Ancient Egypt
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Ancient Egypt

The Basics

Donald P. Ryan

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eBook - ePub

Ancient Egypt

The Basics

Donald P. Ryan

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About This Book

Ancient Egypt: The Basics offers an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the history, archaeology and influence of this fascinating civilization. Coverage includes:

  • A survey of Egyptian history from its earliest origins to the coming of Islam


  • Life and death in ancient Egypt


  • Key archaeological discoveries and important characters


  • Egypt's impact and reception through to the modern day


Lively and engaging, this is an indispensable resource for anyone beginning their studies of Egyptian history, culture and archaeology, and a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the country's long and captivating past.

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Information

Publisher
Routledge
Year
2016
ISBN
9781317247043
Subtopic
Arqueología
Edition
1

1
Ancient Egypt

The Loss and Recovery of a Civilization
The ancient Egyptian civilization was certainly one of the most technologically and artistically sophisticated cultures that this world has ever seen. The Egyptians mastered the arts, accomplished magnificent building projects, and their mighty army engaged in adventures abroad. They were governed by grandiose rulers supported by a vast civil and religious bureaucracy in a society maintained by farmers and craftspeople.
This unique civilization persisted for more than 3,000 years, from about 3100 BC into the early centuries AD Given the complexity and longevity of this magnificent culture, perhaps it is surprising that it is essentially extinct. Yes, bits and pieces do survive today, especially in certain agricultural and village practices, but the living grandeur of ancient Egypt is no more. Indeed, so much knowledge has been lost that a whole scholarly discipline appeared around 200 years ago with the aim of studying, reconstructing, and explaining ancient Egypt. It’s called Egyptology, and its practitioners are Egyptologists. Even with the vast amount of information that has been recovered over the last couple of centuries, some might argue that we’ve still only scratched the surface, and a true vision of an amazing ancient reality has yet to be achieved.

Why did Egyptian Culture Disappear?

