Chang, Daniel C.

AC402

Prof Rishirl Alberto- Cuario

May 11, 2016
Ancient Egypt and African Civilization

Category

Explanation

1. Political System

2. Social Structure

3. Social Class

4. Economy/Trade

5.Technologies

Pharaoh- directly responsible for the welfare of Egypt, protect his subjects,
maintain order and direct productive efforts.
A weak pharaoh result to breakdown and everyone suffers.
Two intervals when pharaohs powers were seriously diminished:
Intermediate periods(2200 to 2100 B.C.E and 1650 and 1570 B.C.E.) when
governors lost control of the Nomes (southernmost provinces) and invasion
of Hyksos who conquered Nile Delta.
Old Kingdom(3100-2200B.C.E)- Menes to the First Intermediate period,
most successful era, construction of Pyramid of Giza.
Middle Kingdom(2100-1650B.C.E)- Trade become extensive but slavery
worsened and religion become more democratic.
New Kingdom(1550-770B.C.E)- aka empire(convert their neighbor to their
lifestyle and religion), began after defeat of the Hyksos, withdrawal of Egypt
for Mesopotamian control, ended around the rule of Pharaoh Akhnaton.
In the social pyramid of ancient Egypt the pharaoh and those associated with
divinity were at the top, and servants and slaves made up the bottom. The
Egyptians also elevated some human beings to gods. Their leaders, called
pharaohs, were believed to be gods in human form.
1. The Pharaoh- god on earth and the ultimate authority in Egypt.
2. High government officials like the vizier (the pharaoh's right hand man), the
chief treasurer and the army general
3. Priests and nobles (who serve as lesser government officials)
4. Soldiers and scribes (who write down important events and calculate taxes)
5. Craftsmen or artisans and merchants( sold goods made by artisans) and other
skilled workers such as doctors( treat injuries)
6. Farmers and unskilled workers- also known as peasants.
7. Slaves- prisoners-of-war.
Old Kingdom
- Importation of timber by building trade with timeber-rich Byblos in Phonecia.
- Expeditions to Nubia Land of the Bowmen for ivory and gold.
Middle and New Kingdom
- Naval expedition to Land of Punt, where trade was abundant in spices,
frankincense, myrrh, and gold from India, southern Arabian and Eastern Africa.
- conquest to Nubian land of Kush

Dendera Light- exists on the left wall of the right wing in one of the
crypts of the Hathor temple.
Copper and Iron Extraction- Egyptians called iron 'the metal of heaven
Glass Making

6. Knowledge/
Invention/
Writings

Knowledge
Timekeeping
Science of Aerodynamics
Hydraulic engineering principles
circular mud-brick walls
plumb-bobs
lunar calendar
Geometry
Decimal system
Invention
12-month lunar cycle.
Papyrus
Water clocks
Pyramids
Organized Labor
Simple Machines(ramp and the lever)
Ox-Drawn Plow
Toothbrush and Toothpaste as well as beath mints
Writings and Literature
First hieroglyphic writing that has come down to us dates from c. 3000 BC.
Hieroglyphic- composed of hundreds of symbols, could be read in rows or
columns, and in either direction in the majority of cases, written from right to
left.
Hieratic- used by Scribes in their daily lives, uses a cursive script which was
far quicker and easier to use than hieroglyphics. Hieratic writing was always
written from right to left, usually in horizontal rows.
Demotic- around 500 BC, was a phonetic and semi-alphabetical script, which
began life as the transcription of everyday spoken language.
Book of the Dead- collection of spells, to enable people to pass successfully
from this life into the next.
Story of Sinuhe- probably the best known work of Egyptian literature.
Story of Wenamun- a tale which gives an insight into Egypt in its declining
phase.

7. Religious Belief

Infinitely polytheistic.
Have at least three hundred thousand separate names of gods many were
same deities but with diff. names over the century.
Ancient Egyptians- worshipped many gods and goddesses which includes Ra,
the sun god; Isis, the goddess of nature and magic; Anuket- goddess of Nile
and fertility; Osiris- ruler of afterlife; and Anubis- goddess of the underworld,
weigh the souls(ka) of the dead, and their son Horus made visible to the
ruling Pharaoh, and Ptah- the renewal and rebirth of life.
New Kingdom- its local god Amun became the chief god, and was united
with Ra to become Amun-Ra - embodiment of all gods. Aknaton attempt of
monotheistic(one-god) newly renamed Aton, sun god.

8. Arts &
Architecture

9. River System

10. City-State

Afterlife- eternal reward or punishment for their ka. Judgment was passed on
each soul when it weighed against the feather of Maat; Maat was the
embodiment of truth and justice. Egyptian believed that when a person died
the soul passed into the underworld, where the Anubis weighed against justice
and Maat to determine its fate.
Mummification- afterlife connected to the preservation of the physical body.
Human beings are composed of both physical and spiritual aspects. After
death, the latter lived on. Some people become disembodied souls, or ghosts,
wandering the earth others if worthy, could become a "blessed one", living in
a land of goodness and plenty.

Art
Pyramid built for King Huni
Great Pyramid of Khafre
Great Pyramid built by King Cheops (Khufu) at Giza
Tomb of King Tutankhamun
Palette of King Narmer
Great Sphinx
Khafre
Menkaure and Khameremebty
Hypostyle Hall, Temple of Amen-re
Temple of King Ramses II, Abu Simbel
Pillar statue of Akhenaton
Queen Nefertiti
Architecture
Mastaba Tomb, Saqqara
Step Pyramid built for King Zoser
Bent Pyramid
Great Pyramid of Giza
Temple of Horus at Edfu
Rock Cut Tomb
The Nile begins in the Highlands of Ethiopia with two branches: The White
Nile and the Blue Nile (these rivers unite and flow north where they empty
into the Mediterranean Sea).
The Nile would flood each year in the spring. With the flood it would deposit
a rich soil.
The rich soil around the Nile was called the Black land. The desert was
called the Red Land.
Ancient Egypt never developed any major cities, the reason was that the Nile
valley constituted a continuous inhabitable area.
The main urban places in Ancient Egypt were Memphis and Thebes.
Memphis- located between the Nile valley and the Nile delta, work well in
the control of taxation and internal security.
Thebes- were no distinct advantage however, rich in agriculture and wellpopulated.
Akhetaten (now known as Tell el-Amarna), the planned city of Akhenaten,
short-lived city.

References
http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/ancient-egypt-social-structure.html
http://www.ancient-egypt-online.com/ancient-egypt-technology.html
http://www2.sptimes.com/Egypt/EgyptCredit.4.4.html
http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptscience.html
http://looklex.com/e.o/egypt.ancient.cities_villages.htm