We can divide up Egypt's history into a number of parts,
but it is important to remember that there is history,
and the time before history, called prehistory. History
is the period of time when humans made records by
writing about events, while prehistory, is the time
before people could write. Overall, we can divide
Egypt's long past as:
Prehistory
- The time before writing
The Dynastic Period
- The time of Egyptian Pharaohs or Kings
The Greco-Roman Period
- Egypt ruled by Greek Kings and Roman Emperors
The Archaic Islamic Period
- After the Arab Invasion
The Colonial Period
- Egypt ruled by Europeans
Egypt is the epitome pot of different cultures as early
as 5000 B.C the civilization emerged from the borders of
the Nile river forming the greatest, richest ,
wealthiest chapters of its history, the land which has
been ruled by the kings called themselves As Egypt's
pharaohs, keeping the power for thousands of years as up
& down ending with the Greed invasions by Alexandra the
Great 332 B.C which has been ended by the Romans
invasion 31 B.c ended by the Arab invasion in 642 Ad.
ending the Roman reign & introducing the Islam as
a religion & Arabic as an official language .
which still both the official religion & language of the
country.
Egypt in 1798 was invaded by the French " Napoleon
Bonaparte ".
the French
shortly occupied Egypt but left a lasting impression
then Mohamed Ali in 1805 who was the son of tobacco
merchant from kavala in Epirus , succeed to seize
the power in Egypt, after eliminating the power of the
Mamlouk.
Mohamed
Ali dynasty lasted until 1952 Mohamed Ali
successors were the prisoners of new international
relations. Egypt's frontiers had been opened by a free -
trade treaty and no longer protected the national
economy. the construction of the Suez Canal in 1869
placed the finances of Egypt under Franco - British
supervision. until 1914 Egypt remained an Ottoman
province, governed by a virtually independent viceroy
but under British supervision. the in 1914 all links
with Istanbul were finally severed but, although Egypt
became a monarchy, British control became official and
Egypt was declared a protectorate.
In 1952
a few young officers had taken over, abolishing the
monarchy before taking up the reins of power. for the
first time in its history, the future of Egypt was in
the hands of the " sons of Nile peasants Colonel Gamal
Abd el-Nasser assumed total power & became the
representative of the third-world countries in Bandug.
He obtained the departure of the last of the British
troops before announcing the nationalization of the Suez
Canal.
The
government of Egypt today is headed by president Hosni
Mubarak who has been forced to adopt a confrontational
stance since 1990. today Egypt stands at a
crossroads.
MONUMENTS
There are many different types of ancient Egyptian
sites. Some can be considered monuments, while others
are ancient towns that are more than a single monument.
However, we can usually describe ancient monuments as
temples, tombs, including pyramids, huge statues,
government buildings, including palaces, and private
property, such as houses.
Most of the best preserved monuments of ancient Egypt
are Temples and tombs, because they were built to last
longer than such places as houses or palaces. In fact,
many temples and tombs were meant to last for a million
years. Therefore, they built them out of tough stone,
while they built houses, palaces and other government
buildings out of bricks made of mud.
Temples
We can divide the types of Egyptian Temples into three
kinds, though all of them served ancient Egyptian "Gods"
in one form or another. The largest and grandest of the
temples were those built by the Egyptian State for
important national "Gods". However, common people were
usually not allowed into much of these temples.
Therefore, a second type of temple, much smaller and
less grand, were sometimes built by common people for
their own worship of the gods. The final kind of temple
was the mortuary temples, built for kings, who were also
considered gods.
In ancient Egypt, Temples were not built for the same
reasons that we build Temples, Churches and Mosques
today. The gods were not so much worshipped in Egypt's
ancient temples as they were taken care of by the
priests. Common people were usually not allowed into
most of the temples, where priests washed, clothed and
delivered food to statues of the Gods.
Most of the temples of ancient Egypt were fairly similar
in many ways. They often had one or more open
courtyards, one or more halls with columns that
Egyptologists call hypostyle halls, in inner chapel
known as a sanctuary, where the god's statue was placed,
and they were often surrounded by a wall, with a large
front part known as a pylon. However, some had many
pylons separating many open courtyards. Most temples
also had other buildings for storage and houses for the
priests.
