- ^ Loprieno (2005) p. 2147
- ^ Loprieno (2004) p. 173
- ^ Allen (2000) p. 13
- ^ Allen (2000) p. 7
- ^ Loprieno (2004) p. 166
- ^ El-Daly (2005) p. 164
- ^ Allen (2000) p. 8
- ^ Strouhal (1989) p. 235
- ^ Lichtheim (1975) p. 11
- ^ Lichtheim (1975) p. 215
- ^ Lichtheim (1980) p. 159
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 401
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 403
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 405
- ^ Manuelian (1998) pp. 406–7
- ^ Manuelian (1998) pp. 399–400
- ^ Music in Ancient Egypt. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 126
- ^ Clarke (1990) pp. 94–7
- ^ Badawy (1968) p. 50
- ^ Types of temples in ancient Egypt. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Dodson (1991) p. 23
- ^ Robins (1997) p. 29
- ^ Robins (1997) p. 21
- ^ Robins (2001) p. 12
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 105
- ^ a b James (2005) p. 122
- ^ Robins (1998) p. 74
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 216
- ^ Robins (1998) p. 149
- ^ Robins (1998) p. 158
- ^ James (2005) p. 102
- ^ James (2005) p. 117
- ^ a b Shaw (2002) p. 313
- ^ Allen (2000) pp. 79, 94–5
- ^ Wasserman, et al (1994) pp. 150–3
- ^ Mummies and Mummification: Old Kingdom. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Mummies and Mummification: Late Period, Ptolemaic, Roman and Christian Period. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ Shabtis. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College London. Retrieved on 2008-03-09. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 590 - Bahram Chobin is crowned as king Barham VI of Persia.
- ^ James (2005) p. 124
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 72
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 322
- ^ Manuelian (1998) p. 145
- ^ Harris (1990) p. 13
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 245
- ^ Manuelian (1998) pp. 366–7
- ^ Clayton (1994) p. 96
- ^ Shaw (2002) p. 400
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 177
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 109
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 195
- ^ Nicholson (2000) p. 215
- ^ Filer (1995) p. 94
- ^ Filer (1995) pp. 78–80
- ^ Filer (1995) p. 21
- ^ Figures are given for adult life expectancy and do not reflect life expectancy at birth. Filer (1995) p. 25
- ^ Filer (1995) p. 39
- ^ Strouhal (1989) p. 243
- ^ Stroual (1989) pp. 244–46
- ^ Stroual (1989) p. 250
- ^ Filer (1995) p. 38
- ^ Understanding of Egyptian mathematics is incomplete due to paucity of available material and lack of exhaustive study of the texts that have been uncovered. Imhausen et al. (2007) p. 13
- ^ Imhausen et al. (2007) p. 11
- ^ Clarke (1990) p. 222
- ^ Clarke (1990) p. 217
- ^ Clarke (1990) p. 218
- ^ Gardiner (1957) p. 197
- ^ a b Strouhal (1989) p. 241
- ^ Imhausen et al. (2007) p. 31
- ^ Kemp (1989) p. 138
- ^ Siliotti (1998) p. 8
- ^ Siliotti (1998) p. 10
- ^ El-Daly (2005) p. 112
- ^ Siliotti (1998) p. 13
- ^ Siliotti (1998) p. 100
References
- Aldred, Cyril (1988). Akhenaten, King of Egypt. London, England: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05048-1.
- Allen, James P. (2000). Middle Egyptian : An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77483-7.
- Badawy, Alexander (1968). A History of Egyptian Architecture. Vol III. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-00057-9.
- Billard, Jules B. (1978). Ancient Egypt: Discovering its Splendors. Washington D. C. : National Geographic Society.
- Cerny, J (1975). Egypt from the Death of Ramesses III to the End of the Twenty-First Dynasty' in The Middle East and the Aegean Region c. 1380–1000 BC. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-08691-4.
- Clarke, Somers (1990). Ancient Egyptian Construction and Architecture. New York, New York: Dover Publications, Unabridged Dover reprint of Ancient Egyptian Masonry: The Building Craft originally published by Oxford University Press/Humphrey Milford, London, (1930). ISBN 0-486-26485-8.
- Clayton, Peter A. (1994). Chronicle of the Pharaohs. London, England: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05074-0.
- Cline, Eric H. ; O'Connor, David Kevin (2001). Amenhotep III: Perspectives on His Reign. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 273. ISBN 0-472-08833-5.
- Dodson, Aidan (1991). Egyptian Rock Cut Tombs. Buckinghamshire, UK: Shire Publications Ltd. ISBN 0-7478-0128-2.
- Dodson, Aidan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. London, England: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500051283.
- El-Daly, Okasha (2005). Egyptology: The Missing Millennium. London, England: UCL Press. ISBN 1-844-72062-4.
- Filer, Joyce (1996). Disease. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-72498-5.
- Gardiner, Sir Alan (1957). Egyptian Grammar: Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs. Egyptian Grammar Being an Introduction to the Study of Hieroglyphs was written by Alan Gardiner and first published in 1927 in London by the Oxford, England: Griffith Institute. ISBN 0-900416-35-1.
- Hayes, W. C. (October 1964). "Most Ancient Egypt: Chapter III. The Neolithic and Chalcolithic Communities of Northern Egypt". JNES 23: 217–272. The Journal of Near Eastern Studies is an Academic journal published by the University of Chicago Press, devoted to examination of the Ancient and
- Imhausen, Annette; Eleanor Robson, Joseph W. Dauben, Kim Plofker, J. Lennart Berggren, Victor J. Katz (2007). The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-11485-4.
