EARLY RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

Approximately 5000 years ago the first complex, politically centralized civilizations
began to crystallize independently along a number of river valleys throughout the
southern half of Asia and northern Africa . These civilizations constitute the next step in
the organization and centralization of human economic, political, religious, and social
institutions and practices.

Why did the first complex, politically centralized civilizations materialize along rivers?
Because rivers supplied a continuous if not always dependable flow and supply of water
for farming and human consumption. These rivers along with climate, vegetation,
geography, and topography shaped the development of the early river valley
civilizations. However, while people of these civilizations were dependent on the rivers,
the rivers also inspired new technological, economic, institutional, and organizational
innovations and developments.

Between 3000 and 2000 B.C.E. such river valley civilizations formed independently of
each other along the Indus, the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Yellow Rivers.
These civilizations shared certain characteristics that distinguished them from the
collections of Neolithic communities that preceded them.

Nile River valley civilizations

The Nile River was the axis of two early African civilizations, Egypt and Nubia . The
Nile River shaped the development of both civilizations, providing a reliable source of
water for farming and linking them to sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean Sea .
The Nile gave them limited access to various Bantu peoples to the south and various
Mediterranean peoples to the north. Although both civilizations crystallized along the
Nile , they developed along different lines. Egypt unified politically earlier and more
effectively than Nubia . The ruler-conqueror first united Egypt about 3100 B.C.E.
Subsequently, the institution of the pharaoh as deified ruler developed during a period
known as the Archaic Period(3100-2660 B.C.E.).

Ancient Egyptian history is chronologically divided by dynasty and kingdom. The three
principle periods are the Old Kingdom(2660-2160 B.C.E.), the Middle Kingdom(2040-
1640 B.C.E.), and the New Kingdom (1550-1070 B.C.E.). In a number of ways the Old
Kingdom is considered the classic era in ancient Egyptian history. This period is
marked by the power and influence of the pharaoh being at its height, as manifest in the
construction of massive pyramids for burial of the pharaohs. While pyramids were
constructed during all three kingdom periods, Egyptians built the largest pyramids for
their pharaohs during the Old Kingdom . Of course, these massive monuments have
come to define ancient Egypt in popular culture. Arguably the most famous pyramids
were constructed between 2600 and 2500 B.C.E. at Giza , two of the best known being
the Great Pyramid of the ruler Khufu and the Great Sphinx.

The periods of the Middle and the New Kingdoms are defined by greater contact with
various peoples around the Mediterranean . During the period of the New Kingdom
ancient Egypt was at the height of its imperial power in northern Africa and the
Mediterranean basin. After the end of the New Kingdom Egypt came under the control
of a succession of foreign powers in northern Africa, the Mediterranean basin, Anatolia,
and western Asia. Despite long periods of political and/or military subjugation,
significant remnants of ancient Egyptian culture survived and even thrived.

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means land between the rivers, referring to the
Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. These two rivers were the axes of one of the most
influential ancient civilizations in history. With the development of irrigation around 6000
B.C.E. farming villages appeared and grew into larger communities and then cities
along these rivers.

Political centralization first occurred in Mesopotamia in much the same way that it took
place along the Nile River . From approximately 3200 to 2350 B.C.E. various Sumerian
cities dominated Mesopotamia . During this period these cities, ruled by monarchs,
came to control surrounding economic hinterlands, and, in the process, evolved into
city-states. These city-states were rivals who vied for influence throughout, even
dominance of Mesopotamia . In the twenty-fourth century B.C.E. Sargon, the ruler of
the city of Akkad , became the first man to unify Mesopotamia under his control. From
2350 to 1600 B.C.E. Mesopotamia was dominated by Babylon , a city that straddled the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Mesopotamia left a number of important cultural legacies for Western civilization.

Mesopotamia culture was a synthesis of both Sumerian and Semitic forms. One of
these legacies was various legal codes developed by a succession of Mesopotamian
rulers. Most notably among these rulers was Hammurabi(r. 1792-1750 B.C.E.), a
Babylonian ruler who had various legal codes, guidelines, and precedents compiled.
This compilation was part of his larger effort to standardize the administration of his
kingdom. Another legacy was the Epic of Gilgamesh, a collection of stories about
ancient Mesopotamia which centered around a legendary king of Uruk, who was part
god. These stories became one of the models for later heroic epics which celebrated
the exploits of rulers and their champions.

Harappan civilization
From roughly 3000 to 1500 B.C.E. a complex, urbanized civilization existed along the
Indus River in what is today northern India . This ancient Indus River valley civilization
was dominated by several large cities, including Harappa and Mohenjo-daro, and today
is known by the name of the former. The people of this civilization were known as
Dravidians.

For a number of different reasons we dont know as much about Harappan civilization
as we do about its counterparts along the Nile, the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Yellow
Rivers . Unlike these other civilizations the language of ancient Harappan civilization
cannot be deciphered. Our knowledge of this civilization is based almost entirely on
various physical remains.

