Ancient Egypt

Legacy of the Dead

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People began to move

into the Nile valley around 6,000 BCAs hunter gatherers

began to settle around

the Nile, they evolved

into subsistence farmers

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The ancient Egyptians had

a special bond with the

Nile river. The Nile was responsible

for depositing rich silt on

the surrounding land with

its yearly flooding. Egypt received very little

rain and the soil and

people depended on the

flooding to renew the land

and its ability to produce

copious crops.

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The ancient Egyptians

were one of the first

people to have a positive

attitude toward the afterlife. Their theories

were highly developed.

The Nile gave rise to this

attitude also. The land

dried out and the plants

died, then the yearly

flooding came and the

land was reborn into

abundance once again.

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After life ends here, what comes afterwards

must be good. This thought gave rise to the

art of embalming.Sometime during the

Neolithic Period, meat

ceased to be the main

food source and it was

replaced by grains which lead to intentional farming.

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The tribal structure of the Nile

Valley broke down because of

the growing agricultural

economy and the surplus it

generated. People were

producing more food than

they could eat. Long distance trade developed

and towns began to be built

along the Nile. Hierarchical structure

developed with power residing

in a Headman, who was

believed to be able to control

the flooding of the Nile.

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The most important event of ancient Egyptian history was

the unification of Lower Egypt

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Towns became trading

centers, political centers,

and religious (cult) centers.

At some point in history,

these small, autonomous

communities were unified

into the kingdoms of Upper

Egypt and Lower Egypt.

Lower Egypt was the land in

the delta nearest to the sea

and Upper Egypt was

further south in the desert.

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The rulers of Lower Egypt

wore a red crown and had the

bee as their symbol.The rulers of Upper Egypt

wore a white crown and had

the sedge (swamp grass/reed)

as their symbol.After the unification of the two

kingdoms, the pharaoh wore a

double crown symbolizing the

unity of two lands.

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The chief god of the Delta

was Horus, and that of Upper

Egypt was Seth. The

unification of the two

kingdoms resulted in

combining the two myths

concerning the gods. Horus

was the son of Osiris and Isis

and avenged the evil Seth's

slaying of his father by killing

Seth, thus showing the

triumph of good over evil.

Horus took over his father's

throne and was regarded as

the ancestor of the pharaohs.

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After unification, each

pharaoh took a Horus name

that indicated that he was

the reincarnation of Horus.

According to tradition, King

Menes of Upper Egypt

united the two kingdoms

and established his capital

at Memphis, then known as

the "White Walls." Some

scholars believe Menes was

the Horus King Narmer,

whereas others prefer to

regard him as a purely

legendary figure.

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In the course of the Early

Dynastic Period, artisans and

civil servants working for the

central government fashioned the highly

sophisticated traditions of art

and learning that thereafter

constituted the basic pattern

of pharaonic civilization

Everything we have talked

about so far took place in the

Predynastic and first and

second dynasty period:

6000-2686 BC

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With the emergence of a

strong, centralized government under a god-

king, the country's nascent

economic and political

institutions became subject

to royal authority. The central government,

either directly or through

major officials, became the

employer of soldiers,

retainers, bureaucrats, and

artisans whose goods and

services benefited the upper

classes and the state gods.

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The Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and Second Intermediate

Period, 2686 to 1552 B.C.The New Kingdom

and Third Intermediate Period, 1552-664 B.C.

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The word “kingdom”

means a stable government with each

line of pharaohs following each other in

a peaceful manner.The word “intermediate” refers

to a time of civil war

and/or instability when

foreign countries control.

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Named after the Horus Narmer, whose

titulary appears on both

its faces, the Narmer

Palette is a flat plate of

schist of about 25 inches

high and 17 inches wide.

Its size, weight and decoration suggest that

it was a ceremonial palette, rather than an

actual cosmetics palette

for daily use.

