Transcript Egypt_Intro

Egypt: How did a traditional
society deal with change?
CHW3M
Sept./Oct. 2015
Main Theme #1
• Conservativeness, Stability
– Prefer tradition over change
– Like things to remain generally the same
• However, changes do happen
– HTC = continuity and change (they are not opposites; they
can occur at the same time)
Social hierarchy reflects
conservativeness – little
mobility (ability to move up)
Social Hierarchy
Government
officials
Artisans
Social Class Pyramid Review, Oct. 2012,
http://www.mysocialstudiesteacher.com/wiki/index.php?title=Social_Class_Pyramid__Review (Feb. 12, 2013).
Main Theme #2
• Religion is everything
– Polytheistic like Mesopotamia
• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/explore/main.html (British
Museum gods and goddesses list)
• http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/gods/story/main.html (British
Museum, creation story) HTC = historical perspective
– State religion – ruler deified (seen as a god)
– Afterlife central – many rituals, spells,
superstitions, prayers to help you get in
Weighing of the Heart
during the Ka
Recitation
Adam Gabbatt, “British Museum to Recreate Egyptian Journey to the Afterlife”, The Guardian,
June 17, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/jun/17/british-museum-egyptianafterlife-exhibition (Feb. 12, 2013).
Weighing of the Heart
• Osiris = Judge of the Dead
• Maat = balancer of the scale
• If heart weighs true  afterlife
• If heart too heavy  devourer tears the
heart to shreds and there is no afterlife
Ka Recitation
HTC = primary
source evidence
Homage to thee, O great God, Lord of Maati! I have come unto thee,
O my Lord, and I have brought myself hither that I may behold thy
beauties. I know thee, I know thy name, I know the names of the
forty-two Gods who live with thee in the Hall of Maati...I have not
committed sins against men. I have not opposed my family and
kinfolk. I have not acted fraudently in the Seat of Truth. I have not
known men who were of no account. I have not defrauded the
humble man of his property. I have not done what the gods
abominate. I have not vilified a slave to his master. I have not
inflicted pain. I have not caused anyone to go hungry. I have not
made any man to weep. I have not committed murder....I have not
encroached on the fields (of others). I have not added to the weights
of the scales...I have not driven the cattle away from their pastures. I
have not snared the geese in the goose-pens of the gods. I have not
caught fish with bait made of the bodies of the same kind of fish. I
have not stopped water when it should flow...I am pure, I am pure. I
am pure...
Exploring Ancient World Cultures, Essays on Ancient Egypt, Deborah Howard, “The
Egyptian Culture Reflected in Worship”, 1996,
http://eawc.evansville.edu/essays/howard.htm (Feb. 12, 2013).
Ka Recitation Format
• Opening dedicated to gods
• Negative confession of bad things you
have not done in your:
– Relationship with gods
– Relationship with humans
– Relationship with nature
• Respectful closing
Main Theme #3
• Centralized state
– Unified for most of its history
• Unlike Mesopotamia
– Problems unifying because the land away from the
levees was not productive and this divided people and
kingdoms
?
Lower Egypt
?
Pharaoh
and gov’t
bureaucracy
Upper Egypt
?
?
Geography
• Using pages 55-56 in the textbook, take
notes under these headings and in this
chart format:
Title = How geography affected Egyptian life
Page #
Heading /
Point
Nile River valley
Nile Delta
Deserts
Flooding
Mediterranean Sea
Details, examples
Geography Comparison
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Centred on rivers
Centred on river
Soil needs a lot of work to be
farmed; land between rivers was
desert
Deserts on both sides of the river
isolated it to a certain extent and
provided resources
Catastrophic flooding
Relatively predictable flooding
made the land fertile (July –
October = the inundation)
Levees on Euphrates R. were
fertile but needed to be drained
and irrigated
Trade through Mediterranean
Bag of
embalmer’s
natron
Desert
Nile River Valley
British Museum, Ancient Egypt Geography, N.d. http://ancientegypt.co.uk/geography/home.html (Feb. 12, 2013); Metropolitan Museum of
Art: Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, Bag of Natron from Tutankhamun’s Embalming Cache, Oct. 2010,
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1988.437.2 (Feb. 12, 2013).
Homework 1
• Take notes on political
– Old kingdom, 57-59
– Middle kingdom, 63-64
• Answer “Egyptian Beliefs” questions 1-6 in
booklet.
Homework Quiz – Old Kingdom
• What made Egypt
wealthy during the
Old Kingdom?
• How did they display
their wealth?
• Name a famous
architect and builder.
• What did he build?
Middle Kingdom
• Were these happy
times?
• How long did the civil
war last?
• What became the
national god?
• Who invaded and
ruled for 150 years?
• What did they have in
terms of superior
technology?
• How did the
Egyptians regain
control?
New Kingdom
• Why is this time
considered a golden
age?
• Who helped make
Egypt wealthy during
this time?
• What was Ramses II
famous for?
• Foreign rule:
–
–
–
–
–
Greeks
Romans
Nubians
Assyrians
Persians
Bibliographic Format –
Chicago Style
Last, First. Title of Book. City: Publishing Co.,
Year.
Notes:
– Goes at the top of each source of info (don’t mix up
your sources).
– Title underlined or italicized.
– Second (and third and so on) line indented.
– City, not country.
– See “Documentation for History Essays” in writing
package.
Homework Quiz on Beliefs
Ka
Akh
Bah
Maat
Afterlife
Form of the dead that exists in the
afterworld
Unique character of each person
Like the best times on earth
Concept of order, truth and justice –
harmony with gods
Spiritual duplicate (returns via
preserved body)
Mummification video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MQ5dL9cQX0&feature=related
Homework 2
• Finish “Egyptian Beliefs” questions from
booklet.
• Take notes on political for New Kingdom,
65-67