...Material culture often plays an important role in providing archaeologists and historians with a better understanding of the peoples and cultures associated with them. These artefacts date back to many thousands years ago however; some of the earliest artefacts can be found in Egypt. Egypt is located in the northeast corner of Africa, spanning to the southwest corner of Asia, while the Nile runs north throughout the entire country. Before the Old Kingdom, Egypt was divided in to Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper Egypt in the South and Lower Egypt in the North. The reason for this is the direction in which the Nile ran, towards the North. The roots of Egyptian civilization date back to over 6000 years ago back to the earliest human settlements along...
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...development between ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia was the political organization in both civilizations. The tyrannical presence of ancient Egypt’s godly Pharaohs and the justified structure of Hammurabi’s code in ancient Mesopotamia were the distinct political differences. Political organization affected the ancient economy, that then affected social order, which in turn affected the kinds of religions practiced, which played a huge role in the development of these ancient societies. Egyptian Pharaohs took advantage of the geography surrounding them, and found the Nile River Valley to be rich in precious metals, including gold, copper, and iron. A large number of men took a chance and left their homes to go out and mine for these precious metals. While in Mesopotamia, Hammurabi established many laws which allowed for the stabilization of the economy. These laws established legitimate trade and commerce for the sharing and distributing of agriculture grown in the area. In both ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia their economies flourished with trade, this is because in order to establish a...
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...EGYPT BEYOND THE PYRAMIDS PAGE 1 THE HISTORY CHANNEL CLASSROOM PRESENTS EGYPT TEACHER’S GUIDE Egypt Beyond The Pyramids The mystifying world of ancient Egypt comes to life in this four-part miniseries, Egypt Beyond the Pyramids. Within the walls of recently excavated temples and tombs lie secrets that will challenge current ideas about ancient Egypt. Discoveries—from the enormous burial tomb called KV5 to the sacred temples of Karnak—show how ancient Egyptians lived, worked, worshipped, and honored their dead. To provide a deeper understanding of Egypt’s past, head archaeologist Dr. Kent Weeks, along with other Egyptologists, leads viewers into ancient temples and tombs—including the resting place of Pharaoh Ramesses II’s lost children—some recorded on film for the first time. Epic in scope, Egypt Beyond the Pyramids demonstrates that as archaeologists uncover more about the past, their discoveries yield more questions than answers. Curriculum Links Egypt Beyond the Pyramids is appropriate for middle and high school classes in world history, ancient history, and art history. National History Standards Egypt Beyond the Pyramids fulfills the following National Standards for History: Historical Thinking 1 (Chronological Thinking), 2 (Historical Comprehension), 3 (Historical Analysis and Interpretation), 4 (Historical Research Capabilities), World History, Era 2. EGYPT BEYOND THE PYRAMIDS THE HISTORY CHANNEL CLASSROOM PRESENTS EGYPT HOUR 1: MANSIONS OF THE SPIRITS ...
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...For millennia the Maya lived in what is now the lowlands of Guatemala, Mexico, Belize and Honduras.For reasons still not full understood, around 900 AD their society collapsed and cities abandoned.While their social structure disappeared, the Mayans did not. | | 11,000 B.C. The first hunter-gatherers settle in the Maya highlands and lowlands. 3114 or 3113 B.C. The creation of the world takes place, according to the Maya Long Count calendar. 2600 B.C. Maya civilization begins. Olmec figurine 2000 B.C. The rise of the Olmec civilization, from which many aspects of Maya culture are derived. Village farming becomes established throughout Maya regions. 700 B.C. Writing is developed in Mesoamerica. 400 B.C. The earliest known solar calendars carved in stone are in use among the Maya, although the solar calendar may have been known and used by the Maya before this date. Mayan Calendar 300 B.C. The Maya adopt the idea of a hierarchical society ruled by nobles and kings. 100 B.C. The city of Teotihuacan is founded and for centuries is the cultural, religious and trading center of Mesoamerica. 50 B.C. The Maya city of Cerros is built, with a complex of temples and ball courts. It is abandoned (for reasons unknown) a hundred years later and its people return to fishing and farming. Teotihuacan 100 A.D. The decline of the Olmecs. 400 The Maya highlands fall under the domination of Teotihuacan, and the disintegration of Maya culture and language begins in...
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...Egypt is divided into twenty-six governorates (sometimes called provinces), which include four city governorates: Alexandria (Al Iskandariyah), Cairo (Al Qahirah), Port Said (Bur Said) and Suez; the nine governorates of Lower Egypt in the Nile Delta region; the eight governorates of Upper Egypt along the Nile River south from Cairo to Aswan; and the five frontier governorates covering Sinai and the deserts that lie west and east of the Nile. All governorates, except the frontier ones, are in the Nile Delta or along the Nile Valley and Suez Canal. Ancient Egyptian architecture is the architecture of Ancient Egypt, which developed a vast array of diverse structures in great architectural monuments along the Nile. Egypt was on of the most influential civilizations throughout history. The Karnak is an ancient Egyptian temple located on the east bank of the Nile River in Thebes (modern-day Luxor). It covers more than 100 hectares, an area larger than some ancient cities. To the south of the central area is a smaller precinct dedicated to his wife, the goddess Mut. In the north, there is another precinct dedicated to Montu, the falcon-headed god of war. Also, to...
