Download Ancient Egypt - Alabama School of Fine Arts

Ancient Egypt
• Today, desert covers much of Egypt. It
hardly ever rains in Egypt
• 12,000 yrs. Ago, much of the area was
covered by swampland.
• Since then, Egypt has been getting
drier.
• Egypt has been mostly desert for at
least 5000 yr.
• The most important feature is the Nile.
• The Nile was the main source of
water in Egypt.
• “Egypt is the gift of the Nile”. –
Herodotus
• Without the Nile, Egypt would have
been a desert, with very little life.
Because of the Nile, it was a land of
great fertility, and one of the cradles
of civilization.
• Black Land: land on each side of the
Nile river, which receives water. It is
rich and fertile.
• Red Land: land just beyond the Black
Land. It is desert.
Black land/Red Land
• Nile is the longest river in
the world-4160 miles
• The White Nile starts at
Lake Victoria. The Blue
Nile starts in the highlands
of Ethiopia.
• They come together in
what is now Sudan, to form
the Nile.
• Upper
Egypt is
in the
south
• Lower
Egypt is
in the
north
• Mediterr
anean
Sea
• Red
Sea
• Cataracts:
rapids
• You could not
navigate
through the
cataracts.
• Ancient
Egypt-750
miles from
the first
cataract to
the Nile delta.
• The Nile flows from
south to north
• The wind blows
from north to
south.
• This made travel
easy in both
directions
Inundation (flood) of the Nile
• Each year, in late June, the water level of the
Nile River began to rise. The star Sirius
appeared above the horizon just before dawn
on June 21.
• The flood was caused by spring rains farther
south in Africa, where the Nile river begins.
• The water level continued to rise until it
reached its maximum in September. In October
the water level began to fall, and within a few
weeks was back to its original level.
• As the flood water receded, it left a layer of
rich, fertile black silt, which was ideal for
crops.
• Inundation: means covered
with water; the term for the
flood of the Nile.
• Nilometer: an ancient device
for measuring the height of the
Nile flood waters. These were
located at a number of places
on the Nile.
Life in Egypt followed the cycle of the Nile
• Egyptian farmers divided their year into three seasons,
based on the cycles of the Nile River:
• INUNDATION (FLOOD SEASON)(June-September):
No farming was done at this time, as all the fields were
flooded. Instead, many farmers worked for the
pharaoh (king), building pyramids or temples. Some of
the time was spent mending their tools and looking
after animals.
• GROWING SEASON(October-February):
After the flood receded, in October, this fresh, fertile
soil was ploughed and seeded. The crops, including
wheat, barley, flax, figs & pomegranates, grew.
• HARVEST SEASON (March-May):
The fully grown crops had to be cut down (harvested)
and removed before the Nile flooded again. It was also
the time to repair the canals ready for the next flood.
• The annual flood of the Nile determined the
rhythm of life in Egypt: Inundation, Growing
Season, Harvest.
• The annual flood left rich silt made Egypt
almost magically fertile. This meant the
Egyptians could produce a lot of surplus
food, which allowed them to do many things
other than farming.
• This cycle gave the Egyptians a deep sense
that life follows a cycle, and that life is
renewed.
•
•
•
•
Other advantages of the Nile
Valley
Sunny, frost-free climate
Easy travel by boat on the Nile in both directions.
Plenty of stone for building.
A location protected from invasion.
• Deserts provide protection on the East and West. The
Isthmus of Suez was the only land-bridge to Asia
• The Mediterranean Sea provided protection on the North.
• The cataracts helped protect from invasion from the
South.
• Because of this natural protection, Egypt was not often
invaded in the early period. This helped allow their culture
to develop.
Very Early Developments
• By at least 6000BC, there were farming
villages along the Nile.
• By 3800BC, the Egyptians mined copper,
and soon learned to make bronze
• By 3100BC, there were two kingdoms in
Egypt: Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt.
