Ancient Egypt covers a time span of about 3,000 years. It began around 3100 BC when King Menes united the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. The time span stretches on until 332 BC when Alexander the Great made his conquest. Obviously in such a great span of time, the culture went through many changes. Class systems were developed in the social structure. Religion became a huge part of everyday life, and architecture became more advanced than any other place in the world at the time.
The Pharaoh was at the top of the class system. He was thought to be a god reincarnated into a man. He supposedly had absolute power over all things, though there is evidence of the priests having been in control during several pharaohs’ reigns. The priests were the next step down after the pharaoh. Below them were the princes and the noblemen, then the artists, the craftsmen, the farmers, and at the bottom were the slaves. Slaves were attained through wars, and hereditary placement. If the father was a slave, then the son was a slave.
The beginnings of religion occurred when the people of the Nile valley recognized how dependent they were upon the sun and the annual flood. Cults were formed to practice worship of the natural world. The sun became a god called Atum-Ra. It was the creator of the world. Basically every object in nature had a god of its own. Sacrifices were made to gods for good crops, rain, and to repent for wrongdoing. For example, if there were a drought, they would make a sacrifice to the rain god. In death, a person would be buried on the western bank of the Nile, along with necessary provisions for the next world. They believed that they would go to the 'Godly West’ and live again, exactly as on Earth. Pharaohs would be buried with gold, jewels, food, furniture, etc. The architecture of Ancient Egypt is incredible. Pyramids constructed two thousand years ago are still standing today. Immense blocks of stone were gathered and stacked to create what is known as The Great Pyramid.
For more information visit the Ancient Egypt Exhibit.
Links:
http://www.egypt-tehuti.com/pyramids.html
http://showcase.netins.net/web/ankh/hiero.html
Though this page has been carefully researched, the author does not claim expertise on the ancient Egyptians.
Please send questions, comments, and corrections to emuseum@mnsu.edu and include the URL.
If you are Egyptian, your feedback is much appreciated.
Kamil, Jill. The Ancient Egyptians: A Popular Introduction to Life in the Pyramid Age The American University in Cairo Press. Cairo, Egypt, 1984.
Wilson, John. The Culture of Ancient Egypt. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago, Illinois, 1951.
Written by: Elizabeth Olney