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71NCIENT
E6YPT
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 GREAT AGES OF MAN
A History of the World's Cultures

71NCIENT
EGYPT
by

LIONEL CASSON
and

The Editors of TIME-LIFE Books

TIME INCORPORATED, NEW YORK

THE AUTHOR: Lionel Casson, Professor of Classics at New York University, is

an authority on life in ancient civilizations. He is the author of many books, in-

cluding The Ancient Mariners: Seafarers and Sea fighters of the Mediterranean in
Ancient Times and Masters of Ancient Comedy. Professor Casson lectured on clas-
sical civilization on the Sunrise Semester television series, and from 1963 to 1965

was director of the summer session in classics at the American Academy in Rome.

THE CONSULTING EDITOR; Leonard Krieger, formerly Professor of History at

Yale, now holds the post of University Professor at the University of Chicago. Dr.
Kriegeris the author of The German Idea of Freedom and Politics of Discretion, and

co-author of History, written in collaboration with John Higham and Felix Gilbert.

THE COVER: King Khafre, builder of the second pyramid at Gizeh, reflects in his
proud face the majesty of ancient Egypt. The statue was carved about 2540 B.C.

TIME-LIFE BOOKS GREAT AGES OF MAN

SERIES EDITOR; Harold C- Field
EDITOR
Norman P. Ross Editorial Staff for Ancient Egypt:

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Text Editors: Anne Horan,

Maitland A Edey Paul Trachtman, L. Robert Tschirky
TEXT DIRECTOR ART DIRECTOR Designer: Norman Snyder
Jerry Korn Edward A, Hamilton Leon Greene,
Staff Writers: Peter Chaitin,
CHIEF OF RESEARCH
Gerald Simons, Edmund White
Beatrice T. Dobie
Chief Researcher: Carlotta Kerwin
Assistant Art Director: Arnold C. Holevwell
Picture Research: David Bridge
Assistar^t Chiefs of Research
Text Research: Barbara Ballantine,
Monica O. Home, Martha Turner
Mary W. Constant, Patricia Skinner,

Linda Wolfe. Susan Apple

PUBLISHER
Rhett Austell
EDITORIAL PRODUCTION
General Manager: Joseph C. Hazen Jr.
Color Director: Robert L. Young
Planning Director: Frank M, White
Copy Staff: Marian Gordon Goldman,
Business Manager: John D. McSweeney
Rosalind Stubenberg, Renni Browne,
Circulation Manager: Joan D Manley
Dolores A. Littles
Publishing Board: Nicholas Benton,
Picture Bureau: Margaret K Goldsmith,
Louis Bronzo, James Wendell Forbes,
Patricia Maye
John 5. Wiseman
Art Assistants: Douglas B Graham, Anne Landry,
Robert Pellegrini, Leonard Wolfe, David Wyland

Valuable aid in preparing this book was given by Doris O'Neil, Chief. Life Picture Library: Content Peck-
ham, Chief, Time Inc. Bureau of Editorial Reference, Richard M. Clurman, Chief, Time-Life News Service,

Correspondents Mohamed Wagdi (Cairo), Ann Natanson (Rome), Katharine Sachs (London), Elisabeth
Kraemer (Bonn) and Maria Vincenza Aloisi (Paris).

Ancient Egypt © 1965 Time Inc.

All rights reserved. Published simultaneously in Canada.

Library of Congress catalogue card number 65-28872.

School and library distribution by Silver Burdett Company.
 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

THE ENDURING LAND 10

1 Picture Essay: MONUMENTS AND GOD-KINGS 17

THE GIFT OF THE RIVER 28

2 Picture Essay: LIFE ON THE NILE 37

PATHWAY TO POWER 50
3 Picture Essay: THE WAR MACHINE 61

GODS AND THE AFTERLIFE 70

4 Picture Essay: THE WORLD OF THE DEAD 81

THE PHARAOH AND HIS PEOPLE 92

5 Piffure Essay: A LEISURED ELITE 103

A MAJESTIC ART 116

6 Picture Essay: THE PYRAMID BUILDERS 129

WORKS OF THE MIND 140

7 Picture Essay: THE MESSAGE OF THE STONES 149

CENTURIES OF DECLINE 158

8 Picture Essay: TUTANKHAMEN'S TREASURE 165

APPENDIX 181
Chronologies, 181; The Egyptian Pantheon, 184
Note: The artists and present locations of
BIBLIOGRAPHY, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CREDITS 186
all works of art reproduced in this book

are listed on page 187. INDEX 188

 INTRODUCTION
For many people ancient Egypt is a baffling phe- much impressed by ancient Egypt, and some of

nomenon. Certainly it is impressive, with its mighty them paid respectful credit to that culture for learn-

monuments, its three thousand years of history, ing and skill. If we are closer in understanding to

and its reputation for vast learning and skill. On the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans, we must
the other hand, a culture of now deserted monu- remember that the Egyptians established the es-
ments, of aloof statues, of a flat and static art sentials of their culture two thousand years before
and of gaping mummies never seems to pulse with these later peoples. A grandfather may seem hope-
good red blood. We feel no kinship to the austere less when confronting a stalled motorcar or cranky
King Khafre in the Cairo Museum or to Queen television set; yet he may have been highly skilled

Hatshepsut masquerading as Osiris in the Metro- in dealing with horses and a cranky hand pump.

politan Museum. The story of ancient Egypt seems Certainly the Egyptian culture must have had the

more like a fable than like human history. stability which comes from successful adaptation
This is an unfortunate impression created by a to environment; otherwise the same expression
people which, in seeking to find eternity, estab- could not have survived for three thousand years.
lished a static and unchanging form in art and ar- To us it is a paradox that a tomb, solemnly de-

chitecture and thereby obscured their little souls. signed for eternal bliss, should be the setting of

Those little souls were alert, gay, noisy, romantic lively and gay scenes. Should one carry into the
and artistic. The Egyptians were like their statues, presence of the gods a noisy gang of romping chil-

in which the bland stereotype of the eternally dren, a mischievous ape, chattering workmen and
youthful and serene noble overlies the individual- a woman guest who has overeaten at a banquet?

ity of a firm jaw or a hooked nose. One has to Should hymns to the gods be loaded with atrocious
excavate the Egyptian from his covering. puns? Should a myth represent the supreme deity

We who feel so little spiritual relation to the as sulking in his arbor because another god chal-
ancient Egyptian still use his things, as we sit on lenged his wisdom? These apparent frivolities are

a four-legged chair at a four-legged table, writing as much a part of this gifted people as the stunning

with a pen on a piece of paper. Such legacies from accomplishment of the Great Pyramid.
Egypt and Babylonia have survived for five thou- It is the great merit of Lionel Casson's treat-

sand years. In these respects we are closer to the ment that he sees the Egyptians as people who
ancients than to our children who use posture chairs, really did live and love and hate and hope and suf-
tape recorders and punch cards, and to our grand- fer. He presents them honestly as people who pos-

children, who may use a 13-month calendar. The sessed no mystic and lost lore, but who achieved

pace of our lifetime is so fast that we are discard- great things by honest effort and, in other respects,

ing a long heritage without much consideration. fell short of greatness— and who are thus under-

The Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans were standable to us in our groping days.

JOHN A. WILSON
Professor of Egyptology, University of Chicago
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 Antiquity, vast and richly textured, cloaks the land
of Egypt. In the dimness of prehistory, more than
10,000 years ago, man began to settle in the long
valley ribboned by the Nile. Sustained by the
life-giving river, the land prospered and, in the
Fourth Millennium before Christ, burst into splen-
dor under the first of the pharaohs. And in splen-

dor outstanding in the ancient world, it flourished

for 27 centuries.

Egypt was ancient even to the ancients. It was

a great nation a thousand years before the Minoans

1 of Crete built their palace at Knossos, about 900

years before the Israelites followed Moses out of
bondage. It flourished when tribesmen dwelt
THE ENDURING LAND
still

in huts above the Tiber. It was viewed by Greeks

and Romans of 2,000 years ago in somewhat the
same way the ruins of Greece and Rome are viewed
by modern man.
The great Greek historian Herodotus made a

grand tour of ancient Egypt in the Fifth Century

B.C. and wrote of "wonders more in number than
those of any other land and works it has to show
beyond expression great." Later writers bore him
out. Journeying the Nile, they passed the imposing
mounds of the pyramids, avenues of sphinxes,
slender obelisks. They were dwarfed by towering
images in stone and intrigued by enigmatic hiero-
glyphics covering the walls of temples.
Modern man knows of many ancient and won-
derful civilizations, some of them of misty origin

and impressive accomplishments. What sets Egypt

apart from the others?
For one thing, Egypt was one of the earliest of
the ancient lands to weave the threads of civiliza-
tion into a truly impressive culture. More to the
point, it sustained its achievements unabated for
more than two and a half millennia— a span of ac-
complishment with few equals in the saga of hu-
manity.
Nature favored Egypt. The early civilizations of

Mesopotamia stood on an open plain, and they

spent much of their vitality in defending them-
selves from one another. Palestine, farther west,
was largely unprotected, prey to invaders. In Egypt
it was different. Desert barriers girded the Valley
A SYMBOL OF ROYALTY, this perfectly among the treas-
preserved amulet was
ures found in Pharaoh Tutankhamen's tomb. Tutankhamen was of the 18th of the Nile and discouraged invasion; the people
Dynasty, one of the 30 dynasties of kings that ruled Egypt for 3,000 years. lived in relative security. The scattered tribes that

11
 shared the river merged into villages instead of Political and social structure quickly crystallized
fighting among themselves; the villages learned to into the form it was to maintain, with few inter-
cooperate in controlling the river's annual flood so ruptions, from then on. All power, in theory and
that all might reap abundant harvest. to a great extent in fact, lay in the hands of the
Cooperation meant organization. And it was the ruler. Cast in the double role of king and god, he
gift for organization, perhaps more than any other sat enthroned at the pinnacle of society. Support-
single factor, that enabled Egypt to erect a domi- ing him were the high officers to whom he dele-
nant, enduring state. gated authority. Below them, the ranks of a vast

The first important move in this direction oc- bureaucracy rested upon the broad shoulders of
curred around 3100 B.C. At that time the Egyp- workers and peasants.
tian people, hitherto divided into two lands. Upper The awakening of Egypt was accompanied by
and Lower Egypt, found themselves under a single the introduction of writing, all-important prereq-

monarch— the first of 30 dynasties of pharaohs. uisite to successful centralized rule. Records could
They thereby became the world's first united na- now be kept, instructions issued, history written
tion and took a decisive step toward establishing a down. The creators of poems, stories, essays and
stable civilization. With the first two dynasties, narratives could now entrust their works to papy-
which covered some 400 years, Egypt emerged from rus rather than memory, and Egypt's literature was
prehistoric obscurity into the full light of history. born. Methods of calculating kept pace with writ-

From that point on are numbered its greatest cen- ing. It became possible to compute taxes with pre-

turies. They are divided into three main eras— the cision, to survey land, measure weights and dis-
Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New tances, and reckon time.
Kingdom, separated by two intermediate periods Medical science may be said to have begun in

when the country's fortunes were temporarily at Egypt. Though their knowledge was at times taint-
low ebb. ed with magic, the Egyptian doctors and surgeons
Each of the three Kingdoms was characterized of antiquity achieved international renown, and
by accomplishments of its own. The Old Kingdom, with some cause. Hippocrates of Cos, who fathered
from about 2700 B.C. to 2200 B.C., was the period modern medicine in the Fifth Century B.C., and

during which the great pyramids were built. With the famous Roman anatomist Galen, about 700
the Middle Kingdom, about 2000 B.C. to 1800 B.C., years later, both admitted a debt to Egypt.
Egypt enjoyed an expanding political strength and With all power emanating from a single foun-

broader economic horizons. The New Kingdom, be- tainhead, manpower could be amassed to tame the
ginning about 1600 B.C., saw the nation's zenith Nile. Under the first pharaohs, irrigation projects
as a political power and its acquisition of an em- were launched on a grand scale; a spreading net-
pire mostly in Asia. When the New Kingdom came work of canals carried water to the fields, and dike
to a close around 1100 B.C., Egypt's days as a systems held the river at bay and reclaimed thou-
great nation were over, although pharaohs, inter- sands of arable acres.
spersed with foreign conquerors, continued to oc- As the Nile's green fringe of agriculture grew
cupy the throne until the Fourth Century B.C. ever greater, so did the material wealth of its civili-

The unique quality of Egyptian civilization be- zation. By 2600 B.C., Egyptian trading vessels bear-

gan to emerge even under the earliest pharaohs. ing cargoes of lentils, textiles, papyrus and other

12
 native products were venturing regularly into the
Red Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. Overland
traders penetrated deep into Nubia's hinterland to

the south. Cities flourished beside the Nile, en-

riched by the treasures of Africa and the ancient

East— copper, bronze, gold and silver, ivory and
rare woods, lapis lazuli and turquoise, myrrh and
spices, exotic animal skins and ostrich plumage.

With spectacular suddenness, an architecture

sprang up that was suitable for kings and gods.
Within a century after the first pharaoh of the
Old Kingdom mounted his throne, Egyptian build-
ers had graduated from sun-baked bricks to high-

ly sophisticated construction in stone, and their ar-

tisans were among the earliest to master this diffi-

cult technique. The same omnipotent authority that

drafted mass labor for irrigatijn was able to recruit

unlimited sinew to quarry and dress enormous
blocks, and to transport them to sites beside the

Nile. Within a brief span of 200 years or so, Egypt's

builders had so mastered the new material that they

had finished the pyramids at Gizeh, wonders of

the ancient world and the mightiest loyal sepul-
chers of all time. In succeeding centurii?s, Egyptian

architects flanked the river from the Delta, near the

Mediterranean, to lower Nubia, about 800 miles
south, with stone monuments that rank with the

most impressive of any age.

Art kept pace with architecture. From prehistoric

days, craftsmen of the Nile had displayed a sense
of beauty and symmetry that touched even the
most utilitarian objects— flint knives, stone or pot-

tery household vessels, pins and combs of bone

or shell. With the advent of the pharaohs, this
esthetic quality flowered into a mature art, distinc-

SOARING TWIN PILLARS tower over Karriak'i ruuis. One is decoiutcd tively Egyptian in concept and character. For the
with the lotus plant of Upper Egypt (left) and the other with Lower next 3,000 years, Egypt j reduced a graceful and
Egypt's papyrus. Together they symbolize the union of the txvo lands. among other things, to
spirited art (that served,

inspire the great Greek sculpturs and artists who

followed them centuries later).

13
 Sculptors carved colossal images of impassive when all work paused long enough for him to join

gods or rulers in stone, and also fashioned life- in celebrating great religious feasts.

sized portraits in stone, wood and copper. Painters From his humble mud-brick home beside the

added vivid pigments to the works of the sculptors Nile, the peasant might look across the river, busy

—and also covered temple walls with stately official with its traffic of boats and barges, to where work-
and religious scenes, and decorated palaces and men swarmed about some half-completed edifice.

tombs with animated frescoes. The important build- Most of the workers— the masons, carpenters and
ings of the ancient Egyptians were brilliant with minor artisans— lived as simply and frugally as the
color. peasants did. The sculptors, painters, cabinetmak-

Travelers from abroad who reached the Valley of ers and other specialists who would add a tem-
the Nile long after its civilization had passed its ple's finishing touches knew a higher standard of
zenith saw the Egyptians as mysterious, unfath- living, in prosperous times at least. Their dwellings,
omable. Later ages, drawing conclusions from silent like those of the middle-class government bureauc-
tombs and gigantic monuments, speculated that racy, might rise to two stories and embrace a small
they must have been a gloomy, oppressed people, garden.
preoccupied by thoughts of death and forever haul- The nobleman who controlled the land that the
ing huge blocks under the cutting whip of the peasant worked often lived in considerable luxury.

overseer. If he was a high-ranking official, his town or coun-

It was, we know now, a totally false picture. try house— made of the sun-baked brick the Egyp-
Far from being morbid or downtrodden, the Egyp- tians used for all domestic architecture, from hovels
tians were sociable and lighthearted, and among to palaces— was usually set in a landscaped garden
the most industrious of ancient peoples. Enamored enclosed by a high wall. Its whitewashed elegance
of life on earth, they envisioned death merely as and columned veranda were reflected in a large

its happy continuance. pool stocked with fish and scattered with lotus
And life, on the whole, was good in Egypt under blossoms. Visitors were greeted in a central recep-

the pharaohs. On occasion it was upset by war, tion hall about which were clustered smaller pub-
political unrest or famine, but in normal times its lic rooms, guest rooms and the family's private
course flowed serenely. The lot of the peasantry, chambers. Comfortable furnishings— couches, ta-

though hard, was not without its compensations. bles, chairs, beds, chests and colorful wall hangings
An Egyptian peasant certainly knew more security —attested to the competence of Egypt's craftsmen.
and had fewer worries than his counterpart in Those who dwelt within the royal palace itself

lands periodically laid waste by conquerors. It is enjoyed a life of splendor. Through broad courts,
true that his day was spent toiling in another man's frescoed halls and corridors friezed with faience
fields. But the soil he served provided him and his tiles flowed a constant stream of imperial business.
family with sustenance, though it was usually fru- Shaven-headed priests, high dignitaries and army
gal, and the river was liberal with its fish. During officers came and went on matters of domestic,
the months when the Nile flood made the fields foreign and religious concern. Subject princes from
untillable, he might have been drafted for labor in Syria and Palestine arrived, often accompanied by
the quarries or on one of the pharaoh's projects. dazzling retinues. Upon a dais in a lofty, colon-
On the other hand, floodtime was festival time. naded audience hall the god-king sat enthroned.

14
 X.'
SIZING UP THE SPHINX, two French scientists

measure its great head in this sketch by artist

Vivant Denon, who accompanied Napoleon's
army. The French, like many earlier conquerors,
were awestruck by Egypt's architectural splen-
dors. Recalling the arrival of the French at Luxor
'AaMi.^^^^^. A--:. .
-:*:::;i>>^"««#^
'i:J0- in 1799, Denon wrote, "the army, at the sight

of its scattered ruins, halted of itself and, by

one spontaneous impulse, grounded its arms."

flanked by a bodyguard and attended by ranks of firsthand and recorded by writers of the rising

courtiers. Here he received ambassadors from the Western world.

courts of Babylonia, Crete, the Hittites and other The Egyptians themselves were responsible for

nations; here he accepted rich tribute brought by the preservation of many artifacts of their civiliza-

newly conquered chieftains in exotic dress. tion because of their distinctive attitude toward
Set apart from the pageantry of state were the death. Since they viewed death as an extension of
pharaoh's private apartments— his robing chamber, life, they prepared for it elaborately. Any man who
bedroom and bath, and the adjoining quarters of could afford a proper tomb spared neither energy
the royal harem. Opening off the apartments was nor expense to furnish it with the many things

the Balcony of Appearances. From this vantage thought indispensable for living in the hereafter.
point, on festive or solemn occasions, the monarch Geography and climate assisted in the preservation

displayed himself to crowds in a court below, and process. Most of the land bordering the Nile is des-

from it he bestowed gifts and decorations upon de- ert, receiving little or no rainfall. The remains of

serving retainers. the past, blanketed by dry sand, rested undisturbed

Though extremely remote in time, the civilization through the millennia. Even the most perishable
of ancient Egypt is in some respects more intimately materials— delicate fabrics, articles of fragile wood,
known today than that of any other nation of an- papyrus— survived relatively unscathed.

tiquity. The Old Testament is rich in references As a result of these two factors— religion and cli-
to Egypt. In addition, history and literature written mate—Egypt remained a huge and unique storehouse
by the Egyptians themselves have endured in the of antiquity. Its artifacts span all the periods from

stone of temples, monuments and tombs, and on primitive prehistory to the sophisticated and mag-
papyrus scrolls. nificent age of the pharaohs. Scenes painted on the
The fundamental conservatism of the ancient walls of tombs from dynastic days onward faith-

Egyptians also helped preserve the evidences of fully depict many details of Egyptian life. Their
their civilization. Although they were subjected to subjects range from the lowly tasks of farmers and
alien rulers in their latter days and assaulted on servants and the joyous games of children to the
every hand by foreign influences, they clung tena- pomp and ceremony that attended gods and kings.
ciously to the customs and beliefs of their past. Small wooden models reproduce dwellings, ships,
Thus many remains of their culture lasted virtual- soldiers in battle gear; butchers, bakers and brewers
ly intact almost until modern times, to be observed in their shops. Although the tomb furnishings—

15
 clothing, musical instruments, furniture, cosmetics, that "Every step I took I crushed a mummy in

tools and weapons— were for the use of the dead, some part or other." What the dry sands had pre-
all shed light on the ways of the living. served for millennia, human greed and haste were
Nevertheless, in the years that followed the de- shattering in seconds.

cline of Egypt, it was a long time before anyone Egyptian authorities at length were persuaded to

saw much by this light. Through the Middle Ages protect the fast-vanishing legacy of their ancestors.

and the Renaissance, the odds and ends of Egyp- In 1858, at the urging of former consul Ferdinand

tian antiquities that found their way to Europe de Lesseps (the same Frenchman who later cut the

were usually regarded merely as puzzling curiosi- canal through Suez), they named an experienced
ties. French Egyptologist, Auguste Mariette, first Con-
It was not until 1798 when Napoleon launched servator of Egyptian Monuments. With full control

his conquest of Egypt that the veil began to lift. of antiquities in his hands and the backing of the
Accompanying Napoleon's troops was a small ar- government, Mariette managed to curb the grand-
ray of savants dedicated to a study of the Valley scale plundering of tombs and temples. Through
of the Nile. Under their ministrations there began his influence the foundations were laid for the pres-

to take shape a picture of a vital people endowed ent Cairo Museum, housing treasures of the past.

with great skills. The discovery by one of Napo- Yet even Mariette and his French successor Gas-
leon's officers of the Rosetta Stone— a fragment of a ton Maspero were by modern standards shockingly
stele inscribed not only in hieroglyphics but also careless in excavating important sites. It was not
in an Egyptian script called demotic and in Greek until William Matthew Flinders Petrie, a compar-
—provided the final key to Egypt's lost history. atively unknown and largely self-taught British

Its bilingual text made it possible for the philolo- Egyptologist, arrived in 1880 that digging in Egypt

gist Jean Fran(;ois Champollion, who had devoted became precise and orderly. To Petrie, archeology
years to the study of ancient languages, to an- was a means not simply of digging for treasure but

nounce in 1822 that the enigma of the hieroglyphs of re-creating the life of the people, humble as well

had been solved: for the first time, the pictographs as great, who had buried their kings amid splen-
could be read. dor. Under Petrie, the trowel, camel's-hair brush
Ancient Egypt had no sooner begun to speak for and record book replaced the battering ram. How-
itself than the unfolding of its tale was abruptly ard Carter, an Englishman and former student of
postponed through the action of mindless vandals. Petrie who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen
A rage for amassing Egyptian antiquities swept and its stunning treasure in 1922, learned his les-

Europe. The heritage of the pharaohs was exploit- son from Petrie so well that it took him eight years
ed unmercifully; architectural fragments, statues, to record and remove the hundreds of rich furnish-

mummies, papyri and tomb furnishings were car- ings heaped in the tomb's four small chambers.
ried off wholesale to enrich museums and private Since Retries day, exacting work by scholars and
collections. In this seller's market, the methods archeologists of France, Britain, Germany, the

used by relic-hunters were crude, often little bet- United States and other nations has stripped much
ter than outright looting. One Italian adventurer- of the mystery from ancient Egypt. Its peoples and
turned-archeologist, for example, bludgeoned his culture now stand revealed in their proper light as
way into tombs with a battering ram and reported one of the great civilizations the world has known.

16
A MIGHTY BUILDER. Ramses 11 is portrayed in huge tiuiii statues at Luxor. Inscribed at right are hieroglyphs of the King's formal names and titles.

MONUMENTS AND GOD-KINGS

Life everlasting for Egypt's pharaohs was the sustaining principle of Egyptian
civilization. In an ancient religious text, a deceased king asks of the creator-god,
"O Atum, what is my duration of life?" And the deity replies, "Thou art destined

for millions of millions of years, a lifetime of millions."

To supply the necessities for their lifetime of millions, the kings designed

tombs and mortuary temples that would last forever. A common designation for

tomb, in fact, meant "house of eternity." The people of Egypt willingly labored

to build these monuments for their dead rulers, believing that, as gods, the

pharaohs had to be properly provided for and propitiated.

Many vast sepulchers and massive shrines survive to this day— some 2,000

years after the culture that created them waned and perished. The tombs have
kept alive the names of the ancient kings— fulfilling, in a very real sense, the
Egyptian idea that "To speak the name of the dead is to make him live again."

17
 A GODLY BEAST
STANDING GUARD
Egyptian civilization was already ancient
when the first Greek travelers came to

Egypt and discovered, standing at the edge

of the desert, the strange limestone beast
which they called the Sphinx. This may
have been a Greek corruption of the Egyp-
tians' designation of the monument. But
nothing like this Sphinx had ever been
seen in Greece. The gigantic figure crouch-
ing in the sand near the modern village of

Gizeh has a lion's body measuring 240

feet long and 66 feet high, and a human
face more than 13 feet wide.
Ever since this hybrid creature was giv-
en its foreign name, the Great Sphinx at
Gizeh has represented to outlanders all

that is strange and inscrutable about the

civilization of ancient Egypt. Yet, despite

the statue's remote origins, a good deal

about it has been learned or deduced. Egyp-
tians considered the Sphinx an embodiment
of Harmakhis, a manifestation of their sun
god. The human features are believed to
be a portrait of Khafre, the King of Egypt
when the statue was carved.
Nothing about the Great Sphinx is more
certain— or harder to comprehend— than its

tremendous age. According to an ancient

text, a young prince riding in the desert

paused to nap in the shade of the Sphinx.

As he slept, the Sphinx spoke to him,
promising him Egypt's throne if he would
remove the sand that had piled up around
the statue. The prince, Thutmose IV, did

clear the sand and indeed became King of

Egypt 34 centuries ago— and at that time

the Sphinx was already 1,100 years old.

18
 A HEAD OF DIOSER, heavily damaged but still revealing, suggests
the commanding personality of a great king. In his reign, the size

of Egyptian sculpture and architecture dramatically increased.

DKISLR S TEMPLE and sft'f pyramid (background) at Sakkarah, al-

though the first all-stone structures, were nevertheless built along

lines used by architects accustomed to working with mud bricks.

THE LOFTIEST PYRAMIDS, built at Gizeh for Khufu (right) and

Khafre, form a backdrop for a caravan. Camels came into general
use in Egypt at least 20 centuries after these tombs were built.

20
 A GOLDEN AGE MEMORIALIZED IN STONE
Some 4,700 years ago, Egypt entered a period of tal civilization were pioneered by Imhotep, who
great technological progress. Until about 2700 B.C., was Vizier to the powerful King Djoser. At Sakka-
the basic building material had been sun-dried brick. rah, using small stone blocks instead of traditional
Yet, less than 200 years later, the pyramids at Gizeh mud bricks, Imhotep constructed for Djoser a step-
had been built of stone blocks which weighed up to sided pyramid and a rectangular funerary temple.
15 tons, and which fitted together with the precision Nothing like these buildings had ever been seen
of a necklace clasp (pages 129-139). before. Though these structures were soon dwarfed
The techniques that produced Egypt's monumen- by others, they made a legend of Imhotep's skill.
^mS:
 MASSIVE REMINDERS OF A VIRILE KING
Ramses II, called "the Great," earned that accolade Among his monuments were two huge temples cut
by doing things on a grand scale and with enormous into the cliffs at Abu Simbel. Today these structures

gusto. In an opulent 67-year reign he waged an ex- are involved in a project vast enough to delight

travagant war against a coalition of Asian states led the King himself: to save the temples from sinking

by the Hittites, sired more than 100 children, and beneath an artificial lake to be created by the As-

erected Egypt's biggest and showiest buildings. wan High Dam, both were ordered raised 200 feet.

^n,^

C.HARDiAl^. '^l All l^^ loitl ih't'U tltl;^ Kilni:-^^ 11 Uiui tWO of his Wlfi'

Nofretari, stand in niches flanking the entrance to the Queen's

temple, located a few hundred feet north of the King's shrine.
A GIGANTIC EFFIGY, one of four 67-foot-high statues of Ramses
II, looks out over the Nile River at Abu Simbel. The figures at
bottom represent a few members of the immediate royal family. 23
 ROYAL WIVES AND A WILLFUL QUEEN

Egypt's throne was traditionally occupied only by reached maturity, she completely usurped the reins
men. Many queens, including the lovely Nefertiti, of government. Flaunting all the trappings of king-

won great renown as wives to kings, but only a few ship, even male dress and ceremonial false beard,

queens ever ruled in their own right. this remarkable woman built a lavish temple (above)
The most famous of the women who did reign, to keep her name alive. When she fell, after 20
Queen Hatshepsut, at first served as regent to years in power, Thutmose claimed his throne and
her stepson Thutmose III. Even before the prince vengefully destroyed much of her great memorial.

24
HATSHEPSUTS TEMPLE, fl compilex of col-
onnaded shrines, rises in terraces to the

cliffs at Deir el Bahri. The chief ex-

ploits of the Queen's reign were de-
picted in carvings along the porticoes.

NEFERTITIS PORTRAIT, carved in the

realistic style used during the reign of

her husband Akhenaton, reveals the

loveliness implied by her name: Nefer-

titi means "the Beautiful One is come."
A FALLEN GRANDEUR One of the most somber relics of ancient Egypt
unfinished statue of Osiris, Lord of Eternity, which
is an immense
lies today,
as it has for over 2,000 years, in a red-granite quarry near the
town of Aswan. The exact purpose for which it was carved
and the reason it was never completed are irretrievably lost in Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley to write his famous lines:

the remote past. An abandoned stone god, the statue seems to "On the sand, /Half sunk, a shattered visage lies . . . / And on
symbolize the fall of Egypt's great and long-lived civilization. the pedestal these words appear: / My name is Ozymandias,
"
It was just such a statue, one of Ramses II, that inspired the king of kings: / Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!'

-*«••

%»4m#»*if'

^-^^i-m..
 The Nile was to ancient Egypt what the sea is to

Britain and the Alps are to Switzerland. It fash-

ioned the nation's economy, determined its political

structure and created the values it chose to live by.

The river flows more than 4,000 miles in all. Two

great streams converge to form it: the Blue Nile,

which rises in Ethiopia, and the White Nile, which

rises in Uganda. They join at Khartoum to be-

come the Nile proper, and from there the united

2
stream runs 1,900 miles north to the Mediterranean.
From Khartoum much of its course is through a

valley gashed in desert. It creates in the midst of a

sterile land an elongated oasis that for thousands

of years has nurtured civilization. The river gave
THE GIFT those who lived along it prosperity; the desert that

lies beside it gave them security. These two geo-

OF THE RIVER graphical features determined the facts of physical
existence for the ancient Egyptian and molded his
mental attitudes.
On its course north from Khartoum, the river
is interrupted at six points by rapids— the famous
Nile Cataracts. The sixth is just downstream from
Khartoum itself. The first is at Aswan, and marks
the Nile's entry into Egypt proper. From here there

is no further interruption until it reaches the Medi-

terranean. For the last hundred miles or so the river
fans out in tributaries over the marshy flats of a

delta, so named by the Greeks for its triangular

shape, which resembled their letter "delta."

It was in the 750-mile stretch between the First

Cataract and the sea that the civilization we know
as Egyptian rose and flourished. It is an area di-

vided by geography into two distinctly different re-

gions. The part near the Delta is known as Lower
Egypt; the part to the south of it, where the land is

more arid and the river is bordered on both sides

by frowning cliffs, is known as Upper Egypt.
Each year the main stream of the Nile, swollen
with the torrential rains that fall in Ethiopia, rushes

north and spreads its waters over Egypt. "When

the Nile inundates the land, "
the Greek Herodotus
wrote in the Fifth Century B.C., "all of Egypt be-
comes a sea, and only the towns remain above wa-
ter, looking rather like the islands of the Aegean.
At such times shipping no longer follows the
SKILLED MARINERS, tiL'o Egyptian oarsmen maneuver their boat as a crew-
man between them. Some Egyptiatj boats were over 200
stream, but goes straight across the country. Any-
stantis feet long,

and it took expert pilots to cope with the Nile's ever-shifting sandbars. one, for example, traveling from Naucratis to Mem-
29
 MEDITERRANEAN SEA MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Alexandria

\
Helic Rosetta •
t Cairo

Herakt^opoU

Henr.opoli5|\ Akl,^,^,^
\ '<r
£ll el Arha^)

Abydos*^i;^5irhebi
Nj
Hierakonpolil^V
£'^"A RED
:\
.Aswarv
SEA
ELEPHANTrNE t ^^
, ,,<
firsi Ca!aficl_;]pHiiAE
'J
I. ^
Abu Simbel,?/^
Second Calaraet -Wadi Hjifa

.../

fourth
A'-'
Cataract
\
"to
./'. fi/tfr CafjMct ^ -
J>.

•
Sixth'<:alarac(

Kharloum
§^'
^
pfAIYUM

^J
Crncodilopolrs*

m
rt ./
2 <^^

=^f"-
Pf # SCALE
10 20 30 Miles

i 1 I I I

el C/ia^j/
.^^' '°^. .1

fftfF' SHEEP 1P!|> SWINE ^^ CASTOR OIL ^ GRAPES # BARLEV

'W^ PAPYRUS ^r^ DATE PAUvl |

FLAX ^ SESAME 'ffUT GOATS

.<^
1 \ EGYPT'S LONG, VERDANT LIFELINE
-.<',<'
THE REALM OF THE NILE extends more than 4,000 miles from sources deep in Africa
^:y''P J Lake
\ ^ ^^-^ —Albert Lake ^ i to its mouth in the
(left)

Mediterranean. The earliest Egyptians knew

its

little about the upper

reaches of their river, and believed it gushed up from an underground sea at the island of

Elephantine near the First Cataract. Actually, three main streams combine to form the
great river. The White Nile starts in Lake Victoria, meets the Blue Nile at Khartoum and
*• K ^- V V/c!oria ,(f
V.
is joined by the Atbara River another 200 miles downstream. Once in Egypt, the Nile
glides past Thebes, a New Kingdom capital, and the rich plain of Faiyum. The Delta,
ff^ above, was Egypt's rich agricultural center, fanning out beyond the Old Kingdom capital

of Memphis. Here a wide variety of crops and livestock thrived in ancient times. The map
shows the Delta as it now appears; only vague information is available on its ancient

configuration. The sites of the seven mouths of the old river are shown by arrows.

30
phis sails right alongside the pyramids." When the the time that lasted until June, when the cycle was
waters recede, they leave behind a layer of fertile repeated. Out of this observation came the first prac-
silt— "black land," the Egyptians called it, to dis- ticable calendar, and the one from which the mod-
tinguish it from the sterile "red land" of the desert. ern Western calendar is derived.
Egypt is "the gift of the river," Herodotus not- From these seasonal divisions also came social

ed. Without the Nile, the country would have been organization, for the river and its behavior deter-
barren; with it, the pharaohs ruled one of the most mined labor assignments. During the Emergence
richly endowed lands of the age. The Egyptians men caught and hoarded the fast-receding waters
never had to scan the skies anxiously in search of and planted in the mud. During the Drought they
rain; every summer the Nile provided irrigation. harvested and threshed. During the Inundation,
They never had to fear exhausting the soil; every when the fields were flooded, they hauled stones

summer the Nile refreshed it. for the pharaoh's building projects.

Like so many of nature's phenomena, the Nile They built dikes to keep the river from inundating
could be a trial as well as a blessing. If the annual villages; for the purposes of irrigation they laid out
flood was too high, the spreading stream wrought big catch basins to trap the water as the flood
havoc; if it was too low, the life-giving waters receded; they dug canals leading from these so that

missed marginal areas, there was less land to sow the water could be released to spill over the fields;

and food ceased to be plentiful. If a low flood was and they sank wells. They devised nilometers—
repeated for several consecutive years, there was gauges to measure the rise of the river— and placed
famine. Joseph's prediction in the Old Testament one near what is now Cairo and another just below
of seven fat years and seven lean years reflects the First Cataract. As they extended the bounda-
what could happen along the Nile. The margin be- ry of Egypt, they set up other nilometers farther
tween relief and worry was meager. A few feet high- south— the pharaoh wanted the earliest possible
er than usual might mean drowned villages; a few portent of what the national fate would be for

lower might mean short rations. the year.

During remote prehistoric times, the scattered The great river was almost wholly responsible
tribes living by the river were probably content to for Egypt's economy. It fed the people and, except
flee when the Nile rose and return to plant hap- for the gold mined in the eastern desert and Nubia,
hazardly in the mud. But to feed a sizable and co- it furnished most of the wealth. It made Egypt
hesive population, planning was needed. When the from the outset an agricultural nation. It determined
Egyptians discovered how to harness the annual all real estate values, for the land was divided into
flood, they were on the route to becoming a nation. that which always received the benefits of flood-
More than 5,000 years ago, before the founding of ing, that which sometimes did and that which nev-
the First Dynasty, the Egyptians had learned to de- er did, and taxes were assessed accordingly. The
termine the seasons of the year by the behavior river determined many of the cases that came into
of the river. The seasons were three: "Inundation," court, for there were incessant wrangles over rights
the time of flood, approximately from June through to the use of water. It determined even the accounts
September; "Emergence of the fields from the wa- men gave of their lives in the hereafter. When an
ter," which began in October and left the soil moist Egyptian faced the tribunal of the afterworld, of
from then until about February; and "Drought," equal importance to his avowal that he had not killed

31
 or robbed was his declaration that he had not "held from bundles of bound papyrus reeds. In addition,

up the water in its season" or "built a dam against papyrus served to make baskets, boxes, mats, san-
running water." dals, sieves and stools. The lowly plant, to be had
The economy the Nile created was such that for the mere cutting, was second only to grain
Herodotus and the authors of the Bible wrote in among the Nile's gifts.

wonder of the fleshpots of Egypt. Grain was the For certain commodities that their land lacked,
chief product, and the Nile gave so bountiful a the Egyptians had satisfactory or even superior
yield that when the country was well administered substitutes. The valley was not a particularly good
Egypt was always in a position to export it. place for timber, but it provided mud that could be

There was another commodity that the river fur- dried in the sun, and from this the Egyptians fash-

nished Egypt— one, moreover, that needed but a ioned all their dwellings, from huts to palaces. The
fraction of the time and toil it took to produce valley did not particularly favor the olive, which in

grain. Along the banks of the Nile, and especially most Mediterranean countries was the principal
in the swamps of the Delta, there grew in profu- source of oil, but there was abundant castor oil,

sion the tall reed called papyrus, the bulrushes flaxseed oil and sesame oil to use instead. Oil was
with which Moses' mother made the boxlike float an absolute essential for the ancients, serving all

for her baby. The Egyptians early taught them- the purposes that butter, soap and electricity serve

selves to fashion an excellent type of paper from for the modern world. Ancient peoples cooked in it,

the stalk of this reed. It was the most convenient cleansed themselves with it and burned it in their

writing material available to the ancient world. The lamps.

Egyptians exported sheets made from papyrus and In the Delta, where the flat expanse lent itself

maintained a lucrative monopoly on the commodity to ranching, the landowners grew sleek cattle. Pigs,

until about the 12th Century A.D., when rag and which need a moist soil, were raised there, and
wood-pulp paper began to displace it. goats were to be found all over, in Upper as well

Papyrus served not only the economy of Egypt, as Lower Egypt. The marshes of the Delta, lined

but the culture of the ancient world as well. Be- with thickets of papyrus, were havens for all sorts

cause it was lightweight and could be rolled up, it of water birds; and the Egyptians, gliding in reed

was infinitely more easily handled than the baked- punts, went fowling with throwing sticks or set
clay tablets of Mesopotamia and helped to spread traps for geese, ducks and cranes to bring home for

the knowledge of writing to the rest of the world. fattening in pens.

