Ancient Egypt

What is Ancient Egypt

The earliest ‘Egyptians’ (if we can call them this before Egypt existed) appeared in Palaeolithic north-eastern Africa in c.400,000 bc, but they did not begin to focus their encampments near the River Nile until the onset of a drier climate in about 25,000 bc, at which time the eastern and western deserts formed. During the Mesolithic period (c.10,000–5000 bc) a number of semi-nomadic cultures inhabited the immediate area of the Nile Valley, relying on hunting and ﬁshing for their subsistence. Finally a gradual moistening of the climate in about 6000 bc encouraged the development of more settled Neolithic communities along the Nile, primarily relying on animal and plant domestication.

the beginning of the 4th millennium bc, a distinctive civilization had emerged at the northern end of the Nile Valley. Rainfall was (and still is) very low throughout the region, so the rich agricultural land of Egypt (which the ancient Egyptians called Kemet: ‘black land’) was watered by the so-called ‘inundation’, the apparently miraculous annual ﬂooding of the river, which deposited new layers of fertile silt along the riverbanks. The strips of cultivated land vary in thickness on either side, as the river meanders northwards. The River Nile, running northwards from its source in East Africa to the Mediterranean coast, is therefore the single most important element in the geography of Egypt. It divides the country into two sections: ﬁrst Upper Egypt, the southern part, consisting of the land from Wadi Halfa to Cairo, and secondly Lower Egypt, essentially comprising the northern region where the Nile fans out into several branches, forming a large and fertile delta, before disgorging into the Mediterranean. The ancient Egyptians called their country Kemet (referring to the black fertile soil), in contrast to the surrounding Deshret (‘red land’ or desert). Within this simple and curiously symmetrical geographical setting there developed a sophisticated culture, many aspects of which invariably shared these same qualities of balance and harmony.

The archaeology of pharaonic Egypt spans three millennia (c.3100– 332 bc) and encompasses a diverse body of artefacts, architecture, texts, and organic remains. Museums throughout the world contain millions of Egyptian antiquities, and an even greater number of remains are still in situ in the Nile Valley and the Delta, ranging from temples, tombs, and cities to remote rock inscriptions carved on crags in the Libyan Desert, the Eastern Desert, or the Sinai peninsula. Three principal factors have facilitated the survival of an unusual wealth of detail concerning pharaonic Egypt: ﬁrst, an elite group’s penchant for grandiose and elaborate funerary arrangements, secondly, suitably arid conditions of preservation, and ﬁnally the use of writing on a wide variety of media.

The history of the rediscovery of pharaonic Egypt is in many respects the same as that of any other ancient civilization, in that centuries of ignorance and plundering were gradually replaced by the more enlightened approaches of late 19th-century and 20th-century scholars. Within this broad trend, however, various speciﬁc aspects of Egyptology, such as epigraphy, excavation, philology, and anthropology, have progressed at very different rates.

Who were the Egyptians ?

Egypt lies in the extreme north-east of Africa. The river Nile flows right through the country and into the Mediterranean Sea through the Delta, making a long, fertile valley. People have lived in the area since the Stone Age, and modern humans arrived about 60,000 years ago. Around 8000 BC, the climate of Northern Africa began to change. The landscape became more arid, and the climate less hospitable. In contrast, the Nile River Valley was an area abundant in food and water. The Khartoum people arrived in Egypt around 6000 BC. They were the first to domesticate cattle and grow crops in the Nile Valley. Some of their spectacular rock-carvings can be seen in the Nubian Museum, Aswan. Around 5000 BC, a series of civilizations began to develop across the world, centred on major river valleys – the Indus in India, the Tigris-Euphrates in the Middle East, the Yellow River in China and the Nile in Egypt. The first settlers in ancient Egypt had probably migrated from other parts of Africa such as Libya and Nubia, and also from Palestine and Syria. They would have lived in simple mud huts on the banks of the Nile. These settlers were joined 2000 years later by people from escaping from the arid conditions of modern south Iraq. They would also have been attracted by the fertile soils, regular water supply and plentiful wildlife that were features of ancient Egypt. The period of time from the founding of these settlements until the beginning of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in 3100 BC is known as the Predynastic era. Historians are not sure how the end of the Predynastic era came about. It may have been caused by an invasion from Asia, but it is more likely that internal factors caused a gradual unification of Egypt.

Without the waters of the river Nile , the amazing civilization of ancient Egypt might never have existed.

Greek and Roman views of Egypt

The ﬁrst people from outside Egypt to take it upon themselves to study the Egyptians as a unique and fascinating anthropological phenomenon were the ancient Greeks. Although archaeological evidence in Egypt and elsewhere shows that there were commercial contacts between Egyptians and Greeks from at least the late 3rd millennium BC, it was recruitment of large numbers of Greek mercenary soldiers by the 26th-Dynasty ruler Psamtek I, in the 7th century bc, that probably marked the beginning of full-scale contact between the two civilizations.

Apart from Homer’s many references to Egypt in the Iliad, some of the ﬁrst written evidence for Greek interest in Egypt derives from their early study of the geography of the world as a whole. In the 6th century bc, Thales of Miletus wrote a description of the Nile inundation, which he suggested was caused by winds blowing from the north in the summer, thus preventing the river from reaching the Mediterranean. At around the same time, Anaximander produced the ﬁrst scientiﬁcally based map of the surface of the earth; according to Herodotus, a copper tablet reproducing Anaximander’s map included ‘the whole circuit of the earth and all the sea and rivers’, so we can probably assume that it included the Nile Valley

Between the 5th century bc and the 2nd century ad, numerous Greek and Roman scholars visited Egypt, and the accounts that they gave of their visits provide our ﬁrst real verbal and intellectual view of Egypt from the outside. Sadly, however, the works of many ancient writers on Egypt have not survived, and one major reason for this was the burning of the library at Alexandria in 47 bc and then again in ad 391, when 700,000 works, including Manetho’s 36-volume history of Egypt were lost.

The ﬁrst Greek geographer who is deﬁnitely known to have visited Egypt was Hecataeus of Miletus, who travelled as far south as Thebes in about 500 bc. He wrote a treatise called the Periodos (‘description’), which was the ﬁrst systematic account of the geography of the world. Only fragments of this work have survived, but it clearly included a detailed description of Egypt, because Stephanus of Byzantium (c.ad 600) cites 15 Egyptian town-names from it.

The best-known, and most informative, ancient Greek visitor to Egypt was of course Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the traveller and historian. His nine volumes of Histories were written between 430 and 425 bc, and the second book is entirely devoted to Egypt. Herodotus is the earliest major textual source of information on mummiﬁcation and other ancient Egyptian religious and funerary customs, and he attracted numerous later imitators, including Strabo and Diodorus Siculus. His travels in Egypt may have extended as far south as Aswan, but he gives no detailed account of Thebes, concentrating mainly on places in Lower Egypt. He seems to have relied mainly on rather low-ranking Egyptian priests for his evidence, but his astute observations included the identiﬁcation of the pyramids as royal burial places. Herodotus not only provides a great deal of ethnographic information on 5th-century Egypt, but also gives us a version of Egyptian history for about 200 years of the Late Period, from the reign of Psamtek I, c.650 to the date that Herodotus visited Egypt, c.450 (by which time Egypt had become a satrapy in the Persian Empire). Occasionally archaeological work has shown Herodotus’ descriptions to be surprisingly accurate, as in the case of Tell Basta, the site of the temple and town of Bubastis, in the eastern Nile Delta, about 80 km to the north-east of Cairo. In 1887–9, Edouard Naville’s excavation of the main monument at the site, the red granite temple of the cat-goddess Bastet, conﬁrmed many of the architectural details of the Greek historian’s report.

Herodotus’ description of Egypt has been described by the British Egyptologist Alan Lloyd as ‘our only consecutive account of Egyptian history between 664 and 525 bc and, for all its faults, it continues to provide the bedrock on which all modern work on the period is based’. Lloyd makes the point that native Egyptian texts of the 5th century bc, although quite extensive, are to a large extent full of stereotyped, obsolescent material that cannot be regarded as reliable. Herodotus, however, is not without his own problems, and according to Lloyd, he ‘presents a view of Egypt’s past which shows no genuine understanding of Egyptian history. Everything has been uncompromisingly customized for Greek consumption and cast unequivocally into a Greek mold.’ As long ago as 1887, it was demonstrated by the German philologist Herman Diels that Herodotus was extensively plagiarizing the work of his illustrious predecessor Hecataeus, especially in the geographical and ethnographic sections of his Egyptian volume. It has consequently been argued that Hecataeus ought to have at least some of the credit for developing the basic intellectual framework that characterized Herodotus and most later Greek authors writing about Egypt. The next Greek to write extensively on Egypt from personal experience was another Hecataeus (c.320–300 bc), this time a philosopher and historian born in the Thracian town of Abdera. He was the author of many books, including one, probably called Concerning the Egyptians (Aegyptiaca), which was apparently based on the time he spent in Egypt in the employ of Ptolemy I, the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Although he almost certainly travelled up the Nile with Ptolemy, his writings include numerous extracts plagiarized from Herodotus. Hecataeus was a pupil of the sceptic Pyrrho, and although only fragments of his works have survived, he is quoted by a number of authors, including Diodorus Siculus. His book on Egypt is the earliest surviving Greek history to mention the Jews. He also provides a good indication of Greeks’ views of the ancient Egyptian political system in the early Ptolemaic period, although his view of Egyptian kingship seems unfortunately to be way off the mark, including the suggestion that,

in general the priests are the ﬁrst to deliberate on the most important matters, and are always at the king’s side, sometimes as his helpers, sometimes as proposers of measures and teachers; and they also forecast future events by astrology and divination, and make known to him those acts recorded in the sacred books which can be of assistance.

