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Egypt
The Nile River
• Named after Greek word neilos
• Egyptians called Aur/Ar
• Longest river in world
• Flows South to North
– Southern Egypt = Upper
Egypt/”Valley”
– Northern Egypt = Lower
Egypt/”Delta”
• “Egypt was the Gift of the Nile”
– Flood/Inundation June-Oct.
– Plant, Harvest Feb-June
Manipulating the Nile
Egypt’s 5 Natural Barriers
5 Natural Barriers:
1.
Red Sea (East)
2.
Desert (West)
3.
Mediterranean Sea
(North)
4.
Ethiopian Mts. (South)
5.
River Cataracts
Cataracts of Egypt
First Cataract
Modern Manipulations of the Nile: The Aswan Dam
abul Simbel
The Egyptian Dynasties:
the Pre, Old, Middle and Intermediate Eras
Pre-Dynastic
Old Kingdom
1st
Intermediate
Middle
Kingdom
2nd
Intermediate
New
Kingdom
Pre-Dynastic Era
• Organized into
confederacies called
Nomes
– Led by Nomarchs
• Eventually Nomes org.
into 2 large Kingdoms
– Lower and Upper Egypt
Unification of Egypt
• Scorpion I and II
– 1st attempts to unify
• Narmer/Menes
– Successfully unified
– Made Memphis capital
• Symbol Unification
– Combined red & white
crowns
Death in Pre-Dynastic Egypt
• No Afterlife or
Pyramids
• But did Bury Dead
– Shallow pits
– Mastabas
The Old Kingdom
• Role of Pharaoh expanded
– Absolute power
– A living God
– Practiced Polygamy
• Great Royal Daughter
• Ra most imp. God
• “Era of the Pyramids”
– Djoser’s Stepp Pyramid
• 1st Pyramid
– Snefru’s Red Pyramid
• 1st True Pyramid
1st Intermediate Era
• Remembered as time of
misery & chaos
• Causes
– Econ. & Environmental
Prob.
– Believed Pharaoh lost
Ma’at
• Invaded & Ruled by
outsiders
– Asiatic People?
Middle Kingdom
• Egypt re-united by
Pharaoh Mentuhotep II
• A Return to Peace
– Focus…
• Trade, Agriculture, Security
– Made #1 God Amun-Ra
– Moved capital more
central location
– Co-regency
Second Intermediate
• Again, ruled by outsiders
– Hyksos
• Era remembered as curse,
but a blessing in disguise
– Gained new strategies &
technologies
• Chariot, composite bow
New Kingdom
• Re-united by Pharaoh Kamose
from Thebes
• Egypt’s “Age of Empire”
– Nubia to Euphrates
• Pharaoh Hatshepsut
– Female pharaoh depicted as man
– Rich Trade Land of Punt
– Capital Thebes
• Era of religious revolution
– Armana Revolution
• Akhenaten’s Aten
• New capital Tell-el-Amarna
– Valley of Kings and Queens
– Book of the Dead
– Exodus
• Ramses II
• Ended w/ invasion of Sea People
Nubian Pharaohs of Kush
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian Writing
• Hieroglyphics- “Sacred Writings”
• Proper Egyptian Writing
• Hieroglyphics
• Used for official inscriptions carved on stele and temple
walls
• Egyptian “Slang”
• Hieratic “Priestly Script” - cursive script, used for less formal
events
– Ex: Temple accounts
• Demotic “Business Script”- shorthand writing used by
merchants and traders
Rosetta Stone
• 1799 found by
Napoleon’s troops
• 3 inscriptions
– Hieroglyphic
– Demotic
– Greek
• Deciphered by Jean
Francois Champollion
Writing and Reading Hieroglyphics
• Can write and read:
– Left to right
– Right to left
– Columns
• Used same symbols for letters articulated
similarly
– Ex: I and E
• Ignored vowels, shortened words using
consonants
– Ex: Freight = FRT
– Problem: FRT could be Fort, Ferret, Fart?
Religion
“[The Egyptians] are religious to a
higher degree than any other people."
~Herodotus
Egyptian Religion
• Religion guided EVERY aspect of
Egyptian life!
• Trends in Egyptian Mythology/Religion
– Polytheistic
• o/ 2000 Gods!
– Gods were Anthropomorphic
• Strongly influenced by tradition!
NUN
(Watery Chaos)
ATUM
SHU
(Air)
GEB
(Earth)
ISIS
(Protective
Goddess of living)
OSIRIS
(Underworld)
TEFNUT
(Moisture)
NUT
(Sky)
NEPHTHYS
(Protective
Goddess of Dead)
Horus
Anubis
(Protector of
Reigning Pharaoh)
(God of
Mummification)
SETH
(Chaos)
Egyptian Religion Continued…
• The Horus King
– Pharaohs considered living form of Horus
– Job to maintain order (Ma’at) on earth by
issuing laws of Gods
Belief in the Afterlife
• Focused on afterlife more than any other ancient society.
• To achieve rebirth needed to unite souls with body
• Egyptians believed the soul had 3 parts
– “ka” body
– “ba” soul/spirit/conscience
– “akh” represented the person’s spirit in next world; when
ba and ka united
hall of Judgement
Mummification
Crucial for the Afterlife!
Early Mummification
Mummification as we know it today
The Steps…
Canopic Jars
Hapy
Duamutef
Qebehsenuef
Imsety
Lungs
Stomach
Intestines
Liver
Wow , What a Great Job!!
Recreating the Ancient Mummification Process
Animal Mummies
Mummies Around the World
Bogs
Bog Bodies
Bog Bodies
Bog Bodies
Reconstructed Bog Bodies
Yde Girl
Inca Child Mummies
Qilakitsoq Mummies
Otzi “Iceman” Mummy
Chinchorro Mummies
Italian Catacomb Mummies
Pompeii Mummies
Lady Dai
Japan: Sokushinbutsu
Looks that Last
Modern Mummification: Plastination
Modern Mummification: Plastination Continued…
Modern Mummification: Plastination Continued…
Egyptian Funeral
Opening the Mouth Ceremony
The Field of Reeds