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The kingdom of Egypt
Face of the God-Kings
Despite the magnificence of
their surviving buildings, many
of Egypt's rulers remain for us.
shadowy figures Reading their
portraits from top to bottom
we encounter: Zoser of the
Old Kingdom. Cheops, builder
of the Great Pyramid, and
Amenmhet III. Then Queen
Hatshepsut, her warrior step-
son Tuthmosis III. and
Ramesses II who reigned for
67 years; all dynamic rulers of
the New Kingdom.
As it runs through the barren Nonh African desert, the River
Nile creates around itself a narrow strip of rich and fertile land -
the country of Egypt. This long, narrow land, protected by rocky
desert on either side, with its great river providing a highway for
trade and administration from one end to the other, was the
setting for one of the most enduring civilisations of the ancient
world one which lasted over 3.000 years.
The first people to live in the fertile Nile valley were prehistoric
hunters, driven north from the drought-parched grasslands of
central Africa. These tribesmen settled along the banks of the Nile,
establishing small farming communities, and worshipping the ani-
mal totems they had brought with them. (Later, these developed
into the many local gods of Ancient Egypt.) Eventually, two
distinct kingdoms emerged - Upper (southern) and Lower
(northern) Egypt.
Traditionally, the two kingdoms were united by King Narmer
(also called Mcnes). ruler of Upper Egypt. An ancient stone
palette has survived showing how Narmer triumphed over the
people of the north. He is wearing the crown of Lower Egypt
and has ten headless bodies (presumably northerners) lying at his
feet.
The history of Egypt can be divided into a number of distinct
periods within which the dynasties, or ruling families, of kings
can be groupedHMarmer was the first pharaoh of the 1st dynasty.
A time of great prosperity for the country began with the rule of
the IVth dynasty - the period called the Old Kingdom. This saw
the building of the first great monuments to Egyptian power and
skill: the pyramids, tombs of the pharaohs.
The last pharaohs of the Old Kingdom were weak and power
slipped from their grasp. The result was over 200 years of chaos,
known as the First Intermediate period. The princes of Thebes
emerged as rulers of the country after the civil war.
From their capital at Thebes, the Middle Kingdom pharaohs of
the Xlth and XI hh dynasties sent out trading and military expedi-
tions, extending the southern borders of the country. But a time of
peace and prosperity was destroyed once more by a series of
obscure and apparently ineffectual pharaohs in the Xlllth and
XIVth dynasties. The Second Intermediate period was one of the
darkest in Egypt's history. The country was invaded and overrun
by war-like nomads from the east, armed with horses and chariots.
These people, the Hyksos, or ‘Shepherd Kings', overwhelmed the
disorganised Egyptians and seized the country for over 300 years.
Once again the rulers of Thebes asserted themselves and drove
out the invaders after learning to use their enemies' weapons.
The 400-year-span of the New Kingdom which followed was the
most splendid epoch in Egyptian history. But the splendour and
glory faded. During the Late Dynastic period the country was
ruled by a succession of foreigners. With the death of Cleopatra,
last of the Greek Ptolemies, the Egyptian empire became a mere
province of Rome.
DYNASTIES AND DATES
The «tend of
Phitee. cult
centre of tett
M<ddir Kingdom
Dynast.es Xt-XII 2133-1786 BC
Old Kingdom
Dynasties Ili-VI 2686-2181 BC
New Kingdom
Dynast.es XVIII-XX 1567-1085 BC
Lote Oynottic ported
Dynist.es XXI-XXX 1085 34| BC
Dindan. cu<t cemr
Hethor goddess of
Second intermeddle period
Dynast.es XII-XVII I 786 1567 BC
m»c
no* .<•'»>
The fort Aed city of
Kerma, trade centre
for copper, gold, Kory
and ebony	Cataract
die Nile, the fortresses
of Semna and К umma were
bwih to protect Egyptian
trading posts m Nubia.
•At Napata be the Sth Cataract
ruins of the religious T
capital of the
Twenty-Fifth dynasty \
Three Millennia
The time chart below illustrates
the enormous span of time
covered by the early Egyptian
civilisation (yellow) compared
with that of Rome (dark blue)
and ancient Greece (light blue).
• of Thebes stand the rub
Nekhen. capital of Egypt's	of the temple of Amun.
Southern Kingdom before north the greatest »n Egypt
and south were unified by Narmer .
whose famous commemorative >g
palette « shown here	J
Best known and most
impressive of Ramesses
114 many works. the
temple o< Abu Simbel
and that of hts queen.
Originally o*er eighty pyramids
stretched along the west bank
of the lower Nde. Among
them. the Great Pyramid
of Cheops the Bent Pyramid
•nd Step Ryrwmd of Saqqara
• the oldest free-standing
stone structure »n the world
• Here at Tell ei-Amarna
Akhenaten founded hrs
breakaway capital dedicated
to Aten, the universal god
'WQ
HISTORY)
Land of the Pharaohs
In EGYPT men have farmed the same fields for more than
6,500 years. There is no other country in the world where
men have done this for so long.
All the water for the crops of Egypt lias always come
from the river Nile. Almost no rain falls in Egypt. So all
the land is bare desert - except near the river.
For most of the year the river Nile flows smoothly down
to the sea like any other river. The river is low between its
banks, and the fields on either side lie dry - too dry to grow
any crops. Then, in June every year, the level of the water
begins to rise. Soon the river is in flood. The waters rise
higher and higher, and at last reach (he level of the river
banks. The water spreads over the nearby fields. The dry-
land gets very wet, and this is the time to sow the seed.
Barley and wheat will grow fast in the hoi sun on the damp
soil. The soil is more fertile, too, after (he flood, because
the river has dropped a new layer of mud on the fields.
The Egyptians started to farm the fields by the banks of
the river Nile about 6,500 years ago. They knew that the
floods would come every year, and on about the same day
every year. But they did not know why the floods came.
'Fhey knew that the water did not come from rainless Egypt.
But they did not know where the water really came from -
for no man had ever seen the mountains of Ethiopia or the
huge Lake Victoria where the Nile starts. So the Egyptians
believed that the floods were
great magic and the work of
their gods.
Eventually» all Egypt was
rules! by onc^Cing: they called
him the Pharaoh. The Egyp-
tians thought that their Pha-
raoh was a god, and that he
arranged for the Ikxxls to
come every year. So the Phi-
л
r.ioh of Egypt was all-powerful, If he was pleased, the
magical flixxls would enme every year. If he was
angry, the floods might not come at all, and then all
Egypt would starve - for there would be no harvest.
No men have ever been more powerful than the
Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. They owned all the fertile
land. The Pharaohs deeded where ditches were to be
dug from the river to the fields, and what crops were
to be grown tn each field. The Pharaoh gave the orders,
and his officials nude sure that they were obeyed.
When the harvest was gathered, the Pharaoh dedded
how much could be kept by the farmer for food for
his family. All the rest of the harvest was taken to the
Pharaoh’s great sturc-houscs.
The Pharaoh and hn family and friends, his officials
and the priests of the gods, all grew rich. The Egyp-
tians did not use money as we do, but the Pharaoh
was always able io buy whatever he wanted - because
he had these store-houses full of food.
Every Pharaoh wanted one thing above everything
else - a safe tomb fur his body after his death. Many
of the Pharaohs built huge pyranadf at tombs. Ijook
at the twx> pyramids in the top picture. The pyramid
in the background was built by Pharaoh Khufu - about
5,000 years ago. Its top was higher than any building
that has ever been built in London - 481 feet. Every*
visitor to Egypt wants to sec this pyramid, which hit
always been one of the Great Wonders of the World.
Imagine you lived in the days when Khephren, son
of Khufu, was Pharaoh of Egypt. He also built a great
pyramid as a tomb. In the picture below you can see
i!»c Egyptians building it close to his father’s pyramid.
Thousands of Egyptians took many years to build it.
First, all the Stone for building had to be quarried
and brought to the site. 5rr million lent of stone were
needed, Some of u was brought down the nver m
barges from 450 mile* away. All the great stones had
to be hauled on rollers from the river to the site, and
then up long sloping roads 10 the point which the
builders had reached. All this work had to be done by
the workers without machines - Io.* the Egyptians had
invented none.
Near hh pyramid Pharaoh Khephren built a great
stone monster. It had the body of a lion with the
head of a man - and it is probable that the face was
made to look like Khephren himself. This huge beast
was called a Sphinx. It was 239 feet long.
The huge stone pyramids, however, did ПО! keep the
bodies of the Pharaohs safe. And the Sphinx did nor
frighten away thieves So the Pharaohs began to build
tombs in faraway places, cutting eaves deep into the
rock in some lonely valley. Down the right-hand side
of this page you can sec some of the wonderful things
found in the tomb of Tutankhamen. He was Pharaoh
of Egypt about 1,700 years after Khufu. He w4S ftol
a very important Pharaoh, for he came to the throne
when only 10 yean old and he died before he reached
the age of 18. Yet this is the only tomb of a Pharaoh of
Egypt that was never robbed of all its treasures by
thieves. This tomb was not discovered until 1922. Now
all the beautiful things from it can be seen in a museum
in Cairo.

