HumanitiesEgypt and the Nile Valley

Egyptian civilization

The ancient Egyptians thought of Egypt as being divided two types of land, the 'black land' and the 'red land‘

The 'black land' was the fertile land on the banks of the Nile. The ancient Egyptians used this land for growing their crops. This was the only land in ancient Egypt that could be farmed because a layer of rich, black silt was deposited there every year after the Nile flooded.

The 'red land' was the barren desert that protected Egypt on two sides. These deserts separated ancient Egypt from neighbouring countries and invading armies. They also provided the ancient Egyptians with a source for precious metals and semi-precious stones.

Time Line Of Ancient Egypt

Pharaohs▪ Ancient Egyptian pharaohs were considered to be

divine deities as well as mortal rulers. Throughout the 30+ dynasties in ancient Egyptian history, it is speculated that some 170 or more rulers reigned over the great land of Egypt during a three thousand year time span.

▪ The throne of Egypt was primarily intended to be succeeded from father to son, however in many cases this line of kingship was interrupted by murder, kidnappings, plots and mysterious disappearances similar to daily TV serials that we see today.

▪ Each time a new family took control of the throne, a new kingdom began in the history of this culture. rulers often intermarried with daughters, granddaughters, sisters and brothers to keep the throne within the family the throne still managed to shift hands multiple times; creating a dynamic, and often, complex ancient history.

▪ The most powerful person in ancient Egypt was the pharaoh. The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: 'Lord of the Two Lands' and 'High Priest of Every Temple'.

▪ As 'Lord of the Two Lands' the pharaoh was the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners.

▪ As 'High Priest of Every Temple', the pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honour the gods.

▪ Every civilization is built upon rules and regulations and Ancient Egypt was no different in this regard. In ancient Egypt, government revolved heavily around a single figure, the Pharaoh, who the people believed to be a living god. This status basically granted the pharaoh virtually limitless power and control over his subjects.

▪ In the New Kingdom, when

Akhenaton forced the people to put aside the 'old gods' in favour of a single god, religion and government were tightly entwined.

▪ A good number of the people carrying out the Pharaoh's decrees where priests and holy men. This group formed their own social class as they were given preferential treatment before other citizens and were a kind of nobility in their own right.

▪ The government structure of ancient Egypt involved other officials, including viziers, army commanders, chief treasurers, the minister of public works, and tax collectors, all of whom answered directly to the pharaoh.

▪ Since before Ancient Egypt became a unified kingdom, the kings of the region were believed to be earthly incarnations of the god Horus. Horus was one of the most revered gods of the Egyptian religion, depicted in art as a falcon or as a man with a falcon's head. According to Ancient Egyptian mythology, the first king of Egypt was murdered by his brother, and it was his son, Horus, who avenged him.

Social Structure

in Ancient Egypt

Religion and beliefs Ancient Egyptians worship of 2000 different gods

After all the Gods were kept, meaning many gods had similar characteristics

Animals were considered the living images of the gods

Some gods and goddesses took part in creation, some brought the flood every year, some offered protection, and some took care of people after they died. Others were either local gods who represented towns, or minor gods who represented plants or animals.

The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to recognize and worship these gods and goddesses so that life continued smoothly.

Horus• Appearance: Man with the

head of a hawk • Horus was a god of the sky.

He is the protector of the ruler of Egypt.

• It was believed that the pharaoh was the 'living Horus'.

Amun• Appearance: A Man with a

ram-head wearing an ostrich feather hat

• Amun was one of the most powerful gods in ancient Egypt.

• At the height of Egyptian civilisation he was called the 'King of the Gods'.

Osiris • Appearance: A mummified man

who is wearing a white headdress with feathers

• Osiris was the god of the dead, and ruler of the Underworld.

• Osiris was also the god of vegetation (plant matter) that’s why he is green in appearance.

Atum

• Appearance: Man with the double crown

• Atum was a creator god. • It was believed that Atum was the

first god to exist on earth.

