Egypt Books
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Berkley Trade (01 January 1999)Price: $10.20 -
W. W. Norton & Company (01 April 1999)Price: $12.21 -
Harper (01 April 2007)Price: $7.99 -
Penguin (Non-Classics) (28 January 2003)Price: $10.40 -
Anchor (01 February 1996)Price: $10.20
Definition
The name 'Egypt' comes from the Greek 'Aegyptos' which was the Greek pronunciation of the Egyptian name 'Hwt-Ka-Ptah'(which means House of the Spirit of Ptah. Ptah was a very early god of the ancient Egyptians). In the early Old Kingdom Egypt was simply known as 'Kemet' which means 'Black Land' so named for the rich, dark soil along the Nile River, and, later, the country was known simply as Misr which means 'Country', a name still in use by Egyptians for their country in the present day.
The history of Egypt is vast, encompassing some 10,000 years, and their architecture, mathematics, skill in construction, administrative skills and mythology influenced both Greece and Rome and still astound and fascinate people today. The pyramids of the Giza plateau, the temple at Abu Simbel, the tomb of the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut, amaze still, even in ruin and, although many theories abound, modern architects are from from agreement on how these structures were built considering the technology of the day.
From approximately 3150 BCE, when the semi-mythological King Menes ruled Egypt to 525 BCE when the Persian General Cambyses II defeated the Egyptians at Pelusium, Egypt was a powerful sovereign nation. Alexander the Great conquered Egypt in 332 BCE and the country remained under Greek influence by way of the Ptolemaic Dynasty until the death of the last of the Ptolemaic rulers, Cleopatra VII in 31 BCE (defeated at the Battle of Actium by Octavius Caesar) after which it became a province of the Roman Empire.
The historian Will Durant writes, "The effect or remembrance of what Egypt accomplished at the very dawn of history has influence in every nation and every age. 'It is even possible', as Faure has said, 'that Egypt, through the solidarity, the unity, and the disciplined variety of its artistic products, through the enormous duration and the sustained power of its effort, offers the spectacle of the greatest civilization that has yet appeared on the earth.' We shall do well to equal it" (Our Oriental Heritage, 217).
Articles
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The Pyramid Texts are the oldest religious texts in the world (some scholars cite the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh as the oldest, though it is debatable whether the Epic of Gilgamesh is a religious text). They comprise the texts which were inscribed on the sarcophogi and walls of the pyramids at Saqqara in the 5th and 6th Dynasties of the Old Kingdom (2465-2150 BCE). The texts were reserved for the soul of the deceased pharaoh by his scribes and priests and were a series of spells and incantations designed to free the soul of the pharaoh from the body and help it ascend toward the heavens. The inscriptions also relate myths and religious practices regarding the after-life and the journey of the "ka" (the soul). The pyramid texts provide the first written reference to the great god Osiris, king of the dead, and the concept of the judgement of the soul.
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The Poem of Pentaur is the official Egyptian record (along with The Bulletin) of Rameses II The Great’s victory over the Hittite King Muwatalli II at the Battle of Kadesh in 1274 BCE (in modern-day Syria). So proud was Rameses of this `victory’ that he had the poem, which details his personal valor against overwhelming odds, inscribed on the walls of temples at Abydos, Luxor, Karnak, Abu Simbel and in his Ramesseum.
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A story on a papyrus dating from the 2nd century CE relates that the goddess Isis, bestowing gifts on humanity, gave as much power and honor to women as she did to men. This tale reflects the high status women enjoyed in ancient Egypt. Although they never had the same rights as males, an Egyptian woman could own property in her own name and hold professions that gave her economic freedom from male relatives (women could practice medicine, handle money and make real estate transactions). A wife was entitled to one third of any property that she owned jointly with her husband and, on her death, could will her property to anyone she wished, male or female. Egyptian women were equal in the court system and could act as witnesses, plaintiffs or defendants (as we would understand those terms today). Women were accountable for crimes they committed and would have to stand trial the same as any man.
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The Land of Punt is best known for Queen Hatshepsut’s famous expedition in 1493 BCE in the 18th Dyanasty of Egypt, which brought back living trees to Egypt, marking the first known successful attempt at transplanting foreign fauna. Nonetheless, evidence suggests that the Egyptians were trading with the land of Punt as early as the reign of the pharaoh Khufu in the 4th Dynasty.
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The Pharos at Alexandria was the last structure to be named on Antipater of Sidon's list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed at the beginning of the 3rd century BC, begun by Ptolemy Soter, the ruler of the Egyptian region after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC. It was impressive in its construction and scale, and legends claim that its light (a reflective mirror) was visible in the harbor from 35 miles away.
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