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Egypt
Egypt, Arab. Misr, biblical Mizraim, officially Arab Republic of Egypt, republic (1996 pop.
59,272,382), 386,659 sq mi (1,001,449 sq km), NE Africa and SW Asia. It borders on the
Mediterranean Sea in the north, Israel and the Red Sea in the east, Sudan in the south, and
Libya in the west. Egypt's capital and largest city is Cairo. In addition to the capital, major cities
include Alexandria, Port Said, Suez, Tanta, and Aswan.
Land
The great mass of Egypt is located in Africa; the Sinai peninsula is the only portion situated in
Asia and is separated from the rest of the country by the Suez Canal. Egypt N of Cairo is often
called Lower Egypt and S of Cairo, Upper Egypt. The principal physiographic feature of the
country is the Nile River, which flows from south to north through E Egypt for c.900 mi (1,450
km). In the far south is Lake Nasser, a vast artificial lake impounded by the Aswan High Dam
(built 1960-70), and in the north, below Cairo, is the great Nile delta (c.8,500 sq mi/22,000 sq
km). Bordering the Nile between Aswan and Cairo are narrow strips (on the average 5 mi/8 km
wide) of cultivated land; there are broad regions of tilled land in the delta.
West of the Nile is the extremely arid Libyan (or Western) Desert, a generally low-lying region
(maximum alt. c.1,000 ft/300 m), largely covered with sand dunes or barren rocky plains. The
desert contains a few oases, notably Siwah, Farafra, and Kharga. In SW Egypt the desert rises to
the Jilf al-Kabir plateau. East of the Nile is the Arabian (or Eastern) Desert, a dissected highland
area (rising to c.7,150 ft/2,180 m) that is mostly barren and virtually uninhabited except for a
few settlements along the Red Sea coast.
The Sinai peninsula is a plateau broken by deep valleys; Mount Catherine, or Jabal Katrinah
(8,652 ft/2,637 m), Egypt's loftiest point, and Mount Sinai, or Jabal Musa (7,497 ft/2,285 m),
are located in the south. Northern Sinai, largely a sandy desert, contains most of the peninsula's
small population, which lives mainly in towns built around wells.

Sinai
Sinai, triangular peninsula, c.23,000 sq mi (59,570 sq km), NE Egypt. It is c.230 mi (370
km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide and extends north into a broad isthmus linking Africa
and Asia. Sinai is bounded on the E by the Gulf of Aqaba and on the W by the Gulf of Suez,
which is linked to the Mediterranean Sea by the Suez Canal; the Negev desert is to the
northeast. Level and sandy in the north, Sinai rises to the south in granitic ridges; Mt.
Catherine (Arabic Jabal Katrinah), c.8,650 ft (2,640 m), is the highest peak. Sharm el
Sheikh, or Sharm ash Shaykh, a strategic promontory overlooking the Strait of Tiran, is near
the southern tip of Sinai, at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba. Sinai has a very hot and dry
climate and is sparsely vegetated; abandoned watercourses indicate that the region was once
humid. Limestone quarrying and oil drilling are the main economic activities; nomadic
herding is practiced. Jabal Musa [Arab.,=mount of Moses], or Mt. Sinai, c.7,500 ft (2,290 m),
is said to be the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments; however, some
authorities suggest that the site could have been any one of several nearby peaks. On Jabal
Musa is the famed Greek Orthodox monastery of St. Catherine, founded c.A.D. 250; in 1844
the Codex Sinaiticus, one of the oldest manuscripts of the New Testament, was found there.
(The manuscripts were purchased from the USSR by the British Museum in 1933, and by
1950 the 3,000 volumes were microfilmed.) In ancient times Sinai was ruled by the Arabs of
Petra; however, for most of its history it was under the Egyptian kings, who worked its
copper mines. Sinai was the scene of fighting during the Arab-Israeli Wars of 1956, 1967,
and 1973. Israel occupied, then withdrew from, the peninsula in 1956. In 1967, Israel again
drove the Egyptians from Sinai, establishing a defense line along the Suez Canal and
capturing strategic outposts overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba. In the 1973 war, the Egyptian
army crossed the Suez Canal and recaptured territory in the Sinai; still, Israel retained
control over a large part of it. Under the Camp David Accords (1978) and Egyptian-Israeli
peace treaty (1979), Israel returned virtually the whole of Sinai back to Egypt; the process
was completed in 1982. The remaining border area of Taba, at the tip of the peninsula, was
negotiated and relinquished by Israel in the early 1990s. Overall, the Sinai is sparsely
populated, although some Bedouins and tourists dwell in the seaboard towns on the Gulf of
Aqaba and along the Red Sea.
People
The vast majority of Egypt's inhabitants live in the Nile valley and delta, and the rest of the
country (about 96% of Egypt's total land area) is sparsely populated. Most modern Egyptians
are of a complex racial mixture, being descended from the ancient Egyptians, Berbers, subSaharan Africans, Arabs, Greeks, and Turks. Arabic is the official language; many educated
Egyptians also speak English and French. About 95% of the people are Sunni Muslims, and most
of the rest belong to the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church (see under Copts).
Economy
Economic growth in Egypt has been held back by a severely limited amount of arable land (less
than 5% of the total area) as well as a large and rapidly growing population. After 1945, a large
proportion of funds and energy were devoted to preparing the country for warfare with Israel
and later to rebuilding after the destruction incurred in the Arab-Israeli Wars. The country's
industrial base increased considerably in the 20th cent., especially after 1952. The state owns
much of the economy and plays a decisive role in its planning; however, in recent years Egypt
has moved toward a more decentralized, market-oriented economy, and there has been an
increase in foreign investment.
The country's farmland is intensively cultivated (usually two, and sometimes three, crops are
produced annually) and yields-per-acre are extremely high. Control of the Nile waters by the
Aswan High Dam brought considerable additional land into cultivation, but the needs of the
growing population have prevented the accumulation of significant agricultural surpluses. Most
farms in Egypt are small and labor-intensive. Nonetheless, about 40% of Egypt's workers are
employed in farming. The principal crop is cotton; rice, corn, wheat, beans, tomatoes,
sugarcane, citrus fruit, and dates are also produced. Cattle, sheep, water buffalo, donkeys, and
goats are raised, and there is a fishing industry.
Petroleum and natural gas (found mainly in the Gulf of Suez) are produced; the principal
minerals are phosphates, salt, iron ore, manganese, limestone, gypsum, and gold. Cairo and
Alexandria are the main industrial centers; major manufacturing plants are also located in the
other cities of the Nile valley and delta and at Port Said and Suez. The leading manufactures are
refined petroleum, chemicals, fertilizers, textiles, clothing, processed foods, construction
materials (especially cement), iron and steel, and metal products.
Leading imports include machinery and equipment, foodstuffs, durable consumer goods, capital
goods, fertilizers, and wood products. The principal exports are crude and refined petroleum,
cotton, textiles, metal products, and chemicals. The chief trade partners are the European Union
nations, the United States, and Japan. Considerable foreign exchange is also derived from a
tourist industry that has waxed and waned with the nation's various political and military crises.
The Suez Canal, another important source of foreign exchange, was closed during the 1967
Arab-Israeli War and not reopened until 1975. The canal has since been deepened and widened,
and navigation transit fees are a source of revenue. The country's rail and road networks are
largely found along the Mediterranean coast and in the Nile valley.
Since the 1970s billions of dollars in economic aid have poured into Egypt from the United
States, Arab neighbors, and European nations. However, the country's inefficient state-run
industries, its bloated public sector, and its large investments in warfare resulted in inflation,
unemployment, a severe trade deficit, and heavy public debt. A series of economic and fiscal
reforms undertaken in the 1990s, with support from the International Monetary Fund, appear to
be having a positive effect on the country's overall economy, and the quality of life and many of
Egypt's services have shown improvement.
Government
Egypt is governed under the constitution of 1971. Executive power is held by the president, who
is nominated by parliament and approved by public referendum for a six-year term. The
legislature consists of a people's assembly and an advisory council. The government must
approve the formation of political parties, and those based on religion are illegal. However, the
largest one, the Muslim Brotherhood, has been permitted to operate openly at times.
Administratively, Egypt is divided into 26 governorates.
History

