The Egyptian

Civilization
CHAPTER 2 SECTION 2
 The Nile

 Over the course of some five millennia the ancient Egyptians developed a
distinctive material culture shaped in large part by their local geography, natural
resources, and relationship with the Nile River. In the 5th Century BCE, the Greek
historian Herodotus noted that “any sensible person” could see that Lower Egypt
was a “gift of the river” (Herodotus, 2.5). While his comments were limited to the
areas in the north and in the Delta, they really ring true for all the Nile River
Valley. Every aspect of life in Egypt depended on the river – the Nile provided
food and resources, land for agriculture, a means of travel, and was critical in the
transportation of materials for building projects and other large-scale endeavors. It
was a critical lifeline that literally brought life to the desert.
 The modern name of the Nile River comes from the Greek Nelios, but the
Egyptians called it Iteru or “River.” The Nile is the longest river in the world,
measuring some 6,825 km. The Nile River System has three main branches – the
White Nile, the Blue Nile, and the Atbara river. The White Nile, the river’s
headwaters, flows from Lake Victoria and Lake Albert. The Blue Nile brings
about the inundation or annual flood and provides most of the river’s water and
silt. The Atbara river has less of an impact, as it flows only occasionally.
 In the south, the Nile has a series of six main cataracts, which begin at the site of
Aswan. A cataract is a shallow stretch of turbulent waters formed where flowing
waters encounter resistant rock layers. In the case of the Nile cataracts, large
outcroppings of granite make the flow of the river unpredictable and much more
difficult to traverse by boat. The cataract system created a natural boundary at
Aswan, separating Egypt from its southern neighbor, Nubia.
 Ancient Egypt was located in Northeastern Africa and had four clear geographic zones: the
Delta, the Western Desert, the Eastern Desert, and the Nile Valley. Each of these zones had its
own natural environment and its own role within the Egyptian State. Cities could only
flourish in the Nile Delta, the Nile Valley, or desert oases, where people had access to water,
land, and key resources. The ancient Egyptians, who were always keen observers of nature,
often associated the Nile Valley with life and abundance and the neighboring deserts with
death and chaos.
 Kemet or, “black land,” denotes the rich, fertile land of the Nile Valley, while Deshret, or
“red land,” refers to the hot, dry desert. The contrast between the red land and the black land
was not just visible or geographic, it effected the Egyptians’ everyday lives. The dry climate
of the desert, for example, made it an ideal location for cemeteries. There, the annual Nile
flood would not disturb people’s graves and the dry climate acted to preserve tombs and their
contents. Good preservation and the fact that most people do not live in the desert, are the
main reasons that so much of what archaeologists and anthropologists study comes from a
funerary context.
 Religion
 The religion of Ancient Egypt lasted for more than 3,000 years, and was polytheistic, meaning there
were a multitude of deities, who were believed to reside within and control the forces of nature.
 Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, or ruler, of Egypt, who was believed to be divine,
and acted as intermediary between the people and the gods. His role was to sustain the gods so that
they could maintain order in the universe.
 The Egyptian universe centered on Ma’at, which has several meanings in English, including truth,
justice and order. It was fixed and eternal; without it the world would fall apart.
 The most important myth was of Osiris and Isis. The divine ruler Osiris was murdered by Set (god of
chaos), then resurrected by his sister and wife Isis to conceive an heir, Horus. Osiris then became the
ruler of the dead, while Horus eventually avenged his father and became king.
 Egyptians were very concerned about the fate of their souls after death. They believed ka (life-force)
left the body upon death and needed to be fed. Ba, or personal spirituality, remained in the body. The
goal was to unite ka and ba to create akh.
 Artistic depictions of gods were not literal representations, as their true nature was considered
mysterious. However, symbolic imagery was used to indicate this nature.
 Temples were the state’s method of sustaining the gods, since their physical images were housed and
cared for; temples were not a place for the average person to worship.
 Certain animals were worshipped and mummified as representatives of gods.
 Gods of the Pantheon. This wall painting shows, from left to right, the gods
Osiris, Anubis and Horus.
 Cosmology

