Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT 2

THE PHARAOHS 3

RELIGION 4

AGRICULTURE AND TRADE 5

CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………6

BIBLOGRAPHY ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….7

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INTRODUCTION

Ancient Egypt – one of the most developed civilization of its time. They had a leader, a

government, law and everything a proper civilization is said to have had. In this project we will

go through what those thing are, and how they affected the society itself.

The Nile River had help develop the Egyptian civilization by providing a source of water for

agricultural domestic and transportation uses. The rich soil deposited from the river when heavy

flood water sent down by the Ethiopian Mountains. This pose as a reliable resources used to

maintain life. This is why Egypt is called “The Gift of The Nile”.

As communities developed, people needed to be taught how to relate to each other for the benefit

of all. Farming and trade needed settled communities and societies became more complex. They

divided up the labour so that everyone contributed to the development of their community.

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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT

Government and Religion were one when it came to the Egyptians. The pharaoh, the head of

state, was the divine representative of their sun god Ra-Horakhty. Religion and government

brought order to society through the construction of temples, the creation of laws, taxation, the

organization of labour, trade with neighbours and the defence of the country's interests. Egypt

had the first known civil servants, there were scribes, priests and overseers to help bring the rule

of the pharaoh to the smallest villages. The pharaoh was at the top of the social hierarchy. Next

to him, the most powerful officers were the viziers and the executive heads of the bureaucracy.

Under them were the high priests, followed by royal overseers (administrators) who ensured that

the 42 district governors carried out the pharaoh's orders. At the bottom of the hierarchy were the

scribes, artisans, farmers and labourers.

The Social Hierarchy

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THE PHARAOHS

The word ‘pharaoh’ is a greek word that is based on an Egyptian word than meant “Great

House”. When this word was first used, it referred to the palace of the king and its greatness, not

just to the king himself. The Pharaoh held the title 'Lord of the Two Lands', meaning that he

ruled all of Upper and Lower Egypt; and 'High Priest of Every Temple', meaning that he

represented all the gods on all the Earth [ CITATION Civ \l 8201 ], the Pharaoh was also in

charge of the army and would lead them into war when necessary.

The ancient Egyptian empire lasted from about 3150 BCE to about 31 BCE. There were about

170 pharaohs in all. Egyptologists, people who study ancient Egypt, believe that Menes was the

first pharaoh of Egypt, and they know that Cleopatra VII was the last. King Tutankhamun more

commonly known as King Tut the boy king - is believed to be the youngest pharaoh.

Menes Cleopatra VII King Tutankhamun

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Not all the pharaohs were men, nor were they all Egyptian. Before the Graeco-Roman Period, at

least three women ascended the throne, the most important being Queen Hatshepsut.

A statue of Queen Hatshepsut

RELIGION

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One of the most fascinating aspect of ancient Egypt is its religion. The ancient Egyptians

worshipped many gods and goddesses. These included Ra, the sun god; Isis, the goddess of

nature and magic; Horus, the god of war; and Osiris, the god of the dead. Sometimes these gods

and goddesses become more or less important literally. This is dependent on the time or place.

For example, when the rulers of Thebes became kings of all Egypt, and founded the New

Kingdom, its local god Amun became the chief god, and was united with Ra to become Amun-

Ra.

The depth of Egyptian thinking and the rich imagination displayed in the creation of ideas and

images of the gods and goddesses are beyond compare [ CITATION Mys1 \l 8201 ]. The

Egyptians were the first to develop the concept of the Godhead. This is the belief that there is

one infinite god. The evolution of their belief was slow and span centuries but eventually became

the views of the people along the Nile River, this is especially true because in those days religion

kept communities together.

In ancient Egypt the sceptre was the source of all unexplained power or unexplained events and

was always seen in most hieroglyphs of the gods and pharaohs.

They were also believers in the afterlife, this is evidenced by the monument the kings erected in

the form the pyramids to be their temporary resting place and the hugeness of the monuments to

hold their worldly possessions to take with them in the afterlife. This was further seen the

process of mummification to preserve bodies after death. They believe that Ka the spirit of life

sometimes visit the corpse of the dead people.

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The journey to the after world was considered full of danger. Travelling on a solar bark (Ra sun

boat), the mummy passed through the underworld, which was inhabited by serpents armed with

long knives, fire-spitting dragons and reptiles with five ravenous heads. Upon arriving in the

realm of the Duat (Land of the Gods), the deceased had to pass through seven gates, reciting

accurately a magic spell at each stop. If successful, they arrived at the Hall of Osiris, the place of

judgement, here they were judge by Forty-two gods who listened to their confessions of crimes

against the divine and human social order. The person's heart was then placed on a scale,

counterbalanced by a feather that represented Maat, the goddess of truth and justice. If the heart

was equal in weight to the feather, the person was justified and achieved immortality.

AGRICULTURE AND TRADE

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A Greek historian Herodotus called Egypt the "gift of the Nile", since the country owed its

survival to the annual flooding of the Nile and the resulting depositing of fertile soil. And

because they get little to no rain, the floods provided the only source of moisture needed to

sustain crops. Irrigation canals were used to control the water, particularly during dry spells. The

river is used for drinking, washing, irrigation of crops, operation of waterwheels, transportation

of goods, fishing, etc. The crops mostly cultivated during the Pharaonic era were barley, emmer

(a coarse wheat), lentils, beans, cucumbers, leeks, onions, dates, figs and grapes. The large

quantity of flowers provided nectar for the bees to produce honey, which the Egyptians

processed. Flax was grown for making linen, and papyrus was harvested to be converted into

paper, ropes, mats, sandals and light skiffs. A variety of domesticated animals were raised,

including cattle, oxen, sheep, goats, pigs, ducks and geese. Donkeys and horses came from Asia

around 1600 B.C., and camels were introduced much later. During the reign of the early

pharaohs, no one knew of camels, yet they are used regularly in modern day Egypt. The

Egyptians were masters of trade in the ancient world. They exported grain and in return they

received timber form Syria, copper from Cyprus, tin from Asia and Europe and volcanic glass

from Ethiopia.

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CONCLUSION

In conclusion it is widely believe that ancient Egypt had the most developed civilisation of its

time. Government and Religion was almost one and the same because the Pharaoh who was

basically a king was sometimes seen as a god or taking on the role of the priest. They worship

several gods but believe in the godhead. They were also innovators of agricultural technology

such as aqueduct for transporting water from the Nile to other parts of the land that was very dry

and were not able to grow crops.

They traded with other African countries and some Asian and European countries.

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Bibliography

Civilisation: Ancient Egypt. (n.d.). Retrieved from Time Maps:

http://www.timemaps.com/civilization/ancient-egypt#Government

Egyptian Pharaoh. (n.d.). Retrieved from Penn Museum:

http://www.penn.museum/documents/education/pennmuseum_egypt_previsit_combined.pdf

Gilmore, J. A. (1988). Longman Caribbean History : Empires and Conquest. Kingston: Longman.

Mystries of Egypt. (n.d.). Retrieved from Canadian Museum of History:

http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/civil/egypt/egcivile.shtml

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