Chapter Five

EARLY EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION

the early
of Sumerian civilization in
PRIOR to the discovery
civilization was generally
twentieth century, Egyptian
the oldest civilization. This was mainly
due
considered to be
continuous existence of Egyptian civilization for an
to the
Several features of Egyptian
exceptionally long period.
almost three thousand years. The
ivilization endured for
ancient Greeks and Romans adopted many
Egyptian traditions
of Greco-Roman
when they ruled over the country. Accounts
of civilization. Judaic
historians dwell on the antiquity Egyptian with
Christian and Islamic religious texts are replete
Jewish), For centuries
and its kings (pharaohs).
references Egypt
to
instance the
tne monumental remains of ancient Egypt, as for
imagination. The
Pyramids, had a profound impact on popular
of civilization therefore remained alive till1
nemory Egyptian of its history
en times when a m o r e systematic study
was initiated.
the neolithic developed
we have already noted that civilization and the urban
e l y late in Egypt. Features of than in
somewhat later
Stu nbegan to appear in Egypt neolithic age to
Sumeria. However the transition
ear
from the
and by about
early
civilization
occurred fairly rapidly in Egypt
5000 years the whole country had been politically unified.
The 'King. ago
The BC.Unfortunately
go back to c.3100
several Lists' of Egy
Severa
pects of the period of transition
to civilization remain
record of this
Somewhat
period obscure because the archaeological
is not as extensive as in the case of Mesopotamia.
4Early Social Formations
of thegeographical feat.
A brief account of some
ares of
its eS of
nding of its
understanding
Egypt will be useful for a
is a dry,
better

arid region with vith very little story

very little rain
story
Most of Egypt is a vast desert which.
of the country me
The w e s t e r n part a r e a is referred to as the tuT8es
This desert
with the Sahara.
of Egypt is also
a desert str n
Desert. The eastern
part
Nile. Therea r e some low hills intching
from the Red Sea to the Desert. Egypt howeveriss
This is called the Eastern The Nile
flowing through it.
area.

have the river Nile run

uns
Egypt,from south to north
nate to

along the entire length of

the Mediterranean Sea. The ri
river
discharges its waters into the valley is almost 25 L
flows through
At
a places
valley. desert.
km
is bounded by cliffs and
wide. This valley region of Egypt. The
The Nilevalley is the most fertileexcellent prospects fo
river provides
annualflooding of the The Nile forms a
this otherwise arid country.
irrigation_in the
delta at the northern end of the valley betore flowing into
This delta area in the north is usually
called
Mediterranean.
portion of the country is referTed
Lower Egypt. The southern
the Nile has its course
to as Upper Egypt. In Upper Egypt
Thus the country can
through a rocks on either side.
rift with
divided into:(i) Western Desert; i) Nile valley;
broadly be
the historical period the Nile
and iii) Eastern Desert. During
main area in which the population
was
valley the
was
divided into two parts: i) the
concentrated. This is in turn
delta o r Lower Egypt; and ii) Egypt)TheUpper land lying to
the south of Egypt was called Nubia. ( Son

I
did
Unlike what presumed earlier, the Egyptian neolithic
was

not originate in the Nile valley, but in the Western

Desert.
This has to be viewed in the context of the environmentd
history of Egypt. The work of (Karl Butzer (Early Hydrauie
Civilization in Egypt))has shed light o n s o m e of the chang
which occurredin the region during the early holocene. Ine
fro"
was initially a period of increased rainfall which lasted
 6O0
duy inkwal 50o0 c
lui arid mditmo -G. 2400
Early Egyptian Civilization 105

aboutast 9200 BC to 6000 BCThis was

9200 B
:1 5000 BC2 After some further follówed by a dry
till. interval. H31Sl-
ere wet spells, thqupresent fluctuations, during which there
R. This would suggestarid.conditions,
were

