Egyptian Timeline Old Kingdom (2700-2150) Hieroglyphics and religion develop in Egypt pyramids built Middle Kingdom (2040-1786) extension of Egyptian control into Nubia New Kingdom (1570-1075) militaristic - Hebrews enslaved mummification perfected
Outline 1. Geography 2. Religion Gods Pyramids Mummies 3. Government The Pharaoh 4. Daily Life 5. Middle Kingdom 6. New Kingdom
I. Geography River dominates Egyptian world/thought Surrounded by desert with occasional oasis Permits some trade Defense from invasion Contributes to feeling of safety preserves artifacts
Egypt is the gift of the Nile -Herodotus
I. The Nile yearly flooding - no concern for soil depletion Predictable (Nileometer) Irrigation systems Encourages Trade Communication Political unity White Crown of Upper Egypt Double Crown of Egypt, revered as the symbol of absolute kingship for 3000 years Red Crown of Lower Egypt
I. The Nile
I. The Nile
I. The Nile
I. The Nile Impact on religion divided life - living and dying. East (sunrise) is land of the living - cities, temples West (sunset) is land of the dead - tombs
II. Religion Omnipresence of religion Polytheistic interaction with the natural environment shows interrelated gods and goddesses yearly rebirth of Nile and daily rebirth of sun over 2000 gods Pharaoh as living god Belief in Afterlife Life after death
II. Osiris God of the Afterlife, Underworld, and Dead - rebirth - and the weighing of the heart The ancient Egyptians believed if you did something bad, your heart would be heavy, and the god Ammut the Devourer could suddenly appear and eat you! The god Ammut had a big part in the weighing of the heart ceremony. To enter your afterlife, you had to have a light heart. Light hearts were earned from a lifetime of doing good deeds. To find out if your heart qualified for the trip to the afterlife, your spirit had to enter the Hall of Maat. The god Anubis weighed your heart. The god Thoth recorded the findings.
II. Horus Horus, god of balance and harmony maintained the natural order: the flow of the Nile and the fertility of the soil.
II. Early Pyramids Zozer s stepped pyramid - similar to Babylonian ziggurats
Why build Pyramids? Belief in the afterlife demanded: 1. Bodies be interred whole 2. Material goods for use in afterlife be present The need to protect the bodies demands good burial tombs 1. First were mastabas 2. Then pyramids 3. Then later hidden tombs
Mastaba
II. Great Pyramid Tomb for Khufu an almost perfect square (deviation.05%) Orientation is exactly North, South, East West 2,300,000 blocks, 500ft high 20 years to build Average block weighs 2.5 tons Some weigh 9 tons!
Pyramids of Menkaure, Khafre and Khufu Queen Pyramids in front
II. Mummies Not known when it started in Egypt Perfected by time of New Kingdom How to make a mummy: 70 steps 1) Removal of the brain through the nostrils 2) Removal of the intestines through an incision in the side 3) Sterilization of the body and intestines 4) Treating, cleaning, dehydrating the intestines 5) Packing the body with natron (a natural dehydrating agent) and leaving for 40 days 6) Removal of the natron agent 7) Packing the limbs with clay or sand 8) Packing the body with linen (soaked in resin), myrrh and cinnamon 9) Treating the body with ointments and finally wrapping with a fine linen gauze, not less than 1000 square yards.
Mummies Canopic Jars made of alabaster jars with heads of the Four Sons of the god Horus; for storage of heart, stomach, intestines and liver Claymation of the Mummification Process Duamutef, the jackal-headed god representing the east, whose jar contained the stomach and was protected by the goddess Neith Hapi, the baboon-headed god representing the north, whose jar contained the lungs and was protected by the goddess Nephthys Imseti, the human-headed god representing the south, whose jar contained the liver and was protected by the goddess Isis Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god representing the west, whose jar contained the intestines and was protected by the goddess Selket
Mummy Inner coffin
Second inner coffin Second inner coffin lid
Gift bearers Funerary Gifts Shawabti box Model boat
III. The Pharaoh Pharaoh=God-King, unlike Mesopotamia s governmental king Temporal power owns all the land and people and what people posses law vs. Pharaoh's will irrigation no city walls
III. The Pharaoh God-King - unlike Mesopotamia Religious direct descendant of the Sun god (Ra) controls access to the afterlife July-Sept, during floods life is controlled by the Pharaoh 365 day calendar.
