Aditya Earl Alphonso

8/3/2016
Project Report

An Integrative Perspective on the Modern Influences of Ancient Egypt

Far and wide, one of the most captivating subjects still studied today is that of ancient
Egypt. A civilization that found itself in the midst of the craze known as Egyptomania as a
result of Napoleons Egyptian campaign, ancient Egyptians are still studied today in museums,
labs, and classrooms all over the world. The extensive scientific study of ancient Egyptian
remains and culture has undoubtedly had a significant impact on the cultural imagination of all
Western cultures. However, what we often fail to recognize is the significant impact ancient
Egyptians had on our world as we know it today. While it is safe to say all ancient civilizations
have contributed in some way to the development of modern civilizations, the work and
discoveries of Ancient Egyptian society go far beyond that of their counterparts. The society
drastically influenced many everyday objects we use today, such as the vase or the plow, but it
was also the basis for far more significant ideas in todays world, and this paper will set out to
prove just that.
A consequence of the speed of light is that time and space are inextricably linked. This is
similar to ancient Egypt and our world because ancient Egypt was considered to be one of the
first civilizations, it is inevitable that we have evolved to live in similar fashions. However, are
their contributions tangible in any way, and just how big of an influence do those contributions
have? The answer to these questions is first, yes, and second, immeasurable. Let us take a look
into one of the biggest aids into successful synchronization and functionality behind our modern

world: the calendar. It might seem as if our 365 day calendar came about with modern inventions
that helped our forays into the study of astronomy and horology, and while this is not untrue, we
must look much further back to find the roots of time, days, weeks, months, and years. The first
calendar the Egyptians utilized was the lunar calendar, which had a system for a new lunar
month beginning with each lunar cycle of 28-29 days. A 13 th month was then added on every
several years to keep the calendar in check with agricultural seasons and feasts. Later, an
Egyptian civil calendar was introduced that consisted of 365 days organized into 12 months of 30
days each, with an additional five irregular days grouped at the conclusion of the year. This
formed the basis for the calendar that was then developed by Julius Caesar many, many years
later in 46 B.C. that introduced the leap-year day occurring once every four years. While it might
be surprising for some to consider that our finished product of a calendar was developed even
before the birth of Christ, it is true nonetheless.
Another area that we see heavy influence from ancient Egypt is religion. In fact, there are
pools of websites online that claim Jesus Christ himself was taken from the ancient Egyptian
equivalent, Horus. The books and websites dedicated to studying these relationships have created
lists of similarities, with one even hitting 55 different comparisons that make it seem as if Christ
could not have possibly been based off of anything other than Horus. These comparisons even
invoke other characters in both stories, suggesting counterparts for John the Baptist and Mary
amongst others. Unfortunately for the people dedicating their time to this, none of it is truly real.
Almost all of the similarities on the 55 point long list were disproven by respected Egyptologists,
and there are no real references to the characters mentioned to be Egypts versions of John the
Baptist or Mary. That being said, while we might not be able to point out tangible parallels
between specific figures, modern religions in general definitely have facets that are definitely

similar to ancient Egypt. In their essence, religions seek to explain the unexplainable, and give us
reasons to live for something greater than ourselves. It is hard to argue with the idea that ancient
Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to truly adopt this way of explaining the unknown,
and one can reasonably deduce that other, relatively modern religions found archetypes in
ancient Egypt that are visible till today. For instance, while the language and terms differ, the
creation stories believed by Christianity and ancient Egypt do show a strong correlation. Both
insist that a supreme god came first, and then simply created from nothing everything we know
and see around us. In addition, both religions continue their presence on earth through a modern
embodiment of a religious figure. Every Egyptian king was supposed to be an embodiment of
Horus, and was also the chief religious leader of his people. This is similar to the modern day
Pope, who is considered to be the direct successor to St. Peter. It is important to note that what
we know today about ancient Egypt and its religion in particular is the direct result of people
from various fields working together to find answers. While Egyptologists may have more
knowledge of Egyptian customs, science provides answers that we cannot simply find etched on
the wall of a tomb. For instance, DNA testing continues to uncover the identities of various
mummies that existed in ancient Egypt, and this is necessary towards building a more complete
timeline of the societys development and progress.
Finally, we must take a look through our own time-bending telescope to find some of the
earliest documented roots of one of the other most fascinating subjects in the modern world:
astronomy. There is very little doubt that the stars and skies were of paramount importance to
Egyptians we have already seen their work forming the calendar and it governed numerous
facets of life. For instance, the Great Pyramid is aligned almost exactly with the cardinal points,
which makes it almost certain that some form of astronomical measurement was used. This

might seem easy to deny by suggesting there were more elementary methods such as observing
the sun through sunrise and sunset and forming measurements based on these observations.
However, these methods are not as accurate in practice, especially given the tremendous
precision that is necessary. For instance, the sun must be seen over a flat horizon, which is not
true of Giza. In addition, there is the refraction of the suns rays due to the earths variable
atmosphere that produces a light that is bent above the horizon even though the sun has already
set. These obstacles further the case that the Egyptians used some sort of astronomical
measurement, and it is to most astronomers dismay that we have still not truly figured out how
the Egyptians managed this let alone how they managed to build the pyramids in the first place.
To go a step further, another theory claims that the pyramids were built according to the
constellation Orion, with the three pyramids at Giza representing the belt of Orion. While there is
no substantial proof to this claim, it further demonstrates our lack of a complete knowledge
relating to ancient Egypt and how the society could have possibly been even more advanced than
even the most learned people believe.
There are many mysteries of ancient Egypt that even thousands of years later have
remained unsolved. Perhaps that is why the subject garners so much attention. However, it needs
to be said how absolutely incredible it is that we are able to know anything about ancient Egypt
at all. Even at its most recent existence, the civilization is at least a couple thousand years old,
and the majority of the records that existed were for lack of a better term squiggly lines and
drawings. That we managed to find the Rosetta Stone in 1799, decode a language, and
subsequently piece together the happenings and culture of ancient Egypt is nothing less than one
of the great accomplishments of modern day research. It is perhaps even more truly a testament
to the feats that are achievable through cooperation and integrative learning. Would someone

with simply archaeological knowledge have been able to uncover the colorful history of ancient
Egypt? Would someone with simply astronomical knowledge or sociological knowledge have
been able to do it? Probably not. Ancient Egypt has seen itself renewed by all types of people
from DNA analysts to sociologists and religious people and that is perhaps the biggest reason
we know as much as we know today, and are able to utilize what we have learned to continue to
push the world forward.