 The Egyptian universe centered on Ma’at, which has several meanings in English,
including truth, justice and order. It was fixed and eternal (without it the world
would fall apart), and there were constant threats of disorder requiring society to
work to maintain it. Inhabitants of the cosmos included the gods, the spirits of
deceased humans, and living humans, the most important of which was the
pharaoh. Humans should cooperate to achieve this, and gods should function in
balance. Ma’at was renewed by periodic events, such as the annual Nile flood,
which echoed the original creation. Most important of these was the daily journey
of the sun god Ra.
 Egyptians saw the earth as flat land (the god Geb), over which arched the sky
(goddess Nut); they were separated by Shu, the god of air. Underneath the earth
was a parallel underworld and undersky, and beyond the skies lay Nu, the chaos
before creation. Duat was a mysterious area associated with death and rebirth, and
each day Ra passed through Duat after traveling over the earth during the day.
 Egyptian Cosmology. In this artwork, the air god Shu is assisted by other gods in
holding up Nut, the sky, as Geb, the earth, lies beneath.
 The Afterlife

 Egyptians were very concerned about the fate of their souls after death, and built tombs, created
grave goods and gave offerings to preserve the bodies and spirits of the dead. They believed
humans possessed ka, or life-force, which left the body at death. To endure after death, the ka must
continue to receive offerings of food; it could consume the spiritual essence of it. Humans also
possessed a ba, a set of spiritual characteristics unique to each person, which remained in the body
after death. Funeral rites were meant to release the ba so it could move, rejoin with the ka, and live
on as an akh. However, the ba returned to the body at night, so the body must be preserved.
 Mummification involved elaborate embalming practices, and wrapping in cloth, along with various
rites, including the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. Tombs were originally mastabas (rectangular
brick structures), and then pyramids.
 However, this originally did not apply to the common person: they passed into a dark, bleak realm
that was the opposite of life. Nobles did receive tombs and grave gifts from the pharaoh.
Eventually, by about 2181 BCE, Egyptians began to believe every person had a ba and could access
the afterlife. By the New Kingdom, the soul had to face dangers in the Duat before having a final
judgment, called the Weighing of the Heart, where the gods compared the actions of the deceased
while alive to Ma’at, to see if they were worthy. If so, the ka and ba were united into an akh, which
then either traveled to the lush underworld, or traveled with Ra on his daily journey, or even
returned to the world of the living to carry out magic.
 Funerary Text. In this section from the Book of the Dead for the scribe Hunefer,
the Weighing of the Heart is shown.
 Egyptian Kingdoms
(The Old Kingdom)
 The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to the period when Egypt gained in complexity
and achievement, spanning from the Third Dynasty through the Sixth Dynasty (2686-2181
BCE).
 The royal capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom was located at Memphis, where the first
notable king of the Old Kingdom, Djoser, established his court.
 In the Third Dynasty, formerly independent ancient Egyptian states became known as Nomes,
which were ruled solely by the pharaoh. The former rulers of these states were subsequently
forced to assume the role of governors, or otherwise work in tax collection.
 Egyptians during this Dynasty worshipped their pharaoh as a god, and believed that he ensured
the stability of the cycles that were responsible for the annual flooding of the Nile. This
flooding was necessary for their crops.
 The Fourth Dynasty saw multiple large-scale construction projects under pharaohs Sneferu,
Khufu, and Khufu’s sons Djedefra and Khafra, including the famous pyramid and Sphinx at
Giza.
 The Fifth Dynasty saw changes in religious beliefs, including the rise of the cult of the sun god
Ra, and the deity Osiris.
 The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. The Great Pyramid of Giza was built in 2560
BCE, by Khufu during the Fourth Dynasty. It was built as a tomb for Khufu and
constructed over a 20-year period. Modern estimates place construction efforts to
require an average workforce of 14,567 people and a peak workforce of 40,000.
 Great Sphinx of Giza and the pyramid of Khafre. The Sphinx is a limestone statue
of a reclining mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human head that stands
on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face is
generally believed to represent the face of King Khafra.
 Egyptian Kingdoms
(The Middle Kingdom)
 The Middle Kingdom had two phases: the end of the Eleventh Dynasty, which ruled
from Thebes, and the Twelfth Dynasty onwards, which was centred around el-Lisht.
 During the First Intermediate Period, the governors of the nomes of Egypt—called
nomarchs— gained considerable power. Amenemhet I also instituted a system of co-
regency, which ensured a smooth transition from monarch to monarch and contributed
to the stability of the Twelfth Dynasty.
 The height of the Middle Kingdom came under the rules of Sensuret III and
Amenemhat III, the former of whom established clear boundaries for Egypt, and the
latter of whom efficiently exploited Egyptian resources to bring about a period of
economic prosperity.
 The Middle Kingdom declined into the Second Intermediate Period during the
Thirteenth Dynasty, after a gradual loss of dynastic power and the disintegration of
Egypt.
 Height Of The Middle Kingdom

