Home | Category: Old and Middle Kingdom (Age of the Pyramids)
ESTABLISHMENT OF ANCIENT EGYPT
Osireion at Abydos According to Live Science: How and when ancient Egypt was united into one kingdom is a matter of debate among archaeologists and historians. One possibility is that a number of smaller states coalesced into two kingdoms — Upper and Lower Egypt — and then these two kingdoms united. After Egypt was united pharaohs were often depicted wearing two crowns — one for Lower Egypt and another for Upper Egypt. Source: Owen Jarus, Live Science June 2, 2023]
Some historians date the origin of ancient Egyptian civilization to 4000 B.C., when carefully- prepared burials of bulls, jackals and crocodiles appeared near the Nile. Arts and crafts from this period include pottery with geometric designs, molded hippopotamuses and crocodiles, and painted motifs of dances, ostriches and boats. Changes in pottery styles have helped archaeologists date the oldest sites.
Egypt was unified by a conquering family out of the southern city of Thebes. The new dynasty placed its capital in the city of Memphis which lay at the point where the narrow valley of the Nile broadened into the Delta. This was the boundary, the Balance of the Two Lands (Upper and Lower Egypt); also called the Two Ladies. Half the usable soil of Egypt lay upriver (south), the rest lay down-river (north). [Source: Internet Archive, from UNT]
With the emergence of a strong, centralized government under a god-king, the country's nascent economic and political institutions became subject to royal authority. The central government, either directly or through major officials, became the employer of soldiers, retainers, bureaucrats, and artisans whose goods and services benefited the upper classes and the state gods. In the course of the Early Dynastic Period, artisans and civil servants working for the central government fashioned the highly sophisticated traditions of art and learning that thereafter constituted the basic pattern of pharaonic civilization. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Egypt: A Country Study, Library of Congress, 1990]
Websites on Ancient Egypt: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Discovering Egypt discoveringegypt.com; BBC History: Egyptians bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians ; Ancient History Encyclopedia on Egypt ancient.eu/egypt; Digital Egypt for Universities. Scholarly treatment with broad coverage and cross references (internal and external). Artifacts used extensively to illustrate topics. ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt ; British Museum: Ancient Egypt ancientegypt.co.uk; Egypt’s Golden Empire pbs.org/empires/egypt; Metropolitan Museum of Art www.metmuseum.org ; Oriental Institute Ancient Egypt (Egypt and Sudan) Projects ; Egyptian Antiquities at the Louvre in Paris louvre.fr/en/departments/egyptian-antiquities; KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt kmtjournal.com; Egypt Exploration Society ees.ac.uk ; Amarna Project amarnaproject.com; Abzu: Guide to Resources for the Study of the Ancient Near East etana.org; Egyptology Resources fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk
Archaic and Early Dynastic Periods
The Archaic Period (3414-3100 B.C.) is characterized by the consolidation of the Egyptian state. It was ensured by the development of a centralized administration system and a court-centered Great Tradition based upon the united Egypt. After this, even in times of political crisis, Egypt was dominated by the Egyptian elite. The royal court set the cultural standards for the entire country, making the king the fountainhead not only of power and preferment, but also as a member of the elite way of life. [Source: Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com +]
The Early Dynastic Period (2950 to 2650 B.C.) of ancient Egypt was when society, law and religion were developed. It began with the reign of Menes and included Dynasties 1, 2 and 3, with 16 principal rulers. The form of government, architecture and hieroglyphic writing — that lasted through 30 dynasties and 2,500 years — developed in the late Proto Ancient Egypt period and Early Dynastic Period.
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
The establishment of Ancient Egypt is generally believed to have occurred when Upper and Lower Egypt were unified under Menes, the first king of Dynasty 1 around 3100 to 3000 B.C. Prior to that time, Egypt seemed to be divided into a large number of small priestly-governed states each with its own names for commonly accepted divinities.Upper Egypt refers to southern Egypt, specifically to the Nile Valley south of Cairo. Lower Egypt refers to northern Egypt, usually the Nile Delta, north of Cairo. The regions are so named because Upper Egypt is along the upriver section of the Nile and Lower Egypt is located on the down river section of the Nile. The Nile flows from south to north.
