The Damns: The Ancient Egyptian Civilization

One way Ancient Egypt was a complex civilization is by having methods of keeping records. The ancient Egyptians used a writing called hieroglyphs for this indicator. Ancient Egypt had a language called hieroglyphs that they started using around 3100 B.C.E. Hieroglyphs was the important language that makes Egypt the place it is

Egypt was the first state level society to become a pristine state. Egypt was an ever growing population which had population pressure for the need to support all of the people in the society. To be able to support the population, they needed to intense the agricultural aspect of the society. Food is one of the basic needs for life to sustain itself especially for a large population. They used the Nile extensively for the water to help the production of crops. After they planted the crops there was time of harvest in which they were able to gather food and store them for future use. They also had a hereditary leader because most, if not every pharaoh had the throne passed from one generation to another. Warfare is also needed to expand the boundaries to help give more land to support a growing population. Egypt was also surrounded by deserts and the Nile River.

Luckily, the Egyptians were already greatly equipped due to their organization. Labor specialization was needed in order for their architecture to be created. We can see this system all throughout the process of erecting sculptures such as the statue of Rameses the Great. Slave labor was used for the manual tasks that needed to be done, for example carrying the granite up the Nile and moving it. Special craftsman were needed to precisely sculpt the granite to fit Rameses’s face. Also, the Egyptians had to have organization in agriculture. They were able to utilize slave labor, but also relied on farmers to bring about the good harvests the people enjoyed. This organization within Egyptian society shows a great level of advancement when taking about empires within the time period.

The ancient Egyptian government depended on the pharaoh and the agriculture to make decisions and fund the economy. Egyptians were to pay taxes to the government in the form of crops, livestock or jewellery- in return, the government maintained peace in the land, saved grains, from the farmers in case of famine and conducted public works to aid the workers.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the Pharaoh was a representative of God in human form and He was more than just a human being. They called him the lord of the two lands ( ). Therefore, he was the governmental ruler of ancient Egypt and owned all lands. Also, He collected taxes and defended Egypt. The Government in ancient Egypt was different compared to modern Egypt because the governmental positions were usually inherited. The

Ancient Persia also known as the Achaemenid Empire is known to be one of the greatest empires in ancient history. It was viewed as the first “humane, equal and religiously tolerant empire.” It was made up of several different languages, races, religions and cultures. The empire would become large enough to stretch through three continents. The rise and development of Persia revolved around the rule of Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great. Cyrus was a military and political genius that would go on to rule the largest empire in the ancient world. Ancient Persia began to rise in 550 BC when Cyrus the Great defeated Medes and the Median Empire and united the Medes and Persians. Cyrus than began the creation of the Persian Empire and became its first ruler. From then on, the Persian army, under the rule of Cyrus the Great and his successors, started many wars and became one of the largest and most powerful ancient empires. His first successor would be his son Cambyses II who would rule for a short time. Under his rule the Persian empire soon became powerful enough to easily take over Egypt and Mesopotamia which is why they have some things in common.

When a person thinks of Ancient Egypt, she might first picture the pyramids, the Sphinx, and even the towering statues and obelisks. Architecture has been a defining point throughout Egypt’s history. Some structures, such as the temples of Karnak and Luxor built along the Nile River, were created to honor the dead and worship the Egyptian gods (Temples, n.d.).

The ancient Egyptian civilization is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Over a period of three thousand years many kingdoms and dynasties came into power and many died away into oblivion. One thing that kept Egyptian’s works and memories alive were the scriptures they wrote. Today, from these scriptures written on the wall (or on papyrus) have helped Egyptologists to uncover the secrets and the lives of the ancient Egyptians. A major understanding we have from these scriptures and other uncovered paintings is ancient Egyptian’s perception of religion and science. For them religion was not different from science. They used religion to explain the various worldly and cosmological phenomena. All their cosmogonies came from explanations based on religion and Gods. Gods were used to explain the origins of Earth, creation and maintenance of cosmos, concept of time and the various earthly and universal phenomena like origin of mankind, sunrise, sunset, migrations of birds, the stars, and constellations. In this essay I will be using various examples from ancient Egyptian scriptures, paintings, and texts to illustrate the Egyptians' perception of the cosmos.

