Ancient Egypt was centered on the Nile River in northeastern Africa. Ancient Egyptian civilization followed the prehistoric era and merged around 3200 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the rule of Menes. The history of ancient Egypt is represented by a series of stable kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as the Intermediate Periods. Egypt reached the height of its power in the New Kingdom. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization was partly due to its ability to adapt to the agricultural conditions of the Nile Valley. The pyramids, temples, and monumental obelisks were built using quarrying, surveying, and building techniques. Ancient Egypt left a lasting legacy to all humanity. The Egyptians took much from it, including a deep understanding of the gods and the importance of preserving Egyptian artifacts in a museum.
Ancient Egyptian civilization followed the prehistoric era and merged around 3200 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. The history of ancient Egypt is represented by a series of stable kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as the Intermediate Periods. Egypt reached the height of its power in northeastern Africa’s New Kingdom of the Nile River.
The success of ancient Egyptian civilization was partly due to its ability to adapt to the agricultural conditions of the Nile Valley. The predictable flooding of the Nile and the controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which helped increase the population and social and cultural development. Egypt left a lasting legacy for all humanity and the world. These activities were stimulated and organized by an elite bureaucracy of scribes, religious leaders, and an independent writing system of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Let’s break down the history of ancient Egypt into sub-eras.
The Predynastic Period in Egypt was a transition from a nomadic to a more settled way of life. The climate was less arid than today, and the Nile River region supported various animal and plant life. The Egyptians developed a series of cultures, including the Badari, Amratian, and Naqada cultures, characterized by advances in agriculture, animal husbandry, and technology. The Naqada culture eventually developed into a powerful civilization with a written symbol system that would become hieroglyphics.
The Narmer Palette depicts the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt. A 3rd-century BC Egyptian priest classified the pharaohs into 30 dynasties, starting with King Menes, who united Upper and Lower Egypt around 3200 BC. Some scholars believe that Menes is the same as the pharaoh Narmer. The first pharaoh established control over Lower Egypt and established a capital at Memphis around 3150 BC. The pharaoh’s power and influence were reflected in the placement of their tombs and temples, which were used to celebrate the pharaoh after his death. The kingship developed as the pharaohs legitimized the state’s control over the land, labor, and resources essential to ancient Egyptian civilization.
Ancient Egyptian civilization collapsed at the end of the Old Kingdom. The provincial governors could not rely on the king for help in times of crisis, and the ensuing period of food shortages, conflicts, and political disputes led to increased famines and small-scale civil wars. Despite these complex problems, local leaders, disdaining the pharaoh, exploited their newfound independence to establish a flourishing civilization in the provinces. By controlling the resources of their regions, the provinces and districts became economically more prosperous, a fact witnessed by all segments of society. Local craftsmen adopted and adapted motifs previously forbidden in the Old Kingdom, as well as new literary styles that expressed the optimism and originality of the period.
Local rulers began to compete with each other for control of territory and political power, moving away from their loyalty to the pharaoh. Egypt was divided between the rulers of Herakleopolis, who controlled Lower Egypt. As the power and influence of the Intef grew to the north, a clash between the two clans became inevitable. Theban forces under Mentuhotep II defeated the ruler of Herakleopolis, reuniting the two lands and beginning a cultural and economic renaissance known as the Middle Kingdom.
Amenemhat III, the last ruler of the Middle Kingdom, allowed Asian settlers to live in the Delta region to provide a sufficient workforce, especially in the active mining and building of cities. Later, these ambitious construction works, mining activities, and the insufficient Nile floods in his kingdom led to economic tensions that hastened the decline into the Second Intermediate Period during the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Dynasties. During this decline, the foreign Asian community began to dominate the Delta region, expanding their power over northern Egypt, where they became known as the Hyksos.
The Hyksos took control of the eastern Delta region of Egypt around 1650 BC, forcing the central government to retreat to Thebes. The Hyksos imitated Egyptian models of rule and government, proclaiming themselves pharaohs. After nearly 100 years of Hyksos rule, Theban forces challenged them for a 30-year struggle, led by pharaohs Seqenenre II and Kamose. Pharaoh Ahmose I finally eliminated the Hyksos in Egypt, leading to the establishment of the New Kingdom, where the military became a major priority for the pharaohs, who sought to expand Egypt’s borders and secure complete dominance in the Near East and also built a museum and pyramids to showcase the Egyptian power.
