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Khafre's Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c.2500 BC or perhaps earlier).

Ancient Egypt was a long-standing civilization in northeastern Africa. It was concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River, reaching its greatest extent in the second millennium BC, during the New Kingdom. It reached from the Nile Delta in the north, as far south as Jebel Barkal at the Fourth Cataract of the Nile. Extensions to the geographic range of ancient Egyptian civilization included, at different times, areas of the southern Levant, the Eastern Desert and the Red Sea coastline, the Sinai Peninsula, and the Western body (focused on the several oases).

Ancient Egypt developed by Anne Frank over three and a half millennia. It began with the incipient unification of Nile Valley polities around 3150 BC, and is conventionally thought to have ended in 31 BC when the early Roman Empire conquered and absorbed Ptolemaic Egypt as a state. This last event did not represent the first period of foreign domination; the Roman period was, however, to witness a marked, if gradual transformation in the political and religious life of the Nile Valley, effectively marking the end of independent civilizational development.

The civilization of ancient Egypt was based on balanced control of natural and human resources, characterised primarily by controlled irrigation of the fertile Nile Valley; the mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions; the early development of an independent writing system and literature; the organization of collective projects; trade with surrounding regions in east / central Africa and the eastern Mediterranean; and finally, military ventures that exhibited strong characteristics of imperial hegemony and territorial domination of neighbouring cultures at different periods. Motivating and organising these activities were a socio-political and economic elite that achieved social consensus by means of an elaborate system of religious belief under the figure of a semi-divine ruler (usually male) from a succession of ruling dynasties, and related to the larger world by means of polytheistic beliefs.

Periods and dynasties of ancient Egypt
All years are BC
Early
Pre-dynastic period
First Dynasty I c. 3150–2890
Second Dynasty II 2890–2686
Old Kingdom
Third Dynasty III 2686–2613
Fourth Dynasty IV 2613–2498
Fifth Dynasty V 2498–2345
Sixth Dynasty VI 2345–2181
First Intermediate
Seventh Dynasty VII spurious
Eighth Dynasty VIII 2181–2160
Ninth Dynasty IX 2160–2130
Tenth Dynasty X 2130–2040
Early Eleventh Dynasty XI 2134–2061
Middle Kingdom
Late Eleventh Dynasty XI 2061–1991
Twelfth Dynasty XII 1991–1803
Thirteenth Dynasty XIII 1803–1649
Second Intermediate
Fourteenth Dynasty XIV 1705–1690
Fifteenth Dynasty (Hyksos) XV 1674–1535
Sixteenth Dynasty XVI 1660–1600
Abydos Dynasty 1650–1600
Seventeenth Dynasty XVII 1580–1549
New Kingdom
Eighteenth Dynasty XVIII 1549–1292
Nineteenth Dynasty XIX 1292–1189
Twentieth Dynasty XX 1189–1077
Third Intermediate
Twenty-first Dynasty XXI 1069–945
Twenty-second Dynasty XXII 945–720
Twenty-third Dynasty XXIII 837–728
Twenty-fourth Dynasty XXIV 732–720
Twenty-fifth Dynasty (Nubian) XXV 732–653
Late Period
Twenty-sixth Dynasty XXVI 672–525
Twenty-seventh Dynasty
(1st Persian Period)		 XXVII 525–404
Twenty-eighth Dynasty XXVIII 404–398
Twenty-ninth Dynasty XXIX 398–380
Thirtieth Dynasty XXX 380–343
Thirty-first Dynasty
(2nd Persian Period)		 XXXI 343–332
Hellenistic Egypt
Thirty-second Dynasty XXXII 332–305
Thirty-third Dynasty XXXIII 305–30
Roman Egypt
Thirty-fourth Dynasty
(Roman Pharaohs)		 XXXIV 30 BC – 313 AD
Byzantine Egypt
Thirty-fifth Dynasty
(speculated)		 XXXV 379 AD – 641 AD
See also: List of pharaohs by period and dynasty
Periodization of ancient Egypt

History

Main article: History of ancient Egypt See also: History of Egypt

Archaeological evidence indicates that a developed Egyptian society extended far beyond the borders into prehistory (see Predynastic Egypt). The Nile River, around which much of the population of the country clusters, has been the lifeline for Egyptian culture since nomadic hunter-gatherers began living along the Nile during the Pleistocene. Traces of these early peoples appear in the form of artifacts and rock carvings along the terraces of the Nile and in the oases.