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The top of the palette is 'decorated'

in a similar manner on both sides:

the name of the king is inscribed in a

so-called serekh between two

bovine heads. The animal's heads

are drawn from the front, which is

rather uncharacteristic of later

Egyptian art. In most publications,

these heads have been described as

cows' heads, which is interpreted as

an early reference to the cult of a

cow-goddess, perhaps even Hathor. It

is, however, equally possible that the

animals are bulls and that they refer

to the bull-like vigor of the king, a

symbolism that occurs elsewhere on

the palette and would be continue to

be used throughout the Ancient

Egyptian history as well.

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foe. Many Egyptologists have been tempted to interpret this scene as

the conquest of Lower

Egypt by Narmer.

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Above the victim's head,

facing the king, a personified

marshland is represented: the

left side of a piece of land or

swamp is decorated with the

head of a man, somewhat

reminiscent of Narmer's

victim. Out of that land, 6

papyrus plants are growing,

indicating that this land was a

marshland. A falcon, symbol

of the king, is perched on top

of the papyrus plants and

appears to draw the breath of

life out of the nostrils of the

marshland's face.

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Underneath the king's

feet, at the bottom of

the palette's back, lie

two overthrown, naked

enemies. One of their

arms is raised up, the

other is drawn behind

their backs. Their legs

are sprawling. In fact,

their entire posture indicates that they are

fallen enemies.

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To the left of each victim,

a hieroglyphic sign is

drawn, the left-most

representing a wall and

the other some sort of

knot. Both signs are usually interpreted as

names of places that have

been overthrown by Narmer. Their reading is

unknown so even if they

do denote names of places, we do not know

which places they are.

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In the top scene of the

palette's front, the second

figure from the left, Narmer,

is represented wearing the

Red Crown, that is usually

associated with Lower

Egypt. He holds a mace in

his left hand, while his right

arm is bent over his chest,

holding some kind of flail.

The two signs in from of

him represent his name, but

they are not written in the

so-called serekh.

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He is again followed by an apparently bald

figure that holds his sandals in his left hand

and some kind of basket in his right. A

rectangle above this

sandal-bearer's head

contains a sign of uncertain meaning.

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The scene at the bottom of

the palette's front face

continues the imagery of

conquest and victory. A

bull, almost certainly a

symbol of the king's vigour

and strength, tramples a

fallen foe and attacks the

walls of a city or fortress

with its horns. The name of

the city or fortress attacked

by the bull is written within

the walls, but its reading is

unknown.

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Meaning

The overall military symbolism on the palette

is clear. Using different

types of imagery, the king

is shown again and again

as victorious over his

enemies. He is shown

striking down a kneeling

enemy, whilst stepping on

the bodies of some other

foes on the palette's back.

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On the front of the palette, he is represented as a

human overlooking the decapitated corpses of his foes or

as a bull vigorously trampling an enemy

and breaking down the

walls of a city or a fortress.

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The fact that the king is

represented on one side

wearing the crown of

Upper Egypt, the region

from whence he came, and

on the other side the

crown of Lower Egypt is

very often seen as proof

that the Upper-Egyptian

Narmer was the one who

successfully conquered

Lower Egypt or part thereof.

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From the burial of a woman at Abydos, EgyptNaqada II period,

around 3250 BCDiadem found on the

head of a woman, holding a veil in place

over her face

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Ivory furniture legFrom Egypt1st Dynasty, around

3000 BC

Ivory leg of a bed or chair in the shape of a

bull's leg

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Model of a house From a grave at el-Amra, Egypt

Late Predynastic period, about 3200 BC

During the later Predynastic period in

Egypt, circular huts were replaced by

rectangular houses. Archaeological

evidence for the appearance of these

houses is extremely limited. It mainly

consists of post holes and foundation

slots, with little information about the

structure above ground level. This

model of a house, probably originally

placed in a tomb, provides vital

information about what the houses of

this period looked like. Models of later

periods show how houses changed over

time.

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