3000 YEARS OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

1. 3000 YEARS OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

3. KEMET Ancient Egyptians called their land "Kemet," which meant "black," after the black fertile silt-layered soil that was left behind each year during the annual innundation, when the Nile flooded the fields. The most prevalent color of the desert, however, is a decidedly reddish-yellow ochre. The Egyptians called the desert ”Deshret," meaning "red," and this endless carpet of sand covers an estimated 95 % of Egypt, interrupted only by the narrow band of green carved by the waters of the Nile.

4. PRE-DYNASTIC EGYPTNeolithic Period: 6000-3100 bce • Slow development of civilization from 6000-3100 bce • Introspective character: sense of cultural superiority • Awareness of cyclical pattern supported by annual flooding of the Nile and knowledge of the sun’s revolutions • Concentration of population on Nile banks led to development of agricultural villages • Writing began to be developed ca. 3300 bce

5. NileDelta LowerEgypt swamp oasis island UpperEgypt Kush

6. Palermo Stone • Old Kingdom Annals: earliest Egyptian historical writing: 25th c. bce • A dark stone containing information from the early dynasties. • It is inscribed on both sides with a list of kings from Pre-Dynastic Egypt to the middle of the 5th Dynasty. • The exact creation date is not known, the earliest possible date being the middle of the 5th Dynasty.

7. MANETHO • Manetho, a Greek-speaking Egyptian priest, wrote the Ægyptiaca, a collection of three books about the history of Ancient Egypt, commissioned by Ptolemy II in the 3rd c. bce. • As a temple priest, Manetho had access to the archives which contained a vast number of different kinds of writings, ranging in contents from mythological texts to official records, from magical formulas to scientific treaties. • With such sources, myths and folk-tale are mixed with the facts of the Egyptian history. • Manetho divided Ancient Egyptian history in 30 dynasties, a division not always based on historical facts, but partly on mythology and partly on divisions of ruling families already established in the past.

8. Ægyptiaca Papyrus

9. WritingDivine Invention • In ancient Egypt, the invention of writing is attributed to the godThoth or Tehuti(Dhwty in Egyptian), the scribe and historian of the gods, who also kept the calendar and invented art and science.

10. Egyptian Hieroglyphs • Hieroglyphs were called by the Egyptians "the words of God" and were used mainly by the priests. • The painstakingly drawn symbols decorated the walls of temples • Hieratic script was used for conducting day to day business • Hieroglyphs are written in rows or columns and can be read from left to right or from right to left. The direction in which the text is to be read is indicated by the human or animal figures which always face towards the beginning of the line. • The upper symbols are read before the lower.

11. History of Hieroglyphs • 30th century BCE:The hieroglyphic system is developed. • 500 BCE:A slow revolution of hieroglyphic writing starts, as new signs are introduced. The number of available signs in the system grows over the centuries from around 700 to several thousands. • 394 CE:The date of the last case of hieroglyphic writing. • 1799:The Rosetta Stone is discovered, which contained the same text in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), and in three writing systems (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek). • 1822:The French scientist Jean-Francoise Champollion completes the decipherment of the hieroglyphs. Rosetta Stone, 196 bce

13. Hieroglyphs from the Valley of the Kings

14. History of Hieratic Script • Around 2750 BCE: First examples of hieratic script. • Around 2000 BCE: Writing direction changes from vertical to horizontal read from right to left • Around 600 BCE:Demotic script replaces hieratic script for use with secular writing. Hieratic continued to be used for religious texts. • Around 100 CE: Last examples of hieratic script.

15. Hieratic Script • Developed from thehieroglyphicsystem. • Hieratic comes from Greek denoting "priestly", since it was used only for sacred texts in the last 1000 years of its existence. • Hieratic script was used in carved or painted inscriptions, normally written in ink with a reed pen on papyrus. • Hieratic script lasted for about 3200 years, but through the last 1000 years it was challenged by demotic script. • Hieratic script was taught in school, while hieroglyphs were only understood by a small minority of priests in the society.

16. History of Demotic Script • 660 bce: First known example of demotic script. • 5th century bce:Demotic script is in use all over Egypt. • Beginning 4th century ce:Demotic script is starting to be replaced by Greek writing. • 425 ce: Last known example of demotic script.

