Predynastic Period of Ancient Egypt

November 19, 2012, 7:09 am

≫ Next: Cultural Regionalisation in Ancient Egypt

≪ Previous: Solar and Nature Cults of Ancient Egypt

The Two Kingdoms
Only towards the end of the pre-dynastic Egyptian period does an admixture between the Two Lands appear. Lower Egyptian- style pottery was found in Upper Egypt and so was the Horus hawk, traditionally a totem of Delta settlers. ‘Followers of Horus’ established settlements as far south as Hierakonpolis and Edfu. This does not necessarily presuppose a conquest of Upper Egypt by the Delta. In fact, it seems to have had the direct result of establishing a political awareness of the physical and cultural differences between them, for just before the dynastic period the ‘Two Lands’ stand out with greater clarity than before. The capital of the Delta Kingdom was Pe (Buto) in the north-west. The leader wore the Red Crown and adopted the bee as the symbol of his kingdom, which included the entire Delta and a stretch of the valley south of the Delta. The Upper Egyptian capital was Nekhen, where the leader wore the conical White Crown and took the sedge as his emblem. His Kingdom extended as far south as the First Cataract. The cobra, wearing the crown of the huntress-goddess Neith, was chief deity of the Egyptian Delta Kingdom and the vulture-goddess was chief deity of Upper Egypt.

Predynastic Period of Ancient Egypt

The formation of Two Egyptian Kingdoms was a vital step towards unification. The early tribes who had settled in the Nile valley, had set traditions and cultural patterns that had at first developed independently of one another. These many social units had gradually coalesced during the neolithic era to form fewer but larger settlements in both the Delta and Upper Egypt. With the federation of the former into a Delta Kingdom and the latter into an Upper Egyptian Kingdom, the country had formed two distinct political entities. It remained to unite them into a single Kingdom of Upper and Lower Egypt.

The unification of the Two Egyptian Lands was not the result of a single victorious battle, but a slow progress that may have continued for over a century. The aggressive thrust came from Upper Egypt: confined to their long, narrow valley, the Upper Egyptians sought the fertile expanses of the Delta and moved northwards to more temperate zones. The first leader of whom we have historical evidence is known as the Scorpion King in ancient Egypt , who left a fascinating record on a ceremonial macehead found at Hierakonpolis (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford). It is carved in three registers. In the upper register is a symbolical representation of the triumph of Upper Egypt over the Delta; dead birds (representing the provinces of the Delta federation) are hung from standards bearing the emblems of the southern tribes. In the central register the Scorpion King, wearing the White Crown of Upper Egypt, breaks ground with a hoe. Behind him are fan-bearers and scenes of rejoicing. In the lower is a scene of agricultural activities. The events on the macehead are unmistakable records of military triumph. A political victory in the sense of the Upper Egyptians actually adopting the Red Crown of Lower Egypt had yet to be achieved.

↧

Cultural Regionalisation in Ancient Egypt

November 20, 2012, 7:09 am

≫ Next: Agriculture in Ancient Egypt

≪ Previous: Predynastic Period of Ancient Egypt

Cultural Regionalisation
Gradually the small, isolated, hitherto self-sufficient communities came into contact with one another. They exchanged items produced for items required and a process of assimilation took place. Small groups gravitated towards larger ones or were absorbed by them, and villages coalesced. The sturdy, rectangular brick houses in Upper Egypt were grouped into settlements sometimes covering an area of 121 square yards, surrounded by walls, the grain being placed in large pots within the enclosure. The number of graves in the different cemeteries clearly shows that the Egyptian people of the Nile valley were fusing into larger social units. These were, in fact, the origin of the various provinces which formed the basis of the political structure of Egypt in historic times.

Ancient Egyptian People

Late pre-dynastic pottery, like the earlier stone artifacts, indicate that the two cultures of Upper and Lower Egypt continued to exist side by side. The characteristic pottery vessels of Upper Egypt displayed no great change from the Badarian culture from which they developed. They were still largely black-topped and burnished, but new forms had also emerged: some vessels were fashioned like birds and animals; others were decorated with designs of animals, humans and stars; the incised geometric designs were often filled with a white paste, a technique common with other African areas. In Lower Egypt, on the other hand, the characteristic pottery ancient Egyptians vessels were either wide-lipped and buff-coloured, with handles in wavy forms that suggest contact with Asia, or decorated with scenes of ritual dances or hunting depicted in red lines painted on the pale pottery.

Some of the Lower Egyptian pottery was decorated with scenes of many-oared ships each bearing a standard surmounted by a totem or emblem. These representations of totem clans are the first evidence of the cultural identity of the various social units. Many of the totems were later established as local deities in the various provinces: two crossed arrows and a shield became symbols of the huntress-goddess Neith of Sais, the emblem like a thunderbolt was the symbol of Min, the fertility god of Coptos near Nagada. There were also standards bearing the emblems of the jackal (Anubis God), the scorpion (Selket), the Horus hawk and the Set animal (a dog-like creature with pointed ears and long, upright tail). The latter, Horus and Set, provide the earliest evidence of the mythological rivals, traditionally chief Egyptian deities of Upper and Lower Egypt.

