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Ancient Egypt |
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Much of the way of life, philosophy, and language as well as religion and art of Egypt has changed since the ancient period of the pharoahs but perhaps due to its favorable location and the influence of its geography, the Egyptian culture has maintained a lasting identity and character throughout a very long history.
Bordered by deserts to the west and east, by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and by the Nile to the south, the kingdom of ancient Egypt had a secure and convenient location that bolstered the growth of a complex society and culture. As a center for trade routes to and from western Asia, the Mediterranean, and central Africa, new elements were continuously introduced into Egyptian culture and made it a thriving nexus. |
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The natural environment only added to the texture of the culture and the permanence of a way of life. Between July and October the annual flooding of the Nile, caused by heavy monsoon rains far south in Ethiopia, determined the rhythm of life in the Nile Valley and in the broader Nile Delta. The receding waters deposited rich sediments on the fields that would then be used for planting and harvesting. A dry season would follow, with the Nile water levels falling until the floods would rise again the next year. The Egyptians considered the annual inundation a gift of the gods, a predictable rhythm of nature that enforced confidence in the divinely regulated cycle of life and death.
To imagine what ancient Egyptians looked like we must look to works of art and the archeological record to obtain a picture of who they were. The depictions on mummy sarcophagi or the clay imagery of Egyptian rulers give glances of the physical attributes of the people and also reveal certain aspects of the culture. In accordance with the evolutionary trends of humans in their habitat, the Egyptians’ physical appearance would have been influenced by the particular conditions of the Nile Valley and their cultural artifacts would have equally been defined by the natural offerings of the region: for example, the use of Kohl, a lead ore powder, for eye make-up, light clothing made from plant fibers, such as linen and rush, and the use of copper for tools, among other things. The historical record of the line of pharaohs that ruled in ancient Egypt is said to have begun with the rule of a king who was able to unite Lower and Upper Egypt. The name attributed to him is Menes, or also possibly the pharoah Narner (of the famed Narner Palette.) From this first pharaoh were to succeed 30 dynasties of pharaohs who would throughout their reigns introduce not only certain hierarchical systems of governing but also particular and sometimes short-lived religious cults of worship. The typical Egyptian society under the pharaonic dynasties was hierarchically structured with levels of society ascending in importance to the ultimate power of the king (known to us through the Greek term, Pharoah.) There were phases during which the centralized power of the pharoahs was mediated by the rise of regionalism and divisions between the powers of Upper and Lower Egypt but within the power structure of the pharoanic system, the highest offices would be held by members of the royal family. Leadership would be hereditary among the elite class and with the kingship it would often be the case that a son or daughter would co-reign with the ruling parent in advent of succession. It was the case that their were, in the ancient Egyptian line of pharoahs, female regents as well as male regents. |
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ANCIENT EGYPT BLOG:
Mummy Powder and the Household Use of the Egyptian Dead Beginning in the 12th century, Arab physicians began to prescribe their patients a most unorthodox remedy: the ground remains of mummies procured from Egyptian tombs. As Islamic Arabs of the day did not regard the ancient Egyptians as ancestors, the practice was widely accepted and so-called mummy powder was in sold in a variety of strengths. Powder procured from the cru Moloch Worship in Ancient Canaan A Greek transcription of the Hebrew molech, meaning king, Moloch was one of the prominent pagan deities of ancient Mesopotamia. As many Israelites burned their children alive in tribute to this idol, modern thinking holds that the name in fact derives from the Punic root MLK, meaning offering or sacrifice, and suggests that Moloch refers not to the name of a god but to a p The Changing Face of the Great Sphinx Today standing guard on the Giza pyramid complex’s eastern face, the Great Sphinx in fact predates Ancient Egypt’s most famed architectural achievements by at least 500 years. Modern archaeology tells us that the Sphinx was built during Old Kingdom Egypt’s fourth dynasty, sometime between 2723 and 2563 BC - making it the world’s oldest known monumental edifice. The Ancient Egyptian Temple at Karnak Built on the bank of the Nile along the northern edge of the city of Luxor, the Temple of Karnak was dedicated to the worship of one of Egypt’s oldest and most storied deities: Amun-Re. Though initially worshipped as the primeval god of the wind and air, Amun-Re increased in favor from the 11th Dynasty onwards, eventually ascending to the forefront of the Egyptian pantheon History of Jewelry: Amulets, Charms and The Afterlife When we face occasions of hardship or uncertainty we may rely on internal sources of strength but often we also seek comfort in external representations of what may fortify us. Throughout the history of human experience, attention has been given to tokens, amulets, or charms that could offer some kind of consolation or protection [...] |
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