The Ancient Empire of the Nile
The valley of the long river between the deserts, with the annual floods, deposits of lifegiving silt, and year-long growing season, was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations built
by humankind. The antiquity of this civilization is almost staggering, and whereas the history
of other lands is measured in centuries, that of ancient Egypt is measured in millennia. Much
is known of the period even before the actual historic records began. Those records are
abundant and, because of Egypt's dry climate, have been well preserved. Inscriptions have
unlocked a wealth of information; for example, the existing fragments of the Palermo stone
are engraved with the records of the kings of the first five dynasties. The great papyrus
dumps offer an enormous amount of information, especially on the later periods of ancient
Egyptian history.
Among the many problems encountered in Egyptology, one of the most controversial is that
of dating events. The following dates have a margin of plus or minus 100 years for the time
prior to 3000 B.C. Fairly precise dates are possible beginning with the Persian conquest (525
B.C.) of Egypt. The division of Egyptian history into 30 dynasties up to the time of Alexander
the Great (a system worked out by Manetho) is a convenient frame upon which to hang the
succession of the kings and a record of events. In the table entitled Dynasties of Ancient
Egypt, the numbers of the dynasties are given in Roman numerals, and the numeral is
followed by the dates of the dynasty and a notation of famous monarchs of the era (each of
whom has a separate article in the encyclopedia). Since there are many gaps and periods
without well-known rulers (occasionally without known rulers at all), those are given simply
with dates or are combined with better-recorded periods.
Palermo stone
Palermo stone, ancient Egyptian stone of black diorite engraved toward the end of the 5th
dynasty (2565-2420 B.C.) and containing the earliest extant annals. The stone is only a small
fragment of what was once a large slab. It is a hieroglyphic list of the kings of ancient Egypt
before and after Menes, with regnal years and notations of events, and also includes such
information as the height of the flooding of the Nile in various years. The stone was so named
because it is housed in a museum in Palermo, Italy; small pieces of the stone are also in
Cairo and in London.

The Old and Middle Kingdoms
A high culture developed early, and the Old Kingdom is notable for artistic and intellectual
achievements (see Egyptian architecture; Egyptian art; Egyptian religion). From the
beginning there was a concept of the divinity or quasi-divinity of the king (pharaoh), which
lasted from the time that Egypt was first united (c.3200 B.C.) under one ruler until the
ultimate fall of Egypt to the Romans. According to tradition, it was Menes (or Narmer) who as
king of Upper Egypt conquered the rival kingdom of Lower Egypt in the Nile delta, thus
forming the single kingdom of Egypt. In the unified and centralized state created by Menes,
the memory of the two ancient kingdoms was preserved in formalities of administration.
Trade flourished, and the kings of the I dynasty appear to have sent trading expeditions
under military escort to Sinai to obtain copper. Indications show that under the II dynasty,
trade existed with areas as far north as the Black Sea.
The III dynasty was one of the landmarks of Egyptian history, the time during which sunworship, a new form of religion that later became the religion of the upper classes, was
introduced. At the same time mummification and the building of stone monuments began.
The kings of the IV dynasty (which may be said to begin the Old Kingdom proper) were the
builders of the great pyramids at Giza. The great pyramid of Khufu is a monument not only to
the king but also to the unified organization of ancient Egyptian society. The V to the VII
dynasties are remarkable for their records of trading expeditions with armed escorts.
Although Egypt flourished culturally and commercially during this period, it started to become
less centralized and weaker politically. The priests of the sun-god at Heliopolis gained
increasing power; the office of provincial rulers became hereditary, and their local influence
was thereafter always a threat to the state.
In the 23d cent. B.C. the Old Kingdom, after a long and flourishing existence, fell apart. The
local rulers became dominant, and the records, kept by the central government, tended to
disappear. Some order was restored by the IX dynasty, but it was not until 2134 B.C. that
power was again centralized, this time at Thebes. That city was to be the capital for most of
the next millennium.
The Middle Kingdom, founded at the end of the XI dynasty, reached its zenith under the XII.
The Pharaoh, however, was not then an absolute monarch but rather a feudal lord, and his
vassals held their land in their own power. The XII dynasty advanced the border up the Nile
to the Second Cataract. Order was preserved, the draining of El Faiyum was begun (adding a
new and fertile province), a uniform system of writing was adopted, and civilization reached a
new peak. After 214 years the XII dynasty came to an end in 1786 B.C. In the dimly known
period that followed, Egypt passed for more than a century under the Hyksos (the so-called
shepherd kings), who were apparently Semites from Syria. They were expelled from Egypt by
Amasis I (Ahmose I), founder of the XVIII dynasty, and the New Kingdom was established.

