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Ancient Egypt : Part 1
“Gift of the Nile”
--Herodotus 5th century BC
What is it about Egypt that inspires
odd behavior?
What about ancient Egypt is a
mystery to you?
Just a few common beliefs
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Egyptians did not build the pyramids. They were
helped by aliens.
Pyramids contain secret messages encode in
their dimensions.
King Tuts curse: all who opened his tomb died.
Mummification brings immortality.
Egyptians are descended from survivors of Lost
Atlantis.
Egyptians had knowledge of medicine now lost
Saqqara, Luxor, Thebes, Abu Simbal, Aswan, Cairo, Karnak, Memphis, Tanis…
Sources of historic
information about Egypt
Tomb paintings
 Egyptian inscriptions
 The secular and
religious writings of
other nations
(Sumerian inscriptions
for example, Greek,
and Roman, Judaic)
 Monuments
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Archaeology
Ancient historians
(Herodotus for
example)
Geoarchaeology
Paleoclimatology
Paleogenetics
Archaeology begins…
Interest in Egypt is ancient itself…
 Writings of Herodotus…
 Colonial empires encouraged antiquarian
interest.
 Independently wealthy of colonial class
dabbled in archaeology: collected
antiquities for estates.
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Archaeology in the colonial period (late
1760s -1880’s) consisted mainly of
museums and universities competing with
one another for treasures and large
exhibit pieces.
 Systematic recovery of data was novel and
the exception rather than the rule until at
least 1820. More serious still after 1850.
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Jean-Francois
Champollion
(1790-1832)
Rosetta stone
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View Gift of the Nile @
www.archaeologychannel.org
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See also; Digital Egypt for universities
Environmental change
250,000- 25,000 years ago Egypt was
more watered, had wide expanses of
grasslands
 Environmental changes brought about
desertification starting 25,000 years ago
and continues today throughout North
Africa. Expected to intensify with global
climate change.
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Neolithic settlement
(Archaic Egypt)
In the region of the Fayum depression
from about 5200 BC. Characterized by
farming and domesticated animals.
 Centered on oasis agriculture.
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Known as Maadi and Badarian cultures
through several phases 5500 BC - 4200 BC
Female figure. Fayum region
4500 BC
Badarian culture. Carved from
hippopotamus incisor.
Similar figures from burials
made of wood or clay.
4500 BC
Nubian pottery
Badarian
pottery
3800-3100 BC
Sir W. Flinders Petrie
Worked in Egypt from
1867-1933. Established
the best chronology of
pre-dynastic Egypt.
Chronology (abridged)
Pre-Dynastic 3200-2920 BC
 Early Dynastic 2920 – 2575 BC
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– Djoser (pyramid construction begins)
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Old Kingdom 2575 – 2134 BC
– Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure (the Great
Pyramids)
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First intermediate 2134 – 2040 BC
– (end of pyramids construction)
Narmer tablet depicting victorious King Menes
Crown of upper Nile
Crown of lower Nile
King Menes (Narmer)
Middle Kingdom 2040-1640 BC
 Second intermediate 1640-1550 BC
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– Hyksos invasion
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New Kingdom 1550- 1070 BC
Thutmose III, Hatshepsut, Amnenhtep III
Akenaten, Tutankhamen, Ramses II
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Late period 1070-332 BC
Egypt under Greek Rule
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Persia conquers Egypt
525 BC
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Alexander the Great
conquers Persia, then
Egypt, and installs his
own General Ptolemy as
Pharaoh. 332 BC
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Cleopatra descendant of
Ptolemy
Early pre-Dynastic
Early period is poorly known from
archaeology.
 Large cities are built over earlier
settlements.
 These early cultures are known principally
by their burials, pottery, and carved art
pieces.
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Archaeological evidence strongly suggests
that pre-Egyptian civilization in Sudan
(South Nubia) from about 7000 BC is the
source of burial practices commonly
associated with Egypt.
