–Egypt and Harappan Civilizations -

I. EGYPT
Although comparable with Mesopotamia, in that both countries contained great rivers flowing through
immensely fertile valleys and plains which offered parallel opportunities to early humans, the evolution of urban
settlements in Egypt took place along markedly different lines.

Leonard Wooley stated: “nothing could be more unlike the mosaic of city states that divided between them
the valleys of Euphrates and Tigris, than the unified kingdom of Egypt.” Egypt, in effect the Nile Valley and Delta,
was a unified state from about 3100 B.C.

Although in some respects a later civilization than the Mesopotamian, nevertheless it is clear that only a
comparably advanced society could have organized and carried through immensely demanding early third
millennium monumental construction programme.- of which the Great Pyramid of Kheops of Gizeh, dated from
2600 B.C., is arguably the greatest wonder of all times. Archeological evidence confirms that the Egyptian cities of
thisperiod included Memphis (the first capital) known to have been founded around 3100 B.C.

Absence of identifiable early urban remains:

There are few urban archaeological remains dating to the period before 2000 B.C. while after that the remains of
cities are more extensive; yet we do not possess any fully reconstructed plans of Egyptian cities.

Reasons:

1. Relative internal peace at the time-obviated need to build strong walls for defense as in Mesopotamia. This,
in turn, allowed more 'urban mobility'.

2. Few large cities developed because of the practice of changing the site of each capital with the ascendancy
of a new pharaoh (fer’o)

3. Egypt was essentially an agricultural society based on numerous, small communities of peasants.

4. All resources of building industry i.e. all durable materials, were devoted to temple and tomb construction
while dwellings and palaces, the urban form, were built of mud-bricks (houses transient and impermanent).

So, city building under the Pharaoh was generally a quick one-stage process. This is illustrated by the still only
partially excavated ancient Egyptian city El Amarna, was occupied for the space of only forty years.

A. Chronology of Egyptian Civilization

Pre Dynastic and Archaic (pre 2660 B.C.)
Old Kingdom (2660-2180 B.C.) à Khefren, Kheops
Middle Kingdom (2080-1640 B.C.)
New Kingdom (1570-1075 B.C.) à Amenhotep III, Tutankhamen, Ramesses II
Late Dynastic Period (1070-332 B.C.)

B. Summary of Main Characteristics of Egyptian Cities

Houses and Palaces almost exclusively orientated toward the North (some deviation occurs owing to changes in
direction of Nile).
Most Temples faced East.
Outline plans of Egyptian cities varied from rectangle to square (except El Amarna). Oldest settlements were oval
or round:
Dimensions of city plans were always related to intentional proportion 1:1 1:2 1:2.5 1:3 2:3 3:5
Water played an important role in the city image. The importance of water and the Nile were represented formally
and spatially in Egyptian cities e.g. in holy lakes, canals, the banks of the Nile.
C. Political Structure
Ruling Class: Pharaoh (Firavun), Dynasties
We commonly refer to the kings of Ancient Egypt as "Pharaohs". This was in fact the word used by the Greeks and
the Hebrews to denote the rulers of the Nile-country. This word is derived from the Egyptian "the Great House", a
word originally used to denote the palace or the court.

D. Class Distinction
Ancient Egyptian society was basically divided into four classes:

The upper class included the government officials, nobles, and priests.
The middle class included the scribes, skilled craftsmen, tradespeople, teachers, artists, and soldiers.
The peasants, mostly farmers, laborers, and servants made up the lower class, which was the largest class.
The slaves made up the bottom class. Egypt really had few slaves. They were mostly foreign captives from Nubia
to the south (Sudan) or Asia to the northeast.
E. Religion
Four "cosmologies," or theories about creation are involved, each developing over different periods in ancient
Egypt. Common to all cosmogonies of creation is the temple. Each theory places its temple on the hill rising up
from Nu (a primordial, stagnant ocean). The first step-pyramids are no doubt symbolic of this mound.

Amon-Re : King of the gods.

Horus : The earliest royal god was the shape of a falcon, the ruler of the day

Osiris : The symbol of eternal life

Seth : God of the desert

In later times, around the third dynasty, the kings became "transformed into" gods. This was a crucial part of the
governing of the people. Concerning religious matters, directly under the king were the priests. Their duty was to
take care of the images of the gods. They also prepared the statues, or images, for the religious festivals.