I
MANKIND IN THE MAKING
No. 8 in our series about
our Ancient European ancestors
IN THE VALLEY OF THE HILE
by MARY CATHCART BORER
THE sun blazed down from a burning, brilliant
blue sky on to the pebble-strewn sandy waste
across which the body of the chieftain was
_ carried. The ground was so hot that it burnt
the boy’s bare feet and he could feel the heat of it
on his body, through his thin, linen kilt, as though
he were passing too close to some great furnace.
The procession was making its way from the
steaming jungle of the narrow Nile valley towards
the white limestone cliffs, a mile or two to the west,
which led up to the great desert, a region where he
had never yet ventured, for fear of the strange and
evil spirits that lurked there, In company with the
lions, wild oxen and jackals.
The grave was already prepared; an oval, shallow
pit, dug in the sand and rock near the foot of the
cliffs. The old man's two sons had been carrying his
body in a sling made of woven papyrus stems. Now
they laid him gently in the grave, from which he
would shortly be re-born to his new life. The other
mourners stepped forward and placed in the grave
their offerings for his journey to the unknown land
of the dead.
The simple ceremony was soon over. The eldest
son was now the chieftain of the tribe and he
led the procession back to the valley and the
familiar fields of his own village by the great river.
The fields were small but very precious, for his
people had cleared them from the jungle. No rain fell
in this part of the valley, and each year the high
desert grew more arid and stark. But every summer,
with unfailing regularity, the Nile rose in flood,
from some unknown source away to the south,
spreading its life-giving waters over the fields. When
they subsided again, four or five months later, they
left rich, wet soil in which the villagers planted their
seeds of wheat, barley and flax.
The village was a cluster of some twenty or thirty
frail huts, most of which were no more than reed
screens, though one or two had been plastered over
with mud to make them stronger. In the shade of
a dusty acacia tree sat the women of the village.
They wore long, flowing robes of fine, white linen,
and as they laughed and gossiped together, their
hands were never idle, for they were all spinning, the
little spindle whorls fastened to the end of each
thread flying round and round as their fingers deftly
twisted the strands of flax.
When the procession reached the village, the boy
heard his friend calling him from the river bank and
rushed towards him, regardless of the angry shouts
of the village potter, whose wares were strewn
across the ground blocking his way. He managed to
jump over the pots without breaking them.
These people were not the first inhabitants of
Egypt. They had come from the east, perhaps from
somewhere round the shores of the Persian Gulf,
but they reached the Nile Delta some seven or eight
thousand years ago. Over the years they made their
way up the Nile to about where the town of Assult
now stands. Near here, at Badari, many of their
remains have been found, and they are known as
the Badarians.
They had already learned the arts which character-
ise the great step forward in civilisation known as
the New Stone Age, for they were able to cultivate
plants, domesticate animals and make pottery, and
their polished flint implements had reached the
highest standard of efficiency and beauty yet dis-
covered. They were skilled hunters, but also farm-
ers, which meant that their lives were more settled.
As the years passed, the Badarians* culture
became Increasingly interesting and beautiful, and
just before the first dynasty of Egyptian Pharoaohs
was created, some six thousand years ago, they
learnt to use copper and bronze. This marked the
end of the New Stone Age in the Nile valley and the
beginning of the Bronze Age.
Looking at history - 9
THE
BRONZE
AGE
Farming probably began about 6000 b.c.,
at the start of the Neolithic Age. Early
farmers lived in the river valleys of the Nile,
Tigris-Euphrates and Indus. By around
3000 B.c. the farmers in these river valleys
were beginning to use metals. This was the
start of what we call the Bronze Age.
Neolithic people had already found that
it was easier and more economical to live
together in villages than alone in smaller
groups. Larger villages and towns had
sprung up in places where transport could
connect a whole district, and where food
could be stored in large quantities.
Kings and nobles
People knew that trouble between villages
was wasteful and destructive. So they
welcomed any form of rule that could keep
the peace. To begin with, this took the form
of kings and nobles in the larger towns.
At first the king was not much more than
a hunting-band chief. He took in the pro-
duce of the farmers. In return, he saw that
they were protected. The irrigation system
was kept up, grain was stored in prepara-
tion for times of famine, trading was
encouraged, and law and order was
maintained.
Travel became much easier because there
were new and better methods of transport.
Donkeys had been tamed so that they could
be ridden. Wheeled vehicles had been
invented, which could carry more people
than one animal could.
Strangers to each other
The king could now reach many more people
and control a bigger area. Communities had
grown, and many people in each group were
strangers to the king and to each other.
Because of this, society became more
complicated and formal. The king became
a symbol of law, order and religion, a man who was also a
god.
Now that he had metal weapons and improved trans-
port, the king became more and more powerful. But
although the king had great riches and led a life of ease,
the ordinary people still lived very simply, using polished
stone and flint tools. Many peasants now became slaves
to the king and his nobles.
There were three very important inventions in the
Bronze Age: the charcoal furnace with bellows, the wheel
and shaft, and writing.
A really hot furnace could bake a lot of bread very
quickly, so that a large labour force far from home could
be fed on the spot, as at the pyramids. A furnace could
produce much more and much tougher pottery. It could
smelt the ores of copper, tin, lead, silver and gold. Metals
or alloys could be cast in all sorts of shapes that could not
be made in stone, and much more quickly. Armour was
beaten out of metal sheet. Metal nails, brackets and
rimmed wheels made the fast, light war-chariot possible,
and this completely changed warfare.
We do not know whether the wagon had been invented
before the Bronze Age. The wheel used on wagons prob-
ably came after the potter’s wheel. Try to imagine what
life would be like without wheels! You will soon see how
much easier it became to move people and goods, once
the wheel had been invented.
As government and trade increased it became more
difficult for officials to keep all the details in their heads.
Some means of keeping records was needed, and gradually
a system of writing grew up. Egyptian scribes used reed
pens and papyrus; Sumerian scribes used the stylus (a
kind of pen) to write on wet clay tablets, which were later
baked.
Mathematics and science
To predict seasons, river-flooding and weather some sort
of calendar was needed. In trade, standards of length,
weight and volume had to be established. So began
mathematics and science. Priests were already concerned
with the weather, since it was their task to keep the gods
friendly to the farmers. So science also became the work
of the priests, and this increased their power.
The main causes of crime and disorder in the land
were the natural disasters like droughts and floods.
Religion helped the peasant to face these things by giving
him comfort and confidence, and so religion was also
keeping order. For observing the religion was the same
as obeying the law. Another force was needed to control
people of other cultures who worshipped other gods.
This was the armed force of the state. And so, in Egypt
and Sumeria, two authorities grew up side by side. They
were church and state. The king, who was also high
priest, was head of both institutions.
10
11
Bronze is a mixture of copper and tin. It is harder than
either metal by itself. Not all early metal-workers had
tin. But the age when men first used metals we call the
Bronze Age. It began in Egypt before 3000 B.c.
Before the Bronze Age, men had banded together to
form villages and towns. But during the Bronze Age
much bigger communities grew up. They were kingdoms,
with strong central governments. Under them, most men
lived a better life than ever before. The new metal tools,
weapons and armour made it easier to rule kingdoms.
But the chief reason that kings could now govern many
people was that transport was much better. The donkey
was used to carry goods, and men began making carts
with wheels. But the most important means of transport
was by boat along the rivers.
The River Nile flows straight through Egypt. The
fertile land is only a few miles wide on each bank. You
can sail up-river with the wind, and drift down-river
with the current. The great King Menes united all Egypt
into one kingdom. He could not have done it without
the highway which was the River Nile.
A system of canals
The kingdom was divided into forty-two provinces,
called nomes. The average population of a nome was
150,000. Each nome had a governor, organized its own
farming, and looked after its own irrigation system. This
was a system of canals that carried river water into the
fields.
The Egyptians sent the army to mine metal. They
found copper and gold on the surface of rocks in the Sinai
peninsula. At first they knocked the metal off and ham-
mered it into shape. Then they realized that heat made it
soft. So they tried putting a lump of the rock (called ore)
into a furnace. The metal melted and separated from the
other minerals, and could be poured off into moulds.
The Egyptians were the first people to set up a govern-
ment over a whole land with a large population. The king
was head of the civil government, and also head of the
religion with its priests and temples.
Artists and craftsmen
The civil government was divided into four parts. First
was the palace. It had a large staff of secretaries, stewards,
advisers, and priests. Artists and craftsmen lived and
worked there for the king. Palace life was very formal.
The sons of the king, and of nobles and high officials,
were strictly brought up together at the palace school.
They learned reading, writing, arithmetic, geometry,
religion, gymnastics, swimming and good manners. Later,
they could study advanced subjects at the temples.
The chief justice was a prince, second only to the
king in rank. He was head of the second department,
which dealt with law, provincial governors and civil
servants. The treasury, which looked after all the money
was the third department. And finally, there was the
department of scribes and secretaries.
This system was simple compared with our modern
governments. But 5,000 years ago it was the most com-
plex in the world.
12
The rich and splendid civilisation of Ancient Egypt was based
on a prosperous farming economy. From the rugged country of
Upper Egypt (in the south) to (he gentler Delta (in the north), the
land blossomed. Crops of wheat and barley, fruit and vegetables,
and herd animals were all nourished by the rich black soil, watered
by the Nile. The colour of the soil led the Egyptians to call their
country Kerner, ‘the black land*.
The life of the Egyptian peasants who laboured on the land was
hard but they knew that their hard work almost always brought
a just reward. The farming year was divided into three predictable
seasons, which depended on the behaviour of the Nile. The
inundation* (or flooding) lasted from June until September; then
the Nile overflowed its banks and flooded the fields When the
water went down it left the fields covered with a layer of rich silt
which lasted until February. During this period, the peasants
sowed their crops and dug the vitally important irrigation ditches.
In the ‘drought’ that followed, from March to May. they harvested
the crops. As well as cultivated crops, the Egyptians harvested the
naturally-growing papyrus reed, from which they made paper,
boats, baskets, mats, ropes and sandals SK hen the flood returned
the peasants laboured on the pharaoh's great building projects.
Huge stone blocks could be floated on rafts on the flood water.
Of course, there were bad years, when the regular cy cle of flood
and drought was broken and the crops failed. But food could be
stored against a bad year - as Joseph advised the pharaoh in the
Bible story to do during the ‘seven lean yean’ he foresaw in his
dream and good irrigation systems helped too.
8
The fertile Delta
At the end of Its 4.000-mile
journey the ancient Nile emptied
itself into the Mediterranean in
seven separate waterways,
making Lower Egypt the most
fertile area in the country.
Landowners raised fat cattle (A).
p*p (B) and goats (C) here.
Barley (D). grapes (E) and date
palms (F) were grown, flax (G>
for weaving linen and the sesame
plant (H) for its oil*bearing seeds.
Papyrus (I) grew in wild
profusion and the waterfowl
which lived in the marshes -
cranes, geese and ducks - made
excellent eating.
The farmer's year
This frieze, like those which
decorate the temples and tombs
of Egypt, shows the busy life of
an agricultural people.
In preparation for planting, the
ground is broken up by hand or
with wooden ploughs drawn by
cattle. Grain is sown in the rich
Nile soil. The harvest is cut with
flmt-toothed sickles and stacked
with wooden forks. Donkeys
were used as beasts of burden,
but here they thresh grain by
walking over it. Papyrus reeds
are gathered and the geese, which
live among them, are driven
home to be fattened. Honey is
collected, as sugar was unknown
to the Egyptians. Grapes are
picked and pressed for their juice.
Long-horned cattle, which were
also slaughtered for meat, are
being milked here. Farming is
helped by the shaduf. a bucket
on a pole used to FH the ditches
which irrigate the drier land.
By a guiding rope, the bucket
is lowered into the Nile; a heavy
counterweight on the other end
of the pole raises it again,
brimming with valuable water.
9
Life on the land
The shaduf, made from a
bucket and a heavy weight,
raised water for irrigation.
Egypt's settled way of life was based on
agriculture which supplied both food and
taxes. The hard-working peasants were at
the bottom of the social scale, and their
labor in the fields was watched over by
officials who made sure that the correct
amount of grain went to the government
and temple granaries.
Besides seasonal work in the fields, the
peasants also had the task of maintaining the
vital irrigation canals. These were dug early in
Egypt's history and they crisscrossed the
land, allowing water to flow from the Nile into
the countryside during the dry season.
In this Egyptian frieze,
grain is sown in the nch
soil: later, the crop is
harvested and stacked
Honey is collected from the
bees, and grapes are
picked and pressed.
Papyrus is cut, and geese
are driven home.
Plowing and sowing
Driving domestic geese home
Cutting papyrus in the marshes
20
The farmer’s year__________________________
Every summer the Nile rose, flooding the
land and depositing a rich layer of silt which
made it fertile. During the fall and winter,
crops were sown, and in March, as the soil
began to dry out, they were harvested.
The peasant farmers also kept pigs, cattle,
sheep, goats and donkeys, which were used
as "beasts of burden." They cut down the
giant papyrus which grew in the marshes,
and used it to make boats, baskets, rope
and sandals. When the Nile rose again the
peasants left the fields to work on the
pharaoh's great building projects.
The Egyptians liked to
drink milk, but also used
it to make butter and
cheese. Cattle were also
slaughtered for meat.
Making wine and gathering honey
21
A Bushman using a primitive digging stick.
Early Egyptian hoe.
The first man-made boat may have been a bundle of reeds bound together to
make a simple raft (above). The man needed to sit astride, rather than in or on
this craft, so he could carry only the smallest of his belongings with him. Papyrus
rafts with prows (inset) are still in use today on some African waterways.
L
An Ancient Egyptian
An Ancient Egyptian
A Stone Age forked branch hoe (top) and
more advanced hoe with hafted wooden blade.
From the combined ideas of a dug-out canoe and a raft with built-up sides
came the first “ planked” boats. This planking (lengths of wood) was pegged
together so that there was no longer any need for binding. In Egypt, by
about 3,000 B.c., men had learnt to make use of the power of the wind by
attaching a sail to their craft.
If the wind was blowing strongly enough, the oars could be stowed in
special places on board and the oarsmen could rest. These early boats (above)
also had several huge oars at the back with one man to each of them. These
were used to guide the craft through the strong currents of the Nile. Later
this system was simplified, and the rudder was developed.
Shipping and trade
Papyrus boat
This was made of bundles
of paptrus reeds tied together
The world’s oldest picture of a boat comes from Egypt. The
Egyptians—living on the banks of the Nile—used water trans-
port more than any other kind. Prehistoric Egyptians pad-
died down the river on papyrus rafts. As early as 3000 B.C.,
they built wooden ships with sails. Oars were used on the
river, but in the narrow canals the crews walked alongside
the water and pulled their boats by ropes.
At the height of the Egyptian empire, the Nile was like
a busy highway: flimsy reed boats and tiny ferries jostled
with huge cargo ships, 200-foot long barges, and sleek gal-
leys. Magnificent vessels carried the images of gods at
festivals.
Trading with the land of Punt
Queen Hatshepsut sent a trading
expedition to the land of Punt
Pictures on the walls of her
temple at Deir el-Bahn tdl the
story of the expedition Five
galleys sailed down the Red Sea.
carrying necklaces, daggers, and
hatchets, they returned filled
with wood, ivory, trees, animal
skim, and even a live panther
Trading vessels like this one
The Egyptians sailed out to the open sea early. The
Old Kingdom pharaoh Sahure sent eight armed ships across
the Mediterranean to attack Syria. Sneferu opened trade
with Lebanon when he sent forty ships to buy wood.
Egyptian power was at its peak in the New Kingdom.
Sea and land trading routes were always busy. Since there
was no money (coins were not used until the 4th century
b.c.), Egypt bartered linen, papyrus, and other materials
for foreign goods. They traded gold from Nubia for African
ivory and animal skins. Horses, cattle, silver, bronze, and
rare woods were brought in from Asia, chariots from Syria,
and jewelry’ from Babylon.
had special equipment for
12
Hatsnepsut s trading дэ! ay.
1500 В C
Nee S3) »лд cran.
3000 В C.
From the river to the sea
At the bottom of the picture h
a Nile sailing craft of 3000 b.c.
Above it arc Sahure’s sea going
ship* <2500 B.c ). Hatshepsut *
galley (1500 b.c). and Ramso
Ill’s warship (1200 b.c.)


The Egyptian people
People believed that the pharaoh
protected Egypt from disaster,
but really it was the hard work of
thousands of ordinary people that
Top people
The royal family lived
in palaces, ate fine food, '
and enjoyed hunting
and music. Some nobles
became royal officials,
such as governors.
Others were
generals
or priests.
kept the kingdom going.
The pharaoh was at the head of Egyptian
society. Beneath him were other members of
the royal family. Below them were the nobles,
followed by rhe wealthy middle classes. Ar rhe
bottom were the peasants who farmed the
land. Normally, only rich people could
afford ro have their bodies turned
into mummies.
Peasants,
unskilled
workers,
slaves
Hard workers
Most Egyptians had to
work hard. Farmers planted
crops and looked after
cattle. They also had to
help build huge temples
or tombs.
Slaves were usually foreign
prisoners of war. They were
often used to do dangerous
jobs, such as mining.

Craftsmen
Just below the administrators in social status were the
craftsmen. Most of them were employed by the pharaoh,
by nobles or in the temples. They labored together in
organized workshops making sculpture, jewelry, furniture
and many other beautiful articles. Their wages consisted
of food and some clothing; sometimes they even lived in
special craftsmen's villages.
First strike!_______________________________________________
At times they went hungry - especially if funds in the
royal treasury were low. In fact, the first strike in recorded
history took place for this reason, when workmen at a
building site near Thebes walked out because they had
not been paid for two months. Chanting, "We are
hungry," they did not return to work untilthey had
received everything owed to them!
18
Working in wood	Weighing gold ingots
Cutting metal beads with a bow dnll Weaving	Makingpottery
19
Trade and tribute
The Nile was Egypt's lifeline. At the height of Egypt's
power, it was like a bustling highway, carrying a huge
volume of river traffic. Flimsy papyrus rafts and tiny
ferries jostled with freighters loaded with cattle or grain,
barges carried massive statues and slender galleys bore
government officials on state business.
Trading expeditions ______________________________________
The Egyptians ventured onto the sea, too, and there
were organized trading expeditions. They journeyed to
Lebanon to buy cedar, as they had no good timber of
their own. Queen Hatshepsut sent a trade expedition to
the mysterious land of Punt - modern-day Somalia - and
her ships came back loaded with wood, ivory and incense.
Tribute from both subject nations and allies poured into
Egypt - gold and silver, copper, precious stones, scented
woods, perfumed oils, horses, chariots and animal skins.
Syrian noblemen bear
gifts of a falcon, an ape.
golden vessels and
animal skins for this
pharaoh; Nubian chiefs
(below) bring slaves, a
giraffe and more gold.
24
_	,	,	Nile sailing craft (3000 вс)
From the nver to the sea: a
Nile sailing craft (3000 вс); a
sea going vessel (2500 вс);
Hatshepsut’s trading galley
(1500 вс). The papyrus
riverboat was used from
prehistoric times onward.
Papyrus riverboat
25
daily lives, and the climate of their
land.
The life of the Egyptian
countryside Irrigation
makes it possible for the
owner of this estate to use
some land for a private
garden - and to grow palm
trees to shade his house
In the foreground laborers
are preparing the soil for a
new crop of vegetables A
house like this would be
completely self-supporting
in food, as well as producing
gram for sale This would
be stored in the granary
behind the house
Egyptians.
AU houses, from rhe peasants’ hut to
the most splendid royal palaces, were
built of mudbrick. There might be door
frames of stone, and columns of wood, if
the owner could afford it. Poor peasants
lived in one-roomed huts, but anyone
who was better off would have a house
with three sections. The outer room or
group of rooms was for greeting strangers.
1Ъе central room or group of rooms was
for entertaining friends, and beyond this
were the family’s private quarters.
Windows were small and placed high
in rhe walls at ceiling level, to keep the
house cool. In the hot season everyone
spent as much time as possible on the
roof, where they would fed any cool
breeze.
Noblemen's villas were very luxurious.
The\ had many rooms - including bath-
rooms - outhouses, and gardens, all
hidden behind high walls.
Country houses often had only one
ston, but in cities, where land was
A tomb model showing brewers bakers, and a
butcher at work
A WOMAN’S PLACE
A woman m ancient Egypt could not
hold public office (unless she was a
powerful queen like Hatshepsut)
But the legal rights of women m
Egypt were better than in almost any
other ancient society
A father would usually leave most
of hts property to his eldest son but
daughters were also generously pro
vided for If a man had no sons his
daughters would inherit everything
When a woman married her
husband might look after the running
of her property But it remained hers
She was entitled to make a will
leaving it to anyone she chose (In
modern Europe most married women
did not have these rights until the
late 1800s до)
No woman had to endure a cruel
husband for divorce was easy Ahet
a divorce, children would remain with
their mother and she and they were
guaranteed shares of the father s
property
Above A house belonging to one of the workmen
who built the royal tombs at Thebes These men
lived m a specially built village m the desert Most
of the houses were m tightly packed rows, but
must have been quite pleasant inside
scarce and expensive, there were houses
of three or more stories. The main streets
of these cities may have been magnificent,
but the side streets were probablx
narrow, dirty, and teeming uith crouds
Great cities like Memphis and ’I'hebes
uerv built on the Nile and had quaxs for
shipping
Below The bustle of city
life A Syrian merchant ship
is unloading at the quay
Egypt $ best means of
transport was the rrver. so
most big cities were built
beside it Outside the
narrow houses craftsmen
have set up stalls to sell
then work A splendid
temple is in the background