The New Kingdom pharaohs established unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic relations with their neighbors. Egypt‘s military campaigns under Thutmose I and his grandson Thutmose III extended the pharaohs’ influence into Syria and Nubia, cementing loyalty and opening access to sensitive imports such as bronze and wood. Ancient Egyptian kings and pharaohs embarked on a massive building campaign to promote the god Amun, whose cult was increasingly concentrated at the temple of Karnak. They also built monuments to their achievements, both real and imagined. Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut used such propaganda to legitimize her claim to the throne. Her successful reign featured trading expeditions to Punt, an elegant mortuary temple, a pair of colossal obelisks, and a temple at Karnak.
After the death of Ramesses XI in 1078 BC, Smendes assumed control over northern Egypt, making Tanis his seat of government. Meanwhile, the south was effectively under the control of the Theban priests of Amun, who recognized Smendes’ rule in name only. In addition, Libyans settled among the tribes in the western Delta, and their chieftains gradually increased their power. Ultimately, the Libyan princes took control of the Delta under Sheshonq I in 945 BC, founding the Bubastis dynasty, which ruled for about 200 years. Sheshonq also controlled southern Egypt by placing his family in important priestly positions.
However, Libyan control began to erode as rival dynasties arose in the Delta, and the Kushite dynasty was threatened from the south. As a result, by 727 BC, the Kushite king Piankhi had invaded the north, eventually taking control of Thebes and the Delta. Egypt’s far-reaching prestige collapsed dramatically toward the end of the Third Intermediate Period. Ultimately, war between the two countries became inevitable as its foreign allies diminished within the Assyrian Empire by 700 BC. The Assyrians eventually took over the ancient Egyptian civilization and began attacking and invading Egypt between 671 and 667 BC. The Egyptian gods were forgotten as the Assyrians pushed the Kushites back to Nubia, occupied Memphis, and sacked the temples of Thebes.
Ancient Egyptian history took a turn when the Assyrians left control of Egypt to a series of vassals who became known as the Saite kings of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. Meanwhile, by 653 BC, the Saite king Psamtik I had expelled the Assyrians thanks to Greek mercenaries recruited to form the first Egyptian navy. In addition, Greek influence spread so widely that the city of Nacratis became the Greek homeland in the Delta. However, the Saite kings briefly settled in their new capital, Sais, which saw economic and cultural activity. Still, in 525 BC, the Persian invasion of Egypt began, eventually capturing Pharaoh Psamtik III at the Battle of Pelusium. As a result, Cambyses II assumed the official title of pharaoh but ruled Egypt from his hometown of Susa, leaving Egypt under the rule of a satrap.
Ultimately, the 5th century BC saw some successful revolts against the Persians, but Egypt could never permanently overthrow the Persians. In conclusion, after the Persian conquest of Egypt, Egypt joined Cyprus and Phoenicia in the sixth satrapy of the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
The Ptolemies established a new government in Egypt after Alexander the Great‘s conquest in 332 BC. They built new temples in Egyptian style and portrayed themselves as pharaohs. The Ptolemies also established a new city, Alexandria, as their capital, which became a center of learning and culture. Egyptian and Greek traditions merged, creating new gods like Serapis. However, the Ptolemies faced internal instability and rebellions, eventually leading to the Roman conquest of Egypt.
The Fayum mummy paintings embody the intermingling of Roman and Egyptian cultures. Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 BC after Augustus Caesar defeated Mark Antony and the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium. The Romans relied heavily on grain shipments from Egypt, and the Roman legions suppressed rebellions and insurgents. Meanwhile, the demand for luxuries increased in Rome, and Alexandria became an increasingly important center on the trade route to the East.
In addition, some traditions, such as mummification and worshipping traditional gods, continued. Furthermore, the art of mummy painting flourished, and some Roman emperors depicted themselves as pharaohs. However, local administration became Roman in style and closed to Egyptians.
