Ancient Egypt A Third World Country History Essay

Today Africa is considered a third world county, but if we take a look back into history, we can see that one of the most influential and successful civilization could be found there. That civilization and society was the ancient Egyptian one. Advances in medicine, education, arts, architecture and many others can be found through out its era. This paper will outline and highlight historical events, music, visual arts, and finally the literally works of this incredible civilization.

Egyptians have been cultivating and building their society since 6000bc in and around the Nile valley. The Nile will be a reoccurring statement throughout this paper because it was such an important factor in everything that involved Egypt. Right before the Egyptian Dynasty, Egypt was separated into two separate kingdoms, the Upper Kingdom, Ta Shemau, and then the Lower Kingdom, Ta Mehu. They were divided roughly around modern day Cairo. Egypt became one united kingdom around 3150bc and in the 3000 years changed very little. Stunning advances in architecture, art, and technology were made during the "Old Kingdom", fueled by the increased agricultural productivity made possible by a well developed central administration. State officials collected taxes, coordinated irrigation projects to improve crop yield, drafted peasants to work on construction projects, and established a justice system to maintain peace and order. With the surplus resources made available by a productive and stable economy, the state was able to sponsor construction of colossal monuments and to commission exceptional works of art from the royal workshops. The pyramids built by Djoser, Khufu, and their descendants are the most memorable symbols of ancient Egyptian civilization, and the power of the pharaohs that controlled it. Although there are many smaller dynasties in between the next big dynasty is the period of the "New Kingdom".

In this new period we seen a female pharaoh, a child pharaoh, an overhaul in religion, and the beginning of the end for the native Egyptian way. The New Kingdom pharaohs established a period of unprecedented prosperity by securing their borders and strengthening diplomatic ties with their neighbors. Military campaigns extended the influence of the pharaohs into Syria and Nubia, cementing loyalties and opening access to critical imports such as bronze and wood. The New Kingdom pharaohs began a large-scale building campaign to promote the god "Amun". They also constructed monuments to glorify their own achievements, both real and imagined. The female pharaoh, which was very rare, Hatshepsut used such propaganda to legitimize her claim to the throne. She successfully ruled for twenty years. Around 1350bc Amenhotep accented the throne and immediately turned a deaf hear to foreign affairs and absorbed himself with his new religion, which consisted of getting rid of all the gods except one. There was one ultimate god and that was the Sun God. He moved the capital city but after his death it was all quickly abandoned and there was many attempts to erase his name from the records and history of Egypt by his successors. We also seen what has to be the most famous pharaoh of them all the time period. Pharaoh Nebkheperura Tutankhamun or better known as King Tut. He was reign was short lived and filled with conspiracies but his name has to be the most noticeable when it comes to ancient Egypt. The biggest, but saddest historical even is the fall of Egypt, after they were conquered by the Greek, under the leadership of Alexander the Great. Ancient Egypt gave way to so many advances in culture, politics, and the same can be said for what it did for the arts.

Although music existed in prehistoric Egypt, the evidence for it becomes secure only in the historical period after 3100bc . Music formed an important part of Egyptian life, and musicians occupied a variety of positions in Egyptian society. Music found its way into many contexts in Egypt: temples, palaces, workshops, farms, battlefields and the tomb. Music was an integral part of religious worship in ancient Egypt, so it is not surprising that there were gods specifically associated with music, such as Hathor and Bes both were also associated with dance, fertility and childbirth. Professional musicians existed on a number of social levels in ancient Egypt. Perhaps the highest status belonged to temple musicians; the office of "musician" or shemayet to a particular god or goddess was a position of high status frequently held by women. Musicians connected with the royal household were held in high esteem, as were certain gifted singers and harp players. Somewhat lower on the social scale were musicians who acted as entertainers for parties and festivals, frequently accompanied by dancers. Informal singing is suggested by scenes of workers in action. Otherwise there is little evidence for the amateur musician in pharaonic Egypt. Since ancient Egyptians did not write down there music before Greco-Roman times, to it is hard to replicate the original sounds. Although music was a very important part one of the most recognizable parts of art in Egypt would be its visual works.