The Xia, the Shang, and the Zhou Dynasties of Early China

Early Chinese civilization developed along the same lines as that of ancient Egypt and
Mesopotamia . Between 7000 and 5000 B.C.E. agricultural villages appeared and grew
along the Yellow and Yangzi Rivers . Ancient Chinese history is marked by three
successive dynasties that would become the roots of Chinese culture and civilization.
Little is known about the Xia Dynasty(2200-1766 B.C.E.), the first of these dynasties.
The Shang Dynasty(1766-1122 B.C.E.) built on the base established by its
predecessor, with the help of various technological advances, including bronze
metallurgy and horse-drawn chariots. The Zhou Dynasty(1122-256 B.C.E.) expanded
upon Shang accomplishments. One of the Zhou Dynastys best known achievements
was articulation of the concept of the Mandate of Heaven as a justification for the
overthrow of an unpopular and/or unsuccessful dynasty. These three dynasties
established many of the threads of Chinese civilization.

The Legacies of the Ancient River Valley Civilizations

These civilizations laid the foundations for political centralization and organization upon
which nearly all subsequent civilizations are built. They also provided many of the roots
of human civilization all the way to the present including the practices of monument
building, written articulation of legal codes, and the construction of the legal and political
infrastructures necessary to run a central government of a state. If one were
transported back in time to one of these early civilizations, one would find much that
was familiar.
Summary: Ancient River Valley civilizations developed around river valleys, but
they are all different. Two of them are in China and Egypt. Although Egypt and
China both had River Valley civilizations and were similar, they had even more
differences.

The development of farming caused ancient people to give up their normal lifestyles
and establish permanent settlements, which grew into civilizations. Most early
civilizations developed on River Valleys. Governments, social structures, writing
systems, and belief systems developed as population grew. Ideas moved from one
culture to another with the help of migration, trade and warfare. Ancient River
Valley civilizations developed around river valleys, but they are all different. Two of
them are in China and Egypt. Although Egypt and China both had River Valley
civilizations and were similar, they had many more differences.

The river valley in Egypt is around the Nile River. The Nile is a very famous river for
being the only river that flows north. It was very useful to the Egyptians because it
floods periodically in a cycle that was predictable. It was also very gentle, but not
too gentle or else it couldn't fertilize the land. It was considered the gift of the Nile.
The rich soil deposits, and growth of fresh plants each year. They had a cycle every
year; flood, plant, harvest- flood, plant, harvest. It seemed to work out well for
them. The Nile wasn't their only geographical advantage. The hot dessert
surrounding the river made it hard for anyone to invade or move into Egypt. This
may have been a great advantage for the Egyptians, but it wasn't the only one.
Egyptians had many advantages and advancements in religion and technology, but
only a few things stood out, for example, the Pyramids. The Egyptians needed
tombs to bury or place the dead. The pharaohs forced the slaves, or lowest people
in the social classes to build these tombs. Using their advance knowledge of
geometry, a pyramid seemed right. When they entombed the dead, they didn't just
throw them in there- they mummified them. The most important people such as
Pharaohs were mummified. The Egyptians basically worshiped cats, and they were
mummified as well. The mummification process is very complicated, it involves
taking out all the body fluids and organs, wrapping the body carefully- and with
preservatives, and putting all the person's possessions with him or her. It was a
long process, but it was necessary for their belief in the afterlife. They not only
believed in afterlife, but they were monotheistic and believed that Pharaohs were
gods in human form. Another interesting characteristic of the Egyptians was their
written language, Hieroglyphics. It was a system of symbols and pictures. The only
way that we were able to decipher it was with the help of the Rosetta stone. The
stone had 3 languages written, Egyptian hieroglyphics, advanced hieroglyphics, and
Greek. The Greek was what we were able to translate the hieroglyphics with.
Overall the Egyptian culture heavily influenced many cultures we have today.
The Chinese civilizations were very different from the Egyptians. The River Valley in
China was the Yellow River Valley. The Yellow River, also known as the Huang Ho,
is the central point in this civilization. Unlike the Nile in Egypt, the Yellow River was
unpredictable and flooded violently. Even though this sounds bad, the Chinese
learned to live with it. They found out how to irrigate and use the renewal of soil to
cultivate and farm. This was very helpful in producing enough to trade with other
civilizations other than their trading of agriculture. They were pretty isolated from
everyone else. The Himalayan Mountains and dessert land separated them from
other civilizations. They also had some jungle barriers, but the most important
barrier or isolation was cultural. The Chinese were very different from the Egyptians
in that they were much more advanced and much smarter. The Chinese advanced
in pottery, fireworks, water transportation and harvesting. These advancements
lead to more and more trading. The more trading they did the larger their economy
grew. Due to the lack of government and the worshiped King, the people didn't
make a lot compared to what they deserved. The King was in an Aristocratic ruling
class, started by warrior families and continuing with generations. The social
classes in China were different from the Egyptians In that the Chinese didn't have
priests or a strong military at the top. They had Artisans, craft workers and then
merchants, followed by peasant farmers and slaves. This segregation seemed to
work for them in that the civilization grew and continued to expand. The Yellow
River Valley civilization was more different than similar to the Nile River Valley
civilization.
Ancient River Valley civilizations all developed around river valleys, but they are all
different. Two of them are in China and Egypt. Each civilization had a river running
through their cities. The Egyptians and Chinese were and still are very different.
They have some similarities, but they have a lot more differences. The development
of farming and the permanent settlement brought governments, advanced written
languages and other new technologies. With all this came trade, migration and
disputes which may lead to war. All this combines to expand knowledge and the
spread of ideas with new advancements. The Yellow River and the Nile River Valleys
may be similar, but their differences are much more obvious.
 THE ORIGIN OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
BY JIMMY DUNN