17. Demotic Script • Demotic script lasted for about 1000 years, during the last period of ancient Egyptian history. • The term "demotic" comes from the Greek word for people, or popular. • Demotic script was used for business and literary purposes, while hieratic was used for religious texts. • Demotic was the most abbreviated and cursive script developed by the ancient Egyptians • Most demotic texts were written in ink on papyrus. It was also written on wood or linen or carved in stone or metal. The Scribe Heti

18. EARLY DYNASTIC PERIODDynasties 1 & 2: ca. 3100-2700 bce • The culmination of the first stage of the Ancient Egyptian civilization that had begun centuries before during Prehistory • The goal was to gain stable, superior status in Mid-East • Establishment of divine kingship as Egypt's form of government • Writing evolved from a few simple signs to a complex system of several hundreds of signs with both phonetic and ideographic values: Hieroglyphs • Structures built in brick, wood and reeds were copied in stone, giving birth to the typical Ancient Egyptian architecture.

19. MENES/NARMER • According to Ancient Egyptian tradition, Menes was the first (human) king to have ruled over the whole of Egypt. • Menes, a Southern (Upper Egyptian) king conquered the North (Lower Egypt) and united Upper- and Lower-Egypt. • He is considered the first king of the 1st Dynasty and credited with many deeds: • the founding of Memphis as the united country's new capital • the building of dams • the founding of new cults and temples. • The identification of Menes is problematic: he is often identified with Narmer, first king on the ancient King Lists

20. Red Crown of Lower Egypt White crown of Upper Egypt 1ST DYNASTY NARMER PALETTE

21. Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt Wadjet Cobra Goddess protector of Lower Egypt Nekhbet Vulture Goddess protector of Upper Egypt 1.Hedjet 2. Deshret 3. Pshent

22. The Sema • A rendering of the lungs attached to the windpipe: a symbol of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. • Other symbols further illustrate unification: • The Sema bound with two plants, the papyrus and the lotus. The papyrus represents Lower Egypt and the lotus represents Upper Egypt. • In other representations we find two gods binding the Sema together using papyrus and lotus.

23. MASTABAS • Earliest tombs -- originally made from mud brick and built for only the most important Ancient Egyptians. Later they were also made from stone. • The dead person was placed into the Mastaba with his or her worldly possessions • To ensure a continued afterlife, a statue of the person was placed into a special room in the Mastaba called the Serdab. • The Chapel had paintings on the walls which showed the dead person in life. • In the Chapel there was a false door for the ka of the dead person to use when coming and going from the tomb. • The Mastabas were robbed no matter how they were designed.

24. OLD KINGDOM The Age of the Pyramids

25. OLD KINGDOM“The Age of the Pyramids”Dynasties 3-6: ca. 2700 -2150 bce • All the provinces were united united under the king/pharaoh, but there was no central army. • Powerful provincial governors, appointed by the king, collected taxes, defended borders, and promoted and improved agriculture. • Egypt was regularly attacked from the East and West by Bedouins and from the South by Kush (Nubia) • Bedouins were defeated in 2600 bce in the Sinai Desert • Saqqara became the site of nobles’ tombs and the first pyramids: reliefs and paintings revealed sophisticated, elegant lives • Pyramids and temples were built by paid labor during the flood time: public works projects

26. OLD KINGDOMArchitecture • Pyramids and Temples • 27th c. bce -- Djoser’s Step Pyramid • Experimentation in the 4th Dynasty One-step pyramid Bent pyramid True pyramid

27. Chancellor of the King of Lower Egypt, First after the King of Upper Egypt, Administrator of the Great Palace, Hereditary nobleman, High Priest of Heliopolis, Builder, Sculptor and Maker of Vases in Chief. IMHOTEP “he who is coming in peace” • Served King Djoser2630-2611 bce • The high priest of Ptah, vizier and the "overseer of works," architect, • Responsible for the construction of Djoser’s Step Pyramid and surrounding funerary complex at Saqqara • Introduced the use of limestone in architecture • Substituted stone for papyrus and palm in columns • Deified as the patron of medicine, of writing and of knowledge

28. Saqqara • Six levels, over 200 feet high • Originally surrounded by courts and buildings

29. Part of the earliest known building to have been completely constructed in stone, this already has all those elements that make Ancient Egyptian architecture so typical: post and lintel construction flat roofs “doorways” for presentation of figures Saqqara

30. Heb-Sed Chapels and Ritual • This court and its chapels provided the pharaoh with the means necessary to have his rejuvenating jubilee, called Heb-Sed. • The ritual allowed the living pharaoh, after he had ruled for some years, to magically refresh his physical powers and thus continue to reign. • For the deceased pharaoh, the ritual could be repeated endlessly in the Netherworld, rejuvenating him and refreshing his powers, thus enabling him to have an eternal after-life. Note the introduction of relief columns

31. PYRAMID TEXTS • The earliest funerary texts inscribed on a pharaoh's pyramid are found at Saqqara. • The Pyramid Texts, were written on the inner passages and the walls of the burial chamber. • They were intended to help the pharaohs travel through the afterworld, to secure the regeneration and eternal life of the king. • The Pyramid Texts are considered the oldest body of religious writings in the world

32. PYRAMID TEXTS • The Pyramid Texts are made up of 750 utterances or spells. • Some of the utterances are hymns and addresses to various gods; others are magical formulae designed to assure resurrection and ward off malign forces. • Their purpose was to ensure a happy afterlife, and through the power of the written word ensure that the deceased would be provided with food and drink.