Also by this
• Also by 3100BC, Egypt began developing
a vast irrigation system to bring Nile water
to crops in the dry season.
3100BC-Unification
• In 3100BC, Menes (Narmer) , the
ruler of Upper Egypt, conquered
Lower Egypt, and united the 2
kingdoms.
• Thus Egypt became the world’s
first unified country.
• To show this, Menes combined
the crowns of Upper and Lower
Egypt into one crown
• He established Memphis as the
capital.
• According to legend, Menes was
killed and eaten by a
hippopotamus.
Pharaohs & government
• Dynasty: family of rulers. 30 Dynasties of
Ancient Egypt.
• Pharaoh: Ruler of Egypt, who was regarded
as a god. The position was passed down
usually from father to son. They were absolute
rulers, and in theory owned all the land of
Egypt. They were human forms of the god
Horus.
• To help them rule, the pharaohs created a
complex bureaucracy.
– Vizier – assistant to the pharaoh.
– Governmental departments to handle the various
functions of government. Many scribes worked in
each department to carry out the tasks of
government.
Egyptian writing-Hieroglyphics
• Oldest form:
Hieroglyphics
– It was fully formed by
about 3000BC,
although some written
symbols were used as
early as 3400.
– “hiero”-holy; “glyphics”writing
– About 600 picture
signs. Some
represented whole
words. Some
represented syllables.
– At first, it was carved
on stone.
Papyrus
• Soon a paper-like material called papyrus was
invented. It was made from the papyrus plant.
– Peel the stalk.
– Cut the stalk into strips.
– Soak the strips.
– Lay them out. Press them.
• They used ink made from soot, water, and
sometimes plant juice
Egyptian writing
• After hieroglyphics, more simplified forms of
writing were invented. Hieroglyphics continued to
be used for very formal writing.
• Hieratic: also used pictures, but they were simplier
• Demotic: uses simple strokes.
What happened to Egyptian writing
• Eventually, by about 300AD, many
years after the period we are studying,
all three forms of Egyptian writing went
out of use. For a while, the Egyptians
used Greek or Latin. Later, the
Egyptians used Arabic. The meaning of
the old symbols was forgotten. No one
knew how to read them.
HOW HIEROGLYPHICS (and hieratic and
demotic) were finally translated:
• In the 1700s, interest in Ancient Egypt
increased, and people wanted to be
able to read hieroglyphics.
• 1799AD – a stone was found by
Napoleon’s soldiers near the town of
Rosetta, Egypt - - the “Rosetta Stone”.
Rosetta Stone
• It happened to have a royal
proclamation written in 3
different ways: Hieroglyphics,
Demotic, and Ancient Greek.
• Ancient Greek was still well
known by many people.
• In 1822, a French linguist
named Francois Champollion
used the Rosetta stone to
decipher the hieroglyphics
and demotic. He knew the
Ancient Greek language and
used it as a key to the others.
Periods of Egyptian History
• About 3100BC-2700BC: Early Dynastic
Period
• About 2700BC-2200BC: OLD KINGDOM
– About 2200BC-2100BC: 1st Intermediate period
• About 2100BC-1700BC: MIDDLE KINGDOM
– About 1700BC-1600BC: 2nd Intermediate Period
• About 1600BC-1100BC: NEW KINGDOM
• * All dates are rounded up to the nearest
century
3100BC-2680BC: EARLY
DYNASTIC
• Unified Upper & Lower Egypt & established a
strong central government, the first unified
country in world history
• Established the position of king or pharaoh
(he wasn’t actually called pharaoh until the
new kingdom)
• Developed a tradition of mummifying &
burying rulers in mastaba (rectangular) tombs.
• Developed hieroglyphic writing.
• Established the irrigation system
OLD KINGDOM (2680BC2180BC)
• Improved the irrigation system
• Made the government highly centralized and
highly organized
• Build the great pyramids and sphinx
SOCIAL CLASSES
• 1)Pharaoh & the Royal Family
• 2) Government officials, nobles, priests & scribes.