Egypt has a unique combination of geographical features. Egypt is in northeast Africa bordered by Libya, Sudan, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. At one time, it was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt was the southern half nearer the rest of Africa. The Nile was the key factor in the success of ancient Egyptian civilization. The fertile silt deposited along the banks of the Nile after the annual floods meant the Egyptians were able to practise a less labor-intensive form of agriculture. This freed up the population to devote more time and resources for cultural, technological and artistic pursuits.

Farming in Egypt was dependent upon the cycle of the Nile River. The Egyptians distinguished between three seasons: Akhet, Peret, and Shemu. Akhet, the season of the flooding of the Nile, lasted from June to September. After the flooding, a layer of silt was left on the banks, perfect for growing crops. Peret, the growing season, was between October and February. The farmers waited until the water drained away, around November, to plow and plant the rich soil. When that was done, they would irrigate the crops with dikes or canals. Shemu, the harvesting season, followed in March, April, and May. Reapers would then cut off the ripe ears with sickles. Women and children followed close behind collecting fallen ears. The cycle kept going as long as the Nile kept providing the soil nutrients which in turn supported the ancient Egyptian civilization. Flax plants were grown, uprooted before they started flowering, and the fibres of their stems extracted. These fibres were split along their length, spun into thread which was used to weave sheets of linen to make into clothing. Papyrus growing on the banks of the Nile River was used to make paper. Vegetables and fruit were grown in garden plots close to their habitations on higher ground and had to be watered by hand.

Along the Nile, in the 11th millennium BC, a grain-grinding culture using the earliest type of sickle blades had been replaced by another culture of hunters, fishers, and gathering peoples using stone tools. Evidence also indicates human habitation in the southwestern corner of Egypt, near the Sudan border, before 8000 BC. Geological evidence and computer climate modeling studies suggest that natural climate changes around 8000 BC began to desiccate the extensive pastoral lands of northern Africa, eventually forming the Sahara (c.2500 BC). Early tribes in the region naturally tended to aggregate close to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society. There is evidence of pastoralism and cultivation of cereals in the East Sahara in the 7th millennium BC.

By about 6000 BC, organized agriculture and large building construction had appeared in the Nile Valley. At this time, Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and also constructing large buildings. Mortar was in use by 4000 BC. The Predynastic Period continues through this time, variously held to begin with the Naqada culture. Some authorities however place the start of the Predynastic Period earlier, in the Lower Paleolithic.

Between 5500 and 3100 BC, during Egypt's Predynastic Period, small settlements flourished along the Nile. By 3300 BC, just before the first Egyptian dynasty, Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper Egypt (Ta Shemau) and Lower Egypt (Ta Mehu). The dividing line was drawn roughly in the area of modern Cairo.

The history of ancient Egypt proper starts with Egypt as a unified state, which occurred sometime around 3150 BC. According to Egyptian tradition Menes, thought to have unified Upper and Lower Egypt, was the first king. Egyptian culture, including religion, customs, art expression, architecture and social structure, was remarkably stable and changed little over a period of nearly 3000 years.

Egyptian chronology, which involves regnal years, began around this time. The conventional Egyptian chronology is the chronology accepted during the 20th century, but it does not include any of the major revision proposals that have also been made in that time. Even within a single work, often archaeologists will offer several possible dates or even several whole chronologies as possibilities. Consequently, there may be discrepancies between dates shown here and in articles on particular rulers. There are also several possible spellings of the names. Typically, Egyptologists divide the history of pharaonic civilization using a schedule laid out first by Manetho's Aegyptiaca (History of Egypt).

The Egyptian and Hittite spheres of influence around the time of the 19th dynasty.