By the beginning of the Christian era, from Syria An economy must have distribution as well as

to Spain scribes wrote their letters, bookkeepers production— the good things for eating and selling

their accounts, clerks their records on papyri made that Egypt produced had to be delivered to consumer
in Egypt. and customer. Here again the Nile performed nobly.
But this did not exhaust the usefulness of the It was a perfect artery of communication. In many
papyrus plant. The fibers, when twisted, made ex- ancient countries distribution of products was slow
cellent cordage, and a good many of the vessels and expensive, because it had to be done overland,
that sailed the ancient Mediterranean were rigged on beasts of burden; in Egypt, thanks to the river,
with ropes of Egyptian papyrus. Along the Nile, it was cheap and quick. The Nile traveled the

all small boats and many fair-sized ones were made length of the country and at the Delta— the only

32
RAISING WATER from the Nile to fill a walled irrigation ditch, and bucket at one end, a heavy counterweight at the other. By
an Egyptian peasant employs a mechanical device called a "shd- pulling the rope he lowers the bucket into the Nile. Then the

duf." It consists of a long pole balanced on a crossbeam— a rope counterweight raises the bucket and water is poured into the ditch.

place where the country was wide— its seven arms Pilots, sailors and ferrymen were as important

provided a web of waterways. Better yet, all the on ancient Egypt's Nile as on Mark Twain's Missis-
necessary power for locomotion was furnished by sippi. Cross-river traffic was heavy and canals were
the river and the weather. The prevailing wind ac- ubiquitous, so the ferrymen's services were con-
commodatingly blows from the north, opposite to stantly in demand. Ferrymen appear in inscriptions

the flow of the river; thus a boatman could drift on the pharaohs' tombs. They supplied transport
leisurely downriver (or have the crew run out the for the royal dead across the waters of the after-

oars if he was in a hurry) and then raise sail and world. Apparently they caused as much trouble in

let the wind waft him back. the next life as in this, napping when they were
As a result of all this, the Nile drew men to its needed, having to be thumped awake, complaining
waters at a very early date, thereby making the of boat leaks and refusing to go to work.
Egyptians key contributors to the history of water Politically, the Nile brought Egypt to early uni-
transport. The earliest record of a sail is a picture fication under a central government. Before the
on an Egyptian pot of about 3200 B.C. Nile boat- founding of the First Dynasty the groundwork had
men pioneered in the development of river craft. been laid for corralling and directing of vast man-
They had reed rafts for nosing through canals and power; by the time of the First Dynasty, a coordi-

mighty 200-foot barges for hauling obelisks; tiny nated effort directed at controlling the waters ex-
punts for the everyday task of ferrying and lordly tended the length of the river. The building and
yachts for the grandees; and hulking freighters maintaining of dikes, catch basins and canals went
to carry grain up and down the length of the river. on unceasingly, year in and year out, demanding a

33
 May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec )an Feb Mar Apr
30

25 " { I
"
.

20 ^g&
THE PATTERN OF THE NILE, a regular Cycle

of ebb and flow that remained unchanged 15

for thousands of years, is illustrated on
this graph which shows the river flooding
10
to a height of 27 feet at Wadi Haifa in

the year 1931-1932, a short time before

modern irrigation projects tamed the flow.

labor force of such size that the only way to enroll The desert also served Egypt as a deterrent to

it was by conscription— the same system, inciden- invasion. The Egyptians could and did go out across

tally, that built the pyramids and the pharaohs' it to trade, but others found it difficult to come in.

other great monuments. The whole country was The wasteland to the west is spotted with oases

involved with the work, for it was of crucial that made caravan traffic possible, but by no means

importance. For a stable existence, central authori- did they form an invasion route. The eastern desert

ty was of the essence— an authority that could separates the Nile in the north from Palestine and

maintain a total effort all along the river, that in the south from the Red Sea. The strip along the
could store the bounty of a fat year to offset the Red Sea, which is stiffened by a chain of sunbaked,

shortage of a lean year, that could call up and waterless mountains, formed an almost impassable

organize and direct the armies of workers required. barrier.

Having brought about the need for centralization, To the north Egypt was protected by the Medi-
the Nile at the same time abetted it by enabling the terranean Sea, which, like the desert, served for

pharaoh to communicate directly and swiftly with trade but was easily defensible. To the south of

any spot the length of his domain. From his capi- Egypt, in Nubia— more or less the northern Sudan
tal, first at Memphis and then later at Thebes, dis- of today— the Nile was less bountiful, and the area
patch boats sped upstream and downstream, keep- rarely supported a nation that could threaten the

ing him in constant touch. pharaohs. The Nile might have served as a path for

Beyond the river lay two other formations of invasion were it not for the Cataracts. The phar-
nature that contributed to Egypt's national fortune aohs extended their occupation of Nubia by simply
and the character of the people: the sea and the pushing the border from one Cataract to the next

desert. The Egyptians traded with Punt (probably and establishing forts along the way.
the coastal area of what is now Somaliland), Syria Nestled within the embrace of such formidable
and Lebanon by way of the Red Sea and the Medi- frontiers, Egypt came to nationhood comfortably
terranean, exporting papyrus and linen, importing secure and aloof. Remote from neighbors, the Egyp-
timber, copper, incense and perfume. The desert tian dismissed foreigners as having nothing to offer

slopes were barren of vegetation, but they were save certain essentials that the valley of the Nile

rich in excellent hard stone for sculpture, in semi- did not provide, such as timber and copper. Sure

precious stones such as agate, jasper and amethyst of his livelihood, he developed an outlook that was
for jewelry, and in gold. cheerful and optimistic.

34
 The upper classes of Egypt led a luxurious life. urges all present: "Drink! Bottoms up!" Eat, drink
The ruins of Tell el Amarna, which was founded as and be merry— and there was no worry about dying
a new capital in the 14th Century B.C., reveal the because, in the Egyptians' confident conception
grace and comfort for which the city was built. It of destiny, death meant simply a continuation of
spread over a crescent-shaped plain about eight life's good things. A copy of a minstrel's song

miles long and three miles wide, and was laced inscribed in a tomb of the Third Millennium B.C.

with broad boulevards. The palace and the villas of says: "The span of earthly things is as a dream;
the wealthy stood in the central quarter, which was but a fair welcome is given him who has reached
designed with the demands of the climate well in the West." (The afterworld was conceived of by

mind. There were ample gardens, lofty reception Egyptians as being located in the west.)

rooms decorated with gay murals, balconies orient- A considerably later text inscribed on a wooden
ed toward the evening breeze, and outside sleeping coffin describes the creator-god as having said: "I

porches, bedrooms, bathrooms with lavatories and made the great inundation that the poor man might
basins fed by running water. Even the houses of have rights therein like the great man." Ancient
the most humble had sanitary facilities. Egypt by no means had an affluent society; the
The walls of many tombs depict the life the an- poor lived in the humblest of homes and they
cient Egyptians hoped to lead in the hereafter, and worked all their lives. But so long as the central
it was an extension of the life they led on earth. The authority was strong and efficient, few went hun-
wealthy are shown boating on the Nile, fowling in gry, and throngs of the humble were regaled at

the marshes, picnicking with their families, sipping public expense during the holidays, some of which
wine in their cool gardens, lolling in the shade as lasted for weeks.

their field hands gather in a fat harvest. For most And to judge by the tomb paintings, the gaiety
hardy ancient peoples the spare diet was the ideal; and zest for life were by no means limited to the

ancient Egypt, like Dickens' England, went in for rich. The artists make abundantly clear the good
the groaning board. On festive occasions meat, fowl, cheer, the lightheartedness, the fun that was to be
fruit and cakes, washed down with plenty of beer found in humble lives. Children romp at boisterous

or wine, made up the menu. The guests were scent- play while the grownups work; two girls have a

ed with perfume and decked with flowers. Flowers hair-pulling fight while their companions busily
abounded, and garlands adorned the festivals. Serv- harvest the grain; a field hand sings and beats time
ants of both sexes, the girls wearing little more while a flutist pipes for a line of reapers; a lone

than necklace and girdle, waited on the guests; mu- donkey holds up the transport of grain by planting
sicians, dancers and singers entertained them. his feet and refusing to budge; comic consternation
Egyptian artists added bits of written dialogue reigns at a carpentry shop when the foreman drops

to their pictures, much like the balloons in modern in unexpectedly. The dialogue is full of raillery, in

comic strips. In one banquet scene a woman tells colloquial Egyptian that is easily translated into

the servant pouring wine: "Give me eighteen meas- modern repartee. "Get a move on! "
says one of a
ures! Look— I love it madly!" A servant replies, gang toting bags of grain. "Hurry up, old man,
"

"Don't worry; I'm not going to leave [the wine jar]. don't talk so much!" says a porter as he hands

A guest nearby cries: "When is the cup coming over a load of flax to a worker. "The water is rising

around to me? "

Another, also waiting her turn. —it is nearly up to the sheaves." A drover in charge

35
 of oxen treading grain coaxes his animals along: the heat of summer drew near, irrigating the land

"Tread it for your own good— go on, tread for your of the pharaohs, making Egypt one of the most
own good. Your masters get the grain and you can prosperous nations of the ancient world and nour-
eat the straw. Keep at it!" Stevedores handling car- ishing a civilization that endured through three

go boom out, "Watch your step!" at bystanders millennia of history.

blocking their way. The Egyptians' reverence for the river is evident

Life was cheerful and certain for all, and for the in the "Hymn to the Nile," which was probably
wealthy it was elegant. The Egyptians, pragmatic written sometime between the Middle and New
and easygoing by nature, accepted the bounty of Kingdoms for an inundation festival held at Thebes.

the land unquestioningly. There is no Egyptian The following is an excerpt, freely translated.
contribution to match fiebrew ethics, Greek phi-
losophy or Roman law. For the upper classes the Hail to thee, O Nile, that issues from the earth
objectives of life were to cut a figure in society, to and comes to keep Egypt alive! . . . He that makes
rise at court, to achieve success (measured in herds to drink the desert and the place distant from
of cattle or acres of land), and to be buried in an water. . . .

impressive tomb, appropriately decorated. He who makes barley and brings emmer into
The values by which the Egyptians lived can be being, that he may make the temples festive. If he is

seen in a piece of literature entitled The Instruction sluggish, then nostrils are stopped up, and every-
of the Vizier Ptahhotep, which was written during body is poor. If there be thus a cutting down in the
the Old Kingdom and studied by hundreds of gen- food-offerings of the gods, then a million men per-
erations of schoolboys. It purports to be the advice ish among mortals, covetousness is practiced. . . .

of an aging vizier, the ranking member of the phar- But generations of thy children jubilate for thee,

aoh's court, to his son. It is full of common sense and men give thee greeting as a king, stable of

and observations on the ways of the world. "If thou laws, coming forth at his season and filling Upper
art one of those sitting at the table of one greater and Lower Egypt. Whenever water is drurik, every

than thyself, take what he may give, when it is set eye is in him, who gives an excess of his good. . . .

before thy nose. Thou shouldst gaze at what is be- If thou art too heavy to rise, the people are few,

fore thee. Do not pierce him with many stares, [for and one begs for the water of the year. Then the

such] an aggression against him is an abomina- rich man looks like him who is worried, and every

tion. . . . Let thy face be cast down until he ad- man is seen to be carrying his weapons. . . .

dresses thee, and thou shouldst speak [only] when When the Nile floods, offering is made to thee,

he addresses thee. Laugh after he laughs, and it will oxen are sacrificed to thee, great oblations are made
be very pleasing to his heart, and what thou mayest to thee, birds are fattened for thee, lions are hunted

do will be pleasing to the heart." for thee in the desert, fire is provided for thee. And
The Old Kingdom would collapse, the Middle offering is made to every other god, as is done for

Kingdom would grope in the direction of social the Nile, with prime incense, oxen, cattle, birds and

justice, and the New Kingdom would experience flame. . . .

foreign influence and foreign involvement. But the So it is "Verdant art thou!" So it is "Verdant
Nile flowed along steadily and surely, its annual art thou!" So it is "O Nile, verdant art thou, who
life-refreshing flood never failing to arrive when makest man and cattle to live!"

36
CROSSING A NILE CANAL at dusk, a procession of cattle, camels and herderf rt'flfi(> tin- fHitt)ift!.lnp of nuin ^iiui Iwint ea^ntud to L^^x/ptmii hte.

LIFE ON THE NILE

For 5,000 years, the Nile has been the river of life for Egypt and its people. Sus-

taining existence and supporting a civilization in the desert, it has also rigorously
shaped the life of the peasants who have cultivated its shoreland. From the time

of the pharaohs, the rhythm of the Nile has effectively divided the people's

work year. Through the centuries, men have anxiously watched the annual flood-
ing to learn whether the waters would rise enough to insure irrigation during the
growing season. The flood, one ancient writer said, was a time when "the land is

in jubilation, then every belly is in joy." The peasant's life has hardly changed
at all, although modern dams, regulating the river's flow, have ended the uncer-
tainty about water supply. Ancient ways have persisted. Tools virtually identical

with those pictured in ancient tombs still are used. A look at Egypt today faith-
fully evokes the remote past, and brings to life the round of activities of those

who worshipped pharaohs as gods and hailed the Nile as "creator of all good."

37
 Ancient Egypt, an arid waste of desert extending over thou-
THE FERTILE MARGIN sands of square miles, left man almost nowhere to live but

along a thin green strip of land watered by the Nile. As the

river flowed from south to north, from the steep cliffs near
Aswan to the Delta beyond Cairo, the verdant strip on each

38
 4Kr ^tw M
c ^^ ''

40^'
mMMb irifii; iS'Wt.

bank varied greatly. In some places it spread over no more yond. To the peasants in the fields, the forbidding, inhospita-
than a mile; in other places it covered about 13 miles. In the ble expanse of sand and rock that reached up to the very edge of
Delta, a triangular network of river branches, fertile fields, their villages was a fearful place, lonesome and threatening.
vineyards and orchards extended some 150 miles in width— The desert was considered the home of the dead, a place for

but even this was a mere strand set against the vast desert be- burial. Only in the Nile could they sense the continuity of life.

39
 r^-:^:r^, ..,,.•
^^i^:

INGENIOUS AGRICULTURAL TECHNIQUES

Four thousand years ago, one parsimonious Egyp- shore up irrigation ditches after the harvest— and
tian landowner commanded his son to "Make the then did duty as a hoe during the next planting.
most of all my land; strive to the uttermost; dig Reaping was done by hand with a sickle; the same
the ground with your nose in the work." To make implement also cut clover for cattle and rushes for

the most of the land, Egyptian farmers and field making mats. Everyone had to pitch in. Women,
hands had to labor unceasingly. Often it took in- though busy with their domestic chores, doubled as
genuity as well as brawn to survive. Farmers used field hands. At the harvest everyone poured out
simple tools, but put them to many uses. One large- into the fields to gather the crop and to celebrate

headed, short-handled implement served to dig and the fact that famine had once more been staved off.

40
PLOWING THE TOPSOIL lately deposit-
ed by the Nile's flood, a farmer read-
ies the land for planting. Ancient
plows barely scratched the surface,
for deep plowing would dry the soil.

WINNOWING WHEAT, a farmer pitch-

es heavy grain and light chaff up to

be separated by the wind. The wood-

en pitchfork of today is virtually

the same as ancient Egyptians used.

41
\ I

^^^^
 SWIFT SAILS AND FORBIDDEN FISH
For pharaohs and peasants alike, the Nile was the easily beached on the sandy riverbank. Curiously,
main thoroughfare for travel. Because Egypt sprang in this river country, eating fish was officially pro-
up along the shores of the Nile, all its cities and scribed. Certain fish were the sacred animals of
towns were easily accessible by boat. Skilled boat- local districts. Those who ate fish were regarded
wrights developed craft ideally suited to the river. as unclean; the hieroglyph for "abomination" was
Rigged with broad sails, they could take advantage a fish. To hungry peasants, however, the proscrip-

of the lightest breeze. The boats needed only the tion meant little. They fished often, and a good
simplest harbors; lacking a deep keel, they were catch was considered a welcome gift of the river.

FLINGING WIDE NETS, two fishermen wade out after a school of

fish in the Nile. Ancient nets, made of knotted linen cord with
LATEEN SAILS BILLOWING, fl small fleet of feluccas heads upstream lead weights attached, were closed by pulling a braided drawstring.
under the prevailing wind from the north. These swift, light,

shallow-draft boats were used both as ferries and as freighters.

43
 THE HARSH LIFE
OF THE VILLAGER

The Egyptian village, lying between fertile fields

of the riverside and a rust-red expanse of desert,
was a crowded, busy center of people eking out a
simple existence. For men and women alike, daily

rounds of toil lasted from dawn to sunset, with a

respite at midday when the sun was too hot to

bear. Most men worked in the fields. In times of

flood, however, they were drafted for such public

works as raising dikes or constructing pyramids.

One writer gave a dour view of peasant life:

"Mice abound in the field, locusts descend and ani-

mals eat the crop . . . What remains ... is taken by
thieves. The hire of oxen is wasted because the
animals have died . . . Then the scribe arrives at the
riverbank ... to register the tax on the harvest."
MUD-BRICK HOUSES, the peasants' thick-wulli-it dwellings were crowded
close together. The high slit windows gave inhabitants some privacy.

BAREFOOT WOMEN carry clay water-jugs to the edge of the Nile. Women who did not live near the Nile got household water from irrigation ditches.
 *:;'

BAKING BREAD, fl woman takes flat loaves from a home oven. Bread was the staple of the peasant's diet; Egyptians had 15 different words for it.

45
AN IRRIGATION DITCH brings wafer to the arid
land. New Kingdom Egyptians used a "sha-
duf" (a long beam with a leather bucket at
one end and a counterbalance at the other) to

raise water from low ditches to higher ones.

BLINDFOLDED CATTLE treading in a circle are

yoked to the forked wooden centerpost of a

primitive water-raising device. The rotating
centerpost powered a set of waterwheels that
brought water from one ditch to another.
 HARNESSING THE YEARLY FLOOD
In Egypt, a land virtually without rain, irrigation his engineers could open up to the floodwaters of

alone made it possible for crops to grow and men to the Nile. To spread the supply of water, Egyptians

live. One of the earliest official positions in Lower caught the flood in immense basins dug out of the
Egypt was that of "canal digger," and one measure earth, and devised primitive but ingenious water-
of a pharaohs administration was how much land raising mechanisms to get it to where it was needed.
 r*'^^

A Egyptian
THE MEASURED LAND panorama of applied geometry, this field

patchwork of small squares crisscrossed with irrigation ca-

is a

nals and ditches. To sustain agriculture in an arid land, the

people had to become engineers and learn how to construct

48
complex irrigation works. To cope with the confusion caused scured during the flood. Thus the needs of agriculture led the
by the annual flood of the Nile, Egyptians worked out the ancient Egyptians to become more than good farmers: master-
rudiments of geometry. "Rope-stretchers," or surveyors, ap- ing both the desert and the river, they not only achieved new
plied the methods of geometry to redraw property lines ob- skills but expanded their intellectual horizons in the process.

49
 The age of the pharaohs has no written narrative
such as Thucydides supplies for Greek history,
Livy for Roman and the Books of Kings for the

Hebrews. But it does have information in the tomb

inscriptions, paintings on the temple walls, and
poetry, prose and state records on preserved pa-
pyri. There is also the account of Herodotus, who
saw the Egyptian civilization before it had fall-

en under foreign domination. From all this the gen-

eral story of what happened under the pharaohs

3 can be pieced together with reasonable accuracy.

It is a story of a

ed by a king
strong central government head-
who was a god; of a people who
sought eternity by envisioning afterlife as a con-

PATHWAY TO POWER tinuation of

of this life to
life on earth, and by devoting much
preparing for the next; of imposing
architecture and painting; of a social organization
that could conscript all labor and skills for the

service of the state.

Some seven or eight thousand years before the

birth of Christ, civilization was emerging in scat-

tered areas of the Near East. Man the hunter had

become man the settler. He had ceased to depend

on the luck of the chase for his food and now fed
himself by herding flocks and raising crops instead.
Then suddenly, within a few centuries between
3200 and 3000 B.C., the scattered tribes that lived

along the Nile were united under one head, ruled

by a formal government. The man who was tribal

leader of Upper Egypt (tradition calls him Menes,

perhaps another name for a King— Narmer)founded
the first of Egypt's 30 dynasties, extended his con-

trol northward and united the country.

Menes founded the city of Memphis, 20 miles
south of the apex of the Delta, near where the re-

gions of Lower and Upper Egypt meet, and estab-

lished it as his capital. The city was destined to

become the greatest in the land. Menes and his im-

mediate successors— some 18 kings of two succes-

sive dynasties that spanned about 400 years— ruled
from here, built tombs for their afterlife and knit
together the two disparate parts of the kingdom.
Lower and Upper Egypt.
With the rise of the Third Dynasty, about 2700

B.C., the era known as the Old Kingdom emerged.

AN ENEMY'S LIKENESS on a temple of Ramses III recalls Egypt's victory over
During the 500 years that followed, Egypt was
the invading Sea Peoples.To save Egypt from foreign domination, Ramses
waged three wars on separate frontiers within six years— and won them all. peaceful and prosperous, with a pride that bordered

31
 on cockiness and with a feeling of complete securi-
ty. The god-king was supreme. All other Egyptians
were his servants— the nobles who staffed his ad-

ministration as well as the masses who built the

canals and dikes that enabled his land to bear crops.

The nobility devoted its brains and the peasantry

its brawn to raising a mighty, eternal home for the

god-king. This was the age that produced the pyr-

amids, the world's first great structures in stone.

The first of the monumental tombs was the Step

Pyramid at Sakkarah, which is the necropolis of

Memphis; it was built for Djoser, the first Pharaoh

of the Third Dynasty. In a burst of active building

that followed, the trio of pyramid tombs at Gizeh

were reared for the Kings of the Fourth Dynasty: white miter crown as
SMITING A FOE, King Narmer, wearing a tall
Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure— or Cheops, Cheph- sovereign of the Upper Kingdom, battles to unite Upper and
ren and Mycerinus, as they are known in the Lower Egypt under his rule. This First Dynasty commemorative
palette is one of Egypt's oldest surviving historical records.
writings of Herodotus. These are the most famous
four out of about 80 pyramids that remain of the
many Egypt built during its long history.
With the advent of the Fifth Dynasty came the ganization necessary for keeping the Nile harnessed

scent of trouble. First, there were signs of a re- broke down; crops suffered and shortages of food,
ligious problem: previous to the Fifth Dynasty, even occasional famine, plagued Upper Egypt. Asi-
the king had been god, a full equal to the other atic nomads seeped into the Delta and caused con-
gods; now he was still a god, but the carnate tinual unrest. The district governors, who had
son of the sun god. Re. As Re— and the priests grown in strength during Pepi's long reign, now
that served him— rose in importance, the power carved out petty principalities for themselves and
of the god-king diminished. There were signs of quarreled with one another. The Old Kingdom dis-

economic problems: Egypt had paid no small price integrated, and Egypt entered upon the First In-

to build the pyramids, and now they were costly termediate Period, an unstable feudal age that was
to maintain. There were signs of political difficul- to last two centuries.
ties: the pharaoh's officials, the nobles who served At Memphis the families of two ephemeral dy-
as district governors, became important figures in nasties pretended to rule the land, but beyond
their own right and a threat to his omnipotence. their own locality they were scarcely recognized.

This combination of strains grew during the Two other families arose at Herakleopolis, about

Sixth Dynasty and reached a climax under Pepi II, 55 miles south of Memphis, and ruled as the

the last great Pharaoh of the Old Kingdom, who Ninth and Tenth Dynasties. All four dynasties

ruled for more than 90 years. When he finally died, were short-lived and each suffered a rapid succes-

centralized rule died with him, and peace and pros- sion of kings. Finally a fifth family arose at Thebes,

perity gave way to disorder and hardship. The or- a provincial town in a valley far upriver. This

52
 tural health. They elevated to national prominence
a hitherto obscure deity, Amon, who was to be-
come a mighty force in history; over a millennium
and a half later Alexander the Great would invoke
his aid in ruling Egypt. They sent a military force
into Nubia and pushed Egypt's frontier about 200

miles south, beyond the Second Cataract. The Old

Kingdom had taken gold only from the eastern
desert; from now on Egypt was to draw a great
supply from the Nubian mines. In the north, an
expedition made its way deep into Palestine, and

Egyptian influence became strong in Palestine and

lower Syria. A brisk trade was carried on with
these regions by land and by sea, and trade rela-

tions extended even as far away as Crete.

PARADING IN TRIUMPH. Narmer (at fop^ loeors the captured crown
of Lower Egypt on the palette's reverse side. Below him slaves
The able rulers of the 12th Dynasty restored
leash two panthers and a bull wrecks an enemy fort. The panthers' Egypt to greatness and gave the country much to
necks form a depression in which cosmetics could be ground.
be proud of: a military reputation, territory to ex-

ploit, a wide-ranging foreign trade. These were the

paths nearly all future pharaohs were to follow.
family vied with and overcame the Herakleopol- But Egypt underwent another setback before
itans, estabhshed themselves as the 11th Dynasty, reaching the next peak. During the rule of the 13th
and extended their sway north. The nation now Dynasty, in the 18th Century B.C., the country en-
entered on the era of the Middle Kingdom. In tered the Second Intermediate Period, during which
about the year 2000 B.C., with the coming of still there was a long series of ineffectual rulers who
another Theban family, who founded the 12th provided no central authority. The country seems
Dynasty, Egypt was once again united. to have separated at the seam between its two nat-
The kings of the 12th Dynasty maintained an ural geographical parts. Upper and Lower Egypt.
interest in Thebes, but they established their cap- The two halves engaged in civil war from time to

ital at Lisht, about 20 miles south of Memphis. time, and each half was internally beset by squab-
They reorganized the domestic affairs of the coun- bling. At Thebes a regime maintained itself for

try. They curbed the power of the provincial gran- about two centuries, holding a short strip of ter-

dees by installing alongside the latter their own ritory about 125 miles long between Thebes and
dependable Thebans as governors and advisers. the First Cataract. In the south Nubia broke away
Inasmuch as many of the grandees had been en- and in the north a rival to the Theban rule arose,

trenched for about 150 years, it was no easy job a dynasty founded by foreigners. These were the
to supplant their power; it took five kings another Hyksos. Egypt, the nation that for so long had had
150 years to accomplish it. The 12th Dynasty kings nothing but scorn for neighbors, now endured the

continued the work on canals and dikes and catch humiliation of foreign rule.
basins that were so essential to Egypt's agricul- Hyksos, which was long translated "shepherd

S3
 kings," is today rendered "foreign chieftains." They where they laid themselves to rest with splendor;
were Asiatics, probably mostly Semites from Pal- in the cliffs around the valley, which are fairly

estine, who filtered in across the desert, settled near honeycombed with the tombs of the nobles who
the eastern border of Egypt and extended their con- served in their administrations. On the walls of

trol much of the Delta. They could not have

over temples and tombs, pharaohs and nobles proudly
had much difficulty overcoming whatever opposi- inscribed their accomplishments. These inscriptions

tion Egypt may have put up, for the Egyptians are the chief sources for the history of Egypt, and
were not advanced in the arts of war. They fought they provide a picture that is reasonably clear.

almost nude; they lugged heavy, unwieldy man- The first of the great Pharaohs of the New King-
sized shields; and their basic weapons were small dom was Ahmose I, who expelled the Hyksos and
axes and feeble bows. The Hyksos, as time went restored to Egypt the boundaries it had held in the

on, introduced new weapons from Asia: body Old Kingdom. Amenhotep I, his son, extended the
armor, scimitars, effective daggers, powerful bows boundary farther south, and he started the country
made of wood and horn, and, most important, on an era of prosperity that would last for 150

horse-drawn chariots. When after about 100 years years. Thutmose I, the third Pharaoh of the dynas-

the Egyptians finally expelled the invaders, they ty, pushed the frontiers farther still, south beyond
did so by learning to use the foreigners' weapons. the Fourth Cataract and northeast to Palestine and

In spite of all their advantages in combat, the Syria.

Hyksos did not succeed in taking over the whole After the reign of Thutmose I, Egypt's military

of the country. Their grip seems to have extended expansion was suspended for two decades by Thut-
no farther than a point about midway between mose's remarkable daughter, Hatshepsut. She was
Memphis and Thebes. Beyond that they were nev- married to Thutmose II, her half-brother (such

er able to dislodge the Theban regime. This proved marriages among royalty were not unusual; they

their undoing. About the middle of the 16th Cen- ensured the legitimacy of the line). When he died
tury B.C. a vigorous and determined family found- after a short rule, she took over the reins of govern-
ed the 18th Dynasty. They built up a powerful ment as regent during the minority of Thutmose
army, stormed the mighty fortress the Hyksos had III, a child her husband had fathered by a subor-

erected in their capital in the eastern Delta, and dinate wife in the harem. Nominally the boy was

drove the alien rulers out of the country. Pharaoh, and Hatshepsut at first ruled in his name.
Egypt was once again united. The 18th Dynasty But she soon abandoned the pretense and estab-
was the first of the New Kingdom. It was destined lished herself as Pharaoh.

to make Egypt great in a new way: the pharaohs Pharaonic Egypt produced a series of exception-
were from now on to devote their time and effort al women, of whom Hatshepsut was the most out-

to foreign conquest and to extend their realm in the standing. Many a pharaohs queen had had a place
south beyond the Fourth Cataract of the Nile and in the sun alongside her husband, and two had
in the northeast to the Euphrates River. briefly governed, but Hatshepsut was the first to

The 18th Dynasty, like the 11th, arose at Thebes, assume the godship with the kingship and to wear
and Thebes is where its story is to be read— in the the Double Crown, indicating sovereignty over the
vast temples the pharaohs erected to the god Amon; two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt. Statues
in the rock-cut chambers of the Valley of the Kings, show her in the masculine attire of the kingship;

54
PHARAOHS AND QUEENS of the New Kingdom were often depicted
by contemporary artists in busts and statues of basalt, limestone
and granite. Five are shown here, in royal headdresses and helmets.

in some representations she even wears the tradi-

tional false beard of the pharaoh. This Pharaoh of
the gentle sex forsook battle and returned Egypt to

peaceful pursuits: to erecting great monuments and

to keeping open the trade routes abroad. The latter

had been closed during the Hyksos rule.

Hatshepsut could not have done all she did alone.

She obviously had the help of powerful supporters.
One in particular was a certain Senmut, who held,

according to some accounts, more than 80 different

official titles and who must have been her most
trusted assistant. As Minister of Public Works, Sen-
mut was in charge of building his mistress' mor-
tuary temple— which was, like all other royal mon-
uments, constructed during her lifetime and under
her direction. To get himself a share in her eternal

blessedness, Senmut ingeniously sneaked carvings

of his own image onto some carefully selected,
though unobtrusive, walls. Pharaohs had been
known to commemorate their court favorites on the
walls of their monuments, but for an official to

arrogate a part of a royal temple unto himself was

unprecedented. Senmut naturally got his comeup-
pance; when Hatshepsut discovered his impudence
she sent wreckers to mutilate his tomb and smash
his sarcophagus. They even managed to ferret out

and efface most of the images he had surreptitiously

put in his mistress' temple.

One of the surest proofs of Hatshepsut's great-

ness was her ability to keep a man of Thutmose

Ill's dimensions under her thumb for so long. Thut-
mose had brains, vision and drive; he was to be-

come the Alexander the Great of Egypt, the creator

of Egypt's empire. Yet for 20 years he lived in the

shadow of the strong-minded woman who was both
his stepmother and his aunt. Finally he gathered
the backing he needed to unseat her. Thutmose
now diligently effaced Hatshepsut's name wherever
it appeared on her monuments, just as Hatshepsut
had effaced the name of her servant Senmut. It was
55
 standard Egyptian practice to try to obliterate the itary force was limited to small and scattered gar-

name of a discredited predecessor from history, but risons. What made the system work was the local

the practice did not always achieve its aim. Like rulers' awareness of Egypt's iron fist and the swift-
pencil erasures, the chiseled effacements often left ness with which it could strike.

the original inscriptions discernible. There were other ways of keeping the empire
Once at the helm, Thutmose spun the ship of together besides the threat of force. For one, there

state about and put it back on the course his grand- was the practice of carrying off to Egypt the sons

father had taken— foreign conquest. In the south, or brothers of Syrian and Palestinian princes as
to be sure, Hatshepsut's predecessors had made an hostages. This practice paid additional dividends:

excellent start; Thutmose had little to do there. the youths, often brought up from an early age

His great achievement lay in consolidating and mak- in an Egyptian environment, returned to their fa-

ing permanent what his grandfather had begun, therlands with warm and deep-seated feelings for

the conquest and annexation of Palestine and Syria. their foster home.
It took 15 or more campaigns before Thutmose was Once Egypt had embarked on this adventure into
satisfied that he had the area properly subdued. building an empire, there was no turning back. On
He reached his high-water mark during his eighth the one side the need for security against a recur-

campaign, when he went beyond the Euphrates to rence of foreign invasion, and on the other the hard

fight the Mitanni empire, which had clashed with facts of economic involvement (the tribute from
his grandfather. The preparations he undertook dependent states, and the imports of gold and cedar
would indicate that one of the secrets of Thutmose's to which Egypt had now become accustomed), guar-
success was a genius for careful planning. For this anteed the perpetuation of the new state of affairs.

operation he ordered boats to be loaded on oxcarts And empire transformed the country utterly; it

and hauled more than 250 miles to be used as released forces that remade Egyptian society, reli-

transports for ferrying his men across the river. gion and politics. The nation that had once gloried
By the time of Thutmose's death, the Egyptian em- in isolation was now committed to daily intercourse

pire stretched from Syria to what is now the Sudan. with foreigners; the nation whose ideals had once
The word "empire" as applied to Egypt needs been security and stability was now committed to

defining. The closest Egypt came to organized rule unending insecurity and change. Once upon a time

was in Nubia, where a viceroy was in charge of the the god-king had been elevated, aloof and circum-

whole area, with an armed force and administrative scribed by ceremonial; now he was accessible to

staff at his command, and where the pharaohs built more people but personally attended by fewer. The
forts and temples and founded towns. The Nubians theory of his divinity remained, but now he was

as a result eventually became Egyptianized. Egypt's seen to be a fallible and mortal human being. Once
rule in Palestine and Syria, on the other hand, was the nobles had held such titles as Chief of the
far looser; protectorate might be a better term to Royal Hairdressers and Chief of the Royal Mani-
describe it than empire. The basic administration curists, and they had performed the services those
was almost entirely in the hands of the native titles suggest; now most of the titles disappeared,

princes. These men were watched over by an Egyp- and the few that remained— such as Keeper of the
tian high commissioner in residence at Gaza who Royal Diadem— were titles of honor indicating no

had subordinates spotted in important towns. Mil- personal service to the king.

56
 THE EMPIRE AT ITS HEIGHT

THE GREATEST LAND AREA £gi/p( euer rw/ec/ liifls conso/idflfed as an the south. Even at the height of the empire, however, the phar-
empire in about 1450 B.C. by the New Kingdom Pharaoh Thut- aohs had direct control over only the Nile River Valley itself:
mose III. Encompassing almost 400,000 square miles, it stretched the more distant lands, especially on the eastern Mediterranean,
from the Euphrates in the north to the desert beyond Napata in were simply spheres of influence administered by local princes.

AEGEAN
SEA CASPIAN
HITTITE EMPIRE SEA
Carchemish •

KINGDOM OF
MINOAN MITANNI
ASSYRIA
CIVILIZATION
CYPRUS
CRETE
SYRIA "-".
s f/kp
R, "i.

Byblos*

MEDITERRANEAN SEA
So

<2^
oy
Gaza« A
ARABIAN
DESERT
PERSIAN
SINAI CULF

WESTERN N
DESERT

OAKHLA .ThebTs"
OASIS KHARCA
OASIS

UNDER EGYPT'S DIRECT CONTROL

Q RANGE OF EGYPTIAN INFLUENCE
NUBIA
RED
SEA

Napata

SCALE
50 100 150 Miles
1 I I I

57
 DISTINCTIVE CROWNS identified Egypt's kings and gods. The Hem-
hemet Crown of papyrus bundles and sun disks was only rarely used.
More familiar were Upper Egypt's White Miter— with a serpent that
was a royal emblem— and Lower Egypt's Red Crown. These became
one in the pharaoh's Double Crown after the two lands were united.
In battle or at military futjctions the king wore the Blue War Crown.

HEMHEMET CROWN WHITE CROWN

With conquest came the responsibility of rule, was such a script as this doing among Egyptian re-

and this brought in its wake the expansion of bu- mains? But Babylonian cuneiform, like French in

reaucracy and the growth of a professional army. the 19th Century, was the diplomatic medium of
With conquest also came wealth— but the gods to the ancient world, and study soon revealed that the
whom the triumphs were due had to receive their tablets came from the files of the Pharaoh's foreign
share. Temples and temple holdings therefore waxed office. They consist of letters addressed to the Phar-
rich and important. So did the clergy that tended aoh's court, some of them from friendly foreign
them— a fact that would prove a threat to the phar- kings and others from Egyptian vassals, apprising
aoh in years to come. Art, craftsmanship, styles of the Pharaoh of threats from enemy foreigners and
dress and speech experienced foreign influence. All imploring military assistance. They generally pro-
aspects of life felt the impact of Egypt's transfor- test that no help has been forthcoming, though
mation into an empire. sometimes they contradict themselves.
Thutmose III administered so well that the ma- The protests led a generation of scholars to be-
chinery he set in motion ran successfully for a lieve that indifference on the part of Amenhotep III

full century after him. In the reign of his great- and his son and their failure to give help when it

grandson, Amenhotep III, in the 14th Century was needed allowed the Egyptian empire to fall

B.C., the 18th Dynasty reached its zenith. Egypt apart, but that theory is now in dispute. Whether
was at peace and trade was flourishing. Except the pharaohs actually ignored the pleas or whether
for putting down a rebellion in Nubia, Amenhotep they sent as much help as they deemed necessary,
engaged in few military ventures. He entered in- the fact that is that toward the end of the reign of
stead on a vast building program— a court, colossal Amenhotep III trouble was brewing aboard. During
statues, a funerary temple for himself and tem- the reign of his son, Amenhotep IV, the Hittites in
ples in other cities throughout the land. Asia Minor, whose star was in the ascendant in this

Then came his son, Amenhotep IV, and with his era, pressed forward to take Syria. The Egyptians
reign the 18th Dynasty began to falter and the withdrew some of their garrisons in Palestine and
kingdom to shrink. Some indication of the events slackened their hold on that land. This was the sit-

that were taking place at the outposts of the em- uation that prevailed when Amenhotep IV began to
pire may be found in a collection of clay tablets devote his attention to a subject closer to his heart,

discovered in the ruins of Tell el Amarna. For a a social reform in the guise of a religious reformation.
while the tablets were an enigma, for they were in- Amenhotep IV may have been a religious fa-

scribed in cuneiform, not hieroglyphics. What natic; certainly he was an ascetic. He was a phys-

58
) CROWN ^V DOUBLE CROWN WAR CROWN

ically weak man with a long, thin face, drooping to history. He called his new capital Akhetaton,

shoulders, broad hips and spindly legs. He was "the Horizon of Aton. "
With the frenzy of a fanat-

also a visionary who was not in tune with his ic, he directed his agents to remove the name and
times. He absorbed himself single-mindedly in image of Amon from all temples and tombs, and in

transforming Egypt internally and hardly glanced some places to remove the phrase "the gods."

at what was happening outside the borders. He But Akhenaton did not allow the people direct
engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the bu- access to the god; he and his family worshiped

reaucracy and the clergy, which had become well- Aton, and the people were meant to worship him,
entrenched, and powerful blocs since the time of the god-king. His revolution failed. Within a dec-

Thutmose III, and were now cramping the Phar- ade, Akhenaton was dead and the Egyptians re-

aoh's authority. He mustered an administrative es- turned to their old ways. The chisel-wielders re-

tablishment of his own choosing, drawing heavily appeared to hack out Akhenaton's name as assidu-
on the army for personnel, and installed it in a new ously as they had earlier removed Amon's. The
capital that he built at a site in the middle of government was returned to Thebes, and Akhet-
Egypt about 200 miles south of what is now Cairo, aton fell into ruins that slept undisturbed until

near the modern site of Tell el Amarna. the arrival of the 19th Century Egyptologists.
Amenhotep IV was determined to restore the It was the army that had enabled Akhenaton to

kingship to the exalted position it had had in the break with tradition, and it was the army that re-

days of the Old Kingdom. To do that he had to turned Egypt to tradition. The army made peace
displace the clergy, and to displace the clergy he with the civil service and with the clergy, and all

had to destroy the gods the clergy served. At Tell of these institutions shared power. In the new
el Amarna, far from Thebes, he undertook to revo- age that now opened, the throne paid careful at-
lutionize Egypt's religion. He tried to overthrow tention to the rights and prerogatives of all three.

the polytheistic accretion of centuries and in par- The rulers were the pharaohs of the 19th and

ticular to replace the traditional worship of the 20th Dynasties, the first of whom began his ca-

god Amon with the worship of Aton, conceived as reer as an army commander and 11 of whom bore

a single, universal god, the source of all life, and the celebrated name Ramses.
represented by the sun's disk. He changed his name The period spanned by these two dynasties pre-
from Amenhotep, which meant 'Amon is content, sents a curious contradiction. On the one hand,

the god ruler of Thebes, "

to Akhenaton, "Service- it was perhaps Egypt's showiest age. The pharaohs
able-to-the-Aton"— the name by which he is known won victories over foreign enemies, erected monu-
59
 mental buildings and presided over a luxurious matic negotiations with the Hittites, with whom
court. Yet it was also the age that portended Egypt's he signed one of the first recorded treaties in his-

political disintegration and end as a major power. tory. He campaigned in Syria and Palestine and

In some part this was brought about by forces raided into the south. His military fame, however,

over which the pharaohs had no control. Great is largely based on his own boastful words. His ac-

movements were taking place in these times; the. counts of his valorous exploits and personal cour-
stage was being set for a new act in the drama of age survive on the walls of almost every major
ancient history. The Near Eastern peoples who temple of his show him performing like
era; they

had in recent years been clashing with Egypt were an Egyptian superman. The size and the number
making their final appearance; other men, actors of his monuments are equal to those of the age
in the opening scenes of the great age of Greece, of the pyramids. Some were begun by his father

were making their entrance. A great migratory and completed or added to by Ramses; others were
movement from the north and west was just be- constructions of his own conceiving. Among them
ginning, involving certain peoples new to history: are the Great Hypostyle Hall, a ceremonial temple
the Tursha or Tyrshenoi, who may have been at Karnak; the Ramesseum, the funerary temple
Etruscans; the Shekresh or Shekelesh or Sikeloi, he built for the glory of himself and the god
who may have been Sicilians; the Danuna, who Amon on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes; the

were probably the Danaoi of the Iliad; the Sherden, great temple at Abydos, which he dedicated to

pirates who were later Sardinians; the Peleset, or the god Osiris; several structures at Memphis,
Philistines, who gave their name to Palestine. The which have since been pillaged; and Abu Simbel,
Egyptians, ignorant of the intruders' origins and the temple in Nubia with four colossal statues of

aware only that they came from across the Medi- Ramses facing the river, which have had to be

terranean, referred to them vaguely as the "Sea moved from their original site to spare their being

Peoples." They inundated Egypt's shores, and Egypt inundated by the new High Dam near Aswan.

expended much energy trying to stem the tide. The age of Ramses, with its great temples, its

Then Egypt's aggressiveness diminished. At the colossal statues, its glowing accounts of the lead-
beginning of the 19th Dynasty a pharaoh could er's exploits, marks the climax of the age of the

still lead an army into Syria; at the end he was des- pharaohs. It was an age that had begun with

perately defending the homeland and depending the unification of scattered tribes along a segment

largely on foreign troops to do it. Egyptian self- of the river and ended with a glorious and far-

confidence waned. The appearance of the trouble- flung empire that extended well beyond it; an age

some Sea Peoples, the vicissitudes of the empire that began with the fashioning of simple shelter
and the disruptive effects of Akhenaton's revolu- out of the river's mud and ended with the erection

tion sapped the nation's vigor. of giant monuments out of the neighboring cliffs.

