Predynastic Egypt Egyptian History example essay topic

Ancient Egypt The civilization of ancient Egypt is significant in several ways. Egyptian influence on other peoples was also significant. Ancient kingdoms of the Sudan adapted its HIEROGLYPHIC writing system and other cultural elements. The two last regions and the Bible are the most important antecedents of the modern western world that owe something to Egypt. The western alphabet is derived from a Phoenician one possibly modeled on Egyptian hieroglyphs; Egyptian ideas are found in some parts of the Bible; and Greek sciences and especially, art were originally influenced by Egypt. Finally, archaeology and historical writing have made Egypt a subject of great public interest, stimulating many books, novels, exhibits, and movies.

The image of Egyptian history moves continually closer to reality as new facts a rediscovered and new kinds of research-anthropological and other -- supplement more traditional archaeological techniques. Egypt's well preserved pyramids and cemeteries on the dry desert, and sturdy stone-built temples, have been studied by archaeologists since the early 19th century, but river-plain town mounds and all sites in densely settled northern Egypt now receive more attention than previously. Funerary and temple inscriptions survived well, but they paint an idealized, oversimplified picture of history and society. PAPYRUS exists and pottery fragments are rarer but more realistic. They now are better studied and are supplemented by new types of archaeological analysis. Environment strongly affected history.

In a largely rainless climate, Egypt's high agricultural productivity depended on a long but very narrow floodplain; on average 19.2 km (11.9 mi) wide, it reached a maximum of 248 km (154.1 mi) in the Delta and was formed by the Nile's annual inundation. Periodic, long-term decreases in its volume might create social stress and political and military conflict; increases in volume increased food supplies and favored stability and centralized government. The deserts to the east and west had valuable stones and minerals and helped protect Egypt from much external attack or infiltration. Continuity was very strong.

Egypt's religion, its concepts of social order, and its system of strong monarchical government remained fundamentally the same for over 3,000 years. Environmental stability helped, as did ethnic and linguistic continuity; unlike other areas of the Near East, Egypt did not periodically have to absorb large new populations with languages and ideas different from those already established. Equally important did all Egyptians share a powerful and tenacious worldview -- an orderly cosmos, enfolding gods, humans, and nature, had been created in complete and perfect form at the beginning of time; its perfection held off the destructive, chaotic forces that surrounded it. Adherence to traditional forms of belief, politics, and culture was believed necessary to maintain perfection and prevent the collapse of the universe. Egyptian art and religious architecture (temples and tombs) closely followed established conventions of style and content because their role was to depict this ideal order -- and thus be one of several means ritually integrating Egypt with the cosmos.

Change and innovation nevertheless occurred, sometimes violently. Egypt's periodic interludes of disunity were politically disorderly and economically painful in part because inherent problems and contradictions (for example, obvious weakness in 'perfect' institutions such as kingship) came to the surface and demanded solutions. Less obviously, change also took place in more stable periods. Bureaucracies were periodically reformed or restructured in the interests of both royal power and fairer government. Religious concepts became increasingly rich and complex.

Styles in art and architecture changed subtly to meet new needs and tastes, but all successful innovation required adherence to basic, traditional norms. Predynastic Egypt Egyptian history is usually divided into periods roughly corresponding to the 30 dynasties of kings listed by Manet ho, an Egyptian chronicler of the 3d century BC. The period before c. 3100 BC, a time for which no written records exist, is called the Predynastic era. Well before 5000 BC many communities of Paleolithic hunters and gatherers lived in the Nile valley and across savanna lands stretching far to the east and west. As rainfall decreased, especially after 4000 BC, the western lands became arid deserts and human settlement was confined to the valley and its fringes.

However, here exotic fauna such as elephants and giraffes persisted as late as 2300 BC before finally retreating southward. Annually inundated, and with natural irrigation basins that retained floodwaters, the Nile valley was an ideal setting for Mesolithic economies with incipient agriculture to evolve into Neolithic ones based on sedentary agriculture, with domesticated crops and animals. The process is hard to follow in Egypt because major Predynastic sites, on the floodplain, are inaccessible or destroyed and most data come from peripheral settlements and low-desert cemeteries. In northern Egypt, however, the development of Neolithic life can be traced at Merimdeh and in the Fayum (5000-4000 BC); there and elsewhere in the north the pervasive northern culture emerged, characterized by monochrome pottery using incised and applied decoration. The earliest Neolithic phases of southern Egypt are not yet identified, but two cultures existed there by c.

4000 BC: theT asian, influenced by the north, and the Bavarian, which originated in the eastern desert. The former evolved into phases labeled Nakada I (Amratian) and II (Gerzean), representing a material culture very different from that of the north. In the south, among other differences, pottery is more varied in fabric, often has a black top, and favors painted decoration (white on red and red on light-colored desert clays). Historically significant patterns can be discerned.

Political elites developed, supported by agricultural surplus, partly through control over valuable resources that were beginning to be used in new technologies. Originally, tools and weapons were made of stone and organic materials, but in southern (and slightly later in northern) Egypt copper and precious metals became increasingly important. By Nakada II times, larger, more efficient river ships were built and trade along the Nile was expanding. These and other factors stimulated the emergence of an elite class whose graves are larger and richer than normal, and ultimately regional political leaders are identifiable by 'chieftain's tombs' at several sites.

According to later traditions, by late Predynastic times (c. 3300 BC) chiefdom's had coalesced into two competitive kingdoms, northern and southern. Gradually, the characteristic material culture of the south had been spreading, and it replaced the once different one of northern Egypt in Nakada times. Throughout the period 5000-3100 BC foreign influences were significant, but direct ones are hard to distinguish from indirect. Domesticated grains and some domesticated animals may have come via Syria and Palestine, perhaps at the time of Merimdehs's earliest phase, which shows influences from these regions in material culture also. Both northern and southern Egypt traded with Syria, Palestine, and northeast Africa throughout Predynastic times.

Particularly striking and so far found mainly in southern Egypt (Nakada I and II) are Mesopotamian-style cylinder seals, pottery, and artistic motifs, but these may have come through intermediaries rather than by direct contact. Predynastic architecture, using wood, matting, and mud brick, is best attested in cemeteries, where pit graves were lined with wood or brick and roofed with matting or stone slabs; eventually, some graves had small, solid superstructures of brick and rubble. Some settlements have been partially excavated; and a possible Predynastic temple was recently found atHIERAKONPOLIS. Art was well developed but small scale. Figurines and statuettes of individual humans or animals, some modeled realistically, we remade in mud, pottery, and ivory; slate cosmetic palettes might be in bird or animal form; and painted designs on pottery placed humans, animals, and boats together in sometimes complex designs. Most of these art forms were from tombs and were magical or religious representations.

Battles, hunts, and ceremonial scenes were favorite motifs. In all areas, conventions typical of historical art were emerging. Such art, appearing realistic, actually followed conventions that were to remain dominant for millennia thereafter. In painting and relief, human and animal figures are always drawn according to a set of fixed proportions, and reality is ignored so as to present the most characteristic aspects. Humans, for example, always have heads, legs, and feet in profile but eye and torso presented frontally. Figures were scaled according to their importance, and perspective was ignored.

Landscapes were depicted in schematic form, but architecture was rarely attempted. Subject matter is also highly selective, for an idealized world is shown; aging, disease, injury, and death are omitted, except for inferior beings such as foreigners and animals. Statuary was intended at all times mainly for temples and tombs, and consisted of representations of gods, kings, and deceased individuals. Complex compositions were avoided, although sometimes two or more figures might be shown side by side. Life-size statues were not uncommon, but most were smaller; colossal royal figures embellished temples.

As in painting, set conventions were closely followed in statuary; whether seated or standing, figures are always facing forward, with arms and legs in standardized positions. Technically, the carving was often superb, although many clumsy works were also produced. Materials included hard stones, softer stones such as limestone, and wood; statues were often painted in bright colors. Sculptors depicted the ideal human; true portraiture in any form was hardly every attempted.

First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom Centralized rule began to break down under the 7th dynasty. In the ensuing First Intermediate period (c. 2181-2040 BC), the Memphitemonarchs were powerless to prevent provincial warlords from fighting each other over territory; eventually two separate kingdoms emerged, one ruled by the 9th and 10th dynasties from Heracleopolis, the other by the 11th dynasty from THEBES. They tried to dominate each other but were impeded by the semi-independence of provincial rulers, and they also had to be simultaneously aggressive against foreigners to protect their rears, secure trade advantages, and recruit or compel the valuable services of Palestinian and Nubian warriors for the civil wars.

Finally, in the 20th century BC, the 11th dynasty conquered the north and rebuilt a centralized monarchy, inaugurating the Middle Kingdom. The intensity and causes of these disruptive events are uncertain. Later Egyptian writers, appalled by the deviation from accepted norms, exaggerated the revolutionary aspects; they also described an imaginary environmental deterioration, actually a poetic cosmological counterpart to social disorder. More significant were external pressure and internal political instability that long endured; even the 11th dynasty may have been ended by a coup, and the victor, AMENEMHET Was himself later assassinated. The 12th dynasty, which he founded (1991 BC), worked hard to restore royal prestige, seriously damaged by civil war and periodic famine.

Its kings, living near Memphis, reduced provincial power and developed a loyal central elite, using subtly to encourage recruitment and transform the royal image from insecure war leader to confident, semi divine ruler. The external situation remained dangerous. The northern Nubian and Sinai buffer zones were reoccupied and, for the first time, heavily fortified. Foreign trade and diplomatic contact expanded, but Egyptian activity was more restricted than in the Old Kingdom. Social change was considerable. People had become more conscious of their individual rights, and royal policy had to both satisfy and temper this.

Religion was affected; funerary beliefs and rituals once largely restricted to kings now spread throughout all classes. First Intermediate period Egyptians had felt less dependent on the state, stressing their economic self-sufficiency, and even under the 12th dynasty royal policies encouraged the growth of a middle class, buried in well-furnished tombs and active at cult centers such as Abydos. OSIRIS, formerly a royal funerary god, became accessible to all. Architectural remains are now more varied. At Kahn, a large town was divided up into zones of better and poorer houses, reflecting socioeconomic differences; superbly designed fortresses were built in Nubia; and the ground plans of several temples have survived. Funerary remains continue to be the best source of art forms.

The pharaohs of the 12th dynasty, anxious to be identified with the autocratic Old Kingdom, revised the classic complex pyramid but included unusual subterranean elements evoking the mythical tomb of Osiris. Royal statues were often idealized, but some depicted a care-worn and more realistic figure. The elite continued to be buried in mastaba's and rock-cut tombs, decorated first in awkward but striking styles reflecting the breakdown in centralized stylistic norms, but later returning to more sophisticated, traditional modes. Word Count: 2024.