The location of Egypt made it very isolated from anything except for itself. It is surrounded by 2 deserts, mountains, and the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River feeds straight into the Mediterranean Sea through the middle of Egypt. It is said that the isolation of Egypt is what made it such a unique and memorable culture. \n
The Nile is said to be the reason for the successfulness of Ancient Egypt. It is the longest river in the world, and is approx 4000 miles ling. Egypt was dependent on the Nile because it provided the Egyptians with fresh drinking and bathing water, transportation, a way of trade, building materials, and even materials to make cloth and paper. The Nile seemed to be Egypt’s way of life. It was nicknamed The Lotus Flower because it is straight until where is feeds into the Sea and it spreads and resembles the bloom of the lotus flower. \n
The Nile is said to be the reason for the successfulness of Ancient Egypt. It is the longest river in the world, and is approx 4000 miles ling. Egypt was dependent on the Nile because it provided the Egyptians with fresh drinking and bathing water, transportation, a way of trade, building materials, and even materials to make cloth and paper. The Nile seemed to be Egypt’s way of life. It was nicknamed The Lotus Flower because it is straight until where is feeds into the Sea and it spreads and resembles the bloom of the lotus flower. \n
Every year in the Spring, the mountains would be a passage way for water to get to the river and flood it. Normally flooding is a dreaded thing, but the Egyptians relied on this flooding every year. When the flood water dried up, it left dark and fertile soil for the Egyptians to grow in. This soil is said to be “The Gift of the Nile.” Without the Nile, Egypt would be pure desert.\n
The king of Egypt is called the Pharaoh, translating into the Great House. There used to be 2 kings of Egypt, one of North and one of South, but now they are unified and called the Pharaoh. The Pharaohs were in charge of the military, courts, gov’t, and religion. The Egyptians looked to Pharaohs as gods. Even after death, they were to rule over the afterlife.\n
Ancient Egypt is generally divided into 3 kingdoms. All 3 of which are considered to be Egypt’s highest points of civilization and development. The Old Kingdom lasted about 500 years, and it formed the basis of Egyptian art. During this period, the artists developed a theme of art that influenced everyone. The main theme or intention of the Ancient Egyptian art was to preserve life after death. To do that, they carved animals, plants, humans, scenic landscapes, and almost anything you could imagine into the walls of tombs, temples, homes, everywhere. These carvings were very elaborate and most of the time colorful.\n
These are examples of the detailed art that they created using very limited tools. All of the art of the Old kingdom contains things that the Egyptians wanted to be carried out by future generations. All of people, traditions, and things they wanted to be remembered.\n
The Middle Kingdom lasted about 400 years, and didn’t excel in just one particular area. It didn’t start for 100 years after the Old Kingdom, and was focusing on fixing all of the flaws of power that were in need of repair and ultimately ended the Old Kingdom. Because the Pharaohs were in rule over almost everything, when an empire or time period failed, they were always to blame. Although in many cases it isn’t the pharaohs fault. In the Middle Kingdom, Egypt had all new rulers take power to try to restore Ancient Egypt, the plan succeeded. A few things that did come from the Middle Kingdom are block sculptures, Ancient Egyptian literature, and very prosperous soil from the Nile.\n
2 kinds of block art: one’s with feet uncovered and one’s with feet completely covered\n
The New Kingdom lasted about 480 years. It was called the Egyptian Empire because, it held some of the most famous and influential Pharaohs. During this time, the military expanded, new religious views arose, and art and architecture improved even more. \n
Ramses II came to power in the New Kingdom. He was one of the most famous pharaohs of the New Kingdom. \n
The Ancient Egyptians’ building strategies were very advanced for their time. They sculpted mud bricks to build houses. For temples and tombs, they used stone for construction to make it more durable. Because the houses and civilizations were built so close to the Nile, almost all of them have been destroyed by the floods. The tombs and temples, however; were built on higher ground, and thus being made of stone, managed to outlast time and floods. Axes, saws, and chisels include most of the tools that the Egyptians used to build houses, temples, and pyramids. \n
The Egyptians built pyramids of all sizes for their pharaohs and queens to be buried in. These tombs for the pharaohs not only held their bodies, it also stored the pharaohs’ riches. They did that so the pharaohs could bring their riches with them to the afterlife. These riches buried with them are also how we know so much about the Ancient Egyptians, they are also the reason that being a cave robber was a very popular occupation in Ancient Egypt. Only the Old and Middle Kingdoms buried Pharaohs in pyramids. The New Kingdom discovered that the pyramids were being robbed because they were too obvious, so they buried their pharaohs in tombs that were easier to hide, thus not as likely to be robbed. \n
Ancient Egyptians used mummification to preserve the bodies of the dead. Before putting Pharaohs into a pyramid or tomb, they would mummify then decorate them so that it would look its best in the afterlife. \n
The schools in Ancient Egypt were only for boys that were in training to work. They would train to be whatever their father was. They would learn reading, writing, and math. \n
The Egyptian Language was written in hieroglyphics. They were very complex, as is any language, and took a long time to develop. We don’t know a whole lot about the translations of their hieroglyphics, because it was such a long time ago that anyone that knew the translations is now dead. \n
The mathematics of the Egyptians also used symbols. The symbols for math included 7 different symbols. \n
Ancient Egyptians took their animals very seriously. There were cats in almost every household. They were considered magical. Crocodiles were only owned by wealthy people who dressed them up and let them walk around freely. Beetles were symbols of hope for the Egyptians. Monkeys, baboons, and dogs were common household pets or companions. \n
I chose to do my presentation on Ancient Egypt because it seems to be the smartest culture that existed such a long time ago. They were so advanced with their culture including art and architecture. The Egyptians were faced with a lot of challenges such as the agriculture being unstable due to the Nile being unpredictable and bad pharaohs. They overcame almost all of them. It is a very interesting time period to read and learn about.\n