33. COLUMNS Egyptian architecture was the first to use stone columns A column usually contains: a capitala shaft a pedestal Egyptians had the widest variety of capitals in the ancient world.

34. Columns, originally made from palm and papyrus, bound around with string, were imitated in stone Palm-leaf column

35. Inspired by Nature... Lotus column Papyrus column

36. Hathor columns ...and by the gods The temple at Dendara

37. PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH

38. The Great Pyramid, the tallest building in the world until early in the 20th century,was built in just under 30 years. • It is the last survivor of the Seven Wonders of the World. • Five thousand years ago Gizeh, situated on the Nile's west bank, became the royal necropolis, or burial place, for Memphis, the pharaoh's capital city. • Gizeh's three pyramids and the Sphinx were constructed in the fourth dynasty of Egypt's Old Kingdom, arguably the first great civilization on earth.

39. How did the ancient Egyptians move the massive stones from quarries both nearby and as far away as 500 miles? • Many Egyptologists agree the stones were hauled up ramps using ropes of papyrus twine. • Gradually sloping ramps, built out of mud, stone, and wood were used as transportation causeways for moving the large stones to their positions up and around the four sides of the pyramids. • According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the Great Pyramid took 20 years to construct and demanded the labour of 100,000 men. • Late 20th century archaeologists found evidence that a more limited workforce may have occupied the site on a permanent rather than a seasonal basis and suggested that as few as 20,000 workers, with accompanying support personnel (bakers, physicians, priests, etc.), would have been adequate to the task.

42. THE GREAT SPHINX

43. pyramid obelisk statue

44. ARTISTICCANONS • Canons or conventions for Egyptian art were set during the Old Kingdom and generally adhered to throughout Egyptian history • Frontality • Body proportions • Rigid, erect stance • Dignity • Differing conventions for aristocrats, commoners and slaves Statue of Demedji and Hennutsen, ca. 2465–26 B.C.E.; early Dynasty 5; Old Kingdom

45. OLD KINGDOMThe pre-eminence of RA • Most aristocratic of the gods -- prefers offerings of gold, silver and slaves • Huge offerings were burnt on obelisks • Priests used the offering money for their own purposes • Mummification was very expensive and limited to the aristocracy • Religious rites consumed a huge part of the country’s budget • At the end of the 4th dynasty the power and authority of the priest of RA reached its height when the high priest married the heiress princess backed by bribed provincial governors

46. 1st INTERMEDIATE PERIODDynasties 7-10: ca. 2150 -2040bce • Civil war erupted at the end of the 6th Dynasty caused perhaps by drought and inadequate flooding from the Nile • Priests of RA were blamed for unrest • Worship of OSIRIS became more prominent: • more egalitarian • popular with commoners • rise of ethical and moral religious concepts

47. MIDDLE KINGDOM Relief of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep, ca. 2040–2010 B.C.E.; reign of Nebhepetre Mentuhotep; Middle Kingdom

48. MIDDLE KINGDOMDynasties 11-13: ca. 2040-1640 bce • Country reunited under Menuhotep II of Thebes • Less centralized government with more authority given to regional governors • Golden period of agriculture: land reclamation and irrigation products led to highest crop yields in the world • Worship of AMON became pre-eminent • Use of mud brick for building rather than stone • Rock-cut tombs came into use • Classical age of Egyptian literature: prophecies, hymns, narrative prose tales: Tale of Sinuhe

49. TOMBS: Grave Goods • Mud-brick pyramids and mastabas have largely disappeared • Some rock-cut tombs remain at Beni-Hasan, ca.2100-1800 bce • Layout of tombs similar to homes • Paintings of domestic scenes and farm life Statue of an Offering Bearer, ca. 1985 bce Model of a Riverboat, ca. 1985 bce Coffin of Khnum-nakht, ca. 1900–1800bce

50. MIDDLE KINGDOM ANIMALS Cat, ca. 1991–1783 bce Statuette of a Hippopotamus, ca. 1991–1783 bce