Ra (re)• Sun God• Appearance:

A man with the head of a Hawk wearing a sun disk headdress

• He was the most important God

• The ancient Egyptians believed that each night Ra was swallowed night by Nut, the sky goddess then reborn in the morning.

Thoth• Appearance: A man with the

head of an ibis holding a writing palette

• Thoth was the go of Knowledge and writing

• It was said that he gave the gift of hieroglyphics.

Ma’at• Appearance: A Woman with a

feather on top of her head• Ma'at was the goddess of truth,

justice and harmony. • Ma’at was often associated

with the balance of things on earth.

Anubis• Appearance: A Man with the

head of a jackal• Anubis was the god of

embalming and the dead.• Jackals were often seen found

in cemeteries, because of this it was believed that Anubis watched over the dead.

The After Life Death is not seen as the last stage of life

Before the mummy can reach the underworld it has to pass through seven gates, aided by the magic spells inscribed upon the funerary objects, then the dead person arrives in the presence of Osiris (god of the underworld)

Osiris then performs a ceremony called the 'weighing of the heart'Heart of the dead person is weighed on a scale by the jackal headed god Anubis (god of dead) against the feather of Ma'at (goddess of truth)Balancing the scale meant immortality.

• If the scale did not balance then Sobek (crocodile headed god) would eat the heart, and Seth, murderer of Osiris ate the rest of the body

Food and Agrarian society

Farming

• River Nile has played a very important role when it comes to farming in Egypt.

• It deposited a layer of black soil over the land, rich in nutrients needed for growing crops.

• Under normal conditions, the flood plains supported a rich variety of plants and animals that provided food for the ancient Egyptians.

Hunting and Fishing:

• Pharaohs and nobles participated in hunting, fishing and fowling expeditions, a means of recreation that had ritualistic and religious significance.

• Rabbits, deer, gazelles, bulls, oryx, antelopes, hippopotamuses, and lions were among the wild animals hunted for their meat and

• Fishing allowed the working class to add variety to its diet. The poor substituted fish for meat, which they could not afford.

Shelter

• Most houses were made of brick. The banks of the Nile provided the mud used to make bricks.

• Egyptian peasants would have lived in simple mud-brick homes containing only a few pieces of furniture: beds, stools, boxes and low tables.

• Craftsmen lived in one- or two-storey flat-roofed dwellings made of mud bricks. The walls and roof would have been covered with plaster and painted.

• The homes of the wealthy were larger and more luxurious. Spacious reception and living rooms opened onto a central garden courtyard with a fish pond and flowering plants. Each bedroom had a private bathroom, and the walls, columns and ceilings were painted with beautiful designs inspired by nature.

Egypt’s intense sun and heat shaped how ancient Egyptians built their houses. The oldest houses were built of mud and papyrus. After a while, however, people realized that this combination wouldn’t work. The Nile River flooded for three months every year and literally washed these houses away.

This is when the ancient Egyptians discovered that they could create bricks out of clay and mud from the Nile’s riverbank. Allowed to dry in the sun, mud-bricks lasted much longer than houses made of mud and papyrus, but rain still eventually eroded them. Wood wasn’t used to build the actual houses because of its scarcity.

Slaves and children as young as four were left to the menial job of making mud-bricks.

Almost all ancient Egypt houses were constructed with a flat roof. Not only did this most likely make the construction process simpler, but the flat roofs also offered a welcome respite from

the burning Egyptian sun.

“the workmen's village"

It is a walled enclosure of very regular houses along several parallel streets. Archaeologists believed it housed workers working on the rock tombs nearby.

However, this walled town had a guard house at the only exit, and it seems more likely to have been to keep the workers in than anything out (the main city was protected by no such wall, for the whole site, including the workmen's village, is enclosed by high cliffs).