– Government officials who governed the provinces of EgyptEgypt was divided into 42 provinces called Nomes, and these
officials were called Nomarchs. These officials gradually
became a small but powerful group of hereditary nobles;
– Priests; Scribes (people whose profession was reading and
writing).
• 3)Skilled artisans and merchants
• 4)Peasant farmers (these were the majority)
•
(In Old Kingdom Egypt, there were few slaves.
Later, in Middle and New Kingdom periods, the
number of slaves greatly increased.
PYRAMIDS
• There are over 100 pyramids in Egypt,
built during the Old Kingdom and Middle
Kingdom periods.
• The largest and oldest pyramids were
built during the Old Kingdom. They are
located on in lower Egypt, near present
day Cairo, in three locations: Giza,
Saqarra, and Dashur.
Pyramids
• The purpose of the pyramids was to
provide a tomb that would protect the
body and soul of the Pharoah.
• They believed that the soul (composed
of ba and ka) needed its body in order to
have eternal life, and the body therefore
had to be preserved and protected.
• Most Pharaohs started building their
tombs many years before they died.
• It used to be thought that the pyramids were
built by slave labor. However, now historians
have determined that they were built by free
Egyptian citizens who were drafted by the
government to spend a certain time building
pyramids.
• They were organized into work-groups and
lived in a village set up near the pyramid.
• Some groups even had nick names for their
group and signed the part of the pyramid they
built.
PYRAMIDS
• The early Pharoahs had rectangular
tombs called Mastaba tombs. They were
buried in a shaft beneath them.
Pyramids-1st Pyramid
• The Pharoah Djoser reigned
in 2630-2611BC, during the
Old Kingdom.
• His vizier and architect was
an man named Imhotep.
Imhotep designed Djoser’s
tomb.
• Djoser’s tomb started off as
a Mastaba tomb. Then (to
make it grander) Imhotep
added a series of
progressively smaller
Mastabas on tomb. Thus we
have the first pyramid: the
“Step Pyramid”
Djoser-1st Pyramid
Sneferu-2nd 3rd 4th pyramids
2nd pyramid (Sneferu’s 1st)
3rd pyramid (Sneferu’s 2nd)
4th Pyramid (Sneferu’s 3rd)
Khufu-builder of the 5th and Greatest
Pyramid
5th and Greatest Pyramid
5th and Greatest Pyramid
Khufu’s boat
6th Pyramid-Khafre
6th - Khafre
6th - Khafre
The Great Sphinx goes with
Khafre’s Pyramid
7th - Menkaure
Menkaure
8th Pyramid-Pepi II - Saqarra
1st INTERMEDIATE PERIOD:
2180BC-2050BC
• Toward the end of the Old Kingdom Period,
the strength of the central government
began to decline.
• Pepi II, last ruler of the Old Kingdom, just
lived too long. He became weaker, and the
local nobles grew more powerful and
rebelled.
• For about 100 years, the there were civil
wars as these nobles rebelled against the
central government.
• Finally, order was restored. The capital was
moved from Memphis to Thebes (farther
south-”up” the Nile)
MIDDLE KINGDOM (2050-1650BC)
• Accomplishments:
• Overall, called a golden age, marked by
stability and prosperity
• Repaired and improved the irrigation
system
• Drained swampy areas in the delta and
created new farm land.
• Conquered Nubia, the land to the south
2nd INTERMEDIATE PERIOD: (about
1650-1570BC)
• Near the end of the Middle Kingdom period, nobles
and priests became more independent, and the
kingdom became less stable. The weakened the
position of the Pharaoh weakened.
• A people called the Hyksos, who were nomadic
herders from the Middle East, came into Egypt and
(temporarily) took control in Lower (northern) Egypt.
They had a new war weapon: the war chariot. They
controlled much of Egypt for a time.
