EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

1. How Egyptian Civilization developed2. Features of the Nile River Valley3. The Old Kingdom – foundation of Egyptian culture

a) Pyramidsb) Pharaohsc) Religion

4. Intermediate Periods ~ Hyksos Invasion5. New Kingdom ~ Amarna Period6. Egyptian Writing Systems

Historical Theme = Geographic Determinism &Historical Theme = History & the Environment“Why didn’t Egypt experience a complete environmental

collapse as happened in the Levant?”

Herodotus, the great Greek philosopher and historian, called Egypt

the Gift of the Nile:

"the river rises of itself, waters the fields, and then sinks back again; thereupon each man sows his field and waits for the harvest."

This description would lead the casual reader to imagine Egypt as being a great paradise where the people simply sat and waited for the sowing and harvesting to be done. But the ancient Egyptians

knew better. Too high a flood from their river, and villages would be destroyed; too low a flood, and the land would turn to dust and bring

famine. Indeed, one flood in five was either too low or too high.

The Nile is the longest river in the world, flowing north from East Africa for approximately 4,200 miles. Three rivers flowed into the Nile from the south and serve as its sources: the Blue Nile, the White Nile and the Arbara. As the Nile flows through Nubia, it passes through formations of hard rock, creating a series of rapids, named cataracts, which form a natural boundary to the south. Between the first and second cataracts lay Lower Nubia, and between the second and sixth cataracts lay upper Nubia.

As the Nile flowed through Egypt, it scoured a deep, wide gorge in the desert plateau. Southern Egypt, thus being upstream, is called Upper Egypt, and northern Egypt, being downstream and the Delta, is called Lower Egypt. In addition to the Valley and the Delta, the Nile also divided Egypt into the Eastern and Western Deserts. The Delta spans some 8,500 square miles and is fringed in its coastal regions by lagoons, wetlands, lakes and sand dunes.

From the earliest times, the waters of the Nile, swollen by monsoon rains in Ethiopia, flooded over the surrounding valley every year between June and September of the modern calendar. A nilometer was used to measure the height of the Nile in ancient times. It usually consisted of a series of steps against which the increasing height of the Inundation, as well as the general level of the river, could be measured. Records of the maximum height were kept. Surviving nilometers exist connected with the temples at Philae, on the Nubian Egyptian border, Edfu, Esna, Kom Ombo, and Dendera, as well as the best-known nilometer on the island of Elephantine at Aswan.

The ancient Egyptian calendar, made up of twelve months of 30 days each, was divided into three seasons, based upon the cycles of the Nile. The three seasons were: akhet = the Inundation; peret = the growing season; and shemu = the drought or harvest season. During the season of the Inundation, layers of fertile soil were annually deposited on the flood-plain. Chemical analysis has shown how fertile the Nile mud is. It contains about 0.1 percent of combined nitrogen, 0.2 percent of phosphorus anhydrides and 0.6 percent of potassium.

Since most of the Egyptian people worked as farmers, when the Nile was at its highest and they could not plant, they were drafted into labor projects such as building Pyramids, repairing temples and other monuments and working on the kings tomb.

The Flooding of the Nile

The Nile flowed from south to north at an average speed of about four knots during inundation season. The water level was on average about 25-33 feet deep and navigation was fast. That made a river voyage from Thebes (modern Luxor) north to Memphis (near modern Cairo) lasting approximately two weeks. During the dryer season when the water level was lower, and speed slower, the same trip would last about two months. At the great bend near Qena, the Nile would flow from west to east and then back from east to west, slowing down travel. No sailing was done at night because of the danger of running aground on one of the many sandbank and low islands.

The Delta represented 63 percent of the inhabited area of Egypt, extending about 200 kilometers from south to north and roughly 400 kilometers from east to west. While today the Nile flows through the Delta in only two principal branches, the Damietta and the Rosetta, in ancient times there were three principal channels, known as the water of Pre, the water of Ptah and the water of Amun. There were additionally subsidiary branches or artificially cut channels.

