Ancient Egypt
Egyptology
• n.
• The study of the culture and artifacts of the ancient
Egyptian civilization
• Study of pharaonic Egypt from the putative beginnings of
Egyptian culture (c. 4500 BC) to the Arab conquest (AD
641). Egyptology began with discovery of the Rosetta
Stone (1799) and the publication of Description de l'Égypt
(1809 – 28) by scholars accompanying Napoleon I. In the
19th century the Egyptian government opened Egypt to
Europeans, many of whose collecting activities amounted
to little more than plundering. In 1880 Flinders Petrie
brought controlled, scientifically recorded excavation to
Egypt, revolutionizing archaeology and pushing theories
on Egyptian origins back to 4500 BC. The discovery of
Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922 heightened public
awareness. In 1975 the First International Congress of
Egyptology convened in Cairo. Many sites remain that
have been only slightly explored.
Rosetta Stone
• A basalt tablet bearing
inscriptions in Greek and in
Egyptian hieroglyphic and
demotic scripts that was
discovered in 1799 near
Rosetta, a town of northern
Egypt in the Nile River
delta, and provided the key
to the decipherment of
Egyptian hieroglyphics.
• Inscribed stone slab, now in the British Museum, that
provided an important key to the decipherment of
Egyptian hieroglyphs. An irregularly shaped block of
black basalt with inscriptions in hieroglyphs, Demotic
Egyptian, and Greek, it was discovered by Napoleon's
troops near the town of Rosetta (Rashid), northeast of
Alexandria, in 1799. The text concerns the deeds of
Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205 – 180 BC) and dates from
the ninth year of his reign. Its decipherment was
begun by Thomas Young, who isolated the proper
names in the Demotic version, and decisively
completed by J.-F. Champollion, who grasped that
some hieroglyphs were phonetic.
Jean-Francois Champollion
• (born Dec. 23, 1790,
Figeac, France — died
March 4, 1832, Paris)
French scholar. He
played a major role in
the deciphering of
Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Champollion was a
linguistic prodigy who
had immersed himself
in Hebrew, Arabic,
Syriac, and Coptic as
well as Greek and
Latin by age 19.
• After study of the Rosetta Stone and other
texts, Champollion demonstrated decisively in
Summary of the Hieroglyphic System of the
Ancient Egyptians (1825) that a phonetic
value could be assigned to some hieroglyphs.
He became curator of the Louvre's Egyptian
collection (1826) and conducted an
archaeological expedition to Egypt (1828 –
30).
• Champollion's brother, Jacques Joseph
Champollion-Figeac, published a number of
Champollion's works posthumously, including an
Egyptian grammar (1836-1841), a hieroglyphic
dictionary (1841-1844), and, the most famous,
Monuments de l'Egypte et de la Nubie … (4 vols.,
1835-1847).
Giovanni Battista Belzoni
• 1778-1823, Italian
adventurer and antiquities
dealer. He lived (1803-12) in
England and there invented
a hydraulic machine, which
he attempted to introduce
into Egypt in 1815. He
subsequently became
involved in securing
Egyptian antiquities in order
to sell them to European
collectors. He opened
(1817) the rock temple of
Abu-Simbel, and he
discovered (1817) the tomb
of Seti I at Thebes.
• Active at a time before the emergence of scientific
archaeology and the government protection of
Egyptian antiquities, Belzoni was a major
participant in the recovery of Egyptian monuments
and antiquities that took place in the early 19th
cent. at the behest of European collectors,
museums, and governments. It resulted in the
removal of many Egyptian treasures to Europe and
the destruction and disruption of numerous
monuments and much archaeological material. His
exploits are recorded in his Narrative (1820).
Seti I
• Seti I (also called Sethos I after the Greeks) was a
Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt (Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt),
the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of
Ramesses II. As with all dates in Ancient Egypt, the actual
dates of his reign are unclear, and various historians
claim different dates, with 1294 BC – 1279 BC[4] and
1290 BC to 1279 BC[5] being the most commonly used by
scholars today.