—
FINDING OUT
A MODERN LIBRARY OF EDUCATION IN WEEKLY PARTS Every Monday 2/-	NUMBER 71
The mastabas
These were rectangular
structures of unbaked mud-brick.
Architectural versions of
prehistoric burial mounds, they
grew large enough to house
stores as well as bodies.
The step pyramid at Saqqara
The world’s oldest stone
building, raised by the architect
Imhotep for King Zoser. consists
of a million tonnes of solid rock.
Imhotep became so famous that
he was later worshipped as a god.
The Mountains of Pharaoh
There are about 80 pyramids, dotted along the edge of the Nile.
The Arabs called them The Mountains of Pharaoh*. To the
Egyptians, the pyramids were vast tombs, built to ensure a glorious
afterlife for their rulers.
Until the lllrd dynasty all Egyptian buildings were of mud-
brick. Then King Zoser built a step pyramid of stone instead of
the usual mastaba. the subterranean, carth-covcrcd tomb of his
ancestors. A century' after Zoser another ruler. Cheops, raised the
most massive of the true pyramids, the Great Pyramid of Giza.
At Giza, gangs of labourers, using copper chisels and saws. cut
the stones from nearby cliff quarnes. then levered them on to
sledges and hauled them with palm-fibre ropes to the site. The
IS-tonne granite blocks were floated down the Nile on barges from
Asuan. 800 kilometres away. Skilled masons hid a central core of
solid masonry and chambers and passages were tunnelled deep into
the heart of it. As the pyramid rose, trimmed blocks were dragged
up great ramps of earth and rubble and levered into position on a
skin of liquid mortar. The valley building, where the pharaoh's
funeral procession would eventually disembark, was constructed
by the river and a covered causeway was laid from it to the cere-
monial mortuary temple. Finally, the pyramid itself w as faced with
polished limestone or granite and the galleries inside were carved
and painted with scenes from the pharaoh’s life. Cheops' son.
Chephron. and his grandson, Myccrinus, built their own pyramids
at the same site.
Guardian of the dead
The Great Sphinx, crouched in
the sand at Giza, has defended
the pyramids for 46 centuries.
29
Levers in Ancient Egypt
Quarry-men lever a block of
stone weighing tons on to a
sledge. It will be dragged
away by gangs to be trimmed
and then levered on to a barge.
In the flood season, the stone
will be floated down the river
to where a pyramid is being
built. The men on the right
are preparing to split the rock
with water and wooden wed-
ges. (See page 1180.)
Visitors to Egypt have marveled for
thousands of years at the size and splen-
dor of rhe pyramids. The group at Giza
was one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world and mosr people still
think of these pyramids as the “Pyramids
of Egy pt". Yet there are more than 30
royal pyramids scattered across Egypt
and some 60 later royal pyramids in what
is now the Sudan.
These spectacular monuments arc
tombs. Each pyramid was built to house
the body and possessions of its owner.
Building the pyramid of
Khalre Some scholars think
that a huge ramp was
used to raise the stones.
Hundreds of men dragged
the stones to their position
on sledges But skilled
workers were needed, too.
In the foreground tools are
being sharpened for masons
who are finishing off the
stones A group of scribes
are discussing the plans
Below the ramp (he next
sledges to go up are being
loaded, so that the work can
flow without delay But
most important in these
gigantic projects was the
enormous number of
laborers needed - not
slaves, but peasants unable
to work on the land during
the Inundation
to (heir date, but most have some things
in common. They were built on (he west
bank of the Nile - always in the desert,
because all the fertile land was needed
to grow food. ()n the edge of the cultivated
land was the Valley Temple. Here
embalming ceremonies were performed.
A long passage the causeway - led from
this temple to the Mortuary Temple,
which was built against the pyramid.
The pyramid's entrance was usually
on its north side, well concealed. Inside
it were a number of passages and
chambers. The actual burial chamber
might be in the body of the pyramid, at
ground level, or underground.
As well as the king's pyramid there
would be one or more small pyramids
nearby These belonged to the queen or
to other favored wives.
Old Kingdom pyramids were made of
huge blocks of stone. These were brought
from the quarry by boat up the Nile, then
dragged from the river to the burial site
by gangs of men. These men were not
they were made of mudbrick, with only
an outer casing of stone. The New
Kingdom pharaohs moved their capital
from Memphis to Thebes, and changed
their burial arrangements too. They
were still buried on the west bank of the
Nile, but in tombs cut out of the cliffs of
a hidden valley. But they may have
chosen this particular valley because
towering above it is a rock in the shape
of a pyramid.
THE FIRST PYRAMIDS
Some people think that the pyramids
grew from rectangular mudbrick
tombs called mastabas These were
the burial-places of the earliest
pharaohs and nobles. The outside
walls had an elaborate. pattern of
alcoves and insidi there was a
mound covering-the grave
Next came the- Step Pyramid of
Sakk^ra This began as a stone
mastaba but there-were two changes
of plan while it was£eing.built The
final result was a pyramid of six huge
steps.
More step pyramids were built At
Meidum the steps of tone were filled
in. turning it mtd a true pyramid with
smooth sides
Above After Egypt had been
conquered by Alexander the
Great, the rulers of the
kingdom of Kush in Nubia
continued some of the
traditions of Egypt These
included being buried in
pyramids This group of
pyramids is at Meroe. m
the Sudan
Top right The Step
Pyramid was built for King
Zoser. who died m about
2950 BC It is the oldest
stone building in the world
Right The pyramids of Giza
have been Egypt s greatest
tourist attraction for many
centuries. In the center is
the pyramid of Khafre.
easily recognized because
it still has some of its
limestone casing The
largest of all. the pyramid of
Khufu, looks the smallest
because of the distance
between it and the others
Building an empire
Symbols of royal power
In eari) илю each province of
Egypt had its own god. usually
shown as an animal The tall,
white crown of Upper Egypt had
a cobra's head on it. while the
red crown of Lower Eg>pt bore
a vulture When the two kingdoms
were united, the pharaohs of the
two lands each wore a red and
white crown, with both animals
To the Egyptians, the pharaoh was the representative on
earth of the sun god. Amon, and all the land and people
belonged to him. Ceremonies and rituals were reminders of
hi^godlike power.
Some of the greatest pharaohs ruled during the New
Kingdom. Thutmose I, of the Eighteenth Dynasty, fought a
campaign in Nubia and extended the southern border as far
as the third cataract (rapids) on the Nile.
Another outstanding pharaoh of the same dynasty was
Queen Hatshepsut. widow of Thutmose 11 and stepmother
of Thutmose III. Like the male pharaohs she claimed divine
birth, and statues show her wearing the double crown and
even the ceremonial royal beard.
After Hatshepsut’s death, her stepson removed her
name and image from buildings and monuments. Then, for
almost every spring of his rule, he sent military expeditions
to Asia to subdue rebellious lands and demand tribute. With
this treasure, he built grand hails and gateways to honor
Amon, god of Thebes, at Karnak.
The best-known pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty is
Rainses II. ’’the Great.” His long reign (over 60 years) be-
gan with almost 20 years of continuous war against the
Hittites. After a decisive battle al Kadesh, in Syria, peace
was established and Ramses devoted himself to building
projects like the temple at Abu Simbel.
Queen Hatshepsuts temple
An avenue of sphinxes once led
to the shining limestone temple
beneath the dirts at Deir
el-Bahri. Scenes from the queen's
life decorate the walls.
Hatshepsut built the temple
to honor Amon-Re. the sun god
Moving a colossus
Giant statues, or colossi, of the
New Kingdom pharaohs show their
power, and their pride. Over
170 laborers, using sledges,
levers, and ropes, were needed to
move a 60-ton statue
ЦАРИЦА ХАТШЕПСУТ (1525 -1503 гг. до н.э.) И ЕЁ ЗАУПОКОЙНЫЙ ХРАМ В ДЖЕСЕР - ДЖЕСЕРУ (ДЕЙР - ЭЛЬ - БАХРИ)
A revolutionary pharaoh
In the 14th century B.C., the power of the priests and the
old religion was challenged by a strange and fascinating
pharaoh. Amenhotep IV (or Amenophis) was a revolu-
tionary ruler; he caused great changes in many areas of
life. He introduced a new religion and his reign saw (he
Portrait of a pharaoh
The statue below shows the
defects Akhcnaton allowed his
sculptors to portray. These may
have been caused by a gland
disorder
founding of a new capital city, and the creation of a very
different art style.
For almost 2,000 years, Egyptians had prayed to a
great variety of gods. Monotheism, the worship of one god.
had never existed. The new pharaoh now chose Aton to be
honored above all gods. The Alon was the sun’s disk—the
visible part of the sun that sends its beams to earth, the
source of light and life.
To honor his god, Amenhotep took the name Akhen-
aton (“he who serves Aton ") and his queen, the beautiful
Nefertiti, adopted Nefer-ncferu-Aton (“fair is the goodness
of Aton”). Akhcnaton left Thebes, the city of Amon, to
build a new capital dedicated to Aton. Nearly 300 miles
north, near the modern village of Tell el-Amarna, Akhet-
aton was built, with lakes, gardens, painted walks, royal
temples, and an immense palace facing the Nile. The build-
ings were decorated with scenes of everyday life and
portraits of people—even the pharaoh—in realistic poses.
In the Amarna style (from Tell el-Amarna), tte family
The sun's disk
Aton had existed as a form of
the sun god from early times II
represented I he sun al l he
highest point in the sky. and was
show n as a red disk with rays
reaching down to the earth.
Akhcnaton circled the disk with
a uratus. or rearing serpent
the ancient sign of royal power-
to show the royal position of
Aton above all other gods.
20
life of the palace was shown in a natural manner: Nefertiti
with a child on her knee, Akhcnaton and his queen holding
hands, or kissing their daughters. Akhenaton’s appearance
is surprising. He is shown with a long, thin head, drooping
shoulders, a round belly, and fat thighs. This new naturalism
in style and subject was a startling change.
But the Amarna period was only a brief flicker in the
long history of Egyptian civilization. When Akhenaton
died, his successor, Tutankhamon. returned to Thebes and
to the old religion and the old art.
The beautiful Nefertiti
Paintings found in the ruins of
the palace of Akhctaton include
many portrait groups of Nefertiti
playing with her six daughters.
One daughter became the wife
of Tutankhamon.
The city of Aton
Constructed in record time, and
abandoned equally quickly when
its founder died. Akhctaton
stretched for eight miles along
the Nile.
21
•GROWING UP IN-
Ancient Egypt
\ ROSALIE DAVID
•GROWING UP IN-
Ancient Egypt
Illustrated by
ANGUS McBRIDE
Troll Associates
Ancient Egypt
Egypt, in north Africa, has one of the world's
oldest civilizations. Its northern shores lie on the
Mediterranean Sea. To the east is the Red Sea.
But the most important waterway in Egypt is the
Nile River.
The Nile flows from the south into a fan-shaped
delta where it meets the Mediterranean. Egypt
has very little rainfall, and without the Nile the
entire country would be a desert. Before modern
dams were built to hold the water back, the river
would flood every year, bringing down thick,
black mud from the mountains of central Africa
and spreading it over the river banks. This fertile
mud enabled the early Egyptians to grow plentiful
crops. The ancient Egyptians named their country
Kernel, which meant “black land,” because this
was the color of the rich soil. The land beyond
was called Deshret, or “red land.”
► This girdle of on Egyptian princess is a
fine example of the jewelry buried in ancient
Egyptian tombs. The pyramids were the tombs
of the kings and queens of ancient Egypt.
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
► This map of Egypt
shows the land in the Nile
Valley and the delta,
where the crops were
grown, as well as the
surrounding desert. Most
pyramids were built in the
north where these two
areas meet.
VaBey of the Kings
SINAI
UPPER KINGDOM
Cities, towns, and villages
If you visit Egypt today, you can stand with one
foot on rich cultivated land and the other in the
desert. Thousands of years ago. the cultivated
land was kept for growing food and raising
animals. People used the desert to bury’ their
dead. The poor people dug shallow graves and
covered them with a mound of dirt and stones.
The rich people built stone tombs. Stone was
also used to build temples. Many of these
stone buildings still survive.
Most villages stood along the banks of the
Nile. The towns, which were often quite large,
were important market centers or special places
where gods were worshiped.
Building a royal tomb or pyramid was a major
task, so the king sometimes decided that the
workers and their families should be housed
in a new’ town. Many children grew up beside
the pyramids, and helped with the building
as they grew' older.
▼ These houses were
built on the bonks of the
Nile. The houses hod flat
roofs where people slept
in summer.

▼ The pyramids and
tombs were built further
west in the desert. The
Egyptians believed the
"Land of the Dead" was
in the west.
The countryside
The Egyptians made as much use as
possible of the rich soil provided by the
Nile mud. They devised a system of
irrigation to distribute the water. The
shaduf was a lever and bucket that
took the water from one level to
another. The people grew cereals,
vegetables, and fruit, and kept animals
for food and leather. They kept cows,
sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry. They
also hunted wild animals on the edges
of the desert.
Flax was grown to make linen for
clothes, and the papyrus plant gave
them writing paper, ropes, boats,
sandals, and baskets.
Most people worked on the
land. They grew enough to
feed themselves and people
who did not work on the
land. There was a taxation
system, but as money was
not used until about 525
B.c.. people paid in food
and goods.
► Peasants worked in
♦he fields, growing crops
and looking after their
animals. On the right is a
shaduf, used to bring
water from a channel up
to the land.

