The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c. 3100 BC. It is generally taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period of Egypt until about 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom. [1] With the First Dynasty, the capital moved from Abydos to Memphis with a unified Egypt ruled by an Egyptian god-king. Abydos remained the major holy land in the south. The hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as art, architecture and many aspects of religion, took shape during the Early Dynastic period.
The middle pyramid was built by king Khafre at around 2520 B.C. The southernmost and last pyramid was built at around 2490 by king Menkaure. C. To construct such monuments required a mastery of art, exceptional architecture and a social organization that was unprecedented for the time. .. II. Most Important Pyramids of Egypt A.
The essence of any nation is the way it is lead or advised by a hierarchy. All nations of the world have gone through such times, but one of the most notorious has been Egypt. Egypt for centuries has had a system of leadership, economy and general society heavily influenced by the Egyptian hierarchy. A hierarchy that was able to build pyramids and structures that still challenge modern day science all due to their pharaoh and subsequent upper class. What the pharaoh spoke was galvanized as if a god had spoken to the people, creating a nation unified under the belief that gods and pharaohs are entities that have only their best intentions in mind.
The Pharaoh as Horus in life became the Pharaoh as Osiris in death, where he was united with the rest of the gods. New incarnations of Horus succeeded the deceased pharaoh on earth in the form of new Pharaohs. The lineage of Horus, the eventual product of unions between the children of Atum, may have been a means to explain and justify Pharaonic power; The gods produced by Atum were all representative of cosmic and terrestrial forces in Egyptian life; by identifying Horus as the offspring of these forces, then identifying him with Atum himself, and finally identifying the Pharaoh with Horus, the Pharaoh theologically had dominion over all the world. The notion of Horus as the Pharaoh seems to have been superseded by the concept of the Pharaoh as the son of Ra during the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt.
From ca. 728 to 656 B.C., the Nubian kings of Dynasty 25 dominated Egypt. Like the Libyans before them, they governed as Egyptian pharaohs. Their control was strongest in the south. In the north, Tefnakht's successor, Bakenrenef, ruled for four years (ca.
Some, such as Amun, was worshipped throughout Egypt. Often gods and goddesses were represented part human and part animal. Temples were considered dwelling places for gods. Each city had a temple built for the god of that city. As the priests became more powerful, tombs became a part of great temples.
Slaves refer to people who work without any need for appreciation. The bottom of the Egyptian pyramid represents this class. It formed the greatest percentage of population in Egypt.
The Unique Culture of Egypt While the Sumerian civilization was developing, a similar process took place along the banks of the Nile River. Yet, the two civilization’s culture was very different. Egypt was united into a single kingdom, which allowed it to enjoy a high degree of unity, stability, and culture continuality over a period of 3,000 years. The geography, writing, architectural structures, society, and their process of mummification made the Egyptian culture unique compared to the other civilizations of the time. The Ancient Egyptians thought of Egypt as being divided into two types of land, the “black land” and the “red land.
Long after the end of Egypt's own pyramid-building period, a burst of pyramid-building occurred in what is present-day Sudan, after much of Egypt came under the rule of the Kings of Napata. While Napatan rule was brief and ceased in 661 BC, the Egyptian influence made an indelible impression, and during the later Sudanese Kingdom of Meroe (approximately in the period between 300 BC–300 AD) this flowered into a full-blown pyramid-building revival, which saw more than two hundred indigenous, but Egyptian-inspired royal pyramid-tombs constructed in the vicinity of the kingdom's capital cities. Al-Aziz Uthman, son of the great Saladin who crushed the Crusaders, tried to demolish
Therefore, each city state had its own deities, kings, laws and culture. Conflicts and friction started for the dominance of the region because of the overlapping of these growing cities. Sumerian society showed a distinct social system with a ruling class formed by nobles and priests, a middle class of merchants, scribes and artisans, and finally a lower class made up mainly of farmers (1). Sumerians were creative and likely may be the first on developing a writing system to record diverse events such as taxes, agricultural records, codified set of laws and epic novels. They also established a numerical system that they used to build from calendars to pyramids.