 These include, mummification, temple
tombs, pyramid-like structures,
Pharaohesque institutions. Also source of
first iron industry in Africa.
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Separate kingdoms begin to emerge along
Nile, each having a different social
structure and customs.
 Namer tablet depicts the unification of the
two kingdoms following a long period of
conflict
 Menes conquers the northern kingdom.
Unifier of Egypt.
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Egypt dependant on Nile
Agriculture dependant on annual floods
 Rich soils deposited along the banks of
river.
 Nile offered easy transportation route.
 Overland at the Wadi Hamatt provided a
link to the red Sea
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“Man fears time, yet
time fears the pyramids”
Arab proverb
Burial practices of the
rich and famous
Nobility and high ranking officials could
afford elaborate death rituals and tombs.
 Royal personages were given the greatest
tombs and mortuary rites
 Common people were usually buried in
mounds or underground family crypts.
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Burial practices based on sacred Mastaba.
Mastaba were large burial platforms.
Step pyramid, based on stacked mastaba design.
These designs resemble Mesopotamian ziggurats.
Djoser complex
Age of Pyramid building
The first pyramid
complex: 2630 BC
 The great pyramid
during the old
Kingdom
 Pyramids not
constructed after
2300 BC
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Zawi Hawass
Bent Pyramid at Djozer
The Great Pyramid
“controversy”
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Those who cannot accept or refuse to believe
the Egyptians built the pyramids have focused
most of their attention and efforts to the Great
Pyramid. Bottom line premise: it is too large a
monument to have been built without aid of
sophisticated machinery or that the stones were
too heavy to be moved with the technology
available to the ancient Egyptians.
Therefore…
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The Egyptians did not build them. The
technology could only have been provided
by extraterrestrial assistance.
Two contrasting
hypotheses concerning
construction.
internal ramp models.
Zahi Hawass has made
several major discoveries as
Chief of Archaeology and
Director of Antiquities and for
Egypt.
Most recent
research may
rewrite what is
known about the
Great Pyramid.
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The so-called air passages may not be for
air at all. The newly discovered hidden
chambers may conceal actual tombs or
other historic tresaures; but how to
investigate them?
Kings buried in tomb complexes rather
than pyramids.
 Pyramids were built by Egyptians, not
foreign slaves. Archaeological studies have
located “workers city” and burial sites.
Slave labor more common during New
Kingdom.
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Readings : Feder chpapter 10
 Scarre: Chpater 10 pgs 371-381
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Complex at Cheops (Khufu) the Great Pyramid
Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and
Menkaure
Valley of the Kings
Burial Temple of Hatshepsut
in Valley of the Kings
Interactive Web assignment
Visit Ancient Egypt Web site (Digital Egypt
for Universities)
 Excellent source for more project images.
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http://www.digitalegypt.
ucl.ac.uk/Welcome.html
(Digital Egypt for Universities)
Egyptologist
Dr. Kamal el Mallakh
Solar boat at Cheops
Pyramid
Solar boat entombed adjacent to Great
Pyramid.
 Four in all.
 Were these ever used?
 How typical are these boats?
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Sewn boat technology
Rowers
Fowling. Reed boat.
As the Bantu groups migrated they carried
with them technology and subsistence
strategies affecting the environment: iron
tools and agriculture.
 New archaeological evidence suggests
that forest clearing for farming and cattle
grazing increased the spread of malarial
mosquitoes by creating ideal habitat.
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Bantu Migrations
Western cultures of Africa belonging to
Niger-Congo language groups.
 Agricultural communities settled along
fertile river valleys.
 Groups began sub-Saharan expansion by
3000 BCE into east and southern Africa.
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Bio-cultural evolution
Links: production of iron tools allowed
Africans more productive and efficient
farming—created ideal habitat for
mosquitoes—increased malarial infection
rate—stimulated biological adaptation in
response—leading to sickle cell trait.
 While sickle cell can kill, it also lends
protection from malaria. (Two edged sword)
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