It has been argued that Hecataeus’s view of Ptolemaic kingship was biased by two factors: ﬁrst, the use of priests and priestly documents as sources, and second, the tendency of Greek authors to add their own ideas into descriptions of ‘oriental’ customs.

Not all Greeks were in Egypt to research books, some of them were in the Nile Valley for commercial or military reasons (or just passing through), and these individuals have left behind some of the earliest tourist and ‘pilgrimage’ grafﬁti on the sights and monuments that they visited. One of the best collections of this kind of grafﬁti is on the northernmost of the Colossi of Memnon, two colossal statues that stand in front of the remains of Amenhotep III’s mortuary temple on the west bank at Thebes (the Greeks knew the statue as the ‘vocal Memnon’, interpreting the unusual whistling noise it made each morning as the Homeric character Memnon singing to his mother Eos, goddess of the dawn). Even at the remote temples of Ramesses II down at Abu Simbel in Nubia there are grafﬁti left by Carian, Greek, and Phoenician soldiers who formed part of Psamtek II’s expedition against the Kushites in the early 6th century bc. The Greek historian Strabo, who spent several years at Alexandria in the late ﬁrst century bc, discusses several of the Theban monuments, including the Colossi and the New Kingdom rock-tombs. Although not generally as informative as the work of Herodotus, and considerably more prone to patronizing remarks concerning Egyptian culture, Strabo’s Geography is nevertheless a valuable record of Egypt in the 1st century bc.

Ancient, modern, and postmodern mummies

Until recently it was assumed that the earliest artiﬁcial mummies (as opposed to bodies simply desiccated by the surrounding sand) were those found at cemeteries such as Abydos, Saqqara and Tarkhan in the Early Dynastic period, but in 1997 an AngloAmerican team of archaeologists working in one of the non-elite Predynastic cemeteries at Hierakonpolis found three intact burials containing female bodies with their heads, necks and hands wrapped in linen bandages, the whole of each of the corpses being swathed in linen and matting. The grave goods accompanying these bodies dated to around 3600 bc (the early Naqada II culture), therefore pushing back the earliest use of artiﬁcial mummiﬁcation to a much earlier period than previously supposed, although opinions differ as to whether the simple bandaging of parts of a corpse can necessarily be described as mummiﬁcation. Intriguingly,one of the women had her throat cut after death, suggesting that even at this date there might have been a sense in which the ritual dismemberment and reassembly of Osiris’s body-parts was being acted out. This is not the end of the story, however – the work of an Australian Egyptologist, Jana Jones, has demonstrated that the use of mummiﬁcation techniques can probably be pushed back even further in time to the Badarian culture (c.4500–4100). Her examination of thick, desiccated clumps of wrappings from the Neolithic cemeteries at Badari and Mostagedda has shown that resin-soaked bandages were already being applied to bodies in a similar way to the Hierakonpolis examples. We therefore now have evidence for at least a thousand years of experimentation in mummiﬁcation before the 1st Dynasty, although, as Jones points out,

Whether the act of wrapping the body in the very earliest periods indicates an intention to preserve it artiﬁcially, or whether it was another aspect of the funerary ritual, is uncertain

The practice of Egyptian mummiﬁcation seems to have evolved simply to preserve the image of the body – thus some of the early mummies of the 3rd millennium bc were simply painted with plaster and paint, preserving the outer shell of the body but allowing the rest to decay away inside. The development of more sophisticated techniques meant that gradually more of the original body was retained, eventually reaching something of a peak in the late New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period (c.1200–900 bc). By the time Herodotus wrote his detailed description of the process of mummiﬁcation, around the middle of the 5th century bc, techniques are thought to have already gone into something of a decline, presumably partly in order to meet the demands of ‘mass production’ as mummiﬁcation spread through larger numbers of the population.

Ancient egypt religion

The history of Egyptian religion was at one stage concerned principally with the beliefs and temples of the pharaonic period, but it has become increasingly clear that, as with the rest of Egyptian culture, there is a signiﬁcant prehistory of Egyptian religion that needs to be documented and analysed before the later material can be properly understood. At the Neolithic site of Nabta Playa (in the Western Desert, c.100 km west of Abu Simbel), for instance, circular and linear arrangements of small standing stones were identiﬁed in 1992, indicating that monuments oriented to astronomical phenomena (the cardinal points and the summer solstice) were already being created as early as 4000 bc. Alongside one of these alignments were found two tumuli covering burials of long-horned bulls, and further cattle burials, surmounted by large stones, were discovered in one of the wadis leading into the Nabta Playa depression, all of which strongly suggests that some form of cow/bull cult already existed among the cattle-herding people of the Egyptian deserts in the early 4th millennium bc, evidently preﬁguring both the emergence of such cow-goddesses as Bat and Hathor and the very strong associations between Egyptian kings and bulls. Comparisons between female ﬁgures in early prehistoric petroglyphs, Predynastic female ﬁgurines, and some of the religious motifs of the pharaonic period appear to show a high degree of continuity in the iconography, although it would be simplistic to assume that the use of similar icons or artistic themes is necessarily an indication of long-term connections in the underlying religious beliefs.

In 1985, archaeology provided one intriguing insight into the crucial phase of religious development towards the end of Egyptian prehistory. Excavations in a section of the Predynastic town at Hierakonpolis (Locality HK29A) revealed a large area interpreted as an early religious complex, probably incorporating a parabolic courtyard, a colossal divine image of some kind, a ceremonial gateway, and four large post-holes which may show the location of a monumental façade, all dating to Naqada II–III (c.3500–3000). As with the Nabta Playa remains, there were copious traces of animal sacriﬁces in association with this likely early temple complex. Acts of animal sacriﬁce and the piling up of offerings to the gods seem to have been crucial elements of the early religion of Egypt, and in later times it is the dominant feature of Egyptian acts of worship.

Many of the texts inscribed on the walls of Egyptian temples are connected with the listing of the nature and quantity of offerings delivered to the gods’ shrines. The walls of the mortuary temple of Ramesses III, for instance, are decorated with 71 offerings, the largest surviving set of offering lists in any of the New Kingdom royal mortuary temples. The most frequent kind of offering was bread (indeed the hieroglyph meaning ‘offering’ was a depiction of a loaf on a tray), with lists of more than 5,500 loaves and 204 jars of beer being offered every day. The loaves were of several different types, the most common being round pesen and tapering cylindrical moulded bit. This is one of the rare occasions where a fruitful connection can be made between the textual and archaeological sides of Egyptology, since sherds from the cylindrical bit breadmoulds have been found in abundance at Medinet Habu and other religious sites; these bit loaves seem to have been more closely associated with religious festivals than standard forms of bread.

If the provision of offerings represents the ‘acceptable’ side of Egyptian religion for the modern Western observer, there is also another recurrent aspect of many of the religious cults that Egyptologists of the late 19th and early 20th century frequently preferred to ignore (or at least gloss over). This was the tendency towards ‘phallocentrism’, involving cults dedicated to very obviously ithyphallic gods (especially Min and Amun). Although Egyptian art shied away from depicting the sexual act, it had no such qualms about the depiction of the erect phallus, for the simple reason that, as Tom Hare has pointed out, ‘a celebration of the phallus is one of the central iconic foci of Egyptian religion from predynastic days through the Roman occupation’. The three oldest colossal religious statues in Egyptian history, found by Petrie in the earliest strata of the temple of Min at Koptos (and now in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), were essentially large ithyphallic representations, probably of Min, dating no later than the time of Narmer. This celebration of the phallus appears to be directly related to the Egyptians’ concerns with the creation (and sustaining) of the universe, in which the king was thought to play a signiﬁcant role – which was no doubt one of the reasons why the Egyptian state would have been concerned to ensure that the ithyphallic ﬁgures continued to be important elements of many cults.

