Book 7
May 27 - 29
Glorious and Mysterious Egypt
Ancient Egypt has always been a mystery for me. It is extraordinary, how they precocious they are in many areas, writing, agricultural techniques, medicine, production, architecture tax and political systems, they were thousands of years ahead of their time, but their view of the world was primeval and naive, closer to a prehistoric caveman's than ours. They worshiped numerous gods who represented natural elements and events, they though spirits controlled every natural phenomenon, which left them powerless in the face of gods' wrath, dependent only on prayers.
Yet there has been no other civilization to witness such a long-standing prosperity and power. Their 3,000 year history exists now only in the tombs, temples and other legacy scattered around the world. It gives me goose bumps when I think about it.
Yesterday, I finished reading "Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians" by Bob Brier and Hoyt Hobbs. Surprisingly, this non-fiction book on history turned out to be more engaging than a few novels that I'd read before.
For those interested in this issue, the book will be a great asset. It is an easy read. It gives a detailed insight into the world of the Ancient Egyptians, but the text is neither overloaded nor lofty. I'd say it is a perfect choice for those who are, like me, quite familiar with the Egyptian history, but want to organize this knowledge and get a more detailed picture.
The book covers every significant sphere of the Ancient Egyptians' life, history, religion, government, society, work, play, food, clothes and adornments, arts and crafts, architecture, technology and construction, warfare, medicine and sciences. In addition, there are plenty of photos, maps and tables to illustrate the material.
I want to share the facts which I found most interesting.
1. Egyptians believed that gods will recreate whatever they saw in a man's tomb, so Egyptians decorated the tombs with paintings they most enjoyed.
2. Despite all the secrets Ancient Egypt is steeped in, its success and greatness may be explained simply by its location. It is believed that the Nile is the key to understanding Egypt's power. The annual floods of the Nile provided Egyptians with crops more predictable and stable than in other areas where people depended on rains. It also made soil very fertile and easy to plow. As a result, more food was grown with less manpower than in other countries, which gave Egypt a surplus to trade and time to devote to matters other than mere survival.
3. It is considered that the history of Ancient Egypt started in Predynastic times around 3150 B.C. and ended in 30 B.C. with the death of Cleopatra and Egypt's surrender to Rome. Well, beauty doesn't always save the world, does it?
4. There was only one short period, 16 years, in Ancient Egyptian history when Egypt became monotheistic. Pharaoh Akhenaten came up with the idea of one god, Aten. People continued worshiping their numerous gods though. After Akhenaten's death, his religion was obliterated as well as any memories of him and his family. By the way, the members of his family are also notoriously famous. His wife was the most beautiful woman in history, Nefertiti. His son Tutankhamen, murdered young, is the only pharaoh whose tomb hadn't been robbed before archaeologists discovered it.
5. Speaking about the tombs, they were desecrated not in our times as many believe, this happened after the collapse of the Old Kingdom, in 2181, when a long period of turmoil started in Egyptian history. It ended in 2040 when the Middle Kingdom began.
6. Ancient Egyptians didn't have notions of hell or heaven, but all people were judged after death, the corrupted hearts of sinners were thrown to a creature called the Great Devourer. After this sinners just stopped to exist.
7. Dark and scary Anubis, the god with a head of jackal, is merely the god of embalming.
8. Ancient Egyptians didn't have prisons. Criminals could be beaten, mutilated, executed, sent to mines or quarries, or exiled.
9. Ancient Egyptians didn't kiss. One of the signs of affection was to rub noses.
10. Pharaohs had harems and one royal wife.
11. They didn't have money until epoch of Ptolemies, the last dynasty. To trade something, they used barter.
12. They also didn't have days of the week and weekends. They worked all the time, except major religious holidays. They had three seasons with four months in each. Despite being nameless, each day was marked in calendar as representing specific theological events. They had a 24 hour day, but minutes and seconds didn't exist. Hour spans were measured by special candles with marks down their sides or by lines on a bowl that showed the water remaining after steady dripping.
13. No schools existed, only sons of scribes, higher officials and sometimes children of farmers could attend temples for instruction of letters. The rest were illiterate.
I stop at my favourite number 13:) Hope you'll find this trivia interesting.
I give this book 10 out of 10.
My next book, which I have already started, is "The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Amarna and Its People" by Barry Kemp. This one is of great interest for me since my next novel about the detective Cassandra Ayers is about the excavation of Akhenaten's tomb. This book is bigger, so I give myself three days, May 30 - June 1.