There were several major oases of the Western desert, which comprised about 2/3 of Egypt, became one of the most densely populated and agriculturally productive areas in Egypt. The Eastern Desert was exploited in Pharaonic times for its rich minerals.

The Nile River and Egypt

The Egyptian god Hapi was the personification of the annual flooding by the Nile and it fertile deposits of nutrient-rich silt, on which the agricultural life of all Egyptians depended. The River filled all areas of life with symbolism. In religion, for example, the creator sun-god Ra (Re) was believed to be ferried across the sky daily in a boat, and Hymns to the Nile praised its bounty and offerings as religious rituals were made to ensure its continued to bless Egypt with life. Creation myths revolved around the primordial mound rising from the floodwaters surrounding it. Rituals and writings revered Nile creatures such as the hippopotamus, whose shape the goddess Tawaret took, or the crocodile, called Sobek, or Heket the frog - deities deemed powerful in the processes of childbirth and fertility. Floral images such as the lotus and papyrus figured prominently in architecture where the very structure of temples emulated these plants on mounds of the Nile and its waves depicted from the bottom to the top of capital columns and the trim on walls.

Egypt was divided into two geographical regions, known as Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. Lower Egypt, also known as the Delta, was the northern most area where the Nile branched out into tributaries that emptied into the Mediterranean Sea. Upper Egypt lies to the South and constitutes a long area along the banks of the Nile River as it flows through entrenched valleys where the first practice of agriculture occurred in all of Egypt.

The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united c. 3000 BCE, but each maintained its own regalia. Thus, after the unification, the pharaohs were known as the rulers of the Two Kingdoms (alternatively: Two Lands), and wore the double crown, each half representing sovereignty of one of the kingdoms.

The terms "Upper" and "Lower" are based on elevation – the Nile flows from the highlands of East Africa northwards seeking lower elevations on its path to the Mediterranean Sea. So Upper Egypt lies to the south of Lower Egypt, which is mostly the Nile Delta. The 2 Egypts spoke different dialects and had different customs. Many of these differences, and tensions still exist today.

Lower and Upper Egypt

Afro-asiatic languages are spoken across North Africa, the Horn of Africa, and the Middle East. There are approximately 375 Afro-asiatic languages spoken by 300 million people. The main subfamilies of Afro-asiatic are the Semitic languages, the Cushitic languages, Berber, and the Chadic languages. Its most famous sub-branch, the Semitic languages (including Arabic, Amharic and Hebrew among others), developed in the Arabian peninsula. The Semitic languages are the only branch of the Afro-Asiatic family of languages that is spoken outside of Africa.

Of the world's surviving language families, Afro-asiatic has the longest written history, as both Ancient Egyptian and the Akkadian language of Mesopotamia are members.

Before the unification of Egypt, the land was settled with autonomous villages – agricultural hamelts up and down the Nile River Valley. With the early dynasties, and for much of Egypt's history thereafter, the country came to be known as the Two Lands. The rulers established a national administration and appointed royal governors. State formation in Egypt was primarily indigenous in character, and it is likely that a common language, namely Egyptian, was spoken in Upper and Lower Egypt in variant dialects, which facilitated the unification.

According to the historian Manetho (3rd C. BCE), an Egyptian historian and priest who lived during the Ptolemaic era, the first king was Menes (likely reign circa 3100–3050 BC). However, the earliest recorded king of the First Dynasty was Hor-Aha (reign c. 3050–3049 BC), and the first king to claim to have united the two lands was Narmer (the final king of the Protodynastic Period). It is possible that all three names refer to the same person.

The White Crown, called hdt (The Bright One) adorned the king as ruler of Upper (Southern) Egypt, while the Red Crown, called dsrt (The Red One) marked him as ruler of Lower Egypt.

The Macehead of King 'Scorpion'.