Ancient Egyptian People Stages

Gutural regionalisation resulted in the emergence of men who were natural leaders. Their settlements gradually became the central estate, with the accumulations of the others tied to it. That is to say increased trade between the different regions of the Delta led to less and less isolation until the affairs of all gradually became tied to a major estate which represented the richest and most powerful of the settlements. Its leader was regarded as king of the Egyptian Delta Kingdom and the totem of his area became chief deity. There was a similar tendency towards political unity in Upper Egypt. Whether such leadership evolved without force we do not know. The addition to the weaponry of maces with disc-shaped heads in hard stone, alongside an unusually large number of broken bones among the bodies of the dead, may indicate some intimidation.

↧

Agriculture in Ancient Egypt

November 24, 2012, 7:09 am

≫ Next: Agriculture and the Osiris Myth in Ancient Egypt

≪ Previous: Cultural Regionalisation in Ancient Egypt

Agriculture
The bulk of the population, however, was employed on the land or in Egyptian agriculture-related industries like viticulture, papyrus-manufacture, spinning and weaving. The agricultural cycle comprised three seasons. The Akhet, the season of the inundation, which began on 19 July, the Perit (‘going out’), the season for ploughing and sowing which began on 15 November, and Shemu, the harvest, which began on 16 March.

Agriculture in Ancient Egypt

With the rise of the Nile the peasants made sure that their cattle were safely housed on dry land and, with agricultural activities suspended, cared for them and provided them with food already laid in storage. They carefully directed the water from the main canals to smaller branches transversing the fields in straight or curved lines, and controlled it by means of embankments. When the water level began to fall these natural reservoirs retained a residue of mineral-rich sediment which was ready to receive seed without further preparation. Thrown on the surface the seed was usually trodden by goats. Where, however, the earth dried hard, a plough was used. The hoe, one of the most ancient of agricultural tools consisted of a broad, pointed blade of wood attached to a handle at an acute angle and held in position in the centre by a slack rope. The plough was a hoe enlarged by adding two long wooden arms on which the ploughman could lean to keep the furrow straight and also to pressure the blade into the soil. A pole was provided with a yoke for attaching to draught Egyptian animals.

Although the Nile valley and the Delta were fertile, full exploitation of the land only came with unremitting toil. Naturally the peasants, from centuries of experience, had gradually become aware of the potential. They had determined the most suitable times for sowing and reaping, and the most rewarding systems of irrigation for the different areas. In the Egyptian temple of the 5th-dynasty pharaoh Nyuserre the life of the peasant is depicted during the seasonal operations throughout the course of a single year. From these and from scenes in the tombs of noblemen it is clear that the harvest was the season of most strenuous activity. The ripened corn was reaped with the aid of a sickle, placed in sacks and loaded on to donkeys to be carried to the threshing floor. The ears of corn were then taken from the sacks and piled in heaps to be trodden by oxen, goats or donkeys. The threshed grain was piled in a heap by means of three-pronged forks and sifted and winnowed by two small boards or scoops. The latter were used in pairs for tossing the unhusked grain into the wind. Finally the grain was placed in sacks by women and transported to the granary.

Flour was ground by placing grain at the upper end of a slightly hollowed, slanting slab of limestone and sliding a crossbar of sandstone across it. The ground flour gradually worked downwards and was caught in a tray at the lower end.

Flax was also cultivated in large quantities. It was harvested at different times for different purposes: when ripe, the fibres tough, it was suitable for mats and ropes. If cut when the stems were green, it could be woven into fine soft cloth: some of the surviving remnants show that the fabric was sometimes of such gossamer fineness as to be almost indistinguishable from silk. This was particularly the case with royal linen, though coarser textiles were woven on a more widespread scale. Weaving was carried out by women, who also made tapestries. The latter were either for hanging on the walls of Egyptian noblemen’s villas, or to form the shade of a roof garden.

Viticulture was one of the most highly developed, as well as one of the earliest, industries. The first wine-press hieroglyphic dates from the Egyptian 1st dynasty, and there is evidence that even from this early date wine was transported across the country in sealed jars. Grapes were plucked by hand, placed in vats and trodden until the liquid ran through holes into a waiting container. Fermentation probably occurred naturally, due both to the method of pressing and the high summer temperature. Date-palm wine was also produced.

Ancient Egyptian Agriculture

The manufacture of papyrus paper was another flourishing industry. The papyrus, sliced into thin sections, was laid side by side and crosswise, soaked and compressed. Beating and drying turned it into sheets of durable paper. Two rolls of papyrus in a box dating to the reign of the Egyptian 1st dynasty pharaoh Udimu are evidence of how early it was produced. Ships trading with the Phoenician coast carried bales of this essentially Egyptian product as cargo. The papyrus plant served many purposes: the stalks were woven and used as mats, the vegetable fibres were transformed into a pliable, tough material suitable for sandals, and lightweight skiffs for hunting in the marshes were made by binding long bundles together.

Veterinary medicine was practised by the peasants and the obvious health of the herds indicates proficient rearing. It was a talent handed from father to son. In the Egyptian tomb of Ptahhotep a scene shows a cow giving birth with the aid of a veterinary surgeon who gently guides the calf into the world. The ancient Egyptians knew their animals intimately, took great Egyptians care of them and often fed them by hand. In the tomb of Ti a cow is being milked by a cowherd while the overseer leans on his staff watching. Though there are scenes of herdsmen driving rams across a canal with raised whip, none shows an animal being beaten.