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...Throughout history the roles of men and women played a major part of the everyday life, however women in ancient egypt were given a lot more freedom then anywhere else known in that time. Men and women were considered to have equal right, men and woman their different social roles. The roles of women consisted of anything they desired. If women wanted to work they had the opportunity and many different options of jobs to choose from, dancers and singers were highly recommended and was considered one of the good jobs for women. Other jobs included ritual mourners at funeral and what these women would do is display an act of grief by pulling at their hair and throwing dust upom their heads, while dressed in mourning dresses that exposed their breast. Surprsing prostitution was considered a job in ancient egypt, prostitutes in ancinet egypt wore blue fish net dresses and red lipstick and some just prefered being nude. While jobs for men consisted of farming, working on the field, they had a high level of understanding the importance of working that inlcuded growing crops also buying and selling. They worked all day, nut still managed to make some time to teach their son's how to do buisness and trade. Even though men and women were equal, men were stil valued over women to the point where women would make the efffort to appear and dress more like a man to be valued more. Men in ancient egypt were expected to treat women with respect and at the same time hold their ground. Protecting...
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...shaped the course of advancement. Rivers, mountains, valleys, and cataracts influenced human evolution in various ways. Geography played an important part in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and India. It still does today. Humans have developed technology because of geographical barriers. In Mesopotamia, people settled in the fertile crescent for farming. They used the silt from the crescent for their agriculture. India has a diverse geography. This diversity supports various lifestyles and cultures. In Egypt, they called the Nile river, “The gift of the Nile”, which shows how critical the Nile was to the civilization. The geography of...
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...Ancient Egypt had two distinct regions, Upper Egypt in the south and Lower Egypt in the north. Upper Egypt stretched from the Nile River’s first cataract, or waterfall, to within 100 miles of the Mediterranean Sea. About 3100 B.C., Menes, the king of Upper Egypt, united the two regions. He founded Egypt’s first capital, Memphis. The Nile River linked from south Egypt to north Egypt used as a highway to send officials or armies to towns along the river. The Nile also served as a trade route. Egyptians traveled up and down the Nile on boats. Also the Nile River is the world’s longest river, the Nile extends about 3,600 miles south of its first cataract, which you can see on the map. Egyptians today still use the Nile as transportation, water,...
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...A pharaoh of ancient Egypt was a political and religious leader of the people. The rulers of Egypt were usually the sons or declared heirs of the preceding pharaoh, born of the primary wife (pharaoh’s chief consort) or sometimes a lesser-ranked wife whom the pharaoh favored. Early on, the rulers would marry female aristocrats in an effort to establish the legitimacy of their dynasty by linking it to the upper classes. To keep the bloodline pristine, many pharaohs would also marry their sisters or half-sisters to ensure the royal bloodline. There were many pharaohs that ruled in Ancient Egypt and all wanted to leave an eternal legacy. Of the many great pharaohs that ruled only a few have genuinely accomplished such a goal. Those that have achieved the status have done so through fortuity as most of the tombs have been ravaged or destroyed. These hapless circumstances have left many questions into Egyptian history, life, and culture—now individuals can only image how a pharaoh and his people must have lived together in Ancient Egypt. A pharaoh of ancient Egypt was a political and religious leader of the people. The rulers of Egypt were usually the sons or declared heirs of the preceding pharaoh, born of the primary wife (pharaoh’s chief consort) or sometimes a lesser-ranked wife whom the pharaoh favored. Early on, the rulers would marry female aristocrats in an effort to establish the legitimacy of their dynasty by linking it to the upper classes. To keep the bloodline pristine...
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...production. Further, the distilled wine was used for the medicinal purpose (Shapin, 12). The information regarding the first wild grapevine cultivation is still uncertain (Brown, 145). Grapes grow in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, southeastern and coastal Turkey, the northern Levant and northern Iran. The fermenting of wild grape was easier due to the development of pottery in the Neolithic period. One of the oldest wineries discovered was in vayot dzor, in the Arena- 1 cave. In the site, there were fermentation vats, cups, jars and a wine press (Brown, 145). Wild grapes vines and seed were also found. In early Bronze Age, there were plenty of domesticated grapes in the near east. Further, there is an evidence of wine production in Egypt and Sumer (Shapin, 12). According to McGovern (270), in the modern world there are many myths told regarding the fermentation and cultivation of the first grapevine. In the bible book of Genesis, production of wine was first mentioned following the famous great flood. It continues to explain that one time when Noah was drunk he exposed himself to his children. The resulting curse that was adapted to describe African slavery and the black...