Temples were given much farm land and sometimes
treasures, mostly by the king, so that the temple would
have money to pay the priests and run the temple. Much
of the time, the temples were the largest land owners in
ancient Egypt
Tombs,
Including Pyramids There
are many types of tombs in Egypt. However, throughout Egypt's past,
the tombs of kings and high officials, upper class artists and
craftsmen, and the very poor people were very different. For very
poor people, the types of tombs they used stayed about the same.
During a period known as the Old Kingdom, the kings decided to be
buried in a more northern location around the capital of Egypt. This
was a city called the White Walls, but the Greeks called it
Memphis. There were several cemeteries
used around Memphis. The first was a place called
Saqqara, where the earliest
pyramids
were built. These were not true pyramids, because they had stepped
sides rather than being smooth.
Later
kings experimented with true pyramids at a place called Dahshure,
where they finally built the first true pyramid tomb. However, the
largest and grandest pyramids where later built at a place called
the Giza Plateau, which is now just outside of the modern city of
Cairo, Egypt. However, there were a number of other locations where
the kings of Egypt built pyramids, but almost all of these were
built near
Today,
we have discovered many other ancient sites in Egypt. Some are
palaces, while others are entire towns, including public buildings,
agricultural buildings, common houses and other buildings. Some of
the most famous are the worker's villages, where the craftsmen,
artists and laborers who build the tombs (including pyramids) lived.
Others include famous forts and huge statues.
Unfortunately, many of these buildings were not built as well as
ancient tombs and temples. The Egyptians used bricks made out of mud
to build these types of buildings. Temples and tombs were usually
built out of stone which lasts much longer.
After
the Pharaohs in Egypt
Egypt's history is very long, and even after the pharaohs there are
many important ancient sites. For example, there are Roman
fortresses, ancient Christian monasteries and churches, and more
recently, famous old Mosques (where Muslims pray) and Mausoleums,
which are Islamic tombs. Unlike Christian monuments, which often are
decorated with religious paintings..
Egyptian clothes and make-up
Egyptian clothes were often decorated with
pleats.
Notice that the Egyptians used to wear a wig, which would have been made
from human hair. Egyptians usually kept their own hair short or
their heads shaved. Both men and women also wore make-up. Palettes,
, were used to grind mineral pigments for
make-up. The ground powder was probably mixed with animal fat and
then applied to the face.
the face. Black and green eye make-up were especially popular. They
also adorned themselves with jewelry, including necklaces, earrings,
armlets, bracelets, anklets, and rings.
Work Much of what has been learned of the types of work done by ancient
Egyptians has been gathered from the collections of the artifacts
found inside their burial chambers. What is known is that there were
several classes of workers, both an upper and lower class. The upper
class workers consisted
of the scribes and priests. The lower class
usually consisted of the merchants and farmers
EDUCATION
of course, covers both the general upbringing of a child
and its training for a particular skill. The upbringing of males was
left largely in the hands of their fathers, that of females was
entrusted to their mothers. Parents acquainted their children with
their thoughts about the world, with their religious outlook, with
their ethical principles, with correct behavior toward others and
toward the super-natural beings in whom everyone believed. They
taught them concerning folk rituals and so forth.
ART&CULTURE Ancient
Egypt is perhaps the most fascinating of the ancient civilizations.
Even the Ancient Greeks looked at themselves as a young and
unknowing society compared to the Egyptians. Indeed, the Ancient
Egyptian civilization
was one of the most extended in the west, beginning in approximately
3000 B.C., and lasting until nearly 300 B.C. What is amazing about
the Egyptian's culture is not their rapid growth and development,
but their ability to retain the past and prevail with relatively
little change. Egyptian attire did not vary over the thousands
of years. Theirs was a civilization where ancient was still modern.
THE PEOPLE OF MODERN EGYPT.
The
people of Egypt are a very steadfast culture, with the ancient
Egyptians dating back several thousand years B.C. Family and
religion are two important societal values that make Egyptians who
they are today. Family: Large families are important to many
Egyptians, especially for those who live outside of the major
cities. The father is the head of the house, and sons respect and
answer to their fathers. The women follow the men, and once married
move to their husband's house. A typical family may consist of a
father and mother, their married sons and wives, their unmarried
sons, and any unmarried daughters.
Religion:
Egypt's constitution grants freedom of religion, and there
are many religions being practiced in Egypt today. Islam is the main
religion, about 90% of Egyptians are Muslim. The Christians are part
of the Coptic Church, and make up about 8% of the population.
Completing the religious minority in Egypt are Protestants and Jews,
together claiming about 2% of the population.
