Egyptian tales (lecture 3)

Question 1

Egypt background

Answer 1

• pre 3100 BC - individual villages along the mouths of the Nile in the delta (lower Egypt) and along the Nile (upper and lower Egypt)
• about 3100 BC - Narmer, a warlord, united upper and lower Egypt by force, becoming the first pharaoh. His and a successor dynasty part of the Egyptian archaic period lasting to 2700 BC

Question 2

The old kingdom

Answer 2

The old kingdom period lasted to 2200 BC. During which the famous pyramids at Giza were built. The end of the old kingdom period was marked by chaos as rival pharaohs contended for rule

Question 3

The middle kingdom

Answer 3

The middle kingdom period, 2000 - 1670 BC, saw the re-establishment of dynastic rule, but it was brought to close when Egypt was conquered by the Hyksos

Question 4

Hyksos

Answer 4

Expulsion of the Hyksos in 1570 marks the start of the new kingdom period which lasted until 1070 BC. From there to 332 BC, post-imperial Egypt, the kingdom is in decline, losing territory and power until it irrevocably loses independence following Alexander the greats expulsion of the Persians

Question 5

How we know their tales

Answer 5

1. Other cultures, who had writing, like the Greeks and Romans, occasionally recorded Egyptian stories
2. The Egyptians themselves had systems of writing

Question 6

Hieroglyphic

Answer 6

Hieroglyphic consits mostly of carefully painted or inscribed pictures, representing sounds of speech, and developed at the start of the archaic period - some stories with religious importance were recorded in hieroglyphic

Question 7

Hieratic

Answer 7

Hieratic was the everyday version of this more suitable for writing / painting ink on papyrus for bureaucratic and everyday purposes - Egyptian myth mostly survives in hieratic script, it arises almost simultaneously with hieroglyphic script

Question 8

Demotic

Answer 8

Demotic was a quick short-hand script that developed from hieratic around 650 BC and remained in use for a millennium

Question 9

Christian period

Answer 9

In the Christian period, the Greek alphabet was modified to represent to Egyptian language and gained traction amongst Egyptian Christians. The sands of Egypt preserves papyrus exceptionally well