• Two versions of the Hyksos
– Manetho (Egyptian historian 200BC) said the Hyksos
invaded, destroyed cities, murdered & enslaved Egyptians
– Some modern historians think that first the Egyptian
government weakened, and then the Hyksos migrated in
and took control without any great amount of violence.
BEGINNING OF THE NEW
KINGDOM (1570BC-1080BC)
• AHMOSE:
– About 1570BC, a strong, talented young ruler
from Thebes rallied the Egyptian forces and
drove the Hyksos out of Egypt.
• Several strong pharaohs followed.
• CHANGES DURING THE NEW
KINGDOM. Egypt:
• Used war chariot. Became conquerors.
Built an empire.
• No longer built pyramids for their pharoahs.
They built hidden tombs in the Valley of the
Kings.
FAMOUS NEW KINGDOM PHARAOHS-
HATSHEPSUT
• 0nly female pharaoh who ruled in her
own name
• Ruled 1503BC-1482BC
• Oldest daughter of Pharaoh
Thutmose I. She married her half
brother Thutmose II, and then he
died. They had no son together.
• Hatshepsut & her young stepson,
Thutmose III became co-rulers. Soon
she declared herself pharaoh, and
began dressing in the traditional dress
of the pharaoh, including the fake
beard.
HATSHEPSUT
• Major accomplishment-a famous trading
expedition to Punt.
• After her death, her step-son Thutmose
III took over and tried to erase her name
from monuments.
• Recently her mummy was identified. Her
mummy had no identification on it.
Archeologists found a box with her
name on it with a tooth inside. They
tooth fit the unidentified royal female
mummy.
Hatshepsut’s funerary temple
FAMOUS NEW KINGDOM PHARAOHS-
Thutmose III
• Tremendously
successful warrior
pharaoh and
conqueror.
• Ruled 1482BC-1450BC
• Conquered Palestine &
Syria to the east.
Conquered more of
Nubia in the south.
• Now Egypt was a true
Empire. Brought Egypt
to the height of its
military power.
Famous New Kingdom Pharaohs:
Amenhotep IV/Akhenaton
• Ruled 1380-1362BC
• During most of their history, Egyptians worshiped
many gods---polytheistic. The chief god was
Amon-Re (Ra), but many others were worshiped.
• Akhenaton came to believe that there was only
one god – Aton –the sun-disk. He became a
monotheist.
• He ordered that Egyptians quit worshiping all the
other gods, including Amon-Re, and worship only
Aton. He closed the temples of the other gods
and the priests lost their jobs.
• To make a break with the past, he built a new
capital city called Amarna, and moved the court.
AKHENATON
• His wife, the beautiful Nefertiti, was
almost a co-ruler with him.
• Akhenaton was so obsessed with his
new monotheistic religion, that he
neglected other needs of the country,
and Egypt lost some control of some of
the empire Thutmose III had conquered.
• After the death of Akhenaton, Egypt
went back to worshiping the old gods,
including Amon Re (Amon Ra
Akhenaton, Nefertiti, and their
daughters. Sun disk Aton with little
“hands” reaching down to earth.
AKHENATON & NEFERTITI
Famous New Kingdom Pharaohs:
Tutankhamen
• Had no great
accomplishments and died
very young, age 19
• Ruled 1333BC-1323BC
• Restored the worship of the
old gods, including Amon
Re (Ra)
• He is famous because his
tomb is the only tomb of a
pharaoh found with the
contents still in it (all the rest
were robbed long ago).
• It was found by Archeologist
Howard Carter in 1922.
Famous New Kingdom Pharaohs: Ramses
II (Ramesses II)
• One of the last strong
pharaohs of the New Kingdom
• Ruled 1279BC-1213BC
• Constructed many temples
and monuments, and had
many statues made of
himself!!!
• Lived to be 90-91 year old. Had
over 100 children.
• Is thought to be the pharaoh at
the time of the “Exodus”, when
Moses led the Hebrews out of
Egypt.
