Record making was quite important to the ancient Egyptians. The fragments of the royal annals, the Palermo Stone in particular, are documents not only about previous to then present rule, but it also informs us about the importance of the Nile, ancient Egyptian festivals, taxation, wars, sculpture, and buildings. Reading about this stone and the translations helped me realize how much impact nature had on the every day lives of the ancient Egyptians. The Nile and its flood patterns were observed for calendar purposes. The stone lets us know that the ancient Egyptians would mark the beginning of their calendar year depending on the rising of the Nile.
The Egyptians calendar revolved around the annual flooding of the Nile river which brought rich silt to the valley, and was the beginning of the agricultural season for the Egyptians. In the Classical Maya period the Maya created a sophisticated calendar system of overlapping cycles that included multiple cycles, a two hundred and sixty day calendar, a three hundred and sixty five day calendar and a few more that I have not listed. The cycles restarted every fifty two years, which in my opinions could of lead to the inevitable collapse of the Maya. Both Egyptian and Mayan cultures were Polytheistic in their religions with rulers that represented Gods on Earth. The ancient Egyptians revolved heavily around Earth and Sun gods, which they believed controlled the vital flooding of the Nile.
As each new group of people moved into the region governments were established. Much of Mesopotamian history lay buried beneath the sand and soil for thousands of years. However, there were clues, such as the ruins of ziggurats, that treasures lay below the surface. Mesopotamia lay in the region between the Euphrates River and the Tigris River, and because of the shape the area is called the Fertile Crescent. The word Mesopotamia actually means (in Greek) “the country between the rivers.
The seventeenth dynasty of Egyptians princes from Thebes continued to rule in semi-independence but paid allegiance and tribute to the Hyksos kings in the north. The territory controlled by these Theban rulers extended from the Nubian border as far as Abydos The reason that the Hyksos was able to dominate Egypt for such a long time was that there military was much more stronger and more advanced. There main fighting advantage was the horse drawn chariots that they had, unfamiliar to the Egyptians. The chariots gave the Hyksos better mobility and power and since the Egyptians didn't know the chariots they didn't know how to defend them selves against there attacks. They also had more advanced weapons such as bronze swords, scimitars daggers, powerful composite bows, they were bigger and had greater striking distance to the Egyptians small bows.
The first royal dynasty to bring the city-states in Mesopotamia together was the kingdom of Akkadia, followed by a later kingdom of Babylonia. Centuries later the Hittite Empire brought a new concept of multiethnic, multireligious and multilinguistic kingdom. Eventually Assyrian unified all of the Middle East. The cities surrounded by walls with people lived behind the wall, were invaded by people over and over again for centuries. This also led the creation of pessimistic and ferocious religious beliefs.
Fash was a very interesting book that catalogued the history of the Maya from the Preclassic Period (2000 B.C.E to 250 AD) to the Postclassic Period (900 AD- 1200 AD) including the collapse of the Classic Period centers in the southern lowlands, to the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in 1519 AD. The first section of the book talks about Copan as being the classic Maya center describing Copan as “the Athens of the New World” and also explains the importance of archeological studies at the site. Copan has more hieroglyphic inscriptions and other sculpted monuments than any other Maya ruin, or any other site in the New World. The principal group of ruins, or site core, consists of a series of large buildings constructed around open courtyards which frequently contained stelae and alters. The principal groups contained two basic parts; the north included many low-lying plazas and to the south, the upraised courtyards and constituent structures were built upon the Acropolis .
HYKSOS ESSAY PLAN Assess the impact of the Hyksos on Egypt during this period Introduction The Hyksos domination provided the Egyptians with the incentive and the means towards world expansion - Breasted Context = Within the second intermediary period, such was a time of “Dire havoc and confusion” (Bradley). Egyptian rule was dis-unified as well as fragile. Hyksos rule over Egypt is in fact what catalyses their transgression into a nascent empire, where the Hyksos had captured Avaris, Cusae as well as Memphis. Hyksos rule over Egypt lasted for 100 years, and thusly lead to assimilation of their religion and the introduction of new processes and products to the economy” - Bradley Great impact on Egypt = Technological, political, cultural. All allowing Egypt to ultimately transcend into a belligerent, apodictic Empire.
By the year 3000 BC, Egypt was divided into two areas upper In Ancient Egypt new cultures had developed early. By 3100 BC. King Menes untied upper, Lower Egypt two independent kingdoms along the Nile River to what has become a great empire. To start, Ancient Egypt and Africa is one of the best places to vacation on. For instance you can go on an hour tour or so and go and look at the Old Kingdom of Egypt which was known for there sun worship, pyramid building trading expedition as far as the North and the Black Sea.
To what extent has the impact of ancient civilizations been positive or negative? To what extent has the impact of ancient civilization been positive or negative? This essay will be returning to the guiding question. The essay is going to be talking about all 4 civilizations, which are: * Ancient Egypt * Ancient China * Persian Empire * Indus Valley I will be balancing the positive and negative impacts of each civilizations listed above on the modern day life. Ancient Egypt: Ancient Egypt has survived for thousands of years.
It was perhaps the Han dynasty, (which lasted over 400 years), that enforced and maintained peace and prosperity most successfully. As varied as the dynasties are, it is best to examine each one separately to determine the exact relationship between them. The Zhou Dynasty was more successful in some areas than others. It managed to expand the territory of China by taking over the Yangtze River valley, which eventually became China’s core. But the expansion of land weakened China’s ‘central government’, and made it vulnerable against any disloyal citizens.