A stone circle at Nabta Playa in Egypt's Western Desert is thought to act as a calendar
and was constructed around 7000 BC

What could Hitler, the German chancellor who savaged the Jews and brought world war upon us during the mid
20th century, had to do with our initial interpretations of the origins of Egyptian society? Quite a lot, actually,
although we must not place all the blame on him. Many of his attitudes about race were more common in the early
20th century amongst the western colonial powers than most people realize.

As Egyptology began to come into its own as a science rather than a treasure hunt after the 1890s, only then did
early investigators find surviving evidence predating the pyramids. Excavations by Flinders Petrie brought to light a
much older culture predating the historic 1st Dynasty known from records, and at first, this material was so
unfamiliar that Petrie thought it must have been left by a "New Race" of people in the Nile Valley. However, even
though culturally distinct from the Egyptians of Dynastic times, after further study, he determined that he had, in
fact, discovered the remains from a prehistoric period. He, and others, were especially struck by the marked
differences between this new, Predynastic culture, and the much better known material from the Old Kingdom and
later period.

The Egyptologists of the early 20th century concluded that the classic ancient Egyptian civilization had been
brought to the Nile Valley by a "dynastic race" of invaders. They believed that the invaders were both culturally and
politically superior to the native Prehistoric Egyptians, and that they swiftly established themselves as rulers of the
country. At the time, the dubious science of cranial metrology, that is, using skull measurements to attempt to
determine racial characteristics, was fashionable. It was also used in support of this "superior race" theory in Egypt.

These superior, invading people were believed to have come from a land to the east of Egypt, reflecting the
widespread view that the Orient was a primary source of early culture. The royal art of Egypt during the 1st Dynasty
was thought to be similar to that found in Mesopotamia, and so many believed that the earliest kings of Egypt came
from present day Iraq. In the 1930s, this theory was given further credence by Hans Winkler, a German who
became well known in Egyptology for his exploration of the Eastern Desert. There, he found an abundance of
ancient rock art between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea. Significantly, numerous images of boats were especially
striking, and were also very similar to water crafts found in early Mesopotamian art.

However, in the early 20th century, the chronology of the ancient world was still very poorly understood, and so
Winkler did not know at the time that these Egyptian boats predated their Mesopotamian counterparts by many
centuries. Hence, he argued that the Mesopotamians invaded Egypt by way of the Red Sea, leaving traces of their
passage on the rocks as they traveled to the Nile River.
This invasion theory was very much a product of its time. Individuals such as Hitler encouraged this approach, but
in fact diffusionist theories involving superior racial groups bringing civilization to indigenous peoples were popular
among many of the colonial powers of western Europe. At the time, Africa was known as "the heart of darkness",
and was thought to be incapable of producing an advanced culture without outside influence. In fact, it was the
defeat of Nazism, and the granting of independence to many of the former European colonies in Africa, that would
finally drive such theories from popularity.

Though invasion theories would persist among a few Egyptologists for some time, and even see a resurrection in
popular works as late as the 1990s, most scholars abandoned their search for the foreign origins of Egyptian
civilization. Today, we look instead for indigenous development and the roots of dynastic Egyptian culture within the
Nile Valley itself and the immediate territory surrounding this cradle of civilization.

Intensive archaeological research has, after many years, finally divulged much about prehistoric Egypt. Our
understanding of Egyptian civilization can now be traced back through a long sequence of developments to 5000
BC and earlier, almost 2000 years prior to Egypt's 1st Dynasty. We have found even prior to 5000 BC, evidence of
very early communities of hunter-gatherer people along the Nile Valley and on the shores of what is now Lake
Qarun in the Fayoum, as well as for a palaeolithic population dating back some 300,000 years.

