Definition
A country in North Africa on the Mediterranean sea which boasts one of the oldest extant civilizations on earth. Traces of early habitation in Egypt date back 700,000 years and evidence of overgrazing of cattle on the land which is now the Sahara Desert has been dated to about 8,000 BCE which, along with artifacts discovered, points to a thriving agricultural civilization in the land at that time.
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).
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 Forty-Two Judges were the divine beings of the Egyptian after-life who presided over the Hall of Truth where the great god Osiris judged the dead. The soul of the deceased was called upon...
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The Tale of The Ship-Wrecked Sailor is an epic tale written on papyrus around the year 2000 BCE, during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. Contemporary with the rise...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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Links
- http://egyptologie.suite101.fr/
http://egyptologie.suite101.fr/ - Ancient Egypt Military
http://www.ancientmilitary.com/ancient-egypt-military.htm - Manéthon, le créateur des trente dynasties d'Egypte
http://egyptologie.suite101.fr/article.cfm/manethon-le-createur-des-trente-dynasties-degypte - Les descriptions antiques des oasis égyptiennes du désert libyque
http://egyptologie.suite101.fr/article.cfm/les-descriptions-antiques-des-oasis-egyptiennes-du-desert-libyque - Les dieux de la région de Tanis, en Egypte: Bastet, Atoum et Anta
http://egyptologie.suite101.fr/article.cfm/les-premiers-dieux-de-tanis-en-egypte--bastet-atoum-et-anta - L'oracle d'Amon dans l'oasis égyptienne de Siwa
http://egyptologie.suite101.fr/article.cfm/loracle-damon-dans-loasis-egyptienne-de-siwa - Comment identifier un dieu égyptien
http://egyptologie.suite101.fr/article.cfm/comment-identifier-un-dieu-egyptien
Egypt Books
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Penguin Classics (29 April 2003)Price: $7.70 -

Harper (01 April 2007)Price: $7.99 -

Bear & Company (24 June 2010)Price: $16.50 -

W. W. Norton & Company (17 March 2007)Price: $19.77 -

Wiley-Blackwell (13 October 2006)Price: $27.36
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