The ritual mace head of 'Scorpion' is a rounded piece of limestone, shaped like the head of a mace 25 cm. high. The beautifully sculpted central figure is king 'Scorpion', identified by the floral element and the scorpion in front of him. He wears the White Crown of Upper-Egypt, a simple skirt with an animal's tail. He holds a hoe in his hands, ready to cut open the ground. Before him stands a man, facing the king and pouring sand on the ground. This type of scene is known throughout the Pharaonic history: it shows the king preparing the foundations of some kind of building. It has sometimes been suggested that the king might have been represented wearing the Red Crown, normally associated with Lower-Egypt, on the missing part of the mace head.

This commemorative slate palette was carved circa 3168 B.C. (Dynasty 0) for King Narmer and was found at Hierakonpolis. This palette may be commemorating the unification of Egypt; Narmer may in fact be Menes, the legendary unifier of Egypt. The Narmer Palette is notable for being one of the earliest depictions of the standard elements of canonical art including a smiting scene, the use of registers to organize the picture, a depiction of both the red and white crowns, the use of hieroglyphic writing – including the use of the serekh to write the king’s name – and the use of the bull as a symbol of kingly power. Earlier palettes were truly functional, being used to grind cosmetics. They evolved into purely decorative or commemorative palettes such as this one. On the obverse side (right), one can observe that the circular depression where the cosmetic powder would have been ground has been retained though it is clearly not meant to be used.

The Narmer Palette

Narmer’s name is known because it is written on a votive

palette (the Narmer Pallette) used for

grinding minerals for kohl, used by ancient Egyptians to outline

the eyes.

Interior decoration in Catal Huyuk 8,000 years ago

Sumerian seal (carved cylinder), early dynastic period (third millenium B.C.). "Master or Mistress of animals" (beast master) themes took many forms in ancient Near Eastern art, including this Sumerian example.

Beast Master Motif in Egypt

A necropolis, city of the dead, at Giza.

Mastaba tombs are rectangular structures with sloping sides that enclose vertical shafts leading to underground burial chambers. Egypt's high officials and their family members were buried in mastabas during the Old Kingdom.

The Old Kingdom established a legacy for all subsequent eras of Egyptian history, setting a standard of centralized power by its pharaohs in grand scale architecture and religious rituals that secured the status of the pharaoh as being divine.

Pyramids at Giza

Djoser, 2nd king of the 3rd dynasty (c. 2650–c. 2575 bce) of the Old Kingdom, whose architect Imhotep, constructed the earliest important stone building in Egypt with his Stepped Pyramid and temple complex at Saqqara – important preceding structure to Egyptian classic pyramids

Stepped Pyramid, Saqqara Snefru , 1st king of the 4th dynasty, presided over a period of expansion and technical innovation in the construction of pyramids. The three major pyramids he built were far larger than those constructed by his predecessors, and their forms illustrate the transition from the step pyramids of the 3rd dynasty to the flat-sided true pyramids built in the 4th dynasty and after.

Pyramid Complex at Giza

Memphis was the capital city of ancient Egypt during the Old Kingdom (c. 2575-c. 2130 BCE). Closely associated with the ancient city's site, 25 km south of Cairo, are the cemeteries, or necropolises, of Memphis, where the famous pyramids of Egypt and the Great Sphinx are located. Memphis was founded around 3100 BCE, perhaps by the pharaoh Menes who united upper and lower Egypt for the first time. One of the greatest cities of the ancient world, it was filled with palaces, gardens, and temples. Apart from the royal pyramids and other tombs of its necropolises, much of it is permanently lost.

The greatest monumental sculpture in the ancient world, the Sphinx is carved out of a single ridge of stone 240 feet (73 meters) long and 66 feet (20 meters) high. The head, which has a markedly different texture from the body, and shows far less severe erosion, is a naturally occurring outcrop of harder stone. To form the lower body of the Sphinx, enormous blocks of stone were quarried from the base rock (and these blocks were then used in the core masonry of the temples directly in front and to the south of the Sphinx).