The boy-king Tutankhamen
The king of ancient Egypt was called a pharaoh.
This name comes from the words “per aa,” which
meant the great house or palace where he lived.
The Egyptians believed that the pharaoh was
half god and half human and was therefore
able to ask the gods for their blessing for
himself and for all Egyptians. They believed
the pharaoh was very important to Egypt's
security and prosperity.
Today, Tutankhamen is the most
famous of Egypt's kings because his is
the only royal tomb in the Valley of
the Kings that has been discovered
almost untouched. It was found by the
archeologist Howard Carter in 1922
after many years of digging. The
king’s tomb contained his preserved
body, called a mummy, a gold head
mask, and three golden coffins, as
well as clothing, jewelry, perfume,
furniture, and games. The Egyptians
believed that the dead needed their
possessions to use in the next life.
► Tutankhamen met with his
ministers at the royal court. He
wore a double crown to show that
he was ruler of Upper (south) and
Lower (north) Egypt, and he earned
the king's symbols of power, the
crook and the flail (whip).
12
5,

Flail
The land of Egypt
The pharaohs ruled over the
green lands around the Nile
River and the dusty deserts
beyond. They built great
cities, tombs, and temples.
° »O4ftT
The pharaohs
Why did the ancient Egyptians turn
bodies into mummies? They believed
a dead person needed his or her body
to enjoy life in rhe Next World. It was
particularly important for the pharaohs to be
made into mummies. The pharaohs were
powerful kings who ruled Egypt for thousands
of years. The ancient Egyptians believed that
the pharaohs were living gods. If rhe magical
link between the pharaohs and the
Next World were broken, then
the whole earth would vanish
into darkness and chaos.
M4*T4 H1AN4AN f4A
Gifts for a living god
The pharaoh and his queen
received all kinds of gifts
from people of other lands—
ivory elephant tusks, animal
skins, spices, gold, and
jewels. Riches like these
were placed in the
pharaoh’s tomb so he
could use them when he
reached the Next World.
Crook
Scepters
carried by
the pharaoh

Society and the law
Maat
Tbc goddess Maat. whose symbol
was an ostrich feather, stood
for world order, truth, and
justice. To the pharaohs,
living by maat meant ruling
justly; to the peasants, it
meant working honestly
The Egyptians believed the gods created the world and
everything in it following a principle of truth, justice, and
order they called maat. Since the world was just as the gods
wanted, the people did not expect change, or try to change
things themselves; and their society changed little in 3000
years. In art, as in other areas, everything was done in a
fixed way. Figures on tombs from the New Kingdom are
can ed in the same style as those on the palette of Narmer,
the first king.
The pharaoh personified maat, and his task was to es-
tablish maat instead of disorder. In the Middle Kingdom, as
Egypt grew more powerful, the pharaohs appointed officials
to help govern. They were often scribes or clerks, for many
records were kept—especially of taxes which were collected
in real goods, like corn or animals. New Kingdom pharaohs
appointed a chief official, called a vizier.
The vizier and other officials, and the priests and nobles,
were the upper class of society. Below* were scribes, soldiers,
craftsmen, laborers, slaves, and peasants. The peasants* chil-
dren remained peasants; those of craftsmen were trained in
crafts; the sons of nobles inherited their positions. But the
society was not all rigid. Ability to read and write was the
best way to advance, but soldiers too could sometimes reach
higher positions. And. unlike most ancient civilizations.
Egyptian society gave women and slaves some legal right s-
for example, they could own property .
A court of law
The trial scene (right) shows
village chiefs accused of not
collecting taxes properly. Tbc
vizier, the pharaoh’s chief
minister, acts as judge. I he
scribes record everything that
happens. Sometimes special
scribes helped defendants prepare
their cases. The vizier read
written evidence, heard
witnesses, and then announced his
verdict. If found guilty, the
defendant could be whipped.or
imprisoned. The stone carving
(bottom left) shows defendants
kneeling before the court to beg
for mercy.
14
15
takes you back to Ancient Egypt p°"T-n
The workmen would go to Plah’s temple and ask questions
of a bull. The bull was said to carry messages for the god. The
priests in the temple said'they could understand Ptah’s answers
to the questions by the way the bull behaved. It was believed
that if the bull snorted and tossed his head, Ptah was thought
to be angry at the question.
Many farms were owned by nobles, or lords. Below wo can
see a farmer showing the noble the crops and animals on his
land. The noble has brought a scribe with him. This was a man
who could read and write and his job was to make a long list
of everything the farmer had produced.
Many of the people living in ancient Egypt were farmers.
Their farming tools were made of wood and the ploughs were
pulled by oxen.
The farmers grew wheat and barley, beans, leeks and cucum-
bers. The animals they kept on their farms were sheep, goals,
donkeys, ducks and geese. Donkeys carried the farmers’ corn
and vegetables to the busy markets along the Nile. Many
Egyptian cities came to be built around these markets. As a
market became busier, more and more people came to live
near it. As a result a town was created.
Next issue: Merlin takes you back to ancient Greece.

Egyptian homes
This picture of a house is
based on a frieze found
in an official’s tomb. His
servants bring him a meal,
and he is also shown at
work in his office. The
kitchen is on the roof, and
the servants toil up and
down the stairs, loaded
down with food.
Houses were built of unbaked mud-brick
with roofs made from palm branches. In the
towns they were crowded together along
narrow streets and were several stories high.
In the country they were lower and had
exotic gardens full of trees and beautiful
flowers, often laid out around a pool.
Family life
Families lived in a central room which was
higher and larger than the rest. In smaller
houses it served as a living, dining and
bedroom, but richer families would have
several bedrooms and women's quarters, as
well as rooms for servants. The kitchen was
usually in the open, or on the roof, and
contained an oven, a hot plate, a handmill
for grinding wheat and bins for storing food.
Few types of furniture were used - stools
and small tables were the most common.
Most people had a bed, while chairs were a
sign of wealth and high social status.
27
Life and leisure
A noble's estate
Although Egyptian art was very formal (except for the
Amarna period), there were many human touches that show
everyday activities. Tomb paintings show hunting scenes,
feasts, parties, games, and dancing: all the activities the
wealthy Egyptians hoped to continue after death in the
next world.
Only the upper classes—nobles, important soldiers, and
officials—lived this well. Their large estates were managed
by scribes who kept careful records of the crops and
animals. Many servants worked in the vineyards, picking
grapes and treading them for wine. They looked after the
herds of cattle, goats, and antelope. The indoor servants
Surrounded by high walls and
formal gardens, a rich family’s
country residence was like a well-
planned village. Kitchens,
workshops, servants’ quarters,
storerooms, grain silos, and sheds
for animals were separated from
the main building. In the
spacious mud-brick house, a large
living area (with a ceiling
resting on columns) led to the
main bedroom, toilets, and
bathrooms. Stairs led to the roof.
cooked, brewed beer, laundered, wove linen, and served
at table.
The family could relax in the garden of their house.
Girls practiced dancing and played. When not studying,
boys wrestled or played tug-of-war. The adults enjoyed
board or dice games. A popular sport was hunting on the
banks of the Nile with throwing sticks.
Feasts were very popular. Long tables were piled with
meat, game, fruit, bread and pastries, and huge amounts
of wine and beer, for the Egyptians enjoyed drinking.
Both men and women wore eye makeup, and women
also placed cones of greasy incense on their heads so that,
as the feast continued, the melting grease perrumed their
hair. Guests were entertained by singers, dancing girls, the
music of harps and flutes, and by dwarfs and acrobats who
performed tricks.
22
Living in harmony
Children were part of a loving
family group and were included
in many adult activities.
‘Senet’ for instance, possibly an
elaborate cross between chess
and ludo, was enjoyed by adults
and children alike, as well as
more boisterous games and
organised sports.
I.	Main entrance
2.	Family temple
3.	Central courtyard
4.	Porch
S.	Vestibule
6.	Principal reception room
7.	Toilets and bathroom
8.	Main bedroom
9.	Harem (women’s quarters)
10.	Guest rooms
II.	Bedrooms
12.	Walled vineyard
13.	Family living quarters
14.	Estate offices
15.	Servants’ court
16.	Grain silos
17.	Servants’ living quarters
18.	Storerooms and kitchens
19.	Cattle pens
20.	Well
23
The house
I
Both rich and poor people built their houses of
mud brick and wood. Mud brick was ideal
building material in a hot country with little
rainfall. In long-established cities and towns
where space was limited, houses with two or more
floors were built close together. In the new towns,
wealthy people built single-level villas surrounded
by gardens full of flowers and trees with a lake or
pond.
Even the smaller houses often had four rooms
with an outside courtyard. The women cooked in
pottery ovens built in the courtyard. Inside, the
walls were plastered and painted with scenes of
animals and the countryside. There were stools,
chairs, low tables, beds, and boxes to hold
clothes, make-up. jewelry, and household items.
Some houses had windows with no glass, and oil
lamps for extra lighting.
Ordinary Egyptians prayed at home to gods
such as Bes, a jolly dwarf-god, and his wife
Tauert. the hippopotamus goddess. People kept
statues of some of the gods in their houses. i
▼ In this house, the
columns were carved
in the shape of
plants. The windows
had no glass, but
slots let light into the
rooms. The house
was the center of
many activities such
as cooking, eating,
sewing, and
entertaining.

Dinner time
The rich soil from the Nile’s flooding meant that
farmers could grow plenty of cereals, vegetables,
and fruit. They grew barley, wheat, lentils,
cucumbers, beans, leeks, and onions, as well as
dates, figs, and grapes. Beef was the Egyptians'
favorite meat, but they also ate lamb. pork, goat,
fish, duck, and goose.
The basic foods for poorer people w'ere
bread, onions, and other vegetables and
fruit. Rich people enjoyed much
greater variety, including cakes
sweetened with honey. „	4
▼ Wealthier people had
servants who helped them
in the house. Ancient
Egyptians did not use
knives, forks, or spoons.
They ate meat and poultry
with their hands, and
dipped bread into the
other dishes.
Food was cooked in clay ovens in the courtyard
and served in pottery dishes at low tables. At
midday, some women took a meal to their
husbands in the fields and to their children at
school.
Priests in the temples served three daily meals
to the gods’ statues so the gods would help the
Egyptians. The food was later removed and
divided among priests as payment for their duties.

THE WAY THEY LIVED - 4
Five thousand years ago Egypt grew rich and
secure under her first Pharaohs. Our picture
shows a landowner and his wife eating supper,
waited on by their daughter. Servants’
quarters, kitchens and food stores faced inwards
to the courtyard below. The master of the
house ate, slept and received guests in the cool
evening air on the roof. Dim light was provided
by oil lamps. The stools were made of wood
and leather, and the table tops could be taken
off for cleaning.
Daily life
Small children lived with their mother and other
female relatives in a special part of the house.
The children's clothes were simple and made of
linen. Sometimes they had leather or reed
sandals, and most wore a bracelet or necklace of
beads. It was the custom to shave boys’ heads,
leaving only one plaited lock. This was cut off
when the child reached 12 years.
When their sons were four years old. fathers
began to train them in their own profession or
trade. Most girls married and looked after
the house and their children.
The Egyptians loved their children,
but sadly many died at birth or when
they were small. Their parents tried to
prevent accidents and illness by spells
and charms. Many paintings and
statues show children
as important people in
the family group.
► Children enjoyed
helping in the house and
around the village. The
weather was hot, so they
spent much of the daytime
outside. Here, a mother
grinds wheat to make
bread. Her son holds a
cat, the family's favorite
pet.
16

At the market
Each town held a market where people bought
food, clothing, and household goods. People
needed only simple clothes in such a hot, dry
country, but they wore jewelry made of pottery or
stone, or sometimes gold, silver, or copper. Rich
people covered their heads, as protection against
the sun, with wigs made of real hair or grass.
▼ Fruit, vegetables,
animals, clothing, pottery
vases, and dishes were
exchanged at the market,
which was held outdoors.
Many people brought the
food they had grown or
the goods they had made,
to sell by barter.
Pottery cooking pots and serving dishes were
for sale, as well as wooden furniture inlaid with
ebony and ivory, or beautiful boxes for make-up.
Egyptians had a lot of gold but not much wood,
so they imported cedar wood from Syria. Other
goods such as silver, ostrich feathers, ebony, and
ivory came from Asia Minor, the Aegean islands,
and Nubia, part of present-day Sudan.
THE WAY THEY LIVED - 7
In Egypt in 1500 B.c. all people who could afford
it added gardens to their homes. In this hot, dry
land a garden needed a lot of care.
An Egyptian liked nothing better than to sit on
his verandah with his family and friends, admir-
ing the flowers. Blue lotuses grew in the pool, and
on the sides were straight rows of tamarisk,
oleanders and palm trees. The old gardener in
the foreground is marking out another plot, helped
by the master’s smallest son.

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I Me Bude, Anyui iL 11 l itfe
DT6I D5274 1993
932 Cl—dt20	91 40264
This edition published in 2002.
Published by Troll Associates
© 1994 Eagle Books
All rights reserved. No port of
this book may be reproduced or
utilized in ony form or by any
means, electronic or
mechanical, including
photocopy ng, recording or by
any storage and retrieval
system, without permission in
writing from the Publisher.
Design by James Marks
Edited by Kate Woodhouse
Printed in the U.S.A.
1098
Contents
Ancient Egypt	4
Who were the ancient Egyptians?	6
Cities, towns, and villages	8
The countryside	10
The boy-king Tutankhamen	12
The house	14
Daily life	16
Pets and toys	18
Early education	20
At the market	22
Dinner time	24
Visiting the doctor	26
Getting married	28
Fact file	30
Index	32
Pets and toys
Most Egyptian families had pets. These animals
can be found in many of the painted wall-
scenes in tombs. The cat was a favorite pet
because it killed ruts and mice in the house.
and the Egyptians believed that the cat-goddess,
Bast, protected the home. Some cats
may have been specially trained to
help their masters when they
hunted birds.
► Most families hod pet
cats, monkeys, or birds.
Rich people kept special
dogs for hunting.
Egyptian children played
with many different kinds
of toys. They had balls,
tops, and pretty dolls with
real hair fixed into holes
drilled into the head.
Some children took part
in acrobatics or wrestling
competitions.
18
Children had a variety of toys and games. Some
of these toys were buried in children's graves so
they could play with them in the next world.
Other toys have been found in the remains of
houses. There were dolls, balls, tops, animal toys.

Living in harmony
Children were part of a loving
family group and were included
in many adult activities.
*Senet’ for instance, possibly an
elaborate cross between chess
and ludo, was enjoyed by adults
and children alike, as well as
more boisterous games and
organised sports.
The beautiful Nefertiti
Judging from royal portrait
groups found in the ruins,
Nefertiti, loving mother and
devoted wife, must have spent
many happy hours playing with
had always appeared in formal, traditional scenes. The domestic
life of Akhenaten's palace was shown - Nefertiti with a daughter
on her knee. Akhenaten and his queen holding hands, two of their
daughters lolling on cushions. The appearance of Akhenaten him-
self is disturbing: a distorted skull, drooping shoulders, pot belly
Early education
Between the ages of 4 and 14. boys and girls
attended school together, where they learned to
read, write, and do mathematics. Those who were
going to become doctors, lawyers, or scribes
(writers) studied the sacred writing called
hieroglyphics. Students had to copy out stories
and religious writings. Some of these
exercises survive today. The children also
played games, wrestled, and learned
to swim.
When boys w'ere 14. they followed their
father’s trade or profession, whkh could
be working in the fields or joining the
craftsmen in government or temple
workshops. They could also go on to
become doctors, scribes, lawyers, or
government officials. Girls usually
stayed at home with their mothers to
learn how to look after the house.
► As the teacher read a
story to the class, the
children copied it onto
pieces of broken pottery
or flakes of limestone.
Paper, made from
papyrus, was too
expensive for school
work. The children wrote
with reed pens and red or
black ink.

20

Education and ambition
Schools lor scribes
A New Kingdom scribe studied for
about 12 years to learn the more
than 700 hieroglyphs used at the
time. From the age of 5. boys
spent hours copying individual
signs, as well as long pieces.
Older pupils learned letter-
writing, bookkeeping, mathematics,
and astronomy-the subjects they
would need in their careers.
Painted «oocten statue
ct a New Kingdom scribe
The beginner's materials
Only fully trained scribes
wrote on the beautiful paper
made from papyrus. Students
practiced hieroglyphs on
chips of pottery or stone, or
on wooden tablets. They used
reed pens or brushes.
The work of the scribe in ancient Egypt was like work in
a modern office: making reports» writing letters» recording
events, and keeping accounts. But because he could read
and write, the scribe was an important person and could
reach a high position.
At school, boys were taught reading, writing, and
mathematics to prepare them for careers as government
officials, priests, or administrators for wealthy families.
Handwriting and composition were learned by copying
models.
A scribe might first work at calculating land areas
or numbers of stones quarried, or at recording taxes. He
might work for a wealthy family, for the army, or among
government officials or priests. If ambitious, he could rise
to a powerful office, like chief of public works, royal
architect, or even governor of a province.
24
Preparing papyrus
The professional scribe wrote on clay tablets or papy-
rus scrolls. The scrolls were made by first cutting thin strips
of pith, the spongy center of a papyrus reed. These were
put in layers across a stone. They were beaten with wooden
mallets until the natural juice, acting like glue, bound them
together. Single sheets were (hen pasted into a long roll.
The Egyptians had learned to make paper in the First
Dynasty, and their written language dates from this time.
Hieroglyphs, or miniature pictures, sometimes stand for a
whole word or idea, and are called ideograms. The word
for house ci looks like an outline of a house. Other
The Rosetta Stone
hieroglyphs have a phonetic, or sound, value and are called
phonograms. The owl 4 stands for the sound m and the
snake for /. There were hundreds of signs and they
could be written as the scribe pleased—from left to right,
right to left, or in columns. I Hieroglyphs continued to be
used for sacred writing, but a system called hieratic was
developed for everyday use. Simple strokes replaced the
symbols. Much later, in 700 b.c., demotic, or popular, script
was developed.
By the 4th century a.d., the meaning of the hiero-
glyphs had been lost. It was not until 1822 that Jean
Francois Champollion, a French scholar, worked out the
hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone and opened the secrets of
ancient Egypt.
ГЬс slab of basalt, found near
Rosetta in 1799, showed three
scripts-hieroglyphic (A),
demotic (B), and Greek (C).
Groups of ringed hieroglyphs
A
(cartouches) were royal names
and could be matched with the
Greek names of the rulers.
Champollion identified the
symbols and sounds (p.o,/)
that occur in the names of
Ptolemy and Cleopatra, and
worked out the other letters
by their positions. At last the
words on the Rosetta Stone
could be read.
ЛТОЛ6МАЮЕ
c
25
Education and ambition
Schools for scribes
A New Kingdom scribe studied
for about 12 years to learn the
700-odd hieroglyphs in use at the
time. Five-year-old boys spent
endless hours copying individual
signs as well as whole passages
from textbooks. Older pupils
learned letter-writing, book-
keeping, mathematics and
astronomy - the subjects they
might need in their careers.