F. Tombs Temples and Pyramids

The ancient Egyptians built their tombs on the west side of the Nile River and their temples on the east. This
practice corresponded to the rise and setting of the sun which represented the cycle of life itself. The east signified
rebirth and the west signified death. With the tombs on the west or left bank, the spirits of the dead would be ready
to journey into the cycle of life. The Egyptians believed strongly in the afterlife and made complete preparation for
this journey.

G. Cities
KAHUN (Hetep-Senusret)

The plan of Kahun is one of the most remarkable of antiquity.

1900 B.C.

built by Pharaoh Senwosret II (12th Dynasty) to house workers engaged in construction of his tomb: the pyramid of
el-Lahun

Plan:

· Kahun's plan is dictated by the climate and its effect on living habits, the social order of the time and religious
beliefs.

· gridiron pattern, planned design

· small walled settlement of less than 14 ha, occupied for 21 years only

· 10,000 inhabitants, at density of about 714 persons/ha

· clearly divided into eastern and western sections

· houses of varying size for different social classes (no gardens)

· was a small town + market + workers quarters but also served the king and his followers when on visit.

Northern section of Kahun

EL AMARNA

Built by Amenophis IV (1375-1358 B.C.) at end of 18th Dynasty also known as AKHENATEN, son of Thebes' great
pharaoh Amenophis III. Unable to institute religious reforms the young pharaoh left Thebes and founded a new
royal capital some miles north on the eastern bank of the Nile in Middle Egypt. (between Cairo and Luxor) The
move was due to the influence of his wife Nefertiti.

History:

Amenophis IV was a reformer who tried to loosen Egypt's ties with tradition and superstition; advocated
monotheism and equal rights for women.
Time of peace, prosperity and unprecedented flowering of the arts.
City was occupied for 15 years only (1369 to 1354) Amarna then abandoned and never occupied again.
Tutankhamun, the succeeding pharaoh, returned to Thebes.

Plan:

1. It was in the form of a narrow strip running along-side the east bank of the Nile, 4 km long and 1.4 km wide.

2. quite different to any previous Egyptian plan:

· no regularity or pattern of any kind

· no deliberate, controlled planning

· no zoning

3. characterized by naturalness. Layout is flowing, organic; it may have been a protest against the geometric,
orderly and firmly delineated plans of the times.

4. street system followed topography i.e. nature closely - indicative of the naturalism of the period

5. city is formed of several independent parts:

· South City : contained homes of leading officials and courtiers, a few humbler homes and an industrial
centre.

· North Suburb: few good houses, middle class business area, location of merchants, traders; may have
included port.

· North City: official quarters (rather than homes)

· Central section: carefully and deliberately planned as a unit, contained principal palaces, ministries, and
temples, immense buildings with courtyards adorned with statues and colonnaded porticos constitute the official
palace precincts.

Streets:

main road (Royal Road) runs between Palace and Temple precinct
no defined blocks or insulae (adacýk) /no standardized plot sizes
streets are unmade; there is no drainage; sanitation is poor
rubbish dumped in pits and heaps beyond limits of built-up area; later, pits were filled and disinfected and new
houses built on top.
Houses:

The wealthiest citizens probably selected their own house sites and built along the main streets while the poorer
people built in vacant spaces behind and the very poorest squeezed in between without order.
Luxurious comfort was the keynote of the dwellings of the rich: set in large gardens on outskirts of town, or in
limited space of central built-up area (usually several storeys high, max. 3)
Small houses for slaves or craftsmen/merchants, usually 3 to 4 rooms grouped around courtyard
•

Central Section or Quarter with Royal Road, Temple and Palace precinct, Amarna

Plan of Amarna

II. INDIA

This era is known as the INDUS or HARAPPAN culture (name of site where its remains first discovered) and lasted
around 1750 B.C.

The original inhabitants of the Indian sub-continent were traditionally described as godless, lawless barbarians of
hostile speech who lived in fortified cities and owned herds of cattle. This urban culture flourished around 2250
B.C. It may have begun between 2600 and 2500 when invaders from the north conquered the local inhabitants of
Indus Valley and built a number of highly organized cities and fortified citadels.

In Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro it was discovered a civilization of high standard of art and crafts, possessing a
well-developed system of pictographic writing, religion and administrative ability.

The Harappan Civilization belongs to the Bronze Age - its principal sites yielded bronze and copper objects
(as well as stone implements) but no iron-made ones. The Indus Valley culture came to a sudden end around
1800/1500 B.C. (as yet unexplained). It was replaced by a predominantly agricultural and non-urban culture
(introduction of cow to India).

