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First Edition
Britannica Educational Publishing
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Kathleen Kuiper: Manager, Arts and Culture
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ancient Egypt : from prehistory to the Islamic conquest / edited by Kathleen Kuiper. — 1st ed.
p. cm. — (The Britannica guide to ancient civilizations)
“In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61530-210-9 (eBook)
1. Egypt—Civilization—To 332 B.C. 2. Egypt—Social life and customs—To 332 B.C. 3.
Egypt—Civilization—332 B.C.-638 A.D. 4. Egypt--Social life and customs. I. Kuiper,
Kathleen.
DT61.A612 2010
932—dc22
2010008661
On the cover: A golden image of the “boy king” Tutankhamen, provided by his funerary
mask. Romilly Lockyer/The Image Bank/Getty Images
On pages 15, 31, 42, 59, 84, 102, 114, 133, 149, 178: DEA/C. Sappa/De Agostini/Getty
Images
33
CONTENTS
Introduction 8
Chapter 1: The Study of Ancient Egypt 15
Ancient Egyptian Civilization 15
Life in Ancient Egypt 15
The King and Ideology: Administration, Art, and
Writing 19
Sources, Calendars, and Chronology 24
Egyptology: The Recovery and Study of Ancient
Egypt 27
Chapter 2: The Early Period 31
Predynastic Egypt 31
46
The 1st Dynasty (c. 2925–c. 2775 bc) 35
The 2nd Dynasty (c. 2775–c. 2650 bc) 36
Egyptian Law 37
The 3rd Dynasty (c. 2650–c. 2575 bc) 38
Imhotep 40
Chapter 3: The Old and Middle
Kingdoms 42
The Old Kingdom (c. 2575–c. 2130 bc) 42
The 4th Dynasty (c. 2575–c. 2465 bc) 42
The 5th Dynasty (c. 2465–c. 2325 bc) 45
Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx 46
The 6th Dynasty (c. 2325–c. 2150 bc) 49
The 7th and 8th Dynasties
(c. 2150–c. 2130 bc) 51
The First Intermediate Period 51
The 9th Dynasty (c. 2130–2080 bc) 51
The 10th (c. 2080–c. 1970 bc) and 11th
47
(2081–1938 bc) Dynasties 52
The Middle Kingdom 53
The 12th Dynasty (1938–c. 1756 bc) 53
The 13th Dynasty (c. 1756–c. 1630 bc) 56
The Second Intermediate Period 57
Chapter 4: The New Kingdom and the
Third Intermediate Period 59
The New Kingdom: The 18th Dynasty 59
Ahmose 59
Amenhotep I 60
Valley of the Kings 61
Thutmose I and Thutmose II 61
65
Hatshepsut and Thutmose III 62
Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV 64
Foreign Influences During the Early 18th
Dynasty 65
Amenhotep III 66
Amenhotep IV (Akhenaton) 68
The Aftermath of Amarna 70
Ay and Horemheb 72
The Ramesside Period (19th and 20th Dynasties) 72
Tutankhamen’s Tomb 73
Ramses I and Seti I 74
Ramses II 74
Valley of the Queens 75
Merneptah and the Last Years of the 19th Dynasty 75
The Early 20th Dynasty: Setnakht and Ramses III 76
Ramses IV 77 71
The Later Ramesside Kings 78
The Third Intermediate Period 80
The 21st Dynasty 80
Libyan Rule: The 22nd and 23rd Dynasties 81
The 24th and 25th Dynasties 83
Chapter 5: The Late Period and Beyond 84
The Late Period (664–332 bc) 84
Egypt Under Achaemenid Rule 86
The 27th Dynasty 87
The 28th, 29th, and 30th Dynasties 88
The Macedonian Conquest 89
The Ptolemaic Dynasty 90
The Ptolemies (305–145 bc) 91
Dynastic Strife and Decline (145–30 bc) 94
Government and Conditions Under the Ptolemies 96
Administration 96
Economy 97
90
Religion 98
Culture 99
Alexandrian Museum 100
Chapter 6: Roman and Byzantine
Egypt 102
Egypt as a Province of Rome 102
Administration and Economy Under Rome 104
Society, Religion, and Culture 105
Egypt’s Role in the Byzantine Empire 108
Byzantine Government of Egypt 111
The Advance of Christianity 111
157
Chapter 7: Egyptian religion 114
Nature and Significance 114
Sources and Limitations of Ancient and Modern
Knowledge 116
King, Cosmos, and Society 117
