Egyptian society originated almost six thousand years ago, in northeast Africa, in a territory bathed by the Mediterranean Sea, to the north, and the Red Sea, to the east. The Nile River crosses Egypt from north to south and runs through more than a thousand kilometers of desert, forming a strip of life and natural riches. It was in this area that most of the population settled since the rest of the Egyptian territory was made up of arid and desert lands. The river was both a source of resources and a route of communication.
This region was in the Fertile Crescent, formed by the Tigris, Euphrates, Nile, and Jordan rivers, which currently corresponds to the territories of Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, and Jordan. Egypt was the only civilization at the time and in the region to consolidate itself as a unified kingdom, unlike, for example, Mesopotamia which, despite having gone through several kingdoms, never completely unified. This, in part, is explained by the need for a centralized State that would organize the irrigation works necessary to guarantee the survival of the population.
The Nile was fundamental to the construction of Egyptian civilization, as its frequent floods fertilized the soil. As its perennial waters did not dry out at certain times of the year, it was possible to channel them through irrigation works. Artificial channels were created through which water passed to irrigate plantations further away from the banks of the river.
The name "Egypt" comes from the Greek Aegyptos, the Greek pronunciation of the ancient Egyptian name Hwt-Ka-Ptah (Mansion of the Spirit of Ptah), originally the name of the city of Memphis, the first capital of Egypt and a famous religious and commercial center. In Antiquity, the territory was known as Kemet (Black Land), due to the rich dark soil along the Nile, where the first settlements began. It later became known as Misr, which means country, a name that Egyptians still use today to talk about their nation.
Egypt prospered for thousands of years (about 8,000 BC to about 30 BC) as an independent nation whose culture was famous for great advances in all areas of knowledge, from the arts to science and from technology to religion. Its great monuments reflect the depth and grandeur of Egyptian culture that influenced so many ancient civilizations, including Greece and Rome.
Desert and arid geography
Egypt is a land of duality and cycles, both in topography and culture. The geography is almost entirely desert and arid, except for a lush green area that stretches along both sides of the Nile. The river emerges from the southern tip, deep in Africa, and flows into the Mediterranean Sea in the north, after spreading from a single channel into a fan-shaped system, known as a delta, in its northernmost section. The river valley is flanked by imposing limestone and sandstone cliffs, with deposits of other harder stones, such as granite, found in the Aswan area to the south.
Cliffs are steep walls found on the coast of almost the entire world, carved by the slow but constant action of sea water, through waves and tides, and by rain, which after a long period hitting the rock, ends up sculpting it, giving rise to high and steep coasts, a direct result of sea erosion.
One of the reasons for the general stability of Egyptian culture was that it was isolated by virtue of its geography. With high cliffs and vast deserts bordering the east and west, the sea to the north, and a series of huge Nile rapids to the south, the stretch of river valley that gave rise to dynastic Egypt was quite enclosed. The Nile provided a constant source of vital water and created the fertile lands that supported the growth of Egyptian civilization.
The rhythm of the Nile
The flooding of the Nile has been an important natural cycle in Egypt since ancient times. Heavy rains from the Ethiopian highlands caused waters to begin rising in June, flooding the Nile Valley, and depositing nutrient-rich soil. As a result, the flood transformed the desert into productive farmland. Thanks to the river's predictability, the Egyptians built an empire based on agricultural wealth. They grew staple foods like wheat and barley, as well as industrial crops like flax and papyrus. Farmers developed a complex irrigation system, digging canals to direct flood waters and saturate the soil, preparing it for planting. Mud from the riverbanks was transformed into bricks used in construction.
The river as a natural highway
The Nile provided a natural highway for transporting goods and people. Most of the major cities were located along the banks of the river. Ships transported merchants, messengers, and armies throughout the kingdom. Building materials and other goods could be transported quickly. The journey from Memphis to Thebes normally accepted to two months during the dry season, but in the flood season this same journey was reduced to about two weeks.
The annual renewal of the land by the Nile influenced the ancient Egyptian people's view of life, death, and the afterlife. Much of their cultural identity was tied to what they observed in the natural world around them. Sunrise and sunset; the movements of the stars in the sky; the annual flooding of the Nile; planting, cultivating, and harvesting served as evidence of daily life regularly renewed by natural forces. The Egyptians saw their own lives as a cycle: they were born, grew, died and, most importantly, were reborn.