A. Geography
The Indus Valley resembled Mesopotamia and Egypt:

alluvial plain watered by Indus River

region enjoyed heavier rainfall than at present; vegetation was plentiful
total area of civilization more extensive than those of Egypt and Mesopotamia.
B. Economy
based on fertile valleys of major rivers: easy means of transportation and communication.
agriculture was central to culture: farmers depended on annual rain and floods for irrigation
cities did profitable trade locally as well as with foreign lands.
C. Cities
Harappan cities are considered to be the earliest known planned towns in history. All the Harappan cities
must have been laid out according to same “system of town planning”, a conclusion reinforced by similarities in the
layout of their lower cities on a rectilinear basis of main east-west routes directed to the citadels, and north-south
cross routes.

I. MOHENJO-DARO (Mound of the Dead)

140 miles north-east of Karachi, in Pakistan.

Plan
rectangular shape (gridiron) facing cardinal points.
city well-planned with about 9 meter wide main streets:
2 running East –West and 3 running North - South

divided into 12 major districts; these in turn were served by a more irregular network of smaller access streets 2-3
meter wide.
upper part in the WEST, including the Citadel, probably fortified, Great Bath, Pillared Hall and the College of
priests.
Houses and Drains:

architecture of period is plain and utilitarian (no imposing temples as in Mesopotamia or royal tombs of Egypt)
aim was comfort rather than luxury
dwelling houses of well-to-do people consisted of:
- courtyard with access through a side alley instead of main street

- a watchman's room

- living room of different sizes including kitchen

- a well

- paved bathroom

most average courtyard houses excavated contain 9 - 18 rooms, typical site areas vary between 70 - 150 m2
The city's drainage constitutes certainly the most elaborate ancient system known or as yet discovered. Houses
had bricklined drains which opened into the streets as well (it appears) as chutes for the disposal of rubbish which
had also been provided through the walls and which opened into rectangular bins outside (regularly cleared).
Street drains were covered with burnt bricks or stone slabs (for inspection and reducing smell) smaller street drains
would join main drains in larger streets forming a city-wide network connected to the Indus river by gravity.

Mohenjo-Daro Residential Quarter, B = Great Bath

II. HARAPPA (400 miles north-east of Karachi)

Similar in all respects to Mohenjo-Daro but less residential in character and more military in function.

Ancient Egyptian civilization

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Overview
● Egyptian civilization developed along the Nile River in large part because the
river’s annual flooding ensured reliable, rich soil for growing crops.
● The Egyptians kept written records using a writing system known as
hieroglyphics. Some writing was preserved on stone or clay, and some was
preserved on papyrus, a paper-like product made from reed fiber. Papyrus is
very fragile, but due to the hot and dry climate of Egypt, a few papyrus
documents have survived.
● Repeated struggles for political control of Egypt showed the importance of the
region in terms of its agricultural production and the economic resources that
its highly complex social organization produced.
● Egyptian rulers used the idea of divine kingship and constructed monumental
architecture to demonstrate and maintain power.
● Ancient Egyptians developed wide-reaching trade networks along the Nile, in
the Red Sea, and in the Near East.
Map of Ancient Egypt and the Mediterranean and Red seas. Land is beige and the
habitable regions of Egypt are highlighted in Green (all along the Nile River and the
delta that opens out to the Mediterranean Sea in the north). Lower Egypt is the
northern region and Upper Egypt is the southern region of this map.
The areas in green show the habitable regions of Egypt. Note the locations of the Nile Delta, Upper and Lower Egypt,
the Sinai Peninsula, and Kush—Nubia. ​Image​ courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

Early Egypt
Much of the history of Egypt is divided into three “kingdom” periods—Old, Middle,
and New—with shorter intermediate periods separating the kingdoms. The term
intermediate here refers to the fact that during these times Egypt was not a unified
political power, and thus was “in-between” powerful kingdoms. Even before the Old
Kingdom period, the foundations of Egyptian civilization were being laid for
thousands of years as people living near the Nile increasingly focused on sedentary
agriculture, which led to urbanization and specialized, non-agricultural economic
activity.

Evidence of human habitation in Egypt stretches back tens of thousands of years.

However, it was only in about 6000 BCE that widespread settlement began in the
region. Around this time, the Sahara Desert expanded. Some scientists think this
expansion was caused by a slight shift in the tilt of the Earth. Others have explored
changing rainfall patterns, but the specific causes are not entirely clear. The most
important result of this expansion of the Sahara for human civilization was that it
pushed humans closer to the Nile River in search of reliable water sources.