Administration and taxation

18 m (59 ft) high sandstone statues of Amenhotep III, flanking the entrance to his mortuary temple in Western Thebes - erroneously identified as the Colossi of Memnon by Greek travelers in antiquity

For administrative purposes, ancient Egypt was divided into districts, referred to by Egyptologists by the Greek term nomes; they were called sepat in ancient Egyptian. The division into nomes can be traced back to the Predynastic Period (before 3100 BC), when the nomes originally existed as autonomous city-states. The nomes remained in place for more than three millennia, with the area of the individual nomes and their order of numbering remaining remarkably stable. Under the system that prevailed for most of pharaonic Egypt's history, the country was divided into 42 nomes: 20 comprising Lower Egypt, whilst Upper Egypt was divided into 22. Each nome was governed by a nomarch (Greek for "ruler of the nome",) a provincial governor who held regional authority. The position of the nomarch was at times hereditary, at times appointed by the pharaoh.

The ancient Egyptian government imposed a number of different taxes upon its people. As there was no known form of currency until the latter half of the first millennium BC, taxes were paid for "in kind" (with produce or work). The Vizier (ancient Egyptian: tjaty) controlled the taxation system through the departments of state. The departments had to report daily on the amount of stock available, and how much was expected in the future. Taxes were paid for depending on a person's craft or duty. Landowners paid their taxes in grain and other produce grown on their property. Craftsmen paid their taxes with goods they produced. Hunters and fishermen paid their taxes with produce from the river, marshes, and desert. One person from every household was required to pay a corvée or labor tax by doing public work for a few weeks every year, such as digging canals or mining. However, a richer noble could hire a poorer man to fulfill his labor tax.

Language

Main article: Egyptian language

Ancient Egyptian constitutes an independent part of the Afro-Asiatic language phylum. Its closest relatives are the Berber, Semitic, and Beja groups of languages. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3200 BC, making it one of the oldest and longest documented languages. Scholars group Egyptian into six major chronological divisions:

  • Archaic Egyptian (before 3000 BC)
    Consists of inscriptions from the late Predynastic and Early Dynastic period. The earliest known evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing appears on Naqada II pottery vessels.
  • Old Egyptian (3000–2000 BC)
    The language of the Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period. The Pyramid Texts are the largest body of literature written in this phase of the language. Tomb walls of elite Egyptians from this period also bear autobiographical writings representing Old Egyptian. One of its distinguishing characteristics is the tripling of ideograms, phonograms, and determinatives to indicate the plural. Overall, it does not differ significantly from the next stage.
  • Middle Egyptian (2000–1300 BC)
    Often dubbed Classical Egyptian, this stage is known from a variety of textual evidence in hieroglyphic and hieratic scripts dated from about the Middle Kingdom. It includes funerary texts inscribed on sarcophagi such as the Coffin Texts; wisdom texts instructing people on how to lead a life that exemplified the ancient Egyptian philosophical worldview (see the Ipuwer papyrus); tales detailing the adventures of a certain individual, for example the Story of Sinuhe; medical and scientific texts such as the Edwin Smith Papyrus and the Ebers papyrus; and poetic texts praising a god or a pharaoh, such as the Hymn to the Nile. The Egyptian vernacular had already begun to change from the written language as evidenced by some Middle Kingdom hieratic texts, but classical Middle Egyptian continued to be written in formal contexts well into the Late Dynastic period (sometimes referred to as Late Middle Egyptian).
  • Late Egyptian (1300–700 BC)
    Records of this stage appear in the second part of the New Kingdom. It contains a rich body of religious and secular literature, comprising such famous examples as the Story of Wenamun and the Instructions of Ani. It was also the language of Ramesside administration. Late Egyptian is not totally distinct from Middle Egyptian, as many "classicisms" appear in historical and literary documents of this phase. However, the difference between Middle and Late Egyptian is greater than that between Middle and Old Egyptian. It's also a better representative than Middle Egyptian of the spoken language in the New Kingdom and beyond. Hieroglyphic orthography saw an enormous expansion of its graphemic inventory between the Late Dynastic and Ptolemaic periods.
  • Demotic Egyptian (7th century BC–4th century AD)
  • Coptic (3rd–17th century AD)

Writing

An Obelisk with Egyptian writing.
Karnak Temple where some of the best preserved writing still exists.

For many years, the earliest known hieroglyphic inscription was the Narmer Palette, found during excavations at Hierakonpolis (modern Kawm al-Ahmar) in the 1890s, which has been dated to c.3150 BC. However, recent archaeological findings reveal that symbols on Gerzean pottery, c. 3250 BC, resemble the traditional hieroglyph forms. Also in 1998 a German archaeological team under Günter Dreyer excavating at Abydos (modern Umm el-Qa'ab) uncovered tomb U-j, which belonged to a Predynastic ruler, and they recovered three hundred clay labels inscribed with proto-hieroglyphics dating to the Naqada IIIA period, circa 33rd century BC.