The Ancient City of Akhetaten at el-Amarna

The wealthy enjoyed building their homes along the Nile River. The outside of the homes was painted white to keep it cooler during the day. Sometimes, the very wealthy lined the outside walls with limestone, which caused their house to sparkle and twinkle in the sunlight. Artists were paid to decorate the inside walls with bright pastel colors to create a fresh and clean feel.

Some of the richest had houses as big as 30 rooms. Most of these rooms were used for storing sealed jars of food. Other rooms were used for the children, guest rooms and even bathrooms (though with no running water). These large homes had front and back doors with bars on the windows to keep out intruders and wild animals.

Raised up, at the center of the house, lay the living or family room. This room was raised up to keep sand out. As it was the center of the home, it was cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Transportation

• The Nile River was the highway that joined the country together.

• The simplest type of boat used in ancient Egypt was the skiff, made from papyrus reeds that were tied together.

• Boats also served a ceremonial purpose. They were used to move images of gods from temple to temple, and to transport mummified bodies of royals and nobles across the Nile to their tombs on the west bank.

• Large wooden ships were equipped with square sails and oars and Ships could travel with ease up and down the Nile from delta region to the First Cataract at Aswan.

Arts and crafts

• Stone and clay pots comprise one of the most important categories of Egyptian artifacts.

• Skilled carpenters manufactured a wide range of products, from roofing beams to furniture and statues. Their tools included saws, axes, chisels, adzes, wooden mallets, stone polishers and bow drills.

• Sculptors had to adhere to very strict stylistic rules. The stone was first shaped and smoothed by masons using stone hammers. For bas-reliefs, draftsmen outlined images on the stone before a team of sculptors began carving them with copper chisels.

• Various types of semi-precious stones were used in jewellery. To make beads, artisans broke stones and rolled them between other stones to shape them.

Ancient Egyptian art is 5000 years old. It emerged and took shape in the ancient Egypt, the civilization of the Nile Valley. Expressed in paintings and sculptures, it was highly symbolic and fascinating - this art form revolves round the past and was intended to keep history alive.

In a narrow sense, Ancient Egyptian art refers to the 2D and 3D art developed in Egypt from 3000 BC and used until the 3rd century. It is to be noted that most elements of Egyptian art remained remarkably stable over the 3000 year period that represents the ancient civilization without strong outside influence.

Ancient Egyptian art forms are characterized by regularity and detailed depiction of human beings and the nature, and, were intended to provide company to the deceased in the 'other world'.

Beautifully preserved funerary sculptures of Prince Rahotep and his wife Nofret, Old Kingdom, painted limestone, life-size. Note the lifelike eyes of inlaid rock crystal.

Artists' endeavored to

preserve everything of present time as clearly and permanently as possible.

Completeness took precedence over prettiness. Some art forms present an extraordinarily vivid representation of the time and the life, as the ancient Egyptian life was lived thousand of years before.

Egyptian art in all forms obeyed one law: the mode

of representing man, nature and the environment remained almost the same for thousands of years and the most admired artists were those who replicated most admired styles of the past.

To be understood, Ancient Egyptian art must be viewed from the standpoint of the ancient Egyptians.

The somewhat static, usually formal, strangely abstract, and often blocky nature of much Egyptian imagery has, at times, led to unfavorable comparisons with later, more naturalistic Greek or Renaissance art.

The art of the Egyptians, however, served a vastly different purpose than that of these later cultures.

The king being embraced by a goddess, Old Kingdom, painted sunk relief, Tomb of Amenherkhepshef QV 55.

This late Amarna period Queen Nefertiti bust (right) demonstrates the abilities of the sculptor if not constrained by traditional Ancient Egyptian style.

Menkaura (Mycerinus) and queen, Old Kingdom, Dynasty 4, 2490 – 2472 BC. The formality of the pose is reduced by the queen's arm round her husband.

Type of Art

cartouche

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a horizontal line at one end, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name, coming into use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, replacing the earlier serekh.