To start off, Ancient Egypt had a very well organized government. Ancient Egypt had good law makers and good laws too. In Ancient Egypt, they were ruled by their supreme leader of religion in the government. This ruler was called the Pharaoh, but he couldn't run the entire government by himself, so he had other people run the other aspects below his position. Also in Ancient Egypt, one of the laws in their well organized government was when you committed a crime, often the whole family had to suffer the harsh consequences along with the family member that did it. This means if you commit a really bad crime, and you have to become a slave for 1 year, your whole family is doing it with you. As you can tell, in Ancient Egypt government is a huge part of their lifestyle. This is one indicator to prove that Ancient Egypt is a civilization.

Starting with government, which is a major sign of complex civilization that the Egyptians had, was ruled by a Pharaoh, who was similar to a supreme leader. The Pharaoh was the political and religious leader of Egypt, who took responsibility for many things such as, making laws, collecting taxes and defending his people and land. When the Pharaoh was unable to tend to his daily tasks, the Vizier would come in. The Vizier was like a Chief Overseer, or Prime Minister. The Viziers job was to direct government officials under himself. He was aso to act by the law, and judge fairly. Underneath the Vizier were Nomarks who were local governors. They ruled over an area called a nome which were like states. Nomarks were sometimes appointed by the Pharaoh, while at other times hereditary, passed only from father to son. Scribes were very important to the Ancient Egyptian government as they kept track of the government's finances, taxes, and the census.

Ancient Egypt was an advanced civilization because it had all of the seven indicators of civilization. The Ancient Egyptians had an organized government that is one of the indicators of civilization. The head of the government was the Pharaoh he ruled the land and was the most powerful person in the empire, then the vizier was the overseer of the land and all other official reported to him. Then under him, no marks were local governors that ruled a nome an area of land or a province the position was usually passed down father to son. The army commander, the chief treasurer, and the minister of public works were other officials. These officials each had different responsibilities and powers, but Pharaoh had the final say. The army was made up of two groups the upper army and the lower army. They each had a general that was related or close to the Pharaoh. Ancient Egyptians had a legal system to if someone broke a law the village elders were the jury and the vizier was the judge and the laws were made from a human sense of right from wrong. If it was an important case the pharaoh would decide the case. If someone was punished so was the whole family usually punished too. The Ancient Egyptian government was well organized and important.

         The Ancient Egyptian Government was ruled first and foremost by the pharaoh.  The pharaoh was the supreme leader not just of government, but additionally  of the religion. Nevertheless, the pharaoh couldn't run all of the government just himself, so he had a hierarchy of rulers and leaders beneath him who ran different aspects of the government. The primary leader of the government below the pharaoh was the vizier. The vizier was the chief overseer of the land, sort of like a prime minister. Subordinate the vizier were local governors called nomarchs. Nomarks ruled over an area of land called a nome. In ancient Egypt the average person had no say in government. When punishment was carried out, often the whole family of the guilty was punished as well. Egyptian law was based on a common sense of right and wrong, following the codes based on the concept of Ma'at. For example when individuals were sentenced to exile, their children are automatically outlawed along with them. If a relative deserted from military service, or lacked on the labor demands of the state, the entire family might be imprisoned.

No one can think of Egypt without picturing its magnificent architecture. Egypt is made really special by its one of a kind architecture, which include the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, but also include so much more amazing buildings that were unique. It has left behind some of the most impressive buildings of the ancient world. Most of the buildings in Ancient Egypt were built out of stone. These include the

In the Ancient Egypt government, there were different levels of ruling the land, but the land was ruled by the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh was the lands main leader not only of the government, but also of their religion. The Primary leader of the Ancient Egypt Government under the Pharaoh was the Vizier. The Vizier was the chief supervisor of the land. Under the Vizier were native governors called Nomarks. The Nomarks ruled over the area of the land called a nome. Other than officials that reported back to the Pharaoh, was the army commander, the chief treasurer, and the minister who worked of the public works. Last but not least, was the Monarchy who had no say in the

Ancient Egypt was a powerful country because it included all the 7 indicators of civilization such as social classes, religion, government, and labor listed.