Notably, from the mid-first century AD, Christianity took root and spread in Alexandria. As a result, Christianity eventually became the dominant religion in Egypt, and the pagan culture of Egypt declined and disappeared. Ultimately, the ability to read hieroglyphic writings slowly faded, and some temples were converted into churches while others were abandoned.
– Administration and Commerce2. Government and Economy History of Ancient Egypt
The pharaoh was the absolute monarch of Egypt, with complete control over the land and its resources. The Egyptian government was divided into 42 administrative regions, each governed by a sector chief responsible to the vizier. The temples played a crucial role in the Egyptian economy, serving as places of worship and centers for collecting and storing the national wealth. The economy was centrally organized and tightly controlled, with a barter system using standardized bags of grain and deben weights. Workers were paid in grain, and prices were fixed throughout the country. Money was introduced to Egypt from abroad in the 5th century BC, and coins were initially used as standardized pieces of precious metal.
Ancient Egyptian society was highly stratified, and social class was essential to one’s being and character. Egyptian farmers occupied the largest share of the population then, but agricultural products and land were owned by the state, the temple, or sometimes by a noble family in Egypt. Artists and craftsmen, such as those who worked on the pyramids, were of a higher and more prestigious status than farmers.
Still, they were also under direct state control, as they worked in the state’s temples and received their salaries directly from the state treasury in Egypt. Writers and officials formed the upper class in ancient Egypt, or the “white skirt class,” about the white clothing that was a sign of their status in Egypt. Literature and art depicted the status of the upper class of the people, as they received a large share of mention and reference in various fields of Egyptian culture. Priests, doctors, and engineers trained in certain specialties occupied the rank before the nobility in Egypt. Slavery was known in ancient Egypt then, but information and evidence about it are still limited.
The pharaoh was the head of the Egyptian legal system, responsible for enacting laws and maintaining law and order, a concept the Egyptians called the goddess Maat. The Egyptian law was based on a general sense of right and wrong, emphasizing the need to reach agreements and peaceful settlements of disputes. Cases were decided by a local council of elders, known as the Kenbet, or in severe cases, the Great Kenbet, presided over by the vizier or the pharaoh. Punishment for crimes included fines, beatings, facial mutilation, or banishment, and serious crimes were punishable by death. Oracles played a significant role in the legal system, dispensing justice in civil and criminal cases.
The relief depicts tomb workers plowing fields, harvesting crops, and threshing grain under the supervision of an overseer in Egypt. Several favorable geographical features contributed to the success of ancient Egyptian culture, the most important of which was the rich, fertile soil resulting from the annual flooding of the Nile River. The Egyptians were thus able to produce an abundant amount of food, which allowed the population to devote more time and resources to cultural, technological, and artistic activities in Egypt. Agriculture in Egypt depended on the cycle of the Nile River.
Egypt is rich in building and decorative stones, including copper ore, lead, gold, and semi-precious stones. These natural resources allowed the ancient Egyptians to build monuments, carve statues, and make tools and jewelry. They extracted lead, copper, and gold from various areas, including the Sinai Desert and Nubia. They also used gypsum from Wadi Natrun to make plaster and salt for mummification. The Egyptians found and used various stones for building and decorative purposes, including limestone, granite, basalt, and sandstone. They also extracted emeralds and amethyst during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
The ancient Egyptians traded with neighboring countries to obtain rare and exotic goods. They established trade with Nubia and Palestine. The trade brought in gold, incense, and other luxury goods. The Egyptians also traded with Anatolia, which became a vital source of wood**. The Egyptians‘ cultural and economic interests. They relied on trade to obtain the necessary goods and materials. The Nile provided them with a steady supply of goods. Egypt traded in the Mediterranean; the Egyptians relied on the Nile, which supplied them with various goods, including grains, gold, linen, and papyrus, used to make clothes, sandals, and other essential items.
The ancient Egyptians traded with neighboring countries to obtain the goods they needed. They established trade with Nubia, which brought in gold, incense, and other luxury goods. Trade was a vital part of the Egyptian economy. The Egyptians relied on the Nile, which provided them with a steady supply of goods. Trade was important for the Egyptians in obtaining the necessary goods and materials.