But only the historian, looking down the cen- It was an age that spanned several millennia,
turies, can discern all this. At the beginning of throughout which the pharaoh and his subjects,
the 13th Century B.C., when Ramses II took the despite vicissitudes in fortune, were borne on a

throne to open a reign that would last 67 lustrous faith in themselves, in their superiority over other

years, no shadows of decline were visible. Ramses nations, and in the pantheon of which the phar-
was truly a king of kings. He entered into diplo- aoh was a member.

60
n^'j

/ .,-?

.ix

"^S

< .^

A klN(,LV THRUST by Pharaoh Ramses III lii^falLncs u Libyan. Ramses tinned back tlitce invasions.

THE WAR MACHINE

Egyptian documents testify that when war came, officers of the pharaohs' army

could mobilize "the entire land" for battle. Scribes had records of the soldiers,

the priests, the artisans, the sources of food supply. Conscription agents went
into the countryside and rounded up draftees. Reserves were called to duty. In

addition, the toughly disciplined troops of Egypt's standing army were ready to

fight on land or sea. When a pharaoh ordered, "Bring forth equipment," armories
issued spears, bows and shields to the troops. The war machine cut across all so-

cial lines. Common field hands, youths with social connections and the pharaoh
himself went to the front. In times of trouble, ancient Egypt waged total war.
61
 ^.^x;"^:

uj^il:^

"^^^

.J^!»L '%:"

^"J^-*:^

m .v^S,-"
^«s«^

^'^'*;
r*?. ~, X'
i^^^*^:''-^.ii,«iK.

^«^
,_^

mm
"^¥^^.

CLOSE-RANKED EGYPTIANS bearing long spears march out to meet the enemy. Strictly disciplined, they could be maneuvered in corps of 5,000 men.
ENEMY WARRIORS, gripping sword and shield, and wearing body armor, are caught in a thick barrage of long-shafted Egyptian arrows.

THE HARD LOT OF THE INFANTRY

"Come, I will speak to you of the ills of the in- Soldiers were trained from boyhood, "being impris-

fantryman," one ancient scribe wrote. "He is awak- oned in the barracks" and "pummeled with beat-
ened while there is still an hour for sleeping. He ings." Later, they could live with their families be-

is driven like a jackass and he works until the sun tween campaigns. Others were foreigners serving
sets beneath its darkness of night. He hungers and as mercenaries or forced into the army after being

his belly aches. He is dead while he lives." But, captured. In 1190 B.C., when the migrating Sea

frightened and "calling to his god, come to me Peoples (including the Sherden shown above) at-

that you may rescue me,'" he fought. He fought tacked Egypt, the Egyptian army was itself aug-
with maces, daggers and spears on fields filled with mented by companies of Sherden mercenaries.
charging chariots and bronze-tipped arrows. Youths of the upper classes usually enlisted in

Between battles a soldier ate well enough. But the separately organized chariot corps. Some of

in times of action, it was said, "his food is the them bought their own chariots and then drove

grass of the field like any other head of cattle." home to show off their driving skill before battle.

63
 *"

^
r^^^

•^•?l —"J^sf

1^ ^^K^'a?''^'

^
= »^'

.*^-;

^A

•->
^'..^.
.T*.

^i^#^..«^-.- t^^2^ -:;^^^

WARCHARIOTS./i'/ce (hose depiffei on ancient

temple walls (above) and found in a noble's

tomb (left), were skillfully manufactured.

Strong yet light, the chariots were made of
wood, with metal strips and leather bind-
ings. The light, spoked wheel and rear-set

axle allowed drivers to make tight, fast turns.

64
 A DEADLY ARSENAL
The principal weapon in the Egyptian arsenal was
the bow and arrow. Detachments of archers deftly
fought on foot, aided by others in speeding chari-
ots. These two-man vehicles, pulled by horses that

Ramses III said "quivered in all their limbs, pre-

pared to crush the foreign countries under their

hoofs," crossed the enemy front and raked it with
fire, thus softening up the opposing formations.
In their wake, Egyptian infantrymen then finished

off the broken enemy ranks with hand weapons.

AN EGYPTIAN ARCHER (above) used a bow of wocii and animal horn strung
with sinew and carried a quiver with 20 to 30 arrows. Other warriors were
armed with an assortment of weapons. Shown on this page, besides the stand-
ard how and quiver are, left to right: a scimitar with curved cutting edge:
an ax, used by the infantry; and a bronze dagger, used in close combat.
i'-.

t'_!5«^«*r

&st^.
- f
-ij^j^ ."^-^',

-m.
:^?:^^^^

SEAGOING ARCHERS shooi from an Egyptian

u'arship while enemies fall into the sea. Like
all seaborne troops, oarsmen, their heads
barely visible, could be identified on land
by a leather patch on the seat of their kilts.

AN EGYPTIAN WARSHIP (right). Steered by a

large bladed oar in the stern, usually had a
li'ooden hull, cloth sail and rigging of papy-
rus fiber. Depending on the ship's size, the

crew might number as many as 250 soldiers

66
 REPELLING AN INVASION BY SEA

Egypt had no separate navy, but its army was well Nile. First, their firepower was superior to the in-

prepared to fight at sea, as it decisively demon- vading Sea Peoples'. The invaders had only swords
strated in 1190 B.C. Ramses III tells how, threat- and spears and were badly outranged by the Egyp-
ened by an armada of Mediterranean seafarers, he tians' arrows. Second, the ships of the Sea Peoples
set up a defense "like a strong wall, with warships, were powered only by sails, while the Egyptian
galleys and skiffs. They were completely equipped ships were powered by both sails and oars and thus
both fore and aft with brave fighters carrying their had greater maneuverability. The battle was decid-
weapons and infantry of all the pick of Egypt." ed when the invading ships, trapped between Egyp-
The Egyptians had two decisive advantages in tian sea forces and archers on the nearby shore,
this famed battle, fought near the mouth of the were "capsized and overwhelmed in their places."

67
 CAPTIVE SOLDIERS toere, in Ramses' words, "pinioned like birds."

Afterward, the captives were conscripted into the Egyptian army.

THE VICTORS' TALLY

OF THE SPOILS

On the walls of the Medinet Habu temple, Ramses

III depicted what became of the enemies of Egypt
so that it might be "a lesson for a million genera-

tions. "
Men not "overthrown in their blood and
made into heaps," he boasted, were captured with
their women, children and cattle. Their leaders

were "branded and made into slaves stamped with

my name, their women and children treated like-

wise." Meticulous bookkeepers, the Egyptians kept

a careful tally of cow taken
every goat, sheep and
in battle enemy
and severed one hand of each slain

so that an exact count could be made. Then the

spoils were dedicated to the national god Amon. VICTORIOUS EGYPTIANS bring spoils to the King, the large figure shown at

68
 c^
r^
/I'ff, iif(fi 17 gii'nf |ii7fHc i(iif/i f/if LiJij/iiiis. So 1111)111/ ciiff/f lufre seizeii that Ramses was able, he ^aui. In donate "everlasting, herds" to Anion's tempile.
 Western man places religion in a compartment of
its own, separating it from other aspects of his

existence. To an Egyptian this would have been

unthinkable. Religion permeated his whole life—
socially, politically and economically. As he saw it,

every detail of his own life and of the life around

him— from the predictable flooding of the Nile to

the chance death of a cat— depended entirely on

the attitude of the gods. The New Testament in-

junction "Render to Caesar the things that are Cae-

4 sar's and to

have meant nothing

God

pharaoh, and the pharaoh was

The
the things that are God's"

to him. His Caesar was the

a

roots of Egyptian religion go far back into

god.
would

GODS AND THE primeval times, before there was a pharaoh. Pre-
historic Egyptians, like most early peoples, were
AFTERLIFE reverential toward the wonders of nature and the
fearsome or admirable traits of animals— the feroci-

ty of the lion, the strength of the crocodile, the

tender care of a cow for her young. The first di-

vinities to arise— and divinities continued to rise

throughout Egyptian history— were frequently rep-

resented in animal form, though they dealt with
or oversaw human occupations.
Khnum, one of the gods associated with Crea-
tion, was portrayed as a ram, an animal the Egyp-
tians considered unusually prolific. Anubis, the

faithful guardian of tombs and a god of the dead,

was represented as a recumbent jackal— paradoxi-
cally, for the jackal was known to dig up human
bones, and indeed the earliest graves were covered
with stones not only to mark them for posterity
but to keep them safe from marauding jackals.
Thoth, the god of learning and wisdom, the inven-
tor of writing, the vizier and official scribe of the

afterworld, was alternately symbolized as an ibis

and as a baboon, perhaps because the grave facial

expressions of these creatures suggested thought-

fulness.

During much of Egyptian history, live animals

associated with gods were maintained in the tem-
ples, where they dwelt in pampered luxury. A croc-

odile representing a god of sun, earth and water

lolled in the temple pool at Crocodilopolis; the ibis

of Thoth was kept at Hermopolis; a cat represent-

A FALCON-HEADED GOD, Horui appears twice on the temple of Ramses 11.

ing a goddess of joy and love lazed in a temple

Throughout Egypt's history this god was personally identified with the
king; each succeeding pharaoh used the name Horus as the first of his titles. at Bast; Apis, a sacred bull, was maintained at

71
 Memphis. These animals were mummified Uke hu- assumed human body but retained the head of
a

man beings when they died. a ram; and when he did, the myth surrounding his
Besides animals, the Egyptians were in awe of role in Creation had him fashioning men (and ev-
the manifestations of nature. Among their mani- ery baby still to be born) on a potter's wheel.
fold objects of worship, one had eminent qualifi- Gods that arose later than these were portrayed
cations for reverence— the sun. Probably the Egyp- in fullyhuman form from the time of their incep-
tians perceived that life was dependent upon the tion. One of the earliest was Ptah, the god of crafts-

sun, and they worshiped it by various names and men, who first appeared in history when Memphis
in various cults. One of these names was Re. The was founded as thecapitaloftheOld Kingdom; it was
center of the cult of Re was at Heliopolis (a name at this time that society was organized and crafts
given the town by the Greeks and meaning "City became an important part of the social organiza-
of the Sun"). Re was among the first of the gods tion. Another was Osiris, the ruler of the nether-
to achieve nationwide recognition, and throughout world, who was always portrayed as a dead man.
Egyptian history he remained one of the most im- Osiris was a god-king— perhaps a legendary out-
portant deities in the land. growth of a real ruler, perhaps a primitive god of
The worship of animals and nature is common fertility— who was believed to have given Egypt
to early societies, when man is dominated by the civilization. He had an evil brother, Seth, who was
world around him and exists at its mercy. As he jealous of the devotion of his brother's subjects
grows in sophistication, as he learns to come to and slew Osiris. At length the slain King was resur-
grips with nature, as his awe of its mysteries di- rected through the perseverance of his wife, Isis,

minishes and his appreciation of his own talents who roamed the earth in search of the dismembered
awakens, then his gods undergo a transition from parts of his body until she collected them all. Their
zoomorphic to anthropomorphic concepts. So it son, Horus, later avenged his father's murder by
was with the Egyptians. Sometime before the rise vanquishing Seth and winning from him the rule
of the First Dynasty, anthropomorphism, the con- of the earth. According to the myth, every pharaoh
ception of gods in human form, made its appear- ruled on earth as Horus. When he died he became
ance in Egyptian religion. Osiris and ruled the underworld. His son, the new
But tradition does not die easily, and old reli- Pharaoh, took up the rule on earth as Horus.
gious concepts are not replaced at one stroke. The These are only a few of the multiple deities and
Egyptians adopted anthropomorphism gradually, overlapping personalities that populated Egyptian
fusing the three ideas of nature, animal and man. religion. From the beginning of their religious life

One of the earliest deities to undergo this fusion to the end, the Egyptians had an abundance of
was Hathor, the goddess of love and childbirth; she gods. This was because their land always consisted
was given a human body and head but retained basically of a conglomeration of small agricultural
an element of her animal manifestation— a pair of communities. Each locality claimed its own particu-
cow's horns. Another was Thoth, who acquired a lar deity, and when the communities were united
human body but kept the head of the ibis. Still under the pharaohs they did not discard the local
later Anubis— who came to play a role as judge of deities. Instead they united the various gods, iden-
the dead as well as guardian of the tombs— took on tifying one with another and joining some of them
a human body but kept his jackal's head. Khnum into families. The prominence of a god and the

72
 union he might make were coincident with the po-
Htical and economic fortune of the town of his

origin. Gods of old villages combined with those of

communities rising into prominence; gods of places

on the rise were united with well-established deities.

For example, the god of Memphis was Ptah. At

the beginning of the dynastic era, when Memphis
was founded by the Pharaoh Menes as the capital
'\\ of the united land, Ptah became the patron of roy-
alty. As the influence of Memphis spread, Ptah was

wedded to the lion goddess Sekhmet, who presided

in a nearby territory. But Menes' personal god was

Horus, the falcon, or sky god, who could sweep

through the heavens and survey the united domain;

and so Horus and the pharaoh came to be one.
MUMMIFIED ANIMALS associflfeduJiffi the gods
Similarly, by the time of the Fourth Dynasty,
were often placed in tombs in New Kingdom
A and a croco-
when Heliopolis had grown in influence and the
and Ptolemaic times. cat (left)

dile mummy mask (below) were identified cult of the sun god Re emanated from there, the

respectively with Bastet, a delta goddess, and pharaoh became the son of Re.
Sobek, god of a city called Crocodilopolis.
One god that did not arise until Egyptian civi-

lization was well under way illustrates perhaps bet-

ter than any of the others how the fortune of a

god depended upon the place of his origin. This

was Amon of Thebes. Both the town and the god
were obscure prior to the founding of the Middle
Kingdom. But Thebes was where the Middle King-
dom rulers arose; the pharaohs credited the local

god with the reunification of Egypt; and the city

remained important throughout Egyptian history,
even when the capital was moved elsewhere.
The name "Amon "
meant "hidden"; the god
was an invisible being— sometimes conceived as the
breath that animates all hving things— and hence
he was a spirit that might be everywhere present.
Thus that spirit spread throughout the land, aided
by the influence of the Theban rule.

Even a spirit needs portrayal by a people given

to pictorial expression, and so the god Amon re-

ceived a physical representation. He was shown in

many different ways: sometimes as a ram, a goose

73
 or a primeval serpent (creatures that may at some son of Re at the same time that he was Horus and
prehistoric time have been associated with a proto- the son of Osiris.

type of Amon), but most frequently as a crowned The Egyptians entertained not only a multiplic-

king. When he was shown as a king, the crown ity of gods but several alternative mythological
often carried a pair of feathers symbolizing the two accounts to explain the same phenomenon. Each im-
lands of Upper and Lower Egypt, or the twisted portant religious center (that is, each important
horns of a ram; and when Amon was eventually city where a god was worshiped) had its own ver-

merged with the sun god Re, the crown showed sion of Creation. The priests of Heliopolis at-

the rays of the sun. Sometimes it combined all of tributed Creation to Atum, a god pictured as a

these emblems. human being but identified with the sun god Re.
By the time that Egypt had grown to an empire, Their theory had to do with the appearance of light
the image of Amon accompanied the march of the in the darkness. The founders of the Middle King-

Egyptian army through the ancient world. In the dom at to Amon.

Thebes ascribed Creation
course of Egyptian history the most massive tem- The people Memphis had a remarkable the-
of

ple of all time was erected in his honor— the temple ory. They posed the question: What caused the act

complex at Karnak, which is in the neighborhood of Creation? As Greek philosophers would later

of Thebes. do, the priests of Memphis sought for a First Prin-

Amon not only guided imperial fighting expedi- ciple, and they arrived at the theory that Ptah, the
tions; he also oversaw the exploitation of the mines god of Memphis, had created the world by acts of

in Nubia and Sudan— taking as his due a share of his heart and tongue. To the Egyptians "heart and
the yield. The worship of Amon extended even be- tongue" meant "mind and speech"; they were say-
yond Egypt; he became the god of Nubia and for ing that Ptah conceived the idea of the universe,

a time he was worshiped in Syria and Palestine. It and that he executed that idea by uttering a com-
was said that his rays reached the ends of the earth. mand. In other words, they were postulating that

All the combining of gods still left Egypt basi- there was an articulate intelligence and will behind
cally a land of local deities. Each god was usually Creation. This was a profound thought that has
conceived as being immanent to his place of origin, no parallel at this early period of man's history.
and there he dwelt in a temple erected specifically Most Egyptians, whatever god they worshiped,
for him. His worship, however, was not necessarily envisioned the birth of the world as the rising of
rooted for all time in the locality of his conception. an earthen mound out of the chaos of primordial
Without suppressing reverence to other deities, a waters— an image no doubt suggested by the annual
god could soar in popularity, become supreme in emergence of high points of land out of the reced-
the nation, and remain so for as long as the city ing Nile flood. The priests of Memphis, Heliopolis,

or the men that worshiped him remained influential. Hermopolis and Thebes all claimed their respective
The worship of that god then spread in varying cities as the site of this primordial hill.

degrees across the land, and small sanctuaries ap- Religions have ethical content as well as objects
peared in towns and villages as branches of his of worship, and the Egyptians' chief ethic was one
principal shrine. As a supreme god, he became in- called maat. The word is almost impossible to trans-

carnate in the pharaoh, so the pharaoh was many late precisely, but it involved a combination of such
gods in one; he was Ptah, the son of Ptah and the ideas as "order," "truth," "justice "
and "righteous-

74
FOLK GODS, Sekhmet, Bes and Thoueris
(left to right) were amotig the multi-
tude of deities that commanded local

fallowings. These gods were often as-

sociated with animals and their pre-
sumed powers; they existed alongside

the panoply of major Egyptian deities.

War goddess Sekhmet— part woman,

part lioness— caused and cured epidem-
ics; Bes, a lion-headed dwarf, scared off

evil spirits; Thoueris, a hippopotamus,

ensured fertility and safe childbirth.

ness." Maat was considered a quality not of men it was the handiwork of the gods and not of men's
but of the world, built into it by the gods at the consciences, it was expected to maintain the god-
moment of Creation. As such, it represented the given and changeless perfection of the world and
gods' will. A person endeavored to act in accord- of society. Thus it precluded any serious question-
ance with the divine will because that was the ing of the structure of society or any possibility
only way to place himself in harmony with the of reforming it. The world and everything in it

gods. For the Egyptian peasant maat meant work- had been created by the gods precisely in the form
ing hard and honestly; for the official it meant they wanted. Everything therefore was just as it

dealing justly. should be— fixed, eternal and proper. War, pesti-
During the bitter troubles and disillusionment lence and drought were mere temporary upsets of
that beset the First Intermediate Period, the idea the established cosmic order. Since the world had
briefly emerged that maat was not just a passive been as it should be from the moment of Creation,
quality inherent in the world, but that the god- there could not by definition have been a previous,

king's subjects had a right to expect its exercise. better age, nor would there be a better age to

This was a step toward the development of a con- come. Egyptian mythology had no Garden of Eden,
cept of social justice, but it did not long survive. no bygone Golden Age, no Armageddon.
Once the Middle Kingdom restored Egypt to pros- The same attitude determined the Egyptians'
perity, life was easygoing again and people forgot conception of and emphasis on death. Their beliefs
to worry about how maat was to be maintained. concerning afterlife, like those concerning their

Conceived as a quality passively inherent in the gods, had ancient roots in the Nile Valley. Tombs
nature of the world, maat had limitations. Because of the Neolithic Age reveal tools and food left

75
 with the dead, objects that could only have been that the pharaoh passed into the underworld to

intended for use by the departed. The Egyptians become Osiris and rule below as he had on earth.

envisioned the hereafter as a duplication of the best Because of the Egyptians' consuming concern for
moments of earthly existence. There was nothing their future after death, Osiris came to be univer-
morbid in their lifelong preoccupation with death; sally their mortuary god, one of their most im-
they prepared for it earnestly and confidently. portant deities, and less susceptible to alteration
Up to his final moment, every Egyptian of means than the gods concerned with life.

busied himself with the preparation of a tomb in In the beginning, the denial of death was limited
which to spend eternity and the articles with which to the pharaoh and his family; only they were
to furnish it. In the case of a pharaoh or noble, a divine and immortal. By the time the Old King-
tomb might take years or even decades to make dom was ended, the belief had widened to include
ready. He ordered artisans to portray on its walls nobles; they might, with royal permission, set their
or in wooden models the activities he expected to tombs close to the pharaoh's and inscribe on the
carry on— sailing, hunting, fowling, banqueting— as walls of their own tombs their services to him.
well as tasks to be performed by his servants- They hoped thus to share immortality through
weaving, baking, herding, tilling. proximity. Servants and other menials whose func-
In the First Intermediate Period, when nobles tions might be useful to their departed masters per-
were impoverished and men of undistinguished haps attained a modicum of eternal bliss by being
birth rose in the world, the belief emerged that depicted or mentioned in the tombs of the mighty.
even a high station in life would not exempt one With the upheaval that occurred in the First In-

from menial work after death; and from the Mid- termediate Period and the shifting of social classes
dle Kingdom on, tombs were plentifully supplied that resulted, there came a democratization of the
with articles called ushebtis. These were figurines Osirian cult. Mortals of ordinary parentage might
that were expected to answer in place of the de- now share in the blessings of the afterlife, just as

ceased when the gods called for labor to tend the they were obviously sharing in the fine things of
celestial fields, in order that the deceased could the present world. Conversely, good parentage was
spend his time in leisure. Once they began to ap- no guarantee of continued good life. Magic for-

pear, the number of ushebtis placed in a tomb mulas—prayers that were previously the preroga-
steadily increased. Many tombs had hundreds, and tive of the pharaoh— were now available to anyone
some had thousands. who could pay a priest to intone them at burial or
Just as there were many gods and many ideas of an artisan to inscribe them on coffin walls or papy-
Creation, so there were alternative views of the rus rolls. Properly executed, they enabled anyone
afterlife. The solar cult held that the dead pharaoh who could afford them to join the immortal gods
"

boarded the sun's heavenly boat and accompanied after death and become an Osiris. The term "Osiris
him on his daily sail across the firmament above entered the vernacular to designate any deceased
the world by day and through the sky beneath at person; the phrase "Osiris Ahmose "
meant in ef-

night. (The world was thought to be a cube fect "the late John Doe."
bounded on four sides by high mountains on which To the Egyptian, the afterlife meant a corporeal
the sky rested. There was another sky beneath the existence, not a ghostly substitute. The soul left

earth.) The cult of Osiris, on the other hand, held the body at death, but it was expected to be able

76
 to return to it throughout eternity. That was why
the Egyptians mummified their dead— to preserve
their bodies from decay.
No Egyptian accounts exist to describe mummi-
fication. Current knowledge of the process is based
largely on writings of Herodotus and on examina-
tions of mummies themselves. The practice varied

in detail at different times, but in theory it was a

re-enactment of the ministrations the god Osiris

was believed to have been given for his resurrec-

tion, and the priests who mummified the dead acted

the roles of Anubis and the other gods who had

restored Osiris.
After the mummy was prepared, it was entombed
with articles that the deceased was expected to

want or need in his new life— food, sandals, jewels,

and a crown or scepter if he was a pharaoh. The

custom of leaving food was never entirely aban-

doned, but in some places amulets (miniature stone

or faience models of sandals, scepters and cuts of
meat) came to be substituted for the real articles.

Few Egyptians, of course, could afford so elabo-

rate a burial as this. A pauper could expect little

more than a coarse cloth wrapping to serve as a

coffin, and burial in a communal grave that was
covered with sand. Even the poorest Egyptian buri-
als, however, show some attempt to equip the de-
ceased for the afterlife, though the equipment might
consist of no more than a few scraps of food and
possibly some crude utensils.

A well-stocked tomb made up the greater part of

an Egyptian's preparation for death, but not the

whole. He also arranged for periodic observances

of certain funerary rites. These were held daily if

he was rich, and at the time of festivals if he was

of modest means. The rites consisted mainly of

THREE THOUSAND YEARS OLD, this mummified head of Ramses U now at the Cairo offerings of food. Many other ancient peoples
Museum attests to the ancient embalmer's skill. When archeologists discovered
gave food to their gods or their dead, but they
and unwrapped the mummy in 1881, its dried skin, teeth and hair were still in-
generally burned it as a sacrifice. The Egyptians,
tact. Having survived the centuries, the mummy suffered a singular indignity on
the way to Cairo: a befuddled Egyptian inspector taxed it as imported dried fish. being too practical for waste, returned to the

77
 tomb after a decent interval and ate it themselves.
In the Old Kingdom, the funerary duties fell

upon the heirs, but later the practice arose of set-

ting aside a portion of a man's estate (that is, the

yield of his land in grain, flax, animals and fowl)

to pay special mortuary priests for taking over the

tasks. In the case of the pharaohs, these endow-

ments became a serious burden on Egypt's econo-
my, since they diverted important revenues from
the state to the temples. They also help explain

how the priests eventually acquired sufficient wealth

and power to threaten the position of the pharaoh.
Men fondly expected that the tombs and the serv-
ices would be maintained in perpetuity. Human na-
ture being what it is, however, many graves went
neglected after a time. As the generations slipped

by, descendants focused their attention more on ar-

rangements for their recent dead than on those for

remote ancestors. The endowment funds were not
infrequently appropriated by the very priests who
were supposed to use them for the tombs and the
services. All but a few of the tombs were eventu-
ally abandoned and looted.

In one phase of Egyptian religion there was uni-

formity throughout the land— the daily ritual in the
temple. Gods, like the dead, were expected to have
the same needs and wishes as human beings— food,
cleanliness, rest and entertainment. Just as serv-
ants provided for the needs of the living, so priests
(who in Egyptian were literally "gods' servants")

provided for the needs of the gods.

No matter which god they served, priests every-
where up and down the Valley of the Nile per-
formed an elaborate morning ritual that varied lit-
IN RITUAL GARB of leopard skin over linen, King Ay, dressed as a high
tle from the time of the Old Kingdom onward. priest, is portrayed on a wall of the tomb of his predecessor, Tutankha-
Following a purificatory bath at dawn in a sa- men. In Ay's hand is an adz, a knife-sharp toot used symbolically to open

cred pool, a company of about a dozen priests en- the mummy's mouth and restore the body's vital functions for the after-

life. Physical purity was expected of the priests, particularly during their
tered the temple gates, filed across an open court
service in the temples. Taboos were extended to their dress; wool and
and made their way inside the temple proper. The leather were forbidden, though high priests were allowed to wear the
public might watch the procession through the skins of certain animals as outer garments while performing temple rites.

78
courtyard but could not go beyond that. Once in- The priests who conducted the services ranked

side the temple, the highest-ranking priest ap- in descending hierarchy below the pharaoh, whose
proached the sanctuary and broke the clay seals delegates they were. In theory all accessions to the

on its doors. At the moment when the sun thrust priesthood were subject to the pharaoh's approval,

its first rays over the horizon, the priest swung and it was his pleasure to appoint whomever he
open the doors to reveal the effigy of the god, a wished to religious office. In practice, however, the

mummylike figure that was a little smaller than a priesthood was for the most part hereditary, passed

man. He prostrated himself before the god, rose on from father to son. On occasion, a vacancy in

and chanted prayers, and purified the air with in- a temple was filled through election by a committee
cense. He removed the image from its niche, di- of the priests themselves. By the time of the New
vested it of its garments, cleansed it, clothed it in Kingdom, it was not uncommon for a person seek-

fresh raiment, perfumed it and set it back in place. ing lifetime security to purchase a priestly office

Finally he presented the god with food and drink. for the sake of its comfortable income.

At the close of the ceremony, the priest resealed Only the few priests who were authorized to

the sanctuary and departed, carefully erasing his enter the innermost temple sanctum and assist in

footprints and every other evidence that he had the divine toilet devoted full time to the service

been there. of the god. Other priests, of lower rank, were spe-

The daily routine varied at the time of the great cialists—astrologers, scholars, readers of the sa-

festivals when the images of the gods, in full pan- cred texts, scribes, singers and musicians— and these

oply and accompanied by a cortege, left their tem- served on a rotating basis, forsaking their civil life

ples and traveled through the countryside. A fes- to live within the temple precincts one month out
tival was considered to be entertainment for the of every four. Also in rotating attendance were the
god as well as the people, and it was the only time priests comprising the low clergy— the bearers of
when the people were allowed in the vicinity of sacred objects, interpreters of dreams and overseers

the deities. Now they lined the streets to watch. of temple artisans.

There were many festivals, but perhaps the most During their period of service, both specialists

spectacular was one held during the time of the and minor priests led a life of monastic purity.
flood in honor of Amon. In a colorful procession of They shaved their entire bodies (including their

all the priests, Amon was carried from his shrine at eyebrows and lashes), washed frequently and ab-
Karnak to the banks of the Nile, where he boarded stained from relations with women. Like sacerdotal

a sacred barge and was towed upstream to the tem- men of all societies, Egyptian priests were distin-
ple of Luxor. He stayed there for nearly a month guishable from other citizens by their dress— a brief
and then returned to Karnak with similar pomp. white linen cloth around the loins, which from pre-
Another celebration rich in pageantry took place dynastic times never succumbed to changes in fash-

at Abydos, which was the site of the tombs of the ion. Off duty, both specialists and minor priests
early pharaohs and believed by many Egyptians to lived in the secular world like everyone else.

be the place where Osiris' head was buried. The Women served as part-time priestesses and some-

city was the goal of a popular pilgrimage. Every times performed the same functions as their male
Egyptian who could afford it made a journey there counterparts. In one instance during the 18th Dy-
to attend a dramatic re-creation of the Osiris myth. nasty, the pharaoh appointed his queen to one of

79
 the most eminent religious offices in the land— that After Akhenaton the idea of a relationship be-

of second high priest to the god Amon at Karnak. tween man and his gods emerged. A hymn from
In the main, however, priestesses were hmited to the reign of Ramses IV in the 12th Century B.C.
filHng the roles of singers and musicians. goes in part as follows: "And thou shalt give me
The age of Egypt's empire was marked by changes health, life and old age, a long reign, strength to

that affected most of the nation's traditional stand- all my limbs. . . . And thou shalt give me to eat

ards, including those pertaining to religion and to . . . and thou shalt give me to drink. . . .
"
The
the pharaoh. In the days of the Old Kingdom, the gods were now seen not only as fashioners of the

pharaoh had been sole and undisputed source of universe and capricious troublemakers, but as re-

the divine word. As national gods proliferated— sponsible for the welfare of their creatures, com-

and with them the elaborate apparatus of the priest- passionate toward human needs and responsive to
hood—the pharaoh's divine authority diminished, human pleas.

while the wealth and power of the priests grew. But not long after this personal spirit emerged,
This was the situation that prevailed in the lat- the priesthood and religious ceremony atrophied,
ter half of the 18th Dynasty, when the Pharaoh and when Egyptian civilization began to decline

Akhenaton launched a heretical revolt against the the worship of animals was revived and intensified.

great god Amon, the principal deity of the time, By the time Greek conquerors reached the land of

and sought to impose upon Egypt a new god and the Nile in the Fourth Century B.C., when the em-
a new form of worship. pire had collapsed and the country was beset by
The details of Akhenaton's revolution belong economic woes, the people had grown insecure and
with the history of the pharaohs, for the reform had lost their enthusiasm for life. Instead of con-

he attempted was as much social as religious, and fidence, their religion stressed humility, submis-

it had more to do with the person of the king than siveness and patience. Death was no longer seen
with the religious spirit of the people. Yet even as a continuance of the pleasures of life, but loomed

though Akhenaton did not succeed in establishing instead as surcease from earthly tribulations.

the worship of his god, the Aton, or in eradicating In its time their religion had served the Egyp-
the other gods, his attempts to do so marked a tians well. By commingling the gods and the phar-

turning point in Egyptian religious history. Per- aoh, and ultimately uniting the people with them,

haps in reaction against the monolithic nature of it provided a cohesion that helped their civiliza-

the new creed, perhaps because the people were tion to survive for nearly 3,000 years. In the room
groping in a direction the Hebrews soon would it made for new gods and diverse ideas, it allowed

reach, religious worship after Akhenaton's time be- the people pliancy. Polytheism may be bewildering

came more personal than before. in its disparities, but it goes hand in hand with

Prior to his time hymns had described the fea- tolerance; and tolerance spared Egypt under the
tures of the gods without relating them to human pharaohs much of the discord, cleavage and blood-
wants; a hymn to the sun god Re, for example, shed that other peoples have suffered in the name
declares, 'How beautiful it is when thou arisest of religion. By its concern for the dead it made the

on the horizon and lightenest the Two Lands [Up- civilization immortal; and in its zeal for conserva-

per and Lower Egypt] with thy rays." It goes on tion it left to posterity the remains of a memora-

for many verses in the same vein. ble grandeur.

80
THE MYSTICAL KA, the immortal spirit said to dwell in every man, is depicted here with arms upraised and a goddess standing on its head.

THE WORLD OF THE DEAD

At the beginning of the Old Kingdom, only pharaohs were entitled to an afterlife.

But by the time of the New Kingdom, 11 centuries later, life after death was the

expectation of all Egyptians. They carefully prepared for a hectic hereafter in

which, according to one Egyptologist, "The dead man is at one and the same time
in heaven, in the god's boat, under the earth, tilling the Elysian fields, and in

his tomb enjoying his victuals." For the wealthy, elaborate embalming and well-

stocked tombs assured a house for the Ka, or soul, and the Ba, or physical vital-

ity, which fled a body at death. But a dead man still went forth to be judged by

Osiris, god of the underworld. Osiris, weighing his virtues and faults, could

then mete out either a renewed life in eternity— or a second death of extinction.
81
 r>-»'
!>'

%
\-\\^r ^ ji li. 1 i/i't^ll *l I
4>-
A WEEPING WIDOW crouches at her mummifieci husband's feet as attending priests start final rituals before burial.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE AFTERLIFE

In the brief limbo between life and afterlife, the they used compounds of salts, spices and resins
ancient Egyptian was made ready for eternity by a to preserve and dry the eviscerated corpse into a
complex funeral liturgy. This centered about the shriveled mummy, then stuffed and swathed it

embalming ritual which, according to Herodotus, with layers of finely woven linen. Returned to the
might take up to 70 days to complete if the de- bereaved family— whose ranks were often swelled
ceased was a man of substance (for the poor, a day by professional mourners— the mummy underwent
or two sufficed). Since the dead man's spirits would the symbolic Opening of the Mouth ceremony
inhabit his body, the embalmers sought to preserve shown above. Prepared to eat, drink and speak
the mortal remains for eternity. To accomplish this. again, the dead man was at last ready for the tomb.

82
 teHLdrrr

HIRED MOURNERS, tears Streaming from their eyes, augment a family's sorrow. Such professional weepers were often employed for Egyptian funerals.
 PAR A P) F TT^ T |— I F Tr^AA R Egypt'^n funerary ritual called for burial in the west, where
the sun was believed to begin its nightly journey across the

underworld. In the bleak western desert stood immense ne-

cropolises—cities of the dead— whose pyramids, temples and

84
rock-cut tombs were built and maintained for those who could and then overland by ox-drawn sledge. Led by shaven-headed
afford an affluent afterlife. Great processions of mourners like priests who wafted incense and intoned the ritual chants, the

the oneson these pages brought the encased mummies (not procession ended at the door of the tomb, where the last rites

shown here) to these tombs, first by barge across the Nile might include a solemn ceremonial dance and a funeral feast.

85
 JUDGMENT IN THE UNDERWORLD
"Do justice whilst thou endurest upon earth," ris. Usually depicted as a mummy, Osiris stonily
reads an ancient papyrus entitled "The Instruc- supervised the weighing of the dead man's heart
tion for King Merikare." "A man remains over while truth occupied the balancing scale. For those
after death, and his deeds are placed beside him who failed this test, a fierce beast called The De-
in heaps. However, existence yonder is for eterni- vourer of Souls awaited. But most passed, and
ty, and . . . for him who reaches it without wrong- could look forward to an infinity of the pleasant
doing, he shall exist yonder like a god." The pursuits they had known in life— the mummy, at

essence of Egyptian mortuary religion was a uni- home in his tomb, was surrounded by pictures and
versal faith in the final judgment of the god Osi- statuettes of his servants and even his concubines.

WT-^^'M

i;-
.^H^-S,. \ „.\^ka.^.

WEIGHING THE HEART of a priestess (left

scale), jackal-headed Anubis balances it

against a figure representing truth; baboon-

like Thoth, atop the scales, records the result.

At right is an offering of a haunch of beef.

HOMAGE TO OSIRIS IS paid by a nobleman

and his wife in a tomb scene probably
painted in their lifetime. The offering and
hieroglyphic paeans were calculated to as-
sure a warm reception in the underworld.

87
 BOATS AND BIRDS
FOR JOURNEYS OF THE DEAD
While early Egyptian cults disagreed on what a his solar boat to accompany the sun through the
dead man could and could not do in his afterlife, underworld— a journey borrowed from the sun
New Kingdom Egyptians devised an ingenious worship of the Old Kingdom. He might stop to

synthesis of the major beliefs. Thus, a dead man work in the magnificent Field of Reeds— a pleasant
was said to remain in his tomb by day, although enough task if he had been a hard-working farm-
he might revisit the living through his wandering er in life. But at dawn, he returned to his tomb
spirit, the birdlike Ba (right). At sunset he boarded for the food and rest that even the dead required.