Lower Egypt was the Black Land of the Delta, so-called because of the darkness of its rich soil. The Red Land of Upper Egypt was the sun-baked land of the desert. The rulers of Lower Egypt wore the red crown and had the bee as their symbol. The leaders of Upper Egypt wore the white crown and took the sedge as their emblem. After the unification of the two kingdoms, the pharaoh wore the double crown symbolizing the unity of the two lands. [Source: Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Egypt: A Country Study, Library of Congress, 1990*]
The chief god of the Delta was Horus, and that of Upper Egypt was Seth. The unification of the two kingdoms resulted in combining the two myths concerning the gods. Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis and avenged the evil Seth's slaying of his father by killing Seth, thus showing the triumph of good over evil. Horus took over his father's throne and was regarded as the ancestor of the pharaohs. After unification, each pharaoh took a Horus name that indicated that he was the reincarnation of Horus. According to tradition, King Menes of Upper Egypt united the two kingdoms and established his capital at Memphis, then known as the "White Walls." Some scholars believe Menes was the Horus King Narmer, whereas others prefer to regard him as a purely legendary figure.*
In very ancient times, between Upper and Lower Egypt were separated politically; they spoke two different dialects; and though they honored several identical gods under different names, others were unique to each region. This contrast between Upper and Lower Egypt was emphasized in many ways by their gods. Each was the protection of different goddesses: Lower Egypt was under that of the snake goddess Wadjet, while Upper Egypt was ruled by a different snake goddess. In mythical ages the land was given to different gods as a possession; Lower Egypt to Set, Upper Egypt to Horus. [Source: Life in Ancient Egypt by Adolph Erman, 1894]
The concept of two lands did not disappear when Upper and Lower Egypt were united. According to National Geographic: Rather, the dual nature of the Egyptian kingdom was emphasized, as duality was an important tenet of Egyptian culture, including the throne itself. Later 1st dynasty pharaohs would embrace the title “Ruler of the Two Lands,” and following pharaohs would continue to use the title through the ages. Keeping the identities of the two lands distinct from each other was a way of giving the new political order a divine sanction. Central to ancient Egyptian belief were two opposite and necessary forces—ma’at (order) and isfet (chaos), the static and dynamic forces that govern the universe. Balance was desired, and order and chaos must coexist in order for equilibrium to be achieved. [Source: National Geographic, National Geographic, June 10, 2022]
Memphis
Scorpion King Memphis (18 miles southwest of Cairo) is oldest capital of ancient Egypt. Founded around 3000 B.C. by King Menes on land reclaimed from the Nile, it was selected as a site for the capital because it was located between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt at a place where the Nile Valley narrows to less than a mile across, and travel between the northern and southern Egypt could be controlled.
Memphis was the capital for much of ancient Egypt’s history. For a long time it was the administrative capital of the ancient Egyptian empire while Thebes was the religious center. The Pharaohs spent much of his time in Memphis and visited Thebes only during special religious ceremonies.
Memphis or Men-nefer, was the ancient capital of Inebu-hedj, the first nome of Lower Egypt that was known as m w ("North"). Situated on the west bank of the Nile River, it has entirely disappeared. Mounds overgrown with palms close to a village denote the spot where the great temple of Ptah once stood. The famous citadel of the town, the " White Wall," as well as the other buildings, have utterly vanished, evidently owing to the fact that the inhabitants of the neighboring Cairo used the ruins of Memphis as a convenient quarry.
The long line of pyramids, stretching for miles along the western ridge of hills, alone betrays what a powerful city once stood here. Groups of these royal tombs rise from the plateau, which extends past Giza, Zawyet El Aryan, Abusir, Saqqara, Dahshur, and Lisht, to Meidum, not far from the entrance to the Faiyum oasis area. Grouped round each pyramid are the smaller tombs called mastabas of courtier[Source: Life in Ancient Egypt by Adolph Erman, 1894]
About 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the north of Memphis, northeast of the bend of the river, was the ancient sacred city of Heliopolis (its Greek name). This "City of the Sun" shows us which god was revered here. In its time the temple was one of the most splendid in ancient Egypt, according to Herodotos, the priests were considered the wisest in Egypt. A great part of the ancient Egyptian religious literature appears to have been written here. In the 19th century fields covered the sites of both of town and temples, and one obelisk stood alone to point out the spot to visitors.
Abydos
Abydos, known as Abdju in ancient times, is where the first pharaohs were buried between 2900 and 2700 B.C. It is also where hieroglyphic writing developed and the cult of the boat burials was born. The only funerary enclosure that remains from the most ancient times is the massive 4,600-year-old Shunet al-Zebib, built by the 2nd-dynasty king Khasekhemwy. The three-story walls enclose neatly two acres. Other enclosures were likely destroyed by kings that came afterwards,
Located in the 8th nome (province), 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Assyut, Abydos was one of the most holy places in Egypt as it was the home of the temple for Osiris. A blessing was supposed to rest on those buried here. Those that preferred to be interred near their homes put up grave markers here, so that "Osiris, the lord of Abydos," should receive them into the netherworld. Thus Abydos became in the first city of the dead and many living only dwelt for the sake of the tombs.