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...Ancient Egypt Love Poems Ancient Egypt literature and poetry foundation and growth were religious basses and beliefs. In a short amount of time, poetry evolved to deal with people ordinary lives and had a great place among Ancient Egyptian civilization. They wrote religious hymns, plays, dramatic poetry, songs, and in particular love poetry. Ancient Egyptians started and utilized strong literature in order to efficiently communicate their feeling that it affected other cultures, yet these master pieces lack names and titles. These master pieces are originally written inside tomb walls, papyrus and limestone which celebrates the pleasures of food, music, dance, and love. Ancient Egypt Love Poems are significant in our literature because they are one of the first recordings of human literary works and sure enough the earliest example of love poetry. It took them a long time to create these magnificent pieces of literature in writing, but before that oral poetry was part of their tradition; composition of Hymns, stories, and prayers that were passed down from a generation to another orally. The reason was that only a few could read and write in a city and they were more likely royals and merchandisers. Egyptian invented hieroglyphic writing to help their trade system for recording their merchants; later on, they used this writing in tombs in order to compose biographies, narrative poems, and songs. Soon after, Egyptian came up with a new system of writing, hieratic script, which...
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...antiquity were legendary for their beauty, power and lover affairs. Especially great were the Queens of Ethiopia; Queen of Sheba (960 B.C.) Queen Hatshepsut: Queen of Ancient Kemet Hatshepsut conquered on the role of King in the 18th dynasty (1504-1483 BCE). She was the daughter of Thutmose I and his wife Ahmose. She was the principal wife of her half-brother, Thutmose II. She bore her husband a daughter but no surviving son. When Thutmose II died young, the title of King was intertied by son of one of his secondary wives- Thutmose III. At the time, Thutmose III was very young at the time and couldn’t fully rule. Hatshepsut half-brother, Thutmose II, took successor to the throne. Hatshepsut asserted in her propaganda that her father pronounced her to be the heir. Before Thutmose II...
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...Roles of the Ancient Women Ancient Middle Eastern civilizations laid the ground work for the progression of Western culture. The religions and laws created by the leaders of these civilizations directed the day to day lives of their people. We see evidence of this through the archeological and anthropological studies that have been conducted throughout the Middle Eastern regions over the past few decades. As most of these civilizations were built upon a patriarchal culture, the majority of what has been unearth points toward the day to day lives of the men of those civilizations. What evidence is there for the role of women in these ancient Mesopotamian, Egyptian and Minoan cultures? The written historical record, excavated artifacts and art provides a rich tapestry of evidence of the lives of the Ancient Mesopotamians and with it a small glimpse into the lives of Mesopotamian women. Many resources point to the woman’s role being firmly that of a “daughter of her father or the wife of her husband.” (The Oriantial Institute, Chicago University) Texts such as The Code of Hammurabi spell out what few rights a Mesopotamian woman had. These rights were mainly associated to the privileges of the dowry bestowed up on her husband by her father or in his death her eldest male relative. (Hooker, Washington State University, 1999) A dowry typically consisted of money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage. The rights to this dowry were mainly held by the father...
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...Geographically it is about three times the size of the United States, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. At its northeast corner is Egypt, which is connected to the Sinai Peninsula—and hence to the Asian continent by a very narrow strip of land. This is the only spot where Africa touches another continent; otherwise, it is surrounded by water. The Mediterranean Sea separates it from Europe in the north; the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden lie between it and the Arabian Peninsula to the east. Two vast bodies of water—the Indian Ocean on the eastern side, and the even larger Atlantic on the west—surround the remainder of Africa. A Why Africa is important One of the greatest civilizations of all time, Egypt, was in Africa. Perhaps the only ancient civilizations that can be compared with it are those of Greece and Rome, which were influenced by it. Egypt, of course, has had its own chapter in this series; and Carthage, in North Africa, is also covered elsewhere. The focus of this chapter is entirely on Africa south of the Sahara 283 Map of Africa. XNR Productions. The Gale Group. Desert—that is, sub-Saharan Africa—as well as on the desert itself. That desert would have an impact on African history right up to the modern day; so, too, would the African civilizations of ancient times. There was the kingdom of Kush, which developed its own form of writing and briefly ruled Egypt; the kingdom of Aksum, an important trading center; and the Bantu peoples, who developed ironworking and spread it...
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...religion and praise of God and man. Egypt sets it’s self apart from these other places because of the history Egypt agriculture has, the influence the agricultural on many religious followers on many religious fronts today, and the vitality the monuments still have after years of punishment through the elements. The construction of the temples and pyramids in Egypt is a testament to the importance of spirituality to the people of Egypt. Making them an interesting people and the monuments made a remarkable feat to be astonished for many years to come. During the ancient times of Egypt, life began and ended with...
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