A SHIP OF THE DEAD, in model form, was often

left in tombs for travel in the afterworld.
The mummy, adorned with the likeness of
Osiris, reposes betweeti the figures of Isis

and Nephthys, the god's mourning sisters.

88
THE WINGED BA, a spirit symbolizing the

physical survival of the dead, was thought

to have the ability to leave a tomb. Through

the medium of the Ba, a dead man could

return to his haunts in the mortal world.

89
 V,
K -k -M x 'k -K ^ -k-X kk k k k ^ i^ k k
7c k -k K' -k- -A: ^ -X- -k: k. k k 'k k -k -k^ ±-

A
A HEAVENLY HORDE special part of the afterworld was reserved
wildering assortment of gods. Under the Old Kingdom, each
for Egypt's be-

city had its own set of deities: Re was worshipped at Heliopo-

lis, Amon at Thebes, Ptah at Memphis and Thoth at Hermop-
olis. But by the New Kingdom, some degree of order had been

90
9^ic :k: ^ ±^ :^ :k:k:i( )k':k ^:^>t;^ ^ ^^^^ ^^

established in the cluttered cosmology by the priesthoods of According one legend, Nut swallowed the sun each evening
to

united (it is shown as a brown disc passing through her

star-bordered
the major gods. It then became possible to depict a

heavenly family in a group portrait, as in this mural from the body) and gave birth to it again in the morning. Arrayed be-
tomb of Ramses VI. Framing the universe is the arched body neath Nut is the host of gods and demigods that the Pharaoh
—himself a living god-confidently expected to join in death.
of Nut, the sky goddess, one of the principal cosmic deities.

91
>^r
 Almost every society has been likened in structure

to the pyramid. No society better fits the analogy

than that of ancient Egypt, the land to which the

pyramid is indigenous. At the apex of Egyptian
society stood the pharaoh, who was god and king
in one. Below him, in descending order and increas-
ing numbers, were nobles, officials, scribes, arti-

sans, unskilled laborers and peasants. The small

group at the top of the structure was endowed
with wealth and power; a somewhat larger group

5 below it was involved

wealth and power; and millions toiled
shops and the fields.
in the administration of the
in the work-

The pharaoh was the embodiment of the gods

THE PHARAOH and the soul of the state. He was responsible for

the rise and of the Nile, the yield of the soil,

AND HIS PEOPLE

fall

the health of the commerce, the fortunes of the

He owned
army and the maintenance of the peace.

the land, directed the energies of the people and

spoke the law.
A ruler cast in this mold particularly fitted

Egypt's requirements, for a king of superhuman

authority was necessary to effect and maintain uni-
fication in a land that was 750 miles long. The
king acquired deputies, of course, to dispense his
justice, perform his religious functions, supervise

his public works and lead his military expeditions.

But as he was a god, he was thought to be every-

where present. The justice and leadership there-
fore were all his. The officials who represented him
were not considered to have power in their own
right, but only to voice his commands.
Because all Egyptian life was permeated with re-

ligion, there was no distinct church-state separa-

tion such as is known in the modern West; where

the ruler is god, civil and religious affairs run to-
gether. There was, however, a division of responsi-

bilities among the pharaoh's deputies, and the men

charged with carrying out his will developed pro-
prietary concerns of their own as the state evolved.

Each of the resulting divisions saw an era when

its officers shared in the wealth and power of the
pharaoh.
The first was civil administration, which was run

by the vizier. The second was the administration

AFTER THE HUNT fl servant dresses geese kilted by his master. Hunting was
of temples, which was in the hands of high priests.
a favorite pastime of wealthy Egyptians, and wild fowl was a prized deli-

cacy. At one opulent public feast 1,000 geese were consumed in a single day. The third was the professional army, which did
93
 not arise until the 18th Dynasty but grew increas- stones up and down the Nile and oversaw the op-

ingly stronger as Egypt expanded into an empire. eration of all public works. The Pharaoh Thutmose
The Egypt of the 18th Dynasty existed in a dif- III called him "the supporting post of the entire

ferent world from that of the Old Kingdom, and it land."

therefore required a different organization from The vizier put in as arduous a day as any mod-
that which initially welded together the two lands ern statesman; he had at least 30 functions to at-

of Upper and Lower Egypt. The pharaohs of the tend to. He was received by the king each morning

New Kingdom were constantly planning and fre- to get his orders and report on events of the day
quently going off on military expeditions, so they before. Next he met with his highest-ranking sub-

had to turn more and more of the domestic admin- ordinate, the treasurer, who addressed him with

istration over to subordinates. Furthermore, in the a ritual that went: "All thy affairs are sound and

1,500 years that had elapsed since the unification prosperous; every responsible incumbent has re-

of the land, the position of the pharaoh and his ported to me, saying: All thy affairs are sound
godship had been modified as the Egyptians had and prosperous, the king's house is sound and
grown in sophistication and the state had become prosperous.' " The vizier replied to the treasurer in

complex. He still summed up total civil, religious a similar ritual that also began: "All thy affairs

and military authority in his person, and the myth are sound and prosperous." Next the vizier went
of his link with divinity remained, but he came through the ceremony of opening every gate of the
to project as much the image of a man as that of a palace, "to cause to go in all that goes in, and to go

god. The subordinates eventually developed author- out all that goes out likewise." After this the vizier

ity of their own, running as they did sizable civil, met with the foremen of construction works, the

temple and military administrations. What began keepers of the granaries and a series of lesser

originally as delegated power was gradually trans- officials. He examined written reports and dictated

formed into hereditary right. replies. Often he traveled at home and abroad in

Of all state, temple and military officials, the the name of the pharaoh.

most important throughout Egyptian history re- For all the scope of his authority, the vizier was
mained the vizier. He had dozens of titles, among not expected to be a tyrant. As spokesman for the

them hereditary prince and count, sealbearer of the pharaoh, he was considered the representative of
king, sole companion to the king; overseer of the divine authority, perception and justice, and he was
fields, the garden, the cows, the serfs, the peasant- heavily charged with the responsibility to be fair

farmers and the granaries; steward of the king; and equitable. His primary role was as chief mag-
overseer of the royal residence; controller of every istrate, and on his appointment he was customarily
divine craft and overseer of construction works. He exhorted as follows:
was the chief officer of the state, the only person "The abomination of the god is a show of par-

other than the king who could act in all civil affairs. tiality. So this is the instruction; thou shalt act

He presided over the highest court of justice. He accordingly: thou shalt look upon him whom thou
saw to the collection of taxes from all over the land knowest like him whom thou dost not know, upon

and of tribute from abroad. He was the minister of him who is close to thy person like him who is dis-

war and the chief of police for the kingdom. He tant from thy house. . . . Do not avoid a petitioner.

supervised the movement of food and building . . . Thou shalt punish him when thou hast let him

94
 OTHER EXPANDING CULTURES

hear that on account of which thou punishest him.

... Be not enraged toward a man unjustly. . . . Be-

hold, if a man show forth the fear of him a myriad

of times, there is something of violence in him. . . .

Behold, a man shall be in his office [as long as] he

shall do things according to that which is given to
him." This was a concept of justice and humanity
that was remarkable in the ancient world.

When the vizier made his first appearance in

Egyptian history, early in the Old Kingdom, he was

generally appointed from among the royal princes.

Later the office passed to an able member of the

While Egypt basked in New Kingdom op-
nobility, and it often remained within a particular
ulence, other societies were also progress-
family. But sometimes it went to a qualified man ing. Most vigorous was the culture of
who found favor with the king, and kings did not Mycenae, which from 1600 to 1200 B.C.
always restrict such favors to the rich and the well- spread from mainland Greece to the shores

born. One pharaoh wrote to his son: "Advance thy of Asia Minor. Remnants of that culture
—such as the hammered-gold royal death
great men, so that they may carry out thy laws.
mask shown above, richly painted pottery,
. . . Great is a great man when his great men are
and the ruins of massive fortifications and
great. . . . Do not distinguish the son of a noble palaces— attest to its wealth, artistry and
man from a poor man, but take to thyself a man power. Mycenae, through numerous
its

because of the work of his hands." colonies in the eastern Mediterranean and

With such an attitude prevailing among the through the epic legends of the Trojan
War, left a rich heritage for descendants
pharaohs, a few men rose from modest beginnings
who centuries later shaped classical Greece.
to positions of authority. A certain Uni, toward the
The Olympian gods, the concept of arete
end of the Old Kingdom, began his adult life as
(the pursuit of excellence) and the Greek
keeper of the royal warehouse and advanced from language itself found their genesis in the

that to become keeper of the grounds for the phar- world of Mycenae.

aoh's pyramid, which meant that he was respon- The Mycenaeans were only one of the

peoples making history during this age.

sible for quarrying and delivering the stones that
The Hebrews, having fled Egypt, were con-
built the pyramid complex. Later he was made a
quering the land of Canaan. The Chinese,
magistrate, then an army general, then governor of
under the Shang Dynasty, established the
Upper Egypt. He ended his days as royal tutor and basic forms of a graceful calligraphy that
companion of the pharaoh. has lasted to the present day. And in Asia

Uni was able to advance because he was under Minor the Hittites mastered the technique
of ironworking— a skill that was eventu-
the eye of the pharaoh; but other men acquired
ally to bring the Bronze Age to a close.
power by exercising initiative far from the capital.

The country was divided into more than 40 prov-

inces—or nomes, as the Greeks called them— and
each was administered by a governor, or nomarch.

95
 Governors charged with the administration of dis-

tant areas had to act on their own without per-

mission from the pharaoh, and often without even

his knowledge; they developed independence and
self-assurance. These were the men who carved out
principalities for themselves when the Old King-
dom foundered at the end of the Sixth Dynasty.

They ruled their territories as independent princes

during the First Intermediate Period and for a time

into the Middle Kingdom.

Besides the governors, the Middle Kingdom
pharaohs had another limitation on their authority

in the persons of the priests. From the end of the

Old Kingdom onward the priests grew in wealth
and influence, until by the time of the 18th Dy-
nasty they were the richest and strongest men in

society and ruled almost in partnership with the

pharaoh.
Egyptian legend had an explanation for the pow-
er the priests wielded; it was that a prophecy had
been uttered to the effect that the royal succession

would pass to a son of Re born miraculously to a

wife of a priest of that god. In the Fifth Dynasty

the pharaoh added the phrase "Son of Re" to

his titles, and from that time on, the priests began
to exert considerable influence as spokesmen of

the god, whose son the pharaoh now was. The first

priesthood to become significant was the one that

worshiped Re; the next was the priesthood of Ptah
of Memphis. Finally, and most powerful of all,

came the priests of Amon of Thebes, the god

who effected the ousting of the Hyksos and re-

deemed Egypt for the New Kingdom.

WITH SPEARS AND SHIELDS f/iese wooden so/diers sfood guard in the tomb of
As the priests grew in power the pharaohs found an Egyptian prince. The rnodel infantrymen reflected the prince's military
it necessary to assure their support. The pharaohs interests during his life, and they also served as symbols of protection in

the afterworld. Each Egyptian soldier had a shield decorated with his own
of the Fifth Dynasty exempted the priests from
design: when summoned to battle, he could easily identify his own shield.
certain services to the state and from taxes. They
were not required to lend their servants to till the

fields or to haul the quarried stones for construc-

tion work, and they were excused from turning over

96
to the national coffers a portion of the yield of certain affairs. Since the priests determined the
their lands. These measures added to the priests' signs of the gods, the new turn of events indicates
wealth and in turn to their power. They also helped the mounting authority exercised by the priesthood;
to damage the national economy, for they kept it was a great change from the days of the Old
from the royal treasury riches that the pharaohs Kingdom, when the pharaoh made his decisions
might have used for the state. The time would alone.
come when the government would not have suf- The gods did not confine their activity to im-
ficient income to keep the people fed. perial conquest, but entered civil affairs as well. In

The exemption from taxes in the Old Kingdom the early days of Egypt when magistrates— who
was only the beginning of the priests' acquisition were subordinates of the vizier— tried a civil or
of wealth. By the time of the empire they had criminal offense, they gave their decision as the
become richer still on foreign booty, as the gods pharaohs. By the beginning of the New Kingdom
were given tribute for every military victory; and the high priest of Amon sometimes attended court
hungry for even greater wealth, the priests grew as trials, which were held in the temples and presided
eager as the pharaohs for further foreign conquest. over by the vizier; and by the time that Ramses
The pharaohs, for their part, were grateful to the III died the gods were intervening, too.
gods for their benevolence, so they continued to Ramses III was apparently killed as a result of a

add to the estates of the temples. There developed harem conspiracy. After his death he spoke through
a self-perpetuating cycle in which the priests were an oracle in the temple and directed the court to
the major beneficiaries. By the end of the New examine the case and punish the criminals— but
Kingdom the high priest of Amon controlled one of he affected for himself and his son, the new Phar-
the greatest landholdings of the ancient world; aoh, a cool detachment from concern with the out-
some estimates put it as high as 30 per cent of all come. In other words, he had turned over the law—
the land in Egypt. so said the priests— to the magistrates and made
Wealth and power were not alone responsible for them full arbiters in their own right.

the lofty position of the priesthood. The rise of The third section of Egyptian society that was
the gods preceded the expansion of the empire; vested with power was the professional army. It de-
it was coincident with the ousting of the Hyksos. veloped even later than the priesthood, but once it

The presence of the foreign rulers had filled the became established, it exercised authority with the
Egyptians with self-doubts. Now they thanked the blessing of the pharaoh.
gods for their release from the hated alien rule; at Until the time of the New Kingdom, the army
the same time, they wanted to stay in the gods' was largely a kind of feudal levy that was called
good graces. They willingly gave the gods an active upon only in time of need. The pharaoh might
hand in more and more of their affairs. keep a small cadre of standing troops, but in an
By the time of the late empire, the gods were emergency he called upon the provincial nobles to
making manifest their instructions by "visible conscript the peasants who normally tended the
signs." "Yes or no" questions must have been put fields, the canals and the quarries. He put them

to the effigy in a temple, for texts of that period under the command of a royal son or a member of
describe Amon as "nodding" in assent and remain- the nobility, and sent them off to fight for as long
ing still or "recoiling "
to express disapproval of as the emergency lasted. When the trouble passed.

97
 the levied men would return to their plows and

their benches. In the feudal era of the First Inter-

mediate Period, each provincial governor— or prince,

as he now was— commanded a similar aggregation

periodically recruited from his subjects. Under the

rulers of the Middle Kingdom much the same sys-

tem prevailed.
But driving out the Hyksos at the end of the

Second Intermediate Period required organized mil-

itary effort, and so did building an empire. The
men who founded the 18th Dynasty established a

professional army. At first this army was com-

manded by the pharaoh himself, then by the crown

prince, and later by career officers. It swelled in time

to a military establishment of no mean size: it in-

cluded a large infantry, transport officers, quarter-

masters and labor troops. The infantry was trained
and disciplined to fight on every kind of terrain

and from shipboard if necessary. The army also

included a chariotry, for the Egyptians had adopted

the horse and chariot from the Hyksos. The char-
iot troops were the ancient Egyptian equivalent of
the cavalry and, like the cavalry in recent times,
they formed the most glamorous arm of the service
in their day.

For anyone lacking family lineage, the army prob-

ably provided the easiest path for advancement in
imperial Egypt. As a relatively late arrival, it had
neither tradition behind it nor established families
who might resist the entry of parvenus. Besides,

men have always applauded a victor; an Egyptian

who showed valor on the battlefield did not go un-
honored. Finally, because the army was new, it had
ANCIENT AIDS TO BEAUTY, grouped around a murr^my's mask and a carved
room for new talents; a man who never saw battle
head, reflect the wealthy Egyptian woman's preoccupation with cosmetics
might rise through the administration of the army's and jewelry. The lettered diagram identifies the artifacts, dating from many
affairs. And man who distinguished himself in
a periods: (a) pots for holding kohl, an eye shadow still used today, (b) sticks

for applying kohl, (c) hair tweezers, (d) comb, (e) hair curler, bronze
the army might move into other segments of the (f)

hand mirror, (g) amulet on a string of beads, (h) rings, (i) bead necklaces
society.
and collars, (j) wooden cosmetic box, (k) stone and palette for grinding cos-
One man who did just that was Amenhotep-son- metics. Also shown are a faience drinking cup at upper left, some alabaster

of-Hapu. The father was a man of modest calling. vases at rear (probably used for cosmetics) and a bronze bowl at center.

98
but his son became the outstanding official of mands and recording the many affairs of the state.

Amenhotep III, and one of the most prominent Among the most important of these affairs was
figures of the New Kingdom. After serving the taxation. Everything in Egypt, like everything in
army as a scribe he was made responsible for the any centralized state, was taxed. The farmer paid
royal bodyguard, for the collection of taxes, for the on his crops, the herdsman on his herd, the artisan

defense of the borders, for the transport and erec- on his handiwork, even the fisherman on his catch

tion of two 70-foot statues of Amenhotep III (they and the hunter on his bag. Taxation requires rec-
still stand in the Theban Necropolis) and for the ords. There were land surveys classifying all acreage
stewardship of the vast estates of the King's wife according to productivity, censuses listing every
and daughter. A queen, as the daughter of a god, man and his animals, ledgers recording payments
the wife of a god and the mother of a god, had and receipts attesting to payments. Since money
always had rank in Egyptian society; by the time of had not yet been invented, taxes were paid in pro-

the 18th Dynasty all well-born women had their duce and labor, which made the keeping of records
own rights to property. They could buy and sell, and exceedingly complex.
they could testify in court. Records require record-keepers, and such men
Before Amenhotep-son-of-Hapu died at about were to be found all over Egypt. There were sur-
the age of 80, he was Overseer of AllWorks of the veyors in the fields, tax collectors on the threshing
King— in other words, the vizier. Amenhotep III so floors and in the workshops, receivers of custom
prized his vizier's services that he granted him per- duties at the frontiers and census takers at the
mission to erect several statues in the temple of house doorways.
Karnak. In all of them he is shown as royal scribe, Most of this vast corps of scribes were em-
seated on the ground with an open papyrus on his ployed by the palace, but there were others em-
lap. More striking, the Pharaoh further allowed ployed by the army and by the temples. The army
him to erect a mortuary temple of monumental needed scribes to log the storing and dispatching of
size next to the royal temples in western Thebes. supplies, to enlist recruits, and to send communi-
No man of modest birth had ever been so honored. cations into the field and back to the pharaoh. The
Amenhotep III endowed the temple of his favorite high priest of Amon and his associates, with vast
in perpetuity; mortuary services for him were con- territories and multitudes of lesser priests to house,

tinued there long after his death, and a cult grew feed and supervise, employed thousands of scribes.
up around this illustrious scribe-turned-army man Amon was not the only deity whose wealth called
and vizier. He was revered as one of Egypt's great for voluminous records. Ptah of Memphis and
sages, and proverbs ascribed to him were translated Re of Heliopolis, though they had been superseded
into Greek 12 centuries after his time. by Amon as national god, both had sizable estates,
Amenhotep-son-of-Hapu would never have and even the minor deities had temples and temple
made his mark in the army or anywhere else, of holdings that required bookkeeping by scribes.
course, if he had not been literate. In his youth, The position of scribe was in theory open to all,

as a scribe, he was one of a large corps of citizens but in fact it was probably closed to peasants. It

who ranked just below the ruling class. The scribes took diligence and doggedness to survive the train-
did yeoman service keeping the machinery of ing, for the curriculum was tedious and the regi-

government running— conveying the rulers' com- men harsh. The masters did not spare the rod, be-

99
 cause "a youngster's ear is on his back— he hstens the memory of them lasts to the limits of eternity.

when he is beaten, "

and they exhorted the boys not Be a scribe, and put it in your heart that your
to frequent beer halls or run after women. name may fare similarly."

A scribal school was generally attached to a Although the scribes were not of the ruling

temple, but there was also one at the palace and class, they worked in close association with it,

occasionally secular scribes ran village schools of which meant that their way of life was consider-
their own. A student was enrolled at about the age ably easier than that of the peasants. Many scribes

of five. For the next dozen years or so he put in must have been quartered in the palaces and tem-
long, tedious hours from sunup to sundown. He ple precincts.

wrote and wrote and wrote— most of the time with Scribes also had unlimited opportunities for

a brush and ink on a wooden writing board, but graft. A papyrus dated toward the end of the New
sometimes on papyrus, sometimes on a broken Kingdom tells of a riverboat captain who looted

bit of limestone or pottery— copying over and over more than 90 per cent of the grain he contracted

again the same excerpts from classical literature, to deliver to a certain temple over a period of nine
form letters and endless lists of articles that a gov- years. It is not recorded whether the man was
ernment scribe would have to know how to write, eventually brought before the law or not. In any
such as "wine of Egypt, wine of Palestine, wine of event, he clearly could not have engaged in thiev-

the oases" and "fresh meat, cooked meat, sweet- ery on so grand a scale without buying the silence

ened meat." This was a practice designed "to teach of many— not only the scribes who registered the

the ignorant to know everything that is." grain at the temple, but also of all the others in-

If he did not learn to know "everything that is," volved in the transaction from the moment the
the student did pick up a certain knowledge of grain left the farmers' fields.

geography, history, arithmetic and foreign phrases, The nobility, the priesthood, the army and the

and an acquaintance with temple and governmental bureaucracy, as large as they may have been, to-
procedures. It was the products of these scribal gether constituted the lesser portion of Egypt's
schools who managed to rise in a society where total population. In the time of the pharaohs— as
rank was for the most part hereditary. in Egypt today— the vast majority were the masses
Often the work pieces were propaganda extoll- who toiled in the workshops and plowed the fields.

ing the joys of life as a scribe, which was touted as Of these, the skilled and semiskilled workers stood
preferable to any other. Farmers and even priests, on a plane higher in the social order than their un-
these documents said, had to do difficult tasks, but skilled brethren and the peasants on the farms.
scribes dressed in clean linen, did not have to labor The pharaoh, the nobles and the priests kept
in the fields, and oversaw the work of others. Bet- draftsmen, quarriers, masons, carpenters, brick-

ter still, "their names have become everlasting, layers, sculptors and painters busy on their pal-

even though they themselves are gone. ... If doors aces, temples and tombs. The court had work for

and buildings were constructed, they are crumbled; goldsmiths, jewelers, weavers and cabinetmakers.
. . . mortuary service is done . . . tombstones are The army needed the services of chariot makers,

covered with dirt; and . . . graves are forgotten. armorers, leather workers and boatbuilders. These
But [the] names [of scribes] are still pronounced men were by and large fine craftsmen and many
because of their books which they made . . . and were true artists.

100
 Their talents brought them a better standard of san's pay, and when they did the artisan went
hving than the peasants who tilled the fields. Near hungry. This was particularly true in the latter

the Valley of the Kings, for example, at the site of part of the New Kingdom, when the fortunes of
Deir el Medineh, stood a village that for almost Egypt began to wane and the national treasury was
500 years housed the workers who built and dec- low.

orated the tombs of the pharaohs. Excavations at In about 1170 B.C. the government fell two
the site have turned up thousands of bills, ac- months behind in the payment of wages. Suddenly
counts, receipts and letters scratched on chips of one day the workers at the Necropolis in Thebes
limestone and pottery and on scraps of papyrus. threw down their fools and walked off the job,

From these fragments and other evidence at Deir chanting: "We are hungry! We are hungry! "
They
el Medineh emerges a picture of the life of Egyp- marched to the Ramesseum, the mortuary temple

tian artisans during the age of the empire. of Ramses II, and sat down outside the walls, on

Their dwellings were constructed of unbaked the edge of the cultivated fields. They refused to

brick. Working conditions were by no means bru- move, even when three officials implored them to
tally harsh, and the work shifts were divided into go back to work. The next day they marched out
10-day periods. There seems to have been consid- again, and on the third they invaded the enclosure
erable leniency about time off; it was allowed not around the temple proper. They were orderly but
only for sickness but also for tending the sick. determined. That day their rations for one month
Sickness itself was liberally interpreted; there is were delivered, but they continued the strike for
at least one case on record of a man's being ex- eight days, until the full payment for both months
cused from work because he had been beaten up was delivered. This was the first recorded strike in

by his wife. history, and it is an indication that the lower

Wages were paid in produce— bread, beer, beans, classes of Egypt may not have been so passive as
onions, dried meat, fat and salt. The various crafts they have sometimes been depicted.
were graded and their wages determined accord- There were other strikes in the months that

ingly. Foremen and scribes were the highest paid; followed, but when the people did not get their

then draftsmen, sculptors, painters; then quarriers rations they turned more and more to robbing the
and masons; and finally unskilled laborers, those tombs by night and selling the loot for grain. Tomb
who dug and lifted and hauled. robbing had always beset the pharaohs, but by the
Akhenaton took exemplary care of his crafts- reign of Ramses when the people were desper-
IX,

men at the new city he built at Akhetaton. He pro- ate, it had become a way of life. It was done with

vided villas with studios attached for his court the connivance of many government officials, who
sculptors, and he placed their assistants in more fattened their own incomes by accepting bribes.
modest but pleasant dwellings nearby. Tomb robbers were periodically arrested, but they
In stable times there were not a few men in the often bought their way out of jail and returned to

skilled crafts such as drafting and sculpturing who robbing.

earned enough to build themselves well-appointed Although the artisans were a level above the
tombs. In bad times, on the other hand, the artisan peasants in the social pyramid, the peasants may
was probably worse off than the peasant, for cor- nevertheless have had the better luck in bad times.
rupt government officials might withhold the arti- When the artisan had no pay he went hungry; but

101
 even in the worst of times the peasant was gener- And there was periodic variation in their general

ally able to wrest enough from the soil to eat. routine. Floodtime was also the season of the great

Today's fellahin, the peasants of modern Egypt, religious festivals, when the images of the gods

lead much the same life their forebears led millen- were carried through the land in pomp and pag-
nia ago. The peasants of ancient Egypt were not eantry. During the celebrations, the peasants had
slaves; they were free tenant farmers who worked a holiday, and they probably dined at feasts given
the land for the pharaoh, a noble or a temple of by the landowners whose fields they tilled.

priests. The lion's share of the grain, wheat and Below the peasants, at the base of the Egyptian
flax that the peasants produced went to their land- social pyramid, were the slaves. There had always
lords, and they kept for themselves only a small been slaves in Egypt's history, but their numbers
portion as wages. What they did not eat they might greatly increased in the age of the New Kingdom,
barter for some small luxury such as a little statue when foreign conquests brought in prisoners of

or an amulet. war.
Their life was for the most part an unchanging The least fortunate slaves of all were conscript-
round of spreading freshly deposited Nile mud, ed to work in the dreadful gold and copper mines
plowing, planting, hauling water for irrigation and of Nubia, the Sudan and Sinai, where, according

harvesting, threshing, delivering to the granaries to the Greeks, water was rationed and men dropped
and, in the time of the drought, mending dikes by scores in the torrid heat. But some were ab-
and clearing clogged canals. During floodtime they sorbed into the army, and others were assigned to
might be called from the fields to serve on the work labor on the estates of the nobles and the priests.
parties of the pharaoh's construction projects. According to one document, Ramses III is said to

They were dependent, like the animals they hus- have given 113,000 slaves to the temples during the
banded, on the landlords. Their lot was the routine course of his reign. The more fortunate ones found
of the peasant's life— and its rewards, which no their way into menial service for the royal family
doubt were greater under Egypt's clear skies and or the nobility, where they generally fared better
agreeable clime than in some of the ancient world's than the native Egyptian peasantry. The children
less favored lands. of a few of these, with exceptional ability, made
There is little documentation concerning the life themselves indispensable to their masters and
of the peasants; the picture of their disposition rose to good positions in the bureaucracy— and
and their life must be surmised from the drawings there, if they had aspirations, they might hope to
and inscriptions in the tombs, and these were put begin the ascent that others of the bureaucracy
there by their masters, not by the peasants. From had made before them.
the volume of tedious work they are shown doing, Probably few Egyptians thought of ascent per
it would appear that the peasants must have been se, for they envisioned their society— as they did
diligent, and from the songs that survive, that they their universe, their gods and their afterlife— as an
must have been good-natured as well. Driving cat- endless continuum in which change was not to be

tle through the swamp, they sang to the croco- expected. Still, if their social order was generally
diles and the fish, and threshing or reaping they fixed and hereditary, it was nevertheless subject
sang in antiphonal chorus, rejoicing in the beauty to occasional flux. It shifted with the winds— ever
of the sky and the breath of the north wind. changing and ever changeless.

102
 TTTji

fe^linllltj

A BEREAVED FAMILY, in an ancient ttnnh pmnitng, cluitfrs iiround llie bearded figure oj ii deptirtfd uftiiuil m lii^ ^ori (n^ht) offe!:, linn I'otive X'/'s.

A LEISURED ELITE
The highest earthly goal of the Egyptian aristocrat was to grow in the pharaoh's
esteem and reap the rewards of royal favor. The upper class formed a small, closed
society: a hereditary caste of priests, soldiers and bureaucrats who collected taxes,

supervised public works, dispensed justice and performed the voluminous paper-
work of the highly centralized government. A rare commoner might curry favor
with the pharaoh and rise into this charmed circle— one man of modest beginnings
rose to be Royal Architect; another, the keeper of a government storehouse, be-
cam.e Governor of half of Egypt. But literacy, nepotism and marriages among no-
bles were all barriers to social mobility. Within the upper class, a noble's office

and estate were held by grace of the pharaoh. Even great lords treated the pharaoh
as a god. The rulers, however, sometimes took a more worldly view of their posi-

tion. One Pharaoh, Achthoes II, dryly commented: "royalty is a good profession."

103
 THE OPULENCE AND ORDER OF A GREAT HOUSE
A noble's estate, like this one at Tell el Amarna, was carpenters and herdsmen. The whole establishment
far more than a family dwelling. It was built around was managed with the Egyptian passion for order,
workshops, stables, shrines and banquet rooms. Although the household was run by the noble's
Servants were constantly busy-baking bread in the steward, there is evidence that his wife also had a

kitchens, bottling beer in the household brewery, free hand- "You should not supervise . . .
your

storing grain in silos. There were scribes, vintners, wife in her house, "
one father admonished his son.

1*^

ftSO

11
#'

w
111^
. ' . ylii»w i «— * . . . r—f j I
1 f

MAIN ENTRANCE k GRAIN 5)LOS

b CARETAKERS LODGE 1 ENTRANCE HALL AND LOGGIA

TO MAIN HALL

d POOL AND GARDEN n HAREM

e. COWPENS o STOREROOM
tv'f*'M»
I KITCHEN p LAVATORIES

g, STOREROOM q MAIN BEDROOM

'''^^'^
h SERVANTS QUARTERS r GUEST ROOMS

i- T4CK ROOM AND WORKSHOP s BEDROOMS

I:. . : !>/<
STABLES 1 WEST LOGGIA

104
THL LIVING QUARTERS, a rectangle of sun-baked brick topped by a orderly fashion. Formal gardens are set off at the upper right,

an Egyptian estate. This schemat- cowpens at the rear of the house. Workrooms, kitchens, serv-
loggia, stood at the center of
ants' quarters and stables are crowded together in the foreground.
ic drawing shows how the grounds were divided in an efficient,

105
 /

^^##r#>^«^ ««
*##,f
PLAYING A HARP, a servant adds a pleasant note to the daily life

of a noble house, for banquets a professional harpist was hired.

THE SERVANTS' ROLE

Servants were essential to the well-run, noble Egyp-
tian household. Some, trained in personal service,

worked as maids, played musical instruments about

the house, or tended to banquet guests. Others

were employed outside the main house, cooking,
baking, washing the laundry or working in the
fields. Servants were frequently foreigners, Nubi-
ans and Asiatics taken in war. Others may have
been bought in slave markets. Although servants
destined for a lord's household or his harem were
highly prized and often very costly, they did not
always live in harmony— some Egyptian paintings
depict servant girls fighting among themselves.

ADJUSTING AN EARRING, a slave girl aids a guest at a banquet. A

host of servants labored at helping noblewomen look their best.

107
•JB .».«..,•» 1

'- !_• • « »
r
'/

A FERTILE SOURCE
OF WEALTH

Egypt's noble way of life depended on ag-

riculture, both for commodities and tax
revenues. The entire process depicted in

this painting was directed by a host of

officials who supervised the irrigation sys-

tem and the harvest, and who saw that a
proper share of the crop went to temple
and government granaries. The painting
employs a traditional ancient device of

registers, or rows, to show various steps

in harvesting wheat (the rows are read in

sequence from bottom left to top right).

In the first row, workers reap wheat

with sickles and carry it in rope baskets

to a threshing building. There the sheaves

are raked out into a thick carpet of wheat.

In the middle register, right to left, oxen

tread kernels out of the husks. Next, peas-
ants winnow the wheat, tossing it up in

scoops so that the wind will blow away

the chaff. In a kiosk to the left stands
Menna, a scribe of the fields of the late

14th Century B.C., in whose tomb the

painting was discovered. At the far end of

the register, four subordinate scribes re-
cord the yield on their tablets.
In the top register, from left to right,

an official unwinds a measuring rope as he

surveys the land; such surveys were made

to estimate how much grain per acre was

owed in taxes. In the center of the register

Menna appears again. Here he watches

one of his agents beat a farmer late in
paying his taxes. Others stand in line,
probably waiting to be punished.
The entire painting is illuminated with
realistic, human details. In the middle reg-
ister winnowers have covered their
the
heads against the sun and dust. In the
bottom row a laborer rests under a tree
while another plays the flute. To the left

of them two little girls engage in a fierce

bout of hair-pulling, fighting over bits of

wheat that the reapers have left behind.

109
 FASHIONABLE LADIES offer wbiffs of fragrant lotus

blossoms to one another, as a slave girl passes

around a dish of refreshments. Ladies were usual- >#*-"gp'
ly, though not always, seated apart from the men,

on the opposite side of the large banquet room.

VINEYARD WORKERS pluck and tread grapes on a

noble's estate, preparing the fine wines that a
lord served at his banquets. Egyptian wines were
labeled with date, vineyard and variety— for the
convenience of tax assessors, not connoisseurs.

110
,«TiS»

SCENTS AND WINES

Feasts were a frequent and often disorderly diver-
sion of the wealthy Egyptian. Guests drank quan-
tities of beer and wine, and feasted on pigeon,
duck, oxen, and some of Egypt's 40 varieties of
breads and cakes. Women sat with cones of greasy
perfumed incense on their elegant coiffures (above);

as the party wore on, the slowly melting grease

bathed head and shoulders in a sticky, sweet-
smelling pomade. For all the display of elegance,

banquets often grew raucous. Schoolboys were ad-

monished against dissipating themselves at these

banquets: "Look at you," a teacher cried, "beside

a pretty girl, drenched in perfume . . . beating your
stomach, reeling and rolling about on the ground."

Ill
 THE MANY MOODS OF AN EGYPTIAN BANQUET
The formal banquets of Egypt were many-sided wheels, somersaults and backbends. The guests at

affairs, ranging from gay entertainments to occa- these affairs often ate and drank themselves sick

sional morbid ceremonies. Hired dwarfs, wrestlers —one tomb painting portrays a prostrate guest be-

or storytellers might enliven the first course. Danc- ing carried out by his friends. At some banquets,
ing girls, often selected from the noble's own ha- though, the host finally threw a damper on the

rem, would follow, alternating between slow, erotic festivities. According to Herodotus, some hosts
dances and wild acrobatic stunts— the complex Egyp- brought out a carved wooden mummy set in a small

tian choreography included splits, pirouettes, cart- coffin— to remind everyone of his eventual destiny.

'^** * ]||^ 1P^

 CROUCHING SINGERS chant hymns to the
reedy accompaniment of woodwinds. The two
singers shown at center are holding up their
hands to give the instrumentalists their cue.

DANCING IN UNISON, a line of girls is spurred

on by two clapping musicians. The weighted
disk swinging from the end of each dancer's
rirtiii' • ^- •'- the rhythm of f'v :inrrr

\
V-

4'

!
^- -.

1m
''^-*«e
\;

i
\

J
j- . A
r
tV ^
y n f•

Fowling and fishing amidst the papyrus reeds along the

SPORT FOR THE FAMILY
tall

banks of the Nile was a sport enjoyed by the whole family,

asshown in this ancient portrayal, a stock scene in Egyptian

tomb paintings. At left, the noble hurls throwing sticks at a

114
flock of geese; at right, his upraised hand may have held a imitating her father's hunting form. The family often took a

spear, now hurled. In this scene the lord's wife clings to his civet along on these outings to flush birds out of the reeds,

waist, a daughter to his leg (a stylized way of depicting the For rougher sport, a noble rode into the desert to hunt ga-

f amily group). Another daughter appears in the background, zelle and antelope, taking along a pack of trained hunting dogs.

115
 The art of a people is their statement of what they
believe, hope and cherish. It also tells a history,
for it reflects the shifting fortunes and the changing
concerns of a nation.

The architects, sculptors and painters who creat-

ed the art of ancient Egypt bear comparison with
those of any age. Their achievements not only
reached esthetic heights, but they represent tech-
nological marvels as well, for the Egyptians execut-
ed their masterpieces with the most rudimentary

6 of tools. The remarkable

cellence can be read in
record of their artistic ex-
works as majestic as their
great temples and as delicate as their intricate jew-

eled clasps.

A MAJESTIC ART Little is known about the homes

because they constructed them chiefly out of bricks
of the Egyptians

made from mud and set them on low ground. In

time these dwellings became overlaid with silt from
the flooding river; consequently none have sur-
vived. But more important to the Egyptians than
their homes, which were merely for temporary res-

idence, were their graves, in which they expected

to spend eternity. The graves the Egyptians built,
together with the decoration and furnishings they
gave them, provide a better record of their beliefs,
hopes and ideals— and, consequently, of their art—
than that of any other civilization of the ancient
world. In particular, the burial places of the Egyp-
tian pharaohs offered the nations architects a chal-

lenge as well as an opportunity, and they accepted

both eagerly.
Prehistoric graves were covered with mounds of
sand or heaps of loose stones, as much to preserve
the bodies from exposure as to mark the sites. But
the persistent desert wind blew away the sand, and
jackals foraged among the stones, so safer grave
coverings had to be devised by all early peoples. At
the beginning of the dynastic era the Egyptians
learned to build mastabas— flat-topped, slope-sided
tombs made of mud brick. The word "mastaba" is

modern Arabic for "bench"; the tombs are so called

because they resemble the benches that stand out-
side Egyptian houses.

