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Cultural Identity
Facets Which Make Up Culture
Facets of Culture
• Religion
• Food
• Behaviors
– Mannerisms
• Apparel
– Clothing
– Jewelry
• Government
Facets of Culture (cont.)
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Shared History
Land usage
Language
Arts
– Music
– Poetry
– Stories/ myths
– Visual Arts
Facets of Culture (cont.)
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Values
Geography
Technology
Contacts and trade
Economy
First Civilizations – Ancient Egypt
• Formed in northeastern Africa along Nile
river by 3000 B.C.E.
• Similar to Sumeria, formed along a river.
• Benefited from Mesopotamian (Sumerian
and later “Fertile Crescent” civilizations’
technology and influence. . .
• BUT, created a very different culture!!!
Geography and Climate
• Focused along the Nile River and deserts
immediately around it.
• Nile has a steady flow and predictable
flood surges.
• The river was seen as a source of neverfailing bounty
• Predictability of river made for an
optimistic culture
• Isolated by deserts. Limited invaders.
Technology
• Not particularly advanced technologically
• No pulleys, no real roads. Stones for
pyramids were rolled over logs and onto
barges.
• Did not take Sumerian writing, but instead
formed hyroglyphs, which were more
pictorial than cuneiform
• Writing monopolize by priests.
Technology cont.
• 12 month calendar and 10 day week.
Week was only unit not based on natural
cycles
• Knowledge of time and cycles suggests
Egyptians were highly concerned with
predicting Nile’s flood
• Important advanced in medicine, later
used by Greeks
Food
• Agriculture was in place by 5000 B.C.E.
Religion
• Pillar of Egyptian Culture
• Fascinated with orderly death, massive
funeral memorials, and preservation
through mummification
• Belief that through politics/ religion, death
as well as life could be controlled.
• Promoted worship of many gods
• Believed a happy changeless well-being
could be achieved
Government
• Formed regional kingdoms
• Unlike Sumer, Egypt moved (fairly directly)
from pre-civilization to large government
units.
• Egypt had a strong Pharoah (king), and
had fewer problems with political unity
than in Mesopotamia
• This unification was partly due to the
unifying influence of the Nile River
Government Cont.
• Governments were MUCH more
authoritarian, with no councils or
participatory institutions.
• The first Pharoah, Narmer (3100 B.C.E.)
conquered other small kingdoms, to unite
a 600 mile long northern kingdom.
• Original northern kingdom lasted 3000
years!!!
Government Cont.
• Pharaoh seen as descended from the
gods and eventually was seen as an
actual god.
• Pharaoh was thought to have power to
ensure the prosperity and control the
rituals that ensured regular flow of the Nile
and fertility of the land.
Government cont.
• Extensive bureaucracy recruited from land
nobles and trained in writing and law.
Supervised irrigation and great publice
works.
Economics
• Most Egyptians were peasant framers,
closely regulated and heavily taxed.
Arts
• Often devoted to demonstrating the power
of the Pharaoh.
• Often came in the form of large public
works that were a hallmark of Egyptian
culture.
• Pyramids were built to house Pharaoh’s
families and themselves after death.
Commanded crews of up to 100,000 men
to haul and lift stones.
Art cont.
• Largest pyramid took 20 years to
complete, contained 2 million blocks of
stone, each weighting 5.5 tons
• Despite writing, did not develop same epic
novels and literary tradition as Sumeria
Values
• Increased stratification of social rank
Contacts and trade