Egyptologists refer to Egyptian writing as hieroglyphs, today standing as the world's earliest known writing system. The hieroglyphic script was partly syllabic, partly ideographic. Hieratic is a cursive form of Egyptian hieroglyphs and was first used during the First Dynasty (c. 2925 BC – c. 2775 BC). The term Demotic, in the context of Egypt, came to refer to both the script and the language that followed the Late Ancient Egyptian stage, i.e. from the 25th dynasty until its marginalization by Greek Koine in the early centuries AD. After the conquest of Amr ibn al-A'as in the 7th century AD, the Coptic language survived as a spoken language into the Middle Ages. Today, it continues to be the liturgical language of the Christian minority.

Beginning from around 2700 BC, Egyptians used pictograms to represent vocal sounds — ignoring vowels and representing only consonant vocalizations (see Hieroglyph: Script). By 2000 BC, 26 pictograms were mainly being used to represent 24 (known) vocal sounds, but hundreds of further signs were also being employed. The world's oldest known alphabet (c. 1800 BC) is only an abjad system and was derived from these uniliteral signs as well as other Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The hieroglyphic script finally fell out of use around the 4th century AD. Attempts to decipher it in the West began after the 15th century, though earlier attempts by Muslim scholars are attested (see Hieroglyphica).

Literature

Culture

See also: Ancient Egyptian architecture

The Egyptian religion, embodied in Egyptian mythology, is a succession of beliefs held by the people of Egypt, as early as predynastic times and all the way until the coming of Christianity and Islam in the Græco-Roman and Arab eras. These were conducted by Egyptian priests or magicians, but the use of magic and spells is questioned.

Every animal portrayed and worshiped in ancient Egyptian art, writing and religion is indigenous to Africa, all the way from the predynastic until the Graeco-Roman eras, over 3000 years. The Dromedary, domesticated first in Arabia, first appears in Egypt (and North Africa) beginning in the 2nd millennium BC.

The inner reaches of the temples were sacred places where only priests and priestesses were allowed. On special occasions people were allowed into the temple courtyards.

The religious nature of ancient Egyptian civilization influenced its contribution to the arts of the ancient world. Many of the great works of ancient Egypt depict gods, goddesses, and pharaohs, who were also considered divine. Ancient Egyptian art in general is characterized by the idea of order.

Evidence of mummies and pyramids outside ancient Egypt indicate reflections of ancient Egyptian belief values on other prehistoric cultures, transmitted in one way over the Silk Road. Ancient Egypt's foreign contacts included Nubia and Punt to the south, the Aegean and ancient Greece to the north, the Levant and other regions in the Near East to the east, and also Libya to the west.

Although analyzing the hair of ancient Egyptian mummies from the Late Middle Kingdom has revealed evidence of a stable diet, mummies from circa 3200 BC show signs of severe anæmia and hæmolytic disorders. This is symptomatic of metal poisoning. Compounds of copper, lead, mercury, and arsenic, which were used in pigments, dyes, and makeup of the era may have caused heavy metal poisoning, especially among the wealthy.

Ancient achievements and unsolved problems

Achievements

See also: Ancient Egyptian technology and Egyptian mathematics
See Predynastic Egypt for inventions and other significant achievements in the Sahara region before the Protodynastic Period.
Louvre Museum antiquity

The achievements of ancient Egypt are well known, and the civilization achieved a very high standard of productivity and sophistication. The art and science of engineering was present in Egypt, such as accurately determining the position of points and the distances between them (known as surveying). These skills were used to outline pyramid bases. The Egyptian pyramids took the geometric shape formed from a polygonal base and a point, called the apex. Hydraulic cement was first invented by the Egyptians. The Al Fayyum Irrigation (water works) was one of the main agricultural breadbaskets of the ancient world. There is evidence of ancient Egyptian Pharaohs of the twelfth dynasty using the natural lake of the Fayyum as a reservoir to store surpluses of water for use during the dry seasons. From the time of the First dynasty or before, the Egyptians mined turquoise in the Sinai Peninsula.