The Two Lands
The ancient Egyptians divided their country into Two Lands. Lower Egypt was in the north and ended in the Nile Delta. Upper Egypt was in the south. To the ancients, Kemet or “black land” denoted the rich, fertile land of the Nile Valley, while Deshret or “red land” referred to the hot, dry desert. The pharaoh's role was to unify the Two Lands.
The Western Desert (Sahara) was approximately twice the size of the Eastern Desert (Arabian). These deserts were inhospitable and created buffer zones between Egypt and its neighbors. Physical isolation allowed Egypt to build and defend a distinct and unique civilization.
Egyptian civilization
Egyptian civilization was extremely sophisticated. Like all ancient people, the Egyptians were excellent astronomers. Observing the path of the sun, they divided the calendar into 365 days and one day into 24 hours, which is still used today by most Western peoples.
In medicine, they wrote several treatises on medicines to cure diseases, surgeries, and descriptions of the functioning of organs. There were specialist doctors and their assistants, equivalent to current nurses. Egyptian society developed writing composed of hieroglyphics with figures of animals, body parts or everyday objects that was used to record history, religious texts, the economy of the kingdom and so on.
Egyptian society
Egypt's social organization did not feature mobility, therefore social class was determined by birth. It was a theocratic monarchy deeply marked by polytheistic organization, with the entire political and social body determined according to the belief in the divinity of the political leader. The Pharaoh occupied the top of the pyramid, venerated as a true god, considered as the intermediary between human beings and other deities. Below him, in the highest social category were the priests, who exercised religious power and held administrative positions. Along with the nobles, the priests formed the royal court. Both the nobility and the priesthood were hereditary, making up the military and landowning elite.
Scribes were responsible for the royal administration, collecting and organizing taxes as they were the only ones who mastered writing. They were at the service of the State to plan, supervise and control the economy. They were the ones who wrote down the pharaoh's deeds during his reign, in texts that would be placed in the tombs after the pharaohs' death.
The base of the social pyramid was formed by servants, artisans, peasants, slaves (at certain times, such as the Hebrews during the reign of Ramses II) and soldiers. The army was made up of young people called up in wartime and foreign mercenary soldiers hired by the State. Artisans were salaried workers who practiced different trades such as stone cutters, carpenters, jewelers, etc. Most of the population were peasants who worked in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Women had a prestigious position and could perform any political, economic, or social function on an equal basis with men in their social category. They could even be pharaohs, as was the case with Cleopatra.
Government and politics
As we have already said, the government was organized in the form of a theocracy, a term originating from Greek, in which théos means “god” and kratos, from which the suffix “cracy” derives, means “power,” in the sense of government. The theocracy was organized around the pharaoh, a living deity, emissary of the other deities of the Egyptian polytheistic pantheon, according to religious belief. As a result, the State was a strong and authoritarian institution, represented by the pharaoh.
The pharaoh – not just a king
With unlimited powers, the pharaoh governed the kingdom, dictated the laws, owned most of the land, commanded the army, controlled commerce, and a large part of the population. For the Egyptians he was a god. Everyone knelt as he passed. They believed that no one could look into his eyes, nor touch his body. They also thought that the pharaoh had magical powers and was capable of great feats, such as causing the Nile to flood. When the pharaoh died, he was succeeded on the throne by his son and a dynasty was formed. In the history of Egypt there were thirty-one dynasties, from the Old Kingdom (with King Menes, from 3,100) until the fourth century, when Greco-Roman rule began.
Culture in Ancient Egypt
The culture was quite rich and inseparable from its religious and political models. One can cite as an example of ancient Egyptian culture the process of mummification, in which the body of a dead person (be it a pharaoh, member of the royal family or of a high social category) was prepared through a complex ritual. Preparing the body for burial involved removing its organs, drying the skin, and wrapping it in strips of linen. At the end of the process, the body became known as the pharaoh's mummy.
Another highlight of the culture is literature, developed from the scribes' skills with hieroglyphic writing. Its function was not literary but administrative and accounting to assist the government of the kingdom. Literary and historical functions were acquired over time and found intact in tombs and buildings discovered by archaeology.
