ANCIENT EGYPT

ANCIENT EGYPT

A nation in the north of Africa, Ancient Egypt was a country that was located at the source of the Nile River. It is said to be dated back for more than 30 centuries before Christ, and it boasted as the first nation to be civilized and the birthplace of algebra. Since the conception of The Great Pyramids, which are considered one of the eight wonders of the world, to the new military championship the country currently holds, Egypt has been a field of study for many scientists and archaeologists, a historical and recreational site, a religious symbol and a nation of magnificent wonders. This made the birth of the study of Egyptology that they say is the study of the empire. This is because of the numerous centers of information about it engraved in numerous and humongous monuments, objects, and artifacts that archaeologists recover from the sites, including the discovery of hieroglyphs (Shillington, 1995).

The works of the Great Belzoni, a renowned Italian explorer, and also the first human to study Ancient Egypt’s antiquities are considered to date. He is said to have cleared sand from the Abu Simbel temple, he discovered and documented the Seti I tomb, which is mimicked to Belzoni’s tomb, and the first to penetrate the second pyramid of Giza. He was documented for takin the model of the hydraulic pumping and engine mechanisms that the Englishmen copied. Many people and scientists acknowledge him for excavating tombs and temples for scriptures, and treasures with very minimal damage to indented to them.  In his book, “Narrative of the Operations and Recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Excavations, in Egypt and Nubia,” that was published in 1820 in England, he tells and illustrates how his expeditions and excursions transpired.  He held a one of a kind exhibition in 1820 at the Egypt museum in London to highlight his works, which was later followed by an exhibition in Paris in 1821 (Shillington, 1995).

Tutankhamun is an ancient Egypt pharaoh who ruled at the end of the 18th century and the last ruler of his bloodline, in the period between 1342 to 1325bc. King Tut, as he was known, is said to have started his reign when he was as little as nine years after his unprecedented successful tenure. He is known to have revived the religion of Ancient Egypt and returned the two priestly orders that were removed during the Amarna period, which was his father’s tenure, known as king or pharaoh Akhenaten. Because of this, he is known as one of the greatest rulers of the Egyptian kingdom. Also, because of taking his father’s remains to the famous Valley of the Kings and returning the capital to Thebes from the city of Akhenaten. Though being disabled, because he had a deformity in his left foot, he was said to be one of the greatest archers in the land. Funded by Lord Carnarvon, Howard Carter is the archaeologist who was responsible for excavating and penetrating King Tum’s tomb (Shillington, 1995).

Discovered in November 1922, is tomb numbered KV62; Carter was responsible for excavating over 5000 precious artifacts. Born in 1874, he was a famous artist, was known to work in redesigning the tomb of pharaoh Akhenaten, and was the Chief Inspector of the Egyptian Antiquities Service. Though having been one of the most famous and successful archaeologists, Carter was never recognized by the English government. He is known to have been one of the most successful archaeologists because of is good recovery state of artifacts, including excavation skills such as successfully partially digging up of a tomb and plastering it back up until the arrival of Kin Carnarvon. In addition to having excellent interpersonal skills, he was also trustworthy that led him to have nearly perfect relationships with the Egyptian rulers at is time. Researchers and archaeologists are grateful for the works of Carter because his works were clean, thus easy to decipher. His work is still being used to date even by the CIA, who used his work to encrypt a Kryptos sculpture (Shillington, 1995).

The overly famous Valley of the Kings, which is also referred to as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is a particular valley in ancient Egypt where, for nearly 500 years, specifically from the 16th to 11th century BC. Kings cut huge rocks and shaped them into tombs to bury the influential people and pharaohs plus their cherished wealth in Ancient Egypt. The valley is located on the River Niles west bank, opposite the capital of Thebes, and is divided into two: namely the East and the West Valley. The tombs were decorated with writings and scenes borrowed from ancient Egyptian mythology, and they are to help with clues illustrating the funerary rituals and norms. Nevertheless, unluckily, explorers have robbed most of the possessions of the tombs, though the powers of the pharaohs are still felt in the tombs. The Valleys have been areas of both Egyptological and archaeological research and explorations after the eighteenth century, and tombs and burials stimulate a lot of research and exploration. Bearing even the famous tomb of Tutankhamun is one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world. In 1979, it was made to a historical World Heritage Site, together with the Theban City. Excavation and conservation continue after review, with the reopening of a tourist center in the valley (Shillington, 1995).