J00
2400BO. that in the
were established

of desert were not

arts of the dese as
early holocene some Hnding in
dry as
they became
later on. Nie
Subsequent research by scholars
that during the early
likE. Hassan
has shown
Holocene
the Western had Desert
shifr
ore Shif
more *
water, and that the
Nile
Wa
valley_sutteredwidespread
flooding
in this period. As the valley was flooded. groups _which rDeotr
inhabited this area moved tOWards Western Desert. Since
he Western Desert was relatively the
tinmes, it could support a food
more
hospitable in those
gathering and hunting economy o0
The hunter-gatherers of the Western Desert
probably nidMNL
experimented with cultivation of wild cereals and might havedyaiak
tried to domesticate animals.By c. 8000 BP there is eyidençe r bare-
ofdomesticated barley (six-rowed barley, which requires
more moisture than two-rowed barley) in this area.
Subsequently as the desert became increasingly arid, people aridity
shifted towards the Nile valley. We have seen in chapter three1a0o 65
that settlers in the valley began practising agriculture c. 7000Hie
BP.Between 7000 and 6500 BP neolithiceconomy developed
in Lower Egypt. The earliest neolithic sites in Lower
Egypt
have been discovered at Fayum and Merimde. It has beenuonery
suggested that the neolithic of this area might have beenc
faym
influenced by West Asian cultures. As for
Upper EgYpt, weAmde
still do not know much about the beginnings of food
production here. Recent archaeological evidence indicates that 6S»3r
the neolithic began in southern Egypt after c. 6500 BP ACUer eay-
Following the early neolithic settlements at Fayui and
Merimde, there were three successive neolithic cultures in the
Nile valley. As these cultures evolved, the people became proepe
gressively adept at utilizing.the laods ofthe Nilefor agricuq
by archaeologists are: Badar.
Ure The three cultures identified Gerzén
(or Naqada I). The
an, Amratian (or Naqada I) andthe
site of Badari)c. 4100-MEAo
Dadarian culture (named after
BCSaw the emergence of severalneolithic villages along
ouU
tne Nile. It is likely that the inhabitants of these villages were
Soc@pive noougc aAEr Baedauic 1)
Am rakian (Mqada
3GztvM (Ngela )

Nedi viUages - 400 -3D B.

 badaud uhi vatd baney wearnasayal ita
domesKcasel &heer, goas cattle s
Maae wwwq ahei
Uuired uw
potty -

qauei
(Dhmraim-1 3Foo300 BC.)we
106 EarlySocial Formations PPeYr ine.
ue d c9pe ine. in
uaLews Nilt plaitta jptma
3) Ger2eLakifiiay iniqainn hal
descendants of those who had moved into the valley fr
Cunalo the Western Desert[ The Badarians cultivated om
dwg to arley
barley and
and
wheat.They had domesticated sheep, goats and cattle. Potte
was made. They still relied on some tery
tood gathering and
inwndaim hunting although agriculture, based on natura irrigation
Nile floods, played a more important role in the economy by
qe Aury The features of the Amratian culture (named after
Amrah), c. 3800 to 3500 BC, were more or less the same as tha
of the Badarian,
Vie i though the floods of the Nile were exploited
a m o r e systematically. The number of neolithicsettlement
Laia
r increased throughout the There is also
valley. some
evidence
V ofthe use of copper by the Amratians
t was during theÇerzean culture which gets its name
vuiLa from the site of El Gerzeh) thatthe Egyptians initiatedartificial
iatedartifical
irrigation by controlling inundation. Canals were dug to carr
T7 the water so that fields located at some distance from the
Poywerhi Nile could be cultivated. This created conditions for produgine
wmardh, a surplus. The soil of the Nile valley is so fertile that it has
wariers"been estimated that under normal circumstances a farmino
Piehs tamilycan,even with relatively primitive technology produce
almost three times as much food as is reqiuired for its own
Class sustenance. This should give us some idea of the potential
which Egypt has for producing a huge surplus) By the end of
the Gerzean cultre there had been á marked rise in populatiod
PO oKarl Butzer has estimated that between 4000 and 3000 Bc
had KiLN popylation went up from 350, 000 to 870, 000. The Gerzeans
madecopper objects and had kilns in which temperatures as
high as 1200° C could be attained. As we shall see, this was
dA the period in which the foundations of early
celute
were laid
Egyptian
aetged iyllzation
The Gerzean culture culminated in the political unification
SLiot of Egypt. This was an.event of great historical significance,
Sunipt
dbhandd: although the process by which it came about remains
o wrii impertectly understood. By c. 3100 Bc Egpt was a politically
unified state with a powerful mnonarchy. There was a
bureaucracy and there were warriors and pri sts. Seyerdl
prominent urban centres had come up in the Nile valley A
 Early Egyptian Cioilization| 107
lcCript was being used for writing. Egyptian society had become
lass
ac society and had acquired the various attributes of
ivilzation which we discussed in the previous chapter. The
ransition to civilization was
apparently so swift that a few
scholars have argued that some groups (possibly from West
Asia) might have entered Egypt, bringing with them new ideas
andtechniques thereby speeding up the transition. Leonard
Woolley has suggested that some features of Egyptian
ivilization, as for instance writing, may have been borrowed
fro Mesopotamia.
Among those who have
argued in terms of foreign
influencesproviding the impetus for the emergence of W
Eevptian civilization one might mention W.B. Emery (Archaicmery
EgVpt). Emery contends that some groups trom West Asia
entered southern Egypt via the Red Sea, bringing with them
Sumerian influences. According to Emery it is uncertain as to
precisely who these outsiders were, but we can interpret some
ancient Egyptian myths as referring to the conflict between
these foreigners and the indigenous people.
In
Egyptian mythology a prominent place was occupied
by the god Horus, depicted as a falcon, who was identified
with the kings of Egypt. One of the most well known
legends
connected with Horus concerned the struggle of Horus with
his uncle Set. We will discuss this myth in some detail below.
It will suffice for the moment to mention that Set was
to have assassinated his brother Osiris. Osiris was the father
supposed
of Horus. Horus eventuälly avenged the death of hËs father
by killing Set.Emery sees the conflict between Horus and Set
as a reflection of the struggle between foreigners (falcoon
worshippers) and the indigenous population (Set
Worshippers). He points out that there was a very ancint
tradition of Set worship in many parts of Egypt. Set (Sutekh)
had been worshipped for a long time as the god of the barren
desert. On the other hand, the worship of Horus was of
relatively recent origin. However in the myth, as it eventually
veloped, Setworshippers
of the falcon was portrayedaswoysy
evil.Ihis
o indicates
At a lod the victory
Batueu ore
- duier