Related Web Search :

Ancient Egypt Agriculture
Ancient Egyptian Agriculture
Ancient Egypt Agriculture and Farming
Ancient Egypt Agriculture Facts

↧

Agriculture and the Osiris Myth in Ancient Egypt

November 27, 2012, 7:10 am

≫ Next: Changes of Promotion in Ancient Egypt

≪ Previous: Agriculture in Ancient Egypt

Agriculture and the Osiris Myth
In Upper Egypt, therefore, there is evidence of a belief in the afterlife and an indication that many of the Egyptian animals that were to become dynastic gods were, if not yet revered, at least highly regarded. The Delta, on the other hand, yields the earliest evidence of agriculture and indication of ancestor worship, and here the most important legendary figure of ancient Egyptian history that of Osiris developed.

Ancient Egyptian Agriculture

The famous Osiris God myth is believed in its original form to have been devised to spread an understanding of agriculture throughout the land, explained in terms of the death and rebirth of the corn god. Osiris was probably an early leader in one of the settlements of the Delta who had quite a large following. When he died he became identified with the totem of the area which developed, like many other totems, into a harvest god. Osiris God adopted some of the regalia of the older deity including a crown with double plumes and a shepherd’s crook, and the agricultural cycle became his domain. He was revered as a god associated with water and the annual death and rebirth of the land.

The Osiris God myth underwent many changes with the passage of time. In one form it relates how Osiris ruled the land justly with his wife Isis at his side. He taught his people, as yet partly civilised, the art of making agricultural implements and controlling the waters of the Nile. He also taught them how to take to a corn diet, produce bread, wine and beer. His wife Isis was equally loved and taught the people how to grind corn, weave linen and, with her devotion to her husband, intimated the benefits of domestic life.

Osiris had a brother, Set, who was jealous of his popularity and secretly aspired to his position of favour. Inviting Osiris God to a banquet, Set tricked him into entering a coffin specially designed to fit him alone. No sooner had Osiris obliged than Set hastily sealed it with molten lead and cast it on the waters of the Nile where it was borne northwards by the currents to the marshes of the Delta. Isis, grieved by the news of her husband, set off in search of his body. She cut off a lock of her hair and rent her robes in torment as she went on her way following the course of the river. She eventually found the body entangled in the branches of a tamarisk bush. She extracted it and hid it. Unfortunately, Set was boar-hunting and discovered the body, which he brutally hacked into fourteen pieces and scattered throughout the land. The bereft Isis, this time accompanied by her sister Nephthys, once again set out on her search. They found the pieces of Osiris’ body, carefully collected them and laid them in a coffin, crooning sorrowful incantations over them to make the body whole.

Ancient Egyptian Agriculture

It is probable that the concept of Osiris God falling victim to Set was a comprehensible explanation of the fertile land (with which Osiris was associated) falling victim to the relentless desert (of which Set was the chief deity). The mutilation of the body of Osiris, the corn god, and the scattering of parts up and down the Nile valley, is believed to illustrate the concept of grain sowing, following which, with the necessary incantations, or rural festivals, the stalks of corn would grow again. Be that as it may, the cultivation and storage of grain was a vital factor in the movement away from primitive society towards civilisation. It was a gradual phase of human development. For the assurance of larger quantities of food and food surpluses led to a decline in hunting as an economic activity. Larger groups of people, not all of whom could be crop-growers, were assured of a regular Egyptian food supply and could settle down. Craft specialisation was a direct outcome, since it absorbed the surplus labour. From the simple technology of the hunters and fishermen we see improved production of weapons, tools and implements and the emergence of new industries including flint mining and flaking.

Related Web Search :

Ancient Egypt Agriculture
Ancient Egyptian Agriculture
Ancient Egypt Agriculture and Farming
Ancient Egypt Agriculture Facts

↧

Changes of Promotion in Ancient Egypt

November 28, 2012, 7:10 am

≫ Next: Statue of Ramses II Pictures

≪ Previous: Agriculture and the Osiris Myth in Ancient Egypt

Changes of Promotion
The working classes had every hope of rising above that station into which they were born, either by marriage, inheritance or promotion. Evidence is available from the autobiographical accounts in the tombs of the noblemen. Since provisions for the afterlife had to be commensurate with a man’s social standing, lists of offerings in the tombs grew larger and larger as the power and wealth of a man increased. It finally occurred to the tomb owners that a simple offering prayer would be adequate substitute for a long offering list. A similar short-cut was sought for the inscriptions identifying the titles and ranks of the owners of the tombs: as these grew longer they gradually developed into autobiographical renditions. Metjen’s is one of the oldest. He died in the reign of Senefru Pharaoh and was buried near temple of Zoser pharaoh on the Saqqara necropolis (his tomb has been transported to Berlin and reconstructed in the Museum). The text tells of his gradual rise from Scribe and Overseer of the Stores to Governor of a number of towns and districts in the eastern Delta. For his administrative prowess he was rewarded with gifts of land on which he built a house ‘201cubits long, 201cubits wide’ and surrounded by a walled garden.

Ancient Egypt

One of the best-known cases of a rise in rank in the Egyptian Old Kingdom was that of Uni. A man of humble birth, he started his career as a minor official under the Teti King, and rose to the position of ‘Favoured Courtier’ under Pepi. In ancient Egypt a man who proved fit in performing one task (albeit solving a case of treason in the royal harem) was considered equally fit for others. Entrusted with supervising a group of workmen bringing a block of stone suitable for the pharaoh’s sarcophagus, Uni performed the task so efficiently transporting it complete with lid, doorway, lintel and two jambs for the tomb as well as a libation table that as seen, the pharaoh forthwith put him in charge of a body of troops detailed for an expedition against hostile tribes in the eastern desert, and the nomadic tribes of Egyptian Nubia. Uni’s success on five different occasions was rewarded by a requisition from the treasury to procure labour for the quarrying and transportation of a sumptuous sarcophagus for his own tomb. Uni was by this time one of the highest dignitaries of the court, being awarded the distinction of being permitted to bear a staff and wear sandals in the presence of the pharaoh. ‘Never,’ he inscribed in his tomb, ‘has the like been done for any servant.’ ‘I was excellent in the heart of His Majesty beyond any official of his, beyond any noble of his, beyond any servant of his . .