Uniting the Kingdoms

The union of Upper and Lower Egypt was very important to the ancient Egyptians. The capital of the new kingdom, Memphis, was close to where the Nile Valley meets the Delta. The ancient Egyptians divided their kings into families that are now known as dynasties. The 1st Dynasty began when the first king ruled over the united kingdom. Records from the 1st and 2nd Dynasties are confused. Historians are unable to give names or dates accurately to these rulers. Archaeologists have discovered a piece of slate called the Narmer Palette showing the king vanquishing his enemies. On one side the king is wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, and on the other he wears the red crown of Lower Egypt. King Narmer was succeeded by Menes in c. 3100 BC, who founded the 1st Dynasty. Most historians believe ‘Menes’ was actually a title taken by the king, whose name was Horus Aha. King Menes was the founder of the city of Memphis. He also built a great temple there. This period in Egyptian history saw the beginning of two dynasties. The first lasted from 2925– 2715 BC, and the second lasted from 2715–2658 BC. The kings of the first two dynasties of the united Egypt all came from a place called This. The site has not been located by archaeologists yet, but it is likely to have been near Abydos in Upper Egypt, as the tombs of these kings lie in the cemetery of Abydos. The king of the united kingdoms was usually depicted wearing a double crown, which was made up of the Red Crown of the Delta and the White Crown of the Valley.

The Narmir palette was found in pre - Dynastic

capital of hierakonpolis by the british archaeologist J E quibell in 1898

The Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom lasted from 2686–2181 BC and is viewed as one of the more stable times in ancient Egyptian history. This period covered a line of kings from the 3rd to the 6th Dynasties. During this period, Egypt made great use of the vast mineral wealth that lay beneath its deserts, and gained wealth trading with other nations. The wealth was used to glorify the nation’s rulers. Few written records of the Old Kingdom survive. What the rulers of this period did leave behind was a building programme unprecedented in its scope and imagination. A series of mud-brick temples were built in the Old Kingdom. Statues of gods adorned these temples, alongside statues of the kings of Egypt, who were regarded as living gods. This era of Egyptian history was one of great pyramid building. Under the orders of King Djoser, a vast step pyramid was built during the 3rd Dynasty, while during the 4th Dynasty straight-sided pyramids appeared at Meidum, Dashur and Giza. At the end of the 4th Dynasty, a new line of kings took to the throne. They called themselves ‘Sa Ra’ (‘Sons of Ra’), and built stone temples for the sun god, Ra. This period was the height of the cult of this god. Pyramids continued to be built during the 5th Dynasty, but they were not as large as previous structures. At Saqqara, they were inscribed with pyramid texts to help the dead king reach heaven. Old Kingdom officials also built grand tombs and statues to mark their deaths. These were decorated with paintings depicting their lives and careers. Towards the end of the Old Kingdom they rivalled those of the pharaohs in terms of grandeur. The 6th Dynasty ended with the death of Queen Nitiqret and a period of great stability came to an end. The unified kingdom of Egypt broke up into several small states as local governors became independent of the pharaoh.

The First Intermediate Period

After the stability and growth of the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period (7th–11th Dynasties) saw the power of the central government in ancient Egypt decline. It began with the death of Queen Nitiqret and lasted until the rule of Mentuhotep II. During this period, the 7th and 8th Dynasties (2150–2130 BC) were still based at the capital of the united Egypt, Memphis. However, their leaders had great trouble controlling their unruly subjects. The weakness of these rulers and the decline of the kingdom is illustrated by their tombs. They are tiny when compared with the gigantic royal pyramids of the Old Kingdom. Archaeological evidence suggests that there were few skilled craftsmen during this period. Pots, bowls and other artefacts are not of the quality of those unearthed in earlier sites. The weakness of the ruling kings at Memphis meant that much of the power was held not by the king but by governors of the different nomes. The rulers of the 9th and 10th Dynasties established themselves at Herakleopolis, to the south of Memphis. They included Neferkare VII, Kheti and Merikave. After the disintegration of the Old Kingdom, the governors of Thebes became independent local rulers. Their power soon rivalled that of the 9th and 10th Dynasties at Herakleopolis. One 11th Dynasty ruler at Thebes was Antef I. He and his successors claimed to be the ‘Kings of Upper and Lower Egypt’ and wore clothes decorated with the symbols of both regions. Despite the conflict of the period, archaeologists have uncovered evidence that suggests not everyone felt under threat. The town of Balet was built without a fortified wall, suggesting a sense of security among the residents. Art during this period showed signs of decline. Artwork was often of a lower quality than that of the Old Kingdom.

The Middle Kingdom

Conflict and division in the First Intermediate Period was ended by a Theban called Nebhepetra Mentuhotep. He reunited the country by conquest, heralding the start of the Middle Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom (1975–1640 BC) was a high point for art and literature. Jewellery and paintings from the period are of an exceptional quality, while many poems and books of wisdom were written. Mentuhotep asked for shrines to be built all over Egypt to local gods and goddesses. He also built a great memorial temple at Deir el-Bahri. Mentuhotep was succeeded by a number of sons, but when the last of these died, his vizier Amenemhet became the founder of the 12th Dynasty. The most popular king of the 12th Dynasty was Senusret 1 (1965–1920 BC), who helped to make Egypt a great power once more. Under his reign Egypt conquered part of Nubia and defeated the Libyans. The reign of Senusret III (1818–1859 BC) saw the establishment of a number of fortresses in Nubia. A canal was also constructed that allowed boats to travel around the Nile’s first waterfall, an otherwise impossible series of rapids. During the 12th Dynasty, two pyramids were built at Dahshur, and others at Fayum. The funerary temple of Amenemhet III was one of the most impressive sights of the ancient world. A new royal residence was also established during this period at el-Lisht. There are few of the great buildings of the Middle Kingdom left in good condition. The pyramids have been severely damaged by the weather, while many buildings were pulled down during the New Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom ended when a succession of weak rulers saw their control over Egypt undermined, until eventually the Delta region was conquered by foreigners. Nubia was lost and became an independent state.

The Second Intermediate Period

The Second Intermediate Period (1750–1550 BC) was a difficult time for Egypt. Invaders called the Hyksos settled in the Delta. They were to reign as the 13th–17th Dynasties of pharaohs. The Hyksos had better weapons than the Egyptians. They overran local forces, and began to call themselves kings. The Hyksos built a new, heavily fortified, capital city called Avaris in 1720 BC. It was built on the ruins of the Middle Kingdom. During this time, the Theban kings of the 17th Dynasty maintained control of southern Egypt. The division of Egypt was not peaceful. The Theban king Sequenenra Taa was killed. His mummy shows axe and knife wounds. The Theban king Kamose erected a memorial in the temple of Karnak to record his victories in battle. During one battle against the Hyksos, the Theban army was led by Queen Ahhotep. King Ahmose finally expelled the Hyksos from Egypt. He also destroyed their strongholds in Palestine to ensure they could not be a danger again. Under Ahmose, the Nubian territories that were lost at the end of the Middle Kingdom were reclaimed. A new period of strength for Egypt was about to begin.

The Second Intermediate Period

The chariot provided the Hyksos peaple with in incredbily mobile army, which quickly overpowered the egyptian forces.

The New Kingdom

The expulsion of the Hyksos marked the beginning of the New Kingdom, which lasted from 1550–1076 BC, (18–20th Dynasties). During this time, ancient Egypt enjoyed unprecedented power, peace and prosperity. Territory was greatly expanded, which brought wealth flooding in. Much is known about this period of Egyptian history because of what has been left behind – letters from kings, ruins of great towns, and artefacts that shed light on daily life. With the founding of the 18th Dynasty, the city of Waset (Thebes) became the capital of Egypt. This was to be the site of the temples of Luxor and Karnak, the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens. The first ruler of the new dynasty, Ahmose, followed up his victory over the Hyksos by pursuing them into Palestine and Syria, and taking territory there, before consolidating the northern borders of Egypt. Ahmose’s successors, Amenhotep I and Thutmose I built on his great military victories. The Egyptian empire grew to include parts of Palestine, Syria and most of Nubia. Egypt’s most successful warrior king was Thutmose II. He led his army on 17 campaigns, conquering cities and forcing them to pay tribute (taxes) to Egypt in return for mercy. The tribute that flowed into Egypt made the empire the wealthiest on Earth, and allowed the pharaohs to build even more temples. Mud-brick buildings were torn down and replaced with great stone structures. The pharaohs of the 19th Dynasty were descended from a vizier called Ramesses. Sety 1 protected the empire from a neighbouring race called the Hittites. His son, Ramesses II, became one of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs. Towards the end of the dynasty, central power began to weaken again. Such was the religious hold of the high priest Herihor that he even claimed royal powers! The kings of the 20th Dynasty faced an onslaught from many directions, including the Libyans and Sea Peoples. Although Ramesses III repelled these invaders, much of the empire was lost and Egypt was greatly weakened.

Ramesses II also called Ramesses the great lived to the age of 96 , and was said to have had 200 wives , 60 dough- ters and 96 sons.