onauyrd a wil vitoy {di

rape
 Early S x a l Formatoms

it much me
historians consider
number of ore ikely
A Jarge in the Gerzean /
had its roots
- aeo
tha
civilization
Egyptian Daniel refers to the rich potentialof the Nile
1l culturesGlyn aqada
created possibilities for civilization. He
valley which unification.Fo states
period preceding political
r u n that in the
to ve rreache
ould have
civilization and
Was
the way
already on
there without inputs from MesopotamiaB. G, Trigger has a
similar understanding and he stresses the need to loo,

eLedr 'continuities between the Gerzean

culture and early civilizai.
ion
not completely rule
out external stimuls
iarg Trigger does that large
but
savs that
there s e e m s to be no evidence
Neew/ns responsible for
migrations trom outside were
yptian
he ivilization\He is particularly critical of the hypothesis th

kadsimilar1tiesbetween ancientEgyptian and

(West Asian Semitic
were the result of migrations into Egypt. Accordina
goei languages unusual in this as it has been shown
to him there is nothing
that many ancient languages spoken over
a wide area in
ih southwest Asia and north Africa had a common ancestoy.
resulted in
phan In any case, as Butzer notes, growing aridity
r

surrounded by desert
th e Nile valley betmg Completely
T Western desert, Eastern desert, and Nubian desert). This
A restricted the interaction with West Asia, Nubia and the
NAT"Sahara, accounting for the 'closed nature of the Nile valley
At the same time the 'closed character of the valley
gave it
cohesion, facilitating the unification
greater uniformity and
of Upper and Lower Egypt *luuw
vuuhwtru 4 V*r
JaseAL nahue q NiuL vally
II
3100BC mashio Peuiod ot
Circa 3100 BC marks the beginning of the Dynastic Period
or
ancient Egyptian history. We can gather some particulars
account
the political history of this period from a historical
written by Manetho. Manetho was a priest who lived durin
the period of Greek rule over Egypt (tollowing Alexander
that
the Great's invasion). It should be borne in mind
Manetho's History ofEgypt wasswritten almost 2800 years atter
a number
the unifiçation of Egypt. However he had access to
MAmo priegr)' usrauy typt
 Farly Egvptian Cioilizatiom 10
of ancient works which formed the basis of his narrative.
Manetho's Hrstory has been foundusefulby modern historians
to work out the chronology of ancient Egypt. This is all the
ore so since many of the details mentioned by him have

beencorroborated byarchacologicalevidence.aswellas other

sources.
Manetho listed thirty-Od go Be
thirty-orfe dynasties whjch had ruled over
Manetho

Fevpt from its unification down to Alexander's conquest.

