Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors: An Activity Guide
Foreword rofessors who study the ancient world sit day after day reading clay tablets stone inscriptions or scrolls of papyrus written thousands of years ago and gazing at objects made by craftspeople long dead Why do we spend our time in this way If asked most of my colleagues would probably reply In order to learn the lessons that the peoples of the past can teach us today Nonsense Although we can and do profit from a knowl edge of the great ideas deeds and mistakes of the past we enter the world of Egypt or Nubia of Hatti or Mesopotamia because it's fun To give a personal exam ple I became a Hittite scholar because at the age of eight I read a book by C W Ceram called The Secret of the Hittites and was never able to shake the fascination that this civi lization exercised over me My mother my classmates and more recently my wife have often commented on my diligence and dedication to my studies But the truth is this is not work this is fun Marian Broida has uncovered this secret and in Ancient Egyptians and Their Neighbors reveals it to of all people children This seems to me entirely unfair for children already know a great many ways to enjoy themselves Ms Broida might have left the study of the ancient Near East to me and other professors But there you have it This clever and well informed book responsibly presents numerous activities and projects that open a door to the life of several peoples of the ancient world Egyptians Mesopotamians Nubians and Hittites All of the activities accurately reflect ancient practices and can be carried out with readily available materials So do try these at home Do you want to dress and walk like an Egyptian Eat like a Hittite Build a house like a Nubian Just follow the directions given here and you'll get the hang of it in no
time You might even decide to make a career of uncover ing the past But if you do please don't tell our secret Let others believe you study the past for the grand purpose of furthering human knowledge not because it's fun Gary Beckman Professor of Hittite and Mesopotamian Studies University of Michigan
Time Line Scholars disagree about many dates especially early ones Wherever you see the symbol it means about before a date this is a date disputed by scholars Time periods can go by different names as well Egypt was a single unified kingdom and most schol ars agree on names for the major Egyptian time peri ods like Old Kingdom and New Kingdom But Mesopotamia was a land of many city states and gov ernments that came and went and some scholars like to list all of them You may see Ur III period on some time lines or Isin Larsa Some scholars split Mesopotamia into two regions giving separate time lines for Assyria and Babylonia others combine them as in this one Nubian time lines also differ For example during the Kerma Kingdom other people lived in Nubia who weren't part of that kingdom and some books give them separate names No time line could give all the information about every period in history or we'd never get beyond a single year This time line reflects the way we discuss ancient cultures in this book It's a good starting point for readers who are just getting to know the Egyptians Mesopotamians Nubians and
a A Roo step 19some 1630 Middle Kingdom A Mysos rule Egap 1980 First intermediate Period Early Dynastik period 267 2130 Old Kingdom Period Rod Rise of their lon 1600 defeat 23so 2000 Akkadian and Neo Sumerian Period moon 1 sps Old Babylonian Period Early Dynastik Period 2000 jo20 Egypt dominates parts of Nubia 2900 2300A Group period ie Lower Nubia 2300 1560 C Group period in Lower Nubia Earty Nubian cultures 560 Karma Kingdom period Hinties defeat 1950 17so Assyrian Babylon Trading Colony Period indicates approximately 1750 1450 oid Hittite Kingdom Tos Is OLE A 17s Battle of Qade flin Syria A to Ayala pedes Eypt 52s Pers scorguer Egypt A 404 Egypt drives out IL iss o70 Nene King 1070664 Third Inter Prmediate Period To fund prone 21 Assyrian readers he Do Alexander the Great and Persian Empire Red Assyria dominates Babylon so Assyria invades Egypt S86 533 Babylonian captivity of Jews 599 Persians defeat Babylon 612 539 Babylonian Empire isonio00 Middle Babylonian perio 59 310 Persian Empire 100 12 Assyrian Empire 33o Hellenistic Period 4 65 apatentings Egypt 900 270Napaan Kingdom 270 Meroietik Kingdom 12s taste or Oatest in Syria 12oo mite Empire destroyed some 1200 Hinrite Empire
