Ancient Egypt Essays (2051 words) - Predynastic Egypt,

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 are discovered and new kinds of researchanthropological 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 t o 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 Manetho, 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