New Discoveries - Egypthttp://www.youtube.com/v/

3gsimvNTdXM&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3

Ancient Egyptian HistoryFall/ Spring Class 3 2010/2011

Middle KingdomGCCC Encore Instructor

Joe Boisvert

Life Style of Ancient EgyptiansThe most common food eaten among average

Egyptians was bread made from wheat. Beer made from barley was the most popular beverage.

The food of the Ancient Egyptians was fairly

diverse, including fruits and vegetables, fish and poultry.

Rich Egyptians could enjoy beef, antelope, gazelle and many sorts of baked goods. They also drank wine, made from grapes or dates.

Life Styles - ClothesThe most common garments were robes, made from linens. Headdresses were common, and rich Egyptians often used wigs. Common Egyptians did not use shoes, while rich Egyptians used sandals.

Life Styles – Houses, Fuel, CookingOrdinary houses were made from

dried mud, with roofs made from palm tree trunks and palm leaves.

Sizes of the houses varied immensely between the one-room huts of poor people and the multi-room mansions of the rich.

Furniture was commonly used, and candles and lamps were employed to light the interior. Charcoal and wood was used for fuel. Clay ovens and fires were used for cooking. 

Houses for the Wealthy

Middle Kingdom – How Did They Know the PharaohsThe Kings List

Kings List 1250 BC With Prayer At Top, Pharaoh would Have Ceremony Every Year to Read List

The Old Kingdom was FirstThe royal capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom

was located at Memphis, where Djoser established his court. The Old Kingdom is perhaps best known, however, for the large number of pyramids which were constructed at this time as pharaonic burial places. For this reason, the Old Kingdom is frequently referred to as "the Age of the Pyramids".

First Pharaoh was Namer and known to us through the Name Palette

The Fourth Dynasty ruled from 2613 to 2498 BC and included the pharaohs who had the Great Pyramids built, Khufu (Cheops), Khafra (Chephren) and Menkaura (Mycerinus)

THE NARMER PALETTEThis stone palette is thought to depict the

unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.It portrays the triumph of King Narmer of Upper

Egypt over his rivals in the North. Usually dated around 3100 B.C.E., the object was

found in the temple of the hawk-god Hor (Khor, Horus) in the city of Nekhen (later known to the Greeks as Hierakonpolis, "Hawk City").

The palette would normally have been used for grinding stones to make eye-paint, but this one may have been merely ceremonial rather than cosmetic.

Narmer Palette - The relic was discovered during excavation works in 1898 at Hierakonpolis

Narmer Palette Front and Back 3100 BC

Kings List plus Writings of Contemporary HistoriansThe historian Manetho (270 BC) wrote a

history of Egypt giving the number of dynasties, the number of kings, their names and the length of each reign. 

He was an Egyptian Priest that took take of the tombs and offerings. He wrote during the Greek Period. He wrote in Greek because by then the Pharaoh was Greek.

Series of Nine Overlapping Photo’s Showing Complete Kings List

Heredity Very Important to EgyptiansMany Different Kings List Found in Egypt

Turin Kings List One of the most Complete

List found in Thebes, Abydos and other MajorCenters

Egyptian Art Showed Real Life and After Live Mixed

Summary Our Knowledge of Pharaohs based on Kings List and Account of Historians

Our knowledge of the succession of Egyptian kings is based on king lists kept by the ancient Egyptians themselves.

The most famous are the Palermo Stone, which covers the period from the earliest dynasties to the middle of Dynasty 5;

the Abydos King list, which Seti I had carved on his temple at Abydos;

The Turin Canon, a papyrus that covers the period from the earliest dynasties to the reign of Ramesses II.

List Compiled by Pharaohs themselves at their Temples

First Intermediate PeriodThe Egyptians called this Period the Time of

Illness Egypt was in TurmoilThis is When Most of the Robbing and

Plundering of the Pyramids took Place!The Egyptians Hated Change they wanted

Stability.Very little records have been found dating

from this time period.Most of what we know comes from the

Lamentations written in the Middle Kingdom. Style of Egyptian Writing lamenting things that had happened

Introduction to Lamentations – First Modern Form of Literature

The Ipuwer Papyrus -Lamentations

The emergence of what is considered literature by modern standards seems to have occurred during the First Intermediate Period

With a flowering of new literary genres in the Middle Kingdom

A particularly important piece is the Ipuwer Papyrus, often called the Lamentations of Ipuwer

Lamentations Complain About the Conditions of the State The text is written in first person,

with Ipuwer speaking in the presence of the king as he tries to waken in the king a sense of responsibility for the dismal condition of the state.

Ipuwer complains about the break-down of law and the disorderly fashion in which the government is currently being run

Lamenting All the Changes in Egypt

He also talks about noble ladies having to beg for food while former servant girls are being clothed in gold and lapis lazuli 

He speaks of foreigners who are coming into the country and becoming Egyptians.

Ipuwer is especially upset with the fact that ships are no longer sailing to Byblos and that trade with other nations was ebbing 

Lamentations – Israelis Working as Slaves Making Bricks in Egypt.Question did some Egyptians get Forced into Slavery During Intermediate Period??

Understanding Intermediate versus Middle KingdomIntermediate – The order

of things are changed.Foreigners are coming

into EgyptFormer lower classes

gaining wealth.No Unifications of Upper

and Lower, Egypt, Many claiming to be Pharaoh

No Guards in the Temples less Temple Priest to guard the Tombs

Middle KingdomForeigners are driven out or

assimilated into cultureUpper and Lower Egypt are

Reunited, order is restored.Taxes are collected and

large scale municipal projects are restarted.

Once Again Egypt has Peace and Prosperity.

Large Scale Expeditions to gather exotic Stones for Temples, ten of thousands of people involved.

Middle KingdomFrom the 11th dynasty 2125-1991 BC

to the 17th dynasty 1650-1550 BC  - Note Some Theories do not include 11th dynasty

Egyptian dating is expressed by ruling families - dynasties. The historian Manetho (270 BC) wrote a history of Egypt giving the number of dynasties, the number of kings, their names and the length of each reign.

The End Class Three, Year TwoSpring 2010 – Joe Boisvert