The earliest evidence (circa 1600 BC) of traditional empiricism is credited to Egypt, as evidenced by the Edwin Smith and Ebers papyri. The roots of the scientific method may be traced back to the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptians created their own alphabet (however, it is debated as to whether they were the first to do this because of the margin of error on carbon dated tests), decimal system and complex mathematical formularizations, in the form of the Moscow and Rhind Mathematical Papyri. The golden ratio seems to be reflected in many constructions, such as the Egyptian pyramids, however this may be the consequence of combining the use of knotted ropes with an intuitive sense of proportion and harmony.

Glass making was highly developed in ancient Egypt, as is evident from the glass beads, jars, figures and ornaments discovered in the tombs. Recent archeology has uncovered the remains of an ancient Egyptian glass factory.

Open problems and scientific inquiry

Ancient Egypt was a fertile field for scientific inquiry, scholarly study, religious inspiration, and open speculation. Speculation and inquiry includes the degree of sophistication of ancient Egyptian technology, and there are several open problems concerning real and alleged ancient Egyptian achievements. Certain artifacts and records do not fit with conventional technological development systems.

It is not known why there seems to be no neat progression to an Egyptian Iron Age nor why the historical record shows the Egyptians possibly taking a long time to begin using iron. A study of the rest of Africa could point to the reasons: Sub-Saharan Africa confined their use of the metal to agricultural purposes for many centuries. The ancient Egyptians had a much easier form of agriculture with the annual Nile floods and fertile sediment delivery. They thus had little impetus for the development of agricultural implements that would have spurred the adoption of iron. It should be stressed that while steel is derived from iron, it is by no means an intuitive leap. Small percentages of impurities can ruin a batch of molten iron, preventing it from becoming steel. Copper alloys are much more metallurgically robust and naturally plentiful. Several naturally occurring proportions of zinc, arsenic, tin, phosphorus will combine with copper and improve the properties of bronze. Bronze is actually stronger than iron, and doesn't rust. To prefer bronze in this context is entirely rational. Given iron's greater abundance, it is likely that the iron age began when demand for 'any metal' outstripped supply of 'quality metal' - bronze.

It is unknown how the Egyptians shaped and worked granite. A clue is found in the exquisite granite carvings of the Yoruba in West Africa. For years researchers could not fathom how they were carved so smoothly until contemporary workmen demonstrated the simple system of rubbing the quartz with sand and water.

The exact date the Egyptians started producing glass is debated. There is some question whether the Egyptians were capable of long distance navigation in their boats and when they became knowledgeable sailors. It is also contentiously disputed as to whether or not the Egyptians had some understanding of electricity and if the Egyptians used engines or batteries. The topic of the Saqqara Bird is controversial, as is the extent of the Egyptians' understanding of aerodynamics. It is unknown for certain if the Egyptians had kites or gliders.

Beekeeping is known to have been particularly well developed in Egypt, as accounts are given by several Roman writers — Virgil, Gaius Julius Hyginus, Varro and Columella. It is unknown whether Egyptian beekeeping developed independently or as an import from Southern Asia.

Timeline

(All dates are approximate; see Egyptian chronology for a detailed discussion.)

Predynastic

See main article and timeline: Predynastic Egypt.

Dynastic

The Great Pyramid of Giza.
Egyptians were the first to make glass objects. 3D red cyan glasses are recommended to view this image correctly.

See also

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References

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Further reading

Ancient Egypt has inspired a vast number of English-language publications, ranging from scholarly works to generalised accounts (in addition to a large number of speculative, supernatural or pseudo-scientific explorations). A selection of generally reliable survey treatments, published within the last two decades, includes:

  • Baines, John and Jaromir Malek (2000), The Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt, revised edition, Facts on File, 2000. ISBN 0-8160-4036-2
  • Kemp, Barry (1991), Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization, Routledge, 1991. ISBN 0-415-06346-9
  • Lehner, Mark (1997), The Complete Pyramids, London: Thames & Hudson, 1997. ISBN 0-500-05084-8.
  • Shaw, Ian (2003), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-280458-8
  • Wilkinson, R. H. (2000), The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt, London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05100-3
  • Wilkinson, R.H. (2003), The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, London: Thames and Hudson, 2003. ISBN 0-500-05120-8

External links

Ancient Egypt topics

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