– Ancient Egypt’s relationship with Ancient Yemen3. Foreign Affairs and Its History of Ancient Egypt Culture
The relationship between Egypt and Yemen is ancient, with roots dating back to prehistoric times. The relations have diversified into political, economic, cultural, and educational aspects. Muhammad Ali made significant changes in the systems of both countries, including agriculture, industry, and trade. The two countries have a strong cultural connection, with students and scholars exchanged through the Al-Azhar Mosque. Social relations are also strong, with daily interactions and dealings through various economic activities. The uniqueness of Egyptian-Yemeni relations is formed from the overlap of several factors, including historical, cultural, strategic, and security factors.
– Historical Development in Ancient Egypt4. Ancient Egypt Language and its Development Through History and Culture
The Egyptian language is a North Afro-Asiatic language closely related to Berber and Semitic. It has the most extended history of any language on Earth, having been written from 3200 BC to the Middle Ages and beyond, and has been spoken for a more extended period after it ceased to be written. The Egyptian language has evolved and passed through several stages, starting with Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian, Demotic, and Coptic. Egyptian writings do not show differences before Coptic, but it was probably spoken throughout Memphis and Thebes.
Ancient Egyptians were considered an artificial language, but later, they changed and became more analytical. The Egyptians then developed the definite and indefinite prefixes that replaced the old inflectional suffixes. In addition to the above, there was a change in the order of sentences from “verb-subject-object” to “subject-verb-object.” Egyptian hieroglyphs, hieratic, and local scripts were eventually transformed and replaced by a more phonetic alphabet, the Coptic alphabet. Copts still use this alphabet in the Coptic Orthodox Church liturgy, which has even impacted the Egyptian Arabic dialect.
The Ancient Egyptian language had 25 consonants, similar to all Afro-Asiatic languages. They included stressed and velar consonants, voiced and voiceless stops, voiceless fricatives, and voiceless and voiceless consonants. It also included three long and three short vowels, which later expanded to about nine. The root of the Egyptian word is similar to that of Semitic and Berber; a tri- or bi-consonant root and suffixes are added to form words. Verb conjugations correspond to a person in Egyptian. For example, the tri-consonant structure s-m-a is the semantic core of the word ‘hear’; the basic conjugation is ‘hear.’
If the subject is a noun, no suffixes are added to a verb: ‘the woman hears’ in Egyptian. Adjectives were derived from nouns in a process that Egyptologists have called nesbashen for its similarity to Arabic grammar. The word is formed on a system where the predicate is the subject in verbal and descriptive sentences, and the subject is the predicate in nominal and adverbial sentences in Egyptian. The topic can be moved to the beginning of the sentence if it is long and followed by the return in Egyptian. The letter n invalidates verbs and nouns, while n-n is used in adverbial and descriptive sentences in Egyptian. Stress or emphasis falls on the last or penultimate verbal syllable in Egyptian.
The Rosetta Stone was written in 196 BC and was used by Champollion to decipher hieroglyphic writing in ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphic writing dates back to 3200 BC and consists of about 800 symbols that have evolved in Egyptian civilization. Hieroglyphics were formal writing used on stone monuments and religious texts and were very precise in description, often depicting the Egyptian gods.
A new form of writing, the demotic or popular script, emerged as the dominant writing style, a form of writing that, in addition to formal hieroglyphs, accompanied the Greek text on the Rosetta Stone, which is now housed in the museum in London. The Egyptians used a cursive typeface called hieratic for everyday writing, which was faster and easier to write, often on papyrus scrolls found in the pyramids. While formal hieroglyphs could be read in rows or columns and different directions, often alongside the Nile River, hieratic was written from right to left, usually in horizontal rows.
Writing first appeared with the king on the signs and labels of the materials found in the royal tombs in Egypt. This was primarily the profession of the scribes, who worked from the institution of the Key of Life or the House of Life, a significant part of Egyptian civilization. The most famous pieces of ancient Egyptian literature, such as the Pyramid and Coffin Texts, were written in classical Egyptian. From ancient Egyptian literature emerged the sage Ptahhotep, who wrote commandments on ethics and conduct. Ptahhotep was a contemporary of King Djedkare (2414-2375 BC, Fifth Dynasty) and served as a vizier in the Nile Valley.
Classical hieroglyphic writing continued as a language and method until about 1300 BC and was used to write about the gods and the pyramids of Egypt. As for grammar, it peaked during the Middle Kingdom and was studied by scholars in the museum. The tradition of writing developed into personal autobiographical tombs, such as those at Harkhuf, and the genre known as Sabit (instructions) was created to record instructions and directions from prominent nobles. The Story of Sinuhe, written in Middle Egyptian, is a classic of ancient Egyptian literature and is now displayed in a museum.
The ancient Egyptian civilization preserved a rich cultural heritage with festivals and music. Most Egyptians were farmers tied to the land, living in simple homes made of mud bricks in Egypt. They were concerned with cleanliness and appearance, using the Nile River for bathing and wearing simple linen clothes. Egyptian women wore wigs, jewelry, and cosmetics as a form of appearance and used aromatic oils to cover up body odor. All of his clothes were made of simple linen and were primarily white.
The history of Egypt shows that the mother was responsible for caring for the children, while the father was responsible for providing the family with money. Music and dancing were popular forms of entertainment, with instruments like flutes, lutes, and percussion instruments, which can be found in a museum. The Egyptians enjoyed games like Senet and Mehen, and the wealthy used hunting and boating as entertainment near the pyramids of Giza.
Ancient Egyptian architecture included some of the most famous monuments in the world, the most important of which were the Pyramids of Giza and the Temple of Karnak at Thebes. The state was responsible for and funded construction projects, either for religious and ceremonial purposes or to enhance and demonstrate the authority and power of the pharaoh. The Egyptians were skilled builders, and architects could build massive stone buildings with fine details using simple yet effective tools. Egyptian architecture evolved, adding new features such as the tower, open courtyards, and atriums. The Nile River played a significant role in the development of Egyptian architecture. The Egyptians believed in building structures that would last forever, using stone instead of mudbrick for essential buildings like temples and tombs. The Egyptian civilization built many temples and buildings dedicated to worshipping the gods.
The achievements of the ancient Egyptian civilization appear in their invention of hieroglyphic and demotic writing, mathematics and architecture, and modern agriculture and irrigation methods along the Nile. This explains some of their achievements in various fields, which are now preserved in the museum and are a testament to the greatness of the Egyptians, who built magnificent structures such as the pyramids and worshipped a pantheon of gods, leaving behind a rich history of Egypt.
Ancient Egyptian life revolved around the Nile River. Farmers developed irrigation methods to control water flow, allowing crops to grow in dry and rainy seasons. The Nile River Valley produced many crops due to the fertility of its lands. The money generated from the sale of crops was used to build pyramids and temples, develop trade, and pay for invasions. The Egyptians used the floods in the river to irrigate crops and neighboring lands.
The discovery of stone circles dating back to the fifth millennium BC began. These circles were used to predict floods in the Nile Valley. The Egyptians also developed a system of zodiac signs and their calendar.
– The Ancient Egyptian Pyramids
The pyramids were built to bury the pharaohs in them. They were tombs constructed of limestone with a square base. The Egyptians built the pyramids and placed the treasures and decorations that the pharaoh needed to survive and enjoy comfort in the afterlife, according to their belief in the gods. Archaeologists believe that the reason for the stairs in the pyramids is because the ancient Egyptians thought it was for the pharaoh to ascend to the sun god. The Egyptians built about 138 pyramids of varying sizes, the largest of which is the Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt, an integral part of Egyptian history and the Nile Valley civilization.
Temples were built to be homes for Egyptian gods, and there were two types of them: the Cultus Temple (in English: Cultus) to house specific gods and the funerary temple to worship the dead pharaohs of Ancient Egypt and its Egyptians. Over time, the size of the temples increased to become large complexes to which new pharaohs were added. A statue of the god who inhabited each temple was placed inside it, now a part of Egypt‘s rich history and civilization, often displayed in a museum near the Nile, not far from the famous pyramids.