So what happened to ancient Egyptian culture and, thus, the need to rediscover it? You may have heard of the notion of the “rise and fall” of civilizations. This idea is disliked by some scholars. By what standards can one measure such things, especially on a large scale? On the other hand, a focus on transformation and change emphasizes that in most cases these are processes rather than merely events. One might say that ancient Egypt never really vanished, but was transformed. In the chapters ahead, we will learn how the classical Egyptian culture flourished up until about 1000 BC, after which it had a hard time maintaining its grip in the face of outside invaders who brought political domination and foreign cultural practices. Especially after the time of what is called Egypt’s New Kingdom (c. 1550–1069 BC), there were periods of civil disorganization during which rulers from such places as Nubia, Libya, and Persia held sway.
The Greeks, who would dominate Egypt, beginning in 332 BC with Alexander the Great’s conquest, had the biggest impact on Egyptian civilization. The Greeks were not content merely to rule; instead, they actively engaged in spreading their own culture nearly everywhere their empire spread. Many Greeks immigrated to Egypt, and their language became the norm within the government and among literate people. In fact, the Egyptian city of Alexandria became the pre-eminent Greek cosmopolitan cultural center in the Mediterranean.
After about 300 years of Greek rule, the Romans incorporated Egypt into their own growing empire. Although they were not the cultural imperialists in the same manner as the Greeks, they nonetheless had an impact on Egyptian culture.
Of vital importance in terms of cultural transformation, was the introduction of major new religious philosophies that had a radical impact on the old Egyptian ways. Christianity appeared in neighboring Palestine during the first century ad and spread to Egypt relatively quickly, perhaps as early as 50 ad. This monotheistic religion shunned the ancient Egyptian gods, along with their priests, practices, and temples, and upset the foundation of the culture’s traditional worldviews. A preference for the use of a modified Greek alphabet to write the ancient Egyptian language, especially for religious purposes, led to the eventual demise of the old and increasingly restricted system of hieroglyphs and the derived cursive hieratic and demotic scripts.
Perhaps the greatest transforming effect of all was the Arab invasion of 642 ad. Arming themselves with their new Islamic religion, the Arabs established themselves in Egypt during a remarkable sweep across North Africa and many other lands. The impact was lasting. The Arabic language is spoken today in the Arab Republic of Egypt, and although there is still a Christian minority, Islam is the official state religion.
The subsequent history of Egypt is complicated. After centuries of Islamic rulers, it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire and both the French and British would become politically involved. It wasn’t until 1952 that the Egyptians again were fully in control of their own country. No wonder we are left to pick up the scattered pieces of the ancient civilization!
Unfortunately, the destructive processes of nature, time, and humans have not been particularly kind to the remains of ancient Egypt. Certain things have survived quite well, while others have left little or no trace.
Climate and location also play a huge role in preservation. Few of the villages where millions of ordinary ancient Egyptians once lived have survived. Their homes were built of bricks of mud and organic materials, which have long since been broken down due to the annual flooding of the Nile, wind erosion, or other natural processes.
In the Nile Delta region in the north of Egypt, the climate is not well suited to preserving the past. The water table is high, the air can be humid, and even things made of stone can suffer considerable erosion. The drier climate in the south, though, has allowed for some remarkable preservation, especially for those things buried in the desert or hidden away in dry cliffs and valleys.
Some of the best preserved are those special things that were built to last for all eternity: temples and tombs of stone. Many of these have survived fairly well, some incredibly so. But just because the temples and tombs have survived while there are few traces of other structures, such as houses, we need to be wary of gaining the impression that religion and death were the primary focus of ancient Egyptian existence. Suppose that something terrible happened to wipe out our civilization, and archeologists of the future excavated only our churches and other religious structures and our cemeteries. What a curious impression of our culture they might gain!
We can’t lay the blame solely on nature, though. Humans, too, have played an active role in the destruction of many of the ancient remains. Ancient sites have sometimes served as a source of raw material for new buildings. Many of the pyramids, for example, were quarried for their excellent stones, and the rotting debris of old town sites was sometimes mined for rich fertilizer. There are also many examples of the destruction of the ancient monuments by religious zealots and those seeking golden treasure. Old wooden funerary statues, coffin planks, and papyrus scrolls have served as firewood for the living while antiquities hunters and the sometimes crude methods of early archaeologists have all taken their toll.
Until relatively recently, people in Western cultures and others were aware of the existence of ancient Egypt, but only indirectly. Egypt was known primarily from two sources: the Holy Bible and ancient Greek and Roman writers. In the Bible, Egypt is mentioned numerous times. Notably, there is the dramatic and cherished story of Joseph with his coat of many colors which involves Egyptian palace intrigue. And the story of the Exodus, in which God delivers the Hebrew people from Egyptian enslavement, is a key story in the Jewish religion. Along with the accompanying spiritual and moral lessons, these biblical stories contained cultural and geographical data that shaped a vague notion of Egyptian society and places for readers of the Bible. Egypt in the Bible was portrayed as a powerful, industrious and polytheistic society ruled by a pharaoh and his coterie of priests, governors, and functionaries.
Apart from the Bible, literate individuals could derive information about ancient Egypt by reading the surviving documents of old Greek and Roman writers who had visited the land and wrote down their insights. One Greek author, Herodotus, is said to have visited Egypt around 450 BC. He has left us with a lengthy and patchy—yet, at times, detailed—description of the land and culture, albeit centuries after what some might consider to be its cultural zenith.
Herodotus (c. 484–420 BC) was a Greek historian from the city of Halicarnassus, located on the Ionian coast of what is today Turkey. His principal surviving work is known as The Histories. Along with a description of Egypt, it contains a vital record of the Persian Wars and other historical events around the time of what is called Greece’s “Golden Age” in the fifth century BC. Because of his early attempts at recording events, Herodotus is sometimes called “the father of history.”
Herodotus describes Egypt as a very odd place indeed, full of unusual customs and practices, and his report contains quite a bit of anecdotal material that might not be wholly accurate. Herodotus’s lengthy description of the Egyptians is sometimes so at odds with what we now know about that ancient civilization that there are some scholars who doubt that he ever actually went there! Perhaps he collected his information from the cosmopolitan visitors and sailors coming through the port of his Greek home town, Halicarnassus.
Despite the suspicion, it’s likely that Herodotus did indeed visit Egypt, but he was doing so at a time when the glory days of classical Egyptian civilization were long over. The pyramids were already ancient, the mighty empire-building pharaohs had long been mummified, and Egypt was under the domination of the Persians. Herodotus was probably collecting information from a lot of people who themselves did not understand the monuments and much of the old culture. It was ancient to them, too, and was dying out. Many scholars think that late foreign visitors to Egypt, such as Herodotus, might have been gullible enough to believe the fanciful stories told by creative guides or others who themselves were misinformed. (And modern tourists can enjoy the same experience from informal guides at various archaeological sites who will be pleased to show you many secret “wonders.”)
We’ll look at the development of Egyptology as a scholarly pursuit in Chapter 2, but, for now, let’s take a look at the subject matter of that fascinating field of inquiry as it is practiced today. Egyptology is certainly one of the most interdisciplinary branches of learning to be found—that is, it incorporates insights, methods, and data from many numerous subject areas that are relevant to our search for the Egyptian past. It is a subject that one might classify within the humanities, yet it has aspects of both the social and natural sciences, and the fine arts as well.
Most scholarly and scientific disciplines have something to contribute to Egyptology. Biologists can help reconstruct the environment and assist in studying mummies and the remains of other once-living things. Geologists can help us determine the sources of stone and precious metals, and chemists can add insights into various materials as well. Anthropologists can draw on their comparative knowledge of cultural practices to contribute insights. Engineers can help us understand the techniques of the past and help us protect the monuments for the future. And such modern techniques as satellite imagery and radar are assisting in locating remains underground or otherwise unseen. The list goes on. The end result is a growing and gradually more complete view of the ancient Egyptian past. Let’s take a look at some of the specific approaches.