These dynasties were classifi d by him into several periods
such asOld Kingdom, Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom
with intervening phases (FirstIntermediate Period, Second
IntermediatePeriod, etc.). Modern historians continue to use
Manetho's periodization. This broad periodization is
conyenientbecausethe changeof a particular dynasty did not
always necessarily inalvemajor social and political changes.
Our discussion of early Egyptian civilization will mainly be
confined to the FarlyDynastic eriad lor ArchaicPerpd) and gg6 B
6 n oumoh
theOld Kingdom. M 2 6 8 6 2181 BC
The Early Dynastic Period was the period during which
the First and Second Dynasties ruled over Egypt (c. 3100 to
2686 BC). This was followedby the Old KingdomThird
Dynasty to Sixth Dynasty (c. 2686 to 2181 BC)JFor a short
while after the Sixth Dynasty the picture is somewhat

confusing. This is called thelFirst Intermediate Period fe-2181

to 2133 BC), Seventh to Tenth Dynastiesz A new phase
commenced with the reign of the Eleventh Dynasty. This was
the Middle Kingdom (c. 2133 to 1786 BC),Eleventhand Twelfth
there was another
Dynasties.) After the (Twelfth Dynasty
intermediate period, the Second Intermediate Period (c.1786
to 1567 BC), Thirteenth to Seventeenth DynastiesJThe Second
Intermediate Period was followed by the New Kingdom (c.
1567to 1080 Bc), Eighteenth to Twentieth Dynasties. Though
Manetho records a unilinear succession of dynasties, it is likely
that there were phases when different parts of Egyp! were
Such rulers are not
Concurrently ruledby separate dynastie_.
accounted for in Manetho's list.
ruler
LAccording to Manetho, Egypt was unified by
a

6LD kIDoM C26t6-24813-C.).

-

C2133-1734 BC)
IDLE E KINGDo M
KIN0oM (15¢7 0308-C.)
-

ME
 Formations
110| Early Social
not
certain ther Menee
whether Menes was
have has
We are
a
Menes. tions
ruler by the narought
named Archaeological
excavations
to light some evidence pertaining to
figure. anaimportant
ruler by the
role
na8h
in the
historic l ne of
played ar important
might have Nar-mer he
that Nar-mer
Nar-mer
who
It has been
suggested could
unification ofEgypt. legendary Menes. ortunately alm
Unfortunatelvad

withthe have s u r v i v e d . What we kn

beidentified Dynasty T:
no records ofthe First
dynasties canme
from the town of
hinis
is that the first
two
Hence they are also calledd 'Thin
'Thini
in Upper
Egypt.
ioweu Heu Y p t , u
born
Dynasties Luleu ol w a s responsible
for the he unification oof
Dynasty w a s possibly tha
TheFirst This
unification

Egypt. the s a m e as Menes

Lowerand Upper may
have been
work of
N a r - m e r (who
preserved in the tradition of
event was
The memory ot this as kingS of both 'Upper and
all Egyptian rulers u n i f i c a t i o n the kings
wore
designating of this
symbol
Lower Egypt. AS a representing Upper
Egypt
a white crown The king was
crown:
a double Egypt.
representing Lower The word pharaoh
and a red crown pharaoh.
a n all-powerful
monarch-the
Egyptian term per-o
(or
of the ancient referençe to
the Hebrew form This was a
is
which meant "Great House HuA - Place
per-aa) Peu-ua quean
pus-o, succeeded in integrating Egypt
the palace First Dynasty have been
Although the their
endeavour
must

on a long-term basis,
in the predynastic
period.State
preceded by similar attempts place in the predynasticperiod.
f o r m a t i o n w a s already
taking Nilevalley. These
emerged in the
A number of petty-states had controlled
small
relatively
chieftains who
were ruled by through a process of
torming
would seem that
territories. It
through subjugation, large
and/or
coalitions of petty-states eventually leading to the politica
rain
created
territorialunits were uT*
4take ruled a long
valley oaikou d
unification of the petty-state[survived
for
the predynastic
MMC any of the form of provincial administra !v
t i m e after unification in tne
units. These administratisve units
were called nomes by the
nome was In
Greeks the ancient Egvptian word for d
entities and had well defineu
dynastic period nomes w e r e stable
l42)
Pdmiuiol uain nits- nomes
own awblem (tvteLn)
 Early Egyptian Crorlzatiom 111

