Ancient Egypt : A Tomb For The Pharaohs Of The Old Kingdom

The Nile was the source of everything in Ancient Egypt. Early people built their lives around a river, eventually developing into Ancient Egypt. The Nile did not shape Ancient Egypt literally, but culturally. The Nile grew Egypt’s crops, created its traditions, making jobs, giving life to and protecting all.

In 1799, when Napoleon’s army was dismantling a wall in Rashid, Egypt, they discovered the Rosetta Stone. Little did they know that this 11-inch thick piece of rock would be one of the greatest discoveries in history! It contained Egyptian scripture, with Greek also on the stone. This was used to decode the once lost Egyptian writing system. Before the 1800’s, attempts at trying to uncover the secrets held by the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics found on walls inside numerous tombs were useless. The pictures were falsely believed to be symbolic, representing some sort of object or idea. Something soon changed all of this misconception. 1799 was the year of a great breakthrough in Egyptology. French troops, under

The Nile flood cycle was broken up into three different seasons. The first was Akhet (flood season), which happened mid-June to mid-October. During this time, the Nile flooded and land was fertilized. Farmers had to find other means of work during this time, such as repairing canals, or working in the quarries. The second season was Peret (planting & growing season), which happened mid-October to mid-February. During this time the flooding stopped, and crops were planted and tended to. The final season was Shemu (harvest season), which happened mid-February to mid-June. During this time, crops in the Lower Nile were harvested and sent to the market. The lives of Ancient Egyptians depended on the success of the flood cycle. If one year, there was a “bad Nile,” the lives of Ancient Egyptians were put at risk. Too little water could cause the soil to be dry, which would cause a bad harvest. On the other hand, too much water can cause the soil to have excess water, which could affect the growth of the crops. The Nile River decided the fate of the Ancient Egyptians. Understanding the flood cycle was imperative to the success of Ancient

The Nile River is approximately 4,260 miles long. It holds the record for being the longest river in the world. The Nile was a life source for Egyptians. The fertile land from the frequent flooding was very beneficial for Egyptians. They began to grow crops alongside the Nile. Beans, wheat, and cotton were among the crops being grown. However, the amount of crops grown was limited because the land did not extend very far. The land good enough to support farming was composed of two thin strips of land on either side of the river. Farming opened the door to a critical advancement in human life.

The Nile River was the life force of ancient Egypt. People from all over the region immigrated to the area for its irrigation waters and rich silt deposits. The geography of the region played a huge role in the way the inhabitants and civilization in general was formed. The main core of Egypt covered 386, 560 square miles, of which only 11, 720 were cultivable (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 62). The Nile differed itself specifically from the Tigris and Euphrates in that its waters did not irrigate or fertilize nearly as well but it did create green belts along the water. This created a society that flourished along the river. The Nile unlike Mesopotamia did not have a bountiful borderland but did have a desert rich in materials. The Niles predictability as the source of life and abundance shaped the character of the people and their culture. (Tignor et al., Worlds Together, 63). The Nile was peaceful and calm unlike the vicious Tigris And Euphrates Rivers. Egypt with its natural borders, which included the Mediterranean Sea, Deserts, and Large Waterfalls, was very isolated. This helped to achieve

The Nile shaped Egypt by, the Nile gave them fertile soil for farming. For example the Nile would flood once every fall once a year. In Document B it states that waters receded but the

Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian agricultural lives were highly differentiated due to their contrasting geographical situations, and also differences in technological processes and developments. Only a small area of Egyptian land (the Delta and Nile Valley) was fertile during the annual inundation of the river Nile. Moreover, harsh natural circumstances created a famine risk for the entire population, thus restricting the freedom to decide for a common citizen. To illustrate, an uneven spillage of the river Nile, when there were insufficient water resources for the agriculture or floods threatening corps, required a unified, or communal, water regulation and distributional system. So, a

