Nile
From: Handbook to Life in Ancient Egypt, Revised Edition.
The Nile and the sun were the two great life-giving forces that shaped Egypt's
civilization. Although the country has a negligible annual rainfall, centers of population
were able to develop and flourish in the Delta and the Nile Valley because of the
phenomenon of the river's inundation.
Hecataeus, a Classical writer, has provided the often repeated phrase that Egypt is the
"gift of the Nile," and probably no other civilization was so absolutely dependent on the
regular occurrence of one natural event. In antiquity the country and its people only
survived because the Nile brought its floods with the result that the harvests could be
reaped. To ensure a successful outcome Hapy, the Nile god, and Osiris, the god of
vegetation and rebirth, were worshiped throughout Egypt.
Within Egypt the Nile cuts a course of some 600 miles from Aswan in the south to the
Delta, where its two main branches flow into the Mediterranean through Rosetta in the
west and Damietta in the east. Its long journey begins far to the south of Egypt, however,
rising three degrees south of the Equator in the region of the Great Lakes. In its upper
course it is called the Mountain Nile; then it joins with the Bahr el-Ghazel to become the
White Nile. In the highlands of Ethiopia the Blue Nile rises in Lake Tana, and ultimately
at Khartoum in the Sudan the two Niles join and become the river that continues down
through Egypt to the Mediterranean. This river, the longest in Africa, today travels
through several countries and a variety of landscapes and climates. Within Egypt itself
there are marked variations in the weather, and Upper Egypt's high temperatures contrast
with the more moderate climate found in the Delta.
Between Khartoum (the modern capital of Sudan) and Aswan (Egypt's southernmost
city), a series of six cataracts interrupt the course of the Nile. These are not dramatic
features and do not include waterfalls; they are merely scattered groups of rocks that
cause an obstruction of the stream across the width of the river. At the Fourth, Second,
and First Cataracts, this obstruction has always affected the river traffic.
The original boundary of ancient Egypt was located at the First Cataract, which lies just
to the south of ancient Elephantine (modern Aswan). Later rulers pushed the boundary
south and built fortresses to regulate the local population. From Aswan north to the
Mediterranean coast, the Nile's course continued uninterrupted in antiquity, although
dams have been built across the river in modern times.
There are dramatic changes in the scenery between Aswan and Cairo, Egypt's modern
capital, which is positioned at the apex of the Delta. The Nile has forced its passage here
through this valley. In some parts there are steep, rocky cliffs on either side that descend
abruptly to the river's edge, while in other areas the flat cultivated plains stretch away to
the desert. This rich, cultivated strip varies in width but can only be farmed to a
maximum distance of some thirteen miles.
When the river reaches Cairo and passes into the Delta its appearance changes as it
continues over a low plain and fans out toward the coast. Some of the Delta land can be
cultivated, but much of it is waterlogged marshland.
The inundation was an annual event until recently. The rains fall every year on the highlands of Ethiopia in tropical Africa and increase the waters of the Nile so that until the
dam system was built the river became swollen and flooded out over its banks, depositing
the rich black silt that fertilized the land.
In Egypt the flood occurred first in the region of the First Cataract in late June. The effect
reached Cairo in the north at the end of September, and then the waters gradually receded
until they reached their lowest level in the following April. This annual miracle brought
renewed life to the parched land and was eagerly awaited by all inhabitants of the
country.
There was always the fear that, one year, the river would not rise, resulting in death and
destruction, and this was always a focus for people's prayers. Even though this perceived
disaster never became reality, a low Nile could bring famine while an excessive
inundation could flood the land, ruin the crops, and bring devastation. The
unpredictability of the inundation was a constant concern that threatened the country's
safety and prosperity.
Modern technology has today enabled a series of dams to be built across the river at
certain points; the most famous is the High Dam at Aswan. These dams ensure that the
volume of water can be held back (it is now stored in Lake Nasser behind the High Dam)
and then released for irrigation, as required, through a series of canals.
In antiquity the water levels were measured and recorded on nilometers positioned along
the river. At two nilometer sites (one south of Cairo and the other near Aswan), which
were believed to be the "caverns" or "sources" that controlled the Nile flood, as well as
near other nilometers, a ritual was performed to bring about the force of the flood: Cakes,
fruit, sacred jewelry, and sacrificial animals were thrown into the river, and to ensure the
Nile's fertility females figurines or "dolls" were also included.
http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE49&NewItemID=True
Book of the Dead
Also known as: Reu Nu Pert Em Hru, Chapters of Coming Forth by Day; The
Chapters of Coming Forth by Day
Date: ca. 1400 BCE–ca. 200 CE
From: Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Revised Edition.