Many persons of obscure origin or even base servitude rose to high honours and died governors of provinces or ministers of the Ti King, the vigorous nobleman of the 5th dynasty who served under three Egyptian pharaohs, was not of royal blood, yet his marriage to the princess Nefer-Hotep-s gave him a special position and his children ranked with royalty. There is considerable evidence of the close relationship between a pharaoh and his officials. Frequently a pharaoh confided in his most favoured official who bore the title ‘Friend’ and who claimed to be ‘uniquely loved’. A reward even greater than promotion was a pharaoh’s contribution to the building of a nobleman’s Egyptian tomb.

Debhen inscribed that his King was ‘so satisfied with him’ that he detailed some two score men and ten to complete his Egyptian tomb for him, quarry two false doors of stone and supply blocks for the facade as well as the statue to house his Ka. Weshptah, the architect/vizier who suffered a stroke and died despite medical attention, was furnished with a tomb and magnificent ebony coffin. Sebni, it will be remembered, was the loyal son who set out on a rescue mission to recover his father’s body from the south and bring it back to Egypt for burial. On his return journey he sent his officer Iri and two companions ahead to the court with products from the south and instructions to bring back the necessary equipment for embalming the body. Sebni’s mission was so highly regarded by the pharaoh that he sent a military escort to meet him, and rewarded him by assisting in the embalming and burial of his father, and presenting him with a gift of land for himself.

At all levels of the bureaucratic system there was, of course, a tendency to inherit posts, as, for example among the scribes. In the cemetery at Egyptian Giza, is a whole Egyptian dynasty of small-scale scribes (the distinction being drawn between the literates who registered cattle, held the post of clerk in the Double Granary, etc. and the scribes who were scholars, sages, physicians and philosophers). Whatever his social standing, a scribe had a most respected profession and was in a position to attract the notice of his superiors.

The relationship between the noblemen and their foremen and workers is clear from such inscriptions as: ‘whether craftsmen or quarrymen, I satisfied them’. One 4th Egyptian dynasty nobleman was more explicit: in an inscription on the base of his statue he declared that the sculptor that fashioned his statue ‘was satisfied with the reward I gave him’.

Sentiments common among the inscriptions of the Egyptian tombs at Saqqara were: ‘Never did I use force against any man, for I wanted my name to be good before God and my repute to be good before all men.’ And ‘Never did I do an evil thing.’

Such inscriptions may have been the result of a man wishing to stress his qualities for his name to shine before the ‘Great Egyptian God’. However, they encourage us to view, at least with some reservation Herodotus’ description of hordes of oppressed and overworked slaves, whipped by merciless overseers, toiling and dying in the scorching sun in order to raise a monumental pyramid to the glorification of their God-king. There were in fact few slaves in the Old Kingdom, since foreign conquest was at a minimum; there were no worker revolts until later periods; and the marks made on some of the casing stones delivered from the quarries indicate a spirit of pride and competition among the workers (largely recruited from the peasant community during high Nile) who called themselves ‘Vigorous Gang’, ‘Enduring Gang’, etc.

Ptahhotep, the 5th Egyptian dynasty sage who instructed his son to prepare him for the official duties that lay ahead of him, gave much advice on behaviour that would ensure success in official circles, and the attitudes to be taken towards both betters and subordinates. ‘If he above you is one who was formerly of very humble station, have no knowledge of his former low estate . . . be respectful towards him because of what he has achieved; for substance cometh not of itself.’ Or conversely: ‘If thou has become great after thou wert little, and hast gained possessions after thou wert formerly in want ... be not unmindful of how it was with thee before. Be not boastful of thy wealth, which has come to thee as a gift of the god. Thou art not greater than another like thee to whom the same has happened.’

Ptahhotep Pharaoh had some shrewd advice on the matter of being helpful to one’s employer, for: ‘thy food hangs upon his mood, the belly of one loved is filled, thy back shall be clothed thereby . .

Table manners, especially at an official dinner given by one of higher station, were considered important: ‘Take when he gives to thee what he puts before thee, but do not look at what is before him, look at what is before thee, and shoot him not with many glances . . . Turn thy face downward until he addresses thou and speak only when he addresses thee. Laugh when he laughs, so shalt thou be very agreeable to his heart and what thou doest will be very pleasant to his heart . . .’

Whereas Ptahhotep had much to say on behaviour in the presence of superiors: ‘If you meet one superior to you, fold your arms, bend your back. To flout him will not make him agree with you . . . ’, he particularly stresses: ‘If you meet a poor man, not your equal, do not attack him because he is weak . . . wretched is he who injures a poor man . . .’

A nobleman’s attitude towards his subordinates is particularly apparent through Ptahhotep’s enumeration of the qualities of leadership: ‘If thou art a man who leads, seek out every beneficient deed, that thy conduct may be blameless.. ‘If thou art an administrator, be gracious when thou hearest the speech of a petitioner.’