ries. The
termite provincial elites of these nomes
The nomes had their own couid be quite
powerfu
pO emblems which were often
animal symbols The symbols were
anminant clans settled in the originally totems of the
respective
dynastic period probably hadnomes.
Thus the nomes
of he
t their roots in the
rodynastic
pred petty-states. Atter unification these states
were
orporated in the administrative
structure in the form of
and in many cases the
territories of the, nomes
sonded to the former predynastic states.) FIRST PYNAsY
we are not in a
position to estimate the number of petty-
which had come in the MamAs
akes up predynastic period, but we
learn that at the time of unification there were
forty-two nomesT
Twenty-two of these were in Upper Egypt and twenty were Urbm
in Lower Egypt. It is likely that the political unification of fowd
Upper Egypt took place much before Upper and Lower Egypt uuan
were merged.Excavations at Nekhen in Upper Egypt have pog
revealed one of the earliest sites with monumental architeçture. » Owbgo
This city was called Hierakonpolis ("city of the falcon) by the d a s
Greeks and may well have been the capital ot unified LppeTAeronlie
Egypt in the predynastic period. Incidentally, Manetho usedjai
Greeknames for_cities and rulers which can be somewhat
confusing at times/itakopalis(ciy o ahcon)- captta"
The rulers of the First Dynasty established their capítal at
Memphis located at the junction of Upper and Lower Egypt.
Memphis (the remains of this ancient city lie just south of
modern Cairo) remained the capital of Egypt for several
centuries. This city in fact gave its name to the entire country.
Egypt is derived from Hikupteh, theancient Egyptian name
several of which
of Memphis. Bythis time large urban centres, Nile
were
tortified, had appeared throughout
the valley. The
towards the
majority of the urban centres which developed located
of the
Gerzean culture/predynasticperiod were
end Hierakonpolis (Nekhen),
n Upper Egypt. These included Elkab and Coptos. In
Abydos (Thinis), Ombos (Naqada),
Upper Egyptthere were Sais and Buto.J The Egyptian
By C 3200 Egypt had developed a script.
'hieroglyphic' which means sacred carving.
pt is called
kieuogtyput jacmed caming
-

uiptc
-

t0)
 Sc P T
12 Early Social Formations
to the script by ancient Greel
This was the name given
thisin script carved on hen when
used stope
texts written
they came across
t h e symbols bols usedDe inin
tombs) Although in the
the
temples or

hierogyphic script
arevery from(Sum
d i f f e r e n t from(S

lan
in both scriptsasign coul
cuneiform writing, yet
o r a sound (or
even an 1des). idea). This forote
for
enote
e i t h e r an object of
said to be based o n the(rebus principle rinciple in which
writing is
a
combinationpictograms or symbols are used to reproh represent
hieroglyphiesent
syllables)The
objects, words or script
pPt
nearly 3500 years. The Egyptians also
The Egvptia
remainedin use for
modified form of hierogiyphic writing call
had a slightly
hieratic'. Thehieraticscript was similar to the
hieroglvn
the signs were simpler, more rounded.
but in this script
hieratic script w a s Suitahle for evervdas.
less intricate) The
purposes, especially when a lengthy document had to
written on papyrus with a brush (papyrus was paper-like
writing material made from the papyrus plant)JScETy
CArchaic Egypt w a s a highly stratified class societv
oli governed by a tiny elite pharaoh. This
centred around the

ruling class had access to the huge surplus of Upper and of the Nile vallev
unification
Lower Egypt. The political
of timne made the river the main
S kedover an extended period
storage
highwayto transport the surplus for centralized
large share of the
uaunl
M and redistribution. A disproportionately of the
Surplus was apprpriated as tribute in the name
distributed among royal family, the
the
T pharaoh and This tribute
priesthood, the bureaucracy, and the army.
reinforced the position of
the pharaoh as an all
ualiyesl
further
monarch. Even in late predynastic
times there is
aye powerful Hierakonpolis,
social stratification)The graves at
evidence of _presence of
a
towards the
Naqada and Abydos point andtheir
Some of the tombs belong to rulers
wealthy elite. Supere i CrqakDV.
/APMN.-
familis. ) BoLGAUCRACY an elaborate
administrative
The pharaohs presided over of tne
C bureaucracy. ne
structure which included a large
supervise
functions of the bureaucracy was to
important otticia
reference toán
TIgation. From an early date there is
 pauky wuter

P M duuge s{ iria tian Cioilization | 113

uidcial s
alled adj-mer (literaly, canal digger) whd was
called adj-mer (literalla
irrigation works. The importance of this officialheldcharge
with time and weter find that the term grew pe
title for
as a title
sed as
provincial adj-mer was also
governors
tical dependence ot Egyptian agriculture In view of the
on annual Nile
loods, it was necessary for the state to
the level of water. For this purposekeep itself informed
there was abranch
of the administrat1On (per-mu)_which was
entrusted with
#he task of recording and reporting water levels. rin ie P rua
Thelannual inundation of the Nile is primarily caused
monsoon rains on the Ethiopian plateau where the
monsoon
by..
one of the bbranches of the main Nile,
of the Blue Nile,r =
one
originