Ancient Egyptian Culture and Its Influence on Poetry Essay

“Whatever we do or fail to do will influence the course of history” once announced by Arthur Henderson. So you want to be educated about the Nile and ancient Egypt, here are a few facts to get you started. Egypt is a very old, ancient place, the first pharaoh began ruling around 2920 BCE. Almost 5,000 years ago. The famous Nile River, almost everybody knows about, is located in Egypt. The Nile River shaped life in ancient Egypt in several areas of Egyptian life. Three of these ways were transportation and farming, spiritual life, and population and settlement.

During the time of ancient Egypt's New Kingdom, love songs were recorded and later discovered by excavators. The importances of these songs are that they contradicted the perception which Egyptologists had of the ancient Egyptians. No longer were the ancient Egyptians viewed as being a dull society, focused on death and the afterlife, but rather a society with a love for living through loving love itself (Fowler 1994:xiv). Thus, in this essay, through analyzing the Ramesside love songs, I shall explore this different view

Ancient Egypt is a civilization of wealth and structure that flourished along the Nile River in northeastern Africa from about 3300 B.C to 30 B.C. In over 3,000 years, one of the most sophisticated and creative societies advanced where no other civilization did. 2,000 years later, it would be hard to think about the world without the impact of ancient Egypt, because it seems to have significantly affected every field of our American culture. The Egyptians have heavily influenced our culture’s literature, architecture, art, film, and politics.

The people groups in ancient Egyptian were very different than our societies social groups today. Ancient Egyptians were grouped in a hierarchical system with the Pharaoh at the top and farmers and slaves at the bottom. The groups of people nearest to the top of society were the richest and most powerful. The Pharaoh was believed to be a god on earth and had the most power. He was responsible for making laws and keeping order. Ensuring that Egypt was not attacked or invaded by enemies and for keeping the gods happy so that the Nile flooded and there was a good harvest. The Vizier was the Pharaoh's chief advisor

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

Ancient Egyptian art is five thousand years old. It emerged and took shape in the ancient Egypt, the civilization of the Nile Valley. Ancient Egyptian art was shown with emotion beautifully in painting and sculpture, and was both highly symbolic and stylized. The exceptional traditions in Egypt is one of the most important things in the history of art. The tombs and temples of the Egyptians have expressed the grandeur of the kingdom of the Nile. Egyptian sculptors and painters began to formulate patterns to represent figures and stories. Egyptians used the art to represent a continuation of life after death, it was an important part of their culture. They believed that, in order for the spirit to live on, the dead person's body had to be preserved, or mummified, and buried along with supplies of food and drink, tools and utensils, valued possessions. (Scholastic) Egyptian art was becoming more realistic, which moved away from the ways of

“Egypt…is, so to speak, the gift of the Nile.” (Doc. E). The Nile River was a river that flowed for approximately 680 miles through ancient Egypt, and through other African countries. It was a crucial water source for ancient Egypt, and it was essential for the survival of the Egyptian people. Ancient Egypt was one of the dominating river valley civilizations in the ancient world, and it was located in northern Africa. It had deserts, bodies of water, mountains, and flat plains. In this context, shaping means developing and impacting. The Nile River shaped ancient Egypt in many ways. The geographical aspect and the resources the Nile provided; the transportation, and therefore trade; and the spiritual impact on the Egyptians that the Nile had all played roles in the shaping of ancient Egypt.

Ancient Egypt is such an interesting and amazing society to study due to the various factors that allowed the city and population to thrive. The culture, quite different to other cultures around the world in ancient times, developed quite unique traditions, technologies and ideas. Small features of this society including aligning the 4 corners of the pyramids and being able to divide the year into 365 days makes it truly fascinating, The main reason that this society was able to thrive and be successful can be attributed to the great Nile River. Due to this people were able to settle which lead to the creation of a surplus, which could be sustained for around 2000 years.