While the cartouche is usually vertical a horizontal line, it is sometimes if it makes the name fit better, with a vertical line on the left. The Ancient Egyptian word for it was shenu, and it was essentially an expanded shen ring. In Demotic, the cartouche was reduced to a pair of parentheses and a vertical line.

At times amulets were given the form of a cartouche displaying the name of a king and placed in tombs. Such items are often important to archaeologists for dating the tomb and its contents. Cartouches were formerly only worn by Pharaohs.

Statues and Sculptures

Of the materials used by the Egyptian sculptors, we find - clay, wood, metal, ivory, and stone -stone was the most plentiful and permanent, available in a wide variety of colors and hardness. Sculpture was often painted in vivid hues as well.

Egyptian sculpture has two qualities that are distinctive; it can be characterized as cubic and

frontal. It nearly always echoes in its form the shape of the stone cube or block from which it was fashioned, partly because it was an image conceived from four viewpoints.

The front of almost every statue is the most important part and the figure sits or stands facing strictly to the front. This suggests to the modern viewer that the ancient artist was unable to

create a naturalistic representation, but it is that this was not the intention.

Symbolism in Art

Symbolism also played an important role in establishing a sense of order. Symbolism, ranging from the Pharaoh's regalia (symbolizing his power to maintain order) to the individual symbols of Egyptian gods and goddesses, was omnipresent in Egyptian art.

Animals were usually also highly symbolic figures in Egyptian Color, as well, had extended meaning - Blue and green

represented the Nile and life; yellow stood for the sun god; and red represented power and vitality.

The colors in Egyptian artifacts have survived extremely well the centuries because of Egypt's dry climate. Despite the stilted form caused by a lack of perspective, ancient Egyptian art is highly realistic.

Ancient Egyptian artists often show a sophisticated knowledge anatomy and a close attention to detail, especially in their renderings of animals.

Papyrus

The word paper is derived from "papyrus", a plant was cultivated in the Nile delta. Papyrus sheets were derived after processing the papyrus plant. Some rolls papyrus discovered are lengthy, up to 10 meters. The technique for crafting papyrus was lost over time, but was rediscovered by an Egyptologist in the 1940s.

Papyrus texts illustrate all dimensions of ancient Egyptian life and include literary, religious, historical administrative documents. The pictorial script used in these texts ultimately provided the model for two most common alphabets in the world, the Roman and the

Arabic.

Modes of representation for three-dimensional art

Three-dimensional representations, while quite formal, also aimed to reproduce the real-world. Statuary of gods, royalty, and the elite was designed to convey an idealized version of those individuals. Some aspects of naturalism were dictated by the material. Stone for example, was quite closed—with arms held close to the sides, limited positions, a strong back pillar that provided support, and fill spaces left between limbs.

Wood and metal statuary, in contrast, was more expressive—arms could be extended and hold objects, spaces between the limbs were opened to create a more realistic appearance, and more positions were possible. Stone, wood, and metal statuary of elite figures, however, all served the same functions and retained the same type of formalization and frontality.

Only statuettes of lower status people displayed a wide range of possible actions; these pieces were focused the actions themselves, which benefited the elite not the people depicted in the statuettes.

Modes of representation for two-dimensional art

Two-dimensional art represented the world differently. Egyptian artists embraced the two-dimensional surface and attempted to provide the most representative aspects of each in the scene rather than attempting to create vistas that replicated the real world.

Each object or element in a scene was rendered from its most recognizable angle and these then grouped together to create the whole. This is why images of people show their face, waist, and limbs in profile, but eye and shoulders frontally.

These scenes are complex composite images provide complete information about the various elements, rather than single viewpoints that would not be as comprehensive in the data they conveyed.

Chaotic fighting scene, New Kingdom, painted box from the tomb of Tutankhamen

Hierarchy of scale

Difference in scale was the most commonly used method for conveying

hierarchy—the larger the scale of the figures, the more important they

were. Kings were often shown at the same scale as deities, but both are

shown larger than the elite and far larger than the average Egyptian.

