Early History of Egypt
Ancient Egypt stood as one of the world’s most advanced civilizations for nearly 3,000 years and created a culture so rich that it has spawned its own field of study. But while Egyptian art, architecture and burial methods have become enduring objects of fascination, there is still a lot you probably don’t know about these famed builders of the pyramids. From the earliest recorded peace treaty to ancient board games, find out 11 surprising facts about the Gift of the Nile.
1. Cleopatra was not Egyptian.Universal History Archive/Getty Images
Along with King Tut, perhaps no figure is more famously associated with ancient Egypt than Cleopatra VII. But while she was born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was actually part of a long line of Greek Macedonians originally descended from Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s most trusted lieutenants. The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C., and most of its leaders remained largely Greek in their culture and sensibilities. In fact, Cleopatra was famous for being one of the first members of the Ptolemaic dynasty to actually speak the Egyptian language.
2. The ancient Egyptians forged one of the earliest peace treaties on record.Giovanni Dall'Orto/Wikimedia Commons
For over two centuries the Egyptians fought against the Hittite Empire for control of lands in modern day Syria. The conflict gave rise to bloody engagements like 1274 B.C.’s Battle of Kadesh, but by time of the pharaoh Ramses II neither side had emerged as a clear victor. With both the Egyptians and Hittites facing threats from other peoples, in 1259 B.C. Ramses II and the Hittite King Hattusili III negotiated a famous peace treaty. This agreement ended the conflict and decreed that the two kingdoms would aid each other in the event of an invasion by a third party. The Egyptian-Hittite treaty is now recognized as one of the earliest surviving peace accords, and a copy can even be seen above the entrance to the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York.
3. Ancient Egyptians loved board games.Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis
After a long day’s work along the Nile River, Egyptians often relaxed by playing board games. Several different games were played, including “Mehen” and “Dogs and Jackals,” but perhaps the most popular was a game of chance known as “Senet.” This pastime dates back as far as 3500 B.C. and was played on a long board painted with 30 squares. Each player had a set of pieces that were moved along the board according to rolls of dice or the throwing sticks. Historians still debate Senet’s exact rules, but there is little doubt of the game’s popularity. Paintings depict Queen Nefertari playing Senet, and pharaohs like Tutankhamen even had game boards buried with them in their tombs.
4. Egyptian women had a wide range of rights and freedoms.DEA/A. Dagli Orti/De Agostini/Getty Images
While they may have been publicly and socially viewed as inferior to men, Egyptian women enjoyed a great deal of legal and financial independence. They could buy and sell property, serve on juries, make wills and even enter into legal contracts. Egyptian women did not typically work outside the home, but those who did usually received equal pay for doing the same jobs as men. Unlike the women of ancient Greece, who were effectively owned by their husbands, Egyptian women also had the right to divorce and remarry. Egyptian couples were even known to negotiate an ancient prenuptial agreement. These contracts listed all the property and wealth the woman had brought into the marriage and guaranteed that she would be compensated for it in the event of a divorce.
5. Egyptian workers were known to organize labor strikes.Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Even though they regarded the pharaoh as a kind of living god, Egyptian workers were not afraid to protest for better working conditions. The most famous example came in the 12th century B.C. during the reign of the New Kingdom pharaoh Ramses III. When laborers engaged in building the royal necropolis at Deir el-Medina did not receive their usual payment of grain, they organized one of the first recorded strikes in history. The protest took the form of a sit-in: The workers simply entered nearby mortuary temples and refused to leave until their grievances were heard. The gamble worked, and the laborers were eventually given their overdue rations.
6. Egyptian pharaohs were often overweight.rob koopman/Wikimedia Commons
Egyptian art commonly depicts pharaohs as being trim and statuesque, but this was most likely not the case. The Egyptian diet of beer, wine, bread and honey was high in sugar, and studies show that it may have done a number on royal waistlines. Examinations of mummies have indicated that many Egyptian rulers were unhealthy and overweight, and even suffered from diabetes. A notable example is the legendary Queen Hatshepsut, who lived in the 15th century B.C. While her sarcophagus depicts her as slender and athletic, historians believe she was actually obese and balding.
1. Cleopatra was not Egyptian.Universal History Archive/Getty Images
Along with King Tut, perhaps no figure is more famously associated with ancient Egypt than Cleopatra VII. But while she was born in Alexandria, Cleopatra was actually part of a long line of Greek Macedonians originally descended from Ptolemy I, one of Alexander the Great’s most trusted lieutenants. The Ptolemaic Dynasty ruled Egypt from 323 to 30 B.C., and most of its leaders remained largely Greek in their culture and sensibilities. In fact, Cleopatra was famous for being one of the first members of the Ptolemaic dynasty to actually speak the Egyptian language.
2. The ancient Egyptians forged one of the earliest peace treaties on record.Giovanni Dall'Orto/Wikimedia Commons
For over two centuries the Egyptians fought against the Hittite Empire for control of lands in modern day Syria. The conflict gave rise to bloody engagements like 1274 B.C.’s Battle of Kadesh, but by time of the pharaoh Ramses II neither side had emerged as a clear victor. With both the Egyptians and Hittites facing threats from other peoples, in 1259 B.C. Ramses II and the Hittite King Hattusili III negotiated a famous peace treaty. This agreement ended the conflict and decreed that the two kingdoms would aid each other in the event of an invasion by a third party. The Egyptian-Hittite treaty is now recognized as one of the earliest surviving peace accords, and a copy can even be seen above the entrance to the United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York.
3. Ancient Egyptians loved board games.Gianni Dagli Orti/Corbis
After a long day’s work along the Nile River, Egyptians often relaxed by playing board games. Several different games were played, including “Mehen” and “Dogs and Jackals,” but perhaps the most popular was a game of chance known as “Senet.” This pastime dates back as far as 3500 B.C. and was played on a long board painted with 30 squares. Each player had a set of pieces that were moved along the board according to rolls of dice or the throwing sticks. Historians still debate Senet’s exact rules, but there is little doubt of the game’s popularity. Paintings depict Queen Nefertari playing Senet, and pharaohs like Tutankhamen even had game boards buried with them in their tombs.
4. Egyptian women had a wide range of rights and freedoms.DEA/A. Dagli Orti/De Agostini/Getty Images
While they may have been publicly and socially viewed as inferior to men, Egyptian women enjoyed a great deal of legal and financial independence. They could buy and sell property, serve on juries, make wills and even enter into legal contracts. Egyptian women did not typically work outside the home, but those who did usually received equal pay for doing the same jobs as men. Unlike the women of ancient Greece, who were effectively owned by their husbands, Egyptian women also had the right to divorce and remarry. Egyptian couples were even known to negotiate an ancient prenuptial agreement. These contracts listed all the property and wealth the woman had brought into the marriage and guaranteed that she would be compensated for it in the event of a divorce.
5. Egyptian workers were known to organize labor strikes.Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
Even though they regarded the pharaoh as a kind of living god, Egyptian workers were not afraid to protest for better working conditions. The most famous example came in the 12th century B.C. during the reign of the New Kingdom pharaoh Ramses III. When laborers engaged in building the royal necropolis at Deir el-Medina did not receive their usual payment of grain, they organized one of the first recorded strikes in history. The protest took the form of a sit-in: The workers simply entered nearby mortuary temples and refused to leave until their grievances were heard. The gamble worked, and the laborers were eventually given their overdue rations.
6. Egyptian pharaohs were often overweight.rob koopman/Wikimedia Commons
Egyptian art commonly depicts pharaohs as being trim and statuesque, but this was most likely not the case. The Egyptian diet of beer, wine, bread and honey was high in sugar, and studies show that it may have done a number on royal waistlines. Examinations of mummies have indicated that many Egyptian rulers were unhealthy and overweight, and even suffered from diabetes. A notable example is the legendary Queen Hatshepsut, who lived in the 15th century B.C. While her sarcophagus depicts her as slender and athletic, historians believe she was actually obese and balding.
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Ancient Egypt had a successful society that lasted over 3,000 years. The priests of ancient Egypt developed ways to preserve or ‘mummify’ a body so that it would last. They mummified people as well as animals and archeologists have found entire burial chambers just devoted to the burial of mummified cats. While other animals were found, cats were the favorite and most loved pet of the ancient Egyptians.
The process involved to create a mummy properly can take up to 70 days. It is not only a physical procedure but the ancient Egyptians also involved their religious beliefs in the right way to create a mummy. There were various steps to mummification:
1} The body must be purified and washed.
2} All internal organs were removed, however, they left the heart in place.
3} They filled in the body with a kind of stuffing so that it would look normal.
4} They had to ‘dry’ the body out, so they placed it in a naturally found substance called ‘natron’. This was almost like salt and it drew out all of the moisture in the body.
5} In about 40-50 days, they removed the body from natron and then replaced the original stuffing with new stuffing made out of sawdust or linen.
6} The body was then carefully wrapped in layers of linen that covered every area of the body. Some special oils were placed on the body to help in the preservation. A final covering was placed on it called a ‘shroud’
7}The finished mummy was placed in a stone or wooden container called a ‘sarcophagus’
The organs of the body that had been taken out were also mummified and placed in special containers that would be placed in the burial tomb with the body. Both the sarcophagus and the jars containing the body parts were sealed with a black resin. They left the heart in the body as they thought this was required for part of the test needed to enter the afterlife. The believed the heart was the center of all intelligence and emotion, but they removed the brain, thinking it wasn’t important.
Pharaohs had the most expensive mummification of all people. Since the pharaoh was considered a god they included many gems and amulets in between the layers of linen wrapping. They would also use a special sarcophagus for the pharaoh that was carved and painted in his likeness. Some were decorated with gold. Others, had solid gold decorative masks placed on the head and face that looked like the pharaoh. The pharaoh mummies were placed in special burial places along with many of the expensive items that they would take with them in the afterlife.
Wealthy people would also have similar high quality mummies. Since it cost a lot of money to create a mummy, they were the only ones that could afford it. Unlike the pharaoh, the burial tombs of the wealthy were usually in group burial grounds.
There were special religious burial rites that had to be performed by the temple priests at each step of the mummification. This was done to help make sure that the person who had passed away would enter the afterlife properly. There were special oils that were used that were purified by the priests, but were also developed over the years to help preserve the body. Mummies have been discovered that are over 3,000 years old and when they are uncovered some still have hair and skin.
The process involved to create a mummy properly can take up to 70 days. It is not only a physical procedure but the ancient Egyptians also involved their religious beliefs in the right way to create a mummy. There were various steps to mummification:
1} The body must be purified and washed.
2} All internal organs were removed, however, they left the heart in place.
3} They filled in the body with a kind of stuffing so that it would look normal.
4} They had to ‘dry’ the body out, so they placed it in a naturally found substance called ‘natron’. This was almost like salt and it drew out all of the moisture in the body.
5} In about 40-50 days, they removed the body from natron and then replaced the original stuffing with new stuffing made out of sawdust or linen.
6} The body was then carefully wrapped in layers of linen that covered every area of the body. Some special oils were placed on the body to help in the preservation. A final covering was placed on it called a ‘shroud’
7}The finished mummy was placed in a stone or wooden container called a ‘sarcophagus’
The organs of the body that had been taken out were also mummified and placed in special containers that would be placed in the burial tomb with the body. Both the sarcophagus and the jars containing the body parts were sealed with a black resin. They left the heart in the body as they thought this was required for part of the test needed to enter the afterlife. The believed the heart was the center of all intelligence and emotion, but they removed the brain, thinking it wasn’t important.
Pharaohs had the most expensive mummification of all people. Since the pharaoh was considered a god they included many gems and amulets in between the layers of linen wrapping. They would also use a special sarcophagus for the pharaoh that was carved and painted in his likeness. Some were decorated with gold. Others, had solid gold decorative masks placed on the head and face that looked like the pharaoh. The pharaoh mummies were placed in special burial places along with many of the expensive items that they would take with them in the afterlife.
Wealthy people would also have similar high quality mummies. Since it cost a lot of money to create a mummy, they were the only ones that could afford it. Unlike the pharaoh, the burial tombs of the wealthy were usually in group burial grounds.
There were special religious burial rites that had to be performed by the temple priests at each step of the mummification. This was done to help make sure that the person who had passed away would enter the afterlife properly. There were special oils that were used that were purified by the priests, but were also developed over the years to help preserve the body. Mummies have been discovered that are over 3,000 years old and when they are uncovered some still have hair and skin.
This is some of the earliest dynasties in Egypt
ARCHAIC (EARLY DYNASTIC) PERIOD (C. 3100-2686 B.C.) King Menes founded the capital of ancient Egypt at White Walls (later known as Memphis), in the north, near the apex of the Nile River delta. The capital would grow into a great metropolis that dominated Egyptian society during the Old Kingdom period. The Archaic Period saw the development of the foundations of Egyptian society, including the all-important ideology of kingship. To the ancient Egyptians, the king was a godlike being, closely identified with the all-powerful god Horus. The earliest known hieroglyphic writing also dates to this period.
In the Archaic Period, as in all other periods, most ancient Egyptians were farmers living in small villages, and agriculture (largely wheat and barley) formed the economic base of the Egyptian state. The annual flooding of the great Nile River provided the necessary irrigation and fertilization each year; farmers sowed the wheat after the flooding receded and harvested it before the season of high temperatures and drought returned.
OLD KINGDOM: AGE OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS (C. 2686-2181 B.C.) The Old Kingdom began with the third dynasty of pharaohs. Around 2630 B.C., the third dynasty’s King Djoser asked Imhotep, an architect, priest and healer, to design a funerary monument for him; the result was the world’s first major stone building, the Step-Pyramid at Saqqara, near Memphis. Pyramid-building reached its zenith with the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. Built for Khufu (or Cheops, in Greek), who ruled from 2589 to 2566 B.C., the pyramid was later named by classical historians as one of the ancient world’s Seven Wonders. Two other pyramids were built at Giza for Khufu’s successors Khafra (2558-2532 B.C) and Menkaura (2532-2503 B.C.).
During the third and fourth dynasties, Egypt enjoyed a golden age of peace and prosperity. The pharaohs held absolute power and provided a stable central government; the kingdom faced no serious threats from abroad; and successful military campaigns in foreign countries like Nubia and Libya added to its considerable economic prosperity. Over the course of the fifth and sixth dynasties, the king’s wealth was steadily depleted, partially due to the huge expense of pyramid-building, and his absolute power faltered in the face of the growing influence of the nobility and the priesthood that grew up around the sun god Ra (Re). After the death of the sixth dynasty’s King Pepy II, who ruled for some 94 years, the Old Kingdom period ended in chaos.
FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (C. 2181-2055 B.C.) On the heels of the Old Kingdom’s collapse, the seventh and eighth dynasties consisted of a rapid succession of Memphis-based rulers until about 2160 B.C., when the central authority completely dissolved, leading to civil war between provincial governors. This chaotic situation was intensified by Bedouin invasions and accompanied by famine and disease.
From this era of conflict emerged two different kingdoms: A line of 17 rulers (dynasties nine and 10) based in Heracleopolis ruled Middle Egypt between Memphis and Thebes, while another family of rulers arose in Thebes to challenge Heracleopolitan power. Around 2055 B.C., the Theban prince Mentuhotep managed to topple Heracleopolis and reunited Egypt, beginning the 11th dynasty and ending the First Intermediate Period.
ARCHAIC (EARLY DYNASTIC) PERIOD (C. 3100-2686 B.C.) King Menes founded the capital of ancient Egypt at White Walls (later known as Memphis), in the north, near the apex of the Nile River delta. The capital would grow into a great metropolis that dominated Egyptian society during the Old Kingdom period. The Archaic Period saw the development of the foundations of Egyptian society, including the all-important ideology of kingship. To the ancient Egyptians, the king was a godlike being, closely identified with the all-powerful god Horus. The earliest known hieroglyphic writing also dates to this period.
In the Archaic Period, as in all other periods, most ancient Egyptians were farmers living in small villages, and agriculture (largely wheat and barley) formed the economic base of the Egyptian state. The annual flooding of the great Nile River provided the necessary irrigation and fertilization each year; farmers sowed the wheat after the flooding receded and harvested it before the season of high temperatures and drought returned.
OLD KINGDOM: AGE OF THE PYRAMID BUILDERS (C. 2686-2181 B.C.) The Old Kingdom began with the third dynasty of pharaohs. Around 2630 B.C., the third dynasty’s King Djoser asked Imhotep, an architect, priest and healer, to design a funerary monument for him; the result was the world’s first major stone building, the Step-Pyramid at Saqqara, near Memphis. Pyramid-building reached its zenith with the construction of the Great Pyramid at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. Built for Khufu (or Cheops, in Greek), who ruled from 2589 to 2566 B.C., the pyramid was later named by classical historians as one of the ancient world’s Seven Wonders. Two other pyramids were built at Giza for Khufu’s successors Khafra (2558-2532 B.C) and Menkaura (2532-2503 B.C.).
During the third and fourth dynasties, Egypt enjoyed a golden age of peace and prosperity. The pharaohs held absolute power and provided a stable central government; the kingdom faced no serious threats from abroad; and successful military campaigns in foreign countries like Nubia and Libya added to its considerable economic prosperity. Over the course of the fifth and sixth dynasties, the king’s wealth was steadily depleted, partially due to the huge expense of pyramid-building, and his absolute power faltered in the face of the growing influence of the nobility and the priesthood that grew up around the sun god Ra (Re). After the death of the sixth dynasty’s King Pepy II, who ruled for some 94 years, the Old Kingdom period ended in chaos.
FIRST INTERMEDIATE PERIOD (C. 2181-2055 B.C.) On the heels of the Old Kingdom’s collapse, the seventh and eighth dynasties consisted of a rapid succession of Memphis-based rulers until about 2160 B.C., when the central authority completely dissolved, leading to civil war between provincial governors. This chaotic situation was intensified by Bedouin invasions and accompanied by famine and disease.
From this era of conflict emerged two different kingdoms: A line of 17 rulers (dynasties nine and 10) based in Heracleopolis ruled Middle Egypt between Memphis and Thebes, while another family of rulers arose in Thebes to challenge Heracleopolitan power. Around 2055 B.C., the Theban prince Mentuhotep managed to topple Heracleopolis and reunited Egypt, beginning the 11th dynasty and ending the First Intermediate Period.