Egyptologists maintain that the Sphnix was constructed in the 4th Dynasty by the Pharaoh (Khafre, other theories, both archaeological and geological, indicates that the Sphinx is far older than the 4th Dynasty, and was only restored by Khafre during his reign. The geological findings indicate that the Sphinx seems to have been sculpted sometime before 10,000 BC, and this period coincides with the Age of Leo the Lion (constellation), which lasted from 10,970 to 8810 BCE.

Khufu, son of Snefru, was second ruler of the 4th dynasty. His is the largest pyramid ever built, it incorporates about 2.3 million stone blocks, weighing an average of 2.5 to 15 tons each. It is estimated that the workers would have had to set a block every two and a half minutes.

The Great Pyramid was the centerpiece of an elaborate complex, which included several small pyramids, five boat pits, a mortuary temple, a causeway, a valley temple, and many flat-roofed tombs for officials and some members of the royal family.

Khafre was a son of Khufu and his is the second largest known pyramid in Egypt, only approximately 10 feet shorter than the Great Pyramid. Remnants of its original casing are still apparent at the top of the structure. After the building of the Great Pyramid, King Khafre had a hard act to follow. Khafre rose to the occasion by building his pyramid on higher ground giving the illusion that his pyramid was taller.

The statue of the Pharaoh Menkaure (Mycerinus) and his Queen in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, carved out of slate and dating to 2548-2530 BCE, is an example of Old Kingdom 4th Dynasty royal sculpture. The statue, which stands about 4 feet 8 inches high, was found in a hole dug earlier by treasure-hunters below the floor of a room in the Valley Temple of the pyramid of Menkaure at Giza during excavations undertaken by the Harvard University and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston expedition under the direction of the archaeologist George Reisner in 1908-10. On January 18, 1910.

Menkaure flanked by two goddesses - from Giza - Old Kingdom - 4th Dynasty - circa 2472 BCE

The Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three at Giza. It was begun during his rule (2490-2472) and completed by his son. This pyramid was to be fully encased in granite but it was never finished due to the Pharoah's early death.

Pepi II's pyramid in South Saqqara was the last to be built in the best traditions of the Old Kingdom.  It was named "Pepi's life is enduring", which indeed it was.  His reign we believe lasted 94 years, longer then any other Ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

The pyramid is located on the southern edge of the necropolis, about three miles south of Djoser's Step Pyramid, which probably made it a source of inspiration for Middle Kingdom pyramid builders.

Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and commemoration of pharaohs in their afterlife. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they were dedicated. Within them, the Egyptians performed a variety of rituals, the central functions of Egyptian religion: giving offerings to the gods, reenacting their mythological interactions through festivals, and warding off the forces of chaos. These rituals were seen as necessary for the gods to continue to uphold ma’at, the divine order of the universe. Housing and caring for the gods were the obligations of pharaohs, who therefore dedicated enormous resources to temple construction and maintenance. Out of necessity, pharaohs delegated most of their ritual duties to a host of priests, but most of the populace was excluded from direct participation in ceremonies and forbidden to enter a temple's most sacred areas. Nevertheless, a temple was an important religious site for all classes of Egyptians, who went there to pray, give offerings, and seek oracular guidance from the god dwelling within.

Pyramid Texts – Old Kingdom

Coffin Texts – Middle Kingdom

Book of the Dead – New Kingdom

Pyramid texts are collection of rituals and magical texts in hieroglyphs inscribed on the walls of the burial chamber, ante-chamber and other rooms and corridors inside the royal pyramids. These spells were texts necessary for the deceased Pharaoh to utilize for his successfully journey to immortality in his afterlife. The Coffin Texts superseded the Pyramid Texts in the First Intermediary Period. They were written on papyrus or wood coffins in an early form of Middle Egyptian, mostly in cursive hieroglyphs or sometime hieratic. Aferlife expectations became available to more citizens than just royalty. The Book of the Dead texts were generally written in cursive hieroglyphs on papyrus with vignettes. This text served to protect the deceased. The general Judgment of the Dead, to which every deceased is subject, played an important part.

