Ancient history is rich and beautiful. Egypt, Babylon, Jerusalem - these names are close and understandable to every person who is even remotely familiar with the chronology of human development. Consider in this article the culture of Ancient Egypt.
How did the Egyptian state come about?
According to historians, the state formation, called Egypt, was created in North Africa, in the valley of a huge river called the Nile. This civilization belongs, along with Indian and Chinese, to archaic agrarian cultures. The origin of Egyptian statehood is attributed to approximately 4-5 millennium BC.
Today there is a whole science - Egyptology, which studies the Egyptian culture as a single and diverse entity.
Historians identify the following stages in the development of this state:
- Predynastic Egypt.
- Former kingdom.
- Old Kingdom.
- Middle Kingdom.
- New Kingdom.
- Late Kingdom.
- The reign of Ptolemy.
The most ancient history: Egypt at the beginning of its historical path
Public education on this earth begins with the formation of two poles Upper and Lower Egypt. The capital of the new state becomes the city of Menfis. The unification processes of the two parts of Egypt are carried out by the ruler Menes. At the same time, the necessary institutions of statehood are emerging: hieroglyphic writing, the army, religious cults and one's own ideology.
The heyday of the state
Egypt reached its greatest prosperity in the middle of its history. This time is usually called the dynastic period, when the dynasties of the pharaohs succeeded each other on the throne.
The fact is that in Egypt a special religious cult was created, which, in addition to the deification of the forces of nature, included the deification of the personality of the king. The power of the pharaohs was enormous, because he was the personification of all his people on earth. Accordingly, if the pharaoh led a righteous life and was pleasing to the gods, then he and his people received salvation in the afterlife.
Hence the special attention to the preservation of the bodies of the dead, because religious beliefs assumed the resurrection of bodies. The first Egyptian pyramids began to be built precisely as huge and majestic tombs of the dead pharaohs.
Which tombs are the most majestic?
Traditionally, the dead pharaohs were buried in the valley of the kings. Their bodies were mummified, and along with them, many objects of art and everyday life were placed in a multi-layered sarcophagus. However, in the middle of their history, the Egyptians began to build majestic tombs for the pharaohs, which received the namepyramids.
Today, the most famous pyramidal tombs of Pharaoh Djoser, the rulers of Cheops and Khafre. These pyramids are majestic structures that reach into the sky with a sharp triangular end.
There are still many hypotheses why they began to be built, how ancient architects and craftsmen built them, why the construction of the pyramids stopped abruptly.
The secrets of the tombs attract the attention of both curious tourists and attentive scientists. In fact, it was thanks to these ancient burials that the majestic Egyptian culture was opened to the modern world. It happened only in the century before last, when Egypt became a colony of Great Britain. It was British scientists who were able to unearth the only intact tomb of the young pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Egyptian culture: own lyrics
Modern Egyptology has advanced very far since the century before last. To date, there are quite a large number of sources, thanks to which you can learn a lot about the ancient culture. Consider them in more detail.
The first and main source of knowledge are Egyptian texts written in hieroglyphs. For a long time, this ancient civilization was a mystery, because the hieroglyphic writing was completely incomprehensible to Europeans. A real breakthrough in Egyptology was made by the French scientist Jean-Francois Champollion, who was able to decipher the language of the ancient people. By the way, British scientists also struggled with this, but it was preciselyChampollion came up with the idea to turn to the language of the Copts, the ancient descendant of the Egyptians, who converted to Christianity in the 1st century AD and completely abandoned their pagan heritage.
Egyptian culture: texts near living peoples
The second source of knowledge about Egyptian culture is the texts of Greek authors, as well as the writings of historians of the ancient era. However, relations between Egypt and other states were complicated, so some of the information presented in these materials is somewhat unreliable.
