Egypt .. civilization and lifestyle

By W.M KRISHAN

The Egyptians resided on banks of the Nile, the Nile gave them life and they gave the world civilization, they are creative in all fields they deserved to be described as having invented civilization.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781716560156

Book preview

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of civilization in Egypt: ...........................................5

PART ONE

1. LIFE STYLE OF ACIENT EGYPTIONS…............................................11

1-1 Population of Egypt................................................................................ 11

1-2 Marriage and family.................................................................................16

1-3 Homes ......................................................................................................23

1-4 Food and drink........................................................................................27

1-5 Fashion and Jeweler :.............................................................................32

1-6 The Fake hair (wig) and beautification..................................................37

1-7 Entertainment...........................................................................................41

1-8 Trade and crafts.......................................................................................45

1-9 Mobility and transportation.....................................................................49

1-10 Foreign Trade........................................................................................51

1-11 State regulations.....................................................................................53

PART TWO

2. RELIGIOUS AND BELIEFS....................................................................62

2.1 Burial and embalming...............................................................................62

2.2 Death and immortality...............................................................................66

2.3 Pyramids and tombs of kings...................................................................71

2.4 Sphinx the guard of the pyramids...............................................................75

2-5 Egyptian Gods...........................................................................................77

2-6 Myths related to the creation of the universe.......................................102

2-7 Animal Worship.......................................................................................109

2-8 Egyptian symbols....................................................................................115

2-9 Priests in temples….................................................................................123

2-10 Festivals and celebrations...................................................................129

2-11 Magic and amulets ………………………………...................................134

2-12 Dream interpretation and astrology…………………………………….142

PART THREE

3. DYNASTIES AND KINGS.....................................................................151

3-1 Early Period 3100-2686 BC..............................................................151

3-1-1 First Dynasty  3100-2890 BC..............................................................152

3-2-2 Second Dynasty 2890–2686 BC..........................................................160

3-2 Old Kingdom 2686–2181 BC........................................................162

3-2-1 Third Dynasty      2686--2613 BC........................................................164

3-2-2 Fourth Dynasty 2613 – 2494 BC........................................................167

3-2-3 Fifth dynasty 2504--2345 BC..................................................................173

3-2-4 Sixth Dynasty 2345--2181 BC.............................................................177

3-3 First Intermediate 3100-2686 BC................................................177

3-3-1 Seventh Dynasty  2181–2160 BC???................................................178

3-3-2 Eighth Dynasty      2181–2160 BC......................................................179

3-3-3 Ninth Dynasty      2160–2130 BC........................................................181

3-3-4 Tenth Dynasty      2130–2040 BC........................................................182

3-3-5 Early Eleventh Dynasty 2130 - 2061 BC.............................................182

3-4 Middle Kingdom  2061 - 1690 BC ..............................................183

3-4-1 Late Eleventh Dynasty      2061–1991..............................................184

3-4-2 Twelfth Dynasty 1991–1803 BC...........................................................186

3-4-3 Thirteenth Dynasty 1803–1649 BC.....................................................192

3-4-4 Fourteenth Dynasty 1725–1650 BC....................................................195

3-5 Second Intermediate periods 1650-1550 BC............................196

3-5-1 Fifteenth Dynasty 1650 - 1550 BC.......................................................197

3-5-2 Sixteenth Dynasty 1660– 1600 BC......................................................198

3-5-3 Abydos Dynasty 1650-1600 BC..........................................................199

3-5-2 Seventeenth Dynasty 1580– 1550 BC................................................200

3-6 New Kingdom (1550-1087 BC).....................................................206

3-6-1 Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1307) BC..................................................207

3-6-2 Nineteenth Dynasty (1292 -1189) BC.................................................227

3-6-3 Twentieth Dynasty 1189–1077 BC.......................................................236

3-7 Third Intermediate Period (1069--653 BC)................................245

3-1-7 Twenty-first Dynasty 1069 BC – 945 BC.............................................246

2-7-3 Twenty-second Dynasty 945--720 BC...............................................247

3-7-3 Twenty-third Dynasty  837 BC – 728 BC...........................................248

3-7-4 Twenty-fourth Dynasty732 – 720 BC..................................................249

3-7-5 Twenty-fifth Dynasty744 BC–656 BC..................................................249

3-8 Late period 664-332 BC.................................................................251

3-8-1 Twenty-sixth Dynasty 664– 525 BC....................................................252

3-8-2 Twenty-seventh Dynasty 525–404 BC……….....................................253

3-8-3 Twenty-eighth Dynasty 525-404 BC....................................................254

3-8-4 Twenty-ninth Dynasty 398 BC–380 BC………...................................254