Now, our knowledge of the culture of early dynastic Egypt has also changed our view of how classic Egyptian
civilization emerged. As little as sixty years ago, and even today among some popular theorists, the dynastic Egypt
we know appears to have suddenly sprang from a a cultural vacuum. However, like the pyramids themselves that
evolved through experimentation, sometimes resulting in failures, over many years, likewise, today we can
appreciate the long gestation of Egyptian culture, and the fact that its roots lie firmly within Egypt itself.

However, we must recognize, as with most cultures, that Egypt was not immune to foreign influence. In fact, most
successful civilization must borrow from other cultures some technological advances, even if they produce a few
themselves. Thus, it is clear that the Predynastic culture of Egypt was receptive to ideas from neighboring lands.
Foreign architectural and artistic motif, and perhaps even the idea of writing, were adopted by the Egyptians at the
dawn of history. However, like the chariots of the New Kingdom which were themselves adapted from foreign
sources, but modified to be lighter in order to better handle the Egyptian terrain and the Egyptians battle tactics, all
such borrowings from even the earliest times were quickly fitted into an Egyptian context. Hence, there is certainly
no evidence whatsoever for an invasion of dynastic conquerors, though in ancient times as even today, Egypt was
a cultural melting pot, where Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean met. The civilization that emerged in the Nile Valley
simply absorbed influences from all of these areas.

However, while the Nile civilization did not spring from foreign influence abroad, recent evidence suggests that the
impetus behind this development may not have been the adoption of a settled, agricultural way of life, and
archaeologists once thought. Rather, it would seem that the stresses of a more precarious existence in the hostile
environment of the dry savannahs to the east and west, where now there is little but desert, may have resulted in a
gradual migration of semi-nomadic cattle herders into the Nile Valley. Almost like a vacuum, the Nile Valley began
to suck in these nomads as their grassland pastures dried out, and this could have also been an important stimulus
to the rapid development of Egyptian civilization, forcing a large population into a much smaller area.

As a side note, we should mention that the same evidence that exists to dispel more normal foreign invaders just as
clearly evidences the fact that the ancient Egyptian civilization does not owe its existence to Atlantians or
extraterrestrials. Such popular theories have existed for many years, but particularly since the 1960s. Writers have
found an eager audience for such laughable ideas, even though their theories are flawed. Usually, they present
highly selective evidence, but not the wide context of material available to us on the evolution of Egyptian
civilization.

In summary, over several thousand years, environmental changes and foreign influences molded the gradual
development of a civilization that was, in the final analysis, distinctively and uniquely Egypt. In ancient Egypt, the
egg was seen as a symbol of birth and resurrection, and indeed, Egypt was as an egg itself, nourishing its people
from within, while providing a hard shell to protect them from outside hazards. As the savannahs dried up to
become deserts, forcing their inhabitants into a more densely packed population, they also cradled and protected
these people, allowing them to incubate along the rich, fertile Nile into the grand empire we find in later times.

1. The fertile banks of the Nile River offered several annual crops, as many floodings the river
produced. The farmers would eagerly wait for the flooding, because after the water's retreat, the
fields remained covered with a thick layer of mud on which the crops grew rapidly. This condition
boosted the existence of various independent agricultural settlements. But around 5,200 BC, the
first pharaoh, Menes, unified by war all the populations inhabiting the lower valley of the Nile River.
Menes founded the first Egyptian dynasty and, like all the succeeding pharaohs, he was considered
a god.
2. The kings of the first Egyptian empire, called the Ancient Empire, built gigantic pyramid-shaped
tombs. In its interior, the construction had a chamber where the mummified cadaver of the pharaoh
was deposited, with a plethora of offerings: food, clothes, jewels, dishes, and other. To avoid the
theft of these treasures and tomb's profanation, inside the pyramid the architects built a real
labyrinth of false passages to confuse the thieves. It was calculated that for building the pyramid of
Kheops, the largest ever, 110,000 workers labored for 25 years. It is the only one of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, 138.8 m (455.2 ft) tall.

3. Accommodated Egyptian families lived in beautiful mansions built of adobe or stone, close to canals
or the Nile itself. Each dwelling had one level and an inner courtyard with a pool with papyrus and lotus.
Against the hot climate, the houses had small external openings, just some very small windows which,
with the serene sky of Sahara, delivered enough light for the houses during the day. The entrance to the
house had porches sustained by columns, reunion places for men at the sunset. But if the tombs were
richly decorated with wall paintings and bas-reliefs, the houses were not.
4. The tombs were the place were Egyptian art (painting, sculpture and jewelry) reached its highest.
Tombs varied along the time. The first type were pyramids and mastabas (small buildings made of mud
brick, rectangular in plan with sloping sides and a flat roof, leading to a well carved in the ground
leading to the funerary chamber), then speos (rock cut chapels in rocky cliffs).The tombs were richly
adorned with art works: sculptures in painted wood, stone or ceramic dishes, coffins with the dead
person's effigy, wall paintings in vivid colors and stone reliefs. Still, Egyptian art varied very little along
the centuries.