Book of the Dead, Thebes, Dynasty 21, ca 1070-945 BCE.

The Book of the Dead was a collection of formulas, hymns, and prayers for the deceased of ancient Egypt that originated from the Pyramid Texts. The Egyptians believed the deceased needed instructions to lead them safely through the demons of the Underworld when they died. The deceased would be judged by Osiris in a ceremony called Weighing of the Heart. Standing before Osiris, the deceased was asked to name each of the divine judges and swear that had not committed any offences, ranging from raising the voice to stealing. This was the "negative confession". If found innocent, in the judgment at the Weighing of the Heart the deceased was declared "true of voice" and allowed to proceed into the Afterlife. The heart of the deceased was weighed against the principle of truth and justice ( known as ma’at ) represented by a feather, the symbol of the goddess of truth, order and justice, Ma’at. If the heart balanced against the feather then the deceased would be granted a place in the Fields of Hetep and Iaru. If it was heavy with the weight of wrongdoings, the balance would sink and the heart would be grabbed and eaten by the Devourer of Souls, Ammit, "the gobbler", a composite animal with the head of a crocodile, the front legs and body of lion or leopard, and the back legs of a hippopotamus. Anubis tended to the scales while the proceedings were recorded by Thoth, the scribe of the gods, and the deity of wisdom. Thoth was often depicted as a human with an ibis head, writing on a scroll of papyrus. His other animal form, the baboon, was often depicted sitting on the pivot of the scales of justice.

1st Intermediate Period:Egyptian intermediate periods are times when the centralized government weakened and Egypt divided into separate kingdoms, Upper and Lower. The 1st Intermediate Period is often characterized as chaotic and miserable, being brought about by a prolonged failure of the annual Nile floods, leading to famine and collapse of the monarchy of the Old Kingdom. In spite of this collapse, there is evidence of thriving culture and the development of towns as non-royal people gained in status. The 1st Intermediate Period ended when the Theban king of Upper Egypt, King Mentuhotep II, defeated his unknown Lower Egyptian rival and beginning the era of the Middle Kingdom.

• Middle Kingdom fell due to weakness of its later kings,

• = Egypt invaded by an Asiatic, desert people • Hyksos = Semitic kings of Egypt over two

centuries. • Hyksos means "ruler of foreign lands". • The Jewish historian Josephus depicts them as

sacrilegious invaders who despoiled the land • Hyksos presented themselves as Egyptian

kings • The Hyksos, known as the Shepherd Kings or

Desert Princes, • sacked the old capital of Memphis and built their

capital at Avaris, in the Delta. • They brought technical innovations to Egypt, • fbronze working, pottery and looms t• new musical instruments and musical styles. • New breeds of animals and crops • most important changes were in warfare; • composite bows, new types of daggers and

scimitars, • above all the horse and chariot. • the Hyksos modernized Egypt and • Ultimately Egypt benefitted from their rule.

The Hyksos were a group of mixed Semitic-Asiatics who settled in northern Egypt during the 18th century BC. In about 1630 they seized power, and Hyksos kings ruled Egypt as the 15th dynasty (c. 1630-1521 BC).

The Amarna period comprises the reigns of Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun and Ay. The period is named after the capital city founded by Akhenaten, son of Amenhotep III. Akhenaten ascended the throne as Amenhotep IV, but changed his name when he rejected traditional religion in favour of the worship of the Aten or sun disc. He closed all the temples to other gods and obliterated their names from monuments.

