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Ancient Egyptians - Egyptian Culture |
Egyptian Culture Understanding Egyptian Culture Ancient Egypt - Egyptian Culture Fact Sheet Fact 1 on Egyptian Culture: The culture of the ancient Egyptians, their beliefs, traditions, practices and behavior, endured for thousands of years. Fact 2 on Egyptian Culture: Foreign cultures influenced the Egyptians in varying degrees. The Hittites were great enemies of the country but introduced the horse and chariot to the Egyptians changing their style of warfare and enabling them to travel to distant countries and build the Egyptian Empire. Fact 3 on Egyptian Culture: Following the decline and subsequent fall of the empire the Egyptians were influenced by foreign rulers such as the Greeks, Romans and Arabs. Fact 4 on Egyptian Culture: Elements that influenced Egyptian culture, society, traditions and way of life were the geography of the country, the River Nile, the natural resources, the art, the mythology, the religious beliefs, the architecture, the hieroglyphic method of writing, the literature and texts, the food and clothes, medicine, music, dance, trade and their beliefs in magic, especially 'magic spells. Fact 5 on Egyptian Culture: The country was split into two regions. Upper Egypt covering the lands in the south and Lower Egypt covering the lands in the north. The River Nile flowed through and connected both the lands for 4160 (6,670 km) miles and was an excellent means of transporting goods and people. Fact 6 on Egyptian Culture: The lands in the North bordered on the Mediterranean Sea and subject to foreign influences from Canaan, Syria, Babylon, the Hittites, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Greece and Rome. The African lands in the South bordered on the gold rich land of Nubia (aka Kush or Ethiopia). Fact 7 on Egyptian Culture: The lands in the South bordered on the gold rich land of Nubia (aka Kush or Ethiopia) Fact 8 on Egyptian Culture: The lands bordering the River Nile were called the Black Lands, further away from the river were the Red Lands. The 'Black Lands' were the farming areas on the banks of the Nile and the 'Red Lands' were the desert areas. Both areas were important to the economy and civilisation. Fact 9 on Egyptian Culture: The 'Black Lands' enabled the ancient Egyptians to grow crops such as wheat and grain Fact 10 on Egyptian Culture: The burning deserts of the Red Lands provided a natural barrier against potential invaders and were also rich in raw materials such as building stone and precious metals such as gold, silver and copper and semi-precious stones. Ancient Egypt - Egyptian Culture Fact Sheet Egyptian Culture - Foreign Influences Ancient Egyptian Culture Egyptian Culture Ancient Egypt - Egyptian Culture Fact Sheet Fact 11 on Egyptian Culture: Food: The staple food was bread, beer and dried fish supplemented by onions or other vegetables such as leeks, cabbages, beans, cucumbers and lettuce. Fact 12 on Egyptian Culture: Food: The ancient Egyptians kept animals such as cattle, goats, pigs, ducks, cows, and geese. Meat was generally only eaten on festival days. Food was baked, boiled, stewed, fried, grilled, or roasted. Fact 13 on Egyptian Culture: Food: The River Nile was the source of a major supply of food (fish) and fresh water. The river also attracted birds and animals. The Nile was a source of plants such as flax and papyrus. Fact 14 on Egyptian Culture: Clothing: Flax produced fiber that was made into thread and woven into linen fabric which was used to make the clothes of the ancient Egyptians. Their style of clothes did not change for thousands of years. Royalty and the wealthy wore the finest, sheerest linen. Fact 15 on Egyptian Culture: Stone and Buildings: Stone such as limestone, sandstone, granite and alabaster was abundant in Ancient Egypt. Mud was available along the banks of the Nile. The stone and mud allowed the Egyptians to build their massive monuments to their gods and pharaohs such as Pyramids, temples, obelisks, fortresses, palaces and cities. Fact 16 on Egyptian Culture: Architecture: Ordinary houses were made from mud. The great monuments, buildings and massive statues were made from different types of stone. Fact 17 on Egyptian Culture: Architecture: The design skills of the Egyptians were remarkable. Testaments to their great expertise still stand today after thousands of years. Their technology was limited and their tools were basic hand tools supplemented by lifting devices consisting of rollers, wooden gliders, levers and ropes. Fact 18 on Egyptian Culture: The great pyramids, tombs and temples were believed to have been built by ordinary Egyptians, rather than slaves, as a duty to their pharaoh and their gods Fact 19 on Egyptian Culture: Art: Ancient Egyptian art is highly stylized using the same techniques and conventions for nearly 3000 years. Their art is full of numerous symbols and Color Symbolism that reveal many of the sacred beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. Fact 20 on Egyptian Culture: Art: Ancient Egyptian art was