A loose collection of magical spells and incantations that were normally written on
papyrus, sometimes illustrated, and popular in Egypt from the New Kingdom (1550–
1070 BCE), the originals were on the walls of the tombs in Saqqara. Middle Kingdom
(2040–1640 BCE) coffins also contained early versions. The Book of the Dead was later
called the pert em hru (Chapters of the Coming Forth By Day). The Am Duat, or Am
Tuat, was to instruct the deceased on how to overcome the dangers of the afterlife, by
enabling them to assume the form of several mythical creatures, and to give them the
passwords necessary for admittance to certain stages of the Underworld. The spells also
allowed the deceased to proclaim themselves as bearing the identity of many gods. It is
estimated that there were approximately 190 independent "chapters" or sections of the
Book of the Dead, although there is no single extant papyrus containing all of them.
The spells and passwords were placed in the tombs of the ancient Egyptians from about
1600 BCE onward, although there are indications that they were included in the sections
called "Chapters" as early as the Twelfth Dynasty (1900 BCE). These spells and
passwords were not part of a ritual but were fashioned for the deceased, to be recited in
the afterlife. Egyptians believed in the efficacy of magic and in the cultic powers of the
gods. At the same time they had considerable faith in life after death, a belief that
included specific paradises and activities. The abundance of their material world was
something cherished by the Egyptians, who translated paradise into similar terms, with
the same fertile fields, light, and sacred waters.
In the early periods the funerary texts were reserved to the reigning families and other
aristocrats. In time, however, these texts became more and more available to the
commoners. The Book of the Dead became a normal item of manufacturing, and the
individual could decide the number of chapters to be included, the types of illustrations,
and the quality of the papyrus used. The individual was limited only by his or her
financial resources.
During the New Kingdom (1550–1070 BCE), the papyri were lengthy and involved
collections of spells and passwords, some magnificently illustrated in color. The versions
of the Theban recensions Book of the Dead, a form adopted at the time, averaged
between 15 and 90 feet in length and about 13 inches in width. Some papyri were made
to order for special clients, but great stocks of the Book of the Dead were available for
those who could afford them, and individual names were put into them when purchased.
The extant papyri of the Book of the Dead were written in hieroglyphic script, called the
hieratic. They contained vignettes, protests of innocence, spells, and magic words to
provide comfort and security in Tuat. Three of the most famous versions of the Book of
the Dead, discovered in the tombs of Egyptians, called Ani, Anhai, and Hunefer, are now
in the British Museum, London.
Other religious documents provided for the deceased during various historical periods
have also been discovered. The Book of the Gates contains formulas for making the sun
rise and traces the road of the gods and the deceased, showing various openings through
which the boat of Ré would have to pass in order to be released from perils. The
Judgment Halls of Osiris and the various paradises awaiting the deceased are explained.
The text also includes designs for solar boats, with arrows and magical disks. Such boats
were fashioned by the faithful and then burned in cultic rituals to rejuvenate the sun in a
mystical fashion each day, as part of overthrowing Apophis (1). The earliest display of
the Book of the Gates is on the walls of the tomb of Horemhab (1319–1307 BCE) in the
Valley of the Kings.
The Book of the Opening of the Mouth, once part of the List of Offerings, a text
developed in the Eighteenth Dynasty with new ceremonies attached to the traditional
ones, remained popular. Priests used the ur-heka instrument according to the rituals of
this book and magically opened the mouth of the corpse, while libations were poured out
in honor of the gods. The purpose of the book and its rituals was to provide the deceased
with a new form in the other world and to make him or her part of the divine cosmos
there. The rites were also designed to establish contact between the living and the dead,
an important aspect of Egyptian beliefs. In later periods the corpse was no longer used for
the rituals. A statue was designed to take the place of the deceased during the ceremonies.
The Book of the Pylons, called the Shat en Sebau, was another version of the Book of the
Dead. This work was written to provide the dead with detailed descriptions of the
Underworld. Another funerary text, called alternately the Deliverance of Mankind or the
Destruction of Mankind, was discovered in the tomb of Seti I (r. 1306–1290 BCE) of the
Nineteenth Dynasty. The document concerns a popular myth about the nature of man.
Yet other versions included the Book of Breathing, the Book of Traversing in Eternity,
and the Book of Being in Tuat. The various religious or funerary texts called the Book of
the Dead evolved over the centuries as mortuary rituals became more sophisticated and
broad in their appeal. New versions appear in the New Kingdom, and another one after
the fall of the pharaonic dynasties. These were recensions, formulated in Heliopolis,
Thebes, and Sais.
http://www.fofweb.com/NuHistory/default.asp?ItemID=WE49&NewItemID=True