The Third Intermediate Period

After the fall of the 20th Dynasty, the kings of Egypt retreated to the Delta. They had little control over the south of the country. Smendes (1069–1043 BC) became the first king of the 21st Dynasty after the death of Ramesses XI in 1070 BC. Power in Egypt was divided between the high priests of the god Amun at Thebes in the south, and the kings of the 21st Dynasty (1070–945 BC) at Tanis in the north in Lower Egypt. In the 10th century BC, the 22nd Dynasty began in the north. Instigated by Sheshonq I (945–924 BC) of Libyan descent, these kings established a powerbase to the east of the Delta, so Thebes became less important. The new rulers brought statues and obelisks (tall tapering stone pillars) from other sites in Egypt. Archaeologists have also uncovered many gold and silver treasures in their tombs. Under the rule of Takelot II (850–825 BC), the 23rd Dynasty began. The two dynasties governed simultaneously for around 90 years. By the 8th century BC, the power in Egypt was no longer central. By this time, the 24th Dynasty, ruling from the city of Sais, had also appeared, in the form of a man called Tefnakht (724–717 BC). During this period, Nubia was ruled from the city of Napata. Although the country had a strong culture of its own, the people worshipped Egyptian gods. An independent native dynasty had begun to rule at around 760 BC. The new Nubian government extended its influence into southern Egypt. In 729 BC, Egyptian rulers Namhet and Tefnakht united to try to force out the Nubians, but their attack provoked a full-scale invasion. In the 8th century BC, King Piy of Napata, Nubia, invaded Egypt and captured all the main cities. Piy was successful in uniting Egypt. The various Egyptian leaders submitted to his rule at Memphis in 728 BC. The rule of the Nubian kings is known as the 25th Dynasty and the Late Period of Egyptian history began.

God	Duty	representation
Ra	God of the sun	Falcon-headed man wearing a run disk on his head
Osiris	Cheif judge in the underworld	Mummified king
Horus	God of the sky protector of the king	Fakon
Sekhmet	Goddess of fire	Lion - headed woman
Hathor	Goddess of motherhood protecter of pregnant women	cow
Anubis	Prepared bodies for mummification	jackal
Thoth	Moon god Scribe	Ibis - headed man

The Late Period

Egypt’s new Nubian rulers showed great respect for the country’s religion. They began a programme of repairs to the major temples and built new structures and statues to celebrate the Egyptian gods. In the 7th century BC, a new threat to Egypt emerged from the Near East – Assyria. The Assyrians were warlike people who had tried to invade Egypt in 674 and 671 BC. The next attempt was successful, and the Nubian kings were thrown out. When the Assyrians had conquered Egypt, they sent most of their troops home. An Egyptian collaborator called Nekau was left to run the country. In the absence of Assyrians to protect him, Nekau was murdered by Tanutamani, the last king of the 25th Dynasty. However, his victory was short-lived – he was forced to flee when the Assyrians returned. When the Assyrians were attacked by other enemies, Egypt again had an opportunity to fight for its independence. The leader of the 26th Dynasty was Psamtek I (Psammetichus) – son of the murdered Nekau. He led the Egyptians to victory against the Assyrians around 653 BC. This period of ancient Egyptian history was one of great creativity. Arts and crafts blossomed, with exquisite items made out of ceramics and bronze. Peace was short-lived, and the country was soon invaded again. King Psammetichus III was defeated by the king of Persia, and Egypt became a province of Persia. Persian kings counted as the 27th Dynasty of Egypt but they were not popular and there were a number of rebellions. The 28th–30th Dynasties saw a series of Egyptian leaders struggle for power. King Nectanebo II was the last native Egyptian to rule ancient Egypt.

Greek - Roman Period

The young Macedonian king, Alexander the Great, defeated Egypt’s Persian rulers in the 4th century BC, and became Egypt’s new leader. Alexander incorporated Egypt into his own empire. He founded the city of Alexandria in 332 BC, and then left Egypt to the control of two Greek officials. He died in 323 BC. In 305 BC, Alexandra’s general, Ptolemy, proclaimed himself pharaoh. He founded the Ptolemaic dynasty, which lasted until 30 BC. During this dynasty, the temple of Edfu was completed and work started on the temples of Dendera, Komo Ombo and Philae. During the Ptolemaic dynasty, most important posts were held by Greeks. However, Egyptian laws and religion were largely left untouched. During the Greek Period, Ptolemy I introduced the cult of the god of Serapis in an attempt to unify Greeks and Egyptians. In the later Greek Period, civil wars once again became a part of Egyptian life. Egyptians in the south tried to rebel against their foreign rulers, and there were sporadic outbreaks of violence in Alexandria. In 48 BC, Roman general Julius Caesar went to Egypt to aid Queen Cleopatra VII, who had been deposed by her brother Ptolemy XIII Philopator. Cleopatra was later defeated by the Roman leader Octavian in 30 BC. Octavian appointed himself pharaoh and Egypt became a Roman province. Many Roman emperors commissioned temple wall paintings with themselves depicted as Egyptian pharaohs.

What was a pharaoh

The term ‘pharaoh’ (‘per-aa’) was originally used to describe the royal court, but from the time of the New Kingdom onwards it was used to refer to the king himself. It was unusual for a woman to rule Egypt in her own right. A queen was referred to as ‘Great Royal Wife’. Hatshepsut and Nefertiti were exceptions to this rule. The ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was the god Horus in human form. He could not be addressed directly by name. The pharaoh was the representative of the gods, and looked after the harmony of the universe. No one else in the ancient Egyptian government had more power than the pharaoh. He was in charge of law and order, trade and industry, and the taxation of the temple lands and private estates. There was a long period of training to become a pharaoh. A prince had to work on his military and sporting skills and then hope to persuade a pharaoh to take him on as his ‘co-regent’. When a pharaoh died, control went to his co-regent. The pharaoh was the religious head of state. He performed lots of religious ceremonies and was the honourary high priest of every temple. It was believed that pharaohs were the only people who were allowed to approach and touch the gods. Pharaohs are the only people shown making offerings to the gods in temple wall paintings. The pharaoh was also the head of Egypt’s legal system. If an Egyptian felt he had been wronged, he could appeal directly to the pharaoh for justice. One of the duties of a pharaoh was to protect Egypt from its enemies. Some pharaohs, such as Thutmose III, actually led the Egyptian army into battle.

Colonial Egypt

In 1798, the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte landed in Egypt. He defeated the Mameluke army in the Battle of the Pyramids, but his fleet was in turn defeated by the British, led by Admiral Nelson. The French left Egypt just three years later. In this period of confusion Mohammad Ali, an officer of Albanian descent, came forward to take control of Egypt. He was given the title of ‘pasha’ by the Ottoman sultan in 1801 and initiated a programme of modernization. Ali began eradicating all Mameluke influence in Egypt. He also conquered Sudan, Palestine and Syria – though he failed in his efforts to conquer Greece. In 1831 European forces intervened to prevent Ali overthrowing the sultan of Turkey but the Egyptian leader gained control of Syria and Crete. After the death of Ali, control of Egypt passed to his nephew Abbas in 1848, and then to his sons Said (1854–1863) and Ismail (1863–1879). During the reign of Ismail, the Suez Canal was opened. By the end of the 19th century the country was in debt. In 1876, an Anglo-French commission was put in charge of Egypt’s finances. Ismail was removed by the Sultan for incompetence and his son Tawfik Pasha was put in charge. When the Egyptian army rebelled, Tawfik issued a direct appeal to Britain for help. In response, they occupied Egypt in 1882. Although British forces did succeed in re-establishing order in Egypt, their presence was bitterly resented. In 1918, the Wafd, an Egyptian nationalist party led by Saad Zaghlul, demanded independence. In 1922, Britain reluctantly retreated from Egypt. After the removal of the British, King Fuad I established Egypt’s first constitution as a parliamentary monarchy. Egypt joined the League of Nations in 1937.

Egypt today

Egypt became a republic on 18 June 1953, when King Farouk was forced to abdicate. Colonel Gamel Abdel Nasser was made prime minister, and later, president. President Nasser embarked on a series of ambitious projects including the construction of the Aswan High Dam, funded by money raised by the nationalization of the Suez Canal. Completed in 1970, it controls the Nile’s annual floods and provides about half of Egypt’s power supply. In 1958, Egypt founded the United Arab Republic with Yemen and Syria to resist Israeli influence in the Middle East. In 1967 they engaged in the Six Day War with Israel. Israel destroyed the Egyptian air force, captured Sinai and closed the Suez Canal. After the Six Day War, Egypt was forced to recognize the state of Israel. Egypt’s occupied regions were returned. An uneasy truce lasted until the death of Nasser in 1970. Nasser’s successor, Anwar al-Sadat launched a lightning attack against Israeli occupiers in Sinai in 1973, on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. The Egyptians were forced back, but the ceasefire agreement that was reached later favoured Egypt. From 1977, President Sadat began peace moves with Israel. In 1978 a historic deal called the Camp David Agreement was signed. Israel agreed to withdraw from Sinai, and Egypt officially recognized Israel. Many people in Egypt were unhappy with the Camp David Agreement, and on 6 October 1981, Sadat was assassinated. His successor, Hosni Mubarak, has been in power ever since, despite numerous attempts on his life. Under Mubarak, Egypt has become close to the West. Egypt sent 35,000 troops to fight against Iraq in the Gulf War. In recent years, Egypt has been targeted by Islamic fundamentalists. In 1997 a bus of holidaymakers was fired on as it visited the temple of Hatshepsut, one of the main historic sites at the town of Luxor in southern Egypt. Despite such unrest, Egypt continues to thrive, and the economy is booming too. In 2000 Egypt signed a billion dollar deal with Lebanon and Syria to develop a pipeline transporting Egyptian gas.