A man is recognised by that which he knows.
His heart is the balance for his tongue;
His lips are correct when he speaks, and his eyes in seeing;
his ears together hear what is profitable for his son,
who does righteousness and is free from lying.
Established is the man whose standard is righteousness, who walketh according to its way.

Related Web Search :

Ancient Egypt Facts
Facts about Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt Facts for Kids
Interesting Facts about Ancient Egypt
Facts on Ancient Egypt
Facts about Ancient Egypt for Kids
Ancient Egypt Geography Facts

↧

Statue of Ramses II Pictures

September 4, 2013, 9:12 am

≫ Next: Deir el Medina: Tomb of Sennudjem (i)

≪ Previous: Changes of Promotion in Ancient Egypt

Statue of Ramses II
The statue was found in Memphis, and then taken to Cairo in 1954, to be exhibited in the station square. It is 10 meters high and the double crown represents the unity between the North and the South. On the back of the statue there is a stanchion bearing the Pharaoh’s titles, one of which is « The Strong Ox » which is the symbol of fertility. Between the statue’s legs is a relief of Ramses’wife (Bent-Anath) daughters and one of his three daughters who were given this title. A replica of this statue stands now on the road leading to Cairo Airport.

Statue of Ramses II Pictures

↧

Deir el Medina: Tomb of Sennudjem (i)

September 4, 2013, 3:21 pm

≫ Next: Valley of the Queens

≪ Previous: Statue of Ramses II Pictures

Deir el Medina:

Deir el Medina

Tomb of Sennudjem (i)
This is the tomb of the Servant in the Place of Truth in the reign of Ramses II. A narrow flight of stairs leads us to a single chamber with a low curved roof. Opposite the entrance are two particularly noteworthy scenes. To the left Anubis, god of embalming, leans over the mummy of the deceased which lies on a lion-headed couch, and Osiris is depicted before an offering table flanked by two protective Horus eyes. To the right, is a fine, formal funerary feast with the presentation of offerings and perfumes, and the deceased being led by Anubis.

Tomb of Sennudjem (i)

The roof is decorated with scenes showing the opening of the door of the tomb, the journey through the underworld and different chapters from the mortuary literature. The delightful agricultural scene on the right-hand wall, showing ripe wheat fields, fruits and flowers, is undoubtedly a vision of what Sennudjem hoped to enjoy in the afterlife.

Tomb of Sennudjem (i)

↧

Valley of the Queens

September 5, 2013, 5:22 am

≫ Next: Mosque of Sultan Hassan

≪ Previous: Deir el Medina: Tomb of Sennudjem (i)

Valley of the Queens
This valley was where some of the queens and royal children of the 19th and 20th Dynasties were buried. There are over twenty tombs; many are unfinished and entirely without decoration. The most beautiful, that of Nefertari, beloved wife of Ramses II, is not open to visitors. However, we are fortunate that there is another tomb in the same style and with similar representations.

Valley of the Queens

Tomb No. 40 (unidentified)
This is the burial place of an unidentified queen. Her tomb so closely resembles that of Nefertari that it is believed to date to the beginning of the 19th Dynasty.-

Valley of the Queens

A stairway leads to a large hall, which has two pillars, from which two chambers lead off; one to the rear (south), and one to the right (east). All are beautifully decorated in elaborate low relief, partly filled with stucco and painted in brilliant colours.

To the left of the entrance to the main chamber the deceased queen is seen before a kiosk containing the Anubis jackal, being adored by Nephthvs and Isis. This is followed by a beautiful scene of the queen, with an offering, adoring the Hathor cow who emerges from the mountain.

Valley of the Queens

Because of the funerary nature of the wall reliefs of the room to the right, showing scenes of the funeral and the sarcophagus of the deceased, it is thought that this, and not the room to the rear, was the actual burial chamber.

↧

Mosque of Sultan Hassan

September 5, 2013, 1:19 pm

≫ Next: Tomb of Pashedu

≪ Previous: Valley of the Queens

Mosque of Sultan Hassan
This is one of the most beautiful and monumental mosques in Cairo. The builder of this mosque and school was Sultan El Nasser Hassan. He was the 19th of the Turkish Sultans to have reigned in Egypt and the seventh son of the Sultan El Nasser Mohamed Ibn Kalaoun.

Mosque of Sultan Hassan

Conspiracies were one of his era’s traits. He decided to build his mosque in the square facing the Citadel of Salah El Din. He began the construction in 1356 and it was completed in the year 1363 by Bashir Agha who was one of his princes. This mosque is considered one of the greatest works of Islamic architecture. The mosque is 7907 square meters wide. The entrance is 37.80 m high.

There is also a schoool or a madrassa mosque for the four rites of Islam.
The court is almost a square in shape. Each side is about 32 meters in length. On each side there is an wan that stands higher than the court. Each wan is roofed with a brick-pointed tunnel-vault with a stone arch. Art lovers consider the arches of its largest wan a miracle of construction.

Mosque of Sultan Hassan

The walls of the Iwan are covered with coloured stone blocks and marble. There is a stucco inscription containing verses from Surat El Fath in Kufic writing. In the middle of the wan there is a marble pulpit and tribune of great craftsmanship. Around the mihrab there are four marble supports.

On the right side of the minbar, which is made of white marble, there is a wooden door covered with bronze. At each side of the qibla wall there is a door. The two doors lead to the tomb chamber. The doors were covered with bronze and gold silver inlay.

