Neolithic Egypt (up to 8000-3000 BCE) - Ancient History: Egypt

In ancient Egyptian cosmology and iconography, the scarab was routinely associated with the rising sun. The Egyptians worshipped the Sun in many different forms, and a scarab was used in Egyptian hieroglyphics to refer to the Sun at dawn.

Throughout ancient Egyptian history, Egyptian people wore amulets that were dedicated to various Gods so that those Gods might offer them protection and good fortune. The Egyptians believed that these amulets were important both on Earth and in the afterlife, and so tended to bury rulers with amulets designed to ensure the favor of the Gods and to ward off evil spirits.

Egypt was once called Kemet (The Black Land). The black referred to the dark, rich soil of the region. It was also called Deshret (Red Land) referring to it's miles of deserts. Finally, the Hwt-ka-Ptah (the House of the Ka of Ptah), Ptah was one of Egypt's first gods.

The Feast of Opet was an annual festival held in Upper Egypt during the New Kingdom period and later. It celebrated the voyage of the God Amun from the temple of Karnak to the temple of Luxor. The celebration was a procession of ceremonial boats that were carried between the two temples. Boats were an important component of Egyptian ceremony and religious worship because the Egyptians believed that the Sun and Moon sailed across the sky in boats.

The ancient Egyptians were concerned with realism in art, but not overly so. Indeed, many Egyptian works of art depict humans in an idealized form, rather than a natural form. The Egyptians did, however, believe that the primary function of art was to manifest life. For example, they believed that a depiction of a God was an incarnation of the God itself.

One of the four varieties of Egyptian writing scripts, Coptic initially emerged during the first century CE. It quickly rose in popularity due to its inclusion of Greek letters and its display of vowels, both of which made Coptic much more user-friendly than past scripts. Although it eventually fell out of use sometime between 1100 and 1500 CE, it is still used today in Christian churches throughout Egypt (this particular faith is otherwise known as Coptic Christianity).

The two earlier varieties of Egyptian script, Hieroglyphics and Hieratic, were each somewhat difficult to reproduce and casually recognize. Accordingly, the third style, known as Demotic, came into use during the eighth century CE. Unlike its two predecessors, Demotic was not pictorial in nature; instead, it was a simple, abbreviated version of Hieratic script that was very easily and swiftly produced and read. It quickly became the favored script for nearly all of Egypt’s literate classes, including scribes, merchants, priests, and other individuals whose professions necessitated their use of written language.

During the Late Period, and other times in Egyptian history (such as the New Kingdom and possibly the Middle Kingdom), formal education was available for a small number of people within Egyptian society. Primarily, formal education was extended to male elites and the sons of government officials. This ensured that only a tiny fraction of the population was literate, never more than one or two percent.

The Books of Breathing became popular in Egypt during the Late Period (probably during the so-called Saite Revival). They are prominent examples of Late Period funerary texts and may be understood as a continuation of the tradition of the earlier Egyptian Book of the Dead and other such funerary texts.

A hieroglyph is an ancient form of writing in which pictures represent words, syllables, or sounds. Hieroglyphs emerged during the Neolithic Era and have served as a means for archaeologists to learn about ancient Egypt. These pictures can be found on artifacts, on rocks, and on the walls of pyramids.

In ancient Egyptian cosmology and iconography, the scarab was routinely associated with the rising sun. The Egyptians worshipped the Sun in many different forms, and a scarab was used in Egyptian hieroglyphics to refer to the Sun at dawn.

Throughout ancient Egyptian history, Egyptian people wore amulets that were dedicated to various Gods so that those Gods might offer them protection and good fortune. The Egyptians believed that these amulets were important both on Earth and in the afterlife, and so tended to bury rulers with amulets designed to ensure the favor of the Gods and to ward off evil spirits.

Egypt was once called Kemet (The Black Land). The black referred to the dark, rich soil of the region. It was also called Deshret (Red Land) referring to it's miles of deserts. Finally, the Hwt-ka-Ptah (the House of the Ka of Ptah), Ptah was one of Egypt's first gods.

The Feast of Opet was an annual festival held in Upper Egypt during the New Kingdom period and later. It celebrated the voyage of the God Amun from the temple of Karnak to the temple of Luxor. The celebration was a procession of ceremonial boats that were carried between the two temples. Boats were an important component of Egyptian ceremony and religious worship because the Egyptians believed that the Sun and Moon sailed across the sky in boats.

The ancient Egyptians were concerned with realism in art, but not overly so. Indeed, many Egyptian works of art depict humans in an idealized form, rather than a natural form. The Egyptians did, however, believe that the primary function of art was to manifest life. For example, they believed that a depiction of a God was an incarnation of the God itself.

During the New Kingdom, many upper class women participated in religious ceremonies by playing musical instruments, such as a harp or sistrum. These instruments were intended to accompany specific rituals and were an important component of communal Egyptian worship.

Young students in ancient Egypt learned to read and write through rote memorization. Would-be scribes and government officials were instructed to copy out classic ancient texts in order to teach them how to write.

The vast majority of ancient Egyptians received no formal education whatsoever. The only people who were generally guaranteed an education were the sons of scribes and government officials. Girls were never formally educated in Egyptian society. Of course, some Egyptians might have privately educated their daughters, but this would have been extremely uncommon.

We know a considerable amount about the education of would-be scribes and government officials in the New Kingdom period. Egyptologists have determined that students were taught how to write in the hieratic script before later being taught to write and understand the much more cumbersome hieroglyphics. This is because the hieratic script was simpler, more commonly used, and more useful for government work.

The palace complex of Malkata is one of the few royal houses that survives in the archaeological record. Most archaeologists believe that it was a community that developed in Thebes to support the reign of Amenhotep III. The palace complex of Malkata provides important evidence about how Egyptian rulers lived and how their lives were intertwined with those of their subjects.