III. Role played by size in Egyptian Artwork
IV. Daily Life in Egypt Cosmetics, cleanliness (bathe 3 times a day), shaved bodies, wigs main food is beer and bread Grow many crops: emmer, barley, flax, lentils, onion, beans, and millet common building made of sun-dried mud bricks - up to three stories in height Five social classes - slaves on the bottom Most common job farming
IV. Farmers in Egypt
IV. Hieroglyphics Language is written without vowels Different pronunciations MNFR as Memphis SR as Osiris TTMS as either Thutmose, Thutmosis, Tatmusa or Atithmese
IV. Hieroglyphics Use in temples, obelisks, pyramids, sarcophaguses, for religious ceremonies, mummification, and prayers. People wrote (scribes) and kept records on papyrus paper. A section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead written on papyrus paper.
Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of the Pharaoh. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics, the middle portion Demotic (the stage of the Egyptian language after the New Kingdom) script, and the lowest Ancient Greek. Because it presents essentially the same text in all three scripts (with some minor differences between them), it provided the key to the modern understanding of Egyptian Hieroglyphics. It was discovered in 1799 by a soldier, Pierre- Francois Bouchard, of the French expedition to Egypt. As the first Ancient Egyptian bilingual text recovered in modern times, the Rosetta Stone aroused widespread public interest with its potential to decipher this untranslated ancient language. One possible reconstruction of the original stele
IV. Egyptian Artwork Stele (carved stone) Egyptian Farmers & animals Notice, all people drawn from the side even when looking right at you!
V. Middle Kingdom 2050-1750 BCE End of civil wars, farming and trade return move capital south to Upper Egypt (Thebes) public improvements drain swamps, canal to Red Sea belief in afterlife expands to include common people tombs instead of pyramids better protection for mummies.
V. Middle Kingdom 2050-1750 BCE
VI. New Kingdom 1550-1075 BCE Ahmose I expelled the invading Hyksos and reunited Egypt Known as the Empire period development of public and private zones at temples.
Ahmose I leading Egyptians against the Hyksos
VI. New Kingdom 1550-1075 BCE Characterized by a more militaristic and imperialistic nature incorporated chariot, bronze working, horses development of a professional army became a slave based economy fueled by war and expansion
VI. Threats to Tradition Amenhotep IV (c. 1362-1347 B.C.) introduced the worship of Aton, god of the sun disk, as the chief god and pursued his worship with enthusiasm. Changed name to Akhenaten ( It is well with Aton ) He closed the temples of other gods and especially endeavored to lessen the power of Amon-Re and his priesthood at Thebes.
Nefertiti VI. Threats to Tradition 1355-1335 BCE Wife of Akhenaton the only pharaoh to even partially reject polytheism political move against priests of Amon-Re moved capital to Amarna worshipped Aton, the sun disk royal inbreeding.
VI. Tutankhamen 1335-1325 BCE (King Tut) child ruler ruled nine years, died at 18 young death meant burial in the tomb of a lesser person (noble) resulting in preservation
VI. Ramses II (1279-1213) greatest New Kingdom ruler military leader of Egypt expanded into southern Turkey built many monuments to himself last gasp of Egyptian power.
VI. Ramses II (1279-1213)
VI. Ramses II (1279-1213)
Decline of Ancient Egypt Third Intermediate Period (1069 653 BCE) - Assyrians conquer Egypt - With no permanent plans for conquest, the Assyrians left control of Egypt to a series of vassals Late Period (672 332 BCE) - 525 BCE Persians conquer Egypt Ptolemaic dynasty - In 332 BC, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt with little resistance from the Persians and was welcomed by the Egyptians as a deliverer. The administration established by Alexander's successors, the Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty was based on an Egyptian model and based in the new capital city of Alexandria. Roman Period - In addition, as Rome relied more heavily on imports of grain from Egypt, the Romans took great interest in the political situation in the country. - Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 BC, following the defeat of Marc Antony and Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII by Octavian (later Emperor Augustus) in the Battle of Actium.
The Fayum Mummy Portraits epitomize the meeting of Egyptian and Roman cultures at the decline of Ancient Egypt. Blending of Cultures