Glorious and Mysterious Egypt
Ancient Egypt has always been a mystery for me. It is extraordinary, how they precocious they are in many areas, writing, agricultural techniques, medicine, production, architecture tax and political systems, they were thousands of years ahead of their time, but their view of the world was primeval and naive, closer to a prehistoric caveman's than ours. They worshiped numerous gods who represented natural elements and events, they though spirits controlled every natural phenomenon, which left them powerless in the face of gods' wrath, dependent only on prayers.
Yet there has been no other civilization to witness such a long-standing prosperity and power. Their 3,000 year history exists now only in the tombs, temples and other legacy scattered around the world. It gives me goose bumps when I think about it.
Yesterday, I finished reading "Daily Life of the Ancient Egyptians" by Bob Brier and Hoyt Hobbs. Surprisingly, this non-fiction book on history turned out to be more engaging than a few novels that I'd read before.
For those interested in this issue, the book will be a great asset. It is an easy read. It gives a detailed insight into the world of the Ancient Egyptians, but the text is neither overloaded nor lofty. I'd say it is a perfect choice for those who are, like me, quite familiar with the Egyptian history, but want to organize this knowledge and get a more detailed picture.
The book covers every significant sphere of the Ancient Egyptians' life, history, religion, government, society, work, play, food, clothes and adornments, arts and crafts, architecture, technology and construction, warfare, medicine and sciences. In addition, there are plenty of photos, maps and tables to illustrate the material.
I want to share the facts which I found most interesting.
1. Egyptians believed that gods will recreate whatever they saw in a man's tomb, so Egyptians decorated the tombs with paintings they most enjoyed.
2. Despite all the secrets Ancient Egypt is steeped in, its success and greatness may be explained simply by its location. It is believed that the Nile is the key to understanding Egypt's power. The annual floods of the Nile provided Egyptians with crops more predictable and stable than in other areas where people depended on rains. It also made soil very fertile and easy to plow. As a result, more food was grown with less manpower than in other countries, which gave Egypt a surplus to trade and time to devote to matters other than mere survival.
3. It is considered that the history of Ancient Egypt started in Predynastic times around 3150 B.C. and ended in 30 B.C. with the death of Cleopatra and Egypt's surrender to Rome. Well, beauty doesn't always save the world, does it?
4. There was only one short period, 16 years, in Ancient Egyptian history when Egypt became monotheistic. Pharaoh Akhenaten came up with the idea of one god, Aten. People continued worshiping their numerous gods though. After Akhenaten's death, his religion was obliterated as well as any memories of him and his family. By the way, the members of his family are also notoriously famous. His wife was the most beautiful woman in history, Nefertiti. His son Tutankhamen, murdered young, is the only pharaoh whose tomb hadn't been robbed before archaeologists discovered it.
5. Speaking about the tombs, they were desecrated not in our times as many believe, this happened after the collapse of the Old Kingdom, in 2181, when a long period of turmoil started in Egyptian history. It ended in 2040 when the Middle Kingdom began.
6. Ancient Egyptians didn't have notions of hell or heaven, but all people were judged after death, the corrupted hearts of sinners were thrown to a creature called the Great Devourer. After this sinners just stopped to exist.
7. Dark and scary Anubis, the god with a head of jackal, is merely the god of embalming.
8. Ancient Egyptians didn't have prisons. Criminals could be beaten, mutilated, executed, sent to mines or quarries, or exiled.
9. Ancient Egyptians didn't kiss. One of the signs of affection was to rub noses.
10. Pharaohs had harems and one royal wife.
11. They didn't have money until epoch of Ptolemies, the last dynasty. To trade something, they used barter.
12. They also didn't have days of the week and weekends. They worked all the time, except major religious holidays. They had three seasons with four months in each. Despite being nameless, each day was marked in calendar as representing specific theological events. They had a 24 hour day, but minutes and seconds didn't exist. Hour spans were measured by special candles with marks down their sides or by lines on a bowl that showed the water remaining after steady dripping.
13. No schools existed, only sons of scribes, higher officials and sometimes children of farmers could attend temples for instruction of letters. The rest were illiterate.
I stop at my favourite number 13:) Hope you'll find this trivia interesting.
I give this book 10 out of 10.
My next book, which I have already started, is "The City of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Amarna and Its People" by Barry Kemp. This one is of great interest for me since my next novel about the detective Cassandra Ayers is about the excavation of Akhenaten's tomb. This book is bigger, so I give myself three days, May 30 - June 1.
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