The Egyptians decorated their mastabas by arrang-

ing the outside bricks in geometric patterns. Within,
MASSJMECOIUMNS. 33 feet around and 69 feet high, exemplify the awesome
proportions of Amon's temple at Karnak. This part was built by two New and usually below ground, were several cham-
Kingdom pharaohs. The decorations show kings making offerings to gods. bers—one for the body and others for the articles

117
 that were left for the dead. In time the mastabas For the Egyptians to have conceived the struc-
grew larger— some may have been as tall as 17 feet tures at all was imaginative; to have executed them
—and more intricately arranged. A pharaoh of the was heroic, for they had to cut rock with the sim-
First Dynasty had the floor of his burial pit laid plest of copper and stone tools and to move massive
with limestone, which was quarried from the near- blocks into place with muscle, since they did not
by desert hills, and one of the Second Dynasty have block and tackle. It took inspiration to con-
lined the whole burial chamber with it. In the ceive the pyramids, and superb skill and organiza-

course of time, some mastabas were built with as tion to achieve them.

many as 30 chambers. The first of the structures at Gizeh, the one be-

Soon the Egyptians were making more extensive longing to Khufu and the largest of the three, now
c-6
use of limestone. In the Third Dynasty they built stands about 450 feet high, but it was originally

the world's first structure made entirely of stone, probably 30 feet higher when its capstone and out-
the Step Pyramid at Sakkarah. It was constructed er facing were in place; both of these were later

for the Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep, an architect stripped away by the Egyptians themselves for use
who became as famous as the Pharaoh he meant to in other construction.
immortalize; Imhotep is also credited in legend The great age of pyramid building lasted about

with having been a writer and a physician. Centu- 400 years, from the time of the Fourth Dynasty
ries after he lived, the Greeks identified him with through the Sixth. Pyramids continued to be built

Asclepius, their god of medicine. after that, though on a smaller scale, and to be used
The Step Pyramid that Imhotep created was real- by the pharaohs as tombs for about another 400
ly a series of six mastabas set one on top of anoth- years. At the end of the Middle Kingdom they were
er, and the stones he used were small blocks laid largely abandoned by the pharaohs.
together like bricks. But it was a mammoth monu- In the Middle Kingdom, when the emphasis be-
ment that dwarfed all other mastabas; it measured gan to shift from glorifying the god-king alone to

413 by 344 feet at the base and stood about 200 glorifying him in company with the other gods, the
feet high. It had underground chambers, plus courts burial markers for the kings began to undergo a

and chapels outside it, that were carefully decorated change in design. Nebhepetre Mentuhotep, the most
with limestone columns embellished with carved prominent Pharaoh of the 11th Dynasty (he reuni-
plant designs, carved ceilings simulating wooden fied the land after the First Intermediate Period)
roofing logs, and carved walls made to resemble the raised for himself at Deir el Bahri, near Thebes, a

reed matting that covered the walls of Egyptian thoroughly original funerary monument that was
houses. an ambitious complex built against a rock cliff, ar-

One new idea breeds another, and less than two ranged in three levels and landscaped with trees.

centuries later Imhotep's successors had reared the At the entrance to the complex was a great court

first true pyramids, massive structures of large with a portico. From this court a ramp led up to a

stone blocks arranged to rise evenly to a point. The porticoed terrace, and that in turn led up to another
most celebrated are the pyramids that stand today terrace. At the top a pyramid rose over the whole
at Gizeh immortalizing Khufu, Khafre and Men- structure, but this pyramid was not the tomb; the
kaure (or Cheops, Chephren and Mycerinus) of the tomb proper lay at the rear of the complex, where it

Fourth Dynasty. was carved into the living rock. Standing and seated

118
 Statues lined the way across the courtyard leading
to the temple. Only one structure besides Mentuho-
tep's survives from the Middle Kingdom— a small
chapel built by Amenemhet III at Medinet Madi—
largely because the vigorous pharaohs of the New
Kingdom altered or rebuilt whatever else remained
when they came to power.
In the New Kingdom two kinds of temple prolif-

erated: the mortuary temple, devoted to the cult of

the dead pharaoh, and the temple to a god, in which

the cult image of the god was housed and in which
his worship and services took place. Some of the
latter were major temples in themselves; others,
dedicated to Amon, were way stations for the god
on his periodic journeys from his major temple at

Karnak to another temple during one of the many

festivals.

Among the most famous and loveliest of mortu-

ary temples is the one Hatshepsut had built for
herself at Deir el Bahri, next to the temple of Men-
tuhotep, which served as her inspiration. Unlike
MAKING MUD BRlCkS, artisans of the New Kingdom use a process stiit employed
along the Nile. In a frieze from Thebes one workman is up to his knees in a
some of the early pyramids, which were designed
mixture of mud and chaff. Others shape the clayey mass with a wooden form; piecemeal and for which the plans were altered
the soft bricks are dried under the burning sun until rock-hard. Ancient many times in the building, Hatshepsut's temple was
Egypt's most common building material, brick was used to house the living;
planned and completed as a unit. It remains today
stone was reserved for the tombs of the dead and temples of the gods. The
Egyptian word for brick, "tobe," is the origin of the modern word "adobe." much as it must have looked in her time, because
later rulers made fewer alterations than they did in
other temples. The architect (who was Senmut,
Hatshepsut's court favorite) achieved a triumph of
setting and design; the edifice seems to flow direct-
ly out of the majestic cliffs that stand behind it.

He skillfully varied the shape and arrangement of

columns and carefully integrated with them more
than 190 statues and relief carvings glorifying the
Queen's divine birth and describing the expedition
to Punt. This remarkable undertaking, which seems
to have sent Egyptian traders to the neighborhood
of present-day Somaliland, was among the major
enterprises of her reign. The reliefs in many tombs
and temples are so placed that they have to be seen

119
 in semidarkness, but Hatshepsut's can be seen in
pawMMMT*
the light, thanks to Senmut's ingenious arrangement.
The temples of the gods were massive walled
structures laid out on one level and almost always
IN PRAISE OF A TEMPLE made of sandstone. Esthetically, they were designed

to be enjoyed from the inside on ceremonial occa-

The pharaohs who buih Egypt's temples sought to honor sions rather than from the outside as decoration of
the gods not only with massive construction but also with
the landscape. Their basic features were a pylon
works of art. On the temples they commissioned, the
(two truncated pyramids forming a monumental
kings often erected huge stone tablets inscribed with
gateway); a roofless colonnaded court; a lofty cov-
hieroglyphs. These steles were meant primarily to adver-
tise the monarch's zeal in serving the gods, but they also ered hall with a ceiling borne on mighty sandstone

conveyed his proud appreciation of the artistic qualities columns; and the private sanctuary of the god,
of the shrines. The stele inscription below boasts of the which was concealed behind walls and surrounded
adornment of a temple at Thebes built by Amenhotep III.
by small service chambers. The bastionlike pylon
discouraged intruders, and the public, when it was
Behold, the heart of his majesty was allowed in, was not permitted beyond the court-
satisfieii with making a very great
yard. These basic features were repeated in build-
monument; never has happened the like
sirtce the beginning. He made it as his
ing after building, but with such variations that no
monument for his father, Amon, lord of two buildings were exactly alike in size, proportion
Thebes, making for him an august temple or ground plan.
on the west of Thebes, an eternal,
The temple itself was vast, but it formed only a
everlasting fortress of fine white sandstone,
wrought with gold throughout: its part of an even greater complex. The complex in-

floor is adorned with silver, all its portals cluded living quarters, workshops, a school, a sacred
with electrum [an alloy of gold and
pool, granaries and other storehouses— in short, all
silver]; it is made very wide and large,
the facilities required to support the large and var-
and established forever; and adorned with
this very great monument [i.e., the ied community that served the god.
stele oil which the inscription appears]. The largest and best-known of these temples is
contains numerous royal statues,
the Temple of Amon at Karnak, on the east bank
It

of Elephantine granite, of costly gritstone,

of the Nile just north of Thebes. It grew out of a
of every splendid costly stone, established
as everlasting works. Their stature modest shrine that was erected in the 12th Dynasty
shines more than the heavens, their rays Amon when he was only an obscure local deity.
for
are in the faces of men like the sun, when he
From the 18th Dynasty on, as the empire expanded
shitres early in the morning. It is

supplied with a "Station of the King," and national gratitude toward Amon deepened, al-

wrought with gold and many costly stones. most every pharaoh added to the temple in com-
Flagstaffs are set up before it, wrought Eventually, the
memoration of foreign victories.
with electrum; it resembles the horizon in
temple complex covered an area that measured
heaven when Re rises therein. Its lake is filled

with the great Nile, lord of fish and fowl. about 400 by 500 yards. The architecture— save for
the use of imperishable stone instead of short-
lived mud brick— was the same as that of the phar-
aohs' palaces, for this was Amon's palace.

120
 GREAT HVPOSTYLE HALL (RAMSES II AND SETI II
FESTIVAL HALL Of THUTMOSE III PYLON OF THUTMOSE I
TEMPLE OF RAMSES III

LDING OF THUTMOSE III PYLON OF THUTMOSE III PYLON OF AMENHOTEP III

PYLON OF THUTMOSE I PYLON OF RAMSES 1 PYLON OF TAHARQA

REMAINS OF MIDDLE KINCD(.5M TEMPLE

13
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooo oooo
ooooo OTTO OO
ooooo
ooo oooo ooo oo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo
ooooo oooo j_pooooo oooooooooooooi

TWENTY CENTURIES OF ARCHITECTURE are preserved in

OBELISK OF HATSHEPSUT TEMPLE OF SETI
the ruins of Karnak's Temple of Amon lie. Numerous II

pbaraohs added to the monuments of this immense

complex, which began with a modest temple about COLONNADE OF TAHARQA

2000 B.C. One of the last major constructions was the

huge entry gate built by the Nubian King Taharqa.

The basic features of the Karnak temple were aligned with the original part of the structure, the
laid out by Thutmose I, Hatshepsut and Thutmose temple of Luxor is for the most part more harmo-
III, but the most imposing structures still standing nious and coherent in design than that of Karnak.
at Karnak today are the work of pharaohs who One reason for this is that it reflects the taste of

came after the 18th Dynasty. To the complex that one man, Amenhotep III of the 18th Dynasty, under
was already there, Seti I and his son Ramses II of whom Egyptian craftsmanship and taste reached a
the 19th Dynasty added another lofty hall— the great very high level. Its graceful columns produce shad-
Hypostyle Hall (from the Greek, meaning "resting owed patterns that are as beautiful as the columns
on pillars"). There were 134 pillars standing like themselves.
giant tree trunks in a forest, all of them carved with A great many of the ancient structures standing

scenes depicting the King worshiping Amon. The in Egypt today were built at the direction of Ram-
hall is impressive for its size, but it lacks the grace ses II, who had an insatiable appetite for building.
and light of Hatshepsut's temple. Other rulers, While professing homage to his predecessors, he
right down to the time of the Greeks, continued to usurped without compunction the stone in their

add pylons, courts, shrines and statues to the tem- buildings, expropriated their memorials and had
ple complex. his own name carved on them. (Other pharaohs had
About two miles south of Karnak, near the mod- done the same, but not so extensively as he.) By
ern town of Luxor, stands a second great temple to Ramses' time the artistic grace and proportion of
Amon. Despite the fact that a later pharaoh added Egyptian architecture were giving way to massive-
an outer court and pylon which are not properly ness— perhaps indicating the swelling pride the

121
 Egyptians felt as they enlarged their empire and forever sought to remain changeless, not to depart
their sway over the ancient world. Thus, in the from tradition. As a result, there is a superficial

first court of the Ramesseum, his mortuary temple sameness about Egyptian art— a quality that makes
at Thebes, Ramses placed a statue of himself that it distinctly Egyptian, despite variations in detail

was more than 57 feet tall. It was hewn from heavy that mark the periods of Old, Middle and New
red granite and weighed about a thousand tons. Kingdoms.
The head of this colossus measures more than six Egyptian sculpture arose from the most primi-
feet from ear to ear. Of even greater size are the tive beginnings, the fashioning of statues that were
four giant statues that dominate the facade of one intended by the early Egyptians to embody for eter-

of Ramses II's two temples at Abu Simbel: each of nity the people they portrayed. Most of the stat-
them stands 65 feet high. ues found in early tombs were placed facing an
The gods' temples were ancient Egypt's last great opening in the wall, presumably so the spirit could
architectural contribution. After the time of Ram- watch the offerings made in his chapel and partici-
ses II, building continued, but architecturally it was pate in the services. Because the sole object was the
a variation on the same theme. Ramses III repeated incorporation of the dead man's spirit, sculpture
the design of the Ramesseum for his mortuary tem- was from the outset the foremost medium for artis-

ple at Medinet Habu, and similar structures con- tic embellishment.

tinued to be built by the conquerors during Egypt's The Old Kingdom developed most of the canons
days of bondage. The temple of Horus at Edfu— that Egyptian sculpture was to observe through-
which is in almost perfect condition today— was out its long history. In that age, after some experi-
erected by Greek rulers between the Third and First mentation, the basic poses were established. Egyp-
Centuries B.C. The temple to Isis on the isle of tian artists did not concern themselves with trying
Philae, which is now submerged under the lake at to capture fleeting emotions. The sculptor who
Aswan, was built by Ptolemaic kings and Roman was commissioned to make a statue for the god-
emperors. All of these were modeled on the temple king's tomb and embody his spirit for eternity

devised by the 18th Dynasty. attempted to show the essence of the subject and

As for the decorations of the tombs and temples not the wrinkles on his face. Egyptian figures, con-
—statuary, carved relief and painting— one of their sequently, are motionless and devoid of passion.
most notable characteristics was their resistance to If the statues expressed no emotion, however, they
change. Three factors contributed to this. First, did convey character and majesty, and Egyptian
the aim of Egyptian art was primarily religious, sculpture can offer, as a consequence, some of the
and religion by its nature clings to tradition. Sec- most impressive portraiture that has ever been
ond, the pharaoh was from the outset the chief wrought in stone.

patron and the most exalted subject of art. Adorn- The figure is generally shown seated, with its

ment for temples and tombs was made on his or- hands on its knees, or standing with one foot for-
der; the artists worked as artisans, not as free ward and the hands held straight at the sides or

agents, and they were expected to meet specifica- folded across the breast— a stately pose intended to
tions, not to innovate. Third, the Egyptians were suggest the majesty of the pharaoh. If the statue is

temperamentally conservative. All these elements of the pharaoh together with his wife, the wife ex-
worked together to produce an artistic vision that tends her arm around his waist— an indication of

122
 the position a queen held as partner to her hus-

band. If the statue is of a scribe, he sits crossed-

legged holding a papyrus in his lap. Some figures

are shown kneeling in sacrifice while holding offer-

ings in both hands. With minor variations, these
poses would be repeated throughout Egypt's artis-

tic history.

If the poses remained fixed, the details of treat-

ment did not, and it is in these that the shifts in po-
litical fortunes and the social order are reflected. In
the untroubled era of the Old Kingdom, when the

pharaoh ruled alone as god and all the world seemed

to move at his command, the body of a young ruler

had the sleek, muscular physique of an athlete. Eld-

erly nobles were shown as being corpulent and self-

satisfied. The face of a pharaoh was detached, se-

rene, confident and majestic. By the beginning of

the Middle Kingdom, when priests and provincial
governors were limiting the power of the pharaoh
and he was coming to seem as much a man as a

god, the artists no longer strove for majestic de-

tachment in the portrait of the pharaoh, but tried
to personalize it. Consequently, the faces of the
early Middle Kingdom pharaohs, those who achieved
peace in the land after the era of chaos, seem to show
in their statuary the arrogance of conquerors. The
faces of the later Middle Kingdom rulers are charac-

terized by weariness and sternness, as if weighed

down by the responsibility of rule. Thus, these
statues show not only the Egyptians' mastery of
the techniques of carving stone, but also an intui-
tion into human character.

The New Kingdom brought another change in the

SOLID AND DURABLE, this 18th Dynasty block statue of an official named
Satepihu reflects the massive architectural and sculptural traditions of
sculpture. The yoke of the Hyksos had been thrown
the Middle and New Kingdoms. The head is clearly defined, the torso off at the end of the Second Intermediate Period,
and limbs only suggested. Block statues loere popular because the and the Egyptians were in an expansive mood as
large flat surfaces could be filled with hieroglyphs praising the subject.
they conquered the world and flourished economi-
cally. Growing wealth and luxury led to a soften-

ing of severity in art, to sophistication, and finally

to a self-conscious seeking after effect. In the time

123
 of Amenhotep III, when armed conquest had been
supplanted by diplomacy and the country was gov-
erned from a sumptuous court, the sculpture was
given a delicacy and refinement quite different in
spirit from the simple, straightforward spareness
of the Old Kingdom; by the time of Ramses II this

refinement had given way to massiveness in statu-

ary as it had in architecture.

Besides statuary there was a second medium of

tomb and temple decoration, carved relief, which

was meant to re-create life for the dead man. In gen-
eral the relief, like the statuary, was done in for-

mal and conventional forms. A pharaoh is rendered

as a giant among pygmies; he is shown with his

head and legs in profile, but with his chest, shoul-

ders and one eye turned toward the viewer. A herd
of cattle is shown in a formal line so there could
be no mistaking its number or condition, rather

than as a confused mass of heads and bodies and

legs as it would appear in life. Such conventions,
and not the wish to recapture nature, are the lan-

guage of Egyptian artists. Perspective, foreshorten- pecially the pharaoh, tended to be prescribed by
ing, complicated overlapping and all the devices tradition. Nevertheless, this was an era when the

that other artists have used to show spatial rela- pharaohs were weakening, and perhaps the artists,

tionships are almost totally lacking in Egyptian re- like the provincial governors, felt the stirrings of

lief. Such devices are intended to achieve the illu- self-assertiveness and dared to allow themselves
sion of reality, whereas Egyptian art was designed more freedom; in any event, they had less direction

to convey a message. A pharaoh had to appear as from the ruler than before. To some extent their

a god and an all-powerful lord; it was unthinkable experimentation is noticeable in the statues, but it

to render him in perspective because then he might is more apparent in the reliefs carved on the walls
appear small in scale, and viewers might not know of tombs. In these reliefs the figures are done with
he was the pharaoh. Naturalism appeared only late rough vigor, and the suggestion of movement be-
in Egyptian art, and then chiefly in small details, gins to appear.

for naturalism obscures instead of making definite The expansion of the upper class in the Middle
statements. Kingdom and the diminishing of the concept of the
Toward the end of the Old Kingdom, Egyptian pharaoh's divinity, which opened the doors of the
relief underwent some experiment and change. The afterlife to an ever larger segment of society, great-
pictures became more animated. Secondary sub- ly increased the demand for art and expanded the
jects, such as servants, laborers and animals were field of patrons. As a result, the level of craftsman-
most affected; the treatment of principals, and es- ship varied.

124
 A PRELIMINARY SKETCH for a paititiiig reveals the deliberation that

went into Egyptian art works. The grid ensured that the king's

figure would have the exact proportions prescribed by tradition.

plantlike designs. From the Third Dynasty there

was painted a picture of a crocodile lying in wait
for a group of animals crossing a swamp— the ear-

liest surviving example of the scenes from life that

became so common in later relief and painting. Be-

fore the Fourth Dynasty the Egyptians were com-
bining paint and wall carvings. Painting on plaster
was cheaper and quicker than carving, and they
sometimes rushed a tomb to completion, if the own-
er died unexpectedly, by omitting the relief. In the

New Kingdom, although it continued to be used in

conjunction with sculpture, painting became an in-

dependent art medium. By that time the Egyptians

had the use of almost every color of the spectrum.

They were also beginning to paint with curved
lines, by means of which they were able— as they

were in their reliefs— to suggest movement.

From the outset, the Egyptian painter was as

dexterous with the brush as the sculptor was with

the chisel. As early as the Fourth Dynasty he could
render feathers and fur with stippling and with
In the late New Kingdom not only the style but shadings of color. He indicated no spatial relation-

also the spirit of tomb decoration changed and took ships and summarized backgrounds with a few
a somber turn. Gaiety gave way to gloom and con- trees or the upright stems of a papyrus plant. But
fidence to doubt. The Old and Middle Kingdom the Egyptian painter is unrivaled in the ancient
tomb decoration had focused primarily on scenes world, and he left the most complete record of the

from daily life— work, games and public ceremonies development of early painting.
—that were bright and cheerful. Toward the end of The paint that ancient Egyptians used was much
the 19th Dynasty the Osiris cult shifted the em- the same as what is called tempera today, a mixture

phasis from life to death: to the funeral banquet, of pigment and water with wax or glue as a binder.

the preparation of the mummy and the judgment of The pigments were minerals, which is why many of

the soul before Osiris. the colors remain remarkably fresh. Carbon was
The Middle Kingdom saw an increased use of used for black; ochers (iron ore) for brown, red and
painting as a major art medium. Simple painting of yellow; powdered malachite (copper ore) for green;
geometric designs and a few elementary colors had and chalk or gypsum for white.
been known in prehistoric times, when paint was When a mural was to be painted, the rock on
used to decorate stone and earthen vessels. In the which it was to be executed was covered with plas-
First and Second Dynasties the Egyptians used ter, and the paint was applied after the plaster had
paint to adorn the plastered mud-brick walls of set. Then a preserving coat of wax or clear varnish
their tombs with geometric patterns and some was added.
125
 At first the Egyptian artists approached the me-
dium of paint timidly, using it merely to adorn
the relief sculpture in solid color, or to render fig-
ures only in silhouettes. After a while they learned
to paint with increasing vigor and movement. Tra-
dition dictated that the high and mighty occupants
of the tomb be treated in orthodox fashion, as with

their statues. But this limitation did not apply to

other subjects, so dancers, musicians, serving girls,

animals, foreigners and captured enemies were of-

ten depicted in action. The range of subjects for
painting expanded considerably in time: to the Old
Kingdom's repertory of hunting scenes, fowling,
work in the fields, dancing, games and funerary
arrangements, the tomb painters of the New King-
dom added a civic note by showing important offi-

cials in the performance of their duties: receiving

foreign emissaries, collecting taxes and participat- FURNITURE AND JEWELRY DESIGN were two minor arts at which Egyp-
tian craftsmen excelled. The intricately carved chair of boxwood
ing in court ceremonies.
and ebony is adorned with a figure of the god Bes flanked by symbols
During the time of Amenhotep III, new thought of other deities. The falcons on the 12th Dynasty collar are cov-

was entering religion, literature and art. An in- ered with gold leaf: the beads are turquoise, faience and carnelian.

creasing acquaintance with foreign cultures, result-

ing from Egypt's conquests under Thutmose III a

generation before, plus the presence of many for-

eigners at the capital in Thebes, led to some ero-

sion of the conservative and restricted Egyptian

outlook. Eventually this erupted into revolution—
the revolution of Akhenaton, the heretical Pharaoh
who tried to make as radical a change in Egyptian
religion, and failed.

Although change had been on the way, it had

been coming slowly and gradually; now it leaped
forward with sharp abruptness under the stimulus
of the King. An inscription on a rock at Aswan
says that Bak, Akhenaton's chief sculptor, was
taught his craft by His Majesty himself. And if
Akhenaton was unrealistic in his grasp of human
nature and misread his people's readiness to over-
throw their old religion, he had, oddly enough, an
eye for accurate representation in art. Egyptian art

126
had earlier seen some foreshadowings of an incipi- lowed the artists the opportunity to portray what

ent naturalism— the increased use of painting in they saw around them with the tools provided by
the tombs had been accompanied by more atten- the new Some of the finest creations
naturalism.

tion to the details of how things look in nature, of the so-called Amarna style (named after the site

and statues had come to be rendered in slightly of Akhenaton's new capital) are the reliefs in the

slackened poses. The revolutionary Akhenaton tomb of Haremhab, an army general who took the
tried to transform the canons of art as he did the throne at the end of the 18th Dynasty.
tenets of religion. By the time of the second Ramses, a little over
No artist's subject was ever better fitted for nat- half a century after Akhenaton, art had taken an-
uralistic treatment than Akhenaton himself, for he other shift. By this time Egyptian civilization had
was a strange-looking man with a scrawny neck, reached its crest, though the Egyptians could hard-
a pear-shaped torso, thin, unmuscular legs, and a ly know it. They were still winning territories

soft, sensitive mouth. In relief he had his artists abroad, wealth was pouring into the national cof-
show him with his family munching on a bone at fers, and the Egyptian spirit was expansive. This
table or dandling one of his infant daughters on expansiveness produced the grandiose statues and
his knee. Scenes of such emotional content had tombs, and it also prompted the Egyptians to re-

never before appeared in Egyptian art. The sub- cord in words and pictures the significant historical
ject had always been shown in some more or less events of their era. Nevertheless, another spirit

conventional pose. was emerging, one that cherished the achievements

In painting, the effect of the new artistic expres- of the past and discouraged exploration and inno-

sion was even more dramatic. Besides introducing vation.

more naturalism than ever before, the artists made Now when they carved statues and painted tomb

new use of space: walls were given over to whole pictures, the Egyptians turned to the works of
scenes instead of being ruled off in registers, some their forebears for inspiration. Particularly as the

of the representations continued from one wall to country fell on troubled times, its people sought
the next, and figures were integrated with rudi- refuge from the present by gazing longingly at

mentary backgrounds of architecture and land- their history.

scape. Once this reversion began, Egyptian art became

Though Akhenaton's revolution in religion end- progressively more imitative and uninspired, and

ed abruptly with his death, what he had started as it did it got progressively more rigid. It was to

in art lingered on for a time. The same factor that remain imitative of the past for the rest of the

kept the people from following his orders in reli- nation's history.

gion enabled them to grasp and make something of Yet the craftsmanship of Egyptian artists never
the new movement in art. They were beginning to weakened. Egypt excelled also in the minor arts,

experience religion in a personal way and to grope where craftsmanship is of paramount importance.
for personal expression, but Akhenaton shut off Archeologists have unearthed a vast wealth of

that path by reserving to himself the worship of objects testifying to the skill of Egyptian jewel-

his god, the Aton, and by requiring the people to ers, leatherworkers, cabinetmakers, weavers and
worship him. When he was gone, they returned potters. Some of these minor Egyptian arts deserve

to their old gods; but to a certain extent they al- special mention.

127
 The first is the fashioning of stone vessels, an Though the Egyptians had no good timber and
art that was known to the NeoHthic Age and imported most of what they used from Lebanon
brought to new heights in the era of the Old King- and Syria, their achievement in woodworking was
dom. Tombs of that period have yielded thousands noteworthy, and it has survived because of the
of vases and bowls, made chiefly from limestone, country's dry climate. Wood is a perishable sub-
alabaster and basalt, but also from the hardest stance, and few wooden works of antiquity made
stones— diorite, obsidian, flint and quartz. Incred- in damper regions have lasted. Egyptian cabinet-

ible time and effort must have been required to makers mastered the medium as early as the First

shape and polish such resistant materials with the Dynasty, and exquisite specimens of canopies,
primitive tools available to the Egyptians. Some of beds, carrying-chairs, chariots, coffins, cosmetics
their techniques remain mysteries. In one-piece, boxes and ornaments have been found in the tombs
narrow-necked vases, for example, once the neck of all periods, attesting to the remarkable skill of

had been drilled through, how was the belly hol- the Egyptian craftsman at joinery and veneering;

lowed out? The skill the Egyptians acquired with at inlaying with faience, ivory and semiprecious
small stone articles was the basis of their later mas- stones; and at overlaying with molded gold, silver

tery of gigantic stone blocks. and copper.

Another minor art in which Egyptian craftsmen Taken in its entirety, ancient Egypt's artistic
excelled was faience, but Egyptian faience was contribution was enormous. Egypt gave the world
made with a paste of powdered quartz rather than the first architecture entirely in stone, which for

with clay and was coated with a vitreous paste. centuries was a model and inspiration for other
When fired it took on a beautiful glasslike shine. nations. It is too much to suppose that later civi-

The earliest examples are all in blue, with experi- lizations learned of the column and the architrave
ence the Egyptians learned to create green, white, from Egypt; the idea of supporting a beam with
black, violet, red, vellow and even multicolored upright posts is simple enough to have suggested
effects. The objects they fashioned ranged from itself to any people. The fact remains that the
tiny beads to statues of moderate size, but vases, Egyptians were the first to do so. Many scholars
tiles and figurines were the most common. believe that Greek sculptors of the Seventh and
Jewelry-making was also an important minor art Sixth Centuries B.C. went to Egypt to learn the
in Egypt. Gold was plentiful, and so were agate, art of carving stone. Their creations developed into
jasper, carnelian, garnet, amethyst and turquoise, the sculpture of the great Periclean Age in the

which the Egyptians highly valued. Jewelers had Fifth Century B.C., which subsequently exercised
reached by the time of the 12th Dynasty a level of a pervasive influence on Western art.

skill that has never been exceeded. They made But the greatness of Egyptian art does not de-
magnificent necklaces, bracelets and crowns, in- pend on its influence on that of other nations. It

laying gold in the stones and interlacing strands of lies in the quality and durability of the art itself:

gold wire; and they fashioned clasps that fitted to- the massive symmetry of the pyramids, the so-
gether with neat precision and looked like lotuses phistication of the sculpture, and the charm of the
and cowrie shells. They made equally delicate boxes paintings and reliefs. The Egyptians created for

to hold these luxuries— some of ivory, some of eternity, and nothing that man has fashioned has
wood, and many encrusted with gold. proved more lasting than their great works of art.

128
FUNERAL BARGES ma ke up a royal cortege as the dead Pharaoh is borne up a canal from the Nile toward his Great Pyramid.

THE PYRAMID BUILDERS

As soon pharaoh of the Old Kingdom came to power, he began planning the
as a

pyramid that would be his tomb. The great bureaucracy of builders and archi-
quarries
tects was set in motion. Each village sent its quota of laborers to the

or the construction site, and royal storehouses issued tools and clothing. They
faced a colossal chore. The Great Pyramid built for Khufu at Gizeh was con-

structed of more than two million stone blocks, most weighing about two and a
half tons. Despite the magnitude of the task, it was completed within the
Pharaoh's 23-year reign in about 2600 B.C. -by men working with the simplest

implements, without draft animals or even the wheel. They had to be inventive
engineers, and some of the methods modern experts think they used are re-cre-
ated here, in drawings showing the pyramid builders at their monumental work.
129
THE ARDUOUS WORK
OF THE QUARRIES

The Great Pyramid at Gizeh was built mostly of

limestone. But some of the blocks were gran-
ite, and they posed serious problems. Granite is

so hard that the Egyptians' copper chisels and

saws could scarcely make a dent in it. Special

dolorite hammers had to be used to chip rough

gutters, or slots, in quarry walls; workers then
fittedwooden wedges into the slots; soaked with
water, the wood expanded and split off chunks
of rock. The massive stone chunks were then
hammered into rough blocks.
The blocks were painted with a variety of
quarry marks. Some of the marks indicated the
blocks' destination; others cautioned, "This side
up." Still others gave the name of the quarry
gang, such as the "Vigorous Gang, "
or the "En-

during Gang." Some carefree crews inscribed

the daring message: "How drunk is the King!"

A QUARRY GANG (be/omj puts the last touches to stone

blocks. Workmen at rear measure a surface and chip

away rough spots; others (foreground) temper their

copper tools. At left rear, a quarry mark is painted on.

TIPPING A BLOCK, fl team of quarry workers at Aswan (above,

right) eases the stone onto log rollers. Whichever surface of

the granite block was to be moved face down was finished

beforehand so it would slide smoothly to the ramp at far left.

AT RAMPS END, workmen load a granite block onto a wooden

sledge. By using rollers, ramps and sledges, work gangs were
able to haul blocks weighing up to 15 tons from the quarry

to barges waiting along the Nile hundreds of yards away.

131
THE FOUNDATIONS
OF A TOMB

Khufu's architects, planning their Phar-

aoh's enormous pyramid— still the largest

stone structure in the world— had first to

choose an appropriate site in the desert.

As a rough substructure for the tomb,

they chose a rocky knoll rising above the
surrounding desert floor. Surveyors then
marked out the site so that the pyramid's
base would form a perfect square.
With that accomplished, the architects
directed work gangs to cut steplike ter-
races into the irregular sides of the hill.

These terraces, which would serve as the

foundation on which all the stone blocks

were laid, had to be absolutely level if the
entire structure was not to be askew. To
assure this level foundation the pyramid
builders erected an extensive system of
water-filled trenches about its base. Then,
using the water level as a standard, they
were able to lay out the 13-acre site so
evenly that experts using modern instru-
ments have found that the southeast cor-
ner of the pyramid stands only half an
inch higher than the northwest corner.
 TERRACING THE HILL (above), workers use le-

vers to dislodge blocks while others, at right,

drag rocks away on sledges. Irj the fore-

ground men carry water in clay pots to fill

the connecting ditches which gave builders

Ik a standard level on all sides of the pyramid.

STONECUTTERS (left) chip away at the

rocky ground to level a terrace. Squatting
SETTING A LEVEL by means of connected water trenches is illus-
surveyors set a level, using taut strings tied
trated in this diagram. A string is stretched between two sticks of
to sticks dipped into the water trenches.
equal length, held touching the water. The ground is then leveled
From these strings, workmen with rods de-
until measuring rods (center) show the floor is parallel to the string.
termine how deep the stonecutters must go.
133
 THOUSANDS ON A
TOILING
MONUMENTAL CONSTRUCTION JOB

The Greek historian Herodotus, taken in by the tall tales 481-foot apex, masons cut down the blocks to form the
of local guides, reported that 100,000 slaves had worked smooth, sloping sides of the pyramid. Despite the great
on the Great Pyramid. The fact is that only about 4,000 labor, some gangs were so pleased to work for the King
construction workers were used at a time and they were that, as a later foreman said, they toiled "without a single
free citizens drafted for the public work. Laborers worked man getting exhausted, without a man thirsting," and at

in gangs of 18 or 20 men, hauling the heavy stone blocks last 'came home in good spirits, sated with bread, drunk
up ramps and them from the with beer, as were the beautiful festival of a god."

^^
setting in place. Finally, if it

RISING RAMPS Were built in tiers along the four sides

of the pyramid, three to go up and one to go down.
Each ramp began at one corner (outer arrows) and all

ended at the topmost level of construction (inner ar-

rows). The brown outline shows the path of one ramp.

';x r^r-,
 '*-' lM

r^. '^^^

rxz^-.i-'k'^: .

F
J-A:*fii..
^^t^£\ ymiHL-',''
'-.^^
-
 ';**f««iTv v?y?,».".>>'a«sas»i

THE INNER DESIGN of the pyramid included two burial chambers (1 and 2) which were left incom- THE KING'S CHAMBER Was roofed with enor-
plete. The final chamber (3) was reached through the Grand Gallery (4) and was ventilated by two mous granite slabs that formed five stress-

narrow air shafts (5 and 6). After the Ascending Corridor (7) was sealed from within by stone relieving compartments. Now, though many
plugs, workmen in the Gallery escaped down a shaft (8) and up the Descending Corridor (9). slabs have cracked, the roofing remains firm.

THE INTRICATE INTERIOR

OF THE TOMB
For its outward size alone the Great Pyramid was called one of
the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. But the interior, with
its corridors, passageways, air shafts. Grand Gallery and King's
Chamber, is no less an architectural marvel. The Egyptians dem-
onstrated outstanding engineering skill in designing these inte-
rior structures to withstand the massive weight of stone above
them. The Grand Gallery, for example, was built with a tiered,

braced ceiling; the King's Chamber was designed with six roofs

to displace the weight of the blocks overhead. Originally, Khufu

had planned a somewhat smaller pyramid with his burial cham-
ber sunk deep into bedrock below the base. But as his aspira-
tions grew, he twice enlarged the tomb's plan and each time
ordered the burial chamber to be raised higher up in the pyramid.
THE GRAND GALLERY, a sloping room 153 feet long and 28 feet

high, was built with stone sealing plugs (black) already inside.

When workmen on the side ramp (shaded) removed restraining

crossbeams, the plugs slid down to seal the Ascending Corridor.

136
SEALING THE TOMB, workmen ease stone
blocks down the Grand Gallery into the
Ascending Corridor. They work with ropes
stretched over beams set in grooves in the

walls. Once the Ascending Corridor was

sealed, workmen blocked the other pas-
sages (including the tomb's entrance) with
stone slabs. These extraordinary measures
foiled even the most ingenious tomb rob-
bers for at least 400 years. Finally, howev-
er, the pyramid was broken into, and the
mummy and funerary treasures were taken.
 When Khufu body was
FINAL PROCESSION died
borne across the Nile
at his

to Gizeh,
palace, his

where the pyramid

TO THE OTHER WORLD stood ready, surrounded by a complex of lesser
buildings. The King's body was prepared for burial
in the Valley Temple, south of the monument. On
the day of burial, priests led the way up the Great
Causeway as workmen, shown below, towed a fu-

A GREAT CAUSEWAY, little of which is intact today, led to a

rectangular mortuary temple in front of the Great Pyramid.

From there the coffin was taken to a spot below the tomb
entrance and then hauled up about 56 feet to the opening.
nerary bark bearing the King's mummiform coffin. workmen charged with maintaining the vast burial
Others came behind bearing a boat ready for sail- grounds as a resting place for the dead Pharaoh.

ing in the afterworld; such boats were buried in Yet his spirit was thought to dwell there only peri-
pits beside the pyramid. One worker (right fore- odically. As a pyramid hymn records: "He is no
ground) falls prostrate before the approaching cof- longer upon earth, he is in the sky! He rushes at
fin. In the immediate vicinity of the pyramid were the sky like a heron; he has kissed the sky like a
several small villages, inhabited by the priests and falcon; he has leapt skyward like a grasshopper."
 Two steps mark the end of a people's infancy:
the devising of abstract tools to deal with the world
around them, and the creation of symbols to record

their ideas. The Egyptians were among the earliest

peoples to take these steps. They fashioned a sim-
ple arithmetic and with it measured their fields,

estimated yields of grain, and provided for feeding

their armies of citizens. They observed the heavens

and learned to know the movements of some of the

They studied human anatomy, and learned

7
stars.

to deal with sickness and accident. Above all, they

learned to record their ideas, and with the craft

of writing they left a record of their achievements,

good many of which they transmitted to the rest

WORKS OF THE MIND a

of the world.

The invention of writing took place toward the

end of the Fourth Millennium B.C., first in Meso-

potamia and shortly afterward in Egypt. Egypt
probably acted under the spur of Mesopotamia's ex-
ample. In both Mesopotamia and Egypt, writing
developed from pictorial symbols. Mesopotamia
quickly transformed the pictures into the wedge-
shaped strokes that are called cuneiform— from cu-
neus, the Latin for "wedge." Not so Egypt. The first

form of Egyptian writing was the hieroglyphic (a

miniature picture) and the Egyptians never aban-

doned it. From its origin about the time of the
First Dynasty to its last recorded appearance in an
inscription dated 394 A.D. on the Temple of Isis

at Philae, it remained a combination of ideograms

(signs standing for ideas) and phonograms (signs
standing for sounds). The name "hieroglyph "
comes
from the Greek and means "sacred carvings"— prob-
ably because Greek travelers first saw such writing
on the walls of temples.
Originally each hieroglyph stood for a whole
word or idea. But as hieroglyphic writing devel-
oped, most of the signs took on phonetic values.
They could be used to stand for sounds and, along
with other hieroglyphs, to spell out words that had
nothing to do with what the pictures portrayed—
"

much as if we were to spell the word "beagle

by combining a picture of a bee with one of an

eagle. The Egyptians, by selecting 24 hieroglyphs

for 24 different consonant sounds and adding oth-
FRANKINCENSE TREES, with cattle grazing beneath them, represented the
mysterious and fabled land of Punt, a remote paradise beyond the Red Sea. ers to represent clusters of consonants, approached
Egyptian scribes and artists depicted Punt as a place of all earthly pleasures. an alphabet; but, lacking vowels, they never took

141
 the final step to alphabetical writing. Instead they in the archaic 14th Century language of Chaucer.
mingled the hieroglyphs that stood for sounds with Akhenaton's revolution, though it had no lasting

the others that stood for ideas. effect on religion, left a mark on literature. Though
The hieroglyphs were perfectly satisfactory so texts from his period onward continued to be writ-

long as most writing was incised in stone. But when ten chiefly in classical Egyptian, the vernacular had
it occurred to the Egyptians to use other writing begun to creep in. As a result, it comes out rather
materials, they developed two additional, more flow- better in translation than does literature from the
ing scripts from the hieroglyphs. The first, the hier- earlier periods.

atic, or "priestly," writing, which is almost as old In Egyptian prose, where less is generally lost

as the hieroglyphic, is a simplified form of hiero- in translation than is lost in poetry, the bulk of

glyphic, suitable for rapid writing with a brush on what survives consists of accounts of Creation,

wood or with a reed pen on papyrus. Its name is stories of the doings of the gods, collections of wise

misleading, for it was used for secular as well as sayings and observations on the state of the world.

religious purposes. The second kind of Egyptian It has no great literary distinction, but it throws
writing, the demotic, or "popular," form, is a fur- precious light on the thought of the times.
ther cursive refinement of the hieratic. It was de- Two works that have for the latter reason re-

veloped quite late, about 700 B.C., mainly for secu- ceived a good deal of attention are The Protests of

lar matters such as letters, accounts and records. the Eloquent Peasant and The Admonitions of
Like the hieratic, it was written chiefly on papyrus. Ipuwer. Both were probably written during the trou-
Inscriptions on the walls of temples, tombs and bled age between the Old and the Middle King-
monuments have preserved a good many of the doms. The protesting peasant had been robbed by
historical records, biographies, incantations and someone with court connections and complained to

prayers that the Egyptians recorded with their writ- the Chief Steward of the Palace. The steward,
ing. These, however, are usually abbreviated. Most captivated by the peasant's eloquence, listened

of what is known of Egypt's literature proper comes while the peasant made nine appeals, and then re-

from papyrus rolls, which have survived the cen- stored his stolen property. The significance of

turies thanks to Egypt's dry climate. The Egyptians the story lies in the freedom of speech granted to

wrote on them with lampblack. Very few papyri the lowly peasant and in the fact that the robber,

have escaped damage and many have faded with age, a man higher-born than he, was required to make
but some of those that remain can be read as easily restitution. It indicates an awakening of social jus-

today as when they were inscribed. tice, an idea inconceivable in Old Kingdom times.
In evaluating Egyptian literature, it must always The Admonitions of Ipuwer is the work of a sage
be borne in mind that there is little by which to who took a poor view of just about everything. He
judge. Moreover, the Egyptian mode of expression mourned the passing of the old ways, and he made
is so vastly different from that of English that the bold to reprove the pharaoh for his failure to keep
veil of translation it must wear is exceptionally order. The pharaoh, he wrote, is "the herdsman of
heavy. Finally, much of the writing was done in the all men. . . . Authority, Perception, and Justice are
language of the Old Kingdom long after that period with thee, but it is confusion which thou wouldst
had passed— which would be somewhat like hav- set throughout the land. "
Like The Protests of the

ing English literature of the present day written Eloquent Peasant, this work reflects a democratic

142
 PAPYRUS REEDS

spirit. It would not have occurred to anyone during

the Old Kingdom to quarrel with the pharaoh.
The kind of prose in which Egypt's authors come
off best is narrative. The Tale of the Two Brothers,
which was written toward the end of the New
Kingdom, begins promisingly as an Egyptian par-
allel to the Biblical story of Potiphar and Joseph. In

the Egyptian version the older brother's wife tries

without success to seduce the younger brother, Bata.
As in the Bible story, the innocent man is punished
PEELING THE RfND SLICING STRIPS
through the accusations of the scorned woman.
THE PAPYRUS REED, shown above at left, was the raw material of After a swift and spicy start, however, the narrative
Egyptian papermaking. The Egyptians are thought to have used
wanders into a hodgepodge of mythological fantasy
papyrus documents as early as the First Dynasty. The reeds were
also used to make such necessities as sails, rope and sandals. The that one would have to be Egyptian to appreciate.

first step in making paper was to cut the 7-to-lO-foot stems into The field of historical romance is somewhat bet-
shorter pieces. Then the rind was removed and the exposed inner
ter. A contribution of the Middle Kingdom, The
pith was sliced lengthwise into thin strips, as illustrated above.
Story of Sinuhe, is not so full of fantasy; among
its virtues are its convincing reflection of the politi-

cal climate of the 12th Dynasty and its portrayal

of the Egyptian's affectionate loyalty to his home-

COVER CLOTH land. It tells how Sinuhe, a highly placed cour-
tier, fled the country after the pharaoh had been
attacked by conspirators and died. Probably Sinuhe
had not been among the assassins, but he left any-
how; he made his way to Syria and flourished might-
FLAT STONE
ily there. Yet he was unhappy, for like all Egyptians
he regarded Egypt as the only place worth living
in, and when in his old age he was permitted by
the new pharaoh to return to Egypt, he looked for-
POLISHING STONE
ward with ecstatic joy to the bliss of Egyptian bur-
ial. There are some good touches— for example, a
POUNDING MALLEI lively description of Sinuhe's reception at court and
of his relief when he discards his heavy Syrian clothes
FORMING PAPER from the raw papyrus, the Egyptians laid strips
comfort of Egyptian linen.
for the cool
crosswise in a double layer on a flat stone. A cloth was laid over
the strips and the papyrus was beaten with a wooden mallet for
From the period right after the decline of the
an hour or two— until the strips were matted together in a single New Kingdom comes a unique narrative whose
sheet. This sheet was then pressed out under a heavy weight. Final- quality few will question: The Voyage of Wena-
ly a papermaker polished the sheet with a rounded stone, trimmed
mou. The work has convincing character portray-
the edges and pasted several sheets end-to-end into a long roll.
al, a fast-moving plot and a verisimilitude that
vividly brings the world of the 12th Century B.C.

