The glory of the ancient Egyptians

By Amal HEWAVISSENTI

Undoubtedly, Egypt must be proud of her ancient glory. Ancient Egypt developed along the River Nile around 5,000 years back and over the next 2,500 years, it grew into one of the greatest civilisations of all time. The ancient Egyptians chose to dwell by the River Nile in Africa because the river flooded annually spreading mud over the banks and thereby creating ideal fertile land for agricultural pursuits.

Kingship

Egypt became a single kingdom in about 3100 BC and this places it foremost among the most ancient states in the world. Conquests of other countries and establishment of a vast empire made Egyptians globally famous and their surprising capacity to farm a desert land is highly appreciated. The Egyptian empire declined in 30 BC when Romans extended their imperial authority on Egypt and made it a part of Roman empire.

The Pharaohs, the supreme rulers of Egypt were the gods after death and the high priests of the Egyptians. Moreover, the Pharaoh was considered to be the chief judge and also the commander-in-chief of the army. A large number of officials, probably the relatives of Pharaoh, was appointed by the king himself to steer the government. These specially appointed officials were chiefly responsible for the proper functioning of government departments such as the foreign affairs, the civil service, public records and treasury. The Pharaohs were the symbol of power and supreme kingship. Ordinary Egyptians worked on the land as farmers and some hunted animals such as deer. Some of the ordinary Egyptians fished and trapped animals sometimes just for sport.

The well known tomb cut into rock is that of Tutan Khamun in the famous valley of kings. In pyramids, the actual burial place was reached by a long passage carefully blocked and hidden from tomb robbers. The pyramids were built close to the river Nile, so that massive stone blocks could be transported to the building site by boat and moved on sledges. Here the body of Pharaoh to be buried also arrived by boat. The "Nilometers" exhibit the exceptional engineering expertise of early Egyptians. They built special nilometers to measure the height of the flood waters in July, to work out how much water they could use when ploughing began in October. The ancient Egyptians employed papyrus reeds to make boats, shoes, and writing paper. Papyrus scrulls preserve ancient Egyptians hieroglyphic writing which could be translated today. They used papyrus to write on and for painting hieroglyphs for their writing.

Mummification

As ancient Egyptians firmly believed in life after death, their bodies were mummified to prevent decay and it took almost seventy days to mummify a body. The body was preserved in salt for forty days to dry. Before being bandaged, the dried body was rubbed with oils and spices and the heart was placed inside. When the body was completely dry it was wrapped in linen bandages and was sealed inside a coffin.

Most of the internal organs were placed in canopy jars. The falcon-headed canopy jar held the intestines while the jackal headed canopy jar held the stomach. Amulets were wrapped into the bandages to ward off any force of evil.

The sun-god Ra and Osiris the god of the dead were the most prominent gods worshipped by them. When kings and queens died, they were placed in tombs together with possibly necessary things for the next world, such as food, jewels, shabtis and other possessions that they intensely loved when they were alive. Most royal tombs were later robbed but the tomb of the boy Pharaoh Tutankhaman was found in 1922 with most of its treasures untouched.

The Egyptians thought that the dead person made a journey to the next world and continued to live the same type of life there.

The king would still be a king and a farm labourer would still be a farm labourer.

Famous figures

Cleopatra, the ancient Egypt's most famous queen, succeeded in holding onto power for many years before she died stung by a poisonous snake. On her father's death in 51 BC. Cleopatra ruled Egypt with her younger brother Ptolemy.

However at this time, expanding Roman empire was slowly invading Egypt and she was ousted by Romans. She was soon restored to power by Julius Caesar who allowed her to rule Egypt with another of her brothers.

Meanwhile, Mark Antony having made his base in the capital of Egypt, Alexandria permitted Cleopatra and her son Caesorion to be joint rulers of Egypt and Cyprus.

However, civil war broke out again in the Roman empire in 31 BC and Antony and Cleopatra were defeated at the battle of Actium by Octavius. They both committed suicide rather than be taken prisoner. Tutankhaman (about 1370 - 1352 BC) is one of the best known of all the Egyptian kings. However, the exact reason for his sudden death is still shrouded in mystery. His fame is based mainly on the amazing treasures found inside his tomb when it was discovered in 1922.

The treasure includes solid gold coffin, jewellery, a throne, weapons, chariots and a celebrated gold funeral mask which shows what the young king actually looked like. The Egyptian empire came to an end in 30 BC when the Romans invaded and Egypt became part of the Roman empire.