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2011
Attention curator of National Museum Of Singapore
Address
Dear Curator
Re: Proposal of the exhibition to be held at the museum
We are a group of professors from the University of Great Ancient
Civilizations. We consist of Historians, Archaeologists, Political Scientists,
Economists and Anthropologists who are highly certified in the field of Ancient
Civilizations. Our main focus is on Ancient Egypt. It is our greatest desire to interest and inform the public about this magnificent civilization through talks and exhibitions. We can assure you that our exhibitions are highly engaging with a numerous number of fun activities and fascinating exhibits from museums around the world.
Our exhibition, The Wonders of Ancient Egypt- the journey into the heart of
Ancient Egypt, has a total of nine exhibits. The Artefacts range from those that relate to daily Egyptian life and others which were the treasures of Ancient
Egypt, giving viewers a basic idea of what Ancient Egypt was like. We have put up this exhibition in various countries and states such as New York and Texas;
United states of America, Sydney and Melbourne; Australia, Rio; Brazil,
Tokyo; Japan, Beijing; China, New Deli and Chennai; India, Kuala Lumpur and
Johor Bauru; Malaysia, and many more. Now, we hope to display this exhibition in Singapore in your Museum.
We have included a list of our exhibits and a brief explanation about them in this proposal. We would like to hold this exhibition from the beginning of
November to the end of December 2011. We hope you and the Singapore
Museum agree to be the host for this exhibition. Thank you for taking the time to read this proposal.
We await your decision.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Members of HAE.1E, the University of GAC
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Title Page 1
Letter 2
Table of Contents 3
Brief History of Ancient Egypt 4
Objectives 5
Chapter 1 Short write up about the exhibits
1.1 Rosetta stone 6
1.2 The Great Sphinx of Giza 7
1.3 Egyptian Gods 8
1.4 Eye of Horus 9
1.5 Egyptian Weapons 10
1.6 Egyptian Games 11
1.7 Egyptian Jewellery 12
1.8 King Tutankhamen’s Mummy and Tomb 13
Chapter 2 Activities
2.1 Ancient Egyptian Board Games 14
2.2 Children’s corner 14
2.3 Tablets 14
Proposed Layout for exhibition 15
References 16
Group Essay 17
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Ancient Egypt was located along the Nile River in north-eastern Africa for more than 3,000 years, between 3300 BC and 30 BC. It was the longest ancient civilization to ever have existed. To start of with, there were two kingdoms in
Ancient Egypt, Upper Egypt, located in southern Ancient Egypt, and Lower
Egypt, located in northern Ancient Egypt. Around 3000 BC, the beginning of the Bronze Age, the king of Upper Egypt conquered Lower Egypt and made
Egypt into one kingdom. People then started to call the king of Egypt the Pharaoh.
From this time onwards, Egypt was divided into nine time periods.
Namely, the Early Dynastic Kingdom, the Old Kingdom, the 1 st intermediate
Period, the Middle Kingdom, the 2 nd Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom, the Late Dynastic Period and the Greek- Roman Period.
The Early Dynastic
Period, 3000 BC- 2575 BC, was the beginning of Ancient Egyptian History.
The Old Kingdom, 2575 BC- 2150 BC, was the time of the pyramids where the pharaohs had the greatest power over Egypt. During the 1 st Intermediate period,
2150 BC- 2040 BC, there was internal war and Ancient Egypt fell apart into several smaller Kingdoms. In 2040 BC, the Pharaohs managed to restore peace in Egypt, forming the Middle Kingdom, 2040 BC- 1783 BC. However, the pharaohs in this period were never as powerful compared to that of the old
Kingdom and Early Dynastic period. Pyramids were also no longer built.
During the 2 nd intermediate period, 1783 BC- 1540 BC, the Hyksos invaded
Lower Egypt and conquered it only be pushed out by the pharaohs of upper
Egypt, reuniting Egypt again. This formed the New Kingdom, 1540 BC- 1070
BC. At the end of the Bronze Age, there was a general crisis around the Eastern
Mediterranean and West Asia. The Ancient Egyptian government collapsed, leading to the Late Dynastic period, 1070 BC- 332 BC. During this period
Nubians, then the Persians ruled most of Egypt. Then, the Greeks and Romans conquered Egypt resulting in the Greek- Roman period which marked the end of
Ancient Egypt. As a whole, Ancient Egypt was one of the most advanced ancient civilizations with a long history. It is thus, also one of the most interesting and well known Ancient civilizations in the world.
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The main objective of our exhibition is to introduce the public to Ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt dates back to more than 4000 years ago. We want to educate the public about their history and culture. Through which, the public can also discover how some of our household items came about. Ancient Egypt was also a highly advanced civilization which influenced the creations of many things which we use today. For example, cutlery, cosmetics, board games, jewellery and even mathematics. The public ought to know who discovered and invented all these utensils we use in our daily life. At the same time, they can be fascinated by models of the marvellous structures which were built by the ancient Egyptian without the use of modern technology. We aim to attract people for all ages and have different activities for different age groups.