And finally, the last source of information about Egyptian culture was the texts of the Bible. The very name of the state is often found in the Holy Scriptures and other religious texts of the Jews. In particular, the mass exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt is described in detail (which is confirmed by the studies of modern scientists). It is in the Bible that it is said that the ancient civilization will lose its power in the future and become an ordinary state.
Egyptian Art
The ancient Egyptian kingdom entered the history of mankind as a state in which the greatest monuments of sculpture, architecture and painting were created. Modern museums in most cases have exactly those cultural monuments that have been preserved in ancient Egyptian tombs. All of them are connected with religious cults. In particular, sculptural images of Egyptian gods and goddesses, the soul of a deceased person, jewelry made of precious metals and amazingly beautiful pieces of furniture (carved chairs,covered with gold with engravings embossed on them, etc.).
Special Egyptian frescoes are known, which were painted with natural paints, and therefore survived in the dry Egyptian climate. Their main colors are red, black, blue, white, yellow and green. They depicted scenes from court life or religious paintings on the theme of the afterlife that awaits every soul after death.
The decline of Egyptian culture
During the late kingdom, the state fell into decay, so it was conquered by the Roman Empire. It happened in this way: many pharaohs were replaced on the throne. Some of them were great statesmen (such as Amenhotep III). These kings significantly expanded the boundaries of their possessions, bringing them to the territory of Syria.
Other pharaohs either did little public affairs or even proposed radical reforms. Such a reformer was the father of Tutankhamun Akhenaten, who dreamed of creating a new religious cult of the sun god (Ra). However, his reforms failed completely, and the state fell into decay.
Causes and consequences of Egypt's decline
The gradual decline of Egyptian power is attributed by historians to two circumstances: the decline of the former religious system based on the deification of the pharaoh, as well as the clan struggle of the Egyptian elite.
The first circumstance was very serious for the state, which rested on the belief that the pharaoh, as the father of the people, can lead all his subjects to immortality and God. Kings often behaved unworthily, andit was noticeable even to ordinary people. In addition, slander, intrigue and murder reigned in the palaces (by the way, many Egyptologists suggest that most of the reigning pharaohs did not die a natural death).
The clan struggle within the Egyptian elite intensified and led to the fact that the military leaders declared themselves pharaohs and sought to rule a certain part of Egypt. This made the state weak and fragmented, and therefore vulnerable to the armies of other states.
All this led to the fact that Egypt fell under the onslaught of the troops of the young and proud commander Alexander, nicknamed the Macedonian. And after the early and sudden death of this great conqueror, the Egyptian state passed to one of his associates - Ptolemy.
Thus began the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty, alien to the state. The Egyptian capital was then moved to the city of Alexandria, which became famous for centuries for its amazing library. Egypt itself turned from a once powerful state into an agricultural country, which was a supplier of food for the ancient world.
The ancient kingdom has lost its independence forever. The last queen of the Ptolemaic family was the famous beauty Cleopatra. She committed suicide, realizing that the Roman troops were ready to take away her throne from her. So Egypt turned into one of the provinces of the formidable Roman Empire.
The Significance of Ancient Egyptian Civilization
Many of our contemporaries are familiar with ancient history. Egypt ranks among other statesfirst and foremost place. Many tourists today come to this country not so much because of its warm climate, but for the sake of wonderful excursions to ancient places.
Egyptian civilization means a lot to the development of mankind. She showed an example of a state system. A strong and cohesive education, which has such social institutions as a combat-ready army, the development of an ideological system, an education and upbringing system, generally gives very positive results. The state becomes a leader among its neighbors, so it can claim a high position and gives its members a sense of relative security and confidence.
Ancient history is diverse, Egypt and its civilization is a wonderful example of a state structure.
By the way, the biblical prophecy came true: with the advent of a new era, the ancient civilization forever lost the status of a great power.
Later this state was subjected to the Arab conquest, so today Egypt is one of the Arab countries. The indigenous people, called Copts, experience some discrimination due to the fact that these people are Christians living in a Muslim country.