3-8-5 Thirtieth Dynasty  380 BC–343 BC249..............................................255

3-8-6 Thirty-First Dynasty  343 BC – 332 BC ............................................256

3-9 Ptolemaic Dynasty 332--30 BC....................................................257

PART FOUR

4. ACHIEVMENTS…………………..........................................................276

4.1 Battles and wars…………………............................................................276

4.2 Architecture.…………………...................................................................281

4-3 Fine Arts………………………….............................................................284

4-4 Literature…………………........................................................................286

4-5  Hieroglyphics…………………...............................................................296

4-6 Medicine and Pharmaceutical………………….....................................299

4-7 Calendar…………………........................................................................303

5.  CONCLUSION………………….............................................................308

6.  REFERENCES …………………............................................................310

INTRODUCTION

The emergence of civilization in Egypt:

Civilization began in Egypt more than seven thousand years BC, where Egypt had since witnessed the stability of mankind, thanks to the existence of the Nile River, which was an attraction, because of the fertility of the land and the abundance of water, and with the passage of time society began The humanitarian in that region is expanding, four thousand years later, people in Egypt began to learn to read and write, Egypt has seen during the centuries following the boom and development,

The Nile was the source of Egyptian life; the Nile was the main factor for the existence of life in Egypt, and for this reason it was considered a sacred river, Because most of the land of Egypt is an arid desert, and rains rarely, and the heat of the sun was increasing suffering, concentrated the presence of communities on the banks of the Nile River, despite the narrow strip on both banks of the river, but it was a reason for the continuation of life, where the Egyptians relied on their livelihood Agriculture and cattle breeding to provide irrigation water from the Nile, as well as fisheries was a good source of food, the nature of the land on both banks of the Nile was fertile well and they called it (black land), otherwise it was a desert area called (red land), and they avoided Being there because of the harsh climate.

The Nile is the longest river in the world - about 6,500 kilometers long and 457 meters wide. The Blue Nile originates from Lake Tana in Ethiopia, while the White Nile originates from Lake Victoria in Uganda and the Blue Nile meets the White Nile in Khartoum- Sudan, they become one river (The Nile River), and runs along Egypt from south to north to flow into the Mediterranean Sea. the area at the estuary is known as the Delta, what is known to the ancient Egyptians Lower Egypt is located in the north of Egypt, while the upper region is located in southern Egypt, both located on the west bank of the Nile.

Water in the Nile River was rising, causing the annual flooding of the Nile, which temporarily flooded the land, and then the water soon receded leaving behind a layer of silt and the soil becomes rich and fertile, which with the warm climate is a suitable environment for growing all kinds of agricultural crops. What made most Egyptians work in agriculture and they have a great experience in this field, the annual flood of the Nile River has been credited with the availability of agricultural crops abundant, especially papyrus, which was used in many fields, including writing paper, ropes, shoes, baskets and so on.

When the floods approached each year, peasants were waiting for it, hoping that the water would be high enough to irrigate their farms, and as a result of massive activity at the collective level, be it agriculture or irrigation, society began to develop. As the growth of agriculture is therefore due to the entire society, Since the growth of agriculture is therefore due to the whole society, they used to measure the height of the flood water a special device called (Nile scale), shows the proportion of water rise, and this device contains certain degrees, and the ideal degree of river height during the flood was set at 25 feet. More than six feet above this level means that the planting season will be very bad and may have led to famine, if it exceeds six feet above this level, the flood will be devastating, damming the dams and submerging entire villages, this measure has another benefit, so that taxes collected from farmers in favor of the state are calculated according to the height of the flood waters.

In the years when the Nile River floods well enough to flood the valleys, it promises that the next year will be the agricultural cycle at its best and consists of three seasons, the first season is the immersion season called (Akhet) and be from mid-July to mid-November, then comes the season of emergence called (Beret), this season, which runs from mid-November to mid-March in which plants grow, farmers are active in the fields and harvesting grain and linen, while the third season is when the river reaches its lowest level at the end of the harvest, called (Shimo).

In the beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the Nile is considered a sacred river. They believe that this river stems from paradise, it is God Khnmu who is responsible for taking the Nile out of its source to give life to Egypt, while God Habi is responsible for the annual flood of the Nile, and the Egyptians believe that the water of the Nile River has the property of healing diseases because of its sanctity and association with the gods, and reflected the Egyptians love for the Nile inherited their singing, they sang many songs for the Nile, for example (the hymn of the Nile) and (love of the Nile) and (the hymn to Habi).