143
 m*%im
to life. It is the tale, told in the first person, of the declined and Egyptian self-confidence had waned.

trials and tribulations of a comically self-important Sections of it so closely parallel parts of the Book
priest who is sent to Syria to purchase cedar logs of Proverbs of the Old Testament that a relation

for the divine boat of the god Amon Re. Though between the two is beyond doubt. Amenemopet be-
Egypt was by then no longer a first-rate power, gins with the words: "Give thy ears, hear what is

Wenamon behaved as if he was back in the great said, / Give thy heart to understand them." The
days of Thutmose III. The poor fellow's troubles corresponding lines in Proverbs (xxii. 17) read: "In-

began when his ship first put into a Palestinian port cline thine ear and hear my words, / And apply
and he was robbed. After extricating himself from thine heart to apprehend. "
Proverbs xxii. 18 contin-
this predicament by the simple expedient of robbing ues: "For it is pleasant if thou keep them in thy
someone else, he went steadily from bad to worse. belly, / That they may be fixed like a peg upon
He had a humiliating interview with the Prince of thy lips. "
These words parallel Amenemopet's: "To
Byblos, who had lumber for sale; had to cool his put them in thy heart is worth while . . . / Let

heels for months until his employer forwarded the them rest in the casket of thy belly . . . / They shall
"

payment that the flint-hearted seller insisted on be a mooring-stake for thy tongue.
having before delivery; then left with his precious Many more such parallels could be cited. In the

cargo and eluded a pack of sailors who were de- First Millennium B.C., relations between Palestine
manding retribution for his theft, only to be ship- and Egypt were close, with traffic flowing ceaselessly
wrecked on Cyprus. At this tantalizing point, the between the two, so there was frequent cultural in-

papyrus on which the tale is told breaks off. terchange. A few scholars have argued that the
A favorite genre in Egyptian letters, popular dur- Hebrew influenced the Egyptian, but the great ma-
ing all periods, was "wisdom literature"— words of jority put it the other way around, and indeed see

advice by an elderly sage to the young. In the Old Egyptian influence on many other portions of the

Kingdom the comments were all worldly and prag- Old Testament as well.

matic. By the time of the Middle Kingdom, the Some of Egypt's finest writing is in the field of

tone of the wisdom literature had changed. The lyric poetry. The sophisticated New Kingdom pro-
Instruction for King Merikare has advice for the duced love poetry of genuine charm and feeling.

new monarch that reveals an enlightened view of a Here is the lyrical longing of a lover who for a full

ruler's responsibility and intimates that a man week has been denied the sight of his beloved,
should be honored for his ability rather than for whom he calls his "sister."
his birth. The most fascinating work of this genre
is the relatively late Instruction of Amenemopet, Seven days to yesterday I have not seen the
which was written sometime in the post-empire sister,

period. It counsels humility and resignation, atti- And a sickness has invaded me.

tudes that developed after the New Kingdom had My body has become heavy,

144
 COMIC STRIP ART was fjopular in the Neiv
Kiiitidorn ami included this whimsical papy-
rus, intended as a humorous commentary on
the breakdown in the old social order. It

shows natural enemies steppir^ji; out of their

accustomed roles: left to right, a lion plays

checkers with a gazelle, wolves watch over

goats, and a cat tends a flock of geese. In the

nation's declining years, art, once reserved

mainly for religious purposes, came to be
used also as an itjstrument of social protest.

Forgetful of my own self. The ships are sailing north and south as well.

If the chief of physicians come to me, For every way is open at thy appearance.
My heart is not content with their remedies; The fish in the river dart before thy face;

The lector priests, no way out is in them:— Thy rays are in the midst of the great green sea.

My sickness will not be probed.

How manifold it is, what thou hast made!
To say to me: "Here she is!" is what will They are hidden from the face of man.

revive me; O sole god, like whom there is no other!

Her name is what will lift me up; Thou didst create the world according to thy desire.

The going in and out of her messengers Whilst thou wert alone:
Is what will revive my heart. All men, cattle and wild beasts,
More beneficial to me is the sister than any Whatever is on earth, going upon its feet.

remedies; And what is on high, flying with its witTgs.

She is more to me than the collected

writings. As has often been pointed out, these verses are

My health is her coming in from outside: close in spirit to the 104th Psalm.

When I see her, then I am well. In about the same era when they were develop-

If she opens her eye, my body is young again; ing hieroglyphic writing, the Egyptians were ex-

If she speaks, then I am strong again; ploring engineering, astronomy and other abstract

When I embrace her, she drives evil away disciplines. Their achievements are the more re-

from me— markable because their methods were rudimentary.

But she has gone forth from me for seven To begin with, they used simple arithmetic rather

days! than higher mathematics, and even their arithme-

tic was limited to addition and subtraction, which
Here are a few stanzas from Akhenaton's "Hymn they used variously to perform the processes of
to the Aton," fervid and noble lines that reveal the multiplication and division. To multiply 23 by 13,

heights to which Egyptian lyric poetry could rise: they first doubled and redoubled the multiplicand,
23, as follows:

All beasts are content luith their pasturage; * 1 23

Trees and plants are flourishing. 2 46
The birds which from their nests. * 4 92
fly

Their wings are stretched out in praise to thee. * 8 184

All beasts spring upon their feet. They stopped when they had as many doublings
Whatever flies arid alights. as would add up to 13, the multiplier (8-1- 4-1- 1; the

They live when thou hast risen for them. numbers starred). Next they added the correspond-
145
 ing numbers on the right (184+92+23) to arrive reveal the same painstaking attention as in their

at the result, 299. engineering. They charted the heavens, identified

They used a similar system for dividing. To di- many of the fixed stars and devised instruments to

vide 49 by 8 they doubled the divisor: calculate the movements of others. When they laid

1 8 the foundation of a temple or monument, they de-

* 2 16 termined the axis by the stars; the Great Pyramid
* 4 32 at Gizeh is so aligned that its slopes face the car-

8 64 dinal points of the compass almost exactly.

Then, by trial and error, they determined that the Despite their limited system of computation and

doublings 4+ 2 added up to 48, the number closest their primitive fractional notation, the Egyptians

to the figure to be divided, and thus arrived at the made two contributions of fundamental importance
answer of bVt,. The fraction was the most serious to posterity. The first was the solar calendar of

handicap to their arithmetical computation, for the 365 days. The Babylonians, who were considerably
Egyptians used only unit fractions— fractions with further advanced in astronomy than the Egyptians,

a numerator of 1. What is today expressed simply retained a highly unsatisfactory calendar based on

with the figure 'Vio, they expressed as V2+V4+V16. the moon. So did the mathematically minded Greeks.
Though in doubling numbers ad infinitum the As late as the Fifth Century B.C., during the Gold-

Egyptians were in fact multiplying, and though en Age of Athens, when Aeschylus and Sophocles
with their unit fractions they were in fact dealing were writing masterpieces of literary form and har-
with the parts of a whole, they never seem to have mony, the calendar they lived by was primitive.

grasped the fundamental principles underlying the The Egyptians, however, even as early as the Third

procedures and the simple way to handle them. Millennium B.C., had worked out a feasible calen-

The reason they did not go further was that they dar. It was based on the sun and had 12 thirty-day
were a pragmatic people, interested in numbers months plus five additional days. They arrived at

solely for practical purposes, not for any abstract this calendar by observing the behavior of Sirius,

reasons. They had to learn how to measure the the brightest star in the heavens. Once a year Sirius
areas of their fields, to gauge the rise of the Nile, rises on the eastern horizon a moment or two be-
to estimate supplies for work gangs and armies. fore dawn. The Egyptians noted that this occur-

They managed, in spite of their rudimentary arith- rence seemed to herald the eagerly awaited annual

metical processes and cumbersome system of nu- flood of the Nile, and they fixed this moment as

merical notation, to devise ways to determine the the beginning of their calendar year.

area of triangles and rectangles and other figures, In the First Century B.C., when Julius Caesar

to compute elementary volumes (including that of decided to improve the lunar calendar in use in
a truncated pyramid), even to arrive at the relative- Rome in his day, he assigned the task of devising a
ly accurate figure of 3.16 f or 7r . The pyramids were new one to an astronomer from Alexandria. The
so accurately laid out that they depart but a frac- scholar worked out an adaptation of the Egyptian

tion of an inch from a true square (which may be calendar; and the Julian calendar, used in the West
as much a testament to the Egyptians' patience as for 16 centuries thereafter, came into being.

it is to their skill). The second important contribution the Egyptians

As observers of heavenly bodies the Egyptians made by their observations of the heavens was the

146
 division of day and night into 12 segments each.
A segment represented V12 of the time between sun-
rise and sunset or between sunset and sunrise, so

the length of an hour varied with the seasons. The

Egyptians measured the passage of the hours by
means of a stone bowl with an aperture at the bot-

tom, through which water escaped at a fixed rate.

The bowl had different marks to indicate the hour

at different seasons of the year. The Egyptian wa-
ter clock, or a variation of it, remained the most
efficient timepiece until the invention of the me-
chanical clock in medieval Europe made popular
the standard hour.
If the Egyptians were behind the Babylonians in
mathematics and astronomy, they were far ahead in

a branch of learning that had a special appeal for

a people of a practical turn of mind— medicine.
In the ancient Near East there was no sharp line

between medicine and religion. Disease was be-

lieved to be the work of the gods, indicating the
presence in the body of evil spirits or of poisons the
spirits had injected, and cure meant cleansing the
body of such intrusions. As spirits were thought to

behave like people, treatment included warnings,

threats, curses and orders accompanied by the ap-
propriate gestures; using exactly the proper ges-
tures was considered to be of utmost importance.
Treatment could also involve putting concoctions
into the body through any of its openings— ears,
A SEATED SCRIBE looks lip from his work in this Old Kw^dom sculpture, one nose, anus, but above all the mouth. Since the
and a half feet high. As keepers of all records, scribes held an important place in
prime purpose of the recipes was to rid the body
Egyptian life and were well aware of their power. One boasted, "It is the scribe
who imposes taxes . . . who commands the whole country." Another urged the
of unwelcome spirits, they often took an unappe-
young to "be a scribe . . . more effective is a hook than a decorated tombstone." tizing form. Many consisted of a miscellany of sub-
stances calculated to turn the stomach even of a
demon. An Egyptian doctor was in effect both priest
and magician, adept both at concocting drugs and
at uttering incantations against evil spirits.
Nevertheless, there were doctors in Egypt who
practiced real medicine even by modern definition

—the first in the world's history. A good part of

147
 the proof comes from the Edwin Smith Surgical most interesting essay on speculative medical phi-
Papyrus, which is named for the American Egyp- losophy; and another on pharmacy. One of its rem-
tologist who acquired it. The document is a mile- edies is a prescription for castor oil as a laxative.

stone in the history of medicine. It is a medical Herodotus declared that Egypt's doctors were
textbook, and it deals with its subject in a rational highly specialized, and this has sometimes been
fashion. The subject is the treatment of physical taken as an indication of the level Egyptian medi-
injuries (and this is doubtless one reason magic and cine reached. Quite the contrary— specialization is

mumbo jumbo play almost no part in it: there is a well-established feature of primitive medicine;

no mystery about the cause of such ailments). the medicine man frequently limited his practice
The papyrus takes up 48 cases of injury— wounds, to certain areas or problems only. The Egyptian
fractures, dislocations— in a systematic order, start- doctor's fame rests on what the medical papyri have
ing from the head and working downward: 10 cases revealed— the unquestioned presence of a rational
of injury to the brain, four to the nose, and so on attitude toward the aspects of medicine which an
to the spinal column. In each case the condition is ancient Egyptian could deal with practically.
carefully described, and the descriptions make abun- In their own day the reputation of Egypt's doc-

dantly clear that an examination by an Egyptian tors reached far beyond the Nile Valley. They were
doctor was a thorough business. It included inter- the ancient world's equivalent of the Viennese psy-

rogation, inspection and functional tests such as choanalysts. The clay tablets found at Tell el Amar-
having the patient walk or move his limbs to de- na indicate that Egyptian physicians were frequent-
termine the area of injury. Then followed a diag- ly sent to foreign courts in Syria and Assyria, and
nosis and one of three conclusions: "an ailment the kings of Persia are known to have employed
which I will treat," "an ailment with which I will Egyptian doctors. And the Egyptians' herbal pre-

contend," "an ailment not to be treated"— in other scriptions and some of their treatments were so
words: favorable, uncertain, unfavorable. highly prized that they spread throughout the

Treatment recommended in the papyrus includ- whole of the Mediterranean area.

ed reducing dislocations, healing fractures by the Egyptian medicine is at the roots of modern
use of splints and casts, and bringing open wounds Western medicine. The Egyptian calendar is the

together with sutures, clamps or a kind of adhesive basis of the modern Western calendar, for the lat-

plaster. Mummies reveal numerous examples of ter is but an improved version of the Julian calen-
fractures that healed without complication. What dar. It is even possible that the hieroglyphs in-

is striking is the levelheaded approach of the hand- spired the Phoenician alphabet, which is indirectly

book; it reveals a point of view that in some as- the prototype of the modern Latin alphabet.
pects differs little from that of modern medicine. If the Egyptians were not a scientific people in
A second medical work, only slightly less im- the modern sense or in the Greek sense, nor spec-
pressive, is the Ebers Medical Papyrus. Unlike the ulative in their literature; if they were simply a
Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, it is not a mono- pragmatic people who met their practical needs
graph on a single subject, but rather a teaching without reflecting on the meaning of what they did
manual for general practitioners. It has a surgical or why, their achievements are nonetheless credita-
section in the manner of the Edwin Smith Papyrus; ble—if only because they comprised the first steps

a section on the heart and its vessels, which is a out of civilization's infancy.

148
HIEROGLYPHIC PRAISE to Sesostris I, at Karnak, includes his royal name in a frame, or cartouche.

THE MESSAGE OF THE STONES

For almost 15 centuries, gazed fascinated upon Egyptian hieroglyphics
men
without comprehending their meaning. The last men who
actually used these

A.D., and they were so

signs were Egyptian priests of the Fourth Century
thereafter
secretiveabout the meaning that European scholars of the period-and
-believed the hieroglyphics were mystical devices of some obscure
sacred rite.
perched birds, staring
But in 1822 a French linguist dramatically proved that the
and coiled snakes on the stones of Egypt could form words
unrelated to
faces
an entire language
their images. Only then did Western men begin to realize that

lay before them, holding the key to what had hitherto

been a land of mystery.
149
 UNLOCKING A LOST LANGUAGE
The vital clue to hieroglyphic translation is a broken slab of black basalt,

shown below, unearthed by French troops digging trenches near Rashid,

or Rosetta, during Napoleon's Egyptian campaign of 1799. The proclama-

tion carved on it, praising Ptolemy V in 196 B.C., is of relatively little sig-

nificance; what is important is the fact that the inscription appears in two
languages. Although scholars immediately understood the value of the
Greek text in decoding the hieroglyphics, as well as an Egyptian script
called demotic, 23 years passed before the Rosetta Stone finally surrendered

its secret with the deciphering of a single word of hieroglyphics (opposite).

THE DECIPHERER, Jean Franfois ChampolUon, was a

brilliant linguist who worked from an 1808 copy

of the Rosetta Stone's inscription. He labored on
it for 14 years without ever seeing the stone itself.

'iS^^h'^Hki^t

Ptolemy's name, which appears in

the Rosetta Stone's Greek text as

Ptolemaios (bottom), was the first

word recognized in hieroglyphics

(top). But early attempts to inter-

pret its eight symbols were stymied

by the traditional belief that all of

the hieroglyphs could be translated

as pictures of words. Even after an

English scientist, Thomas Young,

assigned sound values to several
symbols, ChampoUion held to the
belief that the lion symbolized the
Greek word for war—pffjo/emos—
anagrammed in the word Ptolemaios.

150
 5D gS
Champollion, finally deciding that Ptolemy might be read phonetically, patiently recon-
structed the name, sound by sound, from Greek and Coptic into demotic, then into an
earlier hieratic script and finally into hieroglyphics. It came out p-t-o-l-m-\/-s, or Ptolmis,

and could be spelled both right-to-left and in other directions, as on the obelisk at right.

IRiliifM

In 1822 a copy
Sl^EH-
of the inscription from an obelisk at Philae, excavated seven years earlier,

was made available to Champollion. He was stunned to see confirmed in its hieroglyphics a
name he had reconstructed many times from a demotic papyrus: the cartouche of Cleopatra.

A comparison of two royal names from the Philae inscription— a tribute to the goddess
Isis from Ptolemy IX and his wife Cleopatra, ancestors of the best-know7\ Cleopatra-
shows the deductive process by which Champollion confirmed that some hieroglyphics
were meant to be heard as well Assuming the pronunciation would be similar to
as seen.

the Greek, he first identified three phonetic symbols— the p, o and sounds— present in both
/
ivm
names. Champollion correctly concluded that the two different f signs were homophones,
like the f and ph in English: equally valid symbols for the same sound. Thus armed with

four known letters, Champollion was able to deduce the missing ones from their positions.

P< 3
A L KSEN T R S

Now possessing a combined total of 12 phonograms, or sound symbols, Champollion eager-

ly applied them to a third cartouche and was able to decipher the name a-l-k-s-e-n-t-r-s
—Alexander (above). Convinced that his phonetic approach would work for all non-
Egyptian names, Champollion gathered as many cartouches as he could find dating from
the Ptolemaic and Roman periods and quickly transliterated 80, in the process increasing
his list of known phonetic signs severalfold. The acid test came in September of 1822, when
he tackled some cartouches predating the Greek and Roman eras, and achieved a tremen-
dous breakthrough by deciphering his first purely Egyptian names: Ramses and Thutmose.

ms.
 PICTURES THAT SPELL WORDS
Hieroglyphics may have begun in a prehistoric era as picture writing, like
UNILITERALS
that found in Stone Age caves. As early Egyptians were confronted with an

idea difficult to express in pictures, they probably devised a rebus to

the desired word (like combining pictures of a bee and a leaf to

word "belief" in English). Language experts can only guess
nings, however, since the oldest surviving hieroglyphics— dating from
at
"spell"
show the
these begin-
around
OBIECT
d
3100 B.C.— represent a fully developed written language. Although Egyp-
DEPICTED
tians never evolved an alphabet as we know it, they set aside symbols for

every consonant sound in their speech. The system proved remarkably

efficient even though no attempt was made— except in the phonetic repro- APPROXIMATE

duction of foreign names— to symbolize vowels. By combining phonograms,

SOUND

or sound pictures, scribes could form a skeletonized version of any

word.
 SYMBOLS OF SOUNDS

The Egyptian "alphabet" consists of signs for 24 single- of these "letters," the objects they once signified and ap-
consonant sounds and a great number of two- and three- proximations of their sounds as close as present knowl-
consonant combinations. The diagram below shows some edge and the limitations of the English alphabet permit.

BILITERALS TRILITERALS

I
 A PICTORIAL GLOSSARY Not all hieroglyphs surrendered their old function as word pictures to be-
come phonetic symbols. Of about 700 hieroglyphs commonly used during
the New Kingdom, at least 100 remained strictly visual. Used at times to
represent the words they depicted, more often they were tacked onto pho-
netic spellings of the same words as determinatives to provide guides. Thus
the word for obelisk— fe/c/ie»7— is usually shown as phonetic hieroglyphs
forming the consonants t + kh-l-n, followed by the symbol of an obelisk.

V\leep Man, Son Cattle, Ox Beer pot. Drunkenness Bee, Honey

Nestling Jubilation Sail upstream Woman, Widow

Ui
Hill country, Desert

<^^^^i^i^

A FATHER'S TRIBUTE TO HIS SON This sentence, which defies translation if its hieroglyphs are read for their
visual meanings (right), says: "It is my son who causes my name to live

upon this stela." Taken from the 12th Dynasty epitaph of a military of-

ficer, it illustrates how phonetic hieroglyphs— with assists from two deter-
minatives and a phonetic complement— could not only form words and
phrases, but could convey emotion— the pride of a doting father in his son.

154
 Liquid meabure?

= h + n + w = -^ Rejoicing?

Neighbors?

SOUND AND SIGHT

Because so many hieroglyphic words could be
/if n + u) + det. - Liquid measure
read as homonyms or near-homonyms— i.e., like-
sounding words, such as the English wait, weight
and toade— Egyptian scribes made liberal use of determinative (Beer pot)

determinative symbols to be sure their readers

grasped the correct meaning. The letters hnw,
at top right, could be pronounced as anything
from hinew to ohanow and could have
ber of different meanings. Therefore the
never seen without one of several determinatives:
a beer jug to indicate the word
a

word

for a liquid
num-
is

meas-
\l determinative (Jubilation)
h ^- H *f w + det. = Reioicing

ure; a
to

of a
show
man
the
giving the ritual sign of jubilation
word
man and woman
parallel strokes) to illustrate the

bors or associates.

cate as many
By
for rejoicing;

could use the same grouping of letters to indi-

as 10 completely different words.
this
and the figures
over a plural symbol (three
word for neigh-
system, the Egyptians
^\M
^^^^"^ Jl Ml'
determinative
h +

(Man and woman)

M -f w + det. = Neighbors

/vvvywv\
1. A reed leaf, fWus . . . 8. water = (MY) NAME
2. wafer = IT IS 9. A face over a line = UPON
3. A %oose, plus . . . 10. A spindle, plus . . .

4. determinative man symbol = (MY) SON 11. a quail cliick (phonetic complement), plus . . .

5. Folded cloth, plus . . . 12. determinative writing symbol (hook roll) = STELA
6. a sandal strap = (WHO) CAUSES TO LIVE 13. A mat, plus . . .

7. A mouth, plus . . . 14. water = THIS

155
 STRIKING SYMBOLS OF A PROUD TRADITION

Hieroglyphics were everywhere in ancient Egypt, been a Roman province. By then so many hiero-

sometimes simply incised in stone, but often glow- glyphs had been added to the language, their

ing with brilliant color and occasionally covered meanings deliberately obscured by the priestly

with gold. They constituted the monumental lan- scribes, that the signs were incomprehensible to

guage of Egypt for over 3,000 years, even though most Egyptians. Not until the successors of Cham-
rarely used for ordinary writing after development pollion had labored for another half century was the
of the hieratic and demotic scripts. The last known last vestige of their mystery swept away, and the
inscription dates to 394 A.D., when Egypt had long beauty and clarity of hieroglyphics fully revealed.

A VIVID CARTOUCHE t/omi»ia(es u painting taken from Queen Nofretari's tomb.

A WRITTEN FORM of hieroglyphics appears in this portion of a funerary papyrus.

-~V

GOLDEN FIGURES adorn the funerary bed of Queen Hetephras.

 i«t»»3**'^

f " •>
f

on a monument of Thutmose at Kanmk. display the format $race and symmetry that characterize hieroglyphic art.
PHONETIC SYMBOLS, CO,rved I
^c,. C'
 For 2,000 years and more, the Egyptians had met
and surmounted the crises of war, drought and
famine. The civiHzation they had built seemed im-
pervious to the assaults of time. But during the
20th Dynasty, a combination of factors— loss of
empire, steady shrinkage of the pharaoh's pres-
tige, and the impact of the Iron Age— signaled dan-
ger. The impressive achievements of 20 centuries
of civilization were too solid to crumble under
these blows, but an irrevocable process of decline

8 had begun.
After 1100 B.C., Egypt's role as a great political
power approached its end. Racked by internal dis-
sension, the nation broke apart at its traditional

CENTURIES OF DECLINE geographic seam, and weak successors of the mighty

pharaohs took over a land that henceforth would
be frequently divided. At first, merchant princes
from Tanis ruled Lower Egypt, while high priests

of Amon succeeded the last of the Ramesside kings

and held sway over Upper Egypt. The nation now
entered upon a chaotic period. Although it would
enjoy occasional eras of prosperity and unity, never
again would it be a world power.
The bounty of the Nile, which had assured Egypt
its wealth, had always aroused the envy of less
fortunate neighbors. So long as the nation retained
sufficient power to guard its frontiers it had little

to fear from these covetous enemies. But in the

process of taking these precautions, Egypt laid it-

self open to internal overthrow. For long years it

had assigned much of the task of manning the

desert bulwarks to foreign soldiers. Many of these

mercenaries were Libyans who were paid in land

grants on which they settled with their families.
Profiting from a period of divided rule, the Libyans
increased their power in Lower Egypt until they
rivaled in power the priests in Thebes and the court
in Tanis.

Around 950 B.C. one of these Libyans, named

Sheshonk, seized control over both Upper and Low-
er Egypt. The change was made with a minimum
of confusion or resistance. Sheshonk could hardly
be called a foreigner, for he came of a family of
high priests that had lived in Herakleopolis for
many generations. At the outset, Sheshonk's re-
A SACRED FALCON gMflr(is a temple at Horus built at Edfu by the Ptolemaic
kings. The Ptolemies, last of ancient Egypt's kings, came to rule in the gime seemed promising. With considerable energy,
Fourth Century B.C. and reigned until the Roman conquest in 30 B.C. the 22nd Dynasty set about restoring Egyptian

159
 prestige. Sheshonk embarked on a foreign policy mines had guaranteed a supply of the vital war
of conquest. He invaded Palestine, which under material that gave an era its name: the Bronze Age.
King David had become a power to be reckoned When iron weapons came into wide use in the mid-
with. Taking advantage of the civil war that fol- dle of the 12th Century B.C., bronze armaments
lowed the death of David's son Solomon, Sheshonk became obsolete. Lacking iron ore, the Egyptians
raided a number of Palestinian cities and about could now be challenged by other powers which
930 B.C. plundered the Temple of Solomon in Jeru- had equal access to this metal, which was un-
salem. At home the economy prospered. matched for the fashioning of arms.

But under Sheshonk's son, rivalry between the Of all Egypt's iron-armed neighbors the Assyri-
powerful priests at Thebes and the court began ans were perhaps the fiercest warriors. In 663 B.C.
to undermine the Libyan Dynasty. By 730 B.C., they finished off 80 years of intermittent warfare
civil wars were occurring regularly and local princes with an overwhelming invasion. There was not
were asserting their autonomy. Egypt, splintered much doubt about the issue. As the Assyrians had

and helpless, was an inviting target for invasion. once warned the Israelites (at a time when the lat-

Once again, when interlopers came they were ter were looking to Egypt for militarv support):
scarcely strangers to Egypt. Indeed, the Nubians "Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed."
from below the Fourth Cataract who now took over The Assyrians, coming down "like the wolf on the

the country were in a sense as Egyptian as the fold, stormed all the way to Thebes to end
"
the

Egyptians themselves. rule of the Nubians, who withdrew to their own land
Upper Nubia had been within the pharaohs' or- and in time abandoned Egyptian ways.
bit since the time of the New Kingdom, and its The Assyrians enjoyed their triumph only brief-

culture had become largely Egyptian. Following the ly. Within a short time a wily Egyptian prince,

last, hapless days of the New Kingdom, Nubia brilliant, lucky and shrewd, had tricked the con-
broke away and became independent. A few cen- querors into departing. His name was Psammeti-
turies later it mustered the strength to conquer its chus, and he managed to convince the Assyrians
former overlord: about 730 B.C., Nubians stormed that they could more profitably rule Egypt through
across the border to dominate most of Egypt. The a native nobleman than by instituting military gov-
Nubians, orthodox in their religious observance, ernment. The nobleman he had in mind was, of
brought with them the puritan atmosphere of an course, himself. Once the Assyrians had withdrawn
older Egypt, the source of their religion, and the their troops, they were out of Egypt for good. They
strict, theocratic ways of Napata, their small-town became occupied with other matters: meanwhile
capital on the Fourth Cataract. To Nubian eyes, Psammetichus established a remarkable dynasty,
the Egypt they now encountered must have ap- the 26th, with his birthplace as its capital, and
peared worldly, lax and impious. Egypt entered a period of relative tranquillity and
Nubian control, concentrated in the area of prosperity.
Thebes, lasted only 70 years. Almost from the time The secret of Psammetichus' domestic success
the newcomers took over, they found themselves lay in his talents in the marketplace. In the man-
threatened by bloodthirsty conquerors from the ner of a modern chamber of commerce, he invited
east. Egypt had long been invulnerable to attacks Syrians, Jews, Ionian Greeks and other profit-

by envious neighbors. For centuries its rich copper minded peoples to settle down in Egypt and de-

160
velop the nation's trade. Egypt became a leading incorporated it into their growing empire. They
exporter of grain. For centuries thereafter, the crops maintained their dominance (except for brief peri-
grown along the Nile were to be a vital element in ods when the Egyptians gained temporary freedom)

feeding the Mediterranean area. Political control of for two centuries. And then the Persians were them-
this granary became the key to world dominance, selves humbled by that most spectacular of con-
and as a consequence a series of powerful nations querors, Alexander the Great.
henceforward would strive to exercise authority Alexander, who had firmly established Macedo-
over Egypt. nian hegemony over the Greek city-states, entered

When Psammetichus died after a reign of 54 Egypt in 332 B.C. during the campaign that ended
years, he was succeeded by his son Necho II, who with the destruction of the Persian empire. Fol-
was as shrewd as his father. Hoping to enhance lowing the conciliatory policy he had previously es-
Egypt's role as middleman in the trade between the tablished in Greece, he retained much of the Egyp-
Mediterranean and the distant east, he began to tian administrative system, but he kept ultimate
dig a canal from the Red Sea to the Nile to pro- power in his own hands through firm military and
vide an all-water route for this profitable traffic. financial controls. Though the youthful conqueror

Forced to abandon the project because the tech- stayed only briefly in Egypt, before leaving he de-
niques available to him were not equal to the bril- creed the founding of a new city at the western-

liance of his plan, he cast about for an alternative most mouth of the Nile. Alexandria was to become
and conceived the idea of circumnavigating Afri- a pre-eminent commercial center and the intellec-

ca. He equipped an expedition, manned it with tual capital of the eastern Mediterranean. Later, as

Phoenician sailors and sent it off to explore the a meeting ground for early Christian and pagan
feasibility of the route. The voyage was successful, beliefs, it was to make a profound contribution to

but the time it took— three years— could not have the development of Christian theology.
been very encouraging; the world had to wait until Upon Alexander's death in 323 B.C., his lieuten-
the 15th Century A.D. for Vasco da Gama to open ants parceled out the administration of the empire
up an all-sea route to Middle Eastern waters. among themselves. Egypt fell to the lot of Ptolemy,
The use of Phoenician sailors was typical of the a veteran soldier who had served Alexander as
26th Dynasty's reliance on foreigners for many trusted field commander. He established a dynasty
important jobs: Phoenicians did Egypt's exploring; that lasted almost 300 years, until the celebrated
Greeks and Syrians conducted overseas business; moment in 30 B.C. when Cleopatra, last of the
Israelites built a thriving colony at the frontier on Ptolemies, pressed an asp to her bosom.
the First Cataract; and Greek mercenaries served The earlier Ptolemies, hard-headed businessmen,
Egypt in Nubia (among other things, they carved ran Egypt like a corporation, strictly for profit.

a record of their exploits on one of Ramses' colos- Greeks themselves, they brought in great numbers
sal statues, a custom followed by military expedi- of their compatriots to help run the nation. They
tions since time immemorial). settled Greek soldiers throughout the country to
The 26th Dynasty gave Egypt an Indian summer guarantee stability and to provide an army in time
of independent rule that lasted almost a century of war. They imported Greek experts to increase
and a half. It was brought to an end by a new in- agricultural production, and Greek civil servants
vasion. In 525 B.C. the Persians overran Egypt and to staff their administration. By and large, Egyptians

161
 were treated as second-class citizens, although some that Eratosthenes calculated the circumference of
eventually managed to gain high posts. Under the the earth, and that the physician Herophilus pio-
strict rule of the Ptolemies, the peasants had to neered in the study of anatomy.
work harder than had their forefathers, and they But the Greek domination of Egypt did not long
did so sullenly and resentfully. There are records of survive the decline of Greece itself. By 200 B.C.
strikes even in the early years of Ptolemaic rule. the great new power of the Mediterranean, Rome,
After 217 B.C., persistent native revolts finally began swallowing up the ancient peoples of the
forced the Ptolemies to make concessions. East one by one. Inexorably, the influence of the
Notwithstanding their interest in economics, the Roman Empire spread to Egypt. The events by
Ptolemies, as good Greeks, felt it necessary to spon- which the ancient kingdom actually passed into
sor activities of the mind. A Hellenistic culture the hands of Augustus, Rome's mighty leader, form
flourished in Alexandria, a city whose museum and a dramatic chronicle that belongs as much to liter-

library were famed throughout the ancient world. ature as to history.

In Alexandria were gathered the world's leading Cleopatra, the seventh Ptolemaic Queen to bear
scientists, poets, artists and scholars— and although that name, was about 18 years old in 51 B.C. when
their principal purpose was to increase the luster she came to the throne that she shared with her
of the royal court, it was through their efforts brother, Ptolemy XIII (who, following the royal
that scholarship as the West knows it sprang up. Egyptian custom, was also her husband). By then,
It was at Alexandria that Euclid wrote his Elements, Rome was frequently intervening in the politics of

162
A DRAMATIC RECONSTRUCTION, ititeniieil to save the vast temple cutaway from the sliced into movable blocks and reassem-
cliff,

complex at Abu Simbel from inundation, was begun in 1964 as bled on nearby high ground (top of drawing) about 200 feet above
the rising waters of the Nile started to back up behind the Aswan the old water level. The small temple of Nofretari is also shown
High Dam. In this drawing, which illustrates several stages of the reassembled on top of the hill. At the right of the sketch is

delicate operation, the huge temple of Ramses II is shown being the high cofferdam built to hold back the Nile during excavation.

Actium by the forces of Augustus, and the defeat-

ed Roman fell upon his sword to avoid the humili-

ation of execution. According to romantic legend he

was carried dying to Cleopatra, who thereupon
committed suicide by pressing an asp to her breast.

That is the legend; all that is known for sure is that

she killed herself when faced with the prospect of
being taken to Rome as a prisoner by Augustus.
Egypt, no longer independent even in name, be-
came a subject province of Rome; Augustus actual-
ly treated the conquered land as his private estate,

forbidding even senators to visit there without his

permission.
Roman organization and efficiency not only re-
stored the businesslike administration of the Ptole-
mies but added a new dimension of ruthlessness.
The Ptolemies had at least lived in Egypt, and the
money they exacted had stayed in the country. The
Romans, on the other hand, were absentee land-
lords who milked Egypt mercilessly through agents.
The gap between the rulers and the ruled grew wid-
Ptolemaic Egypt, and contenders for the throne er. Among the Egyptians the sullenness of Ptolema-
sought Roman approval. The power struggles on the ic days gave way to despair.
banks of the Tiber became matters of extreme im- Under such unpromising circumstances, Egypt
portance on the Delta of the Nile. From their posi- was once again able to leave its mark upon history.
tion in the wings, the Ptolemies must have been The First Century B.C., and the several centuries
fascinated by the mortal conflict between Pompey that followed, was an age in which people through-
and Julius Caesar for the prize of Roman leader- out the Mediterranean world were in desperate
ship. Anxious to ally themselves with a winner, search of a religious experience that could offer
the Ptolemies arranged to have Pompey murdered them some hope and comfort. The story of the great
when he turned up in Egypt seeking refuge. Short- Egyptian deities— Osiris, the King who had died
ly thereafter, the victorious Caesar arrived. Cleo- and been resurrected; Isis, the wife who by her
patra very soon became the mistress of Caesar and unswerving faith and love had made the resurrection
shared his triumphs until he was assassinated in possible; and Horus, the son whose steadfast sup-
44 B.C. port had avenged his father's wrongs— proved to
Once again a watcher on the sidelines, Cleopatra possess universal appeal. The emphasis on immor-
waited for the outcome of the resulting fight for tality in the worship of this ideal family trinity
power between Caesar's principal heirs, Antony and gained numerous devotees throughout the length
Augustus. She finally gambled on Antony, the man and breadth of the Roman Empire, from the ancient
she thought invincible. But Antony was overcome at Near East to far-off Britain.

163
 But though this international cuU endured for peror were driven out by Moslem Arabs, then in
some centuries, it was doomed by the birth of a new the full tide of the great conquest that was to make
religion in neighboring Palestine. By the Fourth Islam one of the most important of Christianity's
Century A.D., Isis and the whole pantheon of Egyp- rivals. The Nile grain and the Nubian gold that had

tian deities had fallen before a triumphant new ri- once gone to Rome and Constantinople now went
val, Christianity. As the new creed swept around to Mecca, Damascus and Baghdad. The Arabs ruled
the Mediterranean, one of its first stopping places Egypt for almost nine centuries, long enough to
was Egypt, and the ancient and exhausted land pro- transform the land completely into an Arab coun-
vided the inspiration for several features of incal- try. They were succeeded by the Turks and finally

culable importance to the young and vigorous reli- by the British. Not until the 20th Century did
gion. Egypt fully regain its long-lost independence.

