Ancient Egypt Legacy of the Dead

Ancient Egypt People began to move into the Nile valley around 6,000 BC As hunter gatherers began to settle around the Nile, they evolved into subsistence farmers

Ancient Egypt  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.

Ancient Egypt  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.

Ancient Egypt  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.

Ancient Egypt  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.

Ancient Egypt  The most important event of ancient Egyptian history was the unification of Lower Egypt

Ancient Egypt

 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.

Ancient Egypt 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.

Ancient Egypt  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.

Ancient Egypt  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.

Ancient Egypt  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: BC

Ancient Egypt  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.

Ancient Egypt  The Old Kingdom, Middle Kingdom, and Second Intermediate Period, 2686 to 1552 B.C.  The New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, B.C.

Predynastic

Ancient Egypt  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.

Predynastic   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.

Predynastic

Predynastic   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.

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic  Narmer strikes down a foe. Many Egyptologists have been tempted to interpret this scene as the conquest of Lower Egypt by Narmer.

Predynastic

Predynastic  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.

Predynastic

Predynastic  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.

Predynastic  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.

Predynastic

Predynastic  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.

Predynastic  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.

Predynastic

Predynastic  The taming of wild animals has often been viewed as a metaphor for the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Predynastic

Predynastic  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..

.Predynastic  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.

Predynastic  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.

Ancient Egypt  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.

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic  From the burial of a woman at Abydos, Egypt  Naqada II period, around 3250 BC  Diadem found on the head of a woman, holding a veil in place over her face

Predynastic

Ancient Egypt

Predynastic

Predynastic  Ivory furniture leg  From Egypt  1st Dynasty, around 3000 BC  Ivory leg of a bed or chair in the shape of a bull's leg

Predynastic  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.

Predynastic

Predynastic

Predynastic