Studying Texts

Fortunately, ancient Egypt was a literate society in the sense that there was a writing system, and there were people who could read and write (although probably less than 10 percent of the population.) Many texts have survived, especially on formal monuments such as temples and tombs, and some Egyptologists are genuine experts in ferreting out the subtleties of these written materials. A lot of Egyptology is text-oriented, and it is from inscriptions that we are best able to sort out many of the historical details that we now have, and gain insights into the ancient world’s organization and perspectives.
Not surprisingly, many scholars continue to study and refine all that we can determine from what the Egyptians themselves wrote. Translating words can be difficult, but figuring out what they mean in the context of the ancient culture is vitally important. It’s important, for example, to be able to tell the difference between a statement intended as political or religious propaganda and one meant as a sober public decree, or the difference between a historical account and a myth. These are things that must be carefully sorted out in our search for a reliable picture of the past.
One can argue that in terms of surviving writing, Egyptology is somewhat spoiled by its riches. In places such as nearby Israel, where ancient inscriptions are few, archaeologists have become experts in identifying pottery styles through time, often to within a few years of their manufacture. In Egypt, the date and owner of an object, tomb, or monument can be identified merely by reading an accompanying inscription. As a result, there are fewer real pottery experts in the Egyptological world than one can find elsewhere in the broader region.
Some Egyptologists specialize in art history which can open doors to insight in ways that other approaches cannot. Much can be learned by the study of artistic and architectural styles and techniques, as well as their changes through the years. Although it is tempting to believe the stereotypical notion that Egyptian art was essentially static through time, this is certainly not the case; “generally conservative” is perhaps a better term. Much of ancient Egyptian art is very symbolic, from the strong, idealized sculptures in stone representing the power and role of the ruler to the often subtle and esoteric meanings expressed on the walls of tombs and temples. And there are even experts on Egyptian art who can sometimes identify the handiwork of specific individual ancient artisans.

Archaeology

Of all the approaches within Egyptology, archaeology receives the most attention. Archaeology is the study of the physical remains of the human past and has developed many of its own methodologies, including techniques for excavation and artifact analysis. The public loves the glamour of discovery and Egyptian archaeology regularly delivers. There’s something about searching for and finding things of the past that has widespread appeal. The discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, for example, accelerated an interest that has barely slowed down since. Today, even relatively minor discoveries in Egypt have received significant public attention.
The Indiana Jones movies certainly have added to the mystique of archaeology, even though he’s definitely a fictional character and his approach to antiquities is less than scientific. (And if someone tells you that someone is or was the living inspiration for that character, don’t believe it: I.J.’s creators made him up!) But to the public, Indiana Jones has become a frame of reference for action and adventure in archaeology. Believe me, there can be lots of excitement in archaeology, but rarely the exaggerated swashbuckling that Indiana Jones serves up.
Archaeology often involves some sort of careful digging. The level of difficulty of an archaeological project can vary, depending upon where or what one happens to be investigating. Consider, for example, the difference between excavating in a remote desert, where one must bring all supplies, including water, versus working in a highly populated region, where comfortable amenities are close at hand. No matter where the project is located, though, the work can be strenuous and expensive. And there is often a need for some of the specialists mentioned previously, along with a knowledge of history, hieroglyphs, and art.
Archaeologists from all over the world work in Egypt, including scholars from Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Poland...

Table of contents