A NCIENT EGYPT 3000 BC when written records started being kept the legendary King Menes brought Upper southern and Lower northern Egypt together to form a single nation Egypt s three most powerful periods of the historical era are called the Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom It was during the Old Kingdom that the great pyramids were built Over time Egypt gradually weakened and became vulnerable to foreign invaders such as the Assyrians the Kushites and the Greeks Finally despite the efforts of Egypt s last ruler the wily Cleopatra the powerful Roman Empire took over in 31 BC Upper class Egyptians had elegant lives They wore simple linen sheaths but for spe cial occasions both men and women wore jewelry used perfume and makeup and wore elaborate wigs They had relatively little furniture but what they did have was sophis ticated and made of fine materials Farmers had a harder time They were not only taxed heavily but they could also be called upon to work on giant public work projects Some of these were grand stone temples to honor their gods Other extravagant structures were gigantic tombs for the pharaohs The Egyptians loved life and were hope ful that their souls would be reunited with
INTRODUCTION their bodies after death This hopefulness combined with the fact that bodies could stay well preserved in the dry atmosphere led to the practice of mummification Not only were humans given this elaborate preserva tion treatment but so were certain animals including cats which were considered sacred by the Egyptians From studying their tombs and other ancient buildings we have learned much about Egypt s culture Their art represented ideas of Egyptian society for example a servant might appear smaller than a lord Images often painted on tomb walls as fresco showed all kinds of scenes of Egyptian life from queens communing with god desses to farmers cutting grain or waterbirds flying over marshes We have also learned about their three different types of writing including hieroglyphics the beautiful styl ized picture language They wrote on paper made from the papyrus plant Ancient Egypt is long gone but the civi lization remains a source of fascination Its long stable history refined art and vast engineering accomplishments hint at a way of life that is both familiar and very differ ent from our own and continues to inspire creativity
THE WoRLD OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS Yo other country not even China or India has such a long unbro ken history as Egypt Nearly 3 000 years before the birth of Jesus the Egyptians had reached a high stage of civilization They lived under an orderly government they car ried on commerce in ships they built great stone structures and most important of all they had acquired the art of writing In the Nile River Valley where the Egyptian people lived the early development of the arts and crafts that formed the foundation of Western civilization can be traced The traveler along the Nile sees many majestic monuments that reveal the achieve ments of ancient Egypt Most of these monuments are tombs and temples The ancient Egyptians were very religious They believed in a life after deathſ at first only for kings and nobles if the body could be preserved So they carefully embalmed the body and walled it up in a massive tomb On the walls of the tomb they carved pictures Io
THE WoRLD OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS WWW 11 RE to Egyptian dancing detail from a tomb painting from Shaykh Abd al yrnah Egypt c 1400 BC in the British Museum London Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum and inscriptions Some private tombs were decorated with paintings They put into the tomb the person's statue and any objects they thought would be needed when the soul returned to the body The hot sand and dry air of Egypt preserved many of these objects through the centuries Thousands of them are now in museums all over the world Together with written documents they show how people lived in ancient Egypt II
