Western Civilization : LO3

Land of the Pharaohs: Egypt

During Neolithic age, people of the Nile had moved toward civilization in response to the same influences that gave rise to the cities of Sumer, but Egyptian civilization was more stable than that of Mesopotamia.
Egypt stretches along the lower reaches of the Nile's four-thousand-mile course from Central Africa to the Mediterranean Sea.
Country is divided into 2 sections, called by ancient Egyptians the "Two Lands" Upper Egypt is a narrow strip of fertile land, 500 miles in length and averaging no more than 12 miles in width, that stretches alongside the river as it flows across the North African desert.
Lower Egypt is a fan-shaped pattern of waterways, or delta, formed by the Nile in the last hindered mile before it reaches the sea.
Nile played a similar role as the Euphrates and Tigris in Mesopotamia
"gift of Nile" provided the wealth for the earliest Egyptian civilization
About the same time that the Sumerian city-states arose, Egypt witnessed the consolidation of increasingly wealthy communities, scattered along the river, into 2 kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt
Around 3100 B.C. the 2 lands were unified under a single king, seemingly in brutal warfare
pharaohs- the rulers of ancient Egypt

Government by a God

Egyptians took polytheism a lot farther than the Mesopotamia people
For Egyptians, the pharaoh was to be obeyed as a man given power by the gods and venerated as a as a god who dwelt among men

Tending the "Cattle of God"

pharaohs were identified in different ways
By birth, he was the son of the sun-god Re, the king of all the other gods and goddesses
At his succession, he became the incarnation (living embodiment) of Horus, the falcon- headed ruler of the sky
When he died, he became one with Osiris, who reigned as pharaoh pf the underworld
Pharaohs' human nature was just as important as their divine nature.
"Well tended are the men, the cattle of god," King Khety III told his son and heir Merikare in a document of advice written about 2200 B.C.; "...he made for them rulers in the egg, leaders to raise the backs of the weak."

Men and Women Under the Pharaohs

women who were closest to the pharaoh, the King's Mother and the Kings Principle Wife, also had a touch of divinity, for it was a god who made them pregnant and a god to whom they gave birth
pharaohs had many wives
most successful ruler was King Hatshepsut that resigned shortly after 1500 B.C.
Daughters inherited property equally with sons, and wives could divorce their husbands.
men were expected to respect the women in their families.

Gods, Humans, and Everlasting Life

The Writing of the Words of God

hieroglyphs- The earliest Egyptian writing, in which pictures stood for whole words of separate sounds of words
hieratic script came after hieroglyphs and were not only used by priests but also general literacy and record-keeping purposes
Around 700 B.C. an even faster shorthand the demotic script came into use
much of the Egyptian literacy writing served religious purposes

Calendars and Sailboats

astronomers created a calender with 12 equal months of thirty days and five "free" days at the end to make up the 365 days of the solar year
Egyptians were good with medicine
they understood nothing of germs or infections and believed sickness was caused by demons entering the body
They were eager to improve the transportation along the Nile
They built larger boats then the canoes
To propel these heavy craft upstream, b y 3100 B.C. they equipped them with masts and sails to catch the wind, which in the Nile Valley usually blows against the current of the river

Pyramids and Temples

pyramids- A massive structure with sloping sides that met at an apex, used as a royal tomb in ancient Egypt
great pyramid was built by order of King Khafu who ruled about 2650 B.C.
measures 476 feet in height and 760 feet on each side of its base
this mountain of stone consists of some 2.3 million cut blocks each weighing about 5,000 pounds
the sides were originally coated with polished marble, but that was stripped away by Muslim rulers in the Middle Ages
pyramid building faded and temples came in
The temple of Amon at Karnak was begun about 1530 B.C. and completed about 1300 B.C,
The largest religious building ever constructed, it covered about 400 by 110 yards or 10 acres, large enough to cover 4 of the Gothic Cathedrals that were built more than 2,500 years later in Egypt

The Rhythm of Egypt's History

2200 B.C. a series of weak Pharaohs allowed local officials to gain independent hereditary power in the regions that they controlled

Western Civilization