Egypt is among the oldest and most magnificent civilizations in human history: the gift of the Nile
Egypt lies on northeastern coast of Africa. Without the Nile river valley, it would have been like most of North Africa, a desert. Once flourishing in this Nile Valley, one of the most ancient and greatest civilizations in known history.
The lengthiest-lasting Ancient Egyptian civilization had a major influence on all people. First let us examine how geographical factors helped this magnificent civilization to develop.
Regional Factors
For the indigenous community, this Nile River first supplied food at first. Seeing Egypt’s importance, ancient Greek historian Hippocrates described it as “the Nile’s Gift”. Rising in central Africa’s hills, the Nile River winds hundreds of kilometers north before emptying into the Mediterranean Sea.
The land around the river’s mouth and along its banks, where a delta with a fan-like appearance develops, became rich because of the river’s continuous flooding.
Once the ecology of North Africa changed, many hunting tribes left their villages and settled near the Nile since the green Sahara region lost any rain. The area was hot and dry, and the river could only be negotiated once it passed the grasslands.
Egyptian borders offered defense against foreign invasions including the Red Sea in the east, the plain in the west, the Mediterranean Sea in the north, and waterfalls in the south. Furthermore, the availability of building materials like stones and minerals like copper satisfied the needs of the constructors and artists. These components so helped to build a wonderful civilization and culture.
Development in Agriculture and Other Fields
As before mentioned, hunting tribes from the plateaus migrated to the Nile valley. Many of them started farming the rich Nile top soil instead of hunting. As the river withdrew during the rainy season, these men built tanks, dykes, and canals to hold water and irrigate the ground.
They created the shadoof to extract water from the tanks and used other novel instruments for effective farming operation. Along with other implements, such ploughs and wooden sickles, they used oxen in their agricultural activities.
They turned forth three crops in a year. They raised flax, veggies, and wheat. Watermelons, lemons, dates, and figs were among the several fruits they finally produced.
The population of the Nile River grew quickly on both sides as well. Every community housed a different tribe, and each one followed the Hamitic race—a subrace of the Caucasian race. Every tribe has a totem or symbol usually based on an animal of great respect.
Division in Early Egyptian History
Three main eras could define ancient Egypt: the age of the pyramids, often known as the old kingdom (3400–2700 B.C.; the age of feudalism, sometimes known as the middle kingdom (2500–2000 B.C.; the imperial age, sometimes known as the new kingdom (1600 B.c.-1150 n.c.). Furthermore defining the change from one time and the next might be anarchic factors or foreign wars.
Age of Pyramids or Old Kingdom: The phrase “era of the pyramids” originated with the great number of pyramids the Egyptian pharaohs constructed. Another feature of this era is the unquestioning power of the Pharaohs. Pharaohs passed laws, collected taxes, and used wise leadership under the direction of priests and nobility. Hundreds of officials in many roles helped the Pharaohs run the provinces, towns, and cities.
The Pharaohs’ power gradually faded as the nobility become more well-known during the Age of Feudalism. Significant political turmoil in Egypt resulted from rival aristocratic parties trying to convince the king to pursue their agenda. One of them showed little respect for the Pharaoh and ruled his area under kinglike power. Political uncertainty lasted for about a century, from 2200 B.C.-2100 B.C.
The New Kingdom or the Imperial Age (1580 B.C.-1150 B.C.) The great Pharaohs of the 18th dynasty carried ancient Egypt to the height of great strength and glory. Following Ahmose, Amenhotep I developed the Egyptian kingdom into an empire with conquests of Babylonia in the east and Nubia in the south. The next great monarch, Thutmose I, also ruled over some parts of Asia. He had no son, thus his daughter, who subsequently married Thutmose III, became Queen Hatshepsut (1501–1479 B.C.).
Ancient Egypt Society
Early Egyptian society consisted mostly in the middle class, the nobility, and the slave class. Members of the aristocratic class with enormous riches and authority in Egypt were the Pharaoh, the nobles, and the priests. They owned large estates, beautiful houses, expensive jewelry, first-rate linens, many slaves and staff.
The lower classes were somewhat jealous of their immaculately decorated homes. They possessed rights, position, and power as well.
The middle class was established in direct part by the growth of towns and cities throughout Ancient Egypt. The middle class comprised merchants, scribes, artists, craftspeople, and other professionals including physicians. These people shared little conveniences.
Peasant Egyptians made great effort to make ends meet most of which struggled. They work a lot of overtime, and a good fraction of their income was used to pay kind of state taxes.
Financial Life of Ancient Egypt
Many of ancient Egyptians worked as farmers. Among other crops, they raised fruits, vegetables, flax, wheat, and others. They produced flax-based textile goods. Writers used rolls of papyrus. The ancient Egyptians learnt how to work bronze into a range of metal artifacts. They developed the knowledge required to design furniture, glassware, and fine jewelry.
Days after Tutankhamun’s tomb was discovered, the world was awestruck by the magnificent works of ancient Egypt. Early Egyptians were specialists in leatherwork and ceramics. They built sail-equipped vessels and shipped their produced goods to far-off places for the first time ever.
Egyptian Philosophy
Early Egyptian poetry, art, and monuments all expose a deeply devout society. Early in their civilization, they revered the inherent powers. Every town and city developed a patron deity, nevertheless, throughout time.
Akhnaton (1375–1358 B.C.) sought to convert the people from worshipping several gods to the Sun-god, Aton (the disk). Apart from the one for the Sun God, he advocated monotheism and closed all the other temples. The priests, however, turned down his effort at religious change. Following his death, his heirs resurrected the old polytheistic dedication custom.
Design and Visual Arts:
As was already said, the ancient Egyptians were fervent religious people. Their nobility and monarchs built temples, pyramids, and tombs. Among the temples known for its superb architecture are Karnak, Luxor, Philae, and Abu Simbel ones.
Most of these temples feature spacious halls with soaring ceilings supported by occasionally very high-rise columns of pillars. On the temple walls are paintings depicting daily or religious life of people. Engravings abound on the columns.
The most well-known of them is the tomb belonging to the young king Tutankhamen. Luckily, this secret tomb was unharmed and gave a realistic perspective of the splendor of early Egyptian art. His mummy also resides in the gold coffin, which is quarter-inch thick and features jeweled pictures. Excellent murals found in the other tombs near Thebes offer a window into the daily life of early Egyptian from all walks of life.
Several Ancient Egyptian artists painted a wide range of themes on the surfaces of the temples, tombs, and obelisks. Artists created the Pharaoh statues, and their “dignity and simplicity” are much-known. Among the most well-known constructions from ancient Egypt is the Sphinx, a monument of a reclining lion with a human head. Its site lies near the Great Pyramid.
The Egyptian pyramids are outstanding examples of architecture. They are massive buildings meant as royal tombs. King Zoser built the first pyramid designed by his vizier, Imhotep. The Great Pyramid was built at Gizeh by Egypt’s pharaoh Khufu. Its base covers 13.1 acres, while its highest point is at 481 feet. Made of limestone stones weighing two tons apiece, there are 2,300,000 of them.