Painted wooden statue
of a New Kingdom scribe
circa 1500 BC

Getting married
People in ancient Egypt married young. The boys
were usually 15 and the girls were about 12. Most
people died in their forties, so their lives were
short.
Young people chose their partner and wrote
love songs to one another. The earliest love songs
in the world come from Egypt. Although
▼ A newly married
couple moved their
furniture and other
possessions into their new
home. Neighbors made
the couple welcome, with
good wishes for a happy
marriage.
marriages were not arranged, parents and friends
tried to ensure that boys and girls from similar
homes and backgrounds met one another.
Egypt today is a very different country.
But many of the earlier writings and
drawings have been preserved, so
we have an excellent idea of what it
was like to grow up in such an
ancient civilization.

property. The house,
furniture, and other
goods were owned by
both husband and wife. A
man could divorce his
wife, but she kept any
valuable possessions she
brought to the marriage,
and her husband had to
make payments to her.
▼ There were laws
protecting marriage



Thu early Egyptian goldsmiths soon learned to beat out their gold into thin sheets, and
to smelt it in primitive furnaces Our picture, taken from an old tomb painting, shows an
Egyptian goldsmith preparing his gold and using a blow pipe to heat it on a chaff furnace
to a temperature of 1.000 degrees Fahrenheit
Our knowledge of the type of
early Egyptians goldsmiths were
of doing would have been
had it not been for the
Tutankhamen's tomb, in 1922
of WONDER No 23). Th* proved
a veritable treasure-house of gold ob-
jects. the like of which had never been
discovered before
The clothes they wore in 2,000 B.C.
The Egyptians were expert weavers of linen and wore
it often. The king (left) is wearing a wig and false
beard. The boy (kneeling) will keep his side-lock
until manhnnd The littlp airl rarripc л wooden
Razor

2,500 B.C.
The clothes they wore in 1500 B.C.
EGYPT:
Merchant's
wife
Ancient Egyptian archer
The people of CRETE ruled the seas
around them and lived in luxury. All
Cretans wore their hair long. They
kept their waists very small with tight
belts. On the right stands a young
king. His apron and boots are of
coloured leather. Behind him a woman
pours goat’s milk for her husband.
Near her is some Cretan pottery.
- A
TURKEY: Hittite
soldier with iron
weapons.



Visiting the doctor
Many Egyptians became ill from diseases caused
by sand and water. Sand in the air caused lung
disease and breathing difficulties, and sand in
bread wore down people's teeth. Diseases carried
by worms in river water caused many problems.
The Egyptians also suffered from many illnesses
we have today.
The Egyptians probably had the world's earliest
medical profession. There were doctors and
nurses, and medical students were trained at the
temples. Doctors performed operations and
created medicines. Some medicines were
unpleasant, to frighten away the evil spirit
that was thought to cause the illness. Many
treatments were recorded in ancient medical
documents, with practical remedies as
well as magical spells. There was even
an attempted cure for the common cold.
► Here, a doctor attends
to a boy's injured knee.
An assistant reads out the
ingredients and
instructions for making a
medicine, while another
attendant prepares the
treatment.
26
Childbirth was dangerous, and many mothers
and babies died. There were special magical spells
designed to protect the newborn and their mothers.
Today, scientists gather information about the
ancient Egyptians' diseases, diet, and lifestyle by
examining their mummies. They x-ray the
mummies, study their blood groups, and examine
their body tissue under a microscope.
Лечение юного фараона Тутанхамона
FINDING OUT
THE MODERN MAGAZINE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE EVERYWHERE Every Monday 2/- Vol. 9 No. 6
Merlin the Magician
Hero. *nd girts. This is your friend Merlin the МадгсДО.
This week we are gomg to v*sit ancient Egypt once again. There
ks such a lot to ten you about these clever people, the Egyp*
uans They made beautiful statues out of stone and they buitt
wonderful buildings.
The Egyptians wore the people who first divided tho yea^
•nto 36S days, and they made tho first paper out of papyrus,
wtuch is a plant that grows along the shores of tho Rrver Nile,
in Egypt. They were also very good discoverers of medicine
and they had many clever doctors.
The waters of the R/vcr Nile helped the ancient Egyptians
mth needy everything they did The water flooded tho banks
and when the flood receded, it left boh-nd good soil m which
farmers grew their vegetab'es and wheat and com. for bread.
Builders earned their stones for budding up and down the
river it\ boats The Egyptians know that the ram. the sunshine
and the winds were all-important to their lives, and they thought
that there were gods in charge of an these elements.
The Egyptian goddess of the sky was named Nut. Tho god
of the air was Shu and the god of the sun was Ra On the loft
you can see tome of the gods who were worshiped by the
Egyptians
Each of these gods had a temple—a kind of church—where
the Egyptians prayed. Tho workmen and the stonemasons,
who cut the bg blocks of stone for the pyramids and decorated
tho buildmgs with beautiful carvings, also had their own god.
Ho was ca-’Jed Ptah
NuT and Geb
Sky goddess (covered in stars)
and god of the Earth
Ra (or Re)
God of the
Sun
Osiris
God of death
and rebirth
Isis
Mother goddess,
wife of Osiris
Seth
God of chaos
and confusion
Anubis
God of burial and
mummy-makers
The Next World
The ancient Egyptians
believed that when they died
they would travel to the
Next World, the Kingdom
of Osiris. They believed this
kingdom was a wonderful
place, and that whoever
managed to reach it would
live forever. However, rhe
journey to the Next World
was long and hard. On the
journey, the dead needed
f(x)d and drink. Their
bodies had to be whole
and strong. And the priests
had to chant spells to
protect them.
A difficult journey
The dead person asks a
ferryman to help him cross
a river into the Next World
Then he must pass through
seven closely guarded gates.

He must fight snakes and
crocodiles, and evil gods try
to trap him in a net. But he
also gets help from the god
Atum, and food and water
from Hathor. He must then
face 42 judges before his
heart is weighed against the
feather of truth. If his heart
is heavy with sin, he will be
gobbled up by a monster.
If it is light, he will be saved.

The many curious-looking gods worshipped in Ancient Egypt,
with their human bodies and animal heads, look strange, even
frightening to us today. To the Egyptians, however, they were a
comforting and familiar part of daily life. The earliest gods, like
those of most prehistoric peoples, were associated with natural
forces beyond man's control - the sun, the wind, the rise and fall
of the Nile. Many of them reflected animal qualities that were
particularly feared or admired - the fierceness of a lion or the
strength of a bull - and, at first, all the gods had animal forms.
Before the kingdom of Egypt was united under the first pharaohs,
it consisted of numerous tribal settlements, with their own totems,
which gradually developed into local gods. Sometimes the influ-
ence of one god spread beyond its own little centre. This happened
with Amun, god of Thebes, who was originally represented as a
ram or a goose. He grew in importance with the rise of Thebes as
the capital city. By the time of the New Kingdom, Amun was
recognised as the king of the gods and great temples were raised
in his honour at Karnak on the opposite bank of the Nile. All that
remained of his animal origins were the two feathers worn at the
back of the god's head in his statues.
Amun was also incorporated into the myths and stories con-
nected with Re, the sun god - his name was combined with Re’s
and they were worshipped as one god, Amun-Re. Later gods,
Osiris, lord of the underworld, and his wife/sister Isis, the great
mother goddess, were brought into the ‘family’ of the older gods
in the same way.
Horus the child
Amun of Thebes
16
The creation of the world
Egyptians pictured the sky as a
star-spangled goddess called Nut
and the earth as her husband-
brother, Geb. Before the
creation of the universe Geb and
Nut lived together. But Re. the
sun-god who emerged from the
waters of chaos, ordered them to
be separated. Their father, Shu.
created space and light between
them by causing a great wind to
lift Nut’s body into the air. Shu
became god of atmosphere. Geb
lies below, forming the moun-
tains and valleys of the earth.
During the day, Re travelled
across the arc formed by Nut’s
body. At night the sky goddess
descended to her husband, thus
creating darkness. Geb and Nut
were the parents of Osiris. Isis
and Set. Osiris was murdered by
his jealous brother, Set, but Isis,
his sister-wife, embalmed his
body and thus gave Osiris the
power to live again. The
Egyptians believed that by
preserving the body they, too,
could live after death.
Khonsu	Sons of Horus	Hathor
17

«-Уййияг--
Servants feeding the sacred cats in a temple in
ancient Egypt. For more about pet cats, see the
article “ They were sacred” on page 14.
Legendary beasts
SPHINXES
Ixmg. long ago. when lions lived in the Egyptian desert,
the people looked out towards the horizon, and believed
that they had seen a sphinx.
As the horizon marked the entrance to their “land
of the dead** it was not surprising that sphinxes should
be thought of as guardian spirits, and that statues of
them should be erected by the tombs of the Egyptian
kings. A sphinx also represented Horus the sun god.
One day. an Egyptian prince. Thothmes. was out
hunting lions in the desert. In the heat of the day he
sought shade beside the great stone sphinx of Giza.
Here he fell asleep and dreamed that Horus appeared
to him and promised that, if his statue was cleared of
sand and restored to its former glory, (he prince would
be rewarded with the throne of Egypt, although he
was not its present heir. This the prince did and later
became King Ihothmes IV as promised. I o commem-
orate this. Ihothmes erected a stone tablet between the
paws of the sphinx, which can still be seen today.
The sphinx is also found in Greek legend The most
famous guarded the roads to Thebes, and stopped every
traveller to ask: “What has four legs in the morning,
two at midday and three m the evening?” Nunc could
answer and each was devoured. Creon. governor of
Thebes, promised the crown to the man who delivered
the city from the sphinx
Oedipus gained it when he replied: “Man, who first
craw ls on four legs, then walks upright, and .supports him
self with a slick in the evening of his life.” whereupon
the vanquished sphinx threw herself into the sea.
АМАМАТ - ДРЕВНЕЕГИПЕТСКОЕ ЧУДОВИЩЕ,
ПОЖИРАВШЕЕ СЕРДЦА ГРЕШНИКОВ
ПОСЛЕ СУДА В ЦАРСТВЕ МЕРТВЫХ
Abu Simbel
This mighty temple, cut out of
a sandstone cliff, was dedicated
by its builder. Ramses 11. to
the sun god. Rc It was designed
for the worship of the sun at
dawn A row of babexms was cars cd
across the top of the front of
the temple They were sacred
to the god of wisdom and to the
rising sun. Four huge, painted
statues of the pharaoh, each
65 feet high, guarded the entrance
Temples and priests
Egyptian temples were built to honor the gods and to record
the deeds of the pharaohs who hoped to join the gods after
death. Every ruler felt he or she should build a temple, or
add shrines or statues to those already built. As certain gods
grew in importance, the priests who served in their temples
became more powerful.
In the New Kingdom the mightiest god was Amon,
patron of Thebes. Generations of pharaohs added to a tem-
ple at Karnak that was dedicated to him. It grew from a
small shrine into the greatest temple ever built. Rainses 11,
the most ambitious builder of all the pharaohs, added the
great Hypostyle Hall. (The name comes from a Greek word
meaning “to rest on pillars.”) The hall's roof was supported
by 134 columns, "each showing scenes of the pharaoh
worshiping Amon.
At Abu Simbel, Ramses built two more temples. The
sanctuary of the larger is cut 60 yards into the rock. Only
twice a year—on February 23 and October 23—do the sun’s
rays reach the huge statues of Ramses and the gods inside.
The vast temples were only part of an enormous area
that included houses for the priests, a school, storerooms,
and workshops. Priests had many duties. Some performed
daily rituals in the dead pharaoh's temples. Others spent
every fourth month serving the gods in their special temples.
Only a few chosen priests were allowed inside the temple.
Each day they entered the sanctuary and the high priest
broke the clay seal on the doors of the shrine where the
god's statue was kept. A ritual of prayers and bathing and
dressing the statue was performed. It was then rescaled in
the sanctuary with an offering of food and drink.

