When you think Egypt, what initially comes to mind for you? The story behind all of the Great Pyramids, and how they came to be in existence? Cleopatra, the great seductress of many powerful men of Rome? The discovery of the mummies within their dark sarcophagi, buried deep within their pyramids and tombs for all eternity? As fascinating as that might be, we will find in this paper that Egypt is still very rich in culture, diversity, and religions on its own terms. Unfortunately, in the past three years it has become a country of toppled governments, military coups, and vicious brutal disorder within their streets. Though Egypt may not be the massive dynasty it once was before the Roman Empire, it still holds the title “The Gift of the Nile”
Every school kid learns something about Egyptian history. Many children are completely fascinated by the marvels of the Egyptian culture stretching thousands of years ago. Thirty centuries spanned the Egyptian Empire, and during that time they achieved great technological marvels. They were the very first recorded culture of antiquity to believe in life after death, as well as the first people to build structures with stone, and to shape stone to form arches. At the very beginning of the Pharaonic Age, 2200 BC, they put into power their first official ruler, King Menes (Metz). Power was thereby centralized into the hands of a self-proclaimed God King, giving birth to the very first organized society in the known world. The time period as we know it may have seemed primitive to some of us, but the Egyptians in fact had developed a very sophisticated and complex society. They became skilled shipmen, developers of medicine, used astrology to predict floods in order to fertilize and water their...
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Ancient Egypt was a single tightly organized state for much of its history (Centanni, n.d.). In all its phases, the Egyptian government was led by the pharaoh. The pharaoh was held to be descended from gods, with the power to assure success and control the rituals that assured the flow of the Nile and the fertility derived from irrigation. Wanting gods to favor Egypt, the entire population of people did not hesitate to carry out laws that the pharaoh placed upon them. Egypt’s pharaohs claimed additional power and authority as actual incarnations of the gods
As history has it, Egypt was the land of lands and great art with their high pyramids. During the year 3000 BC when two nations decides to come in one nation so that the nation of Egypt can be under one king. Since Egypt has become under one nation; the land and it’s’ people grew and develop their work of arts and crafts. Researchers O΄Connor and Robertson (2000) wrote “Egypt enjoyed long periods of peace when society advanced rapidly. From the article “The Story of the Nile” by John Baines (2011) said:
Egypt has one of the longest histories of any nation in the world. Written history of Egypt dates back to about 5,000 years, the commencement of civilization. While there is divergence in relation to Early Egyptian times, it is said that Egypt came to be around 3200 B.C., during the reign of a king by the name of Menes and unified the northern and southern cities of Egypt into one government. In 1675 B.C., Egypt was invaded by the Hyksos, people from the east, bringing along the very first of chariots and horses ever to come across Egyptian soil. Approximately 175 years later in 1500 B.C., the Egyptians had gotten rid of the Hyksos and driven them out. In 1375 B.C., Amenhotep IV had become the king of Egypt. During his reign he eliminated the worship of Egyptian gods and initiated the idea of only worshipping one god. But after his death, his ideas were retired and old ways were reestablished. Egyptian supremacy then started to decline around 1000 B.C. Between 1000 B.C. and 332 B.C., Egypt was ruled by many such as the Libyans, Assyrians, Ethiopians, and Persians. In 640, Muslims conquered Egypt and founded the city of Cairo in 969 and deemed it as the capital of Egypt. For many centuries Egypt was ruled by Muslim caliphs. A prominent ruler of this period was Saladin, who battled the Christian Crusaders at the conclusion of the twelfth century. In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt but was then forced to withdraw in 1801 Turkish and British armed forces. In 1805 Mohamed Ali began ruling Egypt till 1848 and great changed the country in terms of modernization and its military. During Mohamed’s conquest, he borrowed a lot of money from the French and British, which later resulted in Egypt’s coloniza...
Wilkinson, Toby A. H.. The rise and fall of ancient Egypt. New York: Random House, 2010. Print.
Although there are few religions that still consider the ways of the ancient Egyptian culture important, they are still out there. They are influenced every day by the history, which permeates their rituals, scriptures, and more. Furthermore, Egypt’s political influence may be outdated and not the clearest system, but it led the way for further development and refinement for future use. Without the influence of Egypt, we would not be the civilization that we are
Frankfort, H (2000). Ancient Egyptian Religion: An Interpretation . New York: Columbia University Press. p4-31.
The country I decided to research is Egypt. Egypt is located in northern Africa along the Mediterranean and Red Seas. The majority of the country however is located in northeastern Africa, but its Sinai Peninsula extends out into Southwest Asia, connecting the two continents. European nations wanted to colonize Egypt because it was considered to be a treasure, due to its fertile land and production of crops, such as: wheat, fruits, vegetables, corn, and cotton. Also because of its strategic location at the head of the Red Sea, that appeared valuable to countries such as Britain and France. Another reason was because they wanted to control Egypt in order to secure the main route to India, Malaya, Australia, New Zealand and to Hong Kong.This route was known as the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal was viewed as the “Lifeline of the Empire” because it allowed quicker access to its colonies in Asia and Africa. It also connected the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea, built mainly with French money from private interest groups using Egyptian labor. Egypt was also targeted due to its weak economy and government, making it an easy target to imperialize. Egypt was colonized three times each by different civilizations. It was colonized by the Ottomans in 1517, by the French in 1799, and by the British in 1882. A key person involved in Egypts colonization was Muhammad Ali. After taking power in 1805, he strengthened the army and focused on cultivating the land. He also increased trade with Europe and sent officials to Britain to be educated.
Ancient Egypt occupied the role of the leading civilization for nearly thirty centuries. After the unification of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt in 3100 B.C.E., the unified nation prevailed until it was conquered in 332 B.C.E. by Alexander the Great. The success and longevity of the Egyptians are due to their geographic position allowing natural fortification of their territory and the Nile River, which is an important economic asset, the pharaoh’s power allowing for continued unity, as well as their bureaucratic system maintaining stability throughout the nation.
When thinking of Egypt one may conjure up images of pyramids, the Great Sphinx, hieroglyphs, mummies and the Nile. To understand how such a great civilization came to be, one must first become familiar with what it means to be a civilization. There are several characteristics, outlined by British archeologist V. Gordon Childe, that act as a checklist for what constitutes a civilization. Childe’s list was restructured by Charles Redman into Primary characteristics and secondary characteristics of civilization. By examining long distance trade and writing in ancient Egypt one will be able to see how these secondary characteristics were the foundation for a number of the primary characteristics present in Egypt.
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...n 1163 B.C., Egypt entered a period of slow decline (Scarre 1997:116). Pharaohs became less powerful, and their prestige dwindled. Hungry soldiers were terrorizing the community, while tomb robbers were raiding the pyramids for resources that were very much needed. They had buried their pharaohs with food, goods and jewelry, all of which were needed to keep the civilization in tact. They had built too many pyramids, and there were setbacks in Asia which corrupted trade. People did not understand why the pharaohs could not fix the problems that were going on. They viewed them as gods and lost trust and faith. Egypt fell apart as these things culminated with loss of belief in the pharaohs.