The Egyptian civilization was founded in much the same way as the Sumerian cities; the banks of the Nile River, which overflowed on a regular timetable, provided the necessary nutrients to the normally dry desert soil, allowing the people to build a thriving empire that lasted over 3000 years. This overflowing and irrigation of the river regulated Egyptian farming, and allowed for specialization within the society. (Chavalas, 42) The people of Egypt recognized this, and there are many places in their writings where they thank the gods for gifting them with the Nile: for example, this line in Akhenaton’s Hymn to the Aton which says, “You create Hapy, the Nile…to bring him, at your desire, to nourish the people.” (Brophy, 65) In addition to the river, the harsh climate of the desert around them protected them from military attack and allowed income and resources to be invested in arts and architecture, as opposed to weapons and the cultivation of an army. The combination of these two forces encouraged the creation of a class system within Egyptian society, where people could develop skills as artisans, merchants, scribes, priests, government officials, and may other varied professions. The complex and ritualistic religion of the Egyptians, as well as their favorable views on the afterlife, were also created through the time that they were able to spend philosophizing, instead of fighting to

Ancient Egypt is one of the finest examples of an ancient civilization known today. Their culture was one of many marvels. These included architectural wonders like the famous pyramids of Giza, as well as many other mathematical and medicinal advancements. One of the more fascinating elements of ancient Egyptian culture was their diverse and interesting religion. Egyptian religion covered all of the standard elements of life that most religions do, but was different in how certain elements of life and death were handled. The stories of the Egyptian gods are quite dramatic, with fighting and arguing with a dash of fratricide. Egyptian religion was not without its questioners however; with the most famous case being a pharaoh named Akhenaten.

Egyptians began to settle along the banks of the Nile River, Starting as far north as to the city of Alexandria all the way down south to Aswan. They developed into a well-structured society as Far East to the Red Sea and west to Dakhia, Oasis among many (Figure 1.). The Nile River reached far lending a hand in creating a well-known civilization that consisted of building pyramids and producing crops for their pharaoh. Evolving from hunters and gatherers into agriculturalists throughout history, Egypt has claimed to be one of the earliest and most spectacular civilizations of ancient times. One could wonder if, what led to the collapse of this great society resulted from the Egyptians interaction with the environment by overusing

Have you ever wondered how Ancient Egypt helped shape the world today? Ancient Egyptians were a group of folks who were heavily influenced by religion. They feared dying anywhere but Egypt. The Egyptian Empire held a fascinating and very distinctive culture. Being one of the world 's most advanced cultures and creating tons of wealth is what separated them from everybody else. Between the outstanding artwork, teaching methods, and amazing pyramids is what helped their society advance altogether. No other civilization of the ancient world history had such a popular appeal and none as important as human society and its organization. Egyptians have made great steps in shaping the world we all know today, which have made studying their culture and society easier than some previous historical eras.

Within the society of ancient Egypt, having a good Pharaoh was considered to be absolutely vital for the functioning of the country; and it was for this reason that Egypt had been ruled by these supposedly half gods half humans for over three thousand years. The position of the Pharaoh was auspiciously passed down through the royal family and traditionally to the eldest son when his father died. Hatshepsut was a significant individual who thwarted this convention by depicting herself as a male so that after her husband/brother Thutmosis II died suddenly she could become Pharaoh instead of the rightful successor, who was Thutmosis III. Because of the male-governed society of which she had lived in, Hatshepsut had to indeed subvert the

Egyptian civilization was born from the vast and unique Nile River. This river provided the rich “Black Land” soil that was the foundation for agriculture (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). Although there was no need for irrigation as in Mesopotamia, Egyptians were able to provide an abundance of foods for their civilization base. The Nile River not only provided land perfect for farming it was also used as a mode of transportation for the Egyptians enabling the trade of imports and exports. Due to natural barriers in the geography and the strategic use of fortifications, Egyptians were able to create a secure way of life protected from invasion. This way of life was organized hierarchical lines with a god-king at the top (Duiker & Spielvogel, 2010). The ruling class consisted of nobles and priests who assisted the god-king and ran the government. The middle class society was made up of merchants and artisans who controlled trade and art while the rest of the population were common farmers and slaves. Similar to the Mesopotamians, controlling the vast civilization of Egypt were the numerous gods and goddesses created by the polytheism belief. These gods were represented in wall paintings,

There are many civilizations in history that contributed to the rise of modern day society. All of the things that we see today have been in some way shape or form improved upon to stand the test of time. From the structures of buildings, religion and pyramids, to the influence of art, it all played a part. The ancient civilization of the Egyptians was one of the most significant and well known cultures to ever have existed and technology wise, they were light years ahead.