History oi tgyptian civilisation, wnen лкпепатеп aieo, ms suc-
cessor. Tutankhamun, returned to Thebes and reinstated the old
religion - and the old art.
The Holy City
Constructed in record time and
abandoned equally rapidly on the
death of its founder, Akhet-
Aten originally stretched for
eight miles along the Nile.
At its centre lay a complex of
palaces and temples, all of them
revolving around the enormous
Temple of the Sun’s Disk.
21
The Temple
A temple had to be a home fit for a
god. and was built with a
magnificence denied the homes of
mortals Priests dedicated their lives
to looking after the god's daily
needs
Among the greatest buildings of Egypt
are the New Kingdom temples. The
most spectacular to have survived is
Karnak the massive home of Amun-Re,
the King of the Gods. It covers a huge
site in Thebes Others, such as Luxor
and Abu Simbel, are very impressive.
The finest, however, is surelv the temple
built b\ Scti I at Abydos to honor
Osiris. ЧЪете in man) rooms rhe colors
still glow as freshly as the day they were
painted.
The approach to a major temple was
always impressive. An avenue of sphinxes
led up to the pylon (ceremonial gate-
way), before which were obelisks, flag
poles, and royal statues. A high wall ran
around the temple, its sacred lake,
and offices
A temple was considered to be the
house of the god. so. like ordinary houses,
it was divided into three sections: an
open courtsard, beyond which no com-
mon person could pass; a hypostyle
(many columned) hall, where priests
might enter, and the sanctuary, which
The morning ritual in a
temple of Amun The chief
priest has opened the shone
to wake the god and offer
him food, incense purified
water and flowers In the
shadows stand priestesses,
who sing hymns Each
holds a sistrum a musical
instrument played by
shaking The priests and
priestesses on duty Inted in
the temple, so that they
were always ready to
perform the rituals Some
times the king himself
accompaniment of hymns and prayers,
the doors of the sanctuary and the wooden
shrine were opened to awake the god
A religious service was not only an
act of prayer and worship. The Egyptians
believed that the gods needed food,
shelter and clothing just as men did. All
these necessities were provided during


The craft of war
Prisoners of war
Foreign captives were tied
and branded as slaves. I hey
included Libyans, Nubians,
the Hittites. Syrians, and
Mitanni of Asia. Semites from
Palestine, and later, the Sea
Peoples from across the
Mediterranean
The war machine
The civilization of ancient Egypt was not based on military
strength and conquest, although there were some noted
battles. Scenes on tombs from the Old Kingdom show' the
Egyptians had soldiers, and knew something about warfare
and armor. But they did not have a national army. In an
emergency, the governors of the provinces called up armies
from among their peasants. The foot soldiers fought almost
naked, with bronze- or copper-tipped spears, small axes, and
bows.
The rulers of the Middle Kingdom ended the old system
of raising local armies—which local leaders could use against
each other—and set up a trained, central army under their
own command. This new Egyptian army was stronger, but
was still no match for the Hyksos. In 1786 b.c. these Asiatic
warriors swept into the Nile valley in horse-drawn chariots,
armed with bronze swords and powerful bows. They con-
trolled Egypt for about 200 years, until the Egyptians learned
to use the horses, chariots, and weapons of their enemy and
drove the foreigners out.
The chariots that carried the
10
The New Kingdom pharaohs planned conquests against
neighboring lands that were threatening. The pharaoh led
his army, sometimes accompanied by a trained lion. The
soldiers were professional, and had body armor and new
weapons. The archers had strong bows and arrows, while
other soldiers were armed with metal-tipped spears, axes,
bronze daggers, and scimitars (curved swords copied from
the Syrians). Chariots, each carrying a driver and an archer,
raced past the enemy, shooting into their ranks.
In the New Kingdom period, Egyptian troops won a
famous sea battle in the Mediterranean. Ramses III met a
fleet of ships raised by the Sea Peoples in 1190 b.c. Their
vessels were swamped as a storm of arrows came from
Ramses* solid wall of warships.
The Egyptian empire of the New Kingdom was vast.
Nubia, the land to the south, was held the tightest. An
Egyptian viceroy ruled, and a 100-milc-long chain of forts
guarded the road to the Nubian gold mines and protected
Egypt from the warlike people of Kush, farther south.
Frontier strongholds
Egyptian forts had thick walls
and massive towers of masonry
and mud bncL Strong gates
and a wide ditch protected them
from attack.
A military review
Middle Kingdom foot soldiers
were armed with bows and arrows, spears,
slings, and axes They earned
shields made of bull's hide
11
The war machine
The chariots that sped the
pharaohs into battle were light
and strong. They could wheel and
turn easily in a tight space.
An infantry review
Middle Kingdom foot-soldiers
were armed with bows and
arrows, spears, slings and axes.
For defence they relied on
shields made of bulls’ hide.
were armed with bows and
arrows, spears, slings and axes.
For defence they relied on
shields made of bulls’ hide.

Who were the ancient Egyptians?
began to develop the way of life we call ancient
Egyptian. They began to build large, mud brick
tombs for their rulers, to make beautiful objects
for their tombs and homes, and to use a kind of
writing. People from Mesopotamia may
have settled in Egypt at this
time, but no one is sure
about this.
People have lived in Egypt for thousands of years.
About 6.000 years ago, people in the Nile Valley
▼ The king drove into
battle in his chariot,
pulled by a pair of
horses. He was armed
with a bow and a quiver
of arrows. Horses were
introduced into Egypt in
about 1550 B.C.
Two kingdoms gradually developed, one in the
north called the ‘Ted land" and another in the
south known as the "white land.” Each had its
own king, who wore a special crown. About 5.000
years ago the king of the south conquered the
north, and Egypt was united. The king's name
was Menes, and he founded Egypt’s first capital
at Memphis. There were no more wars for hundreds
of years.
I
I
I
I
I
~'l
I
I



Prisoners of war
Foreign captives were bound
and branded as slaves. They
included Libyans. Nubians,
the Hittites, Syrians and
Mitanni of Asia, Semites from
Palestine and, later, the Sea
Peoples from across the
Mediterranean.
Схватка египетских пехотинцев с ливийцами
л >
1.Семитский лучник, 12 династия!
2.Воин народа шасу, 19 династия
З.Ливийский лучник, 20 династия
Q < W

>1
'«Utfi
Египетский (Фиванский) фараон ’ '
Камос (правил прибл. в 1554 - 49 гг.
до н.э.) совещается с командирами и
нубийских наемников на егип.
службе во время войны с гиксосами.
The story of Africa part two By Mary Cathcart Borer
Ancient Egypt
nnd
the Negroes
IN the early days of Ancient Egypt, the
southern boundary of the kingdom was
the First Cataract (waterfall) of the Nile,
where Aswan now stands. Beyond this
was the country of the Negroes.
The first Pharaoh of a united Egypt was
King Meni, who founded the first dynasty,
about 3,400 B.C. From this time until the
Romans invaded Egypt in 30 B.C., there were
thirty-three dynasties of Pharaohs. For
centuries, Egypt was the most civilised and
powerful country in the world.
The Egyptians carved scenes of contem-
porary events on the walls of their temples, and
from the remains of a sun temple well over
4,500 years old we have learned a great deal
about their activities. They sent ships to Syria
to obtain cedar wood from the forests of
Lebanon. From Sinai they obtained copper.
They sent soldiers to the country between the
First and Second Cataracts of the Nile, now
known as Lower Nubia, to punish unruly
Negroes.
In the twelfth dynasty there was another
important military expedition to the south, to
subdue the Negroes. The Egyptians knew little
of this hot, semi-desert region and called it the
‘land of the spirits’. However, they penetrated
as far as the Third Cataract, a few miles above
the site of the present town of Dongola, and
established a new frontier there. This freshly-
acquired territory was governed by an Egyptian
prince who lived and eventually died there.
The Negroes did not take kindly to Egyptian
rule and a few years later there was more
trouble. The Negroes reconquered the land
between the Third and Second Cataracts and
were reported to be moving down towards the
First Cataract. The reigning Pharaoh ordered
fortresses of sun-dried brick to be put in Lower
Nubia and a great wall was built along the
eastern bank of the Nile, at the First Cataract,
to protect Egyptian vessels as they were
hauled up and down the rapids.
The Egyptians were obviously seriously
concerned about the threat of Negro invasion.
The Pharaoh reigning from. 1998 to 1959 B.C.
established the southern Egyptian frontier at
the Second Cataract, near the site of modern
Wadi Haifa, and built three fortresses to
protect it, one on either bank of the river and
a third on an island in the middle. He also put
up a large boundary stone, which Negroes were
forbidden to pass.
About 1800 B.C., Egyptian territory was
invaded by Semitic tribes from the eastern
deserts of Sinai and Syria, who came in horse-
drawn, wheeled chariots, which the Egyptians
had never encountered before. These Princes
of the Desert were the Hyksos or Shepherd
Kings, a mixed race of Semitic-speaking people,
some of whom were very probably Israelites
and descendants of the tribes of Abraham.
Others were Syrians or Bedouin Arabs.
In the course of the next sixty years, the
Hyksos completed a conquest of the whole of
Egypt, and for about another hundred years
remained in control, though there were con-
stant rebellions amongst the Egyptians, who
continued to regard their own Pharaohs as the
true rulers.
There are many records of the activities of
the Hyksos at this time. They sent expeditions
as far as Baghdad and Crete, and many more
entered Egypt.
Gradually the Egyptians managed to turn
the hated Hyksos out of. the country, but it was
a slow and difficult struggle. "It happened that
the land of Egypt was possessed by the Filthy-
ones,” wrote one exasperated Egyptian. A few
years later another Egyptian Pharaoh was
writing: "No man remains but is wearied with
serving the Asiatics . . . the Asiatics have all
put their tongues out at us.'’
The writer was the Pharaoh Kamose, who
launched a determined attack on the Hyksos
and their ruler. King Apopi. Kamose gathered
his forces and the campaign began. He used
specially-trained Negro warriors, who were sent
ahead of the Egyptian soldiers, "to search out
the Asiatics and to destroy their positions".
One renegade Egyptian prince who had sided
with the Hyksos was "pounced upon like a
hawk" and overthrown "at the moment when
he was cleaning his teeth."
Kamose died before his task was finished and
it was Ahmose, the founder of Egypt’s
eighteenth dynasty, who finally overthrew the
Hyksos. His Negro levies became one of the
Illustrated by Angus McBride
Left—the Egyptians
built three fortresses
to protect the
Second Cataract,
and put up a
boundary stone
which the Negroes
were not allowed
to pass.
~ !
«ft
most dreaded fighting forces the world had
ever known.
It was during this long struggle between the
Hyksos and the Egyptians that there occurred
the oppression of the Israelites and their final
expulsion from Egypt, which is described so
vividly in the Old Testament.
The eighteenth dynasty was the period of
Egypt’s greatest imperial power and artistic
achievement, and during the reign of Queen
Hatshepsut the splendour of the Court was
enhanced by ivory, ebony, ostrich feathers,
gold and silver, baboons, monkeys and giraffes,
brought by trading expeditions which had
reached into the heart of Africa.
The nineteenth dynasty was founded by
Rameses I, and it was his successor who built
the great sun temple of Abu Simbel in Lower
Nubia. On the death of the twelfth Rameses,
in noi B.C., the title of Pharaoh was assumed
by the High Priest of the state god, Amen-Ra,
and the refigion of the priest of Amen-Ra
became the law of the land.
Next week:
Africa Three Thousand Years Ago
Right—in his struggle against the
Hyksos, Pharaoh Kamose instructed
specially-trained Negro warriors in
battle tactics. (Our illustration shows
the sort of equipment Kamose would
have taken with him on campaign.
The small travelling chest would have
contained clean linen, drinking cups
and jewellery. On the folding stool
rests his two-handed sword and
his axe.)


Фараон Хоремхеб сражается с нубийцами в верховьях Нила, кон. 14 в. до н.э.
FAMOUS PETS
Pharaoh's lions
Rameses ii, of Egypt, was very fond of lions. When he
sat in state, receiving foreign visitors, his lions sat near
the throne, reminding everyone of his power. And
when he went on one of his military campaigns his
lions went with him. When the battle was at its height,
and the Egyptian army was about to win yet another
victory, Rameses would release a lion or two to turn the
enemy’s retreat into panic-stricken flight.
Unfortunately we do not know what these royal
lions were called, but Rameses had a picture of one
carved in a battle-scene at Karnak so that future genera-
tions would remember his pets.

24
A canopy, symbol of authority in Egypt.
GALLERY
THOTHMES HI,
1482 BC
ANGUS McBRIDE
Thothmes was born in
c. 1510 BC; our sources
arc open to differing inter-
pretations of even basic chro-
nology. He was the son of
Thothmes II. fourth Pharoah
of the great 18th Dynasty,
and of a concubine named
Ast. He should not, there-
fore, have been in line for the
throne; but his childhood
coincided with the latter stage
of one of those succession
crises in which the need for a
strong ruler clashed with the
accepted principles of
descent. When the dynastic
smoke cleared, as it were, the
child prince .found himself
taken as consort — after his
father’s untimely death — by
the princess Hatshepsut: his
father’s widow and half-
sister, and his own aunt.
For the next 22 years this
formidable woman ruled the
empire, while the growing
prince was kept from any
meaningful responsibility.
She abrogated his rights;
assumed the styles of royalty,
and even of manhood; and
devoted her attention to
religious ceremonial, to the
ruin of Egypt’s military pre-
paredness. One result was an
open rebellion by a coalition
of Syrian princes led by the
king of Kadesh, which threat-
ened Egypt’s position
throughout Palestine.
During his years of
powerlessness the young
prince became renowned as
an archer and big-game
hunter. He may also have
cultivated useful contacts
among the military. There
can be little doubt that he
dreamed in f rustration of the
glorious conquests, from
Nubia to Mesopotamia, of
his mighty grandfather
Thothmes I.
His chance came with
I latshepsut's death in January
of 1482 BC. After a swift and
ruthless purge of all remnants
of her rule, he assembled an
army of perhaps 10,000 men
near modern Qantara; and by
April that year was leading
them across Egypt's north-
eastern border towards Gaza.
From there he pressed on to
the foot of the Carmel range
north-east of Joppa; and
learned that Kadesh and his
allies had occupied the city of
Megiddo on the tar side of the
range. A council of war was
held.
Overmastering his gener-
als, who preferred two easy
but circuitous routes, the
young king declared for the
hard, direct route through the
mountains. He had sworn at
the outset ‘I shall not make
my valiant soldiers march
before my Majesty’; and he
kept his word, leading the
the rebel outposts in the pass,
the Egyptians forced their
way through without delay.
The Syrians* extensive
camp spread southwards
from the walls of Megiddo.
Inexplicably, they do not
appear seriously to have
interfered with the Egyptian
army as Thothmes led it
down out of the pass, and
manoeuvred southwards,
pitching camp along a small
river. ‘On the morning of the
21st day of the 1st month of
Summer, the feast of the nine
gods, the King arose,’ says
the chronicle of the scribe
Tjaneni. ‘1 lis Majesty went
forth in a chariot of electrum,
arrayed in his weapons of
war, like I lorus the Smiter,
Lord of Power.’
Characteristically, Thothmes
led the decisive division of his
battle-line in person. This
seems to have been the north-
ern division, which drove
between the flank of the
rebels’ concave formation
and the fortress. Their furious
onset broke the Syrians’ line,
and they fled — only to find
that the citizens of Megiddo
had locked them out. In des-
peration they clambered over
the walls on hastily-lowered
lengths of cloth.
An attack at this point
might have proved decisive:
but the Egyptian troops, long
unused to campaign disci-
pline, ignored orders and fell
upon the huge booty of the
Syrian camp. This reportedly
included over 2,0(И) horses
and 900 chariots, huge herds
and grain stocks, and 200 lb.
of gold and silver. Neverthe-
less, Thothmes now faced a
long siege before Megiddo
fell to him at last.
Over the next 12 years the
warrior Pharoah conducted at
least 15 more campaigns in
Syria and Palestine. In his
33rd regnal year he marched
through Kadesh; fought his
way to Carccmish; and —
using boats carried on
ox-wagons from the Medi-
terranean, 250 miles away —
crossed the Euphrates into the
territory of the Mittani. Here
at last he was able to set up a
boundary stele next to that of
his revered grandfather.
This remarkable king was a
determined, charismatic gen-
eral, inspiring great loyalty.
The old soldier Amenemhab
proudly recorded two
occasions when he had saved
Thothmes’ life: once at
Megiddo, when the Syrians
tried to make the Egyptian
chariot horses unmanageable
by loosing a mare among
them; and once on a elephant-
hunt. A remarkably strong
and fearless hunter, he was
interested in the flora and
fauna of captured territories.
He was pious, active in
religious endowments, and is
said to have displayed some
artistic Hair. His foreign pol-
icy was far-sighted; and he
took great pains to train his
son, Amonhotep 11, in mili-
tary skills.
His final passing in March
1450 BC was recorded by old
Amenemhab: ‘Now the King
had accomplished his length
of days in many noble years
of valour, strength and
triumph . . .’
In the reconstruction on
p. 52 the Pharoah stands out-^
side his camp east of Megiddo
some time in December 1482
BC. After seven months the
weary siege is coming to an
end: the king of Kadesh and
his allies have been starved
into submission. Soon at least
one of the Syrian princes will
be forced to kneel before
Thothmes, who will seal his
victory in traditional fashion
by braining the defeated
50
leader with his mace.
Thothmes was only about
5 ft. 4 in. tall, but stocky,
broad-shouldered and strong.
He had a prominent nose, and
brown hair — though this last
would never have been seen
by his subjects, since a
Pharoah’s hair was always
concealed cither by a wig or
by a headdress of some kind.
Interestingly, the Pharoah’s
formal false beard was never
worn with this particular
headdress: the war-helmet or
kepresh.
The kepresh was introduced
into the royal wardrobe in
c. 1570 BC, at the rise of the
New Kingdom. Its curious
but graceful shape has no
known antecedents, but
remains much the same
through succeeding centuries
(though somewhat taller by
the time of Rameses II, c. 1250
BC). No example survives,
so the many painted and
carved representations repay
careful study. It is always
painted as blue, but this was
an Egyptian artistic con-
vention for silver metal. It is
often found covered with a
pattern of circles, almost cer-
tainly representing metal
discs attached to a moulded
leather base, probably over a
wicker frame; and was tight-
ened by two (or four) trailing,
decorative streamers.
Thothmes wears here a
scale-armour corselet, but
this is evidently not intended
as serious protection; it is
symbolic of the body-feathers
of the hawk war-god
Monthu, and the lightly-
laced enamel scales leave the
lower torso unprotected.
Over the corselet he wears
another very important sym-
bol of divine protection: the
wings of his tutelary deity
Horus. The front tic has been
turned into a symbolic clasp
between the hawk’s claws, in
which Thothmes’ name is
written. Over his shoulders
he wears the cape-like broad
collar of the nobility, bal-
anced by a hanging counter-
poise behind the neck; the
collar covers the upper laces
of the wings.
His bracelets bear his
names, framed by cartouches
and surmounted by the
double feathers of Amon.