Apart from the delta region, where the river spreads out as it flows into the sea,
most settlement in the Nile Valley was confined to within a few miles of the river
itself, see map above. The Nile River flooded annually; this flooding was so regular
that the ancient Egyptians set their three seasons—​Inundation​, or flooding, Growth,
and Harvest—around it.
This annual flooding was vital to agriculture because it deposited a new layer of
nutrient-rich soil each year. In years when the Nile did not flood, the nutrient level in
the soil was seriously depleted, and the chance of food shortages increased greatly.
Food supplies had political effects, as well, and periods of drought probably
contributed to the decline of Egyptian political unity at the ends of both the Old and
Middle Kingdoms.

Although we do not know the specific dates and events, most scholars who study
this period believe that sometime around the year 3100 BCE, a leader named either
Narmer or Menes—sources are unclear on whether these were the same
person!—united Egypt politically when he gained control of both Upper and Lower
Egypt.

Somewhat confusingly, when you look at a map of this area, Lower Egypt is the
delta region in the north, and Upper Egypt refers to the southern portion of the
country, which is upriver from the delta. You may encounter this terminology when
reading about rivers in history, so a good trick is to remember that rivers flow
downhill, so the river is lower toward its end at the sea and higher closer to its
source!

After political unification, ​divine kingship​, or the idea that a political ruler held his
power by favor of a god or gods—or that he was a living incarnation of a
god—became firmly established in Egypt. For example, in the mythology that
developed around unification, Narmer was portrayed as Horus, a god of Lower
Egypt, where Narmer originally ruled. He conquered Set, a god of Upper Egypt. This
mythologized version of actual political events added legitimacy to the king’s rule.

The use of ​hieroglyphics​—a form of writing that used images to express sounds
and meanings—likely began in this period. As the Egyptian state grew in power and
influence, it was better able to mobilize resources for large-scale projects and
required better methods of record-keeping to organize and manage an increasingly
large state. During the Middle Kingdom, Egyptians began to write literature, as well.
Hieroglyphic writing also became an important tool for historians studying ancient
Egypt once it was ​translated in the early 1800s​.

An example of New Kingdom hieroglyphics from the thirteenth century BCE. Four
vertical columns of colorfully painted hieroglyphics on a white background depict
birds, eyes, a crab, and pottery, among other images.

An example of New Kingdom hieroglyphics from the thirteenth century BCE. Image courtesy ​British Museum

As rulers became more powerful, they were better able to coordinate labor and
resources to construct major projects, and more people required larger supplies of
food. Projects to improve agricultural production, such as levees and canals became
more important. ​Irrigation​ practices consisted of building mud levees—which were
walls of compacted dirt that directed the annual flooding onto farmland and kept it
away from living areas,—and of digging canals to direct water to fields as crops
were growing.

Elites​, those individuals who were wealthy and powerful, began building larger
tombs which were precursors to the pyramids. These tombs represented a growing
divide between the elite and common people in Egyptian society. Only the wealthy
and important could afford and be considered as deserving of such elaborate
burials.

A mastaba, which was the typical grave marker for early Egyptian elites. Looks like
a pyramid except lower to the ground and with a flat top instead of a pointed one.

A mastaba, which was the typical grave marker for early Egyptian elites. These were precursors to the pyramids. Image
courtesy ​British Museum​.

Old Kingdom Egypt: 2686-2181 BCE

During the Old Kingdom period, Egypt was largely unified as a single state; it gained
in complexity and achievement and expanded militarily. Old Kingdom rulers built the
first pyramids, which were both tombs and monuments for the kings who had them
built. Building ​monumental architecture​, such as the Great Pyramid and the
Sphinx in Giza, and temples for different gods required a centralized government
that could command vast resources.
 Great Sphinx of Giza (mythical creature with a human head and a lion's body) and
the pyramid of Khafre. The tourists in the photo look like specks compared to these
structures.

Great Sphinx of Giza and the pyramid of Khafre. The people in the photo give you a sense of how large the structure is!
Image credit: Boundless, “The Old Kingdom”, Boundless World History I: Ancient Civilizations-Enlightenment Boundless,
19 Nov. 2016

The builders of the pyramids were not enslaved people but peasants, working on
the pyramids during the farming off-season. These peasants worked alongside
specialists like stone cutters, mathematicians, and priests. As a form of taxation,
each household was required to provide a worker for these projects, although the
wealthy could pay a substitute. This demonstrates both the power of the state to
force people to provide labor and also the advantages enjoyed by elites, who could
buy their way out of providing labor.