Text and image

Text accompanied almost all images. In statuary, identifying text

will appear on the back pillar or base, and relief usually has

captions or longer texts that complete and elaborate on the

scenes. Hieroglyphs were often rendered as tiny works of art in

themselves, even though these small pictures do not always

for what they depict.

Many are instead phonetic sounds. Some, however, are

logographic, meaning they stand for an object or concept.

The lines blur between text and image in many cases. For

the name of a figure in the text on a statue will regularly omit the

determinative—an unspoken sign at the end of a word that aids

identification–for example.

Verbs of motion are followed by a pair of walking legs; names of

men end with the image of a man, names of gods with the image

of a seated god. In these instances, the representation itself

this function.

Highly detailed raised relief hieroglyphs, Middle Kingdom (White Chapel of Senusret I at Karnak)

How Egyptians look at the death and the afterlife from the Book of the Dead

How Egyptians look at the death and the afterlife from the Book of the DeadOne aspect of death was the disintegration of the various modes of existence. Funerary rituals served to re-integrate these different aspects of being. Mummification served to and transform the physical body into a sah, an idealized form with divine aspects; the Book of the Dead spells aimed at preserving the body of the deceased, which may have been recited during the process of mummification.

The heart, which was regarded as the aspect of being which included intelligence and memory, was also protected with spells, and in case anything happened to the physical it was common to bury jeweled heart scarabs with a body to provide a replacement.

The ka, or life-force, remained in the tomb with the dead body, and sustenance from offerings of food, water and incense. The name of the dead person, which constituted their individuality and was required for their continued existence, was written in many places throughout the Book.The ba was a free-ranging spirit aspect of the deceased. It was the ba, as a human-headed bird, which could "go forth by day" from the tomb into the world.

Finally, the shut, or shadow of the deceased. If all these aspects of the person could be variously preserved, remembered, and satiated, then the dead person would live on in the form of an akh. An aka was a blessed spirit with magical powers who would dwell among the gods.

How Egyptians represent life

On the Tree Of Life, the birds represent the various stages of human life.

Starting in the lower right-hand corner and proceeding counter-clockwise:

The light gray bird symbolizes infancy. The red bird symbolizes childhood. The green bird symbolizes youth. The blue bird symbolizes adulthood. The orange bird symbolizes old age.

In ancient Egypt, the direction east was considered the direction of life, because the sun rose in the east.

West was considered the direction of death, of entering the underworld, because the sun set in the west.

They believed that during the night, the sun traveled through the underworld to make its way back to the east so it could in the east again on the next day.

On the tree of life, note that the birds representing the first four phases of life all face to the east, but the bird old age faces to the west, anticipating the approach of death.

Daily Life

The Family

The Egyptian family was a closely knit unit in ancient times, as it is today. It was customary to picture a man's wife and children on his stela (gravestone), and often his parents and grandparents are mentioned if they are not actually represented. The mother is shown more frequently than the father, as descent was traced the female line.

As a rule a man had only one wife, who went about although she lived with her children in a separate, women's quarter of the house.

In the Old Kingdom a man and his wifewere equal in the eyes of the law. The Egyptians were fond and proud of their children. Each child was named birth, frequently after a god or the king. Often names refer to qualities; some recall flowers, trees, or animals; some express the parents' joy over their child.

Daily Life

The Family and the Estates

This scene, copied from a wall in a New Kingdom tomb, shows some of the activities that might have taken place on a privateestate. In the center of the top register, men gather grapes, are being processed into wine in the register below.

At the far right is a two-story house with date palms growing in its courtyard. In the bottom register, cattle are being branded at thefar left, while a kneeling scribe records the various proceedings.

Daily Life

In the back of the stable, cattle are feeding at a trough. In the front room, two men are force feeding two animals, one of which is crouching on the ground.

On the upper level of the slaughterhouse,meat has been hung up to dry, while the butchering ofcattle takes place below.