- James, T. G. H. (2005). The British Museum Concise Introduction to Ancient Egypt. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-03137-6.
- Kemp, Barry (1991). Barry Kemp is an English Archaeologist and Egyptologist, currently Professor in Egyptology in the Department of Oriental Studies at the University Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization. London, England: Routledge. ISBN 0415063469.
- Lichtheim, Miriam (1975). Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol 1. London, England: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02899-6.
- Lichtheim, Miriam (1980). Ancient Egyptian Literature, A Book of Readings. Vol III: The Late Period. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24844-1.
- Loprieno, Antonio (1995a). Ancient Egyptian: A linguistic introduction. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-44849-2.
- Loprieno, Antonio (1995b), “Ancient Egyptian and other Afroasiatic Languages”, in Sasson, J. M. , Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, vol. 4, New York, New York: Charles Scribner, pp. 2137–2150, ISBN 1-565-63607-4
- Loprieno, Antonio (2004), “Ancient Egyptian and Coptic”, in Woodward, Roger D. , The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 160–192, ISBN 0-52-156256-2
- Lucas, Alfred (1962). Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries, 4th Ed. . London, England: Edward Arnold Publishers. ISBN 1854170465.
- Mallory-Greenough, Leanne M. (2002). "The Geographical, Spatial, and Temporal Distribution of Predynastic and First Dynasty Basalt Vessels". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 88: 67–93. London, England: Egypt Exploration Society. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document.
- Manuelian, Peter Der (1998). Egypt: The World of the Pharaohs. Bonner Straße, Cologne Germany: Könemann Verlagsgesellschaft mbH. ISBN 3-89508-913-3.
- McDowell, A. G. (1999). Village life in ancient Egypt: laundry lists and love songs. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-814998-0.
- Meskell, Lynn. Object Worlds in Ancient Egypt: Material Biographies Past and Present (Materializing Culture). Oxford, England: Berg Publishers. ISBN 1-85973-867-2.
- Midant-Reynes, Béatrix (2000). The Prehistory of Egypt: From the First Egyptians to the First Pharaohs. Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-21787-8.
- Nicholson, Paul T. et al. (2000). Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521452570.
- Oakes, Lorna (2003). Ancient Egypt: An Illustrated Reference to the Myths, Religions, Pyramids and Temples of the Land of the Pharaohs. New York, New York: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 0-7607-4943-4.
- Robins, Gay (2000). The Art of Ancient Egypt. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-00376-4.
- Ryholt, Kim (January 1997). Kim S B Ryholt is a Danish Egyptologist, who works at the Carsten Niebuhr Institute ( Publications of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Copenhagen The Political Situation in Egypt During the Second Intermediate Period. Copenhagen, Denmark: Museum Tusculanum. ISBN 8772894210.
- Scheel, Bernd (1989). Egyptian Metalworking and Tools. Haverfordwest, Great Britain: Shire Publications Ltd. ISBN 0747800014.
- Shaw, Ian (2003). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-500-05074-0.
- Siliotti, Alberto (1998). The Discovery of Ancient Egypt. Edison, New Jersey: Book Sales, Inc. . ISBN 0-7858-1360-8.
- Strouhal, Eugen (1989). Life in Ancient Egypt. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2475-x.
- Tyldesley, Joyce A. (2001). Ramesses: Egypt's greatest pharaoh. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin, 76–77. ISBN 0-14-028097-9.
- Vittman, G. (1991). "Zum koptischen Sprachgut im Ägyptisch-Arabisch". Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 81: 197–227. Vienna, Austria: Institut für Orientalistik, Vienna University.
- Walbank, Frank William (1984). The Cambridge ancient history. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-23445-X.
- Wasserman, James; Faulkner, Raymond Oliver; Goelet, Ogden; Von Dassow, Eva (1994). The Egyptian Book of the dead, the Book of going forth by day: being the Papyrus of Ani. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-0767-3.
- Wilkinson, R. H. (2000). The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt. London, England: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0500051003.
Further reading
- Baines, John and Jaromir Malek (2000). John Baines is the incumbent Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford and a fellow of The Queen's College. The Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt, revised edition, Facts on File. ISBN 0816040362.
- Bard, KA (1999). Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt. NY, NY: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-18589-0.
- Grimal, Nicolas (1992). A History of Ancient Egypt. Blackwell Books. ISBN 0631193960.
- Lehner, Mark (1997). Mark Lehner, PhD is an American archaeologist with more than thirty years of experience excavating in Egypt. The Complete Pyramids. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500050848.
- Wilkinson, R. H. (2003). The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0500051208.
External links
- Ancient Egypt – maintained by the British Museum, this site provides a useful introduction to Ancient Egypt for older children and young adolescents
- BBC History: Egyptians – provides a reliable general overview and further links
- Texts from the Pyramid Age Door Nigel C. Strudwick, Ronald J. Leprohon, 2005, Brill Academic Publishers
- Ancient Egyptian Science: A Source Book Door Marshall Clagett, 1989
- Digital Egypt for Universities. Outstanding scholarly treatment with broad coverage and excellent cross references (internal and external). The British Museum is a Museum of human history and culture in London. Artifacts used extensively to illustrate topics.
- Ancient Egyptian Metallurgy A site that shows the history of Egyptian metalworking
- Napoleon on the Nile: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt, Art History. Metalworking is craft and practice of working with Metals to create individual parts assemblies or large scale structures
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