• The name Seti means "of Set", which indicates that he
was consecrated to the god Set (commonly "Seth"). As
with most Pharaohs, Seti had several names. Upon his
ascension, he took the prenomen mn-m3‘t-r‘, which
translates as Menmaatre in Egyptian,which means "
Eternal is the Justice of Re."[1] His better known nomen,
or birth name is technically transliterated as sty mry-nptḥ, or Sety Merenptah, meaning "Man of Set, beloved
of Ptah". Manetho incorrectly considered him to be the
founder of the 19th dynasty.
Seti I Sarcophagus
Valley of the Kings
• Narrow gorge, Upper Egypt, near the ancient city of Thebes. It
is the burial site of nearly all of the kings (pharaohs) of the
18th – 20th dynasties (1539 – 1075 BC), from Thutmose I to
Ramses X. The valley contains 62 tombs, virtually all of which
were robbed in antiquity. Only the tomb of Tutankhamen
escaped pillage; after its excavation in the 1920s, its treasures
were placed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The longest
tomb belongs to Queen Hatshepsut, whose burial chamber is
nearly 700 ft (215 m) from the entrance. The largest tomb,
built for the sons of Ramses II, contains scores of burial
chambers. The valley is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site
(designated 1979) centred on Thebes.
• Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/valley-of-thekings#ixzz1ezVKzioN
Abu Simbel, Nubia
• Abu Simbel temples refers to two massive rock temples in Abu
Simbel ( ‫أبو سمبل‬in Arabic) in Nubia, southern Egypt on the
western bank of Lake Nasser about 230 km southwest of
Aswan (about 300 km by road). The complex is part of the
UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian
Monuments,"[1] which run from Abu Simbel downriver to
Philae (near Aswan).
• Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/abusimbel#ixzz1ezVnuk19
• The twin temples were originally carved out of the
mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the
13th century BC, as a lasting monument to himself and his
queen Nefertari, to commemorate his alleged victory at the
Battle of Kadesh, and to intimidate his Nubian neighbors.
However, the complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968, on
an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the
Aswan High Dam reservoir.
• Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/abusimbel#ixzz1ezVxYTsw
Abu Simbel, Nubia
Main Temple Entrance
Nefertari’s Temple
Interior
(Ra, Amun, Ptah, Ramesses)
Ramesses II
• (flourished 13th century BC)
King of ancient Egypt, 1279 –
13 BC. His family came to
power some decades after
the reign of Akhenaton.
Ramses set about restoring
Egypt's power by quelling
rebellions in southern Syria
and fighting the Hittites
inconclusively at the Battle of
Kadesh. He captured towns in
Galilee and Amor, but, unable
to defeat the Hittites, he
assented to a peace treaty in
1258 BC.
• He married one and perhaps two of the Hittite king's
daughters, and the later part of his reign was free from war. Its
prosperity may be measured by the amount of construction
he undertook. Early on he built himself a residence city in the
Nile delta as a base for military campaigns and resumed
construction of the temple of Osiris, begun by his father. He
added to the temple at Karnak and completed a funerary
temple for his father at Luxor. In Nubia he built six temples,
most famously those at Abu Simbel.
• Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/ramsesiii#ixzz1ezWgeItp
Howard Carter
• Howard Carter discovered and
excavated the tomb of Egyptian
pharaoh King Tutankhamen.
Carter got his start as an artist,
tracing Egyptian hieroglyphics for
others, before becoming an
archaeologist himself. His search
for the tomb of King Tut took
nearly a decade, including a
lengthy interruption during World
War I, and was supported
financially by George Herbert, the
earl of Carnarvon.
On King Tut
• Carter discovered the
tomb of Tut on 4
November 1922 and
opened the tomb after
Lord Carnarvon's arrival
at the site on the 26th of
November. Ironically,
Tutankhamen had been
practically unknown
before the discovery, but
news coverage of Carter's
amazing find made "King
Tut" a household name.
• Carnarvon, already in very frail health, died of an infected mosquito
bite and pneumonia shortly after the opening of the tomb in 1923.
Without his powerful patron, and due to his stubbornness, Carter
soon got into trouble with the Egyptian authorities who temporarily
took his concession away from him. He finally completed his work
on the clearing and the conservation of the tomb objects in 1932. A
three-volume work on the discovery of the tomb and its contents,
called The Tomb of Tutankhamen, much of it ghost written by
Carter's friend Percy White, appeared between 1923 and 1933.