Hieroglyphs are referred to as the formal writing technique introduced in the times of Ancient Egypt. They combine alphabetic, syllabic, and logographic elements with over a thousand characters. Later on, in time, they were used to write religious and cursive literature on bot wood and papyrus, after which they were used to derive Egyptian scripts. These later on transitioned to the famous proto-Sinai tic script that later became the phonetician alphabet that is widely used to date. Geoffrey Simpson, a renowned archaeologist, claims the hieroglyphs came from the Sumerian transcript that was artistic symbols used to show the ways and norms of the- people, thus they were incorporated into symbols.

The Rosetta Stone is an ingenious granite stone slab with were the scriptures were inscribed during the times of around 190 BC; this was during the times of the Ptolemaic dynasty. It became of the utmost importance when helping to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphs, thus were very important to archaeologists and researchers when they wanted to understand the ways of Ancient Egypt. It was mainly displayed in the temple in Sais, whereby it was later used to build the Fort of Julien near the town of Rashid or as it is commonly known as, Rosetta, in the Delta of the Nile, as it was found by soldier Pierre Bouchard, who was on the Napoleonic campaign. In search of the larger stele, the Rosetta stone was the only stone found at the site; thus, none of the three texts has been completed to date. The height of the original stele is assumed to be around 149 centimeters and 82 centimeters wide. It was erected after the coronation of the famous King Ptolemy and was put up by the decree of the new ruler and his rule. Priests who headed the religious functions issued the order at Memphis (Shillington, 1995).

Jean-François Champollion was a French orientalist and scholar born in 1790, who was later to be recognized as one of the founding fathers of Egyptology. After enduring a time full of war and injustice in France, he moved into Ancient Egypt to learn the ways of the people. He is widely known because he did not like war, thus in 1820, he moved to Egypt, and he started translating and deciphering hieroglyphics materials, outdoing is British counterpart, Thomas Young, who was already beginning to crack the language. After two years, he published the results of is deciphered material, illustrating Egyptians used both ideographic and phonetic signs. Because of this, he is to date referred to as the Founder of Egyptology. Although his counterparts like Young, blamed is work on lack of originality because he copied and plagiarized some of the works of others who came before him. His love for Egyptian works began as he was a young boy in the Grenoble Academy, where he saw and explained the similarity between the hieroglyphs and the Greek Coptic (Shillington, 1995).

Lastly, the Pyramid of Djoser or the Step Pyramid was the earliest stone colossal building in Ancient Egypt. Having been built during the 27th century after the death of Pharaoh Djoser by his famous vizier, Imhotep,         the pyramid is a colossal structure harboring the complex building surrounded by decorations and rituals. Originally standing at 62.5m, with a base of 109 * 121 meters, it was polished in pure limestone; therefore, it could be seen from miles away. It is also considered one of the largest structures ever to be built. Djoser is said to be either the second or third king of the third dynasty that lived between 2686 to 2125 BC and that he ruled for nearly 20 years allowing him to realize a plan for his desired burial and pyramid structure. Even though it is said its the hardest design of the pyramid to be built, many that followed, including the Pyramid of Giza, copied most of the designs, decorations, and structure. Located in the Saqqara necropolis, which is described as a burial land, the land was set aside to allow the private and peaceful burials of Pharaohs in the northwest side of Memphis. The pyramid was built in six stages, which is why the name the Six Steps since the pyramid was not a mere rave, its purpose was to facilitate and ensure the successful transition from death to the afterlife of the pharaohs (Shillington, 1995).

The monuments, beliefs, and cultures of Egyptians have always been of interest, to not only archaeologists, researchers, but also students and religious leaders and sectors all over the world. Although the works of the Europeans destroyed a large part of the historical legacy, some works, for example, the works of Champollion, show that we have them to appreciate for the discoveries and explanations of Ancient Egypt.

References

Shillington, K. (1995). A History of Africa: JD Fage. Macmillan International Higher Education.