Ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egypt
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Post-Glacial Climate Change

• We can tell from natural indicators that the
  climate of North Africa has changed a great deal
  over the past 14,000 years
• Pollen can be connected to plant species, and
  plant species are a very good indicator of climate

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Paleovegetation Maps from Quaternary Environment
Network J.M. Adams and H. Faure, editors
http//www.esd.ornl.gov/projects/qen/
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Earliest Inhabitants

• There were hunter/gatherer societies in the
  Egyptian region as far back as 5000-6000 B.C.
• Cave paintings in Sahara region show elephants,
  rhinoceroses, buffalo, hippopotami, crocodiles,
  antelopes, giraffes, and fallow deer (see picture
  in Lamb, p. 122)
• Obviously, most of these animals are not present
  in great numbers today in the Sahara region
  this confirms an earlier wetter climate.

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Departure of Big Animals

• Elephants, giraffes, and rhinos were rare by 2900
  B.C., gone by 2600 B.C.
• Some elephants still remained in Algeria
  (Hannibal used them militarily to invade Europe
  in 218 B.C.)

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Drying Event

• Drying of Egypt and Sahara from 3500-2800 B.C.
  was mirrored in European forest species and in
  North American forests (warm-loving species like
  elm and linden reduced)
• Re-advance of mountain glaciers in the Alps
• Some say the great reduction in habitable land in
  Egypt actually forced the development of
  agriculture and therefore gave rise to the mighty
  Egyptian civilization

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Egyptian Geography

• Nile river valley and delta is very fertile, but
  surrounded by two deserts
• Arabian Desert (Eastern) - few oases, sparse
  population
• Libyan Desert (Western) - no oases, very harsh
  climate

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Egyptian Climate

• Two seasons
• Hot season (May-October) - inhabited areas reach
  over 100F.
• Cool season (November-April) - 55-70F
• Deserts have more extreme seasons - average 114F
  maximum during daytime, 42F minimum during
  nighttime

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Egyptian plants and wildlife

• Most common is date palm others include the
  carob, tamarisk, and sycamore.
• Rushes grow along streams. In the arid regions
  halfa grass and thorn trees are common.
• Lack of forest and grassland limits wildlife. The
  few species found include the fox, jackal, boar,
  and hyena. Crocodiles are found in the Upper
  Nile.
• Lots of birds and fish.

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Vegetation of the Nile Delta
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Agriculture

• Limited to Nile delta and flood plain
• Flood plain soils tend to be rich and need little
  or no fertilizer
• The rest of Egypt has very poor soil

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Prehistoric Egypt

• North Africa was green and verdant after the last
  ice age until things started going gradually bad
  after about 5000 BC
• Nile delta has been inhabited by farmers since
  5000 BC. Even this early on, they buried their
  dead with elaborate ceremony. At around 3800 BC,
  they began interacting with other cultures,
  trading and exchanging ideas and goods.
• By 3100 BC, irrigation, writing and government
  were well established.

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Early Capital of Lower Egypt
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Early Capital of Upper Egypt
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Two Lands to One

• Two major cities arose Nekheb (Hierakonpolis in
  Greek) in the south and Nekhen(Buto) to the
  north.
• 3100 BC - Egypt was split into upper and lower
  nations these were united according to legend by
  King Narmer (Menes in Greek) who set a capital at
  Memphis. In reality, the unification probably
  took several generations.
• This unification was tremendously important. By
  centralizing government, great projects could be
  undertaken, including irrigation, food
  distribution, trade policies, and construction of
  temples and tombs.

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Egyptian Historical Periods

• Old Kingdom (2700-2200 BC) - Pyramid builders -
  most successful time
• Middle Kingdom (2050-1800 BC)
• New Kingdom (1570-1090 BC)

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New developments

• Following unification, Egyptians developed an
  elaborate culture which produces the plow, a
  complex religion, copper working, hieroglyphic
  writing, and 365 day calendar.
• Egyptians called writing medu netcher, or "the
  words of the gods - it was thought that writing
  was granted to Egyptians by their god Thoth - All
  of the universe was interpreted as writing

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Hieroglyphics

• Writing was pictorial at first - everything was
  represented by a picture
• This was inefficient (too many pictures and
  uncertainties in representation), so glyphs came
  to represent syllables.
• The catch is that they only represent the
  consonants to the syllables - vowels are missing.

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Hieroglyphics
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Egyptian Gods

• Egyptian religion included many deities
• The culture lasted so long that many of these
  deities came and went or changed form
• Many of the deities had naturalistic attributes
  from animals or the sun

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Ra

• Sun god, grandfather of Isis and Osiris
• Sometimes merged with other gods (e.g. Amun-Ra)
• Often depicted with a barge

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Osiris

• Supreme god
• God of the dead
• Instrumental in creation myth

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Isis

• Main female deity
• Mother figure
• Sometimes winged

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Horus

• Sometimes son of Osiris
• Sometimes human with falcon head, other times a
  falcon
• Was added to Egyptian pantheon when Horus
  worshippers invaded pre-dynastic Egypt

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Anubis

• Guardian of the underworld

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Aten

• Unifying deity, lord of all
• Akenaten (heretic king) tried to unify religions
  and kingdoms
• No physical form just sun rays