5.The main Egyptian god was Amon Re, the king of all gods. The god Ra Harakti was represented with
human body and falcon head. His daughter was Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. One important
Egyptian symbol was that of the solar disk surrounded by the sacred snake. Crocodiles were sacred in
the ancient Egypt, and they were even embalmed; large embalmed crocodiles were found in many
tombs and sacred edifices. A sacred bird was the ibis.

Egyptians used to embalm baboons, cats, dogs, falcons, mice (representing the hearts of the sinners,
offered to Osiris, the god of death). Human mummies show that Egyptians used prostheses 3,000 years
ago.

6.Ancient Egyptians were physically very similar to the modern Egyptian peasants, called fellahs.
Nobles, priests, and the pharaohs shaved their heads and wore various types of caps and wigs.
Oppositely, villagers or artisans wore long hair and shaved their beards. Against the hot sun, Egyptians
wore linen clothes. In time, linen use turned exclusive for some social classes and served as cast
distinction.

The Egyptian attire consisted generally from a short fabric skirt and a tunic reaching to the ankles. The
costume was completed with various adornments. Egyptian women were famous for their make up:
they used khol, a black dye for outlining the eyes, ocher powder to give a healthy color to the cheeks,
and a vegetal red liquid, called hena, for smearing their hands. Their toiletries included very refined
tools: depilating pincers, palettes for mixing the beauty products and ivory sticks for applying them over
the skin. They used wigs too, adhered to the head with gold and gemstone diadems and from which
bead strings and fine metal plates hung. Noble women possessed luxury jewelry, like wide pearl collars,
lapis lazuli, or glass beads.

7. The Egyptians were feared for their war chariots. The Egyptian war chariot was driven by two horses
and provided a very rapid deadly advance. The horse and chariot were introduced into Egypt during the
17th century BC during the invasion of the Hyksos, a Semitic tribe coming from Syria and Palestine.

Along their history, Egyptians made long conquest or punishment expeditions into Palestine, Phoenicia,
Minor Asia, and Black Africa (like Nubia), this way maintaining the border of the empire. Egyptian
archers were very skilled also. Chariots were used by the pharaohs for hunting as well, like in the lion
hunt. The hunt of the lion was reserved to pharaohs and nobles (today, lion is extinct in Egypt).

8. The Nile was the main communication route in Egypt. Egyptian ships had a large rectangular or
square sail and, despite their size, they were of low draft, which allowed them to avoid sandbanks, and
were controlled through rudders of large reed astern. In that place, the highest part of the ship, an
awning, was raised for storing the transported goods and make shelter during the voyage. Fishing boats
were made like bundles of entwined woody vines and their curved stern somehow resembled a lotus
flower. They were driven with poles, and fish were usually harpooned in shallow waters.

9. Egypt was an agricultural state; all classes were involved in it. The pharaohs made norms and laws,
nobles surveyed the field work, while the slaves made the seeding and harvesting. The Egyptians turned
desert patches into croplands, irrigating them with the Nile's water. This was realized through a
complicated network of irrigation ditches and canals.
Overview
The basic element in the lengthy history of Egyptian civilization is geography. The Nile River
rises from the lakes of central Africa as the White Nile and from the mountains of Ethiopia as the
Blue Nile. The White and Blue Nile meet at Khartoum and flow together northward to the Nile
delta, where the 4000 mile course of this river spills into the
Mediterranean Sea (see map).
Less than two inches of rain per year falls in the delta and rain is
relatively unknown in other parts of Egypt. Most of the land is
uninhabitable. These geographical factors have determined the
character of Egyptian civilization. People could farm only along
the banks of the Nile, where arid sand meets the fertile soil. Of
course, each summer the Nile swells as the rains pour down and the snow melts on the
mountains. The river overflows its banks and floods the land with fresh water and deposits a
thick layer of rich alluvial soil. The land would then yield two harvests before winter. This yearly
flood determined more than just the agricultural needs of early Egypt. It also determined the
lifecycle of society and helped to create the world view of ancient Egyptian civilization.
The basic source of Egyptian history is a list of rulers compiled in c.280 B.C. by Manetho for the
Macedonians who ruled Egypt. Manetho divided Egyptian kings into thirty dynasties (a 31st was
added later) in the following manner.

NAME DYNASTY YEARS

Archaic Period 1-2 3100-2700 B.C.

Old Kingdom 3-6 2700-2200 B.C.

Intermediate Period 7-10 2200-2050 B.C.

Middle Kingdom 11-12 2050-1800 B.C.

Intermediate Period 13-17 1800-1570 B.C.

New Kingdom 18-20 1570-1085 B.C.

Post-Empire 21-31 1085-332 B.C.

Early Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, one in Upper Egypt (Nile Valley), and one in
Lower Egypt (Nile delta). Remember, the Nile flows from south to north.