Right Bottom shows a scene from a Bakery.

Daily Life

Furniture

The climate of Egypt did not encourage the Egyptians to clutter their rooms with furniture, but beds, chairs, and stools were to be found in well-equipped homes. Wickerwork stands were more usual than wooden tables, and chests and baskets took the place of cupboards and drawers. Mats of woven rushes covered the floors.

Metal tools, which became available at the end of the prehistoric period, made fine cabinetwork possible. Amongthe construction used by the Egyptians were the mortise and Tenon joint, the miter joint, dovetailing, and veneer.

Nevertheless, beds were comparativelyrare and a headrest, a prop of about the same as the shoulder, wasthe greatest necessity for a good night's sleep. Egyptians who possessed beds used a headrest as well; sometimes soft cushions stuffed with feathers were put behind the back, but these have rarely been preserved.

Daily Life

Furniture

Nevertheless, beds were comparatively rare and a headrest, a prop of about the same height as the shoulder, was the greatest necessity for a good night's sleep. Egyptians who possessed beds used a headrest as well; sometimes soft cushions stuffed with were put behind the back, but these have rarely been preserved.

Daily Life

Decorative and other daily items

As the Egyptians had only primitiveways of lighting their homes they started the day early and went to bed soon after sunset. Dinner was probably in the middle of the day, and a light supper taken before retiring.

The guests at an Egyptian meal did not sit down around one table. Important personages were given individual stands with their own supplies of food and drink. The less important laid their dishes on the floor beside them. No cutlery was used at meals.

The vessels in which food and drink were served were of a wide variety, but the different shapes had definite uses. Pottery vessels were the most usual; they were often of elegant shapes and sometimes were decorated with painted designs. Copper and bronze dishes were since they were also used as a form of currency.

Daily Life

Dressing and Clothing

Before the Egyptians were readyto appear for the day, a greatdeal of care had been spent ontheir persons. The better houses had shallow baths in which the owner stood while water was poured over him; soda was the agent. To counteract the drying effect of the soda, and of the sun and dust, perfumed oils were rubbed into the skin.

The eyelids were painted with kohl, which is antiseptic as well as decorative. Women colored their lips and cheeks with rouge, and stained their palms with henna. These cosmetics were kept in jars and boxes that were among the most highly prized products of the Egyptian craftsman.

Daily Life

Dressing and Clothing

Men were usually clean-shaven; bothmen and women used bronze razors andtweezers, which came in sets with haircurlers and gritstone hones. Wigs wereoften worn by both men and women, butsome ladies preferred to pad out theirown hair with false braids that werekept in baskets with sweet-smellingwoods.

Kerchiefs protected these elaboratecoiffures from the dust. Combs andhairpins were used in dressing the hair.

Daily Life

Recreation

There were many attractive ways in which the busy Egyptian official could pass his spare time at home. Sometimes professional magicians, wrestlers, or storytellers were brought in to amuse him. Sometimes he laughed at the antics of a dwarf, the Egyptian equivalent of the medieval jester. More often he sat down to some quiet game such as senet with one of his family.

This game, a form of which is still played throughout the ear Fast, required a combination of luck and skill. Each player a set of men that he moved up and down the squares of the hoard according to the roll of the bones.

Temple Spaces of Egypt

The southern Sanctuary

▪ Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes) and founded in 1400 BCE.

▪ Known in the Egyptian language as ipet resyt, or "the southern sanctuary".

▪ In Luxor there are six great temples, the four on the bank are known as Goornah, Deir-el-Bahri, the

Ramesseum, and Medinet Habu; and the two temples on the right bank are known as the Karnak and Luxor.

▪ The Luxor temple was built with sandstone from the south-western Egypt. This sandstone was used for the construction for monuments in Upper Egypt.

▪ Like other Egyptian structures a common technique used was symbolism, or illusionism.For example, to the Egyptian, a sanctuary shaped like an Anubis Jackal was really Anubis.At the Luxor temple, the two obelisks flanking the entrance were not the same height, but they created the illusion that they were.

