3500 BCE 1.35 Egypt, c2 6 century oc Pre- and Early Dynastic Egypt North Atrica was once a vas, Fertile area of forests and pasturelands that was populated by humans early on. But in the sith millenaium aCe, a dramati warming affecting the whole globe changed North Africa bt by bitinto the endless stretches of sand that we ‘ow call the Sahara Desert. The populations ‘maved either westward to Morocco, Spain, ‘and beyond, or eastward tothe banks ofthe Nile. The results were astonishingly quick, By the fourth millennium 8c, Egyptian vilages had grown to towns, and trace was being pursued along the Nile and throughout the Aegean Islands, The density of the Nile River population was unlike anything one would have seen anywhere else inthe wort at tat time; that i id not overwhelm the socal system \was predicated on several concftions, one being thatthe local elites quickly leamed to deline themseles as divine, assuring the ‘mechanism by which to protact and isolate thelr power. This meant that Eeyptian religion never went through a chthonic phase based tn the mother goddesses and caves that |were comman in many places in Eurasia and the Mediterranean. Egyptian religion was from the start a religion for the eile alone. There were no epic tales of communal destiny but rather myths of heroic actions of ings who pasted the torch af succession tothe next generation. This explains why a complex pantheon of gods, stretching from the bovine Hathor tothe more abstract Ptah 20m Africa Royaltombs at Umm eb-daab 1.36 Site of royal tombs at Umm oF-O2ab Abydos, yet ‘and Amun, could develop so quickly It was ‘only during the New Kingdom (1540-1069 CED thatthe features ofthis religion began to have a broader role in society. Another factor that stabilized Egypt’ exiting social order was that the Nie flooded ater the harvest inthe middle of October; more people ‘working the elds therefore resulted in the production of more food. But in contrast to the celebration of water and food, there was, forthe Egyptans, the fearsome entombing power of the eath, Life and death, the river, ‘and the mountains of sand became intimately ‘and naturally connected to each other around the all-encompassing mythology of divine rulership, One of the oldest Eayotian sites, belonging to the pre-dynastic poring, is Merimda, 50, kilometers nocthwest of Caro atthe western base ofthe Nile Delta It dates back to the sith milennium Be and consists of a caletion of eval huts with gain silos ‘sunk into the ground. The dead lay in shallow gis in burial grounds outside ofthe town. They were wrapped in matting and ‘accompanied by goods such 2s cay vessels, and shes Idols, vessels (some used fr the preparation of cosmetics), and wal paintings all point to an aesthetic that was to become Ccharacteristically Egyptian: srracth surfaces, abstract forms, and heroic actions. The tombs of the First Dynasty (3100 2890 sc are located at Abydos, an important early city about 100 kilometers downstream from Thebes. The tombs are outside of town under the face of an imposing Clif. A gorge opens out dramatically through the cif at that spot and, according to some scholars, this opening was regarded as the entrance to the netherworid, The oldest tombs, of Narmer and Aha, ae rather simple brekstined rooms placed inthe ground and covered with a wooden rat at ground level. Aha’ to consisted of three chambers stockpiled with provisions fra lavish fe in cterity, There were mest likely large cuts of (0x meat, 65 well as freshly kiled waterbed, loaves of bread, died figs, and jars of beer orwine, each bearing Ana's oficial seal ‘Bese his tom mare than tity ancillary raves for servants and animals were lad out in hvee neat rows. Later tombs evidence a developing conception of death. The tomb of ‘Queen Merneit (ca. 2900 Bc}, for example, is lke its prodocessor, largely sunken Underground, except that nw the storage rooms ate part ofthe main structure, inthe from of long, thin rooms, “The ancillary tombs ar aso integrated into the design asa type of frame set at a respectiul stance from the tombs body. This framing is open on its southwestern side, presumably so tat the spit ofthe dead can cit through the gap toward a gorge that cuts through the cliffs. The tomb ofthe next ruler, ‘Den, makes tis connection tothe cif even ‘mare explicit. Though the main entrance is from the eat, there is special chamberTOUSeaESBS oooo SSUC0C IU DOE RRSSOONU next fo the tomb witha separate staircase leading back up tothe surface and tothe west The design and