Egypt's impact on other cultures is undeniable. There is evidence of trade connections extending as far east as the Indus Valley predating the Predynastic Period. The Indus Valley civilization existed in the Bronze Age, in the northwestern regions of South Asia between 3,300 BC and 1,300 BC. Its peak occurred from 2,600 BC to 1,900 BC. These trade routes passed through the Middle East and resulted in cultural exchange between the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt. This brought even more active links with Western Asia, including strong trade and diplomatic relations, as well as a mutual cultural exchange with the Assyrians and Hittites. Egypt also provided some of the foundations for the cultures of the Aegean, Greece, and Rome, and through them influenced many aspects of Western tradition.
Egyptian economy
The economy was based mainly on agriculture of cereals, flax, vegetables, and papyrus. Cattle and horse farming was developed for several purposes: food, leather to produce various products, means of transport and animal traction for farming. Furthermore, the domestication of various animals was common, such as hyenas, antelopes, pelicans, and cats — the latter with a prominent place in Egyptian culture and were even mummified.
The Greek historian Herodotus said: Egypt is the gift of the Nile. This shows the importance of the water body for the structuring of this society. The Nile River was responsible for moving the economy. After the floods, when the land was fertile, wheat, barley, fruits, vegetables, linen, papyrus, and cotton were planted. The Nile was also used for fishing and to guarantee political unity in Egypt, as it was a route used for communication between the two points of the territory.
Peasants understood the river's flood and flow regimes. Thus, they planted and harvested according to the maximum fertility of the soil and the drought of the climate. To better utilize the yield from the land, they developed measurement and counting systems, bearing in mind that taxes were paid according to the size of the cultivated area and, therefore, they needed precise notes on the amounts charged.
The land belonged to the pharaoh and peasants were obliged to donate part of their products to the State in exchange for the right to cultivate the soil. However, the construction of dikes, reservoirs and irrigation canals was the task of the State, which employed both free and slave labor.
Religion in Ancient Egypt
The religion was characterized by three major features: polytheistic, Anthrop zoomorphic and funerary. Polytheism means that people believed in several gods, who had specific personalities and functions. During certain periods, there were main gods, such as Amun-Ra in the New Kingdom, and the belief in divine trinities, which worked together, such as that formed by Osiris, Isis, and their son Horus.
Anthrop zoomorphism refers to the way in which deities are represented, portrayed in the form of man (from the Greek, anthropo) and animal (from the Greek, zoo). All deities were represented with human and animal forms, generally with a human body and animal head. Often, in the famous rituals of mummification and worship of the dead, Egyptian citizens used jackal masks to honor this deity. The objective of these rituals was to lead a “good death” to the corpse as they wanted longevity and fought against the finiteness of life.
The funerary characteristic refers to the belief in life after death, determining the existence of complex burial rituals, which involved mummification, construction of pyramids (typical of the Old Kingdom) or underground tombs (typical of the New Kingdom). Amid the mummies embalming processes, the Egyptians developed techniques and knowledge about the human body and its anatomy. Many of these methods influenced the development of medicine, chemistry, physics and even pharmacology.
Immortal soul
For the Egyptians, life on earth was just one aspect of an eternal journey. The soul was immortal and only inhabited a body on the physical plane for a brief period. After death, the person would be judged in the Hall of Truth. If he were justified, he would go to an eternal paradise known as the Field of Reeds, a reflection of the person's life on earth. In paradise, he would live peacefully in the company of those he loved on earth, including pets, in the same neighborhood near the same river, under the same trees in which he was thought to be lost when he died. However, eternal life was only possible for those who lived well and according to the will of the gods in the most perfect place to achieve this goal: Egypt.
The gods
In the Predynastic Period (c. 6,000 BC - c. 3,150 BC), Egyptian culture was defined by its beliefs in the gods. One of the earliest creation myths refers to the god Atum who appeared in the midst of chaos before the beginning of time and his word gave rise to creation. He was accompanied by the eternal force of Heka (magic), personified in the god Heka and other spiritual forces that animated the world. Heka was a primordial force that infused the universe and was the cause of everything working the way it did. It also gave rise to the central value of Egyptian culture: Ma'at, harmony and balance.