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The Rosetta stone is a rather special artefact. It helped us understand the
Egyptian tongue with clarity and taught us more about the Egyptian way of life.
The Rosetta stone is a large black stone, made of basalt, which is 726kg and measures 1.14m in height, 0.72m in width and 0.28m in thickness. It has carvings on its polished surface in Ancient Egyptian and Greek languages, using three scripts- hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek. The inscription on the Rosetta stone is a decree establishing the status and cult of Ptolemy V as a deity.
Ptolemy V was the Egyptian King at that period of time. A group of priests in
Egypt wrote a text on the Rosetta stone which honors the Egyptian pharaohs. It lists all of the things that the pharaoh has done that were for the well-being of the citizens of Egypt. We can understand that culture played a main part that lead to the rise of the stone. The priests wrote it because they wanted hail their king as a deity. This shows that Ptolemy V was seen and respected as a god. We can also infer that there was presence of labour specialisation. Without people specialized in sculpting, it would have been impossible to carve out the stone and polish it, let alone inscribe on it. When the Greek came to Egypt and took over its reigns, the government system went through a rapid change. The Greek took over the government. A section of the text states the laws and regulations to be enforced. This shows that the government system had a good control over the people. The Rosetta stone is indeed a great treasure and we request that it should be displayed in public for everyone to enjoy and marvel at it.
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The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the largest single-stone statues in the world-
This magnificent monument is 57 meters long, 6 m wide and 20 m tall with a 10 m long and 4 meter wide head and four 15 meter paws. It is located on the Giza
Plateau which borders the Sahara Desert on the west bank of the Nile River.
This is near the modern-day Cairo. The Great Sphinx of Giza was estimated to have been built around 2686 BC - 2181 BC during the time of the Old Kingdom of Egypt. It is oriented to face the rising sun on the east. A sphinx is an ancient
Egyptian mythical beast with the head of a man and the body of a lion, which symbolizes the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra. From this, we can infer that the Egyptians were theocratic people and that the government was influenced by the belief in god. The people worshipped the sun god Ra and saw him as a figure that brings life and that led to them building the Sphinx to represent Ra. There are 3 different types of Sphinxes:
 Androsphinx - The Androsphinx has the body of a lion and a head of a man
 Criosphinx - The Criosphinx has the body of a lion and a head of a ram
 Hieracosphinx - The Hieracosphinx has the body of a lion and a head of a hawk
To build something so monumental, the Egyptians must have had some kind of efficient building system to move large stones upwards. Ramps, rollers and pulleys were found at the site of the Sphinx. This shows that people were specialized in construction.
We request that a minature version of the great Sphinx of Giza be displayed in the museum for all to see. There should also be smaller versions of the three different types of Sphinx.
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The Priests of Ancient Egypt devolved a Family tree of Egyptian Gods and
Goddesses to explain how some of the Gods and Goddesses were related. The
Priests also created a myth, or cosmogony, to explain how some of the Gods and Goddesses became alive. A summary of the myth is that there was an evil source f power called Nun. The Sun God Atum, Ra or Re, the Lord of Creation, rose and spat out the elements of moisture and air which were the Goddess
Tefnut and the God Shu. Heliopolis was also one of the most ancient cities of
Egypt which was particularly associated with worship of sun-deities, and
Heliopolis and was believed to be the birthplace of the company of the gods called the Ennead. The Egyptian Gods and Goddesses were often depicted as part animal and part human frequently shown.
This shows that the Egyptians practised zoolatry, or animal worship. The priests who created this myth, may have done so to maintain order in the country. From this, we can say that Egypt was ruled with the help of these cosmogonies. The kings were also believed to harbour gods within them. This also shows the government system could also be influenced by these cosmogonies.
Such a wide belief in gods shows that many Egyptians were priests. They may have made sacrifices to the gods and maybe, sacrificed themselves. Moreover, we can see that there was theocratic governing in Egypt.
Till present, there are 25 known gods, whose appearance varies.
We will be displaying statues of the more important gods (e.g. Ra, Osiris and
Set) for public viewing.
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The Wadjet, which means “whole one” in English, was a powerful representation of protection in Ancient Egypt, also known as the Eye of Horus.
The symbol was commonly used in jewellery made of gold, silver, carnelian, porcelain, lapis, and wood to ensure the safety and health of the owner and provide wisdom and wealth.
Figure 1: Pieces of the Eye of Horus
The Eye of Horus proves that Egyptians believed in the fact that they can get protection from god. We request that Eye of Horus be displayed in the museum for all to view.
Figure 2: Fight between Set and Horus, this led to the creation of the Eye of Horus.
