Ancient Cultures
My paper on ancient Egypt is reaching enormous proportions. For those interested, the beginning can be found
Ancient Egypt by Draconia
Herodotus called Egypt The Gift of the Nile, and indeed, the ancient Egyptian civilization was wholly dependent on this majestic river. Located in North Africa in the Nile Delta and Valley, bounded by high desert cliffs, Egypt is a fertile oasis sunk in the surrounding red land (or ta desheret, which is what
Approximately in the 6th millennium BC, the drying of the African plains brought large groups of people together in the area of the Nile Valley. This gave rise to the first known complex cultures on Egyptian territory, the Tasian, Badarian, and Naqada cultures. The period in generally known as Predynastic Egypt and the population was sedentary, agricultural, produced characteristic red and red black-topped pottery, and showed first evidence of religious practices in burials with offerings and sparse figurines of male and female deities. Hippopotamus figurines may be our first evidence for ancient Egyptian magical practice.
In the ensuing, so-called Protodynastic, period, the foundation of the Egyptian High Culture were laid. Also called Naqada III, this culture had its rulers, temples, and tombs. The standards of Egypt’s main gods appear on the red-painted pottery. The last king of this period, Narmer (Furious Catfish in translation) may have been identical with the legendary Menes, who united Upper and Lower Egypt into a single country (the name Meni is indeed attested in this period). Alternatively, Menes is identified with the historical Hor Aha (Horus the Fighter). Narmer’s name was discovered on the two colossi of the fertility god Min, depicted as a man with an erected phallus, discovered in Min’s religious centre at Akhmim. It is believed that the cults of Egypt’s main deities were already operational at that time.
King Menes, whoever he is to be identified with, marks the beginning of the Archaic, or Early Dynastic Period (around 3000 BC). The Egyptian King began to be associated with the gods Horus and Seth, and the concept of divine kingship began to be formed. The kings of this time had their tombs built in the area of Thinis (the early capital), their high officials were buried at Saqqara, the area of Mennofer or Inebu-hedj (White walls), the future capital. In the royal tombs at Thinis, the first evidence of the hieroglyphic script has been found on small ivory tablets probably labeling goods stored in the tombs as funerary offerings.
With King Djoser, builder of the first Egyptian Pyramid, (the so-called Step Pyramid) began the Old Kingdom period of Egypt’s history, a time of pyramid building, great prosperity, and high art. Religion or contact with deities seems to have been reserved to a large extent to the king, who was Horus on earth, son of Osiris. A vast amount of deities in known from representations in the royal funerary temples, the most important among them were the sun god Re, the goddess Hathor, the god of chaos Seth, the cat-goddess of joy Bastet, the goddess of writing Seshat, and others. Upper and Lower Egypt are guarded by patron goddesses Nebthet and Wadjet, depicted as vulture and cobra respectively. The Fourth Dynasty witnessed the building of the Great Pyramid by King Cheops (Khufu, (Re) protects me), but also dynastic problems towards the end, solved by a transition through a queen named Khentkaus (I.), who ruled as regent and bore a title that only one other Egyptian Queen was ever to bear again, Mother of king of Upper and Lower Egypt and King of Upper and Lower Egypt. The other queen to bear this title was Khentkaus II. in the middle of the 5th Dynasty. In the 5th Dynasty, in the substructure of the pyramid of King Unas, the first Pyramid Texts appear. They are a collection of spells to guide the deceased through the netherworld, but include spells that appear to have been used by the living (such as spells against snake and scorpion bites). They include references to myths that have been written down only over a millennium later.
The Sixth dynasty witnessed an expedition to Punt, perhaps Eritrea, the longest ruling king (Pepi II.) and a steady decline of Egyptian state, brought about in all likelihood by the cast expenditure of state resourced into the pyramids. Egypt gradually drifted away into the First intermediate period, a poorly recorded time of chaos.
We know that a time of local rulers ensued (feudal time), with two main power centers having formed towards the end of this time, one in Heracleopolis in Middle Egypt, the other in Thebes. This resulted in a full-scale civil war between the Heracleopolitan rulers (several of whom were named Kheti) and the kings of Thebes (or the Antefs). Some interesting details of this war are recorded in the tomb biographies of the soldiers who partook in them, such as Djemi or Djari. The Antefs won in the end, and Nebhepetra Mentuhotpe II., their successor and reunifier of Egypt, managed to build a monumental tomb complex for himself at Deir el-Bahari in the Theban area.
With Mentuhotpe, the period of Middle Kingdom Egypt begins, a classical time in many ways. The design of Mentuhotpe’s funerary monument is something between a pyramid and a processional temple (these proliferated in the New Kingdom). Middle Kingdom rulers, Senwosrets (son of the Mighty One) and Amenemhets (Amun is at the fore) built pyramids, but much smaller than the kings of the Old Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom is known above all for its literature and arts, and in later times Egyptians returned to it as to the classical period of Egyptian history. The Middle Kingdom kings showed a particular interest in the area of the Fayyum, and their funerary monuments are centered around it. Towards the end of the period, Egypt was once again plagued by problems, which is seen also on the statues of late Middle Kingdom kings, which have a worried expression.
The era of the Middle Kingdom ends with a ruling Queen, Sebeknofru. Then Egypt was invaded by the so-called heka-khasut (the rulers of the foreign lands), the Hyksos, and the Second Intermediate Period began.