Ahkenaten, shown here enjoying a moment with his wife Nefertiti. His original name was Amenhotep IV, but he changed it to Ahkenaten ("spirit of Aten") to signify an extraordinary shift he made from traditional Egyptian religion to worship of the Aten, or sun disk, whose rays are shown extended down towards the royal family. This move to a monotheistic religion was very radical and probably alienated the traditional priesthood, so Ahkenaten tried to solidify the change by constructing a new capital called Akhetaten ("horizon of Aten"), which is now referred to as Amarna. He also introduced many changes into Egyptian artistic expression, including unusually informal family settings like the one shown here, as well as changes in portraiture such as pot bellies and very strangely shaped hips and facial features. After his death the old establishment reasserted itself, all of his changes were eliminated and a systematic attempt was made to erase him completely from history by the destruction of monuments and artworks and the removal of his name from records, often by defacing his name on carved works. It's thought that Tutankhamun was either his son or grandson, but even he changed his name Tutankhaten to Tutankhamun to signify the destruction of Ahkenaten's heretical beliefs.

Nefertiti, which means "a beautiful woman has come" (aka Neferneferuaten) was queen of Egypt and wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten/Akhenaton. He ruled from the middle of the 14th century B.C. Nefertiti's origins are unknown. She might have been a Mitanni princess or the daughter of Ay, brother of Akhenaton's mother, Tiy. Nefertiti had 3 daughters at Thebes before Akhenaten moved the royal family to Tell el-Amarna, where the fertile queen produced another 3 daughters. Nefertiti played religious roles in Akhenaten's new religion, as part of the triad that consisted of Akhenaten's god Aton, Akehenaten, and Nefertiti. As shown in the picture, the beautiful Queen Nefertiti wore a special blue crown. However beautiful and unusual she may seem in this picture, in other pictures, it is hard to distinguish Nefertiti from her husband, Pharaoh Akhenaten.

King “Tut”ankhamun

Tutankhamun, the 11th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Ancient Egypt, was unremarkable, is famous due to the discovery of his completely intact tomb by the British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.He was about 17 when he died and was likely to have inherited the throne at the age of eight or nine. He is thought to have been the son of Akhenaten, commonly known as the 'heretic king'. Akhenaten replaced the traditional cult of 'Amun' with his solar deity 'Aten', thus asserting his authority as pharaoh in a new way.According to documents, ancient Egyptians believed that Akhenaten’s reforms angered the traditional gods, and seeing their temples in ruins and their cults abolished, had abandoned Egypt to chaos. When Tutankhamun came to the throne, his administration restored the old religion and moved the capital from Akhetaten back to its traditional home at Memphis. He changed his name from Tutankhaten - 'living image of Aten [the sun god]' - to Tutankhamun, in honour of Amun. His queen, Ankhesenpaaten, the third daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, also changed the name on her throne to read Ankhesenamun.

Seti I and Ramesses II of the 19th Dynasty, reclaimed the lost territories abroad and continuing the formidable building activity started in the 18th Dynasty. Again, large parts of Asia were conquered, but the international situation had changed and the Egyptians found themselves facing a new and powerful enemy: the Hittites, an Indo-European Empire on the Anatolia peninsula. Conflicts between Egypt and the Hittites ended with peace during the reign of Ramesses II. His successors, however, were unable to follow in his footsteps. The 19th Dynasty gradually slipped away in dynastic disputes and chaos.

With the 20th Dynasty, Egypt’s prosperity and relative stability drew to an end. Ramesses III’s reign was marked by corruption, social turmoil and a conspiracy against his life. During the years following his death, Egypt’s declined quickly: the Theban priests of Amun became the de facto rulers of Upper-Egypt, while Lower-Egypt was administered by the Pharaoh. Another powerful group in the Egyptian society was the military, who claimed their part in the government and in Egyptian territory. By the end of the 20th Dynasty, Egypt was again divided into many fractions and the New Kingdom came to an end in 1070 BCE.

The period following the New Kingdom is the 3rd Intermediate Period (1070 - 712 or 1070 - 525), composed of the dynasties 21 through 24 or 26. This period, followed by the Late Period (712 - 332 or 525 - 332), is often described as a period of decline and chaos.