Ancient Egypt Flashcards
Benefits of the Nile River
Very narrow band of fertile land in the Nile Valley
Nile RIver - 6000+km long
- Irrigation
- Drinking and bathing
- fertile soil
- fish
- trade - connects to mediterranen sea
- water transportation
4 clear geographical zones
- The Delta
- The Western Desert
- The Eastern Desert
- The Nile Valley
kemet
“black land”
Denotes the rish, fertile land of the Nile Valley
deshret
“red land”
Refers to the hot, dry desert
Seasons
Akhet - Nile’s inundation
Peret - growing season
Shemu - harvest season
Floodplain of the Nile Delta
- Ppl constructed towns, cemeteries on turtlebacks
- Turtlebacks: Natural highpoints in the
landscape –> became island during the
flood - Entry points into the Levant –> important area for trade + international contacts
- Very multicultural region throughout
Egyptian history
Dry climate
- Ideal location for cemeteries
- Annual flood wouldn’t disturb graves
- Dry climate preserved tombs + their contents
Ink
- Mixed vegetable gum, soot, + bee wax –> black ink
- Replaced soot w/ other materials to create diff ink colours
- EX. red ochre
Calendar
- Revolves around the yearly cycle of the Nile bc the river was predictable
- tied into farming = divided into 3 seasons
- each season 4 months –> 1m = 30 days –> 360 days/yr
- added 5 designated holidays to honor the children of the gods
Toothpaste
- Contained powdered ox hooves, ashes, burnt eggshells, + pumice
- Another recipe contained rock salt, mint, dried iris flower, +grains of pepper
- Came w/ an “advertisement” promising
“powder for white + perfect teeth”
Writing
- Earliest form: Hierogliphics
- Combined logographics, syllabic, +
alphabetic elements
- Some 1000 characters - Later, hieratic + demotic Egyptian scripts were derived from hieroglyphics
papyrus sheets
- often combined in scrolls
- tough interior = durable sheets
- time consuming process = closely guarded secret bc of trade
Basic Beliefs
- Afterlife = duplication of the best moments on earth
- death = beginning
- preparation for Afterlife - body preserved in a life like form + deceased provided w/ possessions necessary for eternity
- varied on social class - Book of the Dead led them to where they will be judged - negative confessions
Terminology
- ka
- ba
- akh
- ma’at
- KA: Spiritual duplicate of each human
- BA: Non-physical element unique to each person (personality)
- AKH: Transformed mummy that will enter the afterlife
- MA’AT: Order, truth, + justice — qualities from the beginning of existence
- Live by ma’at = achieve harmony w/ gods +
afterlife
- Live by ma’at = achieve harmony w/ gods +
OG Gods & goddesses
- Atum: Creator god (“the perfect one”)
- Shu: god of air
- Tefenet: goddess of moisture
- Geb: god of earth
- Nut: goddess of the sky + represented the heaven
- Amon: local got of Thebes
- Gods of death: Horus, Anubis, Thoth, Osiris
Mummification Process
- brain removed
- remove major organs except heart
- liver, lungs, stomach, + intestines cleaned + dried, put into jars
- Body washed in oils $ spices + mouth & nose stuffed w/ linen + eyelids w/ linen or onions
- body wrapped in layers of linen coated w/ resins + oils
Symbols
- heart
- ankh
- wdjet eye
- djed pillar
- heart: seat of intelligence + ka’s bodily home
- ankh: symbol of life
- wdjet eye: protects from evil spirits
- djed pillar: strength + stability
Funerals
- Lengthy + elaborate
- Loud mourning
- Mummification process lasts 70 days
- Mummy lowered into grave through roof = no entrance
- structure of grave roofed over
Blue Nile
- Inundation or annual flood
- provides most of the river’s water + silt
Geb + Nut’s kids
1st unit of the divine hierarchy of gods
- Oriris: god of vegetation along the Nile
- Seth: god of the desert
- Isis: protector of children + goddess of fertility
- Nephthys: goddess of the dead
