Ancient Egypt Research Paper
The Ancient Egyptians were not just a group of people that used the Nile river as a resource to live. They were more then that. They invented many things that shaped our modern world. Their religion, architecture and the way they used their resources to their advantage is just some of the ways they shaped our modern world. Five thousand years separates us and the Egyptians, its just hard to believe that they have contributed in great amounts to our modern world.
This essay is going to talk about three major achievements that shaped our modern world. The Nile brought many floods. The Egyptians needed a way to find out when the floods will come. Therefore that invented the calendar over 5000 years ago. It was originally …show more content…
based on the lunar cycle of 12 months, which the Egyptians grouped into three seasons of four months each to coincide with the rise and fall of the waters of the Nile. However, although the flooding of the Nile began each year around the end of June, the floods occurred within a range of 80 days and were not accurate enough to base a calendar on. The beginning of the year was determined by a star called Sirius. However, because the rising of Sirius occurs every 365 ¼ days, the rising of the star did not precisely match the calendar, which was based on the lunar cycle and so had an average of 354 days--11 days less than a solar year. This meant that the rising of the star would very quickly be out of sync with the calendar. To correct this, the Egyptians introduced an extra month to create a “Great Year” of 384 days every 2 or 3 years. Akhet was the time of the year that the Nile flooded. The name Akhet means inundation. This occurred normally between July and December. Proyet was the time of the year when the Nile receded. Because the temperatures were much cooler than other times of the year this was the perfect time for the farmers. This calendar gave us, modern humans, a base which led to our modern day calendar and therefore it is one of the achievements that contributed to our modern world. The next achievement is personally one of the most important achievement.
The ancient Egyptians needed to take records of things, therefore they invented the papyrus. In around 3000 B.C the Egyptians wrote on the papyrus. Papyrus is a plant that grows wild all over the Nile river valley, so it is very common in Egypt. The papyrus plant grows in areas around the Nile river. The inside of a triangular stalk of the plant was peeled into long strips. They were then laid out and pressed together. Then they were dried. After this all the pieces were pressed together and no glue was required because the plant was naturally sticky. Papyrus was originally only used in Egypt. In 1000 B.c, people from West Asia began to buy it from the Egyptians because it was easy to use. The Romans and the Greeks also bought it. According to http://quatr.us/egypt/literature/papyrus.htm, one sheet of this papyrus paper was worth 20 modern day U.S dollars. So when the Islamic empire learned how to make paper from rags from the Chinese about 700 AD, people quickly stopped using papyrus, even in Egypt. Instead of making papyrus, Egyptian factories started to make paper. The papyrus was a very important development in ancient Egypt because it was the foundation to the very necessary modern day
paper. The penultimate achievement is architecture. The Egyptian architecture was very unique. For example pyramids. The Egyptians built pyramids for the afterlife of Pharaohs. Pharaohs were god-kings of Egypt. The people believed that a nice resting place was needed for the afterlife and therefore came the invention of the Pyramid. There are about eighty pyramids known today from ancient Egypt. The most well-known of these pyramids was built for the pharaoh Khufu. It is known as the Great Pyramid. These pyramids originated from rectangular tombs that were being made 5000 years ago. Construction workers would have used blocks from a quarry. To move the stones overland, the Egyptians would have used large sledges that could be pushed or pulled by gangs of workers. The Great pyramid of Giza is located at the northern edge of the Giza plateau.
No pyramids are more celebrated than the Great Pyramids of Giza The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only surviving structure out of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This pyramid was the tallest structure in the world for nearly 4000 years. It ways 6.5 million tons. The base of the pyramid can nearly fit 10 football pitches. It took 23 years to complete and contained about 2.3 million blocks. The ancient Egyptians method of architecture is still in use today.
This essay is going to talk about three major achievements that shaped our modern world. The Nile brought many floods. The Egyptians needed a way to find out when the floods will come. Therefore that invented the calendar over 5000 years ago. It was originally …show more content…
based on the lunar cycle of 12 months, which the Egyptians grouped into three seasons of four months each to coincide with the rise and fall of the waters of the Nile. However, although the flooding of the Nile began each year around the end of June, the floods occurred within a range of 80 days and were not accurate enough to base a calendar on. The beginning of the year was determined by a star called Sirius. However, because the rising of Sirius occurs every 365 ¼ days, the rising of the star did not precisely match the calendar, which was based on the lunar cycle and so had an average of 354 days--11 days less than a solar year. This meant that the rising of the star would very quickly be out of sync with the calendar. To correct this, the Egyptians introduced an extra month to create a “Great Year” of 384 days every 2 or 3 years. Akhet was the time of the year that the Nile flooded. The name Akhet means inundation. This occurred normally between July and December. Proyet was the time of the year when the Nile receded. Because the temperatures were much cooler than other times of the year this was the perfect time for the farmers. This calendar gave us, modern humans, a base which led to our modern day calendar and therefore it is one of the achievements that contributed to our modern world. The next achievement is personally one of the most important achievement.
The ancient Egyptians needed to take records of things, therefore they invented the papyrus. In around 3000 B.C the Egyptians wrote on the papyrus. Papyrus is a plant that grows wild all over the Nile river valley, so it is very common in Egypt. The papyrus plant grows in areas around the Nile river. The inside of a triangular stalk of the plant was peeled into long strips. They were then laid out and pressed together. Then they were dried. After this all the pieces were pressed together and no glue was required because the plant was naturally sticky. Papyrus was originally only used in Egypt. In 1000 B.c, people from West Asia began to buy it from the Egyptians because it was easy to use. The Romans and the Greeks also bought it. According to http://quatr.us/egypt/literature/papyrus.htm, one sheet of this papyrus paper was worth 20 modern day U.S dollars. So when the Islamic empire learned how to make paper from rags from the Chinese about 700 AD, people quickly stopped using papyrus, even in Egypt. Instead of making papyrus, Egyptian factories started to make paper. The papyrus was a very important development in ancient Egypt because it was the foundation to the very necessary modern day
paper. The penultimate achievement is architecture. The Egyptian architecture was very unique. For example pyramids. The Egyptians built pyramids for the afterlife of Pharaohs. Pharaohs were god-kings of Egypt. The people believed that a nice resting place was needed for the afterlife and therefore came the invention of the Pyramid. There are about eighty pyramids known today from ancient Egypt. The most well-known of these pyramids was built for the pharaoh Khufu. It is known as the Great Pyramid. These pyramids originated from rectangular tombs that were being made 5000 years ago. Construction workers would have used blocks from a quarry. To move the stones overland, the Egyptians would have used large sledges that could be pushed or pulled by gangs of workers. The Great pyramid of Giza is located at the northern edge of the Giza plateau.
No pyramids are more celebrated than the Great Pyramids of Giza The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only surviving structure out of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This pyramid was the tallest structure in the world for nearly 4000 years. It ways 6.5 million tons. The base of the pyramid can nearly fit 10 football pitches. It took 23 years to complete and contained about 2.3 million blocks. The ancient Egyptians method of architecture is still in use today.