The Rosetta Stone was a crucial part of deciphering hieroglyphs for mankind. The Rosetta Stone is a large piece of dark grey granite. The Stone is three feet nine inches long and two feet four inches wide. The stone approximately weighs a massive 1,680 pounds. Carved by the Egyptians in 196 B.C., the Stone contains a portion of text reflected in three scripts. One of the scripts, Hieroglyphs, had not been deciphered when the Stone was discovered. The other two scripts are Demotic and Classical Greek. Demotic is a language spoken by the Egyptians used in the Nile Delta. The Stone was discovered by the French at the end of the 18th century. The Rosetta Stone was the key to translating the

At times, it was a Pharaoh, dominating their status over their subjects or claiming territory. Other times, it was of a god, showing the kingdoms religious devotion. The wealthy, high status and revered were also immortalized in stone, among other people of importance. This deduction helps archaeologists narrow their search for the face of the Great Sphinx.

The Nile River is arguably one of the most important water sources in the world and has an extremely rich history dating back thousands of years. Without the Nile, the ancient Egyptian civilization would have never existed. Egypt is basically a whole lot of sand and not much else, except they have the Nile River flowing through it, on it’s way to the Mediterranean sea. The ancient Egyptians lived along the Nile River and it provided them with abundant water, food (fish) and the opportunity to develop agriculture along it’s banks. The Nile River was also used for transportation and trade with other regions because land travel was more difficult than floating on the river. The Ancient Egyptians were at the mercy of the seasonal flooding and

The Sphinx of Giza is a symbol that has represented the essence of Egypt for thousands of years. The body of a lion with the head of a king comes from the Egyptian culture symbolizing strength and wisdom. The sphinx is a carved out of the living rock. Egyptologists believe that the sphinx was built in 2500 BC in the fourth dynasty. From the north side the profile of the Sphinx reveals the proportion of the body to the head. It would appear as though the head is small in proportion to the body. Because of the changing desert terrain, the body of the Sphinx has been buried several times over the past several thousand years. Most recently in 1905, the sand has been cleared away to expose the magnitude and beauty of the entirety of

The Rosetta Stone is a large stone covered in writing in three scripts: hieroglyphics, demotic, and Greek. It was discovered by French soldiers in the late 1700s at the time of the Napoleonic conquest and occupation of Egypt. Napoleon had brought French intellectuals to help him study things about Egypt and they believed that The Rosetta Stone would be the code to deciphering Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. However, when the French were beaten by British military forces, they were forced to give up many Egyptian artifacts including the stone. François Champollion was the first to finally decode the hieroglyphic inscriptions Rosetta Stone, and this led to a greater understanding of ancient Egyptian society and culture.

The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799, by French soldiers who were building a fort near the Egyptian village of Rosetta. The soldiers noticed a dark, grey stone of granite sticking out of the ground that was attached to a wall inside of an ottoman fortress. They dug the piece of stone out and it stood about four feet tall and two and a half feet wide. With closer examination they realized it contained lines of writing. The soldiers notified the chief general in Egypt, Jacques-Francoise Menou, because they understood that they have discovered something valuable. Months later, the stone was shipped to Napoleon for greater inspection.

Deep inside the pyramids lays the Pharaoh's burial chamber which would be filled with treasure and items for the Pharaoh to use in theafterlife. The walls were often covered with carvings and paintings. Near the Pharaoh's chamber would be other rooms where familymembers and servants were buried. There were often small rooms that acted as temples and larger rooms for storage. Narrowpassageways led to outside.Sometimes fake burial chambers or passages would be used to try and trick grave robbers. Because therewas such valuable treasure buried within the pyramid, grave robbers would try to break in and steal the treasure. Despite the Egyptian'sefforts, nearly all of the pyramids were robbed of their treasures by 1000 B.C.

Egypt is the most iconic of the river valley civilizations and it is also one of the most significant civilizations of all. The trade mark of Egypt is the Nile River. It was the most Important part of the geography. The predictable and cyclical flooding of the Nile was what helped agriculture thrive in Egypt. Agriculture emerged in Egypt by 5,000 BCE. The flooding of the river acted as a perfect irrigation system for plants and silt that cam from the river was nutrient rich and helped grow plants at a great scale. Egyptian agriculture was so successful that there was a great surplus of food.