Ramses II at the Battle of Kadesh
Temple at Abu Simbel-All 4 colossal
statues depict Ramses II
Section 2
• Important general characteristics of
Egyptian Culture:
• Stability based on
– dependability of the annual Nile inundation
– geographic isolation - relatively protected from
frequent invasions by the surrounding deserts
• Deep interest in life after death:
– the annual flood of the Nile led to confidence in
the renewal of life
– Much of the architecture involved belief in life
after death
Achievements in architecture
• OLD KINGDOM PYRAMIDS
– They did not have wheeled
vehicles or cranes
– Most historians think they used
temporary ramps of dirt to haul
the stones up the sides of the
pyramids.
– Straight ramp theory-on each
side a long straight ramp of dirt
was built, higher as the pyramid
was built higher.
– Spiral Ramp theory
– Either theory: Stones were
hauled up the ramps. After the
pyramid was finished, the ramps
were torn down.
Achievements in Architecture
• Middle Kingdom pyramids
– Limestone outside, mud brick inside
– Now many are rubble
• New Kingdom Tombs (Valley of the
Kings)
– In the new kingdom, the capital was
moved to Thebes
– Pharaohs began building tombs on
the west bank of the Nile at the
Valley of the Kings, across from
Karnak & Thebes
– Long passageways and rooms
carved into the rock & hidden
– Richly decorated inside, painted from
top to bottom (Theban Mapping
Project)
• Great Temples:
– Great temples such as the one at
Karnak, with huge columns.
Achievements in sculpture & painting
• Small statues of
everyday life placed
in tombs
• Huge statues such as
the ones at Abu
Simbel and the Great
Sphinx
• Exquisite paintings in
tombs
Calendar, Math, Medicine
•
Egyptian Calendar
– First calendar was lunar, based on the moon
– Solar (365 day calendar) developed.
– They noticed that a star – Sirius – appeared on the horizon
shortly before the flood began. Solar year began with the rising
of Sirius (about June 21) to the next rising of Sirius.
– Year divided into 12 months of 30 days + 5 days for holiday &
feasting
– Kept track of years, by the reign of the pharaoh
•
Mathematics
– number system – base 10
– Used geometry to build the pyramids & re-draw the boundaries
of fields after the flood
Calendar, Math, Medicine
• Medicine
• Knew a lot about human anatomy, because of the
mummification process
• Mixed true medical knowledge with magic.
• Herbal medicines, surgery, setting broken bones.
Education
– Schools established for boys who would
become scribes--men who could read &
write.
– Scribes were professional record keepers.
– Many scribes worked for the government.
Egyptian Religion
• Polytheistic – about 2000 gods &
goddess (except during the reign of
Akhenaton!
• In very early Egypt, many villages
had their own god/gods. As Egypt
became more unified, some of these
gods came to be worshiped all over
Egypt.
• Gods often had an animal symbol.
Some animals were also sacred: cat,
crocodile, scarab beetle
• Chief god: Amon, or Amon-Re
(Amon=Amun; Re=Ra). Originally
Amon and Re were two separate
gods, but they eventually merged.
Osiris & Isis story
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Long ago, Osiris was the ruler of Egypt;
Isis -his wife; Set- brother of Osiris.
Osiris and Isis were beloved by the
people, and Set was jealous.
Set makes a coffin, tricks Osiris into
getting into it, slams it shut, and throws it
into the Nile.
Isis finds the coffin & body of Osiris;
Then Set gets Osiris again and tears
Osiris apart, and throws out the pieces.
Isis & Anubis find the pieces & Isis brings
Osiris back to life.
Osiris reigns as king of the dead. He is
also associated with the Nile, which
flooded and receded. Osiris periodically
died and was reborn.
Isis represents life, and the ankh is the
symbol of Isis
• The deceased makes a negative confession that he is innocent of
wrong doing towards the gods and his fellow men
• Anubis leads the deceased to the scales.
