2. Ancient Egypt

3. Geography

4. Regions in Egypt: Nubia Upper Egypt Lower Egypt The Nile valley kemet The desert deshret

5. Environment 965 km between Aswan and Cairo Average annual rainfall 10 millimeters Inundation

6. Nile at Aswan 1 st cataract Upper Egypt

7. Nile delta Nile bank Lower Egypt

8. Resources Agriculture Domesticated animals Stones and metals

9. Egyptian civilization lasted essentially unchanged for 3000 years. The Egyptians are the most successful human culture in history.

10. Chronology Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100-2686 BC) Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2160 BC) 1 st Intermediate period (c. 2160-2055 BC) Middle Kingdom (c. 2055-1650 BC) 2 nd Intermediate period (c. 1650-1550 BC) New Kingdom (c. 1550-1069 BC) 3 rd Intermediate period (c. 1069-664 BC) Late Period (664-332 BC) Ptolemaic period (332-30 BC)

11. The Palette of Narmer Funerary Mask, Ptolemaic Period

12. Before the decipherment of the Rosetta Stone in 1822 by Jean Francois Champolion, we had only classical authors such as Herodotus (5 th century BC) and Manetho (3 rd century BC) from whom to reconstruct Egyptian history.

13. Chester Beatty Papyrus Ebers Papyrus Edwin Smith surgical papyrus Written Records Of Egyptian Life Scribes writing

14. Hieroglyphic Writing Ideograms (signs standing for ideas or concepts) Phonograms (signs standing for sounds ) In addition to traditional Hieroglyphic writing, two alternate scripts also evolved: Hieratic Demotic

15. Pharaoh with Hathor (left) and Osiris (right) Gods: take many forms have many names can be combined permeate all areas of human life Gods are “conceptualizations of an abstract force” which is the divine. The image of a god represents the essential, not the actual.

16. Ma’at = order Personified as a goddess Egyptians had great interest in cosmology (rules that govern the universe as a whole) and cosmogony (the creation of the universe) Society consists of four parts: gods king blessed dead humanity

17. Egyptian World View Ma’at a love of paired opposites, dualities and groups a love of symmetry a desire to impose order seeming inconsistency, but insistence on continuity

18. PomegranatesJar of roasted duck Tomb of Kha, 18 th dynasty Bread

19. Linen robe from the tomb of Kha Painting from tomb of Nebamun

20. More Scenes from Everyday Life Metalworkers Veterinarians at work Winnowing grain Herding cattle

21. Concluding Thoughts (for now): Writing and art are sacred; so just about everything you can read or see means something. Human life in Egypt is seen as part of a sacred whole. Concepts of Ma’at (order) and Izfet (disorder) are central. The potential for disaster is always present and it’s typically humans who cause problems. The sun represents the potential for order and continuity, and Osiris represents the potential for rebirth. Amun, the Sun, represents a culmination in Egyptian theological development.