Civilization & Philosophy
Civilization & Philosophy 27th September 2013
Task: Outline in about 500 words the major achievement of the Egyptian culture/civilization, preferably separated into ‘leading achievements’ and ‘miracle achievements’
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted from 3.000BCE to 332 BCE and is only rivaled by China in this feat of length. This period can be roughly divided into the Old Kingdom (2649-2152), the Middle Kingdom (2040-1640) and the New Kingdom (1550-1070) with so-called Intermediate Periods to explain the gap in dates. The Old Kingdom is when the pyramids of Giza, the sun god and the idea of divine monarchy came to be, it was the glory period of ancient Egypt so to speak. The Middle Kingdom saw a change in pantheon and eventually merged the deities Amun and Ra to whom the Pharaohs would late dedicated many temples and buildings. Furthermore it was a time of war in which the Egyptians tried to conquer (Nubia) while being under the thread of Semitic people from Levant who did rather well thanks to their superior technology. New Kingdom Egypt continued to expand but appeared more like an empire, especially when they surged south to find gold and slaves.
Egypt’s geographical location made it very easy for people to settle and engage in agriculture as the Nile flooded precisely at the same time each year, thus leaving rich soil, etc (basin irrigation) that was needed, thus making it relatively easy to ensure a surplus in food and thus leaving time to devote to other things (like building impressive and lasting temples).
Whereas most civilization of ancient time saw the afterlife as a gloomy and dreary place Egyptians were buried with useful and favored things because they believed that after death one simply continued in the afterlife. They had a polytheistic religion with many different deities, most commonly a combination of man/woman and an animal.
Pyramids – last man standing amongst the ancient Seven Wonders of the World; largest was built
Task: Outline in about 500 words the major achievement of the Egyptian culture/civilization, preferably separated into ‘leading achievements’ and ‘miracle achievements’
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted from 3.000BCE to 332 BCE and is only rivaled by China in this feat of length. This period can be roughly divided into the Old Kingdom (2649-2152), the Middle Kingdom (2040-1640) and the New Kingdom (1550-1070) with so-called Intermediate Periods to explain the gap in dates. The Old Kingdom is when the pyramids of Giza, the sun god and the idea of divine monarchy came to be, it was the glory period of ancient Egypt so to speak. The Middle Kingdom saw a change in pantheon and eventually merged the deities Amun and Ra to whom the Pharaohs would late dedicated many temples and buildings. Furthermore it was a time of war in which the Egyptians tried to conquer (Nubia) while being under the thread of Semitic people from Levant who did rather well thanks to their superior technology. New Kingdom Egypt continued to expand but appeared more like an empire, especially when they surged south to find gold and slaves.
Egypt’s geographical location made it very easy for people to settle and engage in agriculture as the Nile flooded precisely at the same time each year, thus leaving rich soil, etc (basin irrigation) that was needed, thus making it relatively easy to ensure a surplus in food and thus leaving time to devote to other things (like building impressive and lasting temples).
Whereas most civilization of ancient time saw the afterlife as a gloomy and dreary place Egyptians were buried with useful and favored things because they believed that after death one simply continued in the afterlife. They had a polytheistic religion with many different deities, most commonly a combination of man/woman and an animal.
Pyramids – last man standing amongst the ancient Seven Wonders of the World; largest was built