Christianity had first trickled into Egypt through

that land's Jewish communities around the First When Alexander and Napoleon— both men with
Century A.D. In the early days it was addressed a sense of destiny— led their armies into the land

primarily to the uneducated masses. But there de- of the pharaohs, each was acutely aware that he

veloped in Alexandria, the nation's intellectual cap- was stepping upon soil that occupied a very spe-
ital, a group of Christian thinkers— including the cial place in history. It was in the Valley of the

Greek-born Clement, and the Egyptians Origen and Nile that man first created a great state, that he

St. Athanasius— who helped provide the young re- first devised the political institutions to rule a

ligion with its first systematic theology. These widespread geographical area, first organized the
three are considered to be among the most influen- governmental machinery to administer hundreds of
tial of the early Church Fathers. miles and thousands of people, first planned and
Alexandrian Christianity was a religion of con- executed large-scale projects. It was in the Valley
troversy; the theological disputes that arose around of the Nile that man achieved a way of life that

the Fourth and Fifth Centuries resulted in great included not only work and duty but leisure and
violence. In one of them, over the question of grace, gaiety and sophistication, magnificent archi-
Christ's divine nature, Egyptian monks, wild-eyed tecture, enduring art. Along with this way of life

and illiterate for the most part, flocked into the he created its natural counterpart, a secular liter-

cities from the desert to argue the issue with fists ature—essays on how to succeed in life, discussions
and cudgels. In 415 a mob of Christian fanatics of the state of the world, short stories of adven-

in Alexandria attacked a Neoplatonic philosopher ture, songs of love.

named Hypatia— known for her beauty as well as As Napoleon drew up his soldiers for the Battle

her learning— and tore her limb from limb. of the Pyramids, he addressed to them the cele-

The monks of Egypt were Christianity's first; brated words, "Soldiers, from the summit of yonder

later travelers spread the seeds of monasticism pyramids, forty centuries look down upon you."
throughout Europe— first to Constantinople, then Forty, we know now, was an understatement— and
to Rome, and ultimately to the rest of the continent. so, for all its grandiloquence, was the rest of the
Egypt's long and vital connection with Christian sentence. Those centuries, it is now apparent, do
thought came to an abrupt halt in 642 A.D., when more than merely look down upon us: they are
the governors representing the Eastern Roman Em- tightly woven into the fabric of Western civilization.

164
 tomb WHS reached by clearing a 25-foot corridor, above, of heaped rubble.
THE FIRST ROOM of the

TUTANKHAMEN'S TREASURE
For more than a score of centuries, archeologists, tourists and tomb robbers have
of these tombs,
searched for the burial places of Egypt's pharaohs. Almost none
the Royal Valley, where phar-
storehouses of treasure, went undisturbed. Yet, in

forgotten. This
aohs were buried for half a millennium, one tomb was virtually
was the now-famous tomb of King Tutankhamen, discovered at last in 1922.

The son-in-law of the fabulous Queen Nefertiti, Tutankhamen was a singularly

unimportant ruler about whom very httle is known. It is estimated that he was

began about 1361 B.C.; that he married a girl of 12; and

only 10 when his reign

that he died at the age of 19. Nonetheless, because

Tutankhamen's tomb was
found nearly remains the world's most exciting archeological discov-
intact, it

ery-and the greatest testament yet found to the quality of ancient Egyptian
life.

165
 THE LONG SEARCH FOR A FORGOTTEN TOMB
The British archeologist Howard Carter was nearly was only after six straight years of digging that he

alone in his faith that Tutankhamen's tomb could finally unearthed the door of the tomb. "Twice
be found. Privately financed and armed with only a before, "
he said, "I had come within two yards of
few scraps of evidence— among them some seals of that first stone step." He opened the chamber— and
the King— Carter dug endless trenches in the Royal beheld in the ancient darkness "strange animals,
"

Valley, cleared rubble and searched in dumps. It statues, and gold— everywhere the glint of gold.

166
 THE ANNEX, containing relics as varied as ivory game boards and boxes of fnni'^ov
figures, was found in a disordered state, exactly as ancient thieves had left it.

*K ' .'.'

EXAMINING A COFFIN. Howard Carter brushes

dust off the gilt wood. It took Carter about
eight years to remove, catalogue and careful-
ly restore the more than 2,000 objects found
in Tutankhamen's tomb. Carter died in 1939.

THE INNERMOST ROOM housed an immense

gilded wood chest (at far end) containing
the dead King's viscera. In front, a jackal-
god sits on a gilt chest full of jewels and
sacred objects such as scarabs and amulets.
 GLITTERING SPOILS FOR TOMB ROBBERS
About 10 years after Tutankhamen's death, thieves fore the doors were sealed. The laborers who built

broke into his tomb and ransacked the antechamber the tombs— and even high officials— shared in the

shown here. But the tomb, resealed and eventually plunder. In a vain attempt to safeguard the royal

covered over with rubble, was not touched again burial chambers, architects sank the crypts deep

until modern times— although by 1000 B.C. every into secret recesses and sealed tomb entrances. But

other sepulcher in the Valley had been robbed. despite armies of guards, and watchmen who made
Few sites in the ancient world held as much regular checks to see that the crypts were sealed, the
tombs were violated. Thieves stole anything they
wealth as the Royal Valley, and nearby villagers
made a profession of robbing the tombs almost be- could get— even the statues of gods they worshiped.

THE PLUNDERED .\i\ I 1 1 HAMBER luld been dt'ipoilcd ot i'tulll, t'lli-dv

carried booty. The vast treasure that remained included chests full

of linen, caskets, statues, and two dismantled, gilded chariots. Tutankhamen was prob-
A STRIPPED STATUE, this wooden bust of

ably dressed with rich necklaces and earrings, and later denuded by
tomb robbers. The crown is decorated loith a carved royal cobra.

168
r

:'-r,l/t,,'^:-i
I'L
m

!X'

I ;wi^^»s

- X \»> V-
i
'

/ I . .1 : (

:i|p
"vifi
 SYMBOLS OF ROYALTY
A pharaoh who was ready for the afterworld was
buried amid symbols of his might. Tutankhamen's
tomb was full of such objects— many, such as his
throne, simply taken from the palace. Most of the

furnishings attest to the Pharaoh's exalted power.

Although the young Tutankhamen probably never
saw a battlefield, one small medallion honors his
official (if not actual) prowess as a soldier. Amid the

signs of impersonal pomp there are also occasion-

al domestic touches— for example the picture on

his throne (left) of young Queen Ankhesnamum
making a wifely adjustment of the King's costume.

TUTANKHAMEN'S THRONE, resting on carved lion's paws, is sheathed

with gold and inlaid with colored glass paste and semiprecious stones.

A MARTIAL EMBLEM depicts Tutankhamen as if returning from

war, preceded by captives and followed by a serpent goddess.

King's
A CEDARWOOD CHEST was carved with hieroglyphs of the
name and titles. Symbols of life and fortune form the openwork.

A GOLDEN UNGUENT BOX sHows Tutankhamen twice, seated under

171
the sun. Inlaid feathers, framing sun disks, surmount the lid.
 TRAPPINGS OF LIFE
FOR A DEAD KING
When Tutankhamen's n:\ummy was sealed away in

its tomb, the priests saw to it that the dead King,

reawakened, would find about him all the accus-

tomed comforts and accoutrements of palace life.

They supplied the tomb with over 100 baskets of

fruit to feed him, feathered fans to cool him, stat-

ues of servants to wait on him. There were an ex-

quisite centerpiece; a beautiful vase to hold oils;

two finely wrought ceremonial knives, probably in-

tended for a royal military expedition. As added

equipment for such an expedition, the priests bur-
ied two chariots and even a folding camp bed.

Besides such traditional objects of royal pleas-

ure, Tutankhamen's tomb contained some special

mementos of the young King's childhood. Includ-

ed among these were a toy-box and a painting set.
AN ORNAMENTAL BOAT served as a centerpiece. In the prow, a young girl
clasps a lotus blossom to her breast; in the stern, a dwarf poles the boat.

ROYAL DAGGERS, one gold (top), another iron, were among many buried weapons. The shiny iron blade, over 3,000 years old, showed only specks of rust.

172
AN ALABASTER VASE inlaid with floral garlands was once filled with costly
oils. Skin oils were provided for the Pharaoh's continued good grooming.
 tombs antechamber. The entire figure, standing six feet long, was designed as a bier.
WOODEN LIONESS, this glided and gessoed beast inhabited the
 BEASTS OF THE TOMB
Many kinds of animals represented gods to the an-
cient Egyptians and were often kept in temples.
They were also favorite subjects for Egyptian art-

ists and craftsmen. Both household and tomb fur-

nishings were decorated with animal figures: a bed

or a bier commonly had a lion's head and tail as

endpieces, and stood on sculptured paws. The cow

Hathor, here forming the endpiece of a couch, had
a special place in a pharoah's tomb, for she was
sometimes depicted in Egyptian art as suckling a
king. Most important was the jackal guarding Tut-
ankhamen's mummy: this creature represented Anu-
bis, god of embalming and protector of the dead.
A GILDED cow, representing the goddess Hathor, has lyre-

shaped horns holding a shining sun-disk, a sacred symbol.

A VARNISHED JACKAL U'ith sih^cr clmvs, guardian of the tomb's depths, represented a god knozvn as "He who belongs to the mummy wrappings."

175
 AN ATTENTIVE GODDESS. Serket Stands with
protective arms outstretched against a wall

of the shrine containing Tutankhamen's or-

gans. The figure on her head, a scorpion, is

a hieroglyph representing the goddess' name.

WITH MACE AND STAFF, a Ufe-sized Statue of

King Tutankhamen (about five feet six inch-

es tall) stands beside the door of the burial

chamber. The black figure of the Pharaoh is

adorned with bright stones and gilt sandals.

ANCIENT SENTINELS OF THE AFTERLIFE

Not only was Tutankhamen's tomb adorned with can be proud, the Sovereign of whom one boasts."
gods in the guise of animals, but divinities in hu- In the innermost room, guarding a shrine con-
man form also stood guard. Two statues of Tut- taining the dead King's vital organs, stood four
ankhamen himself (for pharaohs were considered beautiful goddesses: Isis, protecting the liver;

gods as well as kings) flanked the entrance to the Nephthys, the lungs; Neith, the stomach; and Ser-
burial chamber. Inscriptions proclaimed that the ket, the intestines. These organs were preserved in
M
young Pharaoh was "The Good God of whom one separate urns. The heart was left in the mummy.
176
.^i
A DEATHLESS MONARCH
LYING IN STATE

Greater than all the treasure in the tomb's outer

rooms was the mummy itself, enclosed in its mas-
sive interior shrine. Archeologists had never before
unearthed a royal mummy still encased in its origi-

nal state. The mummified King was locked away at

the center of a series of cases, each fitting inside

another like Chinese boxes— four outer shrines of
gilded wood; then a sculptured stone sarcophagus;
then three inlaid coffins, the innermost, weighing
over a ton, of solid gold. Each coffin was shaped in

the figure of the King (right). Each depicted him

wearing a crown composed of the Vulture and Co-

bra, the symbols respectively of Upper and Lower

Egypt. Even within the final coffin (below, right),

the face of the mummy was concealed by a beaten-

gold mask (below, left).

"For a moment," reflected the archeologist who

unsealed these ancient coffins, "time as a factor in

human life has lost its meaning. . . . The very air

you breathe, unchanged through the centuries, you

share with those who laid the mummy to its rest."
>«P'
APPENDIX

CROSSROAD
CIVILIZATIONS BETWEEN
EAST AND WEST

The chart at right is designed to show the

duration of ancient Egyptian culture,
which forms the subject of this volume,
and to relate it to the others in the Cross-

road group of cultures that are considered

in one major group of volumes of this

series. This chart is excerpted from a com-

prehensive world chronology which ap-
pears in the introductory booklet to the
series. Comparison of the chart seen here
with the world chronology will enable the
reader to relate the Crossroad civilizations
to important cultures in other parts of
the world.
On the following two pages is printed a
chronological table of the important events
that took place within the land of Egypt
during the period covered by this book.
U "3 TS o Q
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 A GALLERY OF THE The ancient Egyptians did not think
stract and distant beings, but believed
of their deities as ab-
that they had the same

GODS OF EGYPT desires and physical needs as

sometimes represented as
all living things.
humans, sometimes
Gods were
as animals,
sometimes as a mixture of both. It was easy for Egyptians to
bring the deities into every phase of their lives; nothing hap-
pened anywhere that was not arranged by one god or another.

ISIS, wife and sister of Osiris, was gifted with RE, the sun god of Heliopolis, became a state ANUBIS, the jackal-god of mummification,
great magical powers. Among other good deity in the Fifth Dynasty. Some traditions assisted in the rites by which a dead man
works, she protected children— which made made him the creator of men, and the Egyp- was admitted to the undenoorld. He holds
her most popular of Egyptiatt goddesses. tians called themselves "the cattle of Re. the dijfine sceptre carried by kings and gods.

NEPHTHYS, sister of Isis, was a goddess of HORUS, the falcon-headed god, holds in his OSIRIS, a god of the earth and vegetation,
women. Her name means "Lady of the Cas- right hand the ankh, a symbol of life. The symbolized in his death the yearly drought
tle," and she was associated with the home kings of Egypt associated themselves with and in his miraculous rebirth the periodic
of Osiris, whom she helped restore to life. Horus, who was the son of Isis and Osiris. flooding of the Nile and the growth of grain.

184
 Gods were often merged when political and philosophical ligion absorbed them all. Horus, who avenged the murder of
fashions changed. For example, during the long period when his father Osiris, was worshiped but so was Seth, the mur-
the cult of Re had official sanction, the compound divinities derer. This easy tolerance fitted in well with the Egyptians'
of Amon Re, Khnum Re and Sobek Re enabled priests to optimistic belief that "the gods are content and happy of
maintain their local cults while paying homage to the state heart, and life is spent in laughter and wonder." Twelve of
deity. Since there were so many gods, there were bound to the most important of the Egyptian deities are pictured be-
be rivalries and contradictions, but the flexible Egyptian re- low, most of them wearing the distinctive crowns of divinity.

HATHOR. horned cow-goddess of love, was SETH was regarded as the Lord of Upper THOTH. depicted as an ibis or a baboon,
also deity of happiness, dance and music. Egypt and was represented by a big-eared was the god of wisdom and is associated
When a child was born, seven Hathors came imaginary animal resembling a donkey. He with the moon: as the sun vanished, Thoth
to his bedside to decide his future life. was associated with the desert and storms. tried to dispel the darkness with his light.

PTAH, a local god of Memphis, was the pa- SOBEK, a crocodile-god, was worshiped in cit- AMON. god of Thebes, was usually shown as
tron of craftsmen. Some legends say he spoke ies thatdepended on water, such as the oa- human, but sometimes as a ram or a goose.
the names of all the things in the world and sis city of Crocodilopolis, where the reptiles The Romans later worshiped him as Jupiter
thereby caused them to spring into existence. were kept in pools and adorned with jewels. Amon and consulted oracles at his temple.
183
 BIBLIOGRAPHY
These books were selected during the preparation of the vol- An asterisk (*) marks works available in both hard-cover
ume for their interest and authority, and for their usefulness and paperback editions, a dag.ser ft) indicates availability
to readers seeking additional information on specific points. only in paperback

GENERAL READING Piitchard, James B., Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testatnent- Princeton
University Press, 1955
•Aldred, Cyril. The Esyptiatis. Praeger, l^ol
jThe Cambridge Ancient History, fascicles. Nos. 1-35. Rev, ed., Vols. 1 and II Cam-
bridge University Press.
fChilde, V. Gordon, What Happened Penguin Books, 1964.
in History. ART, ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHEOLOGY
•Desroches-Noblecourt. Christiane. Tutankhamen. New York Graphic Society, 1963.
Elgood. P. G-, The Later Dynasties of Egypt Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1951. Carter.Howard, and A C Ma, The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen. 3 vols. Cooper
fFrankfort. Henri, Before Philosophy. Penguin Books, 1959. Square Publishers, 1963
"Frankfort, Henri, The Birth of Civilization in the Near East. Indiana University Press, tEdgerton, William F., and John A Wilson, eds, and transis-, Histo\ al Records of Ramses
1951. III. University of Chicago Press. 1936

"Gardiner, AlanH Egypt of the Pharaohs. Oxford University Press, 1961.

, tEdwards, I E.S The Pyramids of Egypt. Penguin Books, 1961.
,

The Legacy of Egypt. Oxford University Press, 1942.

Gianville, Stephen R. K., ed.. Ehrich. Robert W., ed,. Chronologies in Old World Archaeology. University of Chicago
tCurnev, O R The Hittites. Penguin Books. 1961
.
Press, 1965.
•Herodotus, The Persian Wars. Transl by George Rawlinson. Modern Library, 1942, *Emery, Walter B., Archaic Egypt Peter Smith, 1963
Kees. Hermann, Ancient Egypt. Transl by Ian F D, Morrow. University of Chicago Fakhry, Ahmed, The Pyramids. University of Chicago Press, 1961.
Pres5, 1961 Hayes, William C. The Scepter of Egypt. 2 vols. New York Graphic Society, 1959.
*Kramer, Samuel N., Mythologies of the Ancient World. Doubleday Anchor Books, 1961. Lange. Kurt, and Max Hirmer, Egypt: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting in 3,000 Years.
Kramer, Samuel N,, The Sumerians University of Chicago Press. 1963, Phaidon Publishers, 19oI-
Lassoe, Jorgen, People of Ancient Assyria. Barnes &, Noble, 1963. Mekhilarian, Arpag, Egyptian Painting. Skira, World Publishing Co., 1954.
Posener, Georges, ed,. Dictionary of Egyptian Civilization. Tudor Publishing Co.. 1961. tPiankoff. Alexandre, The Shrines of Tut-Ankh-Amon. Harper Torchbooks. 1962.
Smith, William Stevenson, Ancient Egypt- Beacon Press, 1961 Smith, William Stevenson, The Art and Architecture of Ancient Egypt (Rev. ed.). Pen-
•Steindorff, George, and Keith C, Seele, When Egypt Ruled the East. University of guin Books, 1966,
Chicago Press. 1957. "Victory in Nubia," The UNESCO Courier (December. 1964).
Wilson, lohn A.. Signs and Wonders Upon Pharaoh University of Chicago Press, 1964
Woldering, Irmgard. Art of Egypt. Crown Publishers. 1963.

CULTURE
Breasted, lames H , ed and transl . Ancient Records of Egypt. 5 vols Russell THE SCIENCES
& Russell, 1962
Davies, Nina M . Picture Writing in Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, 1958 Lucas, Alfred, Ancient Egyptian Materials and Industries. 4th ed. rev by I H Harris.
Erman. Adolf, The Literature of the Ancient Egyptians. Universe Books, 1964. St Martins Press, 1962.
Gardiner. Alan H.. Egyptian Grammar. Oxford University Press, 1957, *Neugebauer, Otto. The Exact Sciences in Antiquity. Brown University Press. 1957.
Hurst, H E The Nile. London, Constable & Co., 1957
, *Sarton, George, History of Science, Vol. I. Harvard University Press, 1952.
Riefstahl. Elizabeth. Thebes in the Time of Amunhotep III. University of Oklahoma Sigerist, Henry E,, A History of Medicine. Vol I, Primitive and Archaic Medicine. Oxford

Press, 1964, University Press. 1951

*Wilson, John A.. The Burden of Egypt: An Interpretation of Ancient Egyptian Culture. Singer, Charles,E, I, Holmyard and A R Hall, eds., A History of Technology, Vol.
University of Chicago Press. 1951 {Paperback title: The Culture of Ancient Egypt.) I.Oxford University Press, 1954,
Yadin, YigaeL The Art of Warfare m Biblical Lands. 2 vols. Mc-Graw-Hill, 1963.

RELIGION EGYPT IN PICTURES

•Breasted, lames H , Development of Religion and Thought in Ancient Egypt. Drower, Margaret S Egypt in Colour. McGraw-Hill, 19o4
,

Smith. 1959 Elisofon. Eliot, The Nile. Viking Press. 19o4,

Cerny, [aroslav. Ancient Egyptian Religion. London, Hutchinson & Co 1952. , NawTath. Alfred. Egypt, the Land betioeen Sand and Nile Rand McNally, 1963.
'Frankfort, Henri, Ancient Egyptian Religion. Peter Smith, 1961. *Pritchard, James B., The Ancient Near East in Pictures. Princeton University Press. 1955.
Frankfort, Henri, Kingship and the Gods. University of Chicago Press, 1948 Riesterer, Peter P.. Egypt. Hill & Wang. 1964.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF QUOTATIONS
P. 36— Adapted from Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited nasty, The University of Chicago Press, 1906. P. 144-145— Adapted from Ancient Near
by James B. Pritchard, Princeton University Press, 1955. P 120— Adapted from Ancient Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, edited by James B. Pritchard, Princeton
Records of Egypt, edited and translated by lames H, Breasted. Volume II, the 18th Dy- University Press, 1955.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The editors of this book are particularly indebted to Alan Schulman, Associate Profes- tion, Cairo; Wolfgang Muller. Director. Steffen Wenig, Margarete Wolf and Hannelore
sor of Ancient History, Queens College, New York; Dows Dunham, Curator Emeritus Kischkewitz, Egyptian Department, Staatliche Museen, East Berlin: Max Hirmer and H,
of Egyptian Art. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Eric Young, Assistant Curator of Egyp- Muller-Feldmann, Munich; Zentrale Farbbild Agenlur, Diisseldorf: Bildarchiv Foto Mar-
tian ."Vrl, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Abdel Moneim El Sawi, Under- burg. Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt, Curator of Egyptology, and the Department of
secretary of Ministry of Culture, Cairo, Mohamed Mahdi. Director of Department of An- Egyptology, Louvre Museum, Paris; Department of Egyptian Antiquities, The British
tiquities. Cairo, Mohamed Hassan, Director of Egyptian Museum, Cairo; Abdel Kader Museum, London; Ralph Bankes, Esq., London; Silvio Curto, Director, and Maria Rosa
Selim, First Curator. Egyptian Museum. Cairo; Gamadan Saad, Inspector, Antiquities Orsini, Museo Egizio, Turin; Ezio Gribaudo, Edizioni d'Arte Fratelli Pozzo, Turin; and
Department, Luxor; Munir Ismail. Director of Public Relations, Department of Informa- Lauro Venturi. Editions d'Art Albert Skira, Geneva.

186
ART INFORMATION AND PICTURE CREDITS
The sources for the iUustrations that appear in the chapters of by semicolons i those positioned from top to bottom are separ-
this book are set forth below. Credits for pictures that are po- ated by dashes- Photographers' names which follow a descrip-
sitioned from left to right on a particular page are separated tive note appear in parentheses.

Cover— Statue of Khafre, diorite. Fourth Dynasty. Egyptian Museum. Cairo (Roger Wood. lief from Thebes, 19th Dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Tor Eigeland from Black Star).
Egypt in Colour, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd., London). 86-87— Painted papyrus from a tomb at Deir el Bahri, 21st Dynasty, The Metropolitan
Museum of Art (Raymond V Schoder. SI)— painted papyrus from "The Book of the
Dead," 18th Dynasty. Turin Museum {from the volume Museo Egizio, published by Fra-
telli Pozzo, Turin). 88-89— Painted papyrus from The Book of the Dead of Ani." 19th
CHAPTER 1: 10— Pectoral ornament, gold cloisonne with semiprecious stones and glass Dynasty. British Museum. London (John Freeman)— Funerary ship, tomb model, painted
paste, from the tomb of Tutankhamen, 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Museum, Cairo {F. L. wood, 12th Dynasty, British Museum, London {Larry Burrows) 90-91— Painting from the
Kennett,© George Rainbird. Ltd-} 13 — Lotus and papyrus pillars from temple of Amon ceiling of the tomb of Ramses Vi at Thebes. 20th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum).
at Karnak, granite. 18th Dynasty (Eliot Elisofon) 15— Sketch by Vivant Denon from Voy-
age en Egypte. 1798-179"?, New York Public Library. 17— Court of Ramses II at Luxor.
I9th Dynasty (Elliott Erwitl from Magnum), 18-19— Sphinx at Gizeh, perhaps represent-
ing Khafre. limcslone. Fourth Dynasty (Eliot Elisofon) 20-21— Step Pyramid and temple CHAPTER 5: 92— Wall painting from the tomb of Nakht at Thebes, 18th Dynastv (Erich
of Djoser at Sakkarah, Third Dynasty (Eliot Elisofon); statue of Djoser, limestone. Third Lessing from Magnum). "^S- Death mask from Mycenae, gold, c 1500 B.C National Mu-
,

Dynasty (Eliot Elisofon)— pyramids of Khafre (Chephren) and Khufu (Cheops) at Gizeh. seum, Athens. 96— Models of Egyptian soldiers from the tomb of Mesehti at Asyut, paint-
Fourth Dynasty (Eliot Elisofon) 22— Statue of Ramses II from his temple at Abu Simbel, ed wood. 11th Dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Eliot Elisofon) 98—Objects of various
sandstone, l^th Dynasty (Rene Burri from Magnum) 23— Temple of Queen Nofretari periods. The University Museum, University of Pennsylvania (Henry Groskinsky), 103—
with statues of Ramses II and Queen Nofretari at Abu Simbel, sandstone, 19th Dynasty Wall painting from tomb of Inherkhau at Deir el Medineh. 20th Dynasty (Erich Lessing
(Ray Garner) 24-25—Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri, limestone. 18th Dy- from Magnum) 104-105 — Drawings by Victor Lazzaro after model of a house at Akhetaton
nasty {VValter Sanders), unfinished head of a woman believed to be Queen Neferliti, from (Tellel Amarna). 18th Dynasty. Oriental Institute, University of Chicago 106-107-Wall
Tell el Amarna. quartzite. 18th Dynasty, Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Roger Wood. Egypt in painting from the tomb of Nakht at Thebes, 18th Dynasty {Erich Lessing from Magnum),
Colour, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd-, London)- 26-27— Unfinished statue of Osiris wall painting from the tomb of Rekhmire at Thebes, 18lh Dvnasty (Erich Lessing from
at Aswan, red granite, date unknown (Roger Wood, Egypt in Colour, published by Thames Magnum) 108-109— Wall painting from the tomb of Menna at Thebes, 18th Dynasty
& Hudson Ltd,, London)- (Erich Lessing from Magnum). 110-111— Wall painting from Tomb of Nebamen and
Ipuki at Thebes, 18th Dynasty, British Museum (Derek Bayes)— Wall painting from the
tomb of Nakht at Thebes, 18th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum) 112-113— Painted
relief from the tomb of Nenkheftikai at Sakkarah. Fifth Dynasty (Tor Eigeland from

CHAPTER 2: 28— Detail from the Voyage to Punl, painted relief from the temple of Queen Black Star)— Painted relief from the tomb of Mehu at Sakkarah, Sixth Dynasty {Roger
Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri, 18th Dynasty, Staatliche Museen. East Berlin (Erich Lessing Wood. Egypt in Colour, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd London) 114-115— Wall
.

from Magnum). 33~Drawing5 by Otto van Eersel 34— Diagram by Lowell Hess adapted painting from the tomb of Nakht at Thebes, 18th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum).
from The Nile by H. E, Hurst. Constable and Company Ltd London 37— Tor Eigeland
,

from Black Star. 38-39— Roger Wood Studio, 40 through -lO— Tor Eigeland from Black Star,
except 44 top— Eliot Elisofon.
CHAPTER 6: 116— Hypostyle Hall from the temple of Amon at Karnak, sandstone, 19th Dy-

nasty (Eliot Elisofon)- 118-llO-Wall painting from the tomb of Rekhmire at Thebes, 18th
Dynasty, copy in tempera by W de G, Davies, 192b, The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
CHAPTER 3: 50— Detail from relief on temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, sandstone, M. M, A- Egyptian Expedition 121— Drawing by Bob Yasuda of plan of temple of Amon
20th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum)- 52— Warmer Palette from Hierakonpolis, at Karnak. after Baedeker 123— Block statue of Safepihu. painted limestone, 18th Dynasty,
schist. First Dynasty, verso Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Bildarchiv Foto Marburg). 53— The University Museum. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (David Bridge). 124-
Narmer Palette, recto. Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Eliot Elisofon) 55— Head of Queen Nef- 125— Draftsman's design, stucco on wood. 18th Dynasty, British Museum, London 126—
ertiti, painted limestone, 18th Dynasty, Museum Dahlem, West Berlin (Bildarchiv Foto Chair, boxwood and acacia, 18th Dynasty, The Metropolitan Museum of Arl, Rogers
Marburg), head of Queen Hatshepsut, granite, 18th Dynasty, Museum of Fine Arts, Bos- Fund. 1936— broad collar, gold inlaid with semiprecious stones, Ptolemaic period. The
ton (Yale Joel)— head of Thutmose HI, black granite. 18th Dynasty. Egyptian Museum. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dick Fund. 1949- 129-139— Gouache sketches by Nick
Cairo {Eliot Elisofon)— head of Ramses II. black granite. 19th Dynasty. Turin Museum Solovioff, diagrams by Otto van Eersel,
(Bildarchiv Foto Marburg), head of Amenhotep III. basalt, 18th Dynasty, Brooklyn Mu-
seum, New York. 58-59— Drawings by Otto van Eersel ol— Detail from relief on temple of
Ramses III at Medinet Habu. sandstone. 20th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum).
62-63— Details from relief on temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, sandstone, 20th Dy- CHAPTIR 7: 140— Detail from the Voyage to Punt, painted relief from the temple of Queen
nasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum). 64— Detail from relief on temple of Ramses III at Hatshepsutat Deir el Bahri, 18th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum) 143— Drawings
Medinet Habu. sandstone. 20th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum)—drawing by Otto by Lowell Hess, 144-145— Painted comit papyrus. 20th-21st Dynasties, British Museum,
van Eersel after model of 18th Dynasty chariot. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New London (R B. Fleming). 147— Statue of seated scribe, painted limestone. Fifth Dynasty.
York. 65— Drawings by Otto van Eersel after quiver and bow from wall painting from the Louvre Museum. Pans (Bulloz), 149— Hieroglyphs from pillar of Sesostris 1 at Karnak,
tomb of Kenamon at Thebes. 18th Dynasty; sickle sword from the tomb of Tutankhamen. 12th Dvnasty {Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich), 150— Rosetta Stone, black basalt. Ptolemaic
18th Dynasty, Egyptian Museum. Cairo; ax. 18th Dvnasty, British Museum, London, era with inscription dated 19o BC British Museum. London (Heinz Zinram). Portrait of
.

dagger, 20th Dynasty, British Museum. London, detail from relief on temple of Ramses Jean Francois ChampoUion {Culver Pictures, Inc )- 151— Drawings by Lowell Hess adapted
in at Medinet Habu. sandstone, 20th Dynasty (Erich Lessing from Magnum)- 66-67—De- from Cleopatra's Needles and Other Egyptian Obelisks, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, London.
tail from relief on temple of Ramses III at Medinet Habu. sandstone. 20th Dynasty (Erich 152-153- Drawings by Lowell Hess, except lower right: drawings by Lowell Hess adapted
Lessing from Magnum)— drawing by Otto van Eersel after relief on temple of Ramses III from Egyptian Grammar, bv Sir Alan Gardiner, London. 154-155— Drawings by Lowell
at Medinet Habu, 20th Dynasty 68-69— Details from relief on temple of Ramses III at Hess 156— Hieroglyphs from funerary bed of Queen Hetephras, mother of Khufu (Cheops),
Medinet Habu, sandstone. 20th Dynasty {Erich Lessing from Magnum). gold relief. Fourth Dynasty, Egyptian Museum, Cairo (James Whitmore), Hieroglyphs
from the tomb of Queen Nofretari at Thebes, painted polychrome, 19th Dynasty (Ray-
mond V. Schoder, SJ.)— Hieroglyphs from "The Book of the Dead of Ani." Papyrus,
19th Dynasty. British Museum, London {John Freeman). 157— Hieroglyphs from pylon of
CHAPTER 4: 70— Relief from temple of Ramses II at Abydos, 19th Dynasty (Ray Garner). Thutmose at Karnak. 18th Dynasty (Eliot Elisofon).
1

73— Cat mummy, Ptolemaic era, The University Museum. University of Pennsylvania.
Philadelphia—crocodile mummy mask. Ptolemaic era. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Rogers Fund, 1912, 75— Statue of goddess Sekhmet, 18th Dynasty, Staatliche Museen.
Berlin (Bildarchiv Foto Marburg): statue of god Bes. Ptolemaic era. The University Mu- CHAPTER 8: 158— Horus Statue at temple of Horus at Edfu, Ptolemaic period (Eliot Elisofon).

seum. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; statue of god Thoueris. 26th Dynasty, 162-163— Drawing by Victor Lazzaro after art work by Gunter Radtke, Hochtief, Essen,
Egyptian Museum. Cairo (Bildarchiv Foto Marburg), 77— Mummy of Ramses II, I9th Dy- Germany- 165— Photograph by Griffith Institute. Ashmolean Museum from Tutankhamen,
nasty, Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Elliott Erwitt from Magnum) 78— Wall painting from the byChristiane Desroches-Noblecourt. © George Rainbird Ltd.. London, printed by Amil-
tomb of Tutankhamen at Thebes. 18th Dynasty (Eliot Elisofon) 81— Wall painting from care Pizzi SPA. Milan 166, 167. 168— Photographs bv Harry Burton, The Metropolitan
the tomb of Ramses Vi at Abydos, 20th Dynastv {Eliot Elisofon). 82— Wall painting from Museum of Art. 169-179— Treasures from the tomb of Tutankhamen, 13th Dynasty,
the tomb of Nebamun and Ipuki at Thebes, 18th Dynasty (David Lees), 83— Wall painting Egyptian Museum, Cairo (photographs bv F- L. Kennett, ® George Rainbird Ltd.).
from the tomb of the vizier Ramose at Thebes, 18th Dynasty (Hassia). 84-85— Painted re- 184- 185— Drawings by Lowell Hess.

187
 INDEX
*This symbol in front of a page number indicates a photograph or painting of the subject mentioned.

Augustus. Emperor, 162. 163 Chephren. See Khafre

Ax. battle, 'e5 China. Shang Dynasty of. 95
MAPS IN THIS VOLUME Ay, King, *78 Christianity, rise of, lol. lo4
Civil wars, 53. loO
AH maps by David Greenspan
Classes. 12. 93 See also Social structure
Clay tablets of Tell el Amarna, 58, 148
B Clement, 164
Valley of the Nile Cleopatra, hieroglyphic name cartouche,
Ba,81. 88. '89 •151
Egypt's Long, Verdant Lifeline Baboon, in religion, 71. '87. 185 Cleopatra, Queen, 151, 161, 162-163
Babylonia. 15. map 57, 147; calendar, 146; Clergy See Priests
map 1— The Nile River cuneiform writing, 58, 141 Climate, 15, credited with preservation
Baghdad. 164 of treasures, 15, 128, 142, rain and
map 2— The Nile Delta
Bahr el Ghazal. map 30 drought cycle, 29, 31
Bahr Yusef, map 8 Clothing, 35; foreign influence on styles,
The Empire at Its Height •

Bak, 126 58
Balcony of Appearances, 15 Cobra, as symbol of Lower Egypt, '167,
Banquets, 35, '106-107. '110-113 '178-179
Bast, 71 Coffin of Tutankhamen. '160-167,
AnimaUs); of burden, '37, '47, '109; Bastet. goddess. 73 •178-179
combined with human forms in religious Bata, 143 Colonnade of Taharqa, Karnak, *I21
Abu Simbel, map 9. map 30: temples of art,'18-19, '70. 72. 74, '75, '87, '184- Bent Pyramid, map 8 Colossi of Memnon, map 9

Ramses II and Nofretari, map 9. '22-23, 185; husbandry, map 30, 32, '37, Bes. god. '75, '126 Comic strip art, '144-145
60, 122, »162-163 '104-105; mummification of. 72, '73; Beverages, 35, 110-111 Commissioners, imperial. 56
Abydos. map 9. map 30. 79; Osirian pil- in religion, 43, 71-72. '73, 80. *158. Bible, 32 See also Old Testament Communication, 32-33
grimage to, 70, temple al, 60 '174-175. 184 Black land. 31 Conscription of labor, 13. 34. 44. 51, 129,
Achthoes (!. King, 103 Ankhesnamun. Queen. '171 Blue Nile, 29. map 30 134; of troops. 61. o3. 97
Actium. Battle of. 163 Anthropomorphism, adoption by Egyp- Boats See Riverboats, Sailing Vessels, Conservatism. 15. 122
Administration, 12, 93-100. civil, 93. 94-96. tians. 72 Shipping; Warships Constantinople, lo4
99, of conquered lands. 5o, Middle King- Antony, Mark. 163 Boats of the dead, 33. '88-89. '138. 139. Copper: imports, 13. 34. mining. 102
dom. 53. 9o. military, 93-94, 97-98. 99; Anubis. god. 71, 72, 77. '87, 175, '184 •172-173 Cordage, of papyrus, 32
New Kingdom, So. 5S, 59, 94; Old King- Apis, sacred bull, 71 Bookkeeping. 12. 32. 61, 68. 99, '108-109 Cosmetic jars and tools, '''S. 128
dom, 52. 93-94, 95; of provinces, 95-96, Arab rule of Egypt, lc>4 Bread. '45, 111 Court. Pharaohs 14-15 .

of temples, 93. 94, 96-97, 99 Arabian Desert, map 57 Brick See Mud brick Cow. in religion. 71, 72. '174. '185
Admonitions of Ipuwer. The. 142-143 Archeology, 16, 127. 165, loo. 178 British rule of Egypt. Io4 Crafts. 13. 72, 100-101, '126, 127-128;

Adz, '78 Archers. *64-67 Bronze. 13, 160 foreign influences on, 58
Aeschylus. 146 Architecture. 13, '20-21. '24-25. '116. Bronze Age, 95, 160 Creation: concepts of, 74, 75; gods of, 71,
Africa, circumnavigation of, 161 117-122, 128, '158, evolution of pyra- Bronze weapons, '65. 160 72, 74; written accounts, 142

Afterlife. 75-78, 8f concepts and depic-

, mid, 118. late period. 122; materials, Building labor. 13. 31. 34. 44, 52, 101, Crete, 11, 15. map 57. trade with. 53

tion of, 14, 33, 35, 76-77, 81, '88-89, 13. '20-21. 32, '44. 117-118. '119, 120. 129, 134, materials, 13. 14, '20-21, 32, Crocodile, in religion, 71. '185, mummy,
129, '130-131; periods of high activity, '44, 117-118, '119. 120, 129. '130-131. •73
139; extension to the people, 76, 81,
12, 52. 54, 55, 58, 60, 118. 119-122; season, 31; techniques, 21, 129, '132- Crocodilopolis, 71, 73. 185
124; judgment in, 31-32,81. 86, *87;
pylons, 120. temple design. 119-121 137. tools. 118. 129, '130, '132-133 Crowns. Pharaohs '58-59. in depictions
preparation for, 15. 51, 76, 77, 81, '82, ,

172- See also Immortality See also Building, Pyramids; Temples Bull, sacred. 71 of Osiris. 74. double. 54. '59.