Egyptian Dynasties
Menes (or Narmer) unified Upper and Lower Egypt and established his capital at Memphis
around 3000 B.C.. By the time of the Old Kingdom, the land had been consolidated under the
central power of a king, who was also the "owner" of all Egypt. Considered to be divine, he
stood above the priests and was the only individual who had direct contact with the gods. The
economy was a royal monopoly and so there was no word in Egyptian for "trader." Under the
king was a carefully graded hierarchy of officials, ranging from the governors of provinces down
through local mayors and tax collectors. The entire system was supported by the work of slaves,
peasants and artisans.
The Old Kingdom reached its highest stage of development in the Fourth Dynasty. The most
tangible symbols of this period of greatness are the three enormous pyramids built as the tombs
of kings at Giza between 2600 and 2500. The largest, Khufu (called Cheops by the Greeks), was
originally 481 feet high and 756 feet long on each side. Khufu was made up of 2.3 million stone
blocks averaging 2.5 tons each. In the 5th century B.C. the Greek historian Herodotus tells us
that the pyramid took 100,000 men and twenty years to build. The pyramids are remarkable not
only for their technical engineering expertise, but also for what they tell us about royal power at
the time. They are evidence that Egyptian kings had enormous wealth as well as the power to
concentrate so much energy on a personal project.
The priests, an important body within the ruling caste, were a social force working to modify the
king's supremacy. Yielding to the demands of the priests of Re, a sun god, kings began to call
themselves "sons of Re," adding his name as a suffix to their own. Re was also worshipped in
temples that were sometimes larger than the pyramids of later kings.
In the Old Kingdom, royal power was absolute. The pharaoh (the term originally meant "great
house" or "palace"), governed his kingdom through his family and appointed officials. The lives
of the peasants and artisans was carefully regulated: their movement was limited and they were
taxed heavily. Luxury accompanied the pharaoh in life and in death and he was raised to an
exalted level by his people. The Egyptians worked for the pharaoh and obeyed him because he
was a living god on whom the entire fabric of social life depended. No codes of law were needed
since the pharaoh was the direct source of all law.
In such a world, government was merely one aspect of religion and religion dominated Egyptian
life. The gods of Egypt came in many forms: animals, humans and natural forces. Over time, Re,
the sun god, came to assume a dominant place in Egyptian religion.
The Egyptians had a very clear idea of the afterlife. They took great care to bury their dead
according to convention and supplied the grave with things that the departed would need for a
pleasant life after death. The pharaoh and some nobles had their bodies preserved in a process of
mummification. Their tombs were decorated with paintings, food was provided at burial and
after. Some tombs even included full sized sailing vessels for the voyage to heaven and beyond.
At first, only pharaohs were thought to achieve eternal life, however, nobles were eventually
included, and finally all Egyptians could hope for immortality.
The Egyptians also developed a system of writing. Although the idea may have come from
Mesopotamia, the script was independent of the cuneiform. Egyptian writing began as
pictographic and was later combined with sound signs to produce a difficult and complicated
script that the Greeks called hieroglyphics ("sacred carvings"). Though much of what we have
today is preserved on wall paintings and carvings, most of Egyptian writing was done with pen
and ink on fine paper (papyrus). In 1798 Napoleon invaded Egypt as part of his Grand Empire.
He brought with a Commission of Science and Arts composed of more than one hundred
scientists, engineers and mathematicians. In 1799 the Commission discovered a basalt fragment
on the west bank of the Nile at Rachid. The fragment is now known by its English name, the
Rosetta Stone. The Egyptian hieroglyphics found on the Rosetta Stone were eventually
deciphered in 1822 by Jean Franois Champollion (1790-1832), a French scholar who had
mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Syriac, Ethiopic, Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and Coptic. The
Rosetta Stone contains three inscriptions. The uppermost is written in hieroglyphics; the second
in what is now called demotic, the common script of ancient Egypt; and the third in Greek.
Champollion guessed that the three inscriptions contained the same text and so he spent the next
fourteen years (1808-1822) working from the Greek to the demotic and finally to the
hieroglyphics until he had deciphered the whole text. The Rosetta Stone is now on display at the
British Museum in London.
During the period of the Middle Kingdom (2050-1800 B.C.) the power of the pharaohs of the
Old Kingdom waned as priests and nobles gained more independence and influence. The
governors of the regions of Egypt (nomes) gained hereditary claim to their offices and
subsequently their families acquired large estates. About 2200 B.C. the Old Kingdom collapsed
and gave way to the decentralization of the First Intermediate Period (2200-2050 B.C.). Finally,
the nomarchs of Thebes in Upper Egypt gained control of the country and established the Middle
Kingdom.
The rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty restored the power of the pharaoh over the whole of Egypt
although they could not control the nomarchs. They brought order and peace to Egypt and
encouraged trade northward toward Palestine and south toward Ethiopia. They moved the capital
back to Memphis and gave great prominence to Amon, a god connected with the city of Thebes.
He became identified with Re, emerging as Amon-Re.
The Middle Kingdom disintegrated in the Thirteenth Dynasty with the resurgence of the power
of the nomarchs. Around 1700 B.C. Egypt suffered an invasion by the Hyksos who came from
the east (perhaps Palestine or Syria) and conquered the Nile Delta. In 1575 B.C., a Thebian
dynasty drove out the Hyksos and reunited the kingdom. In reaction to the humiliation of the
Second Intermediate Period, the pharaohs of the Eighteenth Dynasty, most notably Thutmose III
(1490-1436 B.C.), created an absolute government based on a powerful army and an Egyptian
empire extending far beyond the Nile Valley.
One of the results of these imperialistic ventures of the pharaohs was the growth in power of the
priests of Amon and the threat it posed to the pharaoh. When young Amenhotep IV (1367-1350
B.C.) came to the throne he was apparently determined to resist the priesthood of Amon.
Supported by his family he ultimately made a clean break with the worship of Amon-Re. He
moved his capital from Thebes (the center of Amon worship) to a city three hundred miles to the
north at a place now called El Amarna. Its god was Aton, the physical disk of the sun, and the
new city was called Akhenaton. The pharaoh changed his name to Akhenaton ("it pleases
Aton"). The new god was different from any that had come before him, for he was believed to be
universal, not merely Egyptian.
The universal claims for Aton led to religious intolerance of the worshippers of other gods. Their
temples were closed and the name of Amon-Re was removed from all monuments. The old
priests were deprived of their posts and privileges. The new religion was more remote than the
old. Only the pharaoh and his family worshipped Aton directly and the people worshipped the
pharaoh. Akhenaton's interest in religious reform proved disastrous in the long run. The Asian
possessions fell away and the economy crumbled as a result. When the pharaoh died, a strong
reaction swept away his life's work.
His chosen successor was put aside and replaced by Tutankhamon (1347-1339 B.C.), the
husband of one of the daughters of Akhenaton and his wife, Nefertiti. The new pharaoh restored
the old religion and wiped out as much as he could of the memory of the worship of Aton. He
restored Amon to the center of the Egyptian pantheon, abandoned El Amarna, and returned the
capital to Thebes. His magnificent tomb remained intact until its discovery in 1922.
The end of the El Amarna age restored power to the priests of Amon and to the military officers.
Horemhab, a general, restored order and recovered much of the lost empire. He referred to
Akhenaton as "the criminal of Akheton" and erased his name from the records. Akhenaton's city
and memory disappeared for over 3000 years to be rediscovered by accident about a century ago.