• The scale is topped by Maat, goddess of justice.
• Anubis weighs the heart against the feather of Maat.
• Thoth records the result.
• If the heart weighs more, his soul is eaten by Ammut.
• If the heart passes the test, he is led by Horus to meet Osiris. The 4
sons of Horus stand on a lotus flower, and Isis and her sister
Nephthys.
Status of Women
• Division of labor:
– Men did most of the physical labor, such as farming, outside the
home.
– Women took care of children, cooked, took care of gardens near
the home. As a result, men are usually portrayed in art as more
tanned than women.
• Women were not completely equal to men. It was rare for a
woman to be pharaoh. Women were rarely scribes or taught
to read and write.
• However, women had many legal rights that were equal to
men. Unlike women in many other ancient societies, they
could own property. They could buy and sell property. They
could operate businesses (if they had the means to do so).
They had the legal right to do what a man of their social class
could do.
• Art shows that family, marriage and children were highly
valued.
Art shows that family, marriage and children
were highly valued.
LAND
• In theory all land was owned
by the Pharaoh. It was
divided into large estates
controlled by nobles. The
nobles were like land-lords.
Peasants had pieces of land
on the noble’s estate, which
they farmed. A portion of the
peasant’s crop went to the
noble, and a portion went to
the Pharaoh.
• The peasants used simple
tools of stone and wood,
such as hoes. They used
wooden plows pulled by
oxen.
Farming & irrigation
• The fresh soil left
after the flood made
the land very fertile.
The fields were
irrigated. Irrigation
ditches (canals,
channels)
crisscrossed the
fields
• . In the new kingdom,
a mechanism called a
shaduf was used to lift
water and pour it on
the fields, or to move
water from a lower
level to a higher level.
• The most important crops were wheat (for
bread), barley (for bread or beer), and flax,
which was woven into linen cloth. Other
vegetables and fruits such as dates and figs
were also grown. (cotton was grown at a
later time than the time we are studying).
•
• The farmers planted in the fall (about
November) after the water of the inundation
(flood) had receded. They harvested in the
spring (March/April/May) before the next
flood. Sometimes they were able to plant
and harvest more than one crop in a
season. The annual flood determined this
schedule.
FOOD
• The most important
food was bread, and
the most important
drink was beer. Many
vegetables and fruits,
such as dates and figs
were also eaten. They
also ate fish, ducks,
geese and cheese.
CLOTHING
• Most clothing was made of whitish linen
(which was made from flax). Richer people
wore thinner, finer linen, poor people wore
coarser linen.
• Men wore “kilts” – short skirts-, and usually
were bare-chested. Women wore long
dresses with straps over the shoulders.
• Small children often went naked.
• For the wealthy the simple clothing was
dressed up with jewelry and beaded
collars. Even poorer people had simple
jewelry.
• For the wealthy the
simple clothing was
dressed up with
jewelry and beaded
collars. Even poorer
people had simple
jewelry. Priests often
wore leopard skins.
• Both men and women often (but not
always) wore wigs. Men wore short hair,
and shaved (or plucked) their faces,
except sometimes leaving a small
“goatee”. Women’s styles varied. In the
old kingdom, a short chin-length bob
was common for women. In later
periods long hair for women was the
preferred style.
• Many men and
women shaved (or
plucked) their bodies.
Priests always shaved
(or plucked) their
heads and entire
bodies.
• Both men and
women wore
makeup, especially
eye makeup. Heavy
black eyeliner
(sometimes it was
green) was used by
both sexes. The
black eyeliner was
called kohl. Oils
were used to keep
the skin from drying
out. Perfume was
used.
HOMES
• Homes for ordinary people were made of mud
brick, and had flat roofs and 2-3 rooms.
Wealthier people had much larger more
elaborate homes.
TRADE
• Trade was regulated by the government.
Long distance trade was carried on by
caravan traders. They rode donkeys &
later camels. Egypt usually had extra
food to sell.