The Gods 119
Groupings of Deities 122
Myth 124
The Cult 125
Piety, Practical Religion, and Magic 126
Book of the Dead 128
The World of the Dead 129
Influence on Other Religions 131
Mummification 132
Chapter 8: Egyptian Language and 168
Writing 133
Egyptian Language 133
Egyptian Writing 134
Hieroglyphic Writing 134
Coptic Language 135
Ankh 140
Papyrus 144
Hieratic Script 145
Demotic Script 146
The Discovery and Decipherment of the
Rosetta Stone 147
Chapter 9: Egyptian Art and
Architecture 149
Predynastic Period 150
Dynastic Egypt 150
Architecture 151
Sculpture 163
174
Relief Sculpture and Painting 167
Plastic Arts 170
Decorative Arts 172
Greco-Roman Egypt 175
Chapter 10: Egyptomania 178
Appendix: Selected Sites 182
Glossary 197
Bibliography 199
Index 201
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Introduction | 9
It can be said that the story of ancient reeds could be fashioned into boats or
Egypt begins with the Nile River. rope. Without a doubt, the most histori-
Settlements along the Nile existed at cally important use of papyrus was as a
least 2,000 years before Egypt’s first rul- writing surface. To make this surface,
ing dynasty was founded about 3100 bc. Egyptians crushed the stems of the plant,
The earliest settlers along the Nile were dampened the layers they created from
nomads and pastoralists who grew bar- the strips thus obtained, and finally ham-
ley on the fertile floodplain or fished mered and dried the result. About 3000
and hunted. The Nile River basin served bc papyrus joined clay tablets as pre-
as the stage for the evolution and decay ferred writing surfaces. Many documents
of an advanced civilization. The river written on papyrus (the root of the English
itself enabled the descendants of these word paper) are still in existence today.
seemingly unexceptional people to Papyrus documents have provided
build a civilization that would tower much of what is known about ancient
over the ancient world. This book helps Egypt, as have inscribed monuments, art-
explain how they did it and what it work, and various lists of kings. The most
means for us today. important kings list is Manetho’s
Early Egypt was divided geographi- Aegyptiaca (now lost), which offered the
cally and culturally into Upper Egypt basic chronological structure that most
and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt con- historians work from today. Manetho, a
sisted of the region south of the Nile priest who lived in the early 3rd century
delta. From these highlands the mighty bc, divided Egyptian history, after unifi-
Nile flowed northward. Lower Egypt was cation in 3100 bc, into dynasties, 30 of
made up of the northern lowlands, where which are recognized.
the Nile ended in a fan-shaped delta that Ancient Egypt was a land ruled by
emptied into the Mediterranean Sea. kings, who were also known as pharaohs.
Upland people tended to be fierce and The word pharaoh comes from the
rugged, like the terrain that was their Egyptian term for “great house,” referring
home. Lowland northerners were more to the king’s palace. Egyptians believed
likely to be prosperous farmers. that their leaders were god-kings who
Along the banks of the Nile grew the became full-fledged gods after their
grasslike aquatic plant known as papyrus. deaths. The names of some 170 Egyptian
The fibres from the stem of this versatile kings are known.
plant were used to make cloth for sails The first recorded pharaoh was
and clothing. Bundled together, papyrus Menes, who ruled from about 3150 to
King Akhenaton and Queen Nefertiti worship the sun god Aton. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