The waist-belt of woven
leather also bears his name,
fhe skirt is of pleated linen,
always white, and overlap-
ping in front. I langing from
the belt is the highly
characteristic ‘apron’ of metal
and semi-precious inlay on
leather, also bearing the royal
names, flanked, by sun-
crowned cobras. The woven
leather ‘tail’ hanging from the
back of the belt is a stylised
reminder of the bull’s tail car-
ried as a symbol of strength
and virility by the early kings.
The simple sandals of
woven rushes are purely
functional, and will be
handed to a servant (who
Insit-biat Re M&n Kheper 5а Ke Tehuti - Me-s
King of	, _
the South Menkheperre Son of Re’ Tnothmes
and North
(Left) General arrangement draw-
ing of the rear of the costume shown
in colour on p. 52. (Top right)
Details of the kepresh, the
turned-up rim front and back pre-
sumably acted as reinforcement, as
did the prominent transverse ridge.
The royal serpent motif is shown in
the head-on drawing with hood and
head omitted for clarity: note this
exact arrangement of coils — as if
about to strike — which is distinct
from the meandering arrangement
of the snake's body on other head-
dresses. (Right) Details of the rear
counterpoise of the collar; the
enamel scales of the corselet; and the
bracelets.
places them on his left upper
arm) when the Pharoah
mounts his chariot. Highly
decorated sandals, such as
those accompanying the
mummy of Tutankhamun,
were intended for the harem,
and had no place on
campaign.
While the person of the
Pharoah is not protected
physically in any meaningful
way (in fact, many common
soldiers were better equipped
to withstand blows and mis-
siles), he is well guarded by
magic symbols — and to the
Egyptian mind these were
more potent protection by
far. Moreover, in the van of
battle (where Thothmes
could usually be found) the
king was surrounded by a
human wall of personal
guards: even his head was
shaded by a wide fan carried
by a footman.
The Pharoah’s weapons
were carried by one or more
body-servants. The bow-case
illustrated is from a contem-
porary carving at Deir-
el-Bahari; the curved sword
from a number of sources; the
bow and its decorative hand-
grip from a contemporary
tomb-painting; and the
unusually-decorated mace
head from the Seventh Pylon
at Karnak, on which
Thothmes is shown deliver-
ing the death-blow to a whole
cluster of‘Asiatics’. [Mil
Sources:
Encyclopaedia Britannica
Cambridge Ancient History, 11, Pt.l*
Atlas of Ancient Egypt, Baines, 1958
The Warrior Pharoahs, Cottrell, 1968
River of the Pharoahs, Montet, 1968
Egyptian Collections, British Museum,
1930
Egypt of the Pharoahs, Gardiner, 1961
Tutankhamen, Desroches Noblccourt,
1963
Jewels of the Pharoahs, Aldred, 1971
Histoire Universelie, Pleiades, 1956
(author’s trans.)
Die Blutezeit des Pharaonenreichs,
Steindorff. 1900 (trans. M.
Dowdeswell)
(*The source of the chronological
conventions followed here — other
authorities differ, by as much as 20
years.)
Below left:
The so-called 'Cleopatra's
Needles', the one on the Thames
Embankment and its pair in New
York, were originally set up in
Heliopolis by Thothmes Ш to
celebrate his third jubilee festival
These elements of his names and
titles can easily be identified in the
central column of inscription on
each face of both obelisks.
Thothmes* full title consisted of
five names which proclaimed his
divine status and the authority by
which he ruled: ‘The Mighty Bull
appearing in Thebes’; ‘The
Glorious King like Re in Heaven’;
‘Magnificent in Rising’; ‘Made
Strong in the Approval oj Re’; and
lastly, ‘Child of Tehuti* or
Tehuti-mes — transliterated vari-
ously as Tuthmose, Tufhmosis or
Thothmes (pronounced ‘Tot-
meez’). We can only guess at the
original Egyptian pronounciation.
(The Babylonians used his fourth
title *Mcn-Khcpcr-Re’ and pro-
nounced it ‘Manakhpirriya’,
which may be a fair approximation
of the Egyptian.)
51


ФАРАОН РАМСЕС II ВЕЛИКИЙ ВЕДЕТ
АРМИЮ В ПОХОД ПРОТИВ ХЕТТОВ.
XIX дин. Ок. 1279 - 13 гг. до н.э.
J. .
л" lr'





Хеттская колесница
<Г
Муватгалис, царь хеттов,кон. 14 в. до
н.э., и хеттские воины - колесничий и
гвардеец
Хеттский воин



Египетские штандартеносцы
и музыканты


Египетские лучник и конный вестник,
кон. Нового Царства
3
1:Нубинскнн лучник, 19 дин.
2 :Ф нлнстимля некий тяжело
вооруженны и воин. 20 дин.
З.Воин - шерден гвардии
фараона,19 дин.
Морская битва с народами моря, ок. 1190 г. до н.з.
* ... --


Египтяне построили три крепости для защиты Второго Порога Нила и воздвигли пограничный камень, отмечающий
черту, которую было запрещено пересекать нубийцам.
Continuing . . . THE STORY OF AFRICA By Mary Cathcart Borer illustrated by: ANGUS McBHIDF
The Negro Pharaohs
FOR many centuries, Nubia was part
of the Ancient Egyptian empire, and
was ruled by an Egyptian governor.
In about 900 B.C., the ruling governor
declared its independence, calling his
new kingdom Kush. He established his
capital at Napata, near the fourth cataract, 800
miles south of Thebes, and from here he reigned
as Pharaoh over his negro subjects. He and his
successors spoke the Egyptian language, wore
the dual red and white crown of Egypt and
remained worshippers of Amen-Ra, for whom
they built many ,temples.
The people of Kush grew strong and wealthy,
for they gained control of the valuable gold
mines in the south-eastern desert and traded
both with Egypt and the Arabian settlements
along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
About 725 B.C., there was a threat of civil
war in Egypt, when trouble-makers from the
North prepared to invade the southern part of
the country. The Egyptian Pharaoh, reigning
from Thebes, appealed to Kush for help.
Kush had been established for 150 years by
then and its Pharaohs had probably become
more than half Negro. The reigning Pharaoh of
Kush, Pienkhy, was an old man, but he gladly
accepted the appeal for, being a worshipper of
Amen-Ra, he was eager to defend the sacred
city of Thebes. So he sent his Negro army to
the Egyptian Pharaoh's aid.
The Kush army travelled to Thebes by boat,
and paused there to receive the blessing of
Amen. Then they sailed on to meet the rebel
armies, who were moving up to meet them. The
rebels were routed and fled. The Egyptian
Pharaoh, Osarkon, was safely on the throne
again. But Pienkhy’s grandson, Shebeke,
stayed behind in Egypt, as Commander-in-Chief
of the Egyptian armies. After Osarkon's death
there were more disorders, and by 713 B.C.
Shebeke himself became Pharaoh of both Egypt
and Kush, now united in one kingdom.
For the next fifty years, the Negro Pharaohs
reigned in Egypt, despite the resentment of the
Egyptians of the Delta, many of whom had by
now married Mediterranean people and had
come to consider themselves racially superior to
the Negroes.
In the 7th century B.C., Egypt was invaded
by the Assyrians, and the mighty city of Thebes
was conquered. The Negro Pharaoh fled south
to Napata and* the Kushites never returned
to Egypt.
The Assyrians did not stay long in Egypt but
left an Egyptian nobleman from Lower Egypt
on the throne as Pharaoh.
Many Greek traders and travellers now came
to Egypt, including the mathematician
Pythagoras. They studied the art, religion and
the philosophy of Egypt and many Egyptians
learnt to speak Greek. There was a great
flowering of Egyptian art during these days, but
they were brief, for in 525 B.C. Cambyses,
King of Persia, invaded and conquered Egypt.
After Cambyses had been crowned Pharaoh
of Egypt—which was still the richest country
in the world—he tried to conquer Kush, but
on the desert march south nearly all his army
perished of hunger and thirst.
Cambyses went mad with grief and despair.
After his death, Persian rule relaxed for a
while, but in 342 B.C. Artaxerxes of Persia
invaded again and the reigning Pharaoh fled
up the Nile into Nubia and was never heard of
again. He was the last Egyptian to wear the
crown of Ancient Egypt.
The people of Kush were unaffected by the
Persian invasion of Egypt and grew steadily
more prosperous. They had learnt from the
Assyrians how to use iron, and they were
responsible for the ultimate spread of the Iron
Age through Africa. Egypt had no iron but was
dependent on supplies from Kush, where it
was found in large quantities in the south,
round Meroe, which now became .the new
capital.
It was Alexander the Great who delivered
the Egyptians from the hated Persians, and on
his early death, his general, Ptolemy I, sue
ceeded him as Pharaoh. Fifteen Ptolemys ruled
Egypt, from the third century B.C. till the
Romans invaded in 30 B.C. when Egypt be
came part of the Roman Empire.
During the early years of the Ptolemys, Kush
played an important part in the trade between
Egypt, Greece and Hie Mediterranean. From
the heart of Africa, Kush collected and
exported not only ivory, ebony, ostrich
feathers, animal skins, gold and silver, both
northwards to Egypt and eastwards to Arabia,
but, even more important, vast supplies of
iron.
The Kushites still kept their ancient beliefs,
derived from Egypt. They regarded their kings
as divine, and at Meroe and other centres they
built temples, royal pyramids, palaces and
tombs.
By the first century A.D., however, more
Semitic people had arrived in north-east Africa
from Arabia. In Ethiopia they created an
important trading centre at Axum and cap-
tured Meroe’s Red Sea trade. The royal family
of Kush grew poor and their tombs and
pyramids became small and mean. In the 3rd
century A.D. the people of Axum invaded Kush
and conquered it. Meroe was burnt to the
ground and the great Negro empire came to
an end.
4

From the Assyrians, the
people of Kush learned the
many uses of iron, and they
were responsible for spread-
ing this knowledge through-
out Africa. Egypt herself had
no iron and relied on Kush to
supply it. Iron smelting
became a principal industry
in KuSh, and remains of
ancient iron workings can
still be seen in her ruined
cities.
Схватка между ассирийским пехотинцем
и кушитским (нубийским) лучником
во времена ассирийских вторжений
в Египет. 677 - 663 гг. до н.э.

Царство Мероэ (Судан). 1-2 вв. н.э.
1.	Мероитский (нубийский) воин
2.	Воин одного из суданских племен.
3.	Знатная мероитская женщина и её служанки
3

Установка обелиска во времена римского владычества в Египте. 1 - й в. н.э.
АНТОНИЙ И КЛЕОПАТРА

Joseph in Egypt
In Canaan there was famine too, and when Jacob
heard about the corn in Egypt, he said to his sons,
'Why don't you do something about it ? Don't just
stand there looking at one another; go to Egypt and
buy some grain to keep us from starving.'
So the ten brothers set out on the long journey
southwards to Egypt. There was now one more
brother, who had been born after Joseph, and his
name was Benjamin. Benjamin was now Jacob's
favourite in place of Joseph, and his father would
not allow Benjamin to go to Egypt with the others,
because he was afraid that something might hap-
pen to the boy. So Benjamin remained at home.
When the ten brothers arrived in Egypt, they
had to go first to Joseph like everyone else.
He was busy organizing the buying and selling.
The brothers went and bowed low before him,
and Joseph knew them immediately, but pretended
not to; they did not recognize him in his Egyptian
robes. Also he was talking in Egyptian and spoke
to them through an interpreter. 'Where do you
come from ?* he asked roughly.
Joseph in Egypt
'We’ve come from the land of Canaan to buy
food,' they replied.
'You are spies?' said Joseph ‘You've come to
find out where we are weak and open to attack.*
'Oh no. sir.’ the)' said. 'We have only come for
food. We are all brothers, honest men not spies,
sir. We were twelve brothers in all. but one
brother you tell me about One of you must go
back and bring him. while the rest of you remain
here under guard. This is how I will discover
whether you are telling me the truth.* And he put
them all together in prison for three days. On the
brother is dead and the youngest is at home.'
Joseph wondered if they were sorry about the
brother whom they thought was dead, and he
decided to find out. 'I think you are spies.'
repeated, 'but I will test you to find out. You
not leave here until I have seen
this
' .