Ancient Egypt food and drink

Most of what we know about the diet of the ancient Egyptians comes from scenes painted in private tombs, and from the remains of food found in burial complexes. It is likely that most Egyptians enjoyed a good diet. Although their crops were sometimes struck by plagues of locusts and other pests, the average table would have boasted food including meats, fish, vegetables and fruits. Meat that was eaten includes sheep, poultry, oxen and wild animals such as antelope. It was expensive, and the poor often ate fish instead. Some also went hunting or fowling. Spice was an important feature of an Egyptian feast. The world’s major trading routes passed through the country, bringing exotic eastern spices. The Egyptians grew grapes that they both ate and made into wine. Wine could also be made from dates. Beer made from barley was more widely available, and was thick and gloopy. Dates and honey were used as sweeteners. Bees were kept in pottery hives, and the Egyptians thought of them as tiny birds rather than as insects. Bread formed the staple diet of most Egyptians. Wall paintings show workers placing loaves into flat round moulds to bake them. Cakes were also made using fruits such as dates and figs. The kitchen was often a corner of the courtyard or on the flat roof. Ancient Egyptians cooked in clay ovens or charcoal fires. Food was baked, boiled, stewed, fried, grilled or roasted. An ancient papyrus casts some light on what Egyptians considered to be special foods to eat. The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor reveals that the hero delighted in figs, grapes, cucumbers, fish and birds. Kitchen utensils included storage jars, bowls, pots, pans, ladles, sieves and whisks. Ordinary Egyptians used dishes made from clay, while the rich used ones made from gold, silver or bronze.

Ancient egypt Fashion

The ancient Egyptians took a great deal of care over their appearance. They cut their hair short to cope with the heat and the wealthy dressed up in black wigs made from wool or human hair for special occasions. Make-up was used by both rich and poor. Men and women applied kohl as eyeliner, and powdered ochre was used to flush the cheeks. Archaeologists have discovered many exquisitely carved make-up containers. Fashion-conscious Egyptians could study themselves in mirrors made from polished copper or bronze. Good glass was very scarce. Most ancient Egyptians wore jewellery. The poor wore rings and bracelets of cheap metals and coloured clay. The rich wore gold and precious stones. The hot climate dictated that clothing was light and loose-fitting, made from linen. Egyptian men wore linen loin cloths or kilts, fastened round the waist, while women wore long, tunic-type dresses. Shoes were often made of papyrus. They were usually simple sandals similar to flip-flops, and were worn by people of all classes. Cleanliness was extremely important for Egyptian women. Wealthier women used a cleansing paste of water combined with natron, a compound found in sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate. Egyptian women rubbed oils into their skin after washing, possibly fragranced with frankincense or myrrh. Poorer women were often supplied with oils as part of their wages. Influences from the Middle East probably led to ear piercing. By the 14th century BC, many Egyptian men and women wore large earrings.

Ancient Egypt Education

Few Egyptians received any formal education. Most were illiterate, and received vocational training aimed at preparing them for their future employment. Skills such as carpentry were passed on through generations. Schooling was very expensive, and many families were unable to afford it. The ability to read and write could sometimes lead to being given a position as a scribe, which was one of the most coveted jobs in Egypt. To become a scribe, you went to a special school at the age of about nine. Training took between 7 and 12 years to complete. Only then were scribes allowed to write on papyrus scrolls. Students made their own brushes and colours and copied out long lists of words and phrases. They then progressed to copying whole texts. The texts were usually moral works, packed full of advice about how a young Egyptian should behave. There were many employment options for scribes. You could seek work in a temple, a law court, within the government, or as a travelling war reporter with the Egyptian army. The ancient Egyptians believed that writing was sacred – a skill given to them by the god of wisdom, Thoth. Schools were attached to temples and government offices. Royal children had their own schools inside palaces. Education seems to have been almost entirely restricted to men. There is evidence of only one girl being taught to read and write – a 20th Dynasty letter from a man to his son says, ‘You shall see that daughter of Khonsumose and let her make a letter and send it to me.’

Ancient Egypt Law and Order

Crime prevention was the responsibility of local officials and police forces funded by the Egyptian treasury. They investigated incidents following complaints. Police patrols used dogs and, on occasions, trained monkeys! Cases were constructed against suspects by interrogation, re-enactments, and checking records. In some cases, beatings seem to have been given out to extract information. There do not seem to have been any written laws or any lawyers. Cases were tried by groups of judges, who would all have had other jobs. The ancient Egyptians believed that justice lay with the gods, both on Earth and in the afterlife. Pharaohs maintained justice on Earth because they were believed to be the living embodiment of the gods. The head of the Egyptian legal system was the vizier, second in rank only to the pharaoh. Courts were run by magistrates. The office of a judge or magistrate was very highly regarded, and became a valued profession. Egyptians brought before court would probably have represented themselves. Any previous record would have been taken into account by the judge and the defendant would be required to swear by their favourite god that they were telling the truth. Stealing and receiving stolen goods were common crimes in ancient Egypt. More serious crimes included assault, kidnap and treason. A confession was basis for a conviction in court. The methods by which this confession was achieved were deemed largely irrelevant, even if they including beatings.

Punishments

Punishments were severe in Egyptian society. For example, forgers had their hands cut off, and disobedient soldiers were asked to make amends by performing heroic deeds. One of the fiercest punishments was reserved for grave robbers, and particularly for those caught stealing from royal tombs. The official penalty was to be burnt alive or to be impaled on a stake and left to die. Another punishment was to be banished to a remote oasis of the Western Desert. You were unlikely to ever escape, as there was no practical way to cross the vast expanse of sand. Many Egyptians believed that there was no such thing as escaping justice, and that even if you escaped punishment on Earth you would be punished during the afterlife. There were no long-term prisons in Egypt. Criminals were sentenced to time in back-breaking labour camps, where they had to haul massive stone slabs across the desert. When an offender was punished, their family ofen suffered as well. If a man committed the crime of deserting military service, he could be imprisoned along with his entire family. Offences were rarely forgiven during the early periods of Egyptian history. In later years, pardons seem to have been used quite frequently. Sometimes people were punished after their death. King Teti’s bodyguards were said to have assassinated him, so their names were scratched from their graves, and the statues on their tombs were defaced. The ancient Egyptians believed that spirits could be punished. A spirit found guilty of being an enemy of Ra, could be boiled in a cauldron or burned in a lake of fire.

Ancient Egypt Polithics and government

The ancient Egyptians have left much evidence about the way their country was administered. Written and archaeological sources reveal the supply and demand of items such as grain. Everything was noted down by scribes. Documents recovered include wills, title deeds, census lists, conscription lists, orders, memos, tax lists and letters. The most important person in Egypt after the pharaoh was the vizier (prime minister). The earliest-known holder of the post was a man called Menka. The vizier was responsible for overseeing the development of the royal monuments and for the registration of people and property for tax purposes. His titles were High Priest of Heliopolis and Master of Works. Scribes were crucial in every aspect of government, from assessing taxes to drawing up building projects and compiling war reports. Egypt was governed locally by a series of administrative districts called nomes. There were 42 nomes in total – 22 in Upper Egypt and 20 in Lower Egypt. Each nome was governed by a member of the royal family or by a figure appointed by the pharaoh. They were called nomarchs. Foreign affairs were managed by the governors of foreign provinces. Diplomats travelled between countries. It was possible to overcome class barriers and reach high office from a humble background, as noted by a scribe called Ptahhoptep: ‘Do not be arrogant towards (a worthy man) for knowing his former state; respect him for what he has achieved by his own efforts.’ By the time of the New Kingdom national administration was divided into three parts – the dynasty, internal administration and external affairs. Internal administration was itself split into four parts – the royal domain, the army and navy, religious hierarchy and civil officials.