▪ With the layout of the temple they appear to be of equal height, but using illusionism, it enhances the relative distances hence making them look the same size to the wall behind it. Symbolically, it is a visual and spatial effect to emphasize the heights and distance from the wall, enhancing the already existing pathway.

Karnak

▪ The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnakcomprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings. Building at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom and continued into the Ptolemaic period, although most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes. The Karnak complex gives its name to the nearby, and partly surrounded, modern village of El-Karnak.

▪ The complex is a vast open-air museum, and the second largest ancient religious site in the world, after the Angkor Wat Temple of Cambodia.

▪ The term Karnak often is understood as being the Precinct of Amun-Ra. The three other parts, the Precinct of Mut, the of Montu, and the dismantled Temple of Amenhotep IV, are closed.

▪ There also are a few smaller temples and sanctuaries connecting the Precinct of Mut, the Precinct of Amun-Re, and the Luxor Temple.

▪ The original temple was destroyed and partially restored by Hatshepsut, although another pharaoh built around it in order change the focus or orientation of the sacred area.

Medinet Habu

▪ It is the name commonly given to the Mortuary

Temple of Ramesses III, an important New Kingdom period structure on the West Bank of Luxor in Egypt. Aside from its intrinsic size and architectural and artistic importance, the temple is probably best known as the source of inscribed reliefs depicting the advent and defeat of the Sea Peoples during the of Ramesses III.

▪ The first pylon leads into an open courtyard, lined with colossal statues of Ramesses III as Osiris on one side, and uncarved columns on the other.

▪ The second pylon leads into a peristyle hall, again featuring columns in the shape of Ramesses. This leads up a ramp that leads (through a columned portico) to the third pylon and then into the large hypostyle hall (which has lost its roof).

▪ Reliefs and actual heads of foreign captives were found placed within the temple perhaps in an to symbolize the king's control over Syria and Nubia.

Hatshepsut’s Temple

▪ Deir el-Bahari (literally means, "The Northern Monastery") is a complex of mortuary and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is part of the Theban Necropolis.

▪ The first monument built at the site was the mortuary temple of Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh dynasty. It was constructed during the 15th century BC.

▪ During the Eighteenth dynasty, Amenhotep I and Hatshepsut also built extensively at the site.

▪ The mortuary temple itself consists of a forecourt, enclosed by walls on three sides, and a terrace on which stands a large square structure that may represent the primeval mound that arose from the waters of chaos. As the temple faces east, the structure is likely to be connected with the sun cult of Ra and the resurrection of the king.

Abu Simbel

The Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel , a small village in Egypt, near the border with Sudan. They are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan.

The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh.

The complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir. The relocation of the temples was necessary to avoid their being submerged during the creation of Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High on the Nile River.

It is believed that the axis of the temple was positioned by the ancient Egyptian architects in such a way that on October 22 and February 22, the rays of the sun would penetrate the sanctuary and illuminate the sculptures on the back wall, except for the statue of Ptah, the god connected with the Underworld, who always remained in the dark. People gather at Abu Simbel to witness this remarkable sight, on October 21 and February 21.

These dates are allegedly the king's birthday and coronation day respectively, but there is no evidence to support this, though it is quite logical to assume that these dates had some relation to a great event, such as the jubilee celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the pharaoh's rule.

In fact, according to calculations made on the basis of the heliacal rising of the star Sirius and inscriptions found by archaeologists, this date must have been October 22. This image of the king was enhanced and revitalized by the energy of the solar star, and the deified Ramesses the Great could take his place next to Amun Ra and Ra-Horakhty.

Drawings of the types of the architectural capitals specific

for the Ancient Egyptian civilization.

Language and Literature

▪ A hieroglyph (Greek for "sacred writing") is a character of the ancient Egyptian writing system.