Egyptian culture made an enormous contribution to the history of art. I was the earliest and the longest living of all the ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean. Egyptian art forms were shaped bu the geography of the country as well as the political, social and religious customs for the period. Protected by its desert borders and sustained by the water of the Nile. The function of visual art was to first to glorify the gods, including the Pharaoh, and facilitate human passage into the after-life. Second to "propagandize" the value of the day. Such as architecture, sculpture, painting, metalwork, and ceramics. Something amazing about the ancient Egyptians they were among the first to use metal work in art, next many think that the Greeks were the first to use sculptures to tell stories, but in actuality it was the Egyptians. One of there most beautiful art forms was done in times of death. Mummy cases, or sarcophaguses, were built for the bodies of kings or important people. They believed that the body went to an afterlife and the sarcophagus was to be a beautiful and valuable place for the body to rest. The body was wrapped in white bandages then it was put in its own case with a unique design. But the more significant people were given more than one case, which were piled inside each other. Another interesting art form was relief art. In relief art, the picture was carved into layers to give a raised look. In the Old and Middle Kingdom, reliefs were made in soft limestone. During the New Kingdom sandstone was used. Reliefs showed every kind of activity, from feasting to working, from learning to dancing. Statues were another common art form Egyptians liked making. Most were of gods, goddesses, pharaohs, and queens. The statues could be made small or large. Statues were not suppose to copy nature, but they were meant to be symbols of the people's beliefs. Statues always had to be youthful figures. The paintings and drawings of Egyptian people look flat and strange, because they were painted in a particular way. Important people were painted larger than others. Heads were shown from front view. Eyes and the top half of the body were shown from the front, but arms and legs were shown from the side, so that they were easier to see. Some of their art form served multiple duties, such as the Great Pyramids. They are wondrous architectural fetes but they also were to incase the pharaoh after death. The Sphinx was a guardian and those are just few that still stand today to remind us of their expert craftsmanship. So we have covered all forms of art except literally works.

Hieroglyphic writing dates to c. 3200 BC, and is composed of some 500 symbols. A hieroglyph can represent a word, a sound, or a silent determinative; and the same symbol can serve different purposes in different contexts. Hieroglyphs were a formal script, used on stone monuments and in tombs, that could be as detailed as individual works of art. In day-to-day writing, scribes used a cursive form of writing which was quicker and easier. While formal hieroglyphs may be read in rows or columns in either direction hieratic was always written from right to left, usually in horizontal rows.

Writing first appeared in association with kingship on labels and tags for items found in royal tombs. It was primarily an occupation of the scribes, who worked out of the Per Ankh institution or the House of Life. The latter comprised offices, libraries called "House of Books", laboratories and observatories. Some of the best-known pieces of ancient Egyptian literature, such as the Pyramid and Coffin Text, were written in Classical Egyptian, which continued to be the language of writing until about 1300bc . Later Egyptian was spoken from the New Kingdom onward and is represented administrative documents, love poetry and tales, as well as in Demotic and Coptic texts. During this period, the tradition of writing had evolved into the tomb autobiography, such as those of Harkhuf and Weni. The genre known as Sebayt was developed to communicate teachings and guidance from famous nobles; the Ipuwer papyrus , a poem of lamentations describing natural disasters and social upheaval, is a famous example. The Story of Sinuhe , might be the classic of Egyptian literature. Also written at this time was the Westcar Papyrus , a set of stories told to Khufu by his sons relating the marvels performed by priests. Literature was often not written down just like most things in Ancient Egypt but the few that were, are works of arts in themselves.

In the thousands of years that the Ancient Egyptians ruled on this earth, they had to be the supreme in all of the cultures. They held advances in every aspect of life. From the way the worked in the field to they way ruled and protected there lands. The were the first to harness the powers of their land and use it as a means to overcome and rule effectively. No other culture had as many advances in architecture, art, medicine and many other. The mark of a great civilization is that even today we can remember them and learn from them and it is evident that we are still learning from them everyday!

Work Cited Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_ancient_Egypt

http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/121/Overview-of-Visual-Arts.html

http://www.carlos.emory.edu/PDF/AJC.%20Nubia%2024%20February%2008.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Egypt

http://www.artgalleryofnovascotia.ca/en/AGNS_Halifax/learn/schools/teacherresources/lessonplansTAE.aspx

http://www.eyelid.co.uk/