The New Kingdom
The XVIII dynasty is the most important and the best-recorded period in Egyptian history.
The local governors generally opposed both the Hyksos and the new dynasty; those who
survived were now made mere administrators, their lands passing to the crown. Ancient
Egypt reached its height. Its boundaries were extended into Asia, with a foreign province
reaching the Euphrates (see Thutmose I). Letters known as the Tell el Amarna tablets are
dated to this dynasty and furnish the details of the reigns of Amenhotep III and his son,
Akhnaton. As Akhnaton neglected his rule in the pursuit of religion, letters from local rulers
became increasingly urgent in begging help, especially against the Hittites. Of the rulers
following Akhnaton in this dynasty, Tutankhamen is important for his law code and his
enforcement of those laws through the courts. Architecture was at its zenith with the
enormous and impressive buildings at and around Thebes.
Egyptian civilization seems to have worn out rapidly after conflicts with the Hittites under the
XIX dynasty and with sea raiders under the XX dynasty. With a succession of weak kings, the
Theban priesthood practically ruled the country and continued to maintain a sort of theocracy
for 450 years. In the delta the Libyan element had been growing, and with the disappearance
of the weak XXI dynasty, which had governed from Tanis, a Libyan dynasty came to power.
This was succeeded by the alien rule of Nubians, black Africans who advanced from the south
to the delta under Piankhi and later conquered the land. The rising power of Assyria
threatened Egypt by absorbing the petty states of Syria and Palestine, and Assyrian kings
had reached the borders of Egypt several times before Esar-Haddon actually invaded (673
B.C.) the land of the Nile.
Assyrian rule was, however, short-lived; by 650 B.C., under Psamtik, Egypt was once more
independent and orderly. Greek traders became important, and their city of Naucratis,
founded by Amasis II, thrived. Attempts to reestablish Egyptian power in Asia were turned
back (605 B.C.) by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, and Egypt fell easy prey (525 B.C.)
to the armies of Cambyses of Persia. Despite occasional troubles, the Persians maintained
their hegemony until 405 B.C. New dynasties were then established, but they did not regain
the old splendor. The Persians again became dominant in 341 B.C. Egypt, rich and illdefended, fell to Alexander the Great without resistance in 332 B.C.
When Alexander's brief empire faded, Egypt in the wars of his successors (the Diadochi) fell
to his general Ptolemy, who became king as Ptolemy I. All the succeeding kings of the
dynasty were also named Ptolemy. The great city of Alexandria became the intellectual
center and fountainhead of the Hellenistic world. The Ptolemies maintained a formidable
empire for more than two centuries and exercised great power in the E Mediterranean. The
Jewish population was large-perhaps as much as a seventh of the total population-and even
the Palestinian Jews looked to the Alexandrian Jews for guidance.
The rising power of Rome soon overshadowed Egypt, but it was not until Ptolemy XI sought
Roman aid through Pompey to regain his throne that Rome actually obtained (58 B.C.) a
foothold in Egypt itself. Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy XI, tried to win back power for
Egypt, especially through Julius Caesar and Marc Antony. Octavian (later Emperor Augustus)
actually annexed Egypt to Rome, putting to death Cleopatra's son, Ptolemy XIV, who was the
last of the Ptolemies. Egypt became a granary for Rome; the emperors from Augustus to
Hadrian raised the irrigation system to great efficiency, and Trajan reopened the ancient NileRed Sea canal. In the 2d cent. A.D., strife between Jews and Greeks in Alexandria brought
massacres.
Christianity was welcomed in Egypt, and several of the most celebrated Doctors of the
Church, notably St. Athanasius, St. Cyril of Alexandria, and Origen, were Egyptians. Egypt
gave rise to the Arian and Nestorian heresies, and Gnosticism flourished there for a time. The
patriarch of Alexandria was probably the most important figure in Egypt. After St. Cyril,
Monophysitism became the national faith; out of this arose the Coptic Church. The hostility of
the people to the Orthodox Byzantine emperors and officials probably helped Khosru II of
Persia to gain Egypt in 616. It was recovered (c.628) by Heraclius I, but the Persian invasion
proved to be only a forerunner of the more serious Arabian invasion.
Egyptian religion
Egyptian religion, the religious beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of Egypt. Information
concerning ancient Egyptian religion is abundant but unsatisfactory. Only certain parts of
Egyptian religious life and thought are known; whole periods remain in the dark. What we do
know is that the religious beliefs of the Egyptians were riddled with inconsistencies and
confusions. Many gods and goddesses seem more or less identical, and yet they existed
together. Contradictory myths explaining the creation of the world, natural phenomena, and the
like were accepted without argument. Attributes of deities were freely and indiscriminately
adopted from one group or locality to another, and combinations and fusions of gods were
frequent. It is impossible to discern an orderly and consistent picture of Egyptian religion, and
much scholarship remains hypothesis and conjecture.

Early Beliefs
Probably the oldest form of religious worship in Egypt was animal worship. Early predynastic
tribes venerated their own particular gods, who were usually embodied in a particular animal.
Sometimes a whole species of animal was sacred, as cats at Bubastis; at other times only
individual animals of certain types were worshiped, as the Apis bull at Memphis. As Egyptian
civilization advanced, deities were gradually humanized. Many were represented with human
bodies (although they retained animal heads) and other human characteristics and attributes.
The wolf Ophois became a god of war, and the ibis Thoth became a patron of learning and
the arts.
We do not know precisely how or why certain animals became associated with certain gods.
Moreover, the relationship between a god and his animal varied greatly. The god Thoth was
not only identified with the ibis, but also with the baboon and with the moon. Occasionally a
god was a composite of various animals, such as Taurt, who had the head of a
hippopotamus, the back and tail of a crocodile, and the claws of a lion.
Just as a god could represent various natural phenomena, so could a single phenomenon be
given different explanations. The ancient Egyptian conceived of the earth as a disk, with the
flat plains of Egypt as the center and the mountainous foreign lands as the rim surrounding
and supporting the disk. Below were the deep waters of the underworld, and above was the
plain of the sky. Several systems of cosmic deities arose to explain this natural phenomenon.
Some attributed the creation of the world to the ram-god Khnum, who styled the universe on
his potter's wheel. Others said that creation was a spiritual and not a physical act, and that
the divine thought of Ptah shaped the universe.
Perhaps the most widely accepted explanation of the creation was that the sun-god, called
either Ra or Atum, appeared out of primeval chaos and created the air-god Shu and his wife
Tefnut, to whom were born the sky-goddess Nut and the earth-god Geb, who in turn bore
Osiris, Isis, Set, and Nephthys. Some early cosmological myths represented the heavens as a
great, star-studded cow, sometimes called Hathor or Athor, curving above the earth.
Regardless of the different creation myths and ranking of gods, it is clear that the ancient
Egyptian venerated many deities, that those gods were inherent in nature, and that they
enabled the Egyptian to correlate human, natural, and divine life.