Three thousand years ago BC began to record the Egyptian history by the priest and Egyptians Scientist Manito, at the request of the kings of the Ptolemies, where all the families that ruled Egypt during that period of time, so the history of Egypt was classified into seven periods in addition to the Ptolemaic period and its division into thirty-one dynasties in addition to the families of the Baltic period, according to the link between these rulers, so that the dynasty ends when the ruling king has no heir to sit on the throne after him, and these periods and families will be mentioned in detail later. But it should be noted that there will be discrepancies in dates, this is due to two reasons. The first reason is that the codification of Egypt's history came several centuries later, so there will be a difference in terms of increase or decrease, the second reason is the royal tradition of some families so that the dates of kings overlap with each other

With the advent of hieroglyphs and the establishment of the capital of Memphis (Memphis) at the Delta Summit between Upper and Lower Egypt, Egypt began the stage of an organized state and became easier to manage the affairs of the country, which helped in the development and prosperity, memphis remained the official capital during the Third Dynasty, while it remained a religious and administrative center throughout ancient Egyptian history, containing the pyramids and royal tombs of Giza and Saqqara.

Political and economic conditions during Egypt's history varied between the prosperity of the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, while periods of conflict, political turmoil, and economic decline prevailed during the first, second and third intermediate periods, because of the weakness of the central government, during these periods were subjected to greed and invasion of other countries.

In general, we will mention the circumstances of each period and the ruling families more broadly later, so that the picture will be clear to the reader.

PART ONE

1. LIFE STYLE OF ACIENT EGYPTIONS.

1-1 Population of Egypt:

The ancient Egyptians were a people of intelligence, activity and excellence in all fields, especially the social sphere. Despite the many difficulties they faced, they have always been proud of themselves and come to life with the utmost love. Their religious beliefs, their family relationship and their work were of crucial importance in their interest. He has been through the ages a people similar to these qualities, and has translated their love of life and appreciation to them that they seek to make life eternal, and were planning for life after death and are interested in preparing for it as a continuation of their lives before death.

The lives of most Egyptians were not spectacular, but most of them lived a hard life due to the great effort their work required. Their lives were short due to the hardships they were doing. Their rates were not more than 35 years old. The upper classes, who did not work hard, Good food, they lived longer than that, King Ramses lived until the age of 96 years, and the majority of the pharaohs continued their lives for nearly this age.

Ancient Egyptians of all denominations were adhering to the laws and teachings of Goddess Ma’at, the daughter of the God Ra, who embodies truth and justice, and was distinguished by a white ostrich feather above her head, According to their beliefs, the rule of the gods is based on different foundations of human rule over each other, one of the lessons to which some are exposed clearly illustrates how the gods made judgments about people on any principles, one of these lessons, the story of the chief priest and the eleventh son of Ramses the Great Stena Khimost and his wife were praying to the gods in order to have a son, one night, a god appeared to the wife and told her that she would bear a baby very soon, this son will have a great deal, indeed, the wife became pregnant and gave birth (Sa Ishtar), the son of Ishtar, when he was five years old, his parents sent him to study in the temple, he has shown great distinction among his peers,he mastered hieroglyphic writing over several months and became the most outstanding pupil.

A few years later, when he was standing behind the window of their house with his father to see a funeral procession of one of the dead rich nobles, the funeral was great and the coffin was gold plated and carried by a large group of officials and priests. After the procession passed a small funeral procession of a poor worker was not in the procession only the sons of the deceased and his wife and the features of sadness visible on their faces.

Sitna turned to his son and said, "Look, my son, the rich man, even in death, he will be happier. His son answered immediately. I hope that my father will be your fate as the poor and not the rich. This answer came like a thunderbolt to the father, the son held his father's hand and marched him into a desert area and brought him into the world of the dead to see the fate of the worker and the rich, the father was surprised when the son pointed to him as someone who had a spirit that lived in happiness and said to him: this is the worker, rather, while the rich was suffering severe punishment, the son said to his father, father, I wish you the fate of this poor laborer because he was doing the good deeds and he passed the tests of the laws of the god Ma’at, while the rich man was bad manners and failed the tests.

People were divided into five categories according to the profession they practiced, Kings came first in the social ladder, the second category was for ministers and advisers and senior priests and nobles,  the third category consisted of officials, writers, priests, doctors and engineers, the fourth category consisted of artisans, soldiers, traders and skilled workers, then workers and fishermen, then servants, the slaves were at the bottom of the social ladder, the slaves of the ancient Egyptians were brought from Asia and Nubia. The Caucasus, who were captured by wars and sold to the rich as slaves, citizens could also sell themselves as slaves - and then return to buy themselves when they have the price. The slaves were treated well and were given food, shelter and assistance. Some slaves could buy private property, and any citizen could develop himself with education and training to reach a higher position and better social status.

