Egypt: How did a traditional society deal with change?

CHW3M

Sept./Oct. 2015

Main Theme #1

• Conservativeness, Stability– Prefer tradition over change– Like things to remain generally the same

• However, changes do happen– HTC = continuity and change (they are not opposites; they

can occur at the same time)

Social hierarchy reflects conservativeness – little mobility (ability to move up)

Social Hierarchy

Social Class Pyramid Review, Oct. 2012, http://www.mysocialstudiesteacher.com/wiki/index.php?title=Social_Class_Pyramid_-_Review (Feb. 12, 2013).

Government officials

Artisans

Main Theme #2

• Religion is everything– Polytheistic like Mesopotamia

• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/main.html (British Museum gods and goddesses list)

• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/story/main.html (British Museum, creation story) HTC = historical perspective

– State religion – ruler deified (seen as a god)– Afterlife central – many rituals, spells,

superstitions, prayers to help you get in

Weighing of the Heart during the Ka Recitation

Adam Gabbatt, “British Museum to Recreate Egyptian Journey to the Afterlife”, The Guardian, June 17, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jun/17/british-museum-egyptian-afterlife-exhibition (Feb. 12, 2013).

Weighing of the Heart

• Osiris = Judge of the Dead

• Maat = balancer of the scale

• If heart weighs true afterlife

• If heart too heavy devourer tears the heart to shreds and there is no afterlife

Ka Recitation Homage to thee, O great God, Lord of Maati! I have come unto

thee, O my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy beauties. I know thee, I know thy name, I know the names of the forty-two Gods who live with thee in the Hall of Maati...I have not committed sins against men. I have not opposed my family and kinfolk. I have not acted fraudently in the Seat of Truth. I have not known men who were of no account. I have not defrauded the humble man of his property. I have not done what the gods abominate. I have not vilified a slave to his master. I have not inflicted pain. I have not caused anyone to go hungry. I have not made any man to weep. I have not committed murder....I have not encroached on the fields (of others). I have not added to the weights of the scales...I have not driven the cattle away from their pastures. I have not snared the geese in the goose-pens of the gods. I have not caught fish with bait made of the bodies of the same kind of fish. I have not stopped water when it should flow...I am pure, I am pure. I am pure...

Exploring Ancient World Cultures, Essays on Ancient Egypt, Deborah Howard, “The Egyptian Culture Reflected in Worship”, 1996, http://eawc.evansville.edu/essays/howard.htm (Feb. 12, 2013).

HTC = primary source evidence

Ka Recitation Format

• Opening dedicated to gods

• Negative confession of bad things you have not done in your:– Relationship with gods– Relationship with humans– Relationship with nature

• Respectful closing

Main Theme #3

• Centralized state– Unified for most of its history

• Unlike Mesopotamia – Problems unifying because the land away from the

levees was not productive and this divided people and kingdoms

Lower Egypt

Upper Egypt

Geography• Using pages 55-56 in the textbook, take notes

under these headings and in this chart format: Title = How geography affected Egyptian life

Page # Heading / Point

Details, examples

Nile River valley

Nile Delta

Deserts

Flooding

Mediterranean Sea

Geography ComparisonMesopotamia Egypt

Centred on rivers Centred on river

Soil needs a lot of work to be farmed; land between rivers was desert

Deserts on both sides of the river isolated it to a certain extent and provided resources

Catastrophic flooding Relatively predictable flooding made the land fertile (July – October = the inundation)

Levees on Euphrates R. were fertile but needed to be drained and irrigated

Trade through Mediterranean

British Museum, Ancient Egypt Geography, N.d. http://ancientegypt.co.uk/geography/home.html (Feb. 12, 2013); Metropolitan Museum of Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Bag of Natron from Tutankhamun’s Embalming Cache, Oct. 2010, http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1988.437.2 (Feb. 12, 2013).

Desert Nile River Valley

Bag of embalmer’s natron

Homework 1

• Take notes on political– Old kingdom, 57-59– Middle kingdom, 63-64

• Answer “Egyptian Beliefs” questions 1-6 in booklet.

Homework Quiz – Old Kingdom

• What made Egypt wealthy during the Old Kingdom?

• How did they display their wealth?

• Name a famous architect and builder.

• What did he build?

Middle Kingdom

• Were these happy times?

• How long did the civil war last?

• What became the national god?

• Who invaded and ruled for 150 years?

• What did they have in terms of superior technology?

• How did the Egyptians regain control?

New Kingdom

• Why is this time considered a golden age?

• Who helped make Egypt wealthy during this time?

• What was Ramses II famous for?

• Foreign rule:– Greeks– Romans– Nubians– Assyrians– Persians

Bibliographic Format – Chicago Style

Last, First. Title of Book. City: Publishing Co., Year.

Notes:– Goes at the top of each source of info (don’t mix up

your sources).– Title underlined or italicized.– Second (and third and so on) line indented.– City, not country. – See “Documentation for History Essays” in writing

package.

Homework Quiz on Beliefs

Ka Form of the dead that exists in the afterworld

Akh Unique character of each person

Bah Like the best times on earth

Maat Concept of order, truth and justice – harmony with gods

Afterlife Spiritual duplicate (returns via preserved body)

Mummification video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQ5dL9cQX0&feature=related

Homework 2

• Finish “Egyptian Beliefs” questions from booklet.

• Take notes on political for New Kingdom, 65-67