Egyptian Religion
Religion was integral to Egyptian life. Religious beliefs formed the basis of Egyptian art,
medicine, astronomy, literature and government. The great pyramids were burial tombs for the
pharaohs who were revered as gods on earth. Magical utterances pervaded medical practices
since disease was attributed to the gods. Astronomy evolved to determine the correct time to
perform religious rites and sacrifices. The earliest examples of literature dealt almost entirely
with religious themes. The pharaoh was a sacrosanct monarch who served as the intermediary
between the gods and man. Justice too, was conceived in religious terms, something bestowed
upon man by the creator-god. Finally, the Egyptians developed an ethical code which they
believed the gods had approved.
J. A. Wilson once remarked that if one were to ask an ancient Egyptian whether the sky was
supported by posts or held up by a god, the Egyptian would answer: "Yes, it is supported by
posts or held up by a god -- or it rests on walls, or it is a cow, or it is a goddess whose arms and
feet touch the earth" (The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man, 1943). The ancient Egyptian
was ready to accept any and all gods and goddesses that seemed appropriate. For instance, if a
new area was incorporated into the Egyptian state, its gods and goddesses would be added to the
pantheon of those already worshipped.
From its earliest beginnings, Egyptian religious cults included animals. It is no accident that
sheep, bulls, gazelles and cats have been found carefully buried and preserved in their own
graves. As time passed, the figures of Egyptian gods became human (anthropomorphism)
although they often retained the animal's head or body. Osiris, the the Egyptian god who judged
the dead, first emerged as a local deity of the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt. It was Osiris who
taught the Egyptian agriculture. Isis was his wife, and animal-headed Seth, his brother and rival.
Seth killed Osiris. Isis persuaded the gods to bring him back to life, but thereafter he ruled below.
Osiris was identified with the life-giving, fertilizing power of the Nile, and Isis with with the
fertile earth of Egypt. Horus, the god of the sky, defeated the evil Seth after a long struggle.
But Horus was only one kind of sky god. There was also Re, the sun god, later conjoined with
Amen, and still later Aten. The moon god was the baboon-headed Thoth, who was the god of
wisdom, magic and numbers. In the great temple cities such as Heliopolis ("city of the sun"),
priests worked out and wrote down hierarchies of divinities. In the small communities of
villages, all the forces of nature were deified and worshipped. One local god was part crocodile,
part hippopotamus, and part lion.
Despite the ever-increasing number of deities which could be added to this hierarchy of deities,
one thing is certain: Egyptian religion, unlike the religion of Mesopotamia, was centralized. In
Sumer, the temple was the focus of political, economic and religious organization. Indeed, it was
often difficult to know where one aspect began and another ended. By contrast, the function of
an Egyptian temple was focused on religion.
We are certain that ancient Egyptians were preoccupied with life after death. They believed that
after death each human being would appear before Osiris and recount all the evil that had been
committed during one's earthly existence: "I have not done evil to men. I have not ill-treated
animals," and so on. This was a negative confession and justification for admittance into the
blessed afterlife. Osiris would then have the heart of the person weighed in order to determine
the truth of their confession.
The Egyptians believed not only in body and soul, but in ka, the indestructible vital principle of
each person, which left the body at death but which could also return at other times. This
explains why the Egyptians mummified the dead: so that the ka, on its return, would find the
body not decomposed. And this also explains why tombs were filled with wine, grain, weapons,
sailing ships and so on -- ka would find everything it needed, otherwise it might come back to
haunt the living.
Ancient Egyptian civilization is also discussed in Lecture 4, along with the Akkadian kingdom
and Hebrew civilization.

