Hieroglyphs and Community By Grant Hieroglyphs were hard to understand in the ancient times and are still hard to understand today. Hieroglyphs are carvings of an object or creature that Egyptians used to send a message, like mail, to anther ruler or person. There are more than 2,000 hieroglyphic letters, but we use a select few that are similar to English letters. This was one of the first written languages ever to be used. Hieroglyphs are like word puzzles; they are very creative but sometimes hard to see exactly what they are saying. Cartouches are like name plates so that people would remember them. A Cartouche is some hieroglyphs surrounded by a small oval. It tells the name of the person, or how they describe themselves, or possibly a message. They are used on coffins, plastered into it to tell there name, they are also used as necklaces and will not rust or be destroyed so you could still read it after a few thousand years. The Hieroglyphic Alphabet (The hieroglyphs that are closest to the English letters) is made up of 28 letters. x, z, k and c are made up of two hieroglyphs, and making the sound of that letter. There are also two additional letters that are the ch sound and the sh sound. There are many different translations of hieroglyphs. Bibliography: http://www.greatscott.com/hiero/hiero_alpha.html http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cartouches.htm http://www.pbs.org/empires/egypt/special/hieroglyphs/introduction.html Response: The reason I chose those words in my border is because they were the words that are most important to study about Egypt. The words that I chose are needed if you want to learn anything about Egypt. One of my hieroglyphs stated, My troops are huntin you This meant that on my two hieroglyphs, the words seemed to fit because it is important to protect my people. I warn other kings from different places that my soldiers are near. So if they attack there is no chance for them to make it all the way to Egypt. My soldiers would warn me to bring up defenses, and we would not let them get even into Egypt. During my research I found that some of the conflicts with the hieroglyphic alphabet are that since there are so many different translations of it, it is almost harder than it was in the first place. Many different people who would not understand what someone else was saying. But you can not expect too much from one of the first written languages.
Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs Role in Society An Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh had the most important role in society. He had to pray to the god Amen-Re, so that chaos was not brought upon the entire country of Egypt. It is very important because if he doesn t, Egypt has a likely chance of being destroyed by the gods, and he wouldn t want that to happen. He worshipped gods, held meetings, showed off his power and riches in front of other people, and design plans. He believed that he was half-god, and was smarter than anyone else in the land. He believed that there were many gods. The pharaoh s job was to protect the land, to pray to the gods of Egypt, and design things to be built. He had daily meetings with other leaders asking for trade or peace, generals with military plans, or noblemen coming to ask permission to make something. (He might ask to build an irrigation canal.) He also had to pay tribute to Amen-Re, to prevent chaos and to have the decisions. He had to appoint the next pharaoh, which was usually his eldest the land blessed with fertilization. He was the high priest of all temples and therefore had to monitor, mend or use them. He was the head of the government and was the one that had responsibility of making son. If these responsibilities are not finished, then the people have the right to choose a new pharaoh, but as far as I know this have never happened. The pharaoh had many tools and he used them all. He had his royal chariot, for a luxurious drive around Egypt. He had slaves, for tending to his every need of cleaning, cooking and other aids. He had priests, so that when he went to worship the gods the priest would tell him what the god said. Then the butcher would come and slaughter a bull to show that they were giving and to please the god, easing him to obey what they asked. He had farmers, who grew food for him such as fruits vegetables and grains, and to grow linen for clothes and also silk. He had gold and jewels to show that he was rich. He also had a beautiful bow and neatly carved arrows. He had them because he needed many provisions for safety. If a body-guard turned on him he would have the bow and arrows to defend him. His
golden necklace and his crown show that he is the pharaoh of all of Egypt. His staff shows that whatever he says is a command, not a question. In his free time the pharaoh would either wander through his endless, beautiful gardens, or play a board game called Dogs and Jackals, a simple board game with his oldest son. He could be in his garden for hours without being seen, and he was in there because most pharaohs share quite an interest in plants. Do you wonder why he only plays it with his eldest son? I assume it is because he must be educated and strategic before he becomes pharaoh. Another possibility that I am totally making up is that once the oldest son beet his father in a game of Dogs and Jackals, he would then be ready to become the pharaoh. He never did much with his family, for he was a busy man and could almost never spend time with the others in his family, but still he has time to wander through his endless garden. He connected with all of the social classes in Egypt, for he was connected in at least one way to a person in every social class. He would get food and cloth from farmers, and art and designs from craftsmen. He would go to the priests to pray to a god. He had several slaves in his home, so he obviously was connected to them. Noblemen would come to ask permission to build something, and soldiers were asking for advice with military strategies. He has a portion to do with them all. The pharaoh s beliefs were that he was half-god and that there were many gods that controlled life, death, and nature all the same. His many beliefs affected his role in society by causing him to have almost the same routine every day. His beliefs forced him to do his jobs, and only since he had slaves to help him did it make it possible to finish his routines. His other role was to contribute to help the economy, by buying things at a little higher cost then things should be. His main role is to protect all of Egypt. The role of pharaoh was mainly based on protecting his people and giving permission to build things. Praising gods and holding meetings were his main responsibilities. Wandering through his gardens and playing Dogs and Jackals with his son were his favorite things to do with free time. His greatest belief was that there were many gods that controlled life, death, and nature. The life of a pharaoh was mainly the same life every day, yet it is the most important life in all of Egypt.