 Senusret III was a warrior-king, and launched a series of brutal campaigns in Nubia. After his
victories, Senusret built a series of massive forts throughout the country as boundary markers;
the locals were closely watched.
 Domestically, Senusret has been given credit for an administrative reform that put more power
in the hands of appointees of the central government. Egypt was divided into three warets, or
administrative divisions: North, South, and Head of the South (perhaps Lower Egypt, most of
Upper Egypt, and the nomes of the original Theban kingdom during the war with
Herakleopolis, respectively). The power of the nomarchs seems to drop off permanently during
Sensuret’s reign, which has been taken to indicate that the central government had finally
suppressed them, though there is no record that Senusret took direct action against them.
 The reign of Amenemhat III was the height of Middle Kingdom economic prosperity, and is
remarkable for the degree to which Egypt exploited its resources. Mining camps in the Sinai,
that had previously been used only by intermittent expeditions, were operated on a semi-
permanent basis. After a reign of 45 years, Amenemhet III was succeeded by Amenemhet IV,
under whom dynastic power began to weaken. Contemporary records of the Nile flood levels
indicate that the end of the reign of Amenemhet III was dry, and crop failures may have helped
to destabilize the dynasty.
 Egyptian Kingdoms
(The New Kingdom)
 The New Kingdom saw Egypt attempt to create a buffer against the Levant and by attaining its
greatest territorial by extending into Nubia and the Near East. This was possibly a result of the
foreign rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period,
 The Eighteenth Dynasty contained some of Egypt’s most famous pharaohs, including Hatshepsut,
Akhenaten, Thutmose III, and Tutankhamun. Hatshepsut concentrated on expanding Egyptian
trade, while Thutmose III consolidated power.
 Akhenaten’s devotion to Aten defined his reign with religious fervor, while art flourished under
his rule and attained an unprecedented level of realism.
 Due to Akenaten’s lack of interest in international affairs, the Hittites gradually extended their
influence into Phoenicia and Canaan.
 Ramesses II attempted war against the Hittites, but eventually agreed to a peace treaty after an
indecisive result.
 The heavy cost of military efforts in addition to climatic changes resulted in a loss of centralized
power at the end of the Twentieth Dynasty, leading to the Third Intermediate Period.
 Egyptian and Hittite Empires. This map shows the Egyptian (green) and Hittite
(red) Empires around 1274 BCE.
 Ancient Egyptian Society

 Ancient Egypt had three main social classes: upper, middle, and lower.

 The upper class consisted of the royal family, rich landowners, government officials,
important priests, army officers, and doctors.
 The middle class was made up chiefly of merchants, manufacturers, and artisans.
 The lower class, the largest class by far, consisted of unskilled labourers. Most of them
worked on farms. Prisoners captured in foreign wars became slaves and formed a separate
class. Ancient Egypt's class system was not rigid.
 People in the lower or middle class could move to a higher position. They improved their
status mainly through marriage or success in their jobs. Even slaves had rights. They could
own personal items, get married, and inherit land. They could also be given their freedom.
 The society was dominated by men. The man was the head of the family, but women had
extensive rights, and could own and inherit property and participate in trade. Women
could even divorce their husbands.
 Important Pharaohs

 Khufu
 Khufu was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's Old Kingdom. He reigned from around 2589
BC to 2566 BC. Khufu is perhaps better known by his Greek name, Cheops. He was
the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only one of the Seven Wonders of the
Ancient World still standing. His Great Pyramid at Giza marks the climax in pyramid
building in respect to both size and quality of construction.
 Hatshepsut
 Hatshepsut, the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, is generally
regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful female pharaohs. During her
fifteen year reign (c.1473-1458 BC) she initiated a number of impressive building
projects, including her superb funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri. One of the most
spectacular architectural achievements of the ancient world, Hatshepsut's temple was
decorated with numerous statues portraying her as a sphinx.
 Important Pharaohs

 Tutankhamun
 Tutankhamun ruled over ancient Egypt in the 14th century BC. He took the throne at a
young age and died ten years later, at the age of about 18. Tutankhamun was buried in the
Valley of the Kings in southern Egypt. His tomb remained undiscovered for thousands of
years. In 1922 Howard Carter, a British archaeologist, located the tomb. Tutankhamun is
famous because he is the only pharaoh whose tomb was found with nearly everything he
was buried with. For this reason Tutankhamun became better known than other pharaohs
who had lived longer and were more important in the history of Egypt.
 Ramesses II
 Ramesses (also known as Ramesses the Great) reigned from 1290 BC to 1224 BC. He
ruled for a total of 66 years, becoming pharaoh at the age of 24 and dying in his 90th year.
The most notable incident of his reign was the battle of Kadesh. It was one of the largest
chariot battles ever fought, involving perhaps 5,000 chariots. Although Ramesses could not
defeat his enemies in this battle he glorified his own part in it on numerous monuments. He
constructed many impressive monuments such as Abu Simbel, and more statues of him
exist than of any other Egyptian pharaoh.
Tutankhamun Ramesses 2 Hatshepsut Khufu
 Writing & Education

 The ancient Egyptians used the distinctive script known today as hieroglyphs
(Greek for "sacred words") for almost 4,000 years. Hieroglyphs were written on
papyrus, carved in stone on tomb and temple walls, and used to decorate many
objects of cultic and daily life use.
 Altogether there are over 700 different hieroglyphs, some of which represent
sounds or syllables; others that serve as determinatives to clarify the meaning of a
word. The hieroglyphic script originated shortly before 3100 B.C., at the very
onset of pharaonic civilization.
 Papyrus is very delicate and was used for writing and painting; it has only
survived for long periods when buried in tombs. Every aspect of Egyptian life is
found recorded on papyrus, from literary to administrative documents.
 Art

 Ancient Egyptian art includes painting, sculpture, architecture, and other forms of art, such
as drawings on papyrus, created between 3000 BCE and 100 BCE.
 Most of this art was highly stylized and symbolic. Much of the surviving forms come from
tombs and monuments, and thus have a focus on life after death and preservation of
knowledge.
 Symbolism meant order, shown through the pharaoh’s regalia, or through the use of
certain colours.
 In Egyptian art, the size of a figure indicates its relative importance.
 Paintings were often done on stone, and portrayed pleasant scenes of the afterlife in tombs.
 Ancient Egyptians created both monumental and smaller sculptures, using the technique of
sunk relief.
 Ka statues, which were meant to provide a resting place for the ka part of the soul, were
often made of wood and placed in tombs.
 Art

 Faience was sintered-quartz ceramic with surface vitrification, used to create relatively
cheap small objects in many colors. Glass was originally a luxury item but became more
common, and was used to make small jars, for perfume and other liquids, to be placed
in tombs. Carvings of vases, amulets, and images of deities and animals were made of
steatite. Pottery was sometimes covered with enamel, particularly in the color blue.
 Papyrus was used for writing and painting, and was used to record every aspect of
Egyptian life.
 Architects carefully planned buildings, aligning them with astronomically significant
events, such as solstices and equinoxes. They used mainly sun-baked mud brick,
limestone, sandstone, and granite.
 The Amarna period (1353-1336 BCE) represents an interruption in ancient Egyptian art
style, subjects were represented more realistically, and scenes included portrayals of
affection among the royal family.
 Wall Painting of Nefertari. In this wall painting of Nefertari, the side view is
apparent.
 Science

 Toothbrushes and toothpaste were invented because of the grit and sand which
found its way into the bread and vegetables of the daily meals.
 The image presented in the modern day by art and movies of Egyptians with
exceptionally white teeth is misleading; dental problems were common in ancient
Egypt, and few, if any, had an all-white smile.
 Dentistry developed to deal with these difficulties but never seems to have
advanced at the same rate as other areas of medicine. While it appears doctors
were fairly successful in their techniques, dentists were less so.
 To cite only one example, the queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) actually died
from an abscess following a tooth extraction.
 Engineering & Construction

 The great temples of ancient Egypt arose from the same technological skill one
sees on the small scale of household goods. The central value observed in creating
any of these goods or structures was a careful attention to detail.
 The Egyptians are noted in many aspects of their culture as a very conservative
society, and this adherence to a certain way of accomplishing tasks can clearly be
seen in their construction of the pyramids and other monuments.
 The creation of an obelisk, for example, seems to have always involved the exact
same procedure performed in precisely the same way. The quarrying and transport
of obelisks are well documented (though how the immense monuments were
raised is not) and shows a strict adherence to a standard procedure.
Ancient Egyptian Mirror. Egyptian Obelisks, Karnak. Wooden Model of a man ploughing with oxen