Ancient Egypt Towns and cities

Most Egyptian towns were built on raised land, far enough away from the Nile to minimize flooding, but close enough to allow access to water. Memphis was Egypt’s first capital, probably founded by King Narmer in about 3100 BC after the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. Little of the city remains. Thebes first became important during the Middle Kingdom when the 11th Dynasty kings made it their capital. During the New Kingdom, a number of kings were buried in rock-cut tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Queens, princes and princesses were buried in the Valley of the Queens. El-Amarna, on the east bank of the Nile between Minya and Asyaut, is the most complete city to have survived. It was founded by Akhenaten during the New Kingdom. Alexandria was founded in the 4th century BC by the Greek general Alexander the Great, who envisaged the city as the centre of his empire. It was laid out on a grid system like a Greek city, and divided into districts. A number of towns were built around specific trades. A workers’ village was built at Giza just outside Cairo. It was constructed to house the men who laboured over Khufu’s mighty pyramid. The town of Illahun (Kahun) was discovered by Flinders Petrie. It once housed the workers that built the pyramid of King Senusret. It was also home to mortuary priests. Fortress towns were built in Egyptian-controlled Nubia from the Middle Kingdom onwards. Buhen, 250 km south of Aswan, was constructed on an Old Kingdom site with an inner citadel, surrounded by a mud-brick enclosure wall 5 m thick and up to 9 m high. At the height of the ancient Egyptian civilization there were about 17 cities and 24 towns that were governed by the national capital. Their estimated population was between 100,000 and 200,000. Small towns had up to 3000 inhabitants, while Memphis and Thebes had up to 40,000. Craftworkers, scribes, priests and shopkeepers lived and worked in cities, while farmers and herdsmen left the towns to travel to the countryside to work each day.

Ancient Egypt Buildings and technology

Buildings in ancient Egypt were usually constructed from stone or mud-brick. Stone was reserved for temples and tombs. Mud-brick was ideally suited to the hot Egyptian climate. It baked quickly, kept the inside of buildings cool in the hot weather, and was simple to build with. The Egyptians were superb bricklayers. They used mud-bricks for everything from simple structures to great forts and city walls stretching for many miles. Building materials included yellow limestone from Al-Silsila Mount, white limestone from Tura, grey or red granite from Aswan and alabaster from central Egypt. Rock monuments such as the temple complex at Abu Simbel were carved out of cliffs. First the shape of the monument was cut out of the rock. Then masons smoothed walls and shaped columns. Teams of sculptors, plasterers and painters were employed in the final building stages to add embellishment. Temples and tombs were constructed from solid stones using copper or bronze tools. Blocks, columns and crowns, beams and ceilings were hoisted over earth ramps to the top of sand heaps adjacent to walls. Rollers, ropes and levers were used to lift the materials. Teams of workers were employed to row boats that carried huge stones across the Nile, and then haul these gigantic blocks to their destination. Masons were employed to smooth walls and shape columns. Smooth stones were used to give an even finish. Copper and bronze tools were used to chisel out both soft limestone and harder rocks and stone, and to inscribe fine text on them. Major building works were usually carried out during flood season when labour was most readily available. Farmers with no other work during this period were often enlisted as unskilled labourers by royal officials.

Ancient Egypt Transport

Most ancient Egyptians travelled everywhere on foot. Sandals were the preferred footwear, but for long distances they were taken off and carried to avoid excessive wear and tear. Sticks were used for support and also as weapons against bandits. Chariots were invented by the Sumerians in about 3000 BC. The Egyptians used these wheeled vehicles for long journeys and in warfare. For short journeys the pharaoh was carried in a palanquin, or litter. This was a canopied chair hoisted up on two poles by four of the king’s servants. Sledges were used for transporting heavy statues , as they were much stronger than wheeled vehicles. Donkeys were used for both riding and carrying heavy packs, and they were kept in huge numbers. Excavations of Aha’s tomb at Abydos have uncovered ten donkey skeletons. There is little evidence of the camel being used by the ancient Egyptians. It was not introduced into the country until 500 BC. Archaeologists have uncovered an early hearse in Egypt. In the tomb of the high priest Petosiris (300 BC) there is a painting of a mummy being transported on this vehicle. The earliest Egyptian boats were constructed of papyrus stalks bunched tightly together and strapped to a frame. The explorer Thor Heyerdahl successfully sailed a reconstruction of this type of boat from Egypt to America in 1970. The famous Royal Ship of King Cheops (Khufu) is a perfect example of a wooden boat, discovered around 1954. Models of Egyptian river boats show that they had small sails, were propelled by oars and were steered with a large oar at the stern (rear), which acted like a rudder.

Ancient Egypt Farming

Farming was very important in ancient Egypt. Most Egyptians from the working classes worked on the land for at least part of the year. The growing season lasted for 8–9 months. Egyptian farmers divided the year into three seasons – ‘Akhet’ (June– September) was the flooding season. ‘Peret’ (October–February) was the growing season, and ‘Shemu’ (March– May) was the harvesting season. Land belonged to the king or to institutions such as temples. Field boundaries were marked out with stones. Officials checked these every two years to make sure no land had been stolen, and also to ensure that the farmer was paying the correct amount of his crop to the king in taxes. The most important crops were emmer wheat and barley, which were used to make bread and beer. Also important were flax, to make linen, and papyrus, to make paper. Farmers grew vegetables including onions, garlic, leeks, radishes, lettuce, cucumbers, lentils, beans and many kinds of spices. Fruit included melons, pomegranates, vines, figs, dates and apples. When the fruit of a date tree was ripe, men climbed the trunk carrying knives between their teeth to cut down the harvest. A good harvest depended on the height of the Nile flood. If it was too low, the crops would be parched. Too high and they would be washed away. Irrigation was essential to good farming. The fields were watered by a system of canals, the ‘shaduf’ (water scoop) or the ‘sakkia’ (water wheel). Animals were used to trample seeds into the ground or to plough the fields after flood season.

Ancient Egypt Gods

The ancient Egyptians worshipped hundreds of gods. Many were represented by animals. The Egyptian word for ‘god’ was denoted by a flagpole sign in hieroglyphics (ancient Egyptian script). The sun god Ra was the most important of all the gods. He could take many forms, including Khepri (a scarab beetle) and Re-Harakhty (a great hawk). The Egyptians believed that Ra created everything on Earth, as well as the underworld and the other gods that inhabited it. Ra was king of the gods and protector of the pharaoh. He was usually shown as a falcon-headed man wearing a sun disc. The moon god Thoth was the god of writing, medicine and mathematics, and was the patron of the scribes. He was represented by the ibis because its beak was shaped like the crescent moon. Osiris, god of the dead, represented the resurrection into eternal life that Egyptians sought by having their corpses embalmed. Mythology states that Osiris was murdered by his brother Seth, but was brought back to life by his wife and sister Isis. The pharaoh was thought to be the embodiment of the god Horus. This hawk-headed god was the child of Osiris and Isis and the nephew of Seth. He avenged his father’s murder by killing Seth. Seth, the red god, was the Egyptian god of chaos. He was the embodiment of evil, and the murderer of Osiris. The Book of the Dead refers to Seth as the ‘Lord of the northern sky’, responsible for clouds and storms. Ptah was the chief god of Memphis. The Egyptians believed that he created the Moon, the Sun and the Earth. Bes was a dwarf god who was believed to guard against evil spirits and bad luck. He became a popular household god throughout Egypt. Khnum was a god of fertility and creation. With a ram’s head and wavy horns, he guarded the source of the Nile.

Ancient Egypt Goddesses

Isis was the mother goddess of fertility and nature. Her worship was combined with that of her brother and husband, Osiris, and her son Horus. Sekhemet was the goddess of love and protection. Doctors and other healers prayed for her aid. She was depicted as a lioness and was often shown holding a sistrum – a musical instrument dedicated to Hathor. Hathor, daughter of the sun god Ra, was goddess of the sky and of love, mirth and beauty. She was also a goddess of fertility, and of the dead. The Two Ladies were fierce goddesses called Wadjyt and Nekhbet. They defended the sun god and the pharaohs against their enemies. The cat goddess Bastet was the daughter of Ra. Her main temple was in the Delta region, where an archaeologists discovered a cemetery stuffed full of mummified cats. Nut was the Egyptian’s sky goddess. She was depicted as a nude or as a giant cow. Legend says she swallowed the sun every evening and gave birth to it again every morning. Nut also protected the dead and assisted in their rebirth. A spell inside a pyramid reads ‘Oh my mother Nut, spread yourself above me so that I can be placed among the unchanging stars and never die.’ The goddess Neith was thought to have made order and chaos, and good and evil. Her blessing often appears on shrouds and mummy bandages. Nephythys was a child of the earth god Keb and the sky goddess Nut. She was believed to be the goddess of the dead, and appeared as a woman or as a small bird of prey. She was unhappily married to Seth. Taweret was a strange-looking goddess. She was depicted as part lion, part hippopotamus and part crocodile. She was a kind and generous figure who protected women and children.