Geography Architecture Government

Writing Religion Daily life

 Sciences Timeline Glossary

Ancient Egypt -- a land of mysteries. No other

civilization has so captured the imagination of
scholars and laypeople alike. Mystery surrounds its
origins, its religion and its monumental architecture:
colossal temples, pyramids and the enormous
Sphinx. The Egyptian pyramids are the most famous
of all the ancient monuments, the only remaining
wonder of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Just as life arose from the waters, the seeds of

civilization were first sown along the banks of the
Nile. This mighty river, which flows north from the
heart of Africa to the Mediterranean Sea, nourished
the growth of the pharaonic kingdom. The long,
narrow flood plain was a magnet for life, attracting
people, animals and plants to its banks. In pre-
dynastic times, nomadic hunters settled in the valley
and began to grow crops to supplement their food
supply. Seen as a gift from the gods, the annual
flooding of the river deposited nutrient rich silt over
the land, creating ideal conditions for growing wheat,
flax and other crops. The first communal project of
this fledgling society was the building of irrigation
canals for agricultural purposes.

The sun was a principal deity whose passage across

the sky represented the eternal cycle of birth, death
and rebirth. The pharaohs were seen as gods, divine
representatives on earth who, through rituals,
ensured the continuation of life. After death, they
became immortal, joining the gods in the afterworld.

The Egyptians also believed that the body and soul

were important to human existence, in life and in
death. Their funerary practices, such as
mummification and burial in tombs, were designed
to assist the deceased find their way in the
afterworld. The tombs were filled with food, tools,
domestic wares, treasures -- all the necessities of life -
- to ensure the soul's return to the body so that the
deceased would live happily ever after.

The most imposing tombs are the famous pyramids,

shaped like the sacred mound where the gods first
appeared in the creation story. These were incredibly
ambitious projects, the largest structures ever built.
Their construction was overseen by highly skilled
architects and engineers. Paid labourers moved the
massive limestone blocks without the use of wheels,
horses or iron tools. The conscripts may have been
motivated by a deep faith in the divinity of their
leaders and a belief in immortality. Perhaps they
thought that their contributions would improve their
own prospects at the final judgement in the
afterworld.

The gigantic pyramids were conspicuous targets for

tomb robbers, whose plundering jeopardized the
hope for eternal life. Subsequent generations of kings
hid their tombs in the Valley of the Kings in an
attempt to elude the robbers. In the desert valley
near the ancient capital of Thebes, now called Luxor,
they prepared their royal tombs by cutting into the
side of the mountain. Despite efforts to hide the
entrances, thieves managed to find the tombs,
pillaging and emptying them of their treasures.

One tomb was spared, however: Tutankhamun's.

Although his resting place was disturbed twice by
robbers, the entrance was resealed and remained
hidden for over 3,000 years. Its discovery by the
British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922 is
considered the greatest archaeological find in
history. Carter spent the rest of his life working on
the tomb, removing its treasures to Cairo, and
documenting and studying its contents, including the
pharaoh's gold coffins and mask. Tutankhamun's
mummy remains in his tomb, the only pharaoh to be
left in the Valley of the Kings.

Today, Egyptian archaeologists are still making

important discoveries, and the scientific study of
royal mummies is shedding new light on the
genealogy of the pharaohs. The ongoing deciphering
of hieroglyphic writings and research on the life of
the peasants are also answering many questions
related to the evolution of Egyptian culture. The
pharaonic religion gives the impression that the
Egyptians were preoccupied with death; however,
there are ample indications that they were a happy
lot who knew how to enjoy life.