This is a story that proves the good treatment that was received by the people and that the injustice of them must be achieved by justice and is clean, one of the peasants used to trade in simple goods to provide his family with food. he carried the goods on the donkeys and went to the villages to sell the goods, he happened to be met by one of the workers. He cut the road and beat him and stole the goods he had. There were no witnesses to this incident, the farmer complained to one of the officials, who in turn asked the writer to register the complaint and raise it to the pharaoh. Indeed, this farmer was interviewed by the pharaoh who promised him justice and his cleanness. The farmer waited for some time until he lost hope that the pharaoh's promise would be implemented. During the waiting period, the pharaoh, without the knowledge of the peasant, was responsible for the subsistence of the peasant family, A few days later, the worker was arrested and stripped of all his possessions and given to the farmer to compensate for his loss, not only because of the farmer's eloquence in raising his case  He was appointed minister.

From this story we conclude that the promotion of the peasant was not because of the injustice suffered, it was enough to return to his right, but his promotion came because of his rhetorical ability to explain his case, which means that he was a skilled learner, His education is equivalent to university tuition in our time And the fact that he was living thousands of years ago, this is an achievement worthy of promotion, and also shows that the opportunities are available to all provided that prove the eligibility for the position in an era was writing a new invention, and the proportion of learners in those times do not exceed 1%, and education was At the hands of the priests in the temples was on the flag students mastering about 700 hieroglyphs characters, and more than 5000 symbols.

The profession of the writer is one of the distinguished professions. Those who practice this profession enjoy many privileges such as exemption from taxes and the performance of manual labor. Those who practice this profession are among the most respected members of society and those who practice writing are considered qualified to hold positions in the Royal Palace and the army. Temples and government offices, and may reach senior positions in the state.

The writer has many duties and is important in managing the affairs of the state. He records the contracts and population statistics and writes official letters and inscriptions. The writer keeps records of agricultural crops, organizes celebrations of national events and monitors the annual level of Nile water.

Horemheb is the most famous writer of ancient Egyptian civilization who lived during the modern kingdom under the rule of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, He assumed the post of military commander , Then Pharaoh of Egypt Because there was no heir to the pharaoh Tutankhamun, and Hor Muhib appointed a military commander, Ramses I, the founder of the 19th Dynasty.

Human respect in ancient Egyptian civilization not limited to men, but women were also treated with equality with men, the estimate was made on the basis of the person's status no difference in that between a man and a woman, Ma’at's laws considered women's disrespect to be a departure from religious beliefs.

Women enjoy all the rights enjoyed by men, the wife may inherit the royal throne if the king does not have the heir of a son, if he has a son it is the wife's duty to maintain the throne to enable the heir to receive it, women enjoy all legal rights to all transactions, ownership, sale and purchase, and to represent themselves in court.

Women are entitled to work in most professions such as baker, tailor, and haram. Even the post of chancellor of the pharaoh was available to women, as well as professions of great respect such as dancers and priests in the temples, Women have the right to promote positions. One of the most prominent examples of this was Nipet, a woman who held high positions such as the judge and the minister, as well as examples of what reached the women in the ancient Egyptian state Mrs. Pechet She was working as a supervisor of doctors, she lived during the fifth family, She is the first female doctor in history.

1-2 Marriage and family among Egyptians:

Marriage is respected in the life of ancient Egyptians. Marriage is sacred, and the relationship between spouses is a matter of love, affection, and interest. It was common during this period of history to marry one member of the same social class, Within the framework of the upper class had special rules, especially in the royal family, polygamy was fairly common among members of the ruling family, and there were even cases of brotherly marriage, which was not spread among the rest of the classes and was intended to preserve the dynasty.

Marriage was often freely chosen by the parties, the bride's approval was inevitable marriage is not done without her consent, and all the procedures of marriage were the duty of the husband, and the marriage contract could be terminated later in the same form of divorce at the moment.

The wedding was a simple one attended by family and friends. Gifts were given to the couple. The bride then moved to her husband's house, often the same house as his family, and began working as a housewife.

The early Egyptians had an early marriage phenomenon. The girls were married at the age of 12 years, when the girl became a mother at an early age and when she reached the age of 30 she became a grandmother.

Divorce was not common among ancient Egyptians, but if that happened, the wife had the right to retain her property before marriage, as well as one-third of the property of the joint spouses and property acquired during the marriage. The nursery was right for the mother. Divorce was a simple matter, especially for a couple, and consisted of canceling the contract with witnesses. Once that is done, both partners are free to get married again.

In the case of marital infidelity, the traitorous wife is not entitled to her rights. It is possible that she will be punished with the painful punishment of cutting the nose, because the nose of the ancient Egyptians was