▪ Scripts that are pictographic in form in a way reminiscent of ancient Egyptian are also called "hieroglyphs".

▪ Visually hieroglyphs are all more or less figurative: they represent real or illusion elements, stylized and simplified, but all generally perfectly recognizable in form. However, the same sign according to context, be interpreted in diverse ways.

▪ Most scholars believe that Egyptian hieroglyphs "came into existence a little after Sumerian script, and, probably were, invented under the influence of the latter", However, given the lack of direct evidence, "no definitive determination has been made as to the origin of hieroglyphics in ancient Egypt.

Language and Literature

▪ Hieratic (hieratika; literally "priestly") is a cursive writing system used in the provenance of the pharaohs in Egypt and Nubia. It developed alongside cursive hieroglyphs, to which it is yet intimately related. It was primarily written in ink with a reed brush on papyrus, allowing to write quickly without resorting to the time-consuming hieroglyphs.

▪ Hieratic first appeared and developed alongside the more formal hieroglyphic script. is not a derivative of hieroglyphic writing.

▪ Indeed, the earliest texts from Egypt are produced with ink and brush, with no indication their signs are descendants of hieroglyphs. True monumental hieroglyphs carved in stone did not appear until the 1st Dynasty, well after hieratic had been established as a scribal practice. The two writing systems,

therefore, are related, parallel developments, rather than a linear one.

▪ Through most of its long history, hieratic was used for writing administrative documents, accounts, legal texts, and letters, as well as mathematical, medical, literary, and religious texts. In general, hieratic was much more important than hieroglyphs throughout Egypt's history, being the script used in daily life. It was also the writing system first to students, knowledge of hieroglyphs being limited to a small minority who were given additional training.

▪ Throughout ancient Egyptian history, reading and writing were the main requirements for serving in public office, although government officials were assisted in their day-to-day work by an elite, literate social group known as scribes.

▪ Besides government employment, scribal services in drafting letters, sales documents, and legal documents would have been frequently sought by illiterate people. Literate people are thought to have comprised only 1% of the population, the remainder being illiterate farmers, herdsmen, artisans, and other labourers, as well as merchants who required the assistance of scribal secretaries.

▪ The privileged status of the scribe over illiterate manual labourers was the subject of a popular Ramesside Period instructional text, The Satire of the Trades, where lowly, undesirable occupations, for example, potter, fisherman, laundry man, and soldier, were mocked and the scribal profession praised. A similar demeaning attitude towards the illiterate is expressed in the Middle Kingdom Teaching of Khety, which is used to reinforce the scribes' elevated position within the social hierarchy.

What were they writing?

▪ Narrative tales and stories▪ Lament, discourses, dialogues, and

prophecies▪ Poems, songs, hymns, and afterlife

texts▪ Private letters, model letters, and

epistles▪ Biographical and autobiographical

texts▪ Decrees, chronicles, king lists, and

histories▪ Tomb and temple graffiti

▪ The Story of Sinuhe, written in Middle Egyptian, might be the classic of Egyptian literature. Also written at this time was the Papyrus, a set of stories told to Khufu by his sons relating the marvels performed by priests.

The Rosetta Stone

Legacy and Relevance of Egyptian Civilization

▪ The decimal system▪ 365 days a year calendar▪ Great/Epic scale Architecture▪ Long lasting built forms and techniques▪ Mathematics to solve architectural problems▪ Finding out area of a circle without using pi▪ Propaganda▪ Abstraction in representation▪ Writing similar to modern era with ink▪ Complex Caste and class system▪ Mapping of river flow and floods▪ Measuring the water in the river▪ Soap made from animal fat▪ Notion of Personal hygiene▪ Glass making▪ Advanced pottery making techniques▪ Surgery and use of medicine▪ Mummification and embalming of dead bodies▪ Concept of Afterlife▪ Ship building▪ First people to use sails▪ Use of natural proportioning system Golden Ratio in ▪ Metallurgy and use of precious materials