All the gods and their responsibilities turned to Ma'at and Heka. The sun rose and set, and the moon traveled across the sky, and the seasons came and went according to the balance and order made possible by these two agents. Ma'at was also personified as a deity, the goddess of the ostrich feather, to whom every king pledged all his abilities and devotion. The king was associated with the god Horus in life and Osiris in death, based on a myth that became the most popular in Egyptian history.
Osiris and his sister and wife, Isis, were the original monarchs who ruled the world and gave the people the gifts of civilization. Osiris' brother Set became jealous of him and murdered him. Isis, however, brought him back to life and later gave him a son, Horus. However, Osiris was incomplete and descended to rule the underworld. Horus, as an adult, avenged his father and defeated Set. The myth represents how order triumphed over chaos and would become a persistent motif in Egyptian religion, mortuary rituals, religious texts, and art. There was no period when the gods were not an integral part of the everyday lives of Egyptians, and this is clearly seen from the earliest history of the country.
Journey to the afterlife
The ancient Egyptians believed that every living person was made up of three essential elements: body, Ba and Ka. They knew that one day the body would die, but they believed that the other parts of a person would survive. Ba was essentially a person's personality, all the things that made them unique. Ka, the life force, made life possible for the body and for Ba. Death occurred when Ka separated from the body. To achieve a successful afterlife, Ba had to reunite with his Ka.
When this happened, the person could live forever in the spiritual form known as Akh, or “efficacious being.” To make the powerful transition to the afterlife, the deceased had to navigate a perilous journey. The journey was guided by Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the dead. The statue of Anubis stood guard in the burial chamber of the king's tomb. Positioned between the front paws was a small brick of raw clay, known as a “magic brick.” Its inscription read:
“I am the one who binds the sand to the
wall of the hidden chamber,m the active
combatant who repels him into the flame
of the desert. I set fire to the desert; I diverted
the paths. I am the protector of Osiris."
Some think this message may have been the origin of the “curse of the pharaohs,” the idea that disturbing the sealed tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs would result in premature death.
Prayers and instructions
The deceased was usually buried with a manual, a series of papyrus scrolls. Scholars called these scrolls the Book of the Dead. These prayers and instructions helped the deceased pass through the trials of the underworld. Although a Book of the Dead was not found in King Tutankhamun's tomb, many prayers and images were depicted on amulets and inscriptions in the tomb.
Traveling by boat with Anubis, the deceased traveled through a world full of terrible beasts to reach the Kingdom of Duat (Land of the Gods). There were seven gates, each requiring the precise recitation of a magical spell. If successful, the deceased would reach the Hall of Osiris, where they would undergo a final test.
Their hearts were heavy against a feather of Ma'at, the goddess of truth and justice. Those who passed by became one with Osiris and achieved immortality. Those who failed were eaten by a beast called Ammit.
Ancient Egyptians wore amulets, pieces of jewelry that were supposed to protect against evil. Some amulets were threaded through the layers of the mummy's wrappings to protect each part of the body. 143 small amulets were found in King Tutankhamun's packaging. Other amulets were placed throughout his tomb.
The “opening of the mouth”
For a person's soul to survive in the afterlife, it would need food and water. The ritual of opening the mouth was performed so that the deceased could return to eating and drinking. This ceremony was believed to be essential for reviving a person's Ka (or life force). The dead king’s son or heir usually conducted it, in this case Ay, who succeeded Tutankhamun. For this ceremony, the mummified king was placed on his feet and Ay touched his mouth, eyes, and nose with various instruments.
The mouth-opening ceremony is depicted on the north wall of the burial chamber of Tutankhamun's tomb. The king is portrayed as Osiris, but his name is written in hieroglyphs above his head.
In this depiction, Ay is dressed in a special priest's outfit that includes a leopard skin. He is holding a tool called an adze. The table contains more tools, an animal's leg, and five drinks – possibly some of the food the king could enjoy when the ceremony was over. Scholars think that there was a funeral meal, eaten by the king's family and friends, after this ceremony. Remnants of what could have been this special meal were found buried in a pit near his tomb.
In the next post we will talk about the history of Ancient Egypt.
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