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The Ancient Egyptians were discovered to have been equipped with a vast array of weapons during the time of the New Kingdom. During this period, weapons had moved from wooden and stone weapons to iron and then to bronze, which was made by a mixture of metals. The types of weapons the Ancient Egyptians used improved with this new metal technology. During this period, the Chariot was also introduced as a weapon for war.
The Ancient Egyptians used a variety of weapons. Some of which are the Sling, the oldest of weapons dating back to antiquity which was cheap to produce and remained in use through out all periods of Ancient Egypt. The Mace, originally with stone heads, then replaced by iron, copper and bronze, was used as a close combat weapon or from a horseback. The Spear , Consisting of a shaft, usually made from wood with a sharpened head and used to thrust at enemies or as a missile. The spear was versatile, cheap to produce and easy to use requiring limited experience. Battle Axes, which had crescent-shaped blades and was used as a close combat weapon but could also, be thrown as a missile. The Bow and Arrow, a far ranged weapon which was made from a strip of flexible material, like wood, linked at the two ends with a cord, to form a tension from which the arrow was shot.
This shows that there were a group of people who were specialized in the crafting of these weapons and moreover, it also proves that the Egyptians were well practised in metallurgy. The government may also have given funding to the weapon craftsmen in order to mass produce weapon for war times.
We request the plastic replicas of the weapon be put on display in the museum.
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The Ancient Egyptians used to play a variety of games be it being adults or children. There were indoor and outdoor games specifically for adults and toys and games meant for children only. There are numerous similarities between the games played in Ancient Egypt and modern games.
Children had a variety of toys to play with. Girls played with dolls made out of clay, wood or linen. Boys on the other hand played with play swords made out of clay. Boys also played ball games made out of papyrus.
To make the toys played by children, there should be a craftsman who specialized in this field. This shows that there was labour specialization in this field. Moreover, in schools, some lessons were taught to children using dolls.
These Egyptian games showed that people led a pretty care free life where they played these games to have fun with friends and family. This also shows that the Egyptians liked to have fun.
We would like to display the actual games and make replicas for public use so that people can see how the ancient Egyptians spent their free time. This exhibit would also allow people to see the similarities and differences between the ancients and the modern civilization.
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The Ancient Egyptians were great lovers of jewelry. These included a variety of jewelry including amulets, necklaces, pendants, bracelets, rings, head jewelry and anklets.
The Craftsmen who carved these intricate jewels are specialized in this field.
Moreover, they are also well versed in metallurgy.
Ancient Egyptians did not only wear jewelry for decorative purpose. It consisted of symbols that would provide the wearer with protection and prosperity. A common form of jewelry was the amulet. It was designed to ward off the evil eye and protect the wearer from evil forces. Such lucky charm jewelry was decorated with images of gods, magical signs, hieroglyphs and animals. These amulets were, most of the time, blessed by priests before they are sold.
This shows that they have a strong belief in deities and the Egyptians believe that they would get protection from god.
Amulets come in many shapes and sizes. 2 of the most commonly seen are, the eye of Horus and the Silver Ankh.
We request that this exhibition be put up for public viewing.
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King Tutankhamen’s Tomb is located at the Valley of the Kings. His mummy was placed in the tomb somewhere between 1334 BC-1325 BC during the time of the New kingdom in the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty.
The Tomb of King Tutankhamen, KV62, is a world famous tomb due to the fabulous treasures which were found intact in it. The tomb and its great treasures had not been stolen by tomb raiders due to its location, which was underneath the remains of the huts of workmen which were built during nineteenth dynasty.
Autopsy on the mummy proved that King Tutankhamen had been about 5 feet
6 inches tall of a slender build, and that he had died when he was 18 or 19 years old.
When the tomb was excavated by Howard Carter, 143 precious items were found on the mummy: 15 rings, 13 bracelets, the heart scarab, amulets, collars, daggers and earrings.
This was probably done so that king tut can have a comfortable passage to the afterlife. Egyptians believed in after life and so, they had done this.
In terms of leadership, King Tutankhamen was an exceptional leader. This can be inferred from the many jewels that were found in his tomb. This shows that the people loved the boy king and appreciated what he had done for Egypt.
The several jewels in the tomb suggest that the economy was vibrant and people well versed in metallurgy and crafting.
We request that the actual mummy be put on display for the public.
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2.1 Ancient Egyptian Board Games. Besides the viewing of the exhibits, we will also be having activities for children and adults. We will be setting up twenty duplicates of the Ancient Egyptian board games for people to play with each other. They will be set on tables such that they will be unable to be removed. People will have to wait for a free table if they are eager to try the games out and can try out other activities while waiting.