Mosque of Sultan Hassan

The tomb chamber is 21 square meters high. The walls are covered with marble up to 8 meters.

The Mosque of Sultan Hassan has two minarets. One is 82 meters high and is considered one of the highest Islamic minarets. It is two meters shorter than the two minarets of Mohamed Ali Pasha Mosque which was built 500 years later.

↧

Tomb of Pashedu

September 5, 2013, 4:30 pm

≫ Next: Tomb of Amon-Hir-Khopshef

≪ Previous: Mosque of Sultan Hassan

Tomb of Pashedu
Pashedu was the Servant in the Place of Truth under the later Ramessides. A steep staircase leads to a vaulted corridor, with Anubis depicted on each wall, and the burial chamber where the sarcophagus, unusually made of limestone slabs rather than a single block of stone, stood against the rear wall.

Tomb of Pashedu

The two long walls are decorated with conventional scenes of Pashedu and his relatives adoring the gods. The most noteworthy scene is on the right-hand entrance wall, where the deceased crouches in prayer beside a decorative palm-tree which grows by the side of the lake.

Tomb of Pashedu

↧

Tomb of Amon-Hir-Khopshef

September 6, 2013, 5:22 am

≫ Next: King Mentuhotep (Dynasty XI)

≪ Previous: Tomb of Pashedu

Tomb of Amon-Hir-Khopshef
This son of Ramses III died too young to pass into the divine presence of the gods of the underworld unaccompanied. The scenes show Ramses III leading the nine-year-old youth and introducing him to the various deities. The boy wears a side-lock of hair, indicating youth, and carries the feather of Truth, as he obediently follows his father.

Tomb of Amon-Hir-Khopshef

On the left-hand wall of the tomb chamber, travelling clockwise, we see Ramses III, followed by the young prince, offering incense to Ptah (a) and then introducing his son to him. Ramses then presents the boy to Duamutef and to Imseti (b), who conducts the pair to Isis. Note that Isis (c) looks over her shoulder to the advancing pharaoh. She holds him by the hand.

Tomb of Amon-Hir-Khopshef

On the right-hand wall Ramses and his son are conducted to Hathor (d), Hapi, Qebsennuef (e), Shu (f) and Nephthys (g), who puts her hand beneath the chin of the bereaved Ramses.

There was no mummy of the boy in the sarcophagus but instead the foetus of a six-month-old child. It is suggested that the Queen was so upset by the death of her son, that she miscarried this baby.

↧

King Mentuhotep (Dynasty XI)

September 6, 2013, 1:18 pm

≫ Next: The Tomb of Ramose

≪ Previous: Tomb of Amon-Hir-Khopshef

King Mentuhotep (Dynasty XI)
This is a rare statue of Pharaoh Mentuhotep of the 11th dynasty. It is one of a group of eight statues that were found in his mortuary temple at Deir A1 Bahary, west of Luxor, beside Queen Hatshepsut’s temple built five centuries later.

King Mentuhotep

The sandstone statue, which is 2.3 meters high, represents the Pharaoh seated in the Osiris position wearing a white costume with his crown painted red. The colour of the body under the white cloak is olive black. The statue was found wrapped in bandages like a mummy and placed in a funerary niche in his monumental temple.

King Mentuhotep

↧

The Tomb of Ramose

September 6, 2013, 4:30 pm

≫ Next: Tombs of the Nobles: Tomb of Nakht

≪ Previous: King Mentuhotep (Dynasty XI)

The Tomb of Ramose
This tomb belongs to the vizier in the reigns of Amenhotep III and IV (later Akhenaten). It comprises a main hall with thirty-two rather squat papyrus columns (1), an inner hall (2) containing eight clustered columns of smaller dimension (all destroyed), and the shrine (3).

The Tomb of Ramose

The tomb of Ramose is of historical importance because it is one of the few standing monuments in Luxor of the period of transition from the worship of Amon-Ra to that of the Aten under Akhenaten. The tomb gives us a unique opportunity to see conventional 18th Dynasty representations alongside the realism that is associated with the Amarna period.

The reliefs to left and right of the entrance doorway are in the conventional style, typical of the beginning of Amenhotep IV’s reign. To the left (a), Ramose sits with his relatives, all of whom wear elaborate wigs. The figures are unpainted apart from the eyes. To the right (b) are scenes of worship, offerings and religious ceremonies.

Another traditional representation is on the left-hand rear wall (c), which shows Amenhotep IV in stylised, customary treatment; he had not yet changed his name to Akhenaten or moved the capital to Tel el Amarna. He sits beneath a canopy with Maat, goddess of Truth. Ramose himself is twice represented before the throne.

The Tomb of Ramose

On the right-hand rear wall (d) we see the young pharaoh, who stands with his royal consort Nefertiti on a balcony, depicted in the Amarna style and attitude (page 118). Ramose is being decorated with gold chains. Akhenaten is portrayed with his belly extended, in unflattering realism. Above the figures is the life-giving sun, the Aten, with fourteen rays; four of them hold symbols of Life and Happiness. Two support Akhenaten’s outstretched arm. Another offers the symbol of Life to the nostrils of the queen.

On the left-hand wall (e) is an expressive relief of a group of mourners. Grief comes down the centuries in a heart-rending funerary convoy. The men carry boxes covered with foliage, a jar of water and flowers. A group of grieving women turn towards the funeral bier and fling their arms about; tears stream down their cheeks. One woman is supported by a sympathetic attendant; others beat their breasts and thighs in grief or squat to gather dust to scatter on their heads as a sign of bereavement.

↧

Tombs of the Nobles: Tomb of Nakht

September 7, 2013, 5:22 am

≫ Next: The gold coffin of Tutankhamon Pictures

≪ Previous: The Tomb of Ramose

Tombs of the Nobles
Hundreds of tombs of the nobles were constructed in the foothills of the mountains at the edge of the western desert. The most famous are those at Sheikh Abd el Kurna, west of the Ramesseum. The majority of tombs were designed in two parts: a wide court leading to a hall that was sometimes supported by pillars or columns, and a long corridor to the rear leading to the offering shrine that had niches for the statue of the deceased. The walls were covered with a layer of whitewashed clay; this was painted. There are sculptured reliefs in only a few of the tombs. They shed a flood of light on life in the New Kingdom.

Tomb of Nakht

Sheikh Abd el Kurna Tomb of Nakht
This is a simple tomb of the Scribe of the Granaries under Thutmose IV, who may also have been an astronomer. It comprises two chambers and only the first is decorated. But in this single room are such detailed activities, executed with such infinite charm, and in such good state of repair, that the tomb will always rank as one of the finest.

Tomb of Nakht

To the left of the doorway, on the first wall (a),jare a series of agricultural scenes including ploughing, digging and sowing. In the upper row the deceased superintends three stages of the harvest: the measuring and winnowing of the grain, the reaping and pressing of the grain into baskets - with a charming drawing of a man leaping in the air so that the weight of his body might press the grain in tightly - and, in the lower row, the labourers being organised by the deceased for ploughing in two teams. Note that the ploughman has ragged hair, the ox is a piebald and that, in the midst of the strenuous work, one of the workers takes a moment’s respite to drink from a wineskin on a tree.

On the rear left-hand wall (b) there is a scene showing the deceased and his wife (in the lower row) being brought flowers and geese by their son while three young girls play music to them. These female musicians are sensitively painted in perfect detail. The graceful lute player dances to the accompaniment of a no less graceful flautist and a harpist. The body of one girl is given front- view treatment while her head is turned to speak to her colleague. Above is a blind harpist playing to guests; he is attended by an audience of women seated on the ground - who appear to be gossiping. A young girl leans forward to present perfume before the nostrils of three women.

On the right-hand rear wall (c) the deceased is seated with his wife in an arbour (lower row) while flowers, poultry, grapes and fish are brought to them by their servants.

Tomb of Nakht

On this same wall (c) birds are being caught in nets and subsequently plucked. The filled net is a complex of wings and colours. Grapes are being picked and pressed into wine (lower rows), and in the upper row the deceased enjoys his hobbies. He is spearing fish and shooting fowl. The fishing scene was never completed; though the fish themselves are drawn. Nakht has no spear in his hand. His wife tenderly holds an injured bird in her hand. His little daughter holds his leg.

↧

The gold coffin of Tutankhamon Pictures

September 7, 2013, 9:13 am

≫ Next: Tomb of Userhet

≪ Previous: Tombs of the Nobles: Tomb of Nakht

The gold coffin of Tutankhamon
The gold coffin of Tutankhamon is made of 450 pounds of solid gold. It is, perpaps, the finest and greatest example of goldsmithing work in history. Three coffins were used to hold the body of young king Tutankhamon who died at the age of 18. The inner and outer coffins are displayed among his collection in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. King Tut’s tomb was discovered on November 4, 1922 by Howard Carter, after six years of hard work underneath the rubble that heaped up during the excavation of King Ramses VI tomb, in Thebes, Valley of the Kings.

The gold coffin of Tutankhamon

↧

Tomb of Userhet

September 7, 2013, 4:30 pm

≫ Next: Tomb of Rekhmire

≪ Previous: The gold coffin of Tutankhamon Pictures

Tomb of Userhet
This tomb, situated near that of Ramose, belongs to a royal scribe in the reign of Amenhotep II, and the paintings are extremely well preserved. On the left-hand entrance wall there are rural scenes. These include the inspection and branding of cattle, overthrowing bulls, and the collection of grain. The rear left-hand wall (b) is partly destroyed. It shows the deceased feasting with members of his family. He is offered a necklace and a cup, and his son brings a bouquet of flowers.

Tomb of Userhet

On the right-hand rear wall (c), bags of gold-dust are being counted in the upper registers, and, below, is a delightful scene of the inspection of recruits; men, including barbers, are seated beneath the tree. Further along the wall bakers make bread (d) and the deceased Userhet, in a colourful red tunic with yellow spots, makes offerings to his pharaoh (e).

Tomb of Userhet

In the inner corridor, there is a spirited hunting scene at (f), in which the nobleman, in his chariot, shoots at fleeing animals in the desert; these include gazelles, hares and hyena. Userhet has the reins tied around his waist and the string of his bow taut and ready to shoot. At (g) is a scene of weeping women. The rest of the right- hand wall is taken up with a funeral procession including a chariot, horse and river vessels. (In the niche to the rear of the corridor are statues of the owner and his wife.)

Tomb of Userhet

↧

Tomb of Rekhmire

September 8, 2013, 5:22 am

≫ Next: Ancient Egyptian Nile River

≪ Previous: Tomb of Userhet

Tomb of Rekhmire
On the left-hand wall of the inner corridor, at (c), Rekhmire supervises the delivery of grain, wine and cloth from the royal storehouses. He inspects carpenters, leathcr-workers, metalworkers and potters, who all come under his control. In the lower row is a record of the construction of an entrance portal to the temple of Amon at Karnak showing that Rekhmire supervised the manufacture of the bricks and each stage of the construction.

