Ancient Egypt Before Common Era

The Egyptian civilization colonized along the last 750 miles of the Nile River. (p.66) The Nile River was the lifeblood of the Egyptians. (p.65) The government was one in the same as the religion, and their religion was based on a polytheistic and theocracy belief system. The king was believed to be the living son of Re, the chief god, the god of the sun. (p.68-69) Most of the art and architecture left today was devoted to death and life after. The Egyptians believed in everyone having ka, much like the soul, and at death their ka would be judged by the gods to see if they would be able to continue onto the after life.(p.71) On page 88, there is an excerpt from what we know as The Book of the Dead. It contained prayers, and rituals needed for there final judgment.

In the beginning Egypt’s civilizations were divided into two parts, Upper Egypt, the southern part and Lower Egypt the Northern part including the Nile delta, and Mediterranean Sea coastline. (p.66) This divided state continued until the reign of Narmer who united Upper and Lower Egypt, we know this from the Narmer Palette, p.70-71, during his time there were no formal dynasties.

After Narmer’s reign there were two dynasties that had Egypt united and was ruled from Memphis. Then began the time period known as The Old Kingdom Which dated from BCE The belief during the Old Kingdom was that the afterlife was paramount. Egyptians buried their dead on the West side of the Nile River, where the sun set. This was a symbolic reference to death and rebirth, since the sun always rises again.(p.72) Pyramids are the architectural product of the Old Kingdom. All the necessities of the afterlife, from food to furniture to entertainment, were placed in the pyramid burial chamber with the king’s body. The priests would continuously replenish the offerings in order to guarantee the kings continued existence in the afterlife. (p.72)

Giza was an elaborate complex of rituals, temples, shrines, and ceremonial causeways, all leading to one or another of the Three Great Pyramids. (p.74) There are three pyramids of Giza: Khufu, Khafre, and Menkauza. Khufu is both the earliest and grandest one at 479 feet high. It is believed that stones were dragged up, raised from tier to tier up the side of the pyramid with dazzling astronomical and mathematical precision. Khafre and Menkauza mirror the precision if not in size but in mathematical correctness. ( pp.73,75)

In front of the pyramid of Khafre is the Great Sphinx, dedicated to the king Khafre who was the son of Khufu. It is the largest statue ever made in the ancient world. The fact that the sphinx is half human and half animal, suggests the king’s connection to the gods. (p.74) Other sculptures not so big as the sphinx but still just as important to the egyptians, included the Seated Staute of Khafre (p.76), Menkaure with a Queen (p.77), the Sculptor of the Everday (p.78) and the Lector Priest (p.78). Statues of lesser persons were often made of less permanent materials such as wood. The Old Kingdom time span consisted of 6 dynasties, although it ended when powers divided between the north and the South. Unification didn’t happen until the beginning of the 11 th Dynasty,. Nebhepetre Mentuhotep II reunited the kingdoms and started the Middle Kingdom at Thebes.

The Middle Kingdom: 2040 to 1648 BCE During the Middle Kingdom, one of the greatest changes took place in literature. Writers produced stories, instructive literature, satires, poems, biography, history, and scientific writings. Much of the surviving writings is highly imaginative, including tales of encounters with the supernatural. (p.79) Amun the chief god of Thebes now became the chief god of all Egypt, his name changed to become Amun-Re. (p.80). The relief on page 80, Shows Senwosret Led by Atum to Amun-Re, it is a limestone relief from the White Chapel. The continuity and stability implied by this relief ended abruptly in 1648 BCE, when a Hyksos king declared himself king of Egypt. The Hyksos were foreigners who had apparently lived in Egypt for some time. They made local alliances, introduced the horse drawn chariot, and led Egypt into another “intermediate” period of disunity and disrray.(p.80) Finally, in BCE, the Theban king Ahmose defeated the last Hyksos ruler and inaugurated the New Kingdom.(p81)

The New Kingdom: 1540 to 1069 BCE The worship of Amun continued into the New Kingdom 500 years later. Hatshepsut, daughter of Thutmore, married her half-brother Thutmose II and ruled as king after he died.(p.81) Statues/Sculptures were made of Hatshepsut, but the lacked female charateristics. (p.81) Hatshepsut’s Temple was built across from Anums’ temple.(p.82) Pharoahs engaged in massive building programs during the New kingdom, focusing both their temples and their tombs. (p.82) The earliest and oldest evidence of mummification was found near Saqqara and dates as early as 3100 to 2890 BCE. (p.84) Toward the end of the !8 th Dynasty, Amenhotep IV had taken over as pharoah when his father passed. He had forsakened the traditions and the Egyptian gods, he only wanted the sun disk of Aten to be worshipped.(p.85) Amenhotep believed that the sun was the creator of all life, he was so dedicated to Aten that he changed his name to Akhenaten and moved the capital city from Thebes to Akhentaten, this move transformed Egypt’s political, political and religious life.

Akhenaten’s revolution was short lived, upon his death Tutankhaten assumed the throne moving the royal family to Memphis and returning Thebes to the Religious center.(p.87) King Tutankhaten is more worldly known as king tut, since his tomb was the only royal tomb in Egypt to have escapted the discovery of looters.(p.87) The Last Judgement of Hunefer by Osiris p.89

The New Kingdom ended in 1069 BCE, but the ancient Egyptian way of life changed with political violtity and foreign invasions. All we know of ancient Egypt is what was left behind such as the burial tombs and art found in and on these tombs and temples. Art left behind such as: The Palette of Narmer The Great Pyramids of Giza: Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure The Great Sphinx Seated Statue of Khafre Senwosret led bu Atum to Alum-Re, the limestone relief Hatshepsut’s Temple The Book of Going Forward aka The Book of the Dead Last Judgement of Hunefer by Osiris Egypt eventually fell to Roman invaders in 30 BCE, but The Egyptian’s Egypt had ended in 332 BCE.