Now Joseph is in Egypt. He works for a wealthy
man named Potiphar. Joseph works hard. Soon
Potiphar makes him head of his household.
But Potiphar s wife tells ugly lies about Joseph, and
poor Joseph is thrown into jail. There, God helps him
by making everyone in jail like Joseph.
Two men have strange dreams. They come to
Joseph. God helps Joseph to tell them exactly what
their dreams mean. Joseph tells them, “Do not forget
me when you leave jail.’’ One man promises to tell the
king about Joseph.
When the men leave jail Joseph is alone again.
But God has not forgotten him.
Genesis 39-40
God our Father, thank You for never forgetting me.
Amen.
Гвох
£ Who ivill never forget you? God! And your mom and
5 dad. Give each of them a big hug.
14. The King's Important Drea
Pharaoh is king of
strange dream.
Pharaoh says, “1 see
seven fat cows. And
seven skinny cows eat
them up. But the skinny
cows stay skinny! What does
it mean?" Nobody knows.Then
suddenly one man remembers Joseph.
Joseph is taken out of jail to help. Joseph says,
"God has sent this dream. There will be seven
good years. Then there w ill be seven bad years.
Pharaoh must store away some food. Then the
people will have food in the bad years." Pharaoh
says,"I want you to work for me."
Joseph is happy. God has looked alter him well.
Genesis 41
God our Father, thank You for knoiviny everything.
* Amen.
|~box
н Put your thumb on the seven Jut coms. Point with your
5 little finger to the seven skinny coms. Ц Ъеге is Joseph?
15.	Joseph Sees His Brothers Again
Joseph is now an important man in Egypt. He makes
sure that enough food is put away. I lungry people
come from everywhere to buy food from him.
Then ten men arrive to buy food.Joseph
immediately sees that they are his brothers.
But they do not recognize him!
Joseph's brothers treated him badly. Do you
remember? But Joseph is kind to his brothers.
He gives them food. He doesn't even ask them to
pay for it.
Genesis 42
God our Father, thank You that I can help people. Thank
You for loving all people. Amen.
|“BOX
5Do you see Joseph’s brothers? God can use you to help
mother people, and even people who are not kind to you.
Do you know someone you can help?
16.	Joseph Forgives His Brothers
Joseph's brothers are back to buy food again.This time
their youngest brother. Benjamin, is with them.
Joseph is very happy to see him. He gives each
brother a bag of wheat. In Benjamin's bag he hides his
best cup.
When they leave, Joseph sends people to catch
them.They are scared!
But Joseph says, “I am Joseph, your brother. 1
forgive you." He is not angry with them.
Joseph sends his brothers to go get their father. Jacob.
At last the whole family is together again.
Genesis 42-46
God our Father, thank You for always making sure that
every thing works out best for me. Amen.
CHAT
|“BOX
What is in the bag? What is your best toy? How many
donkeys do you see? Look carefully: one is hiding.
17.	Moses in the Basket
Moses is a baby. His mother and his sister.
Miriam, arc worried because Pharaoh wants to kill all
the baby boys. They put Moses in a basket and hide
him between the reeds at the river's edge. His sister,
Miriam, hides in the bushes to keep an eye on him.
Pharaoh's daughter sees the baby in the basket.
She feels sorry for him. Miriam conies closer and tells
the princess.“I know a woman who can look after
the baby.”
So Mariam goes to get Moses' own mother!
God takes care ot Moses in this way.
Exodus 2
God our Father, thank You Jor qii’im] me a mom ami dad
to take care of me. Amen.
[“BOX
н Il here is Moses, his mother, ami sister? 11 hat else do
5 you see? Hhen it is time to take a hath, put a small
plastic container in the water. Hatch how it floats.
The Baby in the Bulrushes
Some years later, after Joseph had died, a new
Pharaoh came to rule over Egypt By this time
Jacob's descendants, the Israelites, had been
living in Egypt for many years, and there were now
a great number of them.
The new Pharaoh knew nothing about Joseph
and all that he had done to save the people from
starvation, and he said. 'These Israelites are getting
so many that they are becoming a threat to us. If
there was a war they might join up with our
enemies. We must find a way to suppress them/
So the Egyptians put slave-drivers over the
Israelites to make them work harder and harder,
and they made them build store-cities for Pharaoh
The more cruelly they were treated, however, the
more the Israelites seemed to increase in numbers.
The Egyptians grew to fear them and made their
lives miserable by being cruel and forcing them to
work even more	___
The Baby in the Bulrushes
In the end Pharaoh issued an order that all baby
boys bom to the Israelites should be killed as soon
as they were bom Baby girls, however, should be
allowed to live. The nurses to whom this order was
given refused to obey it. because they feared God.
so finally Pharaoh made an order to all the people
saying that every new baby boy born to the
Israelites should be drowned in the River Nile, but
about this law. One family already had two
children—a girl named Miriam and a boy named
Aaron and to them another baby boy was born
He was a fine baby, and the mother could not bear
to see him drowned, so she managed to keep him
hidden for three months.
As he grew' bigger, the time came when she
could hide him no longer, and so she and the
that they could let the girls live.	family had to think of another plan. She made him
The Plagues of Egypt
and soon nut one locust was left in Egypt However
the damage they had done was clear to everyone.
Yet again. Pharaoh had failed to learn his lesson,
and he did not let the Israelites go Then (kxi sent
a great darkness over Egypt for three days, so that
the Egyptians could not see one another—although
the Israelites still had light where they lived
because God was protecting them.
The Plagues of Egypt
'Go!' said Pharaoh to Moses. And take your
women and children too—but leave your animals
behind ’
But Moses refused to leave a single animal that
belonged to his people and insisted that every
donkey, ox. goal and sheep owned by the Children
of Israel should be free to leave Egypt with their
owners.
“ Я ЗНАЮ, ЧТО ЭТО ТОЛЬКО МОДЕЛЬ, НО Я, НА ВСЯКИЙ СЛУЧАЙ, ЕЁ СОХРАНЮ!”

Preparation for immortality
An Ancient Egyptian thought that the land of the dead would
be very much like the Nile valley. He believed that when he died
he would travel there and live in eternal happiness with the gods.
At first, only royalty was thought to enjoy an after-life, but, by the
lime of the New Kingdom, nobles, and eventually commoners,
believed that they would live for ever.
If the dead man's ka, or spirit, was to survive, his body had to
be preserved. The embalmer first removed the brain, then all the
contents of the stomach and chest except the heart. The heart was
thought to be the seat of intelligence and would be needed for
judgement in the underworld. The empty body was then washed
with palm wine and spices and covered with sodium salts for 70
days to dry it out. The intestines and other vital organs were
mummified and put in four containers called the Canopic Jars.
The dried body was packed with linen and spices, rubbed with oils
or wine and coated with melted resin. As the bandaging began,
prayers were recited from the Book of the Dead. Sometimes sacred
amulets (charms against evil) like the ankh, symbol of life, were
swathed in the linen. Finally, encased in its coffin, the mummy was
borne in procession from the east bank of the Nile, where priests
and family performed ceremonies which would restore the dead
man to life.
Because the next world reflected, as in a mirror, the present one.
the dead person was buried with furniture, hunting equipment,
clothes, jewellery and models of his servants. Food for his ka was
to be left daily in an adjoining shrine. The ka could only survive if
it had nourishment (which could be ensured by reciting the right
prayers too) and a habitation the tomb. The desecrations of the
tomb robbers were regarded with horror because they destroyed
the occupants' hopes of eternal life.
Animals honoured in death
Beasts associated with the gods
were frequently mummified. The
scarab beetle, crocodile and cat
were all embalmed and buried
either with humans or in their
own sacred cemeteries.
A ritual farewell
The mummy is supported as
the family and priests perform
the Opening of the Mouth
ceremony. They believed this
gave the dead man the power to
breathe.
Travel in the next world
Model boats similar to those
which bore the dead pharaohs
across the Nile, were often
entombed. This one is carved
with the head of Hathor.
Judgement among the gods
A feather, symbol of meet, or
truth, is weighed against the
dead man’s heart. Several gods
look on as the balance is
presented to the supreme judge.
Osiris for his verdict.
27
Fact file
The gods
There were state gods (in control of
the whole country and the king’s
protectors) and local gods (each
powerful in a specific town or
area). These gods had temples and
priests who were their "servants.”
1'here were also priestesses who
sang and danced in the temples.
Ordinary people prayed to and
worshiped household gods in their
own homes.
Mummification
After death, the bodies of rich
people were mummified. The major
body organs (except the heart and
kidneys) were removed and the
body and organs dried, using
natron (a natural mixture of salts).
The embalmers wrapped the
mummy in layers of linen
bandages. They placed special
jewelry between the layers, to bring
the person good luck in the life
after death. The preparation of the
mummy lasted for 70 days, and
then the family buried the body in a
tomb.
▼ Embalmers mummifying a body.
Mummification preserved the
body so that the dead person’s soul
(Ka) could recognize it when the
Ka returned to the tomb. The
Egyptians believed that the Ka
then entered the mummy for a
short time, so the dead person
could eat the food that his relatives
had brought to the tomb.
The pyramids
In some periods, the kings built
pyramids as their tombs. These
were perhaps intended to look like
the sun’s rays and to provide a
ramp for the dead king to join his
father, the sun god. Near the
pyramids at Giza, a “sun boat”
was found and excavated. The
Egyptians may have believed that
the dead king used this boat to sail
across the sky.
The end of ancient Egyptian
civilization
Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted
for about 5,000 years, but toward
the end, the country was overcome
and ruled by foreigners. First came
the Assyrians and the Persians,
followed by Alexander the Great in
332 b.c. When he died, the country
passed to his general, Ptolemy. The
Ptolemies then ruled Egypt, ending
with Queen Cleopatra VII. The
Roman general Octavian finally
took Egypt in 30 b.c., and it became
a province of the Roman Empire.
Writing
Egyptian language was w ritten in
three scripts: hieroglyphics (usually
used for texts about history or
religious beliefs), hieratic, and
demotic (both used for business and
everyday matters because they
were easier to write). Hieroglyphics
were a form of picture writing with
about 700 signs. In 1824. a
Frenchman. Jean Francois
Champollion. worked out how they
should be read, using the Rosetta
stone (now in the British Museum.
London). This stone had an
inscription written in Greek,
hieroglyphic, and demotic,
honoring King Ptolemy V.
31
=4*^* М. • ,*	* • >
Making a mummy
e Welcome to the necropolis, the city
of the dead! Here, the people who
turned dead bodies into mummies
worked. The skills of embalming, or
mummy-making, were passed on from father
to son. Embalmers learned how to remove a
body’s insides, dry it with sain- crystals, then
bandage it from head to roc. As they worked.
a priest chanted prayers, or spells, from
rhe Book of rhe Dead, to protect rhe
dead person on his or her journey
to rhe Next World.
Book of the Dead
The Book of the Dead
contained over 200 spells in
Egyptian picture writing,
called hieroglyphs.
12	^4^ *k • >

The judgement of Anhai. from a Book of i he Dead
Annai. led by Horus, has her heart weighed by
Anubis a jackal-god. while Thoth records the
result A horrid creature waits below, ready to
devour the unholy
waa HIH UIV VHU Ml	VUl mw	v>* w vtwiiin ...».
Seeing the effort that went into making pyramids and tombs,
and the cost of decorating them, many people think that the
Egyptians must have been a sad nation. Nothing could be farther
from the truth. The Egyptians loved life and gaiety, and firmly
believed that you could “take it with you" to the Next World.
It was only sensible, they thought, to put a lor of wealth and effort
into making sure of a comfortable eternity.
There was of course a problem. You could not possibly take
enough goods into the grave to last for ever. You could not even be
sure that your relatives would go on offering food at your tomb.
The Egyptians solved it by filling their tombs with models and
paintings showing scenes of daily life especially the growing and
making of food. It was believed that if the right prayers were
spoken, these scenes would come to life. Then the figures in them
would work for ever to supply the dead man and his family.
Ideas of the Next World changed a little during Egypt's long
history. In the early Old Kingdom it was believed that a dead king
would join the sun god Re and sail across the sky every day in his
holy boat. But by the end of the Old Kingdom, people began to
believe that the king would become one with Osiris, the god of
the dead. Egyptians of all ranks gradually turned to Osiris as their
hope of eternal life.
wire hook. The internal organs were
removed through a cut in the left side
and preserved in the canopic jars -
four covered jars made specially for
this purpose.
Then the body was covered with a
salt called natron, which dried all the
moisture from it. This process took
many days. The body was then
washed and anointed with oils and
fragrant ointments, and the empty
space inside was packed with linen.
Finally the body was wrapped with
layer upon layer of linen bandages,
and placed in one or more coffins.
The whole process of mummification
took 70 days.
rhe right answers-to any question?
asked. At one stage the dead person had
to face the Forty-two Assessors, who
would ask questions about what sins he
had committed.
Eventually the dead person reached
the Judgement Hall, and was greeted by
Horus, the son of Osiris. In the presence
of Osiris the ceremony of the Weighing
of the Heart was performed. Anubis, the
jackal-headed guardian of the dead,
weighed the dead person’s heart against
the Feather of Truth. A heart heavy' with
sin out-weighed the feather, and a
terrible fate awaited its owner. A virtuous
man would have a light heart, and pass
on to a happy eternal life in the Next
World.
The mummy and coffin of
an unknown priestess.
Notice the carefully bound
wrappings of the mummy,
and the painting on the
inside of the coffin.
The funeral procession of a
New Kingdom pharaoh A
group of professional
women mourners walks in
front of a chest containing
the inner organs pulled on a
sledge. Four yoked oxen
follow drawing the sledge
of the funeral boat, in which
rests the coffin containing
the mummy. The royal
standard bearers
accompany the boat.
35
г
A funeral procession
1 £l ' A funeral procession is winding its
M	way from rhe city of Thebes along
i	rhe banks of the Nile River. Slowly,
ir climbs toward rhe edge of rhe
Opening of the mouth
At a special ceremony, the
priests “opened the mouth”
desert, where a tomb has been carved in the
rocky cliffs. Oxen haul the coffin over the
stony ground on a boat-shaped sledge.
of the mummy so the dead
person could speak and
move in the Next World.
Meanwhile, priests sprinkle milk
and burn sweet-smelling
incense. Women weep and
wail as rhe procession
passes by.

Funeral boats
Sometimes, mummies were
carried on models of boats
or show n on a boat in a
painting in their tomb. This
was a symbol of the journey
by water to meet Osins.
Mast<
Pyramii
Sarcophagus
Mud brick
walls
Underground
burial chamber
Underground
burial chamber
Types of tomb
About 5,100 years ago,
nobles were often buried
in underground rooms
below walled buildings.
These are culled
mastaba tombs.
About 3,570
years ago, kings
were buried in secret
tombs, carved out of the
rocky cliffs in the Valley
of the Kings, near Thebes,
Well (to
dram water,
and trap
robbers) ч
About 4,650 years ago, hug<
pyramids were built above
the pharaohs’ tombs. The
most famous are at
Giza, west of the
Nile River.
Over thousands of years, rich
1	| Egyptians built different kinds
' j jff of tombs for their mummies. Most
mummies were buried in underground
chambers. Some of these were carved out of
solid rock. Some had a building with rooms
built over rhe top. One room was used as
a chapel for the dead.
All the tombs served the same purpose.
They had to protect rhe remains of rhe
dead person and his or her possessions
from sandstorms, robberies, and
other disasters.
Offerings to the dead
Outside many tombs were special
stone tables where food, drink, or
other offerings could be left for
the mummy’s ka.
A priest, or a relative of
the dead person, would pray
lor the offerings to be accepted.
The words of the prayers were
carved on stone slubs uround
the tomb.

Treasure hunters
When French soldiers
invaded Egypt 200 years
ago, treasure hunters
dug up manv mummies.
Robbers!
Robbers are breaking into a
royal tomb in the Valley of the
Kings. They have crept past the
guard and have tunneled down
to the burial chamber. They ure nervous.
They may still fall into one of the wells
built into the tomb’s passageways. And
if they are caught, they will probably be
killed. But if they can escape with even
a tiny gold statue, they will be able to live
in comfort for rhe rest of their lives.
Mummy magic
During the Middle Ages,
people in Europe used
stolen bits of mummies
to make medicines.
FINDING OUT
THE MODERN MAGAZINE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE EVERYWHERE Every Monday 2/* Vol. 8 No.10

Говард Картер и лорд Карнарвон заглядывают
в гробницу Тутанхамона. 26 ноября 1922 г.
A secret tomb
Imagine opening up the
secret tomb of someone who
has been dead for thousands
of years. You peer into the
darkness. Is that a glint of gold? You
hold up a candle. The chamber is filled
with treasure. Beyond, there are other
chambers, too. In one of them, you hope
to discover the coffin of a dead pharaoh,
a king of ancient Egypt. What will be
inside the coffin? A crumbling skeleton?
Probably not. The bodies of the pharaohs
were specially preserved, so that they
would lust forever.
Face of a mummy
Meet Seri I. un Egyptian king. Scti
died about 3,300 scars ago! When
he died, his bod) was made into a
mummy, to preserve if and keep it
whole. Sometimes dead bodies
become mummies naturally,
dried out in sand or frozen in
ice. But the ancient Egyptians
made mummies on purpose.