Egyptians also began to build ships, constructed of wooden planks tied together
with rope and stuffed with reeds, to trade goods such as ebony, incense, gold,
copper, and Lebanese cedar—which was particularly important for construction
projects—along maritime routes.
 Egyptian painting of a ship with passengers and crew.

Egyptian ship, circa 1420 BCE. Ships like this would have been used on typical trading voyages. Image credit:
Boundless, “Ancient Egyptian Trade,” Boundless World History I: Ancient Civilizations-Enlightenment Boundless, 19
Nov. 2016

Middle Kingdom: 2000-1700 BCE

The Middle Kingdom saw Egypt unified again as kings found ways to take back
power from regional governors. From the Middle Kingdom forward, Egyptian kings
often kept well-trained standing armies. The ability of the Egyptian state to create
and maintain a standing military force and to build fortifications showed that it had
regained control of substantial resources.

Political fragmentation led to the Second Intermediate Period. The precise dates are
unclear; even though writing allowed for more events to be recorded, most things
still were not, and many more records have been lost or destroyed.

Taking advantage of this political instability in Egypt, the ​Hyksos​ appeared around
1650 BCE. They were a Semitic people, meaning they spoke a language that
originated in the Middle East, which indicated that they were not native to Egypt.
The Hyksos imposed their own political rulers but also brought many cultural and
technological innovations, such as bronze working and pottery techniques, new
breeds of animals and new crops, the horse and chariot, the composite bow,
battle-axes, and fortification techniques for warfare.

New Kingdom: 1550-1077 BCE

Around 1550 BCE, the New Kingdom period of Egyptian history began with the
expulsion of the Hyksos from Egypt and restored centralized political control. This
period was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power.

Also in this period, Hatshepsut, Egypt’s most famous female ruler, established trade
networks that helped build the wealth of Egypt and commissioned hundreds of
construction projects and pieces of statuary, as well as an impressive mortuary
temple at Deir el-Bahri. She also ordered repairs to temples that had been
neglected or damaged during the period of Hyksos rule.
 Photo of Hatshepsut's Temple at the base of a large rock formation. The temple is
rectangular with three tiers and a wide ramp in the center. At the top tier, set furthest
back into the rock formation, there are statues placed in front of columns. All of the
columns and doorways are long and rectangular.

Hatshepsut's Temple. ​Image​ courtesy Boundless.

The term ​pharaoh​, which originally referred to the king's palace, became a form of
address for the king himself during this period, further emphasizing the idea of
divine kingship. Religiously, the pharaohs associated themselves with the god
Amun-Ra, while still recognizing other deities.

In the mid-1300s BCE, one pharaoh attempted to alter this tradition when he chose
to worship Aten exclusively and even changed his name to Akhenaten in honor of
that god. Some scholars interpret this as the first instance of ​monotheism​, or the
belief in a single god. This change did not survive beyond Akhenaten’s rule,
however.

New Kingdom Egypt reached the height of its power under the pharaohs Seti I and
Ramesses II, who fought to expand Egyptian power against the Libyans to the west
and the ​Hittites​ to the north. The city of Kadesh on the border between the two
empires was a source of conflict between the Egyptians and the Hittites, and they
fought several battles over it, ultimately agreeing to the world’s first known peace
treaty.
Map of Hittite (modern-day Turkey) and Egyptian empires in about 1274 BCE. Hittite
empire is colored in red and Egyptian empire is colored in green.

Egyptian and Hittite Empires in about 1274 BCE. Kadesh is the city right on the boundary between the two. ​Image
courtesy Boundless.

Third Intermediate Period: 1069-664 BCE

The costs of war, increased droughts, famine, civil unrest, and official corruption
ultimately fragmented Egypt into a collection of locally governed city-states. Taking
advantage of this political division, a military force from the Nubian kingdom of Kush
in the south conquered and united Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt, and Kush. The
Kushites were then driven out of Egypt in 670 BCE by the Assyrians, who
established a client state—a political entity that is self-governing but pays tribute to
a more powerful state—in Egypt.

In 656 BCE, Egypt was again reunited and broke away from Assyrian control. The
country experienced a period of peace and prosperity until 525 BCE, when the
Persian king Cambyses defeated the Egyptian rulers and took the title of Pharaoh
for himself along with his title as king of Persia.

Up- reference

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Period
Indus Valley Civilization​, ​Harappan ​Culture Egyptian Civilization- Ancient Egypt

The ​Indus Valley Civilization​(IVC) was a Bronze

Age civilization​ (3300-1300 BCE; mature ​period
2600-1900 BCE) extending from what today is
northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest
India.