Social Pyramid At the top of the social pyramid was the Pharaoh who was not simply a king and a ruler, but was considered a god on earth. The vizier was the pharaoh’s closest advisor. Next came the high priests and noblemen whom the pharaoh appointed as his assistants, generals, and administrators, who together formed the government. Lesser Priests were the teacher, healers, and often...
The characteristics of ancient Egyptians are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid construction processes. They used rope trusses to stiffen the beam of ships. Egyptian paper, made from papyrus, and pottery was mass produced and exported throughout the...
The winged scarab symbolized self-creation or rebirth. This potent symbolism appears in tomb paintings, manuscripts, hieroglyphic inscriptions on buildings and carvings. In addition to its use as an amulet for the living and the dead, scarabs adorned jewelry including necklaces, bracelets, wrist cuffs and wide decorative collars. A bracelet from the tomb of Tutankhamun featured a bright blue...
The Rosetta Stone is 3 feet 9 inches long and 2 feet 41/2 inches wide – (114x72x28cm). It is dark grey-pinkish granite stone (originally thought to be basalt in composition) with writing on it in two languages, Egyptian and Greek, using three scripts, Hieroglyphic, Demotic Egyptian and Greek. Because Greek was well known, the stone was the key to deciphering the hieroglyphs. History The...
Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians’ interaction with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces and elements of nature. The myths about these gods were meant to explain the origins and behavior of the forces they...
Saqqara Pyramid Step Pyramid, Pharaoh Djoser – 1st Pyramid Builder – 3rd Dynasty Pyramid of Userkaf – 5th Dynasty Pyramid of Unas – 5th Dynasty – The Pyramid Texts Pyramid of Teti – 6th Dynasty Pyramid of Pepi I Pyramid of Pepi I’s Queens and Family Pyramid of Pepi II Pyramid of Pepi II’s Queens and Family Pyramid of Djedkare – Isesi –...
Those who spoke to the Gods and Goddesses were the Priests and Priestesses supposedly a carry-over from the time of Atlantis. They were the souls who carried the sacred knowledge about creation and the nature of our reality. There were initiates who studied the knowledge of both the sacred mystery teachings and the religious philosophies of the times. This sacred knowledge would be passed down in...
King Lists Funerary Texts Predynastic Egypt Early Dynastic Period First Dynasty Second Dynasty Old Kingdom Third Dynasty Fourth Dynasty Fifth Dynasty Sixth Dynasty First Intermediate Period Seventh Dynasty Eighth Dynasty Ninth Dynasty Tenth Dynasty Middle Kingdom Eleventh Dynasty Twelfth Dynasty Thirteenth Dynasty Fourteenth Dynasty Second Intermediate Period Fifteenth Dynasty Sixteenth Dynasty...
Phaistos – also Phaestos and Phaestus – was an ancient city on the island of Crete. Map of Minoan CretePhaistos was located in the south-central portion of the island, about 3 1/2 miles from the sea. It was inhabited from about 4000 BC. A palace, dating from the Middle Bronze Age, was destroyed by an earthquake during the Late Bronze Age. Knossos and other Minoan sites were also...
The Palermo Stone is an ancient Egyptian stela of black basalt engraved toward the end of the 5th dynasty (twenty-fifth century BC). It is probably the earliest Egyptian historical text. Now in a number of fragments, it details the reigns of the first Egyptian kings through the middle of the 5th dynasty and was doubtless among the documents Manetho used to construct his dynastic chronology...