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Ancient Civilization Assignment Egypt Ancient Egyptians were strongly influenced by tradition, which caused them to resist change. Egyptians did not question the beliefs which had been handed down to them; they did not desire change in their society. Sometimes, they thought that the gods were punishing them for different reasons when natural disasters such as floods happened. The Egyptians also believed in mummification, which they thought would preserve all their important objects and bring them into the afterlife. Also, the pharaohs claimed that they were gods living on the earth in human form.
The climate change influenced the early development of African cultures. The Sahara region used to be grassy steppe lands with water around 10,000 B. C. E. It was great for hunting and fishing. From 9000 B. C. E. to 7500 B. C. E. eastern Sudan began to herd cattle and collect grains, and permanent settlements started to appear and people started to grow sorghum and yams. However, in about 5000 B. C. E. the climate becomes hotter and drier. So, people were moving towards the Nile river, and started to depend on it for its annual flooding to make the soil rich for planting season.
The ature of the pharaoh’s power was to maintain order and organize projects. The institution of the pharaoh was started by a man named Menes who “built a centralized state ruled by pharaohs”. Early pharaohs claimed to be gods living as humans. At first, they were viewed as the sky god, Horus. Later on, they were viewed as the son of Amon, the sun god. The early Kingdom of Kush was in the south of Upper Nubia. It was a smaller state that wasnt as powerful as Egypt but was formidable and wealthy. The relationship between Kush and Egypt had lots of tension but they were always thriving for commercial relationships and political lliances.
In fact, the two states often intermarried with Nubian mercenaries marrying Egyptian women and assimilating into the egyptian armies. The invasion of the Hyksos led to two major events; First is that it startled Egypt into increasing military forces. This was done by improving the weapons with bronze. They then gradually pushed the Hyksos out, making them a stronger military power. The second thing it did was cause Egypt to spread elsewhere, which resulted in the weakening of their army Oust like the Hyksos). In the New Kingdom of Egypt the army was stronger and had better weapons made of bronze.
A division of labor was also added, where farmers grew surpluses to feed themselves and higher classes. The number of people Egypt was able to support went up to four million. Egypt was a very rich and powerful empire. People were classified by their social classes, the Pharaoh was high class, who had a lot of money and was seen as a god. While the farmers and slaves were the low class. Women could mostly only be mistress of the house and sometimes be a priestess, there wasn’t much equality in Egypt. The major transportation used by Egyptians were by foot. The need for trading influenced
Egyptians to make boats and ships, these were usually used to cross the Nile river. Camels were introduced when the Persians invaded in the 5th century BCE. The very important role in ancient Egypt and this carried over into the rituals and beliefs of Egyptians. It was because of the legend of Osiris that Egyptians believed they had the right to be transformed and to live in the afterlife. The migrations of the Bantu influenced the sub-Saharan Africa in several ways; First off, it introduced a new language that to this day survives as a prominent language.
Through intermarriage nd the introduction of iron tools, they even wiped out a whole culture (peacefully) named the Forest People. Finally, they also cleared a lot of land for farms using those iron tools, changing Africa to this day in appearance and culture. Social- The Egyptians had many different allies and enemies throughout the time period. One of which is the Nubian. They had many different good of which they traded with each other through the Nile River. There was also a lot of fighting between them as well. Egypt grew a lot during the times to pass, there are new pharaohs that come and old ones that pass away.
Social classes also emerged throughout the Nile Valley. They built patriarchal societies which made adult males the more superior gender. Egypt was also fgured as the center of trade. It was linking lands in southwest Asia, the eastern Mediterranean, and the sub-Saharan Africa. Political- The Egyptian empire was controlled by godlike kings called Pharaohs. They were able to mesmerise, entice, and solidify their rule by claiming that they were in fact deities, and the earthly heirs to grand power. They spent their whole life preparing for death, building giant tombs where their mummified body would be safe for the afterlife.
One of the most grand tombs were the pyramids, which took twenty years, and over eighty thousand laborers to be constructed. They remained the tallest man made structures on earth, only until the completion of the Eiffel tower. As though with all great powers, that of the pharaohs did disappear and the power of the kingdom diminished. Interaction between humans and the environment- The Nile river was a center of life and commerce for the early peoples of egypt. The river served an important role of being the chief source of water for the Egyptians crops, and it turned the river valley into an oasis in an otherwise desolate esert.
The Nile also connected the Egyptians to other cultures, forging trade and commerce traditions with other Mediterranean civilizations. Cultural- Egypt was one of the earliest civilizations. Therefore it ended up being a big influence on the other countries and their cultures. Egyptian religion was mainly polytheistic but for a brief period of time it was Just monotheistic. Egyptians believed that their Gods were in control of the forces of nature, such as the sun gods Amon and Re were in control of the sun. They often performed sacrifices for them!
It was their way of explaining the nusual events that happened, since they didn’t have the technology that we have, to prove it at the time. Also Egypt was one to show the art of writing. In the Nile valley there were findings of hieroglyphics, on monuments and papyrus, and hierarchic script was found as well. Later on, Egyptians believed in an afterlife, so their culture was to mummify their dead (starting from Pharaohs and then later traveling towards the lower classes-throughout time). Economical- Egyptians used Bronze often, so it was an important part of their lifestyle.
However copper and tin were more rare and owever, created most of Egypt’s wealth. They were a large agricultural society. Egypt often traded with Africa, Nubia and other regions in the north. They exported things such as stone, pottery vases, dried fish, and papyrus. Grain, vegetables, and fruit were grown; and cattle, goats, pigs and fowl were domesticated and sold in markets. The fish caught from the Nile, and the usual surpluses, after the deduction of various taxes; were also sold in the markets. Agriculture was all done by slaves and farmers, apart from the tenant peasants, a large section of Egypt’s population worked as farm laborers.