Agriculture, 12, 109, lol, products, tnap and shrines Bureaucracy. 12. 58. 59, 99-100, 102 Hemhemet. '58. of Lower Egypt. '53,
Arithmetic. 141. 145-14c Burial. See Funeral •59, of Tutankhamen. '169, '178-179;
30, 32, 102, season, 31, techniques,
*40-41, '46-49. '108-109; tools. '40-41. Armor. 54, 61. '96 Burial places. 75-76, 117-120, See also of Upper Egypt, '52. '58, War. '59
vineyard, '110-111. See also Irrigation Army. 'o2, '96, command, 07. 98. for- Pyramids, Temples, mortuary. Tombs Cuneiform script, 141
Ahmose I, King, 54 eign mercenaries and conscripts, 60, Byblos, map 57 Cuneiform tablets, 38
Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV), King, 25, o3, 68. 102. 159, 161. general conscrip- Cyprus, map 57
38-59, 60. 101, 127; his Hymn to the tion for. 61, 97; nonprofessional, 61.
Aton," 145; reform stimulus on arts, 97-98, professional, 58, 59. 61, 93-94.
126-127. 142; religious reform attempt, 97, 98. 99; training, 63, See also War-
58-59,80, 120-127 fare; Weapons D
Akhetaton. capital, map 8. map 30, 59, Art. 13-14. 117-128. Amarna style, 127; Caesar, Julius, I4o, lo3
101 basic aims and principles of. 122; com- Cairo, map 30, 31 Da Gama. Vasco, lol
Albert, Lake, map 30 bination of human and animal forms. Cairo Museum, 16, 77 Daggers, *65. from Tutankhamen's
Alexander, hieroglyphic name cartouche. '18-19. '70, 72, 74. »75, '87, comic Calendar. 31.34. 146, 148 tomb, '172-173
•151 strip, social satire, '144-145; decline, Camels, '37; caravan. '20-21 Dakhia Oasis, map 57
Alexander the Great, 53, 161, 164 127; depiction of daily life in, 35, '103- Canaan, Hebrew conquest of, 95 Damascus. lo4
Alexandria, map 30, 146. 161; Christian? 115. 125; Egyptian influence abroad, 13. Canals. 12, 31, 33, '37, '48-49, 52, 53; Dams, 37. See also Dikes
of, 164, cultural center, lo2 128, foreign influences on. 58. 126, Nile-Red Sea, attempt al. 161 Danaoi, oO
Alphabet, 148, Egyptian approach, 141- lack of perspective and spatial treat- Capital cities. See Akhetaton. Lisht; Dance, '112-113
142, '152-153 ment, 124, 125; reform stimulus of Memphis; Tell el Amarna; Thebes Danuna. 60
Amarna style, 127 Akhenaton. 126-127, 142; traditional- Caravan traffic. '20-21, 34 Dashur, map 8
Amenemhet III, King. 11" ism V. emerging naturalism, 122. 124, Carchemish. map 57 David, King of Israel, 160
Ametiemopet, Instruction of, 144 126-127 See also Architecture. Crafts; Carter. Howard, lo. '106-107 Death, emphasis on, 14, 73-70. 80. 125-
Amenhotep I, King, 54 Literature; Painting; Sculpture Cat mummy. '73 See also Afterlife
Amenhotep III, King, '55, 58, 99, 124. Artisans, 93. 100-101. '119. 122; life of Cataracts. Nile. 29. map 30. 34 Decline, 159-io4, of the arts. 127:
126; pylon at Karnak, '121; temple at 14. 101. wages of, 101 Catch basins, water. 31. 33, 47, 53 economic. 97, 101; political, 58-60,
Luxor, map 9. 121; temple at Thebes, Asclepius, Greek god. 118 Cattle raising, map 30, 32. '37. stables. 159-160, religious and spiritual. 80, 163
stele, 120 Asia Egyptian empire in. 12. map 57. '104-105 Deir el Bahri. map 9. funerary monument

Amenhotep IV-Akhenaton. King. 58-5" invasions of Egypt from. 52. 53-54, 160. Cedarwood chest, from Tutankhamen's of Mentuhotep, 118-119, Hatshepsut s
See also Akhenaton 161 tomb, '171 temple at, '24-25. 55, 119-120
Amenhotep-son-of-Hapu, 98-99 Assyria,map 57, 148, conquest of Cedarwood imports, 56 Deir el Medineh, artisans' village at, 101

Amon. god, 53. 59. 73-74. 80. 90. 99. 120. Egypt by, 160 Censuses, 99 Delta, Nile, 29. map 30, 32-33, 39; foreign
'185; donation of war spoils to, '68-69; Astronomy. 141, 145, 146-147 Centralization, political, 33-34, 51-52, 5^. invasions of. 52, 54; economy of, map
honored at inundation festival, 79, Aswan, 2o. 29. map 30. 38, 126. lake. 54, See also Administration 30, 32, origin of term. 29
priesthood of, 9o, 97, 159, stele inscrip- 122; stone quarry. '130-131 Champoliion Jean Frani;ois. 16, '150, 151, Democratic spirit, beginnings of, 75, 76,
tion to, 120. temples of. 54, 60. 74, Aswan High Dam, 23, 60. 163 15o 101. 142-143
'116, 119. 120, *121 Atbara River, map 30 Chariots, 54, o3, "o4. o5, 98; in Tutankha- Demotic script, l6, 142, 150, 151, 156
Amon Re, god, 74, 144, 185, temple at Aton, god. 59, 80. Akhenaton s hymn to, men's tomb. 168. 172 Dendera, map 9
Karnak. '121 145 Cheops. See Khufu Denon, Vivant, 15
Anatomy, 141, 162 Atum. god. 74 Cheops Pyramid Si?e Great Pyramid Desert, map 8-9. 15, 31, 34, "38-39; gold

188
 mining. 31, home of the dead, 39, 84, First Dynasty. 33. 51, 118, 125, 128; of, map 9 Jewelry, "10. 34. '98. "106. '126, 128
oases, map 8-9, 34, map 57 : its invention of writing and papyrus Halshepsut. Queen, 24. 54, '55; obelisk Joseph, 31
significance for Egypt, 11, 29, 34; paper, 141, '143; King Narmer palette, at Karnak, '121; her temple at Deir el lulian calendar, 146. 148
trade, 34 •52 Bahri. '24-25. 55. 119-120. 121 Jupiter Amon, 185
Devourer of Souls, 86 First Intermediate Period, 52-53. 06. 98, Hebrews. 11, 36. 80, 160; conquest of Justice. 93, 94-95, 97; punishment. '108-
Dikes, 12, 31,33,52,53 118; social and religious thinking, 75, Canaan, 93. literary influence on 109; social, beginnings of. 75, 142
Djoser, King, "20, 21, 52; pyramid and 76. 142; writings, 35, 142-143 Egypt, 144; settlement in late Egypt,
temple at Sakkarah, '20, 21, 52, 118 Fish, sacred. 43 160. 161
Double Crown. 54. '59 Fishing. 14, map 30. '43, 114 Heliopolis,map 30. 72. 73. 74, 90, 99. 184
Drought, season of, 31 Flood. See Inundation: Nile, flooding of Hellenism. 162 K
Dynasties, 12, 51, See also First, Second, Flood control. 12. 31. 33, 47, "48-49 Hemhemet Crown. '58
etc.. Dynasty Food, 35. 43. "45. "92. 109. left in tombs, Herakleopolis, map 30, 52-53, 159 Ka, "81
75-76, 77-78, 172 Hermopolis, map 30, 71. 74, 90 Kagera River, map 30
Foreigners, reliance of army on, 60, 63, Herodotus, 32. 51. 52, 77, 82, 112, 134. Karnak, map 9, 119; Great Hypostyle
68. 102, 159. 161 148; quoted, 11, 29, 31 Hall at, 60. 'lib, •121; hieroglyphic
Fourth Cataract, expansion beyond. 54 Herophilus, lo2 inscriptions at, '149. '157;
Fourth Dynasty, 52. 73, 118, 125 Hetephras, Queen, funerary bed of, *15o inundation festival at. 79; pillars of,
Earth, Egyptian concept of, 76 Fowling. 32, "92, '114-115 Hierakonpolis. map 30 '13; temple complex at, 74, 99, '116,
Eastern Desert, map 8-9, 34, 53, map 57 Frescoes, See Murals Hieratic script, 142. 151, 156 120. •121

Ebers Medical Papyrus, 148 Fuel, lamp and cooking. 32 Hieroglyphs. 141-142, 148. '149-157; Khafre (Chephren). King, 18. 52;
Economy cost of pyramids as drain on, Funeral, 77. '82-85. '129. '138-139. deciphering of, 16. 140, '150-151, 156, pyramid of, map 8, '20-21. 52. 118
52; decline. 97. 101; drain of funerary proper observances important for earliest surviving. 152; esthetic effect Kharga Oasis, map 9. map 57
rites on. 78; late period, 160-161, afterlife. 76 of, '153, '156-157. latest known, 156; Khartoum. 29, map 30
products, 32. 34, prosperity of Middle Funerary figurines and models, 15. 76. origin of term, 141; reason for loss of Khnum. god, 71, 72
Kingdom, 12, 53: prosperity of New '88-89. "06. "167. "172-173 meaning, 149 Khnum Re. god, 185
Kingdom, 54, 58. significance of Nile Funerary mask. "178 Hippocrates of Cos. 12 Khufu (Cheops). King. 52. 129, 136, 138;
for. 29. 31-33- See also Agriculture; Funerary rites, 77-78 History, Egyptian writing of, 12, 15 pyramid of, map S, "21, 52,
Shipping. Trade Furniture, 14, •126, 128, 175; in Tut- Hitttites, the, 15, 23, 58, 60, 95. empire, "132-139
118, 129. 130.
Edfu, map 9, temple of Horus at, map ", ankhamen's tomb. *171, 172. map 57 Knives, ceremonial, •172-173
122, '158 175 Holidays, 35, 102. See also Festivals Knossos, 11
Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus, 148 Horus, god, '70, 72. 73. 74. 163, '184, Kom Ombo, map 9
Egyptian character and values, 12, 14. 185; temple of Edfu, map 9. 122, Kyoga, Lake, map 30
34-36, conservatism, 15, 122; maat, •158
74-75; pragmatism, 146. 148 Hostages, foreign royal. 56
Eighteenth Dynasty, 54-59, 80, 127, Housing. 14, 35, 117; of artisans, 101,
architecture. 54, 55, 58, 120-121, 122; Galen. 12 middle-class, 14; peasant, 14, "44;
priesthood, 58, 59, 96; rise of profes- Galleys. 67 upper-class, 14, 35, '104-105
sional army, 58, 93-94, 98 Gardens. 14, 35, "104-105 Hunting, 115: fowl. 32, "92, *114-H5 Labor, 31; conscription, 13, 34, 44, 51,
Elements. Euclid, 162 Gaza, 56, map 57 Hyksos. the. 53-54, 55, 96, 97, 98, 123 129, 134, construction, 13, 31. 34. 44.
Elephantine, island of. map 30 Geography. 29, map 30, 31. 33-34 "Hymn to the Aton," 145 52, ICl. 129. 134; farm, 40. 44. 102;
Eleventh Dynasty, 5i. 118 Geometry, 48-49, 146 'Hymn to the Nile,' 36 misconception about slave, 134.
Embalming. 81. 82. See also Gizeh, map 8; Great Sphinx. '15, 'IS-IO; Hymns, religious, 80 seasonal division of, 31
Mummification pyramids, map 8, 13, '20-21, 52. 118, Hypatia, 164 Landowners. 102; priests as. 97
Emergence, season of, 31 129, 130. '132-139. 146 Hypostyle Hall, Karnak. 60. '116, '121 Law and courts of law, 93. 94-95. 07
Empire. Egyptian, 12, 56, map 57. 58, 94; Gods, 71-75. '90-91, 9b, 97, '184-185; Lebanon, trade with, 34, 128
decline of. 58-o0; dilution of pharaoh's abundance of, 72, association with Lesseps. Ferdinand de, lo
authority. 56, 59, 80. 94, 97, fall of. animals. "70, 71-72, "73. "75. 80, *&7. Libyan Dynasty, 159-lt>0
60, 159, power of gods and priests, 58, "158, "167. "174-175. 184; combining I Libyans, war with, 'ol. '08-00
59, 97 of, 72-74, 90-91, 184, emergence of Life after death. See Afterlife
Empires outside Egypt, map 57, 95, 160. personal relationship with. 80, folk Ibis, in religion, 71. 72, '185 Limestone, uses of, 118. 128. 130
161. 162-163 and local. 72-73. 74. '75, fusion of Ideograms, 141-142 Linen. 34. 143
Engineering, 145, 146; irrigation, 47, animal and human forms, ^70, 72, 74. Iliad. 60 Lion, in religion, 71, 73, '75. '174
•48-49; pyramid building. 21. 129, •75, '87, '184-185; hymns to, 80; Imhotep, 21, 118 Lisht, map 30, capital, 33
•132-137; quarrying. '130-131 nationwide, 72-74, 80, 185; rise of Immortality: general, 76, 81; of pharaoh, Literature. 12, 15, 142-145, 164; poetry,
Entertainment. 35. "106-107, "110-113 anthropomorphic, 72. in sculpture and 17, 76, 81 36, 144-145; prose, 142-144; wisdom,
Eratosthenes. 162 painting, '26-27, "70, "75. '78. "86-91, Imports. 13. 34. 56. 128 30.86. 144
Ethics, 74-75 visible signs given by, 97; worship of, Inscriptions on block statues. '123; on Livy. 51
Ethiopia, 29 74, 78-80, '86-87, See also Pharaoh, tomb and temple walls and pillars, 15, Lotus plant, as symbol of Upper Egypt.
Etruscans, oO divinity of •17. 51. 54. 60. *116. 120, 141, 142, '13
Euclid, 162 Gold; imports. 13. 5c>, mining, 31, 102, •149-151, '156-158 Lower classes, 35-36, 100-102. chances
Euphrates River, Egyptian expansion to. sources of, 31. 34, 53 itistructioTt forKing Merikare. 86, 144 of advancement, 95, 98-100, 102.
54, 56, map 57 Gold dagger, "172-173 Instruction of Amenemopet, 144 103- See also Peasants; Workers
Excavations, 16, 127, 165, 166, 178 Goose, in religion, 73, 185 Instruction of the Vizier Ptahhotep, The. 36 Lower Egypt, map 8, 29, 32, 47; cobra as
Expansion, map 57. to Euphrates, 54, 5ci. Government, centralized, 33-34. 51-52, Intermediate periods, 12 See also First symbol of, "178-179, crown of.
map 37, beyond Fourth Cataract. 54. 53, 54 See also Administration Intermediate Period; Second Inter- '53. '59; first unification with Upper
Middle Kingdom. 12. 53; New Kingdom. Governors, provincial (district). 52. 53. mediate Period Egypt, 12, 51; papyrus as symbol of,
12, 54, 56, map 57, into Nubia, 34, 53, 95-96. 98, 123, 124 Inundation, season of, 31 '13; Tanis rulers of, 159
56, map 57, 160: into Palestine, 53, Grain, map 30. 32, 102; exports. 32, 161; Inundation festival, 36, 79 Luxor, map 9, 15, map 30; inundation
56, map 57. into Sudan, 56; into Syria. harvesting. "41. '108-100 Invasions of Egypt by Alexander the festival at, 79; statues of Ramses II,

53, 54, 56. 57map Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak. 60, Great, 161. Assyrian, 160, Hyksos, '17; temple of Amenhotep III, map
Exports, 12-13.32.34. 161 "116. '121 53-54, by Moslem Arabs. 164. by 9. 121
Great (Cheops) Pyramid, at Gizeh, map Nubians, 160. Persian, 161; Roman.
8, "21. 52. 118, 129, 130. '132-139 163; by Sea Peoples. 60. 61, 67
Great Sphinx, at Gizeh, map 8, '15, Ionian Greeks. loO
'18-19 tpuwer. The Admonitions of, 142-143 M
Greeks: admiration of, for Egypt, 11; Iron Age, coming of. 95, 159. 160
Faience. '126. 128 calendar of. 146; conquest of Egypt Iron dagger, '172-173 Maat, ethical concept. 74-75
Faiyum, map 8, 30 by. 80, 161, influence of Egypt on Irrigation. 12, 31, *33. 37. '46-49, labor, Magistrates. 07
Falcon, in religion. '70. 73, *158, '184 sculpture of, 13. 128, Macedonian 13,31. 33-34 Mariette, Auguste, 16
Famines, 31, 52 hegemony of, 161. mercenaries in Isis. goddess. 72. "88-89, 151, 176, '184; Marriage, brother-sister, of pharaohs.
Fara Fra Oasis, map 8 Egyptian army, l6l, Mycenaean internationalization of cult of, 163-164; 54, lo2
Farming, See Agriculture; Peasants civilization. *95;philosophy of. 36. Temple of. at Philae, map 9, 122. 141 Mask, funerary. *178
Fellahin. 102 74; settlement in late Egypt, 160, 161; Islam, 164 Maspero. Gaston, 16
Feluccas, '42 superseded by Rome. 162; mentioned, Israelites. See Hebrews Mastabas, 117-118
Ferrymen. 33 29,60.72. 102, 118 Mecca. 164
Festivals. 35, 79. 102. religious observ- Medical papryi, 148
ances. 77, 79. 102; of inundation. 36. 79 Medical science. 12. 141. 147-148, 162
Feudalism. First Intermediate Period. 52. Medinet Habu. temple of Ramses III,
98 H 122, relief carvings, *50. '68-60
Field of Reeds. 88 Jackal, in religion. 71. 72. "87. '167. Medinet Madi, chapel of Amenemhet. ll"
Fifth Dynasty. 52.96. 184 Haremhab, tomb of, 127 '175, '184 Mediterranean Sea, map 8. 34, Egyptian
Figurines and models, funerary, 15, 76. Harmakhis, 18 Jerusalem, plundering of Temple of spheres of influence, map 57, invasions
•88-89, "96. •1&7, •172-173 Hathor, goddess, 72, 175. '185; temple Solomon. 160 from. 60. 67, trade. 13. 34. 53. I6l

189
 Memnon, Colossi of, map 9 of. 29, map 30 Pharaoh, 12. 93; authority of. in Old Thebes), map 9, 60, 101. 122
Kingdom, Ramses I, King, pylon at Karnak, '121
Memphis, map 8. 29. map 30, 52. 53, Nilometers. 31 52, 80, 93-94. 97. 123;
map 57, 60. capital, 34, 51, 72, 73. Nineteenth Dynasty, 59-60, 121, 125 brother-sister marriages. 54, 162. Ramses H. King. 23. oO, 71. 121-122. 124.
god and religious concepts of, 72, 73, Ninth Dynasty. 52 court of, 14-15, crowns of, '52-53, 54, 127. Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak.

74, 90, 9b, 99, 185. under Hyksos rule, Nobles. 93. 90. estates of, 102, '104-105; '58-59; divinity of, 12, 17, 51. 59, '70. 60. '121. mummified head of, '77.

54 gain immortality, 76, 124; life of. 103. 72, 73, 74, 76, 93, 96. '176; divinity statues of. '17. '22-23. 27, *55. 122;
Menes, King. 51, 73 •106-107, '110-115; of Middle King- concept modified, 52. 56, 80, 94, 123; Temples at Abu Simbel, map 9. *22,

Menkaure (Mycerinus), King, 52; pyra- dom, 53, 124. of New Kingdom, 56; immortality of, 17, 76. 81, of Middle 60. 122, '162-163, temple at Sebua,
mid of, map 8. 51. 118 of Old Kingdom. 52. tombs of. 54. 7o Kingdom. 9o, 123. of New Kingdom, map 9, temple at Thebes (see Rames-
Menna. scribe, •108-109 Nofretari, Queen: temple at Abu Simbel, ^SS. 94; position modified in imperial seum)
Mentuhotep, King, 118-119 map 9, '23, '162-163. tomb inscrip- era, 56. 59, 80. 94. 97, 159; tombs of. Ramses III. King, '61, 65. 67. '68, 69.

Merikare, King. Instruction 144

for, 36, tion, '15e 17, 51, 52, 54, 76, 79, 117-119. '136- 102, death of, 97, Medinet Habu tem-
Mesopotamia: comparisons with Egypt, Nomarchs, 95-96 137, '165-179, women as. 24, 54-55 ple of. 122. relief carvings in temple,

II, 32. invention of writing, 141 Nomes, 95 Philae, Island of, map 9. map 30; obelisk. •50, '68-60; temple at Karnak. '121
Metals, 13 See a/so Bronzej Copper, Nubia, 13, 60; Egyptian expansion to. •151; Temple of Isis, map 9, 122, 141 Ramses IV, King. 80
Gold, Iron 34, 53. 56, map 57. 160; Egyptianiza- Philistines, 60 Ramses VI. King. 91
Middle class. 14 tion of, 56. 160, gains independence, Phoenicians; alphabet of, 148; circum- Ramses IX. King. 101
Middle Kingdom, 12, 36, 53. 15. 96, 98. 160. god of, 74; mining, 31. 53. 74. navigation of Africa by, 161 Rashid. 150
124; architecture of, 118-119. '121; 102; rebellion in, 5S'; rule over Egypt, Phonograms, 141-142, 151 Re, god. 52. 72, 73, 74. 90. 99, *184; hymn
history, 53, painting of, 125, rise of 160 Pictograms. '154-155 to, SO; merged with other deities, 74,

Amon, bi. 73, 74; rise of priesthood, Nut, goddess, '90-91 Plow, '40-41 185; priesthood of, 96
96-97; role of pharaoh, 96, 123; sculp- Plumbing, 35 Record keeping, 12. 32, 61, 66, 99, '108-
ture of, 123, 124, 125; ushehtis. 7o; Polytheism, 5*^. 80 109
writings of, 35. 86, 143, 144 Pompey. 163 Records, extant, 15, 51, 58, 148, '149-151,
Mining, 31. 53; labor, 102 O Potiphar and Joseph. Egyptian version of '156-157, See also Inscriptions
Red crown, of Lower Egypt, '59
Minoan civilization, 11, map 57 tale, 143
Mitanni empire. 56, map 57 Oases, desert, map 8-9, 34, map 57 Pottery. '98, 128, *173 Red land, 31
Monasticism. 78, 79; Christian. 164 Obelisk of Hatshepsut, Karnak, '121 Prehistoric graves, 117 Red Sea. map 9, 34, map 57; attempted
Money, nonexistence of. 99 Obelisk of Philae, '151 Prehistoric painting, 125 canal from Nile to, 161; trade, 13, 34
Monotheism. 59 Occupations, 100 Prehistoric tribes, 11-12. 29. 31, 51 Relief carvings. '28. '50, '52-53, '61-70,
Mortuary temples. See Temples Officials. 12, 93-94, 9Q-100. '108-109; Preservation of treasures, cause of. 15, •84-85. 119-120. 122. 124-125. 127.

Moses. 11. 32 bribery of. 100. 101, of Middle King- 128, 142 •140
Mud brick, building material. 13, 14, 21, dom, 53. of New Kingdom, 56. 59, 94; Priestesses. 79-80 Religion. 15, 71-80. animal worship. 71-
32, '44, 101, 117; making of, '119 of Old Kingdom, 52, tombs of. 54. See Priests. 93. 96-97, 99; Akhenaton's fight 72, 80, 184; anthropomorphism, emer-

Mummies, *82; of animals, 72, *73; of also Governors; Priests; Scribes, Vizier against, 59; of Amon, rule over Upper gence of. 72; daily ritual. 78-70. divini-
Ramses II, '77, show healed fractures. Oil, sources of. 32 Egypt, 159; appointment of, 79; dress ty of pharaoh. 17, 51. 59, '70. 72, 73,

148, of Tutankhamen, 17o, 178 Old Kingdom, 12, 36, 51-52, 53, 96. 142, of, '78. 79; duties of. 78-79, hierarchy 74, 76. 93, 96, '176; divinity concept

Mummification, 77, 82. procedures. 82. 143, architecture of. 12, '20-21. 52, of. 79; interference in nonreligious modified. 52, 56. 80. 94, 123; ethical
reason for. 77, 82 118. 129. 130. •132-139, crafts of, 128; medicinemen, 147;
affairs. 97. as content of. 74-75, hymns. SO; inter-

Mummiform coffins, *138. 139, •l66-lo7. history. 51-52. painting of, 125, 126; monasticism, 78, 79; power and wealth national Isis and Osiris cult. lo3-lo4;
•178-179 religion, 72. 78. 80. 81, 88. 90; rise of of, 52, 58. 59, 78. 80, 96-97; role at and medicine. 147; monotheism v. poly-
Murals, 14, 35. 51. 76, "86-87, •90-91, priesthood, 52. 96-97; role of pharaoh. burial. 76. 77. 78. *82, '85; secrecy of, theism, 59, 80; reform attempt of
*103, '106-115, •114-115, *119, 122, 52. 59. 80, 93-94. 97. 123. sculpture regarding hieroglyphs, 149 Akhenaton, 58-59, 80, 126-127, rise of
125-127. See also Painting of. '18-20. 122-123. 124. 125. '147; Principalities, First intermediate Period, Christianity. 161, lo4, roots of. 71. See
Music and musical instruments. '107, Vizier. 95. writings of, 36. 144 52,96. 98 also Afterlife; Gods; Priests
•113 Old Testament. 15. 31; parallels in Protests of the Eloquent Peasant. The. Religious festival, 77, 79. 102
Mycenaean civilization, *'^S Egyptian literature. 143. 144, 145 142 Riverboats. '28. 32-33, •42, 43
Mycerinus, See Menkaure Opening of the Mouth ceremony, *81 Provinces, 95; governors of, 52, 53. 95-9<j, Rome and Romans, 11, 122. 162-lo3. 164

Myths: of Creation, 74, 75; of creation adz (tool) for, '78 98. 123, 124 Rosetta Stone. 16, '150
of men. 72; of Osiris, 72; of sun. 88, 91 Origen. 164 Psammetichus, King. 160-161 Royal Valley- See Valley of the Kings
Osiris, god. 72. 74, '87, '88-89. '184, Ptah, god, 72. 73. 74. 90. 99. *185;
185, cult of, 76, 77. 79, 125; interna- priesthood of. 96
tionalization of cult, 163-164; judgment Ptahhotep. Vizier. 3o
N of deceased by. 81. 86, 125; statue of.
'26-27; temple at Abydos. oO
Ptolemaic age, 73. 122, 159, 161-163
Ptolemy, hieroglyphic name cartouche.
Napata, map 57, 160 Osiris, as vernacular term. 76 •150-151 Sailing. 33

Napoleon Bonaparte, 15, 16. 150, 164 Ptolemy I. 161 Sailing vessels. '42. 43; cordage. 32; war,

Narmer, King, palette. '52-53 Ptolemy V, 150 •66-67

Nature and religion, 71-72 Ptolemy IX. 151 St Athanasius, 164
Naucratis, 29 Ptolemy XIII, 162 Sakkarah, map 8. Djoser's temple, '20,
Naval warfare, •66-67 Public works. 31. 33-34; administration 21; Step Pyramid, map 8. '20, 21, 52,

Nebhepetre Mentuhotep, King. llS-ll** Painting. 14. 125-127; depiction of daily of, 93, 94; labor, 13, 34, 44, 51, 129, 118
Necho n. King. 161 life. '92, '103-115; color. 14, 125; 134. See also Canals, Dikes; Irrigation; Sandstone, use of. 120
Necropolises, 84 decline, 127; as independent art me- Pyramids, building of Sanitation. 35
Nefertiti, Queen, 24, '25. "55, 165 dium, 125; late rise of naturalism. 126- Punt. '140; expedition to. 119, trade with. Sardinians. 60
Neith, goddess. 170 127, paint used, 125; register device, 34 Satepihu. '123
Neolithic Age. 75-76, 128 '108-109, 127; religious, '78, '81-83, Pylons. 120; at Karnak. '121; at Luxor, Schools, scribal. pq-100
Nephthys, goddess, '88-89, 176. '184 •86-87, '89-91. sketch. '124-125; as 121 Science and technology. 12. 141, 145-148,
New Kingdom, 12, 36, 46. 54-60, 73, 160. source of history, 15. 51; subjects, Pyramids, map •20-21, 52, 118;
8, 12, 162. See also Engineering

architecture of, •24-25. 54. 55, 58, 60, 126, See also Murals building of, 118, 120, 129, •130-137; Scimitar, '65
•116, 119-120, '121, 122; economy of. Palaces, 14-15, 120; materials, 14, 32; cost of, 52; era of, 118; at Gizeh, map Scribes. 32. 61. 93. 99-100, 101, '108-

54. 58, 101; gods of. '90-91, 96. 97; murals, 14 8. 13. '20-21. 52. 118. 129, 130. •132- 109, '147; training of. 99-100

hieroglyphic symbols of, 154. history, Palestine, 11, 14, 34, 54, 164; cultural 139, 146; interior of. '136-137; labor, Sculpture, 13-14, 122-125; aims and prin-
54-60, imperial era, 12, 56, map 57. 58- interchange with. 144; Egyptian expan- 13. 34. 134; location of, 35, 84, material. ciples of, 122; basic poses. 122-123.

60, painting of, 125. 126-127. sion into, 53. 54, 56, map 57; loss of 13, 21, 129. •130-131; mathematical and 124; block statue, ^123; decline, 127.
pharaohs and queens. '55, 94; hold on, 5fl, 60; origin of name, 60; astronomical alignment, 132, 146. depiction of war in, *6l-67; Egyptian
pharaohs' authority diminished, 56, Sheshonk's invasion of, 160, wor- number of remaining, 52; at Sakkarah, influence on Greece, 13. 128; late rise
59, 80. 94. 97, priests of. 58. 59, 79, ship of Amon in, 74 map 8. '20, 21. 52. 118 of naturalism, 127. materials, 14. 34.
96, 97; rise of professional army, 58, Palette of King Narmer. '52-53 Pyramids. Battle of the. 164 •55. 120; painted, 14, 125, 126, relief

93-94. 97, 98, sculpture of. '17, '22-23, Papyrus, 12, map 30, 32, 51, 142; exports, carvings, '28, '50, ^52-53, '61-70, '84-
•25. ^50, '55. 60. '61. »68-70. '123. 12, 32. 34; funerary, '156; paper- 85. 110-120. 122, 124-125. 127. '140,

124, 125, 127, '169. '174-175; slaves, making, '143; reed, '13. ^143; symbol religious. '18-19, '26-27, '70. '75, '84-

102; social satire, '144-145; writings of Lower Egypt, '13, uses of, 32, 85. '88-89, '158. '167, '174-177; statu-

of, 143, 144-145 '143 ary. '17. '20. '22-23. '25-27. '55-60,
Payment, goods used, 99, 101 Queens, *55. 99, 123; as priestesses, 79- •75. 119. 122-124. '147. '158. '169.
Nile Delta. See Delta
Nile River, map 8-9, 29, map 30. 3o, Peasants, 12. 39. 52. 93, 101. housing of, 80; rulers, 24. 54-55 '174-177. subjects. 125
•38-39, cataracts, 29, map 30, 34. 14. '44; life and work of, 14. 35-36, Sea Peoples, *50. 60. 63. o7
economic importance of, 29, 31-33, 37, '40-41, '43-45, 101-102. '108-109, Seasons, 31. 34
fishing. '43, 114; flooding of, 29. 31. 162 R Sebua. map 9
graph 34. 37. 47, general significance Peleset (Philistines). 60 Second Cataract, expansion beyond, 53
for Egypt. 29, 31, 36, 37, length of. Pepi II, King. 52 Rainfall, 29. 31 Second Dvnastv, 51, IIS. 125
29, religious significance of, 33. 74, Persia. 148; empire of. 161 Ram, in religion, 71, 72, 73. 74. 185 Second Intermediate Period. 53-54. 98,
shipping, '28. 32-33, '42, 43, sources Petrie. William Matthew Flinders, 16 Ramesseum (temple of Ramses II at 123

190
Sekhmet, goddess, 71. '75 Sudan: Egyptian expansion into, 56; Thutmose II, King, 54 Ushehtis, 76, See also Figurines
Senmut, 55, 119-120 mining, 74, 102 Thutmose III, King, 24, 54, '55, 56-58,
Serket, goddess. 176, '177 Suez, Gulf of, map 8 pylon and festival hall
59. 94, 126; at
Serpent, in religion, 74 Sun gods and worship, 72. Harmakhis, Karnak, '121
Servants. 35, 104. 'lOb-lO? 18; Re. 52. 72, 73. 74, '184, 185 Thutmose IV, King. 18
Sesostris I. King. 149 Sun myths, 88, 91 Timber, lack of. 32. 128; imports. 34. 128
Seth, god, 72. '185 Surveying, 49, •108-109, '132-133 Timekeeping, 147 Valley of the Kings, 54, 101. 165, 166,
Seti King, 121
1, Syria, 14, 60, 148; Egyptian expansion Tomb inscriptions. See Inscriptions 168
Seti n, King, temple at Karnak. '121 into, 53, 54, 56. map 57; taken by Hit- Tombs: food left in. 75-76, 77-78, 172; Vases, 128; alabaster. "173
Seven fat years and seven lean years, tites, 58; trade with, 34, 128; worship funerary figurines and models in, IS, Victoria, Lake, map 30
Josephs prediction, 31 of Amon in. 74 76, '88-89, '96. '167. '172-173; fur- Villages, 12, '39, '44
Shaduf. '33. 4f Syrians, settlement in late Egypt, 160, 161 nishings in, 15-16, 128, '167-168, Vineyard, '110-111
Shang Dynasty, China. 95 •170-171, 175; location of, 35. 84-85; Vizier, office of, 93. 94-95, 97
Shekresh (Shekelesh. Sikeloi). 60 looting of. 16. 78, 101, 137, '167, 168; Voyage of Wenamoti, The, 143-144
Shelley. Percy Bysshe, 27 murals, 14. 122. 125 (see also Murals); Vulture, as symbol of Upper Egypt, '178-
Sherden, oO, 63 neglect of, 78; of Neolithic Age. 75-76. 179
Sheshonk, King, 159-160 of nobles, 54, 76, of pharaohs, 17, 51,
Shipping Nile River, •28, 32-33, •42, 43; Taharqa. King, pylon and colonnade at 52, 54, 76, 79, 117-119. '136-137. *I65-
during inundation, 29. See also War- Karnak, '121 179; preparation of. before death. 76;
ships
Sicilians. 60
Tale of the
Tana,
Two Brothers,
Lake, map 30
The, 1 43 reliefcarvings, 119-120, 122, 124, 125
(see also Sculpture, relief); tools left
W
Sikeloi. See Shekresh Tanis rulers of Lower Egypt. 159 75-76, 77; weapons left in. 16.
in, 16, Wadi Haifa, map 30; flooding, graph 34
Silt. 31 Taxation. 12, 31. 94, 99. 109; exemption •172-173. See also Pyramids; Tem- Wages. 101, 102
Silver, 13 of priests from. 96-97 ples, mortuary War crown, *59
Sinai,map 8, Egyptian expansion to, Tel! el Amarna, map S. map 30. 104; capi- Tools and utensils, 37; artistry in, 13; Warfare, 54. '61-67, naval, '66-67; pris-
map 57; mining, 102 tal. 35, 59; cuneiform tablets, 58, 148 building, 118, 129. '130, •132-133; cos- oners, 63. '68. See also ,^rmy; Weapons
Sinuhe. The Story of. 143 Temples and shrines, map 9, 17, 74, 84, metic, '98: farming, '40-41; left in Warships, '66-67
Sirius, 146 119-122; at Abydos. 60; administration tombs, 16, 75-76, 77; papermaking, Water clock, 147
Siwa Oasis, map 57 of, 93. 94. 96-97. 99; of Amenhotep •143; water-raising, ^33, '46-47, writ- Water-raising devices, '33, '46-47
Sixth Dynasty. 52. 118 ni, at Luxor, map 9, 121; of Amenho- ing, 100, 142 Water supply. 31, '44, 47. See also Irriga-
Slaves. *92, 102, 107, •lIO; not employed tep III. at Thebes, stele, 120; of Amon Trade, 12-13, 34, 53, 55, 58. 160-161. See tion
in pyramid building, 134; war, "68, 102 and Amon Re, 54, 60, 74, '116. 119, also Exports, Imports; Shipping Weapons, 54, 61, '62-63, '65; bronze v.
Smith, Edwin, 148 120. '121; daily ritual in. 78-79, design, Transportation: caravan, 34, water, 32-33. iron, 160; hunting, '114-115; left in
Sobat River, map 30 119-122: Djosers, at Sakkarah. '20. •42. 43 tombs, 16, •172-173
Sobek. god. 73. '185 21; estates of, 58. 97, 99; of gods. 119. Treasurer. 94 Wells. 31
Sobek Re. god, 185 120-122, of Hatshepsut. at Deir el Bah- Tribes, prehistoric. 11-12, 29, 31, 51 Wenamon. The Voyage of, 143-144
Social justice, emergence of concept, 75. ri,•24-25,55. 119-120. 121. of Hathor. Turkish rule of Egypt, 164 Western Desert, map 8-9, 34, map 57;
142 map Horus, at Edfu. map 9. 122,
9; of Tursha (Tyrshenoi), 60 burial places, 84
Social reform: attempt of Amenhotep "158; income of, 78; of Isis, at Philae, Tutankhamen, King, 78, 165. •169-171, Wheat. 102; harvesting, '108-109
IV-Akhenaton. 58-59, 60; unlikeliness map 9, 122, 141; at Karnak, 60, 74, 99, •176. •178-179; tomb of, and treasures White miter, of Upper Egypt. '52, '58
of success, 75 •116, 119, 120. '121; kinds of. 119; of found. '10, 16. "78, '165-179 White Nile. 29, map 30
Social satire, comic strip, •144-145 Kom Ombo. map Medinet Habu.
9, at Twelfth Dynasty. 53. 120. 128, 143 Wine, map 30. 110-111
Social structure. 12, 31, 35-36, 56, 75. •68-69, 122; of Mentuhotep, at Deir Twentieth Dynasty, 59-60, 159 Wisdom literature, 36, 86. 144
93-102; and afterlife, 76, 124; chances el Bahri, 118-119; mortuary. 119-120. Twenty-second Dynasty. 159-160 Women: beauty aids, '98; hairstyles, '110-
of advancement, 95, 98-100, 102. 103; 122; murals, 14, 122, 125 {see also Twenty-sixth Dynasty, 160-161 111; peasant, 40, '44-45; as priestesses,
and living standards. 14, 35-36, 101- Murals), of Ramses II and Nofretari, Tyrshenoi. See Tursha 79-80. property and other rights, 99;
102. '103-115; standing of priests. 79. at Abu Simbel. map 9, '22-23. t>0. 122, as rulers, 24, 54-55. upper classes, 35,
96-97 See also Lower classes. NobleS; •162-163; of Ramses II, at Sebua. map 99, 104, '106-107, '110-111
Officials; Peasants; Upper classes; 9; of Ramses II, at Thebes (Rames- Woodworking, ^126, 128, '167, '171
Workers seum). map 9. 60, 101. 122; relief carv- u Workers, 12, 14, 93; skilled {see
Soil, 31 ings, 119-120. 122. 124, 125 (see also Artisans); strikes of, 101;
Solar calendar, 146 Sculpture, relief); sacred animals at, Uganda, 29 unskilled, 101
Solomon, King of Israel. 160 71-72; at Thebes, map 9. 54, 60. 120 Underworld: gods of, 71, 72, 76, 81; judg- World, Egyptian concept of. 76
Sophocles. 146 Tenth Dynasty, 52 ment in, 31-32, 81.86, *S7. See also Writing, invention of, 12, 141-142, 152
Soul, in afterlife, 76-77. See also Ka Thebes, map 9, map 30, 36, 53, 54, map Afterlife Writing materials and utensils, 100, 142,
Spears, '63 57, 119, 159, 160; capital, 34, 52-53. 54, Unguent box, from Tutankhamen's tomb. '143
Sphinx, at Gizeh, map 8. •15, •18-19 59, 73, 126; god and religious concepts •170
Stele inscriptions, 120 of, 53, 73, 74. 90. 96, 185; necropolis of, Uni. vizier, 95
Step Pyramid, at Sakkarah, map 8, '20, 99, 101; temple of Amenhotep III, Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt,
21, 52, 118 stele, 120, temple of Ramses II (Rames- 12, 51; symbols of, '13, '59
Stone, kinds used in sculpture and crafts, seum). map 9. 60, 101, 122, workers' Upper classes, 35, 36, 93, 124. army serv-
120. 128 strike at, 101 ice, 61, 63; housing, 14, 35, •104-105; Young, Thomas. 150
Stone construction, 13, 21, 118. 119, Third Dynasty, 51-52. 118, 125 life of, 35. 103, •106-107, •110-115. See
129, 130. •132-139; transportation of Thirteenth Dynasty, 53 also Nobles, Priests
stones, 118, '130-131, '134-135; weight Thoth. god. 71. 72. 90, '185 Upper Egypt, map 9, 29. 32; crown of,
of blocks. 21. 129 Thoueris, god, '75 •52. *58; famines, 52; first unifica-
Stone quarry, '130-131 Throne, of Tutankhamen. '171 tion with Lower Egypt, 12, 51; lotus as
Stones, semiprecious, 34, 128 Thucydides, 51 symbol of, '13; rule of high priests of
Story of Sinuhe. The. 143 Thutmose I, King. 54. 157, pylons at Amon over. 159. vulture as symbol of, Zoomorphism, 71-72. return to. 80
Strikes. 101, lo2 Karnak, '121 •178-170 Zoser. See Djoser

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Text photocompoaed under the direction of Albert ]. Dunn and Arthur /. Dunn

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