2.1 Children’s Corner. Parents may drop their children of here. There will be three caretakers located here to take care of the children and to guide them to the toilet. At any time, at least one caretaker would be watching over the children playing and ensure that they do not run off. Parents will have to provide their name and contact number before leaving them. This service is completely fee. In the children’s corner, there will be a portable sand pit set up for children to dig out plastic duplicates of Ancient Egyptian items. The items will be chained to the ground. There will be small shovels provided. This will help educate children about the process of discovering items buried from centuries ago. Also, it will give children an idea of what ancient Egyptians used.
There will be a sheet of paper given with all the items in the sandpit. Children will have to dig out these items and chop the paper with the specific chop attached to the item. If they manage to, they get a free sweet. Younger children may just play in the sand. There will also be Ancient Egyptian dolls and toys for them to play with. By doing so, they can learn how Ancient Egyptian Children spent their time. However, only a maximum of twenty children can be dropped of here. Once there is a free space, the parent top on the waiting list will be contacted and asked if he would like to drop his child off at the children’s corner. Only children with the age group of three to nine will be aloud to enter.
2.3 Tablets. We will be placing 10 tablets around the exhibition with electronic activities. The activities include quizzes that test your understanding of the exhibits, the exploring of virtual tombs, and several other fun games. Articles about Ancient Egypt will also be able to be read there.
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Replica of the
Great Sphinx
Egyptian
Games
(Some open for public use.)
Egyptian
Weapons
Rosetta stone
Children’s corner
(Refer to page 14 to read more)
Statues of
Egyptian
Gods and the Eye of
Horus
King
Tutankhamen’s
Tomb and mummy
Egyptian
Jewellery
We hope that adequate space such as a large hall will be provided for this exhibition to ensure that viewers can easily access the exhibits.
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P r i n t So u rc e s
1.
C a s s o n , L C . ( 1 9 7 5 ) . A n c i e n t E g y p t . N e w Y o r k C i t y .
2.
Streissguth, TS. (2003). Life in ancient Egypt . New York City.
3.
Delia Pemberton, DP. (2004). T he Glories of Ancient Egypt Treasures of the Pharaohs.
London.
1.
http://www.ancientegyptonline.co.uk
2.
http://www.napoleon-series.org
3.
http://www.greatscott.com
4.
http://history1900s.about.com
5.
http://www.kingtutone.com
6.
http://www.fordham.edu
7.
http://www.king-tut.org.uk/
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A Civilisation is a group of people, who have settled in a particular place, living together by following a particular culture, and with a government system in place, unlike nomads.
The main features of a civilisation are good geographical location, government system, labour specialization, social hierarchy, complex beliefs, writing system, and agriculture, and trade. All these features are important in a great civilization.
Now, let’s focus on each aspect of a civilisation.
What is the importance of a good geographical location? An example of a good geographical location is along the river or the sea, as the Ancient Egyptian
Civilisation had settled along the lower part of River Nile. Settling along a river is very helpful to the Civilisation as the river provides water, which is very important for many aspects of life. Rivers provide water for drinking and watering crops such as rice and wheat. People did not need to depend too much on rain water if they lived near a permanent source of water. They also provided fish, which was an important source of food. The soil around rivers was usually fertile and easy to plough. Therefore, large amounts of crops could be grown.
They also provided means of transport. People could travel long distances from one village to another. They could trade (buy, sell and exchange goods) with one another much more easily than before. Every Great Civilization needs to have a good geographical location to ensure that the civilization is able to sustain.
A government system’s role in the well-being of a civilisation:
A government help to enforce law and order in a civilisation. It also helps people to follow a particular culture together. The government had to keep peace within the civilisation by distributing food equally and that crime was prevented. They also had to protect them against enemy attacks. Without a government, the civilisation will go haywire as people do things in their own ways, affecting others. A great civilization needs a government to ensure peace throughout the civilization and to unite the people under one rule.
What is labour specialization? Labour specialization is basically people doing different things instead of everybody focusing on simply one aspect of a
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civilisation – agriculture. Labour specialization is very important to a civilization as when there are people specialized in agriculture, sculpting etc., they could concentrate on other things rather than basic survival needs, such as music, recreation etc. Labour specialization also leads to the social hierarchy, which I will talk about next. It is important to have labour specialization in a great civilization so as not to limit the production in a civilization.
I just mentioned that labour specialization leads to social hierarchy. So what is a social hierarchy? The social hierarchy is the way people in a civilisation are classified into groups. Each group plays a different role and specialises in different kinds of work. For example, leaders govern, farmers produce food and soldiers protect the people. The way in which members of a society organise themselves into groups and specialise in different jobs in order to produce what they need is called a social hierarchy. A social system often ranks people according to how wealthy and powerful they are. All great civilizations require a social hierarchy as without it, to ensure that everyone has a place and to prevent chaos.
The other features of a civilisation are also very important.
Whether a civilisation is great or not is based on the person’s perspective.
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