Environmental Factors of an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh By Grant The life of a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt was affected somewhat by environmental factors, yet with his power he didn t follow them too much. A Pharaoh s clothes were affected by the heat, the quality of the soil, and how great his economy was. A Pharaoh s food is based on the quality of the soil and the healthiness of the animals. A Pharaoh s shelter is affected because there are no forests, so it can not be made of wood, but it could be stone. A pharaoh would wear his crown, a wig of human hair, a gold necklace, pleated kilts, and robes of silk and linen. He would be decorated with gold and jewelry, put on kohl- a sort of eyeliner, and feather sandals. As you can see he was heavily adorned with clothing, and the main purpose was that since he was the pharaoh he had to look the part of it. Before he even got his day clothes on, he would be massaged, rubbed down with scented oils, and washed thoroughly. He would then get dressed; first he would put on a wig because they didn t have any hair. They didn t have hair because they got lice, and because the heat would be even more intense. The crown had two symbols, a lotus flower and a papyrus reed. They represented Upper and Lower Egypt, since they were on one crown; it shows that they united to form Egypt. The gold necklace represented power, that he is king, and riches. The pleated kilt showed defense. The robes of silk showed that he had mercy, gentleness, and peace. The robe of linen warned you to be aware you are with the ruler of Egypt. Jewelry and gold was to show riches. Kohl was to make him think he was beautiful, and the feather sandals were to show riches and that he will put his enemies beneath his feet. (In this case the enemy might be the bird.) This is all affected by environmental factors; the wig depends on people which depend on food which comes from the Nile. The crops for linen and silk are also dependent of the Nile. The Gold and Jewelry are not depending on anything, just that craftsmen make them into the shape the pharaoh wanted. The Gold came from the farmers in Egypt, sometimes digging into a piece of gold or jewels.
A pharaoh would eat a small breakfast of fruit and bread. Both items were grown by farmers, and if there was no flood of the Nile there would be lesser quality fruit and less wheat. For lunch he would eat beef, figs, vegetables and fine wine. The figs, vegetables and wine were also produced by farmers, but the beef was from a raiser and if food was low the cows would be thin and not very good for food. For some dinners he would have fried mice. I do not know if someone raises them or catches them, but either way it is an effect of environmental factors. The Pharaoh can also eat whatever he wishes, that was available, and usually does during a meeting or party. If he never made a request that day he would get the food I told you. He sends slaves or other people to buy the food from farmers, raisers and butchers. A Pharaohs shelter was a palace made of mud bricks, stone, or a mixture of both. The reason he didn t make it out of wood was because there were no forests in Egypt. His palace was usually silent, and it was called a Per-aa. It was silent so he could focus, sound wiser, and so he could concentrate on his business. He also had many grand temples, some for worshipping gods and some just for recording things that need to be known. He lives in the palace to show he has riches, power and ability. The life of an ancient Egyptians life mainly revolves around the flooding of the Nile. They get almost all of their resources from it including paper, soil, water, and seeds for plants, fruit, and much more. The main recourse for clothing is the Nile because when it floods it provides soil and water, then the crops grow, and they sew the crops of silk and linen into clothing. The main resource of food is also the Nile, because some food is plants, and some food is meat which drank the Nile water and ate some of the crops. The shelter was mainly from the Nile and Stone. Some palaces were made of mud bricks, (Nile water and dirt.) some were made of stone which was a lot harder but worth more of the effort. The ancient Egyptians not only used things that were made like tools or tamed like fire, but they used nature. They used the Nile, they used stone, they used animals, and they designed pulleys. Shouldn t we give them some credit of what we have done today?