Priests of Ancient Egypt

The pharaoh was the high priest of Egypt, and the only priest allowed to be depicted in the temples. Thousands of lesser priests were employed to look after the temples. A priest’s main role was to care for the temple. Scribes were usually appointed as priests, and in many cases the position became hereditary. The pharaoh was supported by the chief priest, or ‘first prophet’. The ‘second prophets’ looked after the economy of the temple. The lower orders (wab priests) looked after more menial duties such as cleaning. Documents and art tell us that there were female priests until the New Kingdom. Many served as priestesses of the goddess Hathor. Ordinary Egyptians were not allowed inside the inner regions of the temples, and only saw the temple images of the gods during festival processions. They left offerings to the gods in the outer temple courts. Priests were paid with the offerings in the temple. The essence of these were thought to be consumed by the gods, but the priests ate the physical substance. Most priests worked in a shift system. Some priests had specialist skills and knowledge. In some parts of Egypt ‘hour priests’ skilled in astronomy were charged with determining when key festivals took place. Priests had to wash twice during the day and twice during the night. They also had to be cleanshaven, without body hair, and circumcised. They were not allowed to wear wool or leather. Although religious knowledge was not a necessary requirement for entering the priesthood, there were strict rules governing the profession, and priests were forbidden to discuss what went on inside a temple.

The Temples of Ancient Egypt

A temple was a building or buildings that was considered to be the house of a god. After the pyramids, they were probably the most impressive structures in ancient Egypt. The most important part of any temple was the shrine, where the statue of the god was kept. Each temple was dedicated to a particular god, or a family of gods. Every day priests and priestesses would serve the statue with a selection of food and clothing, and play sweet music to it. Few pre-New Kingdom temples have survived as they were built out of reeds or mud-brick. Later temples were colossal stone buildings. Egyptian temples were not places of worship for the public. They were normally only visited by priests and kings, except sometimes during religious festivals. Large temples were funded by the Egyptian state. Some became small towns, with villages for the priests and workers, as well as schools, libraries and other facilities. Temples also served as vast grain banks. Taxes were collected in the form of this crop, and then later redistributed to workers as wages. Other buildings served as animal slaughterhouses, producing food to feed the temple staff. From the later Middle Kingdom onwards, massive ceremonial gateways called pylons were added to the temples to make them look more impressive. These pylons were often flanked by two needle-shaped monuments called obelisks. These were dedicated to the sun god. The Egyptians held many annual festivals to celebrate their gods and goddesses. People were allowed inside the temples to celebrate.

The Great Pyramid of Giza

The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, constructed for Pharaoh Khufu about 4500 years ago. Until the completion of the Eiffel Tower in 1887, it was the tallest structure ever built. The pyramid’s ancient name was ‘The Pyramid which is the Place of Sunrise and Sunset’. Its sides were covered with gleaming white limestone, and the tip of the pyramid was capped with gold to reflect the sun’s rays. Inside the Great Pyramid a labyrinth of passages and chambers lead to the king’s chamber. The queen’s chamber was below this. An investigation into one of the air shafts leading from the queen’s chamber in 1993 revealed a blockage half-way along the passage, which might be a fourth chamber or the end of the shaft. Permission for further investigations has not yet been granted. On the east side of the Great Pyramid stands Khufu’s mortuary temple and in front stands the Sphinx. The Great Pyramid was emptied by grave robbers long ago. Archaeologists did find a stone sarcophagus inside the king’s chamber. It was larger than the door, and must have been put there as the pyramid was being built. The Sphinx was a mythical beast, with the body of a lion and the head of a king. A gigantic stone statue of one has watched over the ancient pyramids for over 4500 years. The sculpture has been submerged in sand for most of its history. In the 19th century, European tourists paid local people to carry them up to the top of Khufu’s pyramid. Many were killed on the treacherous climb, and it is now against the law. Today, the Great Pyramid is very near to the modern Egyptian capital, Cairo, and the stone is being damaged by pollution from the cars and factories of the busy city.

Ancient Egypt Art

The first pieces of Egyptian art were scratched onto cave walls around 5000 BC. They show the type of animals that were hunted for food. It is thought the Egyptians believed that painting these creatures would give the artist the power to capture them. In the age of the pharaohs, artists were commissioned to paint pictures of important Egyptians after they had died, so that their memory could live on. Many nobles, officials and their families were painted after their deaths. Artists were usually male and learned their craft when they were young. At the beginning of their training they were given tasks such as mixing colours, fetching water and making brushes, before progressing to making sketches on rocks, stones and scraps of papyrus. The colours that artists used were brilliantly vibrant, and have lasted remarkably well over thousands of years. Different minerals were used to make different colours – carbon for black, ochre for red and yellow, and azurite and malachite for green and blue. Teams of master artists worked on large wall paintings. They were planned on a board marked with grids. The wall was then marked with a scaled-up grid, and the painting was copied onto the wall at the enlarged size. In Egyptian art, figures are not usually depicted face on. A person’s head is usually turned right or left. The eye is always shown in full frontal view. As a result of this style, paintings of figures were not very realistic, because a single portrait included a variety of viewpoints. Paintings usually adopted a hierarchal scale. If the king was featured, he would be shown much larger than his servants who were ranked in size according to their importance. Some of the best-preserved paintings are murals in the rooms that lead to tombs. The paintings and their accompanying hieroglyphics describe stories about the pharaoh’s journey into the afterlife. Ancient Egyptians made a distinction between draughtsmen and painters. Draughtsmen were called sesh kedut – ‘writers of outlines’.

Ancient Egypt festivals

Hundreds of festivals were celebrated by the people of the kingdom. Calendars on temple walls, studded with special markers, reveal that some temples marked dozens of religious holidays a year. In the festival hall of Thutmose III at Karnak, a list details the 54 feast days that were celebrated every year. Sixty festivals were celebrated every year at the mortuary temple of Ramesses III. Many of these festivals involved carrying an image of the god from one temple to another. This allowed ordinary Egyptians a glimpse of the image, which would normally be hidden away inside the temple. The Festival of Opet was celebrated from the early 18th Dynasty onwards in the second month of the season of the akhet (flood) season. The main event was the procession that carried divine images from Karnak to Luxor. The Festival of the Valley took place at Thebes from the 18th Dynasty onwards. The statues of Amun, Mut and Khons were carried from Karnak to Deir El-Bahri on the opposite side of the Nile. The festival of the fertility god Min was celebrated during the first month of the shemu (harvesting) season. The statue of the god was carried out of his temple and placed on a platform in the country. During the reign of Ramesses III the pharaoh himself walked at the front of the procession. A festival was held to mark the murder of Osiris. His tragic story was performed, and the whole country went into mourning. After several days, priests announced that he had risen from the dead, and only then were people were allowed to celebrate. Divine images were usually carried by priests in special gilded boats that were fixed to the top of poles. On festival days, temple altars were piled high with food and drink. For the poor, these events represented a rare opportunity to taste delicacies such as wine and roast beef. The quantity of food consumed during festivals was staggering. During the Opet festival more than 11,000 loaves and cakes were eaten, and 385 measures of beer were consumed. At the Sokar festival, more than 7400 loaves were eaten and nearly 1500 measures of beer were drunk.

Ancient Egypt Music

Egyptian art suggests that musicians were nearly always men in the Old Kingdom. By the time of the New Kingdom, they were mostly women. There is no evidence to suggest that the ancient Egyptian used any form of musical notation. Some ancient Egyptian instruments have survived, while many more are depicted on pottery and other artefacts dating back to the Pre-dynastic era. A wide variety of percussion instruments were played. Rhythms were beaten out on tambourines, ivory clappers, drums, castanets, cymbals and an array of chiming bells. Stringed instruments included the lyre (a form of lute) and the harp. These resemble versions that were introduced from Asia. Wind instruments included wooden pipes (similar to modern Egyptian folk clarinets) and early flutes, which were made from reeds and later, bronze. Bugle-like trumpets were used in religious ceremonies and in battle. Festivals and holy days were marked by music and singing. Groups of musicians would sometimes have to entertain thousands of people. Such festivals were frequent. One village in the Fayum region dedicated 150 days every year to feasting in the name of the gods. Music was also a part of everyday life, providing a natural rhythm to workers’ tasks. Farm labourers sang to their livestock, and sticks were clapped together as grapes were crushed at harvest time. In Old and Middle Kingdom tombs, inscriptions of songs and hymns were sung to the accompaniment of a harp to celebrate the dead.

Ancient Egypt Dance

The ancient Egyptians loved to dance. Pottery vessels dating from before the Pre-dynastic period have been found, decorated with dancers raising their arms above their heads. Professional dancers were usually women. Scenes suggest they wore skirts or loose tunics with shoulder straps. Sometimes they appeared covered in long shawls. Many ancient wall paintings and carvings depict scenes of Egyptians singing and dancing. It is difficult to tell exactly what the dance movements of the Egyptians were like, but the scenes show them clapping, hopping and skipping. Dancers also performed acrobatics including backbends, flips, cartwheels, high-kicks and handstands. Archaeologists have yet to find any depictions of men and women dancing together. The most common scenes show solo dancers, or groups of female dancers, usually performing in pairs. During the Old Kingdom, funeral rituals often included dance. Dance was an expression of mourning for the dead and a way of marking the regeneration of the body. Other groups of dancers followed the funerary procession to the tomb. The mww-dancers performed as the procession reached the tomb. Their dance symbolized the dead being led to the underworld. Dance was a way of celebrating the joy and revelry of feast days. Dancing in temples marked important festivals such as the jubilee ceremony, known as the Sed. This usually involved a solemn procession carrying a statue of the temple god. Dancing dwarfs were a special attraction. The Egyptians believed that they never grew old because they never grew past the height of a child. Pepy II praised one of his officials for bringing back a dwarf for ‘god’s dances’ from a southern expedition.