the decoration ofthese tombs Cleary anticipates the devetopment ofthe mastaba (irom the Arabic word for “bank"). The grandest was the Tomb of Hor Aba at Seqaara (ca. 3100, BCE), just outside of Memphis, Some argue that the complex niche pattern in the walls represented \wooden of reed construction; cers have sugested aninfence from Mesopotamia or the Near East Only the five central chambers, dug into the earth constitute the tomb. In this early stage of Egyptian culture, there was no temple arcitactue such as ene might find in China, where religious practices unified broad swaths of society. Instead, architecture played the role of defining the interface between life and death for the members of the elite, Its place in society was OU 1.38 Tom ¥ (Queen Merneith) at Abydos Comparative designs of the Tombs of Mereith and Den thus more limited than in China and India— but is purpose could not be more dramatic Death forthe Chinese involved the handing {down of family memories and could be articulated spatially with house shrines and fragile wooden temples on earthen mounds. In Egypt, death—in religious terms—was only a dramatic event forthe ruler, with his and sometimes her spirit rsing mejestcally over the tviaites of domesticity and family ina specially constructed, simulated house with all the accoutrements of a comfortable ie What went on in that house, and how the spit moved about, ate, and drank, was a matter of great conceen, since it was thought to determine the flow ol history in the present time and beyond. But the “house” was only hal ofthe equation. Death in Egypt had an inside and an outside shape. Entombing the house" atthe scale of the landscape was the structures outside shape, Eighty percent of Queen Mernsith’s mastaba was nothing ‘more than a dark mass of walls and spaces linking these two scales. The architects jb, in essence, was to bring the inner and outer ‘manifestations of the rule's death into unity. ‘rica mi 21Dahshue 2.25 Egy ca. Sr century Bot Egypt: The Old Kingdom “Though late Ezyptians described their early history as emerging afte the unification (of Upper and Lower Egypt, archaeological ‘evidence suggests that unification was 2 protracted process that took place over ‘several centuries. Out ofthis unfcaion ‘emerged wat later Egyptians would themselves call the Old Kingdom, with its captal at Memphis. This new poltical Uniy, combined with the rapid development (of a hieroelyphic scrint and a powerful bureaucracy, was the final slage of Egypt's transformation into a cornplex and vertically sSructuted society witha population of several millon. Unlike Mesopotamia and China, Egypt was organized around an efficient and vast workforce that ha litle contact with the religious practices ofthe ung elt. thas, been estimated that bythe thi millennium cE, the Nile Valley produced thee times its own domestic requirements. From very erly on, plenty of labor was avaiable—above and beyond the stage of se-suficiency ‘Soon, huge workforces of slaves, laborers, technicians, bureaucrats, and cooks were ‘employed solely or royal projets. And there was no shortage of Building materia ‘Stone was abundant up and down the Nie: the colorul red granite of Aswan, the white marble of Gebel Rokham, and the black basalt of Faiyum—not to mention the various types of soft sandstone brought downriver from Nubia, One tremendous obelisk of red sant 41 meters lang sles on its side in the quarry near Aswan. Momphig(Mennot-Ra) 2.28 Mortuary Complex of Zoser, Sagara, Egy Tew ® ° apm 2.27 Plan: Meruaty Complex at Zoser By the Third Dynasty ofthe Old Kingdom, the poltical stabilty of Egypt was secure, with Zoser (2686-2613 86) creating building projects against which later rulers would measute their accornpishments ‘The Mortuary Complex of Zose,lncated fn a sight hill west of Memphis and just tothe noth of Sagat, was enclosed by a 277-by-544 meter wall laid out in precise orientation tothe four cardinal pains, The walls were of white stone ‘and an impressive 10.5 mers high. ‘They served more symbolic purposes than defensive ones, meant to protect the mortuary complex from the chaos ofthe unocdered word outside, There wet fiteen gateways, yet only one was & functioning entrance. The structure was so impressive that for centuries, Egyptian historians would continue to praise and honor it. The Piah Temple in that city was called “Mansion ofthe Ptah,” which in ancient Egyplian was pronounced haykuptaty i was from this thatthe Greeks later derived the word Aizupts, or Eayp.