Development of a National Religion
At the end of the predynastic period (c.3200 B.C.), when a combined state was created, a
national religion apparently grew out of the various primitive tribal and local religions, but
still there were great inconsistencies and variations as various priesthoods attempted to
systematize the gods and their myths. Changes in the political power of various localities also
changed the status of the gods. In that way Amon became Egypt's most prominent deity, and
by similar shifts of power Suchos, Bast, and Neith rose to importance. Some scholars have
believed that the history of Egyptian religion was a sort of war of the gods, with the
dominance of a god following directly the political dominance of a city or region. Others have
pointed out that the national prominence of gods often centered in obscure cities or regions
that never had political power. Nevertheless, shifts and changes did occur, making for new
identifications and associations.
Egyptian religion was remarkable for its reconciliation and union of conflicting beliefs. Some
scholars have held, in fact, that the syncretism of Egyptian religion reveals a basic trend
toward monotheism. But only during the reign of Ikhnaton, who based his theology on the
solar god Aton and denied recognition to all but that god, was a monotheistic cult actually
established. That unique cult apparently proved unsatisfactory to the ancient Egyptians; after
Ikhnaton's death, polytheism was restored.
The Major Cults
The most important of the many forms of Egyptian worship were the cults of Osiris and of Ra.
Osiris was especially important as king and judge of the dead, but he was identified as well with
the waters of the Nile, with the grain yield of the earth, with the moon, and even with the sun. A
bountiful and loving king, Osiris was the protector of all, the poor and the rich. His myth,
portraying the highest ideals of family devotion, expressed aspirations that were close to the
people. His murder by his brother, Set, and his restoration to life by his wife, Isis, made him the
great symbol of the eternal persistence of life. The revenge exacted by his son and successor,
Horus, showed the triumph of good over evil.
The worship of Ra, the great sun-god, chief of the cosmic deities, was perhaps more closely
related to the fate of the royal house than to that of the people, but his cult was nevertheless
one of the most important in ancient Egypt. His symbol, the pyramid, became the design of the
monumental tombs of the Egyptian kings. Ra was said, in fact, to be the direct ancestor of the
kings of Egypt, and in certain hymns was even addressed as a dead king. But he was more
specifically thought of as a living power, whose daily cycle of birth, journey, and death was a
fundamental theme in Egyptian life. Besides Osiris and Ra the other most prominent Egyptian
god was Amon. By the XIX dynasty he was Egypt's greatest god, united with Ra as Amon Ra.

Osiris
Osiris, in Egyptian religion, legendary ruler of predynastic Egypt and god of the underworld.
He was the son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. The great benefactor of
mankind, Osiris brought to the people knowledge of agriculture and civilization. In a famous
myth he was treacherously slain by his evil brother Set, who cut his body into 14 pieces and
spread the fragments throughout Egypt. Thereupon, Isis, sister and wife of Osiris, sought and
found his scattered body. She buried the pieces, making each burial place a sacred spot.
According to another legend Isis did not bury Osiris, but collected the pieces of her dead
husband and miraculously brought him back to life. Osiris' son Horus later killed Set and
became the new king of Egypt, while Osiris became ruler and judge of the underworld. The
worship of Osiris, like that of the sun god Ra, was one of the great cults of ancient Egypt. It
gradually spread throughout the Mediterranean world and, with that of Isis and Horus, was
especially vital during the time of the Roman Empire. Identified variously with the waters of
the Nile, the grain of the earth, the moon, and the sun, Osiris was the great symbol of the
creative forces of nature and the imperishability of life. He was commonly represented as
swathed in mummy wrappings, wearing the crown of Upper Egypt (a dome-shaped hat with a
papyrus tuft) and holding a whip and a crook.

Ra
Ra or Re, in Egyptian religion, sun god, one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt. Ra
was chief of the cosmic deities and was sometimes called the creator and father of all things.
Early Egyptian kings alleged descent from him and added his name to their own royal titles.
Ra had several manifestations, the most common being those of the hawk and the lion. He
was depicted as sailing across the sky in a celestial barge during the day and battling the
forces of evil and darkness by night. Various other Egyptian gods were frequently identified
with him, such as Amon and Atum.

Isis
Isis, nature goddess whose worship, originating in ancient Egypt, gradually extended
throughout the lands of the Mediterranean world during the Hellenistic period and became
one of the chief religions of the Roman Empire. The worship of Isis, combined with that of her
brother and husband Osiris and their son Horus, was enormously resistant to the influence of
early Christian teachings, and her mysteries, celebrating the death and resurrection of Osiris,
were performed as late as the 6th cent. A.D. The functions of many goddesses were
attributed to her, so that eventually she became the prototype of the beneficent mother
goddess, the bringer of fertility and consolation to all. She was the daughter of the sky
goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. Her symbol was a throne and later the cow, and she was
frequently represented with a cow's head or cow's horns. During the Hellenistic period, her
image outside Egypt became increasingly Hellenic, with ideal features and locks framing her
face. Isis was also a goddess of magic, and legends tell of her ability to counteract evil by
casting spells.

Horus
Horus, in Egyptian religion, sky god, god of light and goodness. One of the most important of
the Egyptian deities, Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis. In a famous myth he avenged the
murder of his father by defeating Set, the god of evil and darkness. As Horus the Elder he
was represented as a falcon-headed solar deity, who was perhaps originally a king or high
priest of predynastic Egypt. As Horus the Child, called Harpocrates by the Greeks and
Romans, he was represented as a small boy with a finger held to his lips.

Set
Set or Seth, in Egyptian religion, god of evil. Set was a sun god of predynastic Egypt, but he
gradually degenerated from being a beneficent deity into being a god of evil and darkness. In
a widespread Egyptian myth he murdered his brother Osiris and was in turn defeated by
Horus, the son of Osiris. The Greeks identified Set with Typhon.