dictated by strict conformity to a set of rules that were adhered to for 3000 years that helped to create a sense of order and balance. Ancient Egypt - Egyptian Culture Fact Sheet Egyptian Culture Ancient Egypt - Egyptian Culture Fact Sheet Fact 21 on Egyptian Culture: A sense of order and balance was extremely important to the ancient Egyptians. Ma'at was the goddess of justice, morality and truth and was strongly associated with the law of ancient Egypt. Justice was applied in the 'Spirit of Ma'at' using basic principles of truth, morality and fairness. Fact 22 on Egyptian Culture: Central Government: The government provided laws and policies to enable the country to function and consisted of the kings supported by officials such as viziers and Nomarchs. Fact 23 on Egyptian Culture: Hieroglyphics: The ancient writing of Hieroglyphics, "the language of the gods" was was invented before 3000 BC. Fact 24 on Egyptian Culture: Hieroglyphics: The hieroglyphic system of writing used between 700 and 800 basic symbols, called glyphs. Only 1% of the population were able to use hieroglyphics but a simpler form of writing in hieratic or demotic text was also used. Fact 25 on Egyptian Culture: Hieroglyphics: The writing system enabled the Egyptians to communicate and to keep records. Fact 26 on Egyptian Culture: Education: The learning centers and libraries of the Ancient Egyptians were based in the temple complexes. Priests and scribes were the teachers and just one temple might contain up to 100,000 manuscripts. Fact 27 on Egyptian Culture: Literature: The ancient Egyptians had many different types of literature including religious, autobiographical, historical, medical, poetry, philosophical, poetry and 'Wisdom literature'. Fact 28 on Egyptian Culture: Literature: Examples of literature can be found on papyrus, artefacts, amulets, walls, pyramids, tombs and obelisks. The most famous examples of literature were details of 'magic spells' contained in Coffin Texts, the Pyramid Texts, and the Book of the Dead. Fact 29 on Egyptian Culture: Medicine: The ancient Egyptians possessed a good knowledge of anatomy. A combination of magic, medicine, healing and religion were practised by the priests of the god Heka who were also trained as doctors. Medical wisdom records were kept in the temples detailing knowledge of healing, diagnosis, medical procedures and remedies. Fact 30 on Egyptian Culture: Magic: Magical powers were believed to be inherent in different types of precious and semi-precious stones and were used to decorate protective amulets or talismans in their jewelry. The 'magical stones' favored by the ancient Egyptians included emeralds, feldspar, peridot, arnelian, amethyst, chalcedony, malachite, jasper, lapis lazuli, tiger's eye and turquoise. Fact 31 on Egyptian Culture: Magic: Priests performed ceremonies and rituals centered around the amulets and charms and said prayers over them. Fact 32 on Egyptian Culture: Trade: Trade expeditions were made to acquire materials not available in ancient Egypt such as emeralds, ebony, ivory, leopard skins and incense. Fact 33 on Egyptian Culture: Libraries: Libraries were found in temples and the Greek Ptolemaic dynasty made Alexandria the intellectual center of the world and built a great Library containing over 700,000 manuscripts. Fact 34 on Egyptian Culture: Religion and the Gods: The most famous gods worshipped in ancient Egypt included the Sun God Ra, Osiris, Isis, Anubis, Thoth, Set, Horus and Ptah. Many gods had the heads of animals reflecting the qualities of the gods and as a way of helping the Egyptians to recognise depictions of the gods. Fact 35 on Egyptian Culture: Offerings to the gods: Ceremonies and rituals included making offerings to the gods that included food, drink, clothing, flowers, incense and perfumes. Fact 36 on Egyptian Culture: Festivals: There were many festivals, ceremonies, rituals and communal acts of worship which brought the people of ancient Egypt together as a nation. Great processions (similar to our modern parades) included the pharaoh, royal family, priests, soldiers, musicians, fan & standard bearers. The parades started at the temple and large floats transferred to the River Nile to become great river processions Fact 37 on Egyptian Culture: Festivals: Festivals were extremely noisy occasions and accompanied with music, singing and dance. The sistrum was an ancient musical percussion instrument, a sacred rattle used in various rituals and ceremonies. Fact 38 on Egyptian Culture: The sistrum was an ancient musical percussion instrument, a sacred rattle used in various rituals and ceremonies. Fact 39 on Egyptian Culture: Cosmetics: Cosmetics were important to men and women. Eye make-up was made using kohl for black eye make-up and crushed malchite stone for green eye shadow. Fact 40 on Egyptian Culture: The: The Egyptians used various symbols to represent life, love and death. Symbols also represented divine power, immortality, reincarnation and healing or emblems of authority. Ancient Egypt - Egyptian Culture Fact Sheet Egyptian Culture Egyptian Culture |