Carter was preparing a definitive report on the tomb in six volumes,
when he died in London on March 2, 1939. Although Carter died
both famous and wealthy, he was given no public honors by either
the British or other governments.
• Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/howardcarter#ixzz1ezcKqNbp
Tutankhamun’s Tomb
• One of the best-preserved tombs ever found, it was filled with
thousands of artefacts, and the golden death mask which covered
his mummy is now a famous relic of the ancient world. Before
Carter's discovery, Tutankhamen was practically unknown, and his
life still remains something of a mystery; probably he was the 12th
ruler in Egypt's 18th Dynasty. Tut most likely was the son of Pharaoh
Amenhotep IV (also known as Akhenaten), and was married to his
probable half-sister Ankhesenamun, the daughter of Akhneten and
the famous Queen Nefertiti. Tut died when he was about 18, having
ruled for nine years, and so is often called the Boy King. Tut's death
has also been something of a mystery. X-rays taken in 1968 indicated
he may have been killed by a blow to his head, and testing in 2005
suggested death by infection from a broken leg. But DNA analysis a
few years later showed that Tut had a severe form of malaria that
affected his brain and probably killed him.
King Tut’s Funerary Mask
Valley of the Kings, Thebes
• Standing on the west bank of the Nile, across from
ancient Thebes (now Luxor), the Valley of the Kings is one of
Egypts most sensitive archaeological sites. Further discoveries
in 2005 and 2008 have put the total number of tombs in the
necropolis at 63 and these range from simple, single pits to
lavish complexes, the largest of which comprises 120
chambers.
Map
• The tombs contain important artwork helping scholars to
piece together information about ancient Egyptian burial rites
and beliefs and, although most of the tombs were plundered
centuries ago, they still convey the oppulence and luxury
which characterised the lives of their occupants. The first
tombs in the valley are thought to belong to Amenhotep I and
Thutmose I, whose tomb bears notes recording that its
location was selected by the king's adviser, Ineni. Further
tombs are cut into the peak of al-Qurn, which would once
have been guarded by special tomb police.
Pyramids of Giza
(Khufu, Kafre, Menkaure)
Sphinx, Khafre’s Pyramid
• Though Khafre's pyramid is shorter than his father Khufu's
nearby Great Pyramid, Khafre made up for it by building at a
higher elevation and surrounding his pyramid with a more
elaborate complex.
• Within the burial chamber, explorers discovered a small pit cut
in the floor—perhaps designed to hold the first canopic chest
in a pyramid. Canopic chests held jars carved in the shapes of
protective spirits. These jars, in turn, held the preserved liver,
lungs, stomach, and intestines of the deceased. The brain
would have been discarded, and the heart left in the body.
• Outside the pyramid all the typical elements of a pharaonic
mortuary temple are seen in one place for the first time:
entrance hall, colonnaded courtyard, niches for royal statuary,
storage chambers, and interior sanctuary. Later pyramids
would be significantly smaller, with greater emphasis on these
mortuary temples.
Stepped Pyramid, Saqqara
• Intended to hold his mummified body, Pharaoh Djoser's Step
Pyramid at Saqqara began as a traditional, flat-roofed
mastaba. But by the end of his 19-year reign, in 2611 B.C., it
had risen to six stepped layers and stood 204 feet (62 meters)
high. It was the largest building of its time.
• Imhotep—architect of the Step Pyramid, physician, priest, and
founder of a cult of healing—was deified 1,400 years after his
lifetime.
Menofre
• It also tells him something incredible about the age of the
world. The tomb belongs to a man called Menofre who was
Royal hairdresser to a King called Djedkare – a King who lived
during the fifth dynasty, one that predated Noah's Flood and,
according to the Church and the Bible, could not have existed.
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005
/10_october/17/egypt_champ_eps.shtml
• More on this topic:
• http://michaellothianart.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/thegreat-flood-and-john-francois-champollion/
Issues:
• Monumentality
• What is monumentality? How would you describe Egypt’s art and
architecture?
• “Life is a preparation for death.”
• Explain this. What is the pre-occupation of Egypt’s art and
culture. Why?
• Compare and contrast Ancient Egyptian art and culture from
that of Filipinos.
For more on Ancient Egypt:
• http://www.answers.com/
• http://www.nationalgeographic.com/pyramids/index.html
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005
/10_october/17/egypt.shtml