Ancient Egypt by Draconia
Herodotus called Egypt The Gift of the Nile, and indeed, the ancient Egyptian civilization was wholly dependent on this majestic river. Located in North Africa in the Nile Delta and Valley, bounded by high desert cliffs, Egypt is a fertile oasis sunk in the surrounding red land (or ta desheret, which is what
Approximately in the 6th millennium BC, the drying of the African plains brought large groups of people together in the area of the Nile Valley. This gave rise to the first known complex cultures on Egyptian territory, the Tasian, Badarian, and Naqada cultures. The period in generally known as Predynastic Egypt and the population was sedentary, agricultural, produced characteristic red and red black-topped pottery, and showed first evidence of religious practices in burials with offerings and sparse figurines of male and female deities. Hippopotamus figurines may be our first evidence for ancient Egyptian magical practice.
In the ensuing, so-called Protodynastic, period, the foundation of the Egyptian High Culture were laid. Also called Naqada III, this culture had its rulers, temples, and tombs. The standards of Egypt’s main gods appear on the red-painted pottery. The last king of this period, Narmer (Furious Catfish in translation) may have been identical with the legendary Menes, who united Upper and Lower Egypt into a single country (the name Meni is indeed attested in this period). Alternatively, Menes is identified with the historical Hor Aha (Horus the Fighter). Narmer’s name was discovered on the two colossi of the fertility god Min, depicted as a man with an erected phallus, discovered in Min’s religious centre at Akhmim. It is believed that the cults of Egypt’s main deities were already operational at that time.
King Menes, whoever he is to be identified with, marks the beginning of the Archaic, or Early Dynastic Period (around 3000 BC). The Egyptian King began to be associated with the gods Horus and Seth, and the concept of divine kingship began to be formed. The kings of this time had their tombs built in the area of Thinis (the early capital), their high officials were buried at Saqqara, the area of Mennofer or Inebu-hedj (White walls), the future capital. In the royal tombs at Thinis, the first evidence of the hieroglyphic script has been found on small ivory tablets probably labeling goods stored in the tombs as funerary offerings.
With King Djoser, builder of the first Egyptian Pyramid, (the so-called Step Pyramid) began the Old Kingdom period of Egypt’s history, a time of pyramid building, great prosperity, and high art. Religion or contact with deities seems to have been reserved to a large extent to the king, who was Horus on earth, son of Osiris. A vast amount of deities in known from representations in the royal funerary temples, the most important among them were the sun god Re, the goddess Hathor, the god of chaos Seth, the cat-goddess of joy Bastet, the goddess of writing Seshat, and others. Upper and Lower Egypt are guarded by patron goddesses Nebthet and Wadjet, depicted as vulture and cobra respectively. The Fourth Dynasty witnessed the building of the Great Pyramid by King Cheops (Khufu, (Re) protects me), but also dynastic problems towards the end, solved by a transition through a queen named Khentkaus (I.), who ruled as regent and bore a title that only one other Egyptian Queen was ever to bear again, Mother of king of Upper and Lower Egypt and King of Upper and Lower Egypt. The other queen to bear this title was Khentkaus II. in the middle of the 5th Dynasty. In the 5th Dynasty, in the substructure of the pyramid of King Unas, the first Pyramid Texts appear. They are a collection of spells to guide the deceased through the netherworld, but include spells that appear to have been used by the living (such as spells against snake and scorpion bites). They include references to myths that have been written down only over a millennium later.
The Sixth dynasty witnessed an expedition to Punt, perhaps Eritrea, the longest ruling king (Pepi II.) and a steady decline of Egyptian state, brought about in all likelihood by the cast expenditure of state resourced into the pyramids. Egypt gradually drifted away into the First intermediate period, a poorly recorded time of chaos.
We know that a time of local rulers ensued (feudal time), with two main power centers having formed towards the end of this time, one in Heracleopolis in Middle Egypt, the other in Thebes. This resulted in a full-scale civil war between the Heracleopolitan rulers (several of whom were named Kheti) and the kings of Thebes (or the Antefs). Some interesting details of this war are recorded in the tomb biographies of the soldiers who partook in them, such as Djemi or Djari. The Antefs won in the end, and Nebhepetra Mentuhotpe II., their successor and reunifier of Egypt, managed to build a monumental tomb complex for himself at Deir el-Bahari in the Theban area.
With Mentuhotpe, the period of Middle Kingdom Egypt begins, a classical time in many ways. The design of Mentuhotpe’s funerary monument is something between a pyramid and a processional temple (these proliferated in the New Kingdom). Middle Kingdom rulers, Senwosrets (son of the Mighty One) and Amenemhets (Amun is at the fore) built pyramids, but much smaller than the kings of the Old Kingdom. The Middle Kingdom is known above all for its literature and arts, and in later times Egyptians returned to it as to the classical period of Egyptian history. The Middle Kingdom kings showed a particular interest in the area of the Fayyum, and their funerary monuments are centered around it. Towards the end of the period, Egypt was once again plagued by problems, which is seen also on the statues of late Middle Kingdom kings, which have a worried expression.
The era of the Middle Kingdom ends with a ruling Queen, Sebeknofru. Then Egypt was invaded by the so-called heka-khasut (the rulers of the foreign lands), the Hyksos, and the Second Intermediate Period began.