Mathematics of Ancient Egypt

The Greeks are usually credited with inventing mathematics. However, the oldest recorded evidence for the use of mathematics was found in ancient Egypt and dated back to around 2000 BC. Reading and writing numbers in ancient Egypt was relatively simple. It used a system of symbols. The higher number was always written in front of the lower number. There was no sign for zero in the Egyptian numerical system. Scribes sometimes left a gap between numbers where a zero should be. The Egyptian decimal system had seven different symbols. Our knowledge of Egyptian mathematics is based on a tiny number of texts. The only evidence found so far comes from four papyri, a leather scroll and two wooden tablets. The Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, found in a tomb in Thebes, is packed full of fractions and complex calculations relating to the volumes of triangles, rectangles and pyramids. Despite the dry mathematical nature of the text, the last problem posed in the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus may be an Egyptian joke. It asks how much corn might be saved if 343 mice were eaten by 49 cats in seven houses! The Egyptians used mathematics in calculating how to set out the great pyramids. By working out the area of a circle according to the length of its diameter they could calculate the volume of a pyramid. The ancient Egyptians had no abstract formulae like the Greeks. Instead, they tackled mathematical problems by a series of smaller calculations. Scribes learned mathematics by copying set examples and replacing figures with their own answers. Archaeologists have discovered ancient exercise sheets, with teacher’s markings on them.

Astronomy and astrology

The ancient Egyptians divided the night sky into 36 groups of star gods or constellations called decons. Each rose above the horizon every morning for ten days every year. The most important decon to the Egyptians was the dog star Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, which they believed that was the goddess Sopdet. From the Old Kingdom onwards, the Egyptians believed that humans could be reborn in the form of stars. Many pieces of tomb art from this era show vast numbers of stars to reflect this belief. In ancient writings called the Pyramid Texts, the author asks for the sky goddess Nut to place him ‘among the imperishable stars.’ Astronomy was used to predict the changes of the seasons. The Egyptians noted the times when Sirius rose with the Sun. This was called the ‘Sothic rising’, and it indicated that the flood season would soon arrive. The ceremony of Pedj Shes (Stretching the Cord) dates back to 2686 BC. It was performed to determine precisely the correct alignment for the building of foundations of the pyramids and sun temples. It relied on sightings of Orion and the Great Bear constellations, using a sighting tool made of a palm leaf. The ‘Sothic rising’ of Sirius coincided with the beginning of the solar year (the number of days it takes for the Earth to orbit the Sun) only once every 1460–1456 years. It happened in 2781–2777 BC, 1321–1317 BC and in AD 139 during the reign of the Roman emperor Antonius Pius. A coin was minted at Alexandria to commemorate the event. The period between these risings is known as the ‘Sothic Cycle’. The earliest evidence of true astronomical knowledge in Egypt are diagonal calendars or star clocks. These have been found painted on the coffin lids of early Middle Kingdom and Late Period. By the Middle Kingdom the Egyptians had identified five of the planets: Jupiter (‘Horus who limits two lands’), Mars (‘Horus of the horizon’, or ‘Horus the red’), Mercury (Sebegu, a god associated with Seth), Saturn (‘Horus, bull of the sky’) and Venus (‘the one who crosses’, or ‘god of the morning’). They believed the planets were gods that sailed across the heavens in boats called barques. The first appearance of the zodiac we know today was during the Ptolemaic period. It was painted on the ceiling of the chapel of Osiris on the roof of the temple of Hathor at Dendera in the 1st century AD.

recent discoveries

A discovery was made by the young architect Kamal el-Mallakh in the 1950s, while he was carrying out work on the pyramid of Khufu. He discovered the planking of a great ship. It had been dismantled and placed there over 4000 years ago in 13 layers and 1224 pieces. The Egyptian Antiquities Organization took 16 years to rebuild the ship. It is 43 m long, and nearly 6 m wide. Optical equipment produced evidence in 1985 to suggest that there is a second ship, perfectly preserved, buried beside the pyramid of Cheops. An investigation into the stability of the columns that supported the courtyard of Amenophis III in the Luxor temple led to a discovery in 1989. Twenty statues were found on the western side, mostly dating from the time of Amenophis III. These statues were given the name ‘The Statues of Luxor’. Another discovery was made in 1989 in Akhmim. An 8-m-tall statue of Princess Meritamun, daughter of Ramesses II and Nefertari, was found. Michel Redde, director of the Institut Francais d’Archeologie Orientale of Cairo, found treasure that had once belonged to a high priest of the god Serapis in the oasis of Dush in March 1989. In 1991, archaeologists at Giza discovered the village where the labourers who built the Great Pyramid would have lived. A Swiss/French mission in April 2002 discovered a pyramid at the site of Abu Rowash dated to the reign of Djedefre.

Advanced techniques

In the past, mummies have been badly damaged by archaeologists doing research. Today, scientists use endoscopy instead of conducting an autopsy. Bone X-rays have enabled scientists to calculate height, age at death and if the person suffered any fractures during their lifetime. In 1977, an international team began fieldwork at Giza, Saqqara, and Luxor using geographical techniques such as acoustic sounding and magnetometry. Aerial photography and thermal infrared imagery techniques have yielded results at Giza, Saqqara and Luxor. A hieroglyphic text processing programme has been developed in Holland and is now relied upon by Egyptologists around the world. Radar technology has been used to confirm the existence of a secret chamber in the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. Medical science is being used to help solve the mystery of who killed Tutankhamun. An X-ray has been carried out on the pharaoh’s mummy. On 5 January 2005, the pharaoh’s mummy was given a CAT scan to build up a three-dimensional picture of the bones. The Theban Mapping Project has created a detailed map and database of every part of Thebes. The project is also making 3-D computer models of every tomb in Thebes.

DNA and Ancient Egypt

DNA is a material contained in our cells that carries the genetic blueprint for life and determines hereditary characteristics. DNA testing was first developed by scientists in 1985. DNA testing is now being used to verify the family histories of pharaohs, and has helped to prove the existence of brother-sister marriages among members of the royal families. To extract DNA, scientists have to take very small samples from body tissue, hair or teeth. In 1994, Professor Scott Woodward used DNA testing on six Old Kingdom mummies. His tests indicated that two of the mummies had been put in the wrong coffins! Woodward later tested 27 royal mummies from the New Kingdom period. These samples revealed that Ahmose I had married his full sister Seknet-re. The Manchester Museum in England is the home of the International Mummy Database and Tissue Bank. Here DNA testing techniques are applied to samples of non-royal mummies from museums and institutions around the world. These reveal information about the illnesses they suffered from, and even whether there was a genetic link between different groups. Dr Moamina Kamal of Cairo University Medical School has used DNA testing to discover where the workers who built the pyramids came from. He compared samples from the workers’ bones with samples taken from modern Egyptians. His results suggest that almost every family in Egypt must have been involved directly or indirectly with pyramid building. On July 16, 2000, a mummy believed to be Ramesses I that had lain in a museum in Niagara Falls for over 100 years, was DNA tested against Ramesses I’s son, Seti I, and his grandson, Ramesses II. The samples were not a perfect match. Scientists are continuing to investigate. In 2002, DNA testing of Tutankhamun was cancelled by the Egyptian government for reasons of ‘national security.’ Egyptian authorities remain reluctant to allow testing of their most famous pharaoh. The Egyptian Government did grant permission for Woodward to harvest DNA from Tutankhamun’s eldest child.

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

What is Ancient Egypt

Who were the Egyptians ?

Greek and Roman views of Egypt

Ancient, modern, and postmodern mummies

Ancient egypt religion

Uniting the Kingdoms

The Old Kingdom

The First Intermediate Period

The Middle Kingdom

The Second Intermediate Period

The Second Intermediate Period

The New Kingdom

The Third Intermediate Period

The Late Period

Greek - Roman Period

What was a pharaoh

Colonial Egypt

Egypt today

Ancient Egypt food and drink

Ancient egypt Fashion

Ancient Egypt Education

Ancient Egypt Law and Order

Punishments

Ancient Egypt Polithics and government

Ancient Egypt Towns and cities

Ancient Egypt Buildings and technology

Ancient Egypt Transport

Ancient Egypt Farming

Ancient Egypt Gods

Ancient Egypt Goddesses

Priests of Ancient Egypt

The Temples of Ancient Egypt

The Great Pyramid of Giza

Ancient Egypt Art

Ancient Egypt festivals

Ancient Egypt Music

Ancient Egypt Dance

Mathematics of Ancient Egypt

Astronomy and astrology

recent discoveries

Advanced techniques

DNA and Ancient Egypt

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