Abydos contains 5000-year-old graves of some of Egypt’s first pharaohs and was the home of Orisis, the god of the afterlife. According to ancient Egyptian mythology, the head of Orisis was buried here after he was killed by his brother Seth. In ancient times there were a number of buildings here connected with the Orisis cult and a large festival was held in which a image of Orisis was carried from an important temple honoring him to his tomb in the desert and incorporated ritual re-enactments of the myth of Orisis, Seth and Isis. The cult itself endured well into the Roman era.
Burial Customs in the Early Dynastic Period (2950 to 2650 B.C.)
The burial complexes of the first pharaohs in Abydos consisted of two structures: 1) ceremonial enclosures near the Nile flood plain and tombs about a mile away in the desert to the west — the realm of the dead. The enclosures were surrounded with brick walls and contained a large plaza. Inside was a small chapel. The tombs were in a necropolis. The one belonging to King Aha had three chambers and was stocked with oxen meat, water birds, cheese, dried figs, bread and many vessels of beer and wine for the afterlife journey. [Source: John Galvin, National Geographic, April 2005]
Some of the mud-bricked graves in Abydos contained 5000-year-old planked boats — the oldest of their kind ever found. The boats were intended not only to carry the dead but also their supplies and possession into the next world. Inside the enclosure of one 1st dynasty king fourteen wooden boats, some a long as 75 feet, were discovered. They were placed in the grave and covered with mud bricks and plaster. Boats remained an important symbol of the afterlife for dynasties that followed.
The enclosures and tombs were generally built when the pharaohs were alive after they destroyed the enclosures of their predecessors. People that participated in burial processions for early kings — based on inscribed images — included priests in white flowing robes, royal family members, vizeri, treasurers, administrators, and trade and tax officials. Outside the enclosure of one king, archaeologists found the remains of 10 sacrificed donkeys. They were all old and showed signs of hard work.
Human Sacrifices in the Early Dynastic Period (2950 to 2650 B.C.)
Chephren Cemetery seen
from the Second Pyramid Around the funeral enclosures of kings were a number of subsidiary graves. Outside the enclosure of King Aha, for example, six people were buried with food and wine for the journey to the afterlife. One was a child of four or five buried with a bracelet made from ivory and lapis beads. Outside his tomb 35 more people are buried in graves next to several sacrificed lions. Some have suggested that these graves belonged to people who were sacrificed, perhaps poisoned. [Source: John Galvin, National Geographic, April 2005]
Matthew Adams of the University of Pennsylvania told National Geographic: “The graves were dug and lined with bricks, then roofed with wood and capped with mud brick masonry. Above the masonry cap, a plaster floor extended from the enclosure and covered all the graves.” The conclusion that one draws from this is that all the people were buried at the same time. It seems unlikely that they all died of natural causes at the same time, or their bodies were stored and then buried. This suggests that there is a strong possibility that they were all sacrificed at the same time — at around the time of King Aha’s funeral.
Brenda Baker, a physical anthropologist at Arizona State, looked at all the skeletons that had been found around Aha’s tomb and enclosure. She told National Geographic she found no evidence of trauma. “The method of their demise is a mystery. My guess is they were drugged.” Another possibility is that were strangled. Some blood has been found in the enamel of the teeth (when someone is strangled blood cells burst inside the teeth).
Interest in human sacrifice appears to have been a passing fashion, There were 41 subsidiary graves at Aha’s tomb and enclosure, 569 around the tomb and enclosure of his successor Djoer but only 30 beside the tomb of Djoer’s successor, Qaa. By the 2nd dynasty around 2800 B.C. the practice stopped. A few years later the first pyramids were built.
Earliest Rulers of Egypt
Marcelo P Campagno of the University of Buenos Aires wrote: “The Palermo Stone (Dynasty 5) indicates the existence of earlier kings, who wore the red crown traditionally linked to Lower Egypt. The Canon of Turin (Dynasty 19) indicates the rule of dynasties of divine spirits. In either case, two features would remain in the Egyptians’ “cultural memory” the fact that there were rulers before Dynasty 1; and the fact that they were different from later kings, since they belonged to a different era.” [Source: Marcelo P Campagno, University of Buenos Aires, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 2013 escholarship.org ]
Abydos, known as Abdju in ancient times, is where the first pharaohs were buried between 2900 and 2700 B.C. Archaeologists have found a stelae at Abydos of 1st dynasty queen dated to 2900 B.C. and court members of the of the first ruler of the 1st dynasty, Aha, and tags made of bones dated to 3200 B.C. with some of the oldest writing. [Source: John Galvin, National Geographic, April 2005]
See Separate Article: EARLIEST RULERS OF ANCIENT EGYPT africame.factsanddetails.com
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.
Last updated July 2024