Amon
Amon, Ammon, or Amen, Egyptian deity. He was originally the chief god of Thebes; he and
his wife Mut and their son Khensu were the divine Theban triad of deities. Amon grew
increasingly important in Egypt, and eventually he (identified as Amon Ra; see Ra) became
the supreme deity. He was identified with the Greek Zeus (the Roman Jupiter). Amon's most
celebrated shrine was at Siwa in the Libyan desert; the oracle of Siwa later rivaled those of
Delphi and Dodona. He is frequently represented as a ram or as a human with a ram's head.
The Role of the King
Most scholars have concluded that, in later times at least, there was no close personal tie
between the individual Egyptian and the gods, that the gods remained aloof, that their
relationship to humans was indirect, communicated to him by means of the king. There was no
established book or set of teachings, as the Bible or the Qur'an, and few prescribed conditions of
behavior or conduct. Humans were guided essentially by human wisdom and trusted in their
belief in the goodness of the gods and of their divine son, the king. An important concept in
Egyptian life was the idea of maat [justice]. Although the Egyptian was entirely subservient to
the state, the king had the duty of translating the will of the gods. The universe had been
created by bringing order and justice to replace primeval chaos, and only through the
continuance of order and justice could the universe survive. The law of nature, of society, and of
the gods was an organic whole, and it was the duty of the king to administer that law, which was
guided by the concept of maat. As Egypt flourished, so did the state cult. As the pharaohs grew
more powerful, they poured riches into the state cult and built huge and splendid temples to
their gods. The priesthoods thus grew very powerful.
Life after Death
The populace found its expression of religious feeling in the funerary cults. The great body of
mortuary texts has, in fact, provided us with much that we know of ancient Egypt, particularly of
belief in the afterlife (see Book of the Dead). The dead were provided with food and drink,
weapons, and toiletry articles. Tombs were often visited by the family, who brought new
offerings. Proper precautions and care for the dead were mandatory to insure immortality (see
mummy). Although the ancient Egyptians strongly believed in life after death, the idea of
passing from life on earth to life in the hereafter was somewhat obscure, and the concepts
concerning the afterlife were complex.
The ancient Egyptian, however, hoped not only to extend life beyond the grave, but to become
part of the perennial life of nature. The two most important concepts concerning the afterlife
were the ka and the ba. The ka was a kind of double or other self, not an element of the
personality, but a detached part of the self which was sometimes said to guide the fortunes of
the individual in life, like the Roman genius, but was clearly most associated with a person's
fortunes in the hereafter. When people died they were said to join with their ka. More important
perhaps than the ka was the concept of the ba. The ba is perhaps loosely identifiable as the soul
of a person. More specifically the ba was the manifestation of an individual after death, usually
thought to be represented in the form of a bird. The Egyptians also believed in the concept of
akh, which was the transformation of some of the noble dead into eternal objects. The noblest
were often conceived of as being transformed into stars, thus joining in the changeless rhythm
of the universe.

mummy
Mummy, dead human or animal body preserved by embalming or by unusual natural
conditions. As a rule mummies are from ancient times. The word is of Arabic derivation and
refers primarily to the burials found in Egypt, where the practice of mummification was
perfected over the centuries to an extreme of elaboration.
Investigations of mummified remains have grown increasingly sophisticated with advances in
dating techniques and forensic science. Mummies provide clues to everyday life through such
items as clothing, tools, and tattoos. Stomach contents may reveal data on subsistence and
the local ecology. Trace-element analysis of hair can reveal exposure to toxic elements (e.g.,
mercury and lead). Causes of death and active or inactive disease processes can often be
ascertained and sometimes point to murder or ritual sacrifice. Mummies can yield blood and
DNA samples providing valuable medical and genetic information.

Mummification in Egypt
Egyptian mummies more than 5,000 years old consist of hardly more than bones, skin, and
hair, owing their preservation largely to the dry air of Upper Egypt. In humid Lower Egypt
practically all mummies have perished. By the time of the New Kingdom (1570-322 B.C.) the
art of embalming had reached its height, and it is possible to determine fairly accurately how
the great pharaohs appeared in life, e.g., Amenhotep II (in his tomb near Thebes) and
Thutmose III, Thutmose IV, Tutankhamen, Seti I, and Ramses II (all in Cairo).
Mummification was related to beliefs concerning the afterlife and was undertaken to
safeguard the fate of the soul. The Egyptian method of preparing the body varied over time
and also with the social status of the deceased. At first only kings were mummified; later
their retinue received similar treatment. Eventually, numerous animals that were considered
sacred (cats, dogs, cows, etc.) were likewise embalmed. From the Middle Ages until the 18th
cent., ground Egyptian mummies were sold in Europe as a panacea.

Mummification in Other Parts of the World
Outside Egypt, in such widely separated places as the Aleutian Islands, the Canary Islands,
China, and the countries now composing what was the Inca civilization, bodies preserved by
various artificial means have been found. The venerated mummies of the Inca kings were
destroyed by the Spanish. The Chinchoros culture of the Northern Chilean coast practiced
artificial mummification around 5000-3000 B.C., and around 4000 B.C., corpses were
deliberately salted at La Paloma, in central Peru. Pre-Columbian burials on the arid coast of
Peru and Chile, often wrapped in textiles, tended to become naturally mummified. In the late
1990s a cache of late prehistoric mummies of the Chachapoyas culture was found in a rock
shelter in humid Northeastern Peru. In 1974 in the Changsha area of China, an embalmed
woman, later identified as a matron of the Han dynasty, was disinterred, along with many
artifacts, from an air- and watertight tomb, in a remarkably well-preserved state. In Ürümqi
(Urumchi), the capital of Xinjiang (Chinese Turkistan), other exceptionally well-preserved
mummies, dating back as far as 4,000 years and having European features, have posed a
mystery to anthropolgists; some believe they may be Tokharians, members of a so-called
lost tribe of Indo-Europeans known from later inscriptions.

Natural Mummification
Natural mummification occurs in favorable soils and climates, particularly cold, arid areas,
ice, and peat bogs. Peat bogs have revealed naturally preserved corpses dating from as long
ago as 840 B.C. Bodies of Inuit women and children dated at 500 years old have been found
frozen in Qilakitsoq, in W Greenland. The frozen bodies of children, ritually sacrificed 500
years ago in Inca ceremonies, were found on Andean summits in 1995 and 1999. A Bronze
Age woman of high rank was found frozen in a well-equipped burial chamber in Siberia. The
most exceptional frozen specimen is the 5,300-year-old Ice Man, discovered during an
unusual thaw in the Tyrolean Alps in 1991. Another find of a man in a melting glacier was
made in NW Canada in 1999. The partially mummified body of the so-called Spirit Cave man,
found in Nevada in 1940, was dated in 1996 as over 9,000 years old.
Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead, term used to describe Egyptian funerary literature. The texts consist of
charms, spells, and formulas for use by the deceased in the afterworld and contain many of the
basic ideas of Egyptian religion. At first inscribed on the stone sarcophagi, the texts were later
written on papyrus and placed inside the mummy case. The earliest collection, known as the
Heliopolitan Recension, dates from the XVIII dynasty (1580-1350 B.C.). It also contains
selections from the two previous collections of Egyptian religious literature-the Coffin Texts of
the Middle Kingdom (c.2000 B.C.) and the Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom (c.2600-2300
B.C.). The Theban Recension, a text that may be contemporary or slightly later, has a distinctive
format. There are several noteworthy papyruses, valuable for their art. Among them are the
Papyrus of Ani and The Book of the Dead of Hunefer. The two most celebrated English
translations were made by Sir Peter le Page Renouf (1892-97) and Sir E. Wallis Budge (1895,
repr. 1967).
Earliest History
The art of predynastic Egypt (c.4000-3200 B.C.), known from funerary offerings, consisted
largely of painted pottery and figurines, ivory carvings, slate cosmetic palettes, and finely
worked flint weapons. In painting, a monumental treatment was given to designs like those
drawn in red on buff-colored pottery from Hieraconpolis, a palace city of upper Egypt. Toward
the end of the predynastic period, sculptors began to carve monolithic figures of the gods from
limestone, such as the Min at Coptos. In the protodynastic and early dynastic periods (32002780 B.C.) some Mesopotamian motifs began to appear. The craftsmanship of the finely worked
stone bowls and vases of these periods is particularly remarkable.
The Old Kingdom
With the beginning of the Old Kingdom, centered at Memphis (2680-2258 B.C.), there was a
rapid development of the stylistic conventions that characterized Egyptian art throughout its
history. In relief sculpture and painting, the human figure was usually represented with the head
in profile, the eye and shoulders in front view, and the pelvis, legs, and feet in profile (the law of
frontality). There was little attempt at plastic or spatial illusionism. The reliefs were very low;
relief and shallow intaglio are often found in the same piece. Color was applied in flat tones, and
there was no attempt at linear perspective. A relief masterpiece from the I dynasty is the palette
of Namer (Cairo). It represents animal and human forms in scenes of battle with the ground
divided into registers and with emphasis on silhouette in the carving.
In statuary in the round various standing and seated types were developed, but there was strict
adherence to the law of frontality and a tendency to emphasize symmetry and to minimize
suggestion of movement. Outstanding Old Kingdom examples of sculpture in the round are the
Great Chephren, in diorite, the Prince Ra-hetep and Princess Neferet, in painted limestone, the
Sheik-el-Beled (mayor of the village), in painted wood (all: Cairo), and the Seated Scribe, in
painted limestone (Louvre). Probably because of its relative impermanence, painting was little
used as a medium of representation; it appears to have served principally as accessory to
sculpture. A rare example is the painting of geese from a tomb at Medum (Cairo).
Religious beliefs of the period held that the happy posthumous existence of the dead depended
on the continuation of all phases of their earthly life. The artist's task was therefore to produce a
statement of reality in the most durable materials at his command. Tombs were decorated with
domestic, military, hunting, and ceremonial scenes. Entombed with the deceased were statues
of him and of his servants and attendants, often shown at characteristic occupations.
The Middle Kingdom
The Middle Kingdom, with its capital at Thebes (2000-1786 B.C.), was a new age of experiment
and invention that grew out of the turbulence of the First Intermediate Period (2134-c.2000
B.C.). The forms of the Old Kingdom were retained, but the unity of style was broken. Increasing
formalism was combined with a meticulous delicacy of craftsmanship. The paintings of the rockcut tombs at Bani Hasan (e.g., Slaves Feeding Oryxes and Cat Stalking Prey, Tomb of Khnemuhetep) are outstanding for freedom of draftsmanship. In sculpture the sensitive portraits of
Sesostris III and Amenemhet III (both: Cairo) are exceptional in Egyptian art, which at all other
times showed a reluctance to portray inner feeling.
The New Kingdom
The art of the New Kingdom (1570-1342 B.C.) can be viewed as the final development of the
classic Egyptian style of the Middle Kingdom, a combination of the monumental forms of the Old
Kingdom and the drive and inspiration of the Middle Kingdom. The paintings of this period are
noted for boldness of design and controlled vitality. In sculpture the emphasis is on bulk,
solidity, and impersonality.
During the Amarna period (1372-1350 B.C.) a free and delicate style developed with many
naturalistic tendencies and a new sense of life and movement. In sculpture the new style was
carried to the point of caricature, e.g., in the colossal statue of Ikhnaton (Cairo). The
outstanding masterpiece of this period is the painted limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti (Berlin
Mus.). The delicacy, sophistication, and extreme richness of this style in its late period is best
exemplified by the furnishings from the tomb of Tutankhamen.
The Ramesside period (1314-1085 B.C.) saw an attempt to return to the classic formalism of the
earlier New Kingdom, but the vitality that characterized that period could not be recovered. The
sculpture, both in relief and in the round, became monotonous and even overbearing except in
the numerous battle scenes. The period of decline (1085-730 B.C.) is characterized by
mechanical repetition of earlier forms in the major arts and by the introduction of satirical and
often cynical drawings in the papyri. In the Saïte period (730-663 B.C.) there was an attempt to
return to the austerity of the Old Kingdom style, but for the simplicity of the earlier forms a
coarse brutality was substituted.
After the conquest of Egypt by the Assyrians in 663 B.C. all the arts declined with the exception
of metalworking, in which a high standard of skill was maintained. Neither the Assyrian nor the
subsequent Persian invasions left a mark on Egyptian art, and even under the Ptolemaic dynasty
(332-30 B.C.) Egypt proved extraordinarily resistant to Hellenic conceptions of art. The ancient
architectural tradition retained its vitality, as in the temples of Horus at Idfu and Isis at Philae,
but painting and sculpture continued to decline. Native naturalism may have influenced the
painted Fayum panels and orant (praying) portraits on mummy shrouds, but neither their
subjects nor their style is essentially Egyptian. The minor arts, however, continued to flourish;
alabaster vases, faience pottery and figurines, glassware, ivories, and metalwork were produced
with the ancient skill and in the traditional Egyptian style.
Egyptian architecture
Egyptian architecture, the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, formulated prior to 3000 B.C.
and lasting through the Ptolemaic period (323-30 B.C.).

pyramid
Pyramid. The true pyramid exists only in Egypt, though the term has also been applied to
similar structures in other countries. Egyptian pyramids are square in plan and their
triangular sides, which directly face the points of the compass, slope upwards at
approximately a 50° angle from the ground and meet at an apex. The prototype for the
pyramid are the mastabas of the Old Kingdom (2680-2565 B.C.), which are rectangular in
plan and have only two sloping sides. After these came the step-pyramid at Sakkara, built
c.2620 B.C., which soon evolved into the straight-sided true pyramid. This monumental
structure was developed around the IV dynasty and continued to be the favored form for
royal burial through the VI dynasty.
Each monarch built his own pyramid in which his mummified body might be preserved for
eternity away from human view and sacrilege. As a result of the lack of sophisticated
machinery, the construction of each pyramid took many years and required measureless
amounts of building materials and labor. Entrance into a pyramid is through an opening in
the northern wall. A small passage, traversing lesser chambers, leads to the sepulchral room
deep beneath the surface. Stone blocks forming a gable divert the weight of the great
masonry masses over these chambers. Though the pyramids were usually built of rough
stone blocks laid up in horizontal courses, many were constructed of mud bricks with a stone
casing.
The three pyramids of Giza near Cairo, all of the IV dynasty, are the largest and finest of
their kind. The Great Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops (begun c.2680 B.C.) was designated one of
the Seven Wonders of the World and is the largest pyramid ever built. A solid mass of
limestone blocks covering 13 acres (5.3 hectares), it was originally 756 ft (230 m) along each
side of its base and 482 ft (147 m) high. It has several passages, two large chambers in
addition to one beneath the ground level, and two small air chambers for ventilation.
Although not true pyramids, pyramidical structures were also built by the Mesopotamians and
by the Maya of Mexico and Central America. Mesopotamian ziggurat was square in plan and
built up in receding terraces. Mayan pyramids, built in steep, receding blocks, also were
topped by ritual chambers, and in some cases, possessed an interior crypt. Stepped funeral
pyramids dating from the 4th cent. B.C. were discovered in the 1990s in the Altai region of
Siberia. The Romans built small pyramidical tombs of which the most famous was the
Pyramid of Cestius (62 B.C.-12 B.C.) in Rome. Built of concrete faced with marble, it has an
interior tomb vault and is 116 ft (35 m) high. Many modern architects have admired
pyramids for their pure geometry. In the reconstruction of the Louvre in Paris, architect I. M.
Pei added a pyramidal entrance pavilion (1987-89).

Characteristics of Egyptian Architecture
Scant tree growth prevented the extensive use of wood as a building material, but because
fine clay was deposited by the floodwaters of the Nile, the ceramic arts developed early. Both
sun-dried and kiln-dried bricks were used extensively. Fine sandstone, limestone, and granite
were available for obelisks, sculpture, and decorative uses.
A massive, static, and serene architecture emerged from primitive structures of clay and
reeds. The incised and flatly modeled surface adornment of the granite buildings was
apparently derived from mud wall ornamentation, and the slope given to the masonry walls
suggests a method employed originally to obtain stability in the mud walls. The Egyptians
developed post-and-lintel construction-the type exclusively used in their monumental
buildings-even though the use of the arch was developed during the dynasty of Snefru
(2780-2689 B.C.). Walls were immensely thick. Columns were confined to the halls and inner
courts. Roofs, invariably flat, suited to the lack of rain, were of huge stone blocks supported
by the external walls and the closely spaced columns.
The massive sloping exterior walls, containing only a few small openings, as well as the
columns and piers that they concealed, were covered with hieroglyphic and pictorial carvings
in brilliant colors. Many motifs of Egyptian ornament are symbolic, such as the scarab, or
sacred beetle, the solar disk, and the vulture. Hieroglyphics were decoration as well as
records of historic events. Egyptian sculptors possessed the highest capacity for integrating
ornamentation and the essential forms of their buildings. From natural objects, such as palm
leaves, the papyrus plant, and the buds and flowers of the lotus, they developed
conventionalized motifs.
All dwelling houses, built of timber or of sun-baked bricks, have disappeared; only temples
and tombs, constructed in durable materials, have survived. The belief in existence beyond
death resulted in sepulchral architecture of utmost impressiveness and permanence. Even
during periods of foreign rule Egyptian architecture clung to its native characteristics,
adopting almost no elements from other cultures.
Historical Architectural Development
Egyptian architectural development parallels the chronology (see Egypt): Old Kingdom, 26802258 B.C.; Middle Kingdom, 2134-1786 B.C.; New Kingdom, 1570-1085 B.C. Old Kingdom
remains are almost entirely sepulchral, chiefly the tombs of monarchs and nobles. The mastaba
is the oldest remaining form of sepulcher; it is a rectangular, flat-roofed structure with sloping
walls containing chambers built over the mummy pit. The pyramid of a sovereign was begun as
soon as he ascended the throne. Groups of pyramids remain; those at Giza, which include the
Great Pyramid of Khufu (or Cheops), are among the best known. Many Middle Kingdom tombs
were tunneled out of the rock cliffs on the west bank of the Nile, among them the remarkable
group (c.1991-1786 B.C.) at Bani Hasan. New Kingdom temples in the environs of Thebes, such
as those of Medinet Habu and the Ramesseum, derived their form from the funerary chapels of
previous ages.
The New Kingdom years cover the great period of temple construction, those temples extant
conforming to a distinct type. The doorway in the massive facade is flanked by great sloping
towers, or pylons, in front of which obelisks and colossal statues were often placed. The more
important temples were approached between rows of sculptured rams and sphinxes. A high
enclosing wall screened the building from the common people, who had no share in the temple
rituals practiced solely by the king, the officials, and the priesthood. Beyond the open
colonnaded courtyard was the great hypostyle hall with immense columns arranged in a central
nave and side aisles. The shorter columns of the latter permitted a clerestory for the admission
of light. Behind the hypostyle hall were small sanctuaries, where only the king and priests might
enter, and behind these were small service chambers.
The Great Temple of Amon at Karnak is a product of many successive additions; the central
columns of its hypostyle hall are the largest known. In the temples that resulted from many
additions, unity of design was often sacrificed to sheer size. New Kingdom temples were also
excavated from rock. The temples of Abu-Simbel begun by Seti I (1302-1290 B.C.), have four
colossal figures, sculptured from solid rock, of Ramses II, who completed the temples. (The
temples were cut apart and removed from their position by the Nile previous to the completion
of the Aswan dam and reassembled in 1966 at a point higher and farther inland.) The temple at
Idfu (237 B.C.), by Ptolemy III, is the best preserved of the Ptolemaic period.
Egyptian language
Egyptian language, extinct language of ancient Egypt, a member of the Afroasiatic family of
languages (see Afroasiatic languages). The development of ancient Egyptian is usually divided
into four periods: (1) Old Egyptian, spoken and written in Egypt during the IV to VI dynasties of
the Old Kingdom (3d millennium B.C.); (2) Middle Egyptian, a form of the language noted for its
great literature and current from the XI dynasty (beginning 2134 B.C.) to the reign of Ikhnaton
(c.1372-1354 B.C.) in the XVIII dynasty; (3) Late Egyptian, which was used from the time of
Ikhnaton through the XX dynasty of the 12th cent. B.C.; and (4) demotic, dating from the late
8th cent. B.C. to the 5th cent. A.D.
The ancient Egyptian language first used a hieroglyphic form of writing that underwent several
stages of development in the course of the centuries. From hieroglyphics evolved an Egyptian
cursive handwriting known as hieratic; and from hieratic, a simplified script called demotic, in
which was recorded the form of the Egyptian language also called demotic. Egyptian
hieroglyphics and the styles of writing derived from them are associated with pagan civilization.
Their extinction followed the victory of Christianity over the pagan religions.
Some scholars regard Coptic (see Copts) as a fifth period of ancient Egyptian, although others
classify it as a different language descended from the ancient tongue. If Coptic, which is written
in a modified version of the Greek alphabet, is considered a continuation of the Egyptian
language, a written record of the latter may be said to cover an unbroken span of at least 40
centuries, the longest such record known for a language.

Rosetta
Rosetta, former name of Rashid, city (1986 pop. 51,789), N Egypt, in the Nile River delta.
The city once dominated the region's rice market; rice milling and fish processing are the
main industries of modern Rashid. Founded in the 9th cent., the city was formerly an
important port but declined after the building (1819) of the Mahmudiyah Canal, which
diverted its trade to Alexandria.
The Rosetta Stone is a granitoid slab inscribed in hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek with
identical texts of a decree by a council of priests during the reign of Ptolemy V. Part of a stele
dating from 196 B.C., it was found (1799) by Napoleon's troops near the city, was taken
(1801) by the British, and since 1802 has been displayed at the British Museum. It gave
Jean-Francois Champollion, Thomas Young, and others the key to Egyptian hieroglyphic.

hieroglyphic
Hieroglyphic [Gr.,=priestly carving], type of writing used in ancient Egypt. Similar
pictographic styles of Crete, Asia Minor, and Central America and Mexico are also called
hieroglyphics (see Minoan civilization; Anatolian languages; Maya; Aztec). Interpretation of
Egyptian hieroglyphics, begun by Jean-Francois Champollion, is virtually complete; the other
hieroglyphics are only very imperfectly understood. The distinguishing feature of
hieroglyphics is that they are conventionalized pictures used chiefly to represent meanings
that seem arbitrary and are seldom obvious. Egyptian hieroglyphics appear in several stages:
the first dynasty (3110-2884 B.C.), when they were already perfected; the Old Kingdom; the
Middle Kingdom, when they were beginning to go out of use; the New Empire, when they
were no longer well understood by the scribes; and the late hieroglyphics (from 500 B.C.),
when the use of them was a tour de force. With a basic number of 604 symbols,
hieroglyphics were written in several directions, including top to bottom, but usually from
right to left with the pictographs facing the beginning of the line.
There were in general three uses to which a given hieroglyphic might be put (though very
few were used for all three purposes): as an ideogram, as when a sign resembling a man
meant man or a closely connected idea (thus a man carrying something meant carrying); as
a phonogram, as when an owl represented the sound m, because the word for owl had m for
its principal consonant; or as a determinative, an unpronounced symbol placed after an
ambiguous sign to indicate its classification (e.g., an eye to indicate that the preceding word
has to do with looking or seeing). As hieroglyphic developed, most words came to require
determinatives. The phonograms were, of course, the controlling factor in the progress of
hieroglyphic writing, because of the fundamental convenience of an alphabet.
In the Middle Kingdom a developed cursive, the hieratic, was extensively used for private
documents where writing speed was essential. In the last centuries B.C. a more developed
style, the demotic, supplanted the hieratic. Where the origin of most hieratic characters could
be plainly seen in the hieroglyphics, the demotics were too conventionalized to bear any
resemblance to the hieroglyphics from which they had sprung.
Reading Resources
Easy
The Tombs of the Pharaohs: A Three-Dimensional Discovery
by Sue Clarke
Hyperion , 1994 (10p)
This interactive, pyramid-shaped book with multilayered flaps and pullout components shows the
interior of a tomb.
I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert
by Eve Bunting
Harcourt, 1997 (32p)
From her resting place in a museum, the mummy Heb-Nefert recalls her earlier pampered life of
luxury with her royal husband on the banks of the Nile.
Cat Mummies
by Kelly Trumble
Clarion, 1996 (64p)
Explores the reasons for the ancient Egyptian custom of mummifying animals, especially cats.
The Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
by Leonard Everett Fisher
Holiday, 1997 (32p)
This picture book introduces thirteen Egyptian deities, including Seshat, goddess of librarians.
Average
Mysteries of the Pyramids
by Anne Millard
Millbrook, 1995 (40p)
Offered here are photos taken by robots and archaeological x-rays used by scientists to learn the
secrets of the construction of Egypt's pyramids.
The Nubians: People of the Ancient Nile
by Robert Bianchi
Millbrook, 1994 (64p)
The author traces the history of the Nubians and their civilization in the valley of the Nile.
BOOKS TO READ ALOUD
Gods & Pharaohs from Egyptian Mythology
by Geraldine Harris
Benchmark, 1992 (152p)
This collection contains myths and legends about the gods, goddesses, and pharaohs of ancient
Egypt.
BOOKS FOR TEACHERS
Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization
by A. Leo Oppenheim
U. of Chicago, 1977
The author has covered 4000 years of history about the civilizations once found in the TigrisEuphrates Valley.
Egypt, Kush, Aksum: Northeast Africa
by Kenny Mann
Silver, 1997 (128p)
This book in the African Kingdoms of the Past series discusses the development and history of
these ancient kingdoms.
MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES
Videocassettes
Middle East: History and Culture 20 min.
Barr Films, 1993
Who Built the Pyramids? 16 min.
National Geographic, 1993
Mummies Made in Egypt 30 min.
Great Plains National, 1989
Software
Ancient Civilizations (CD-ROM)
ENTREX Software, 1995
Development of Writing (CD-ROM)
Museum Madness®
MECC, 1995
Imagination Express, Destination: Pyramids (CD-ROM)
Edmark, 1996
Battles of the World (CD-ROM)
Compton's NewMedia, 1996
The Egyptians (CD-ROM)
World Book/Two-Can, 1997