Tomb of Rekhmire

On the right-hand wall (d) Rekhmire may be seen at a table, and there are scenes of offerings before statues of the deceased, the deceased in a boat on a pond being towed by men on the bank, and a banquet with musicians and singers.

Tomb of Rekhmire

All the representations in this tomb show rhythm. Workers bend to mix mortar or squat to carve a statue. A man raises a bucket to his colleague’s shoulder. Another is engrossed in carpentry. The elegant ladies of Rekhmire’s household prepare for a social function with young female attendants arranging their hair, anointing their limbs or bringing them jewellery.

↧

Ancient Egyptian Nile River

September 8, 2013, 9:13 am

≫ Next: The Tomb of Rekhmire

≪ Previous: Tomb of Rekhmire

The Nile
The Nile winds its way 6,500 kilometres from its origins in the Great African lakes to the Mediterranean.

Ancient Egyptian Nile River

Its sources were unknown until the 19th century. Today thay have been identified in the Nyawarongo river, a tributary of another river which enters Lake Victoria.

Ancient Egyptian Nile River Map

The Nile flows northwards across the immense savannah with its woods and marshes before gathering in to itself from the left the waters of the Bahr Ghazzal (the Gazelle River) originating in the Darfour and Congo regions, and from the right the waters of the Sobat, the Blue Nile (or Bahr el Azrak) and the Atbarah from the high plateaus of Abyssinia. It then runs up against the limestone barrier of the Sahara and its progress is interrupted by the cataracts as it flows slowly towards the Mediterranean without receving the waters of any other tributary. Egypt proper is simply that northern part of this great valley which extends from the cataracts at Aswan to the sea. From Aswan to the ruins of Thebes the valley narrows, being penned in between two chains of rocky mountains, but between Thebes and Cairo it becomes considerably wider again.

Ancient Egyptian Nile River

At El Manach the Nile divides into two: the eastern part constitues the principal branch. Shortly after the Nile leaves Cairo it loses sight of the mountains which up to then have followed its course. The Arabian and Libyan mountains get further and further apart and rise up respectively on the edge of the Red Sea and in the Mediterranean to the west of Alexandria. In the vast triangular plain of the Delta a multitude of canals link the Rachid or Rosetta branch to the Damiette or Domiatte branch.

Ancient Egyptian Nile River

Each year following the torrential rains which fall on the mountains of Abyssinia and the region of the equatorial lakes, the Nile becomes more and more swollen until finally it bursts its banks and in a few months fills up the entire valley. By the end of April the flooding has reached Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan, and by the end of May or beginning of June it reaches Egypt proper via Nubia. Until October the valley remains covered with the beneficial layer of mud laid down by the flood which only disappears completely at the beginning of December. As a result of this periodic flooding Egypt has a particularly rich flora and fauna. There are many types of big trees, numerous species of acacia and sycamore, forests of palm trees and many aquatic plants including the papyrus and the lotus. The Nile and its lakes are swarming with fish. Most domestic animals have been known in Egypt since the earliest times. On the other hand many species of wild animal have disappeared with the passing of the centuries. Thus one no longer finds there either lions or the large cats such as the leopard and the cheetah. The hippopotamus left the Delta towards the end of the 16th century and following the appearance of steam boats on the river it retreated beyond the cataracts as did the crocodile. If it were not for the flooding of the Nile the great Egyptian valley would be a sterile desert. This is why Herodotus’s statement that « Egypt is a gift of the Nile » continues to be as true today as when he said it.

↧

The Tomb of Rekhmire

September 8, 2013, 4:44 pm

≫ Next: The Tomb of Rekhmire

≪ Previous: Ancient Egyptian Nile River

The Tomb of Rekhmire
He was the vizier under Thutmose III and his son, Amenhotep II. It is a traditional 18th Dynasty nobleman’s tomb, comprising a narrow, oblong first chamber and a long corridor opposite the entrace. This corridor rapidly gains in height to the rear of the tomb and runs into the rock.

The Tomb of Rekhmire

Rekhmire was entrusted with a great many duties. There was nothing, he wrote of himself in an inscription, of which he was ignorant in heaven, on earth or in any part of the underworld. One of the most important scenes in the tomb is to be found on the left- hand wall of the first chamber, near the corner (a). It shows the interior of a court of law in which tax evaders were brought to justice by the vizier himself. The prisoners were led up the central aisle while witnesses waited outside; at the foot of the judgement seat are four mats with rolled papyri. Messengers bow deeply as they enter the presence of Rekhmire.

The Tomb of Rekhmire

Near the centre of the opposite wall (b), Rekhmire performs his dual role of receiving taxes from officials who annually came with their dues and tribute from the vassal princes of Asia and the chiefs of Nubia. The foreign gift-bearers are arranged in five rows: from Punt, Crete, Nubia, Syria, and men, women and children from Kush. The tribute ranges from wild animals and animal skins to chariots, pearls and costly vessels.

↧

The Tomb of Rekhmire

September 9, 2013, 5:22 am

≫ Next: Agriculture, Industry and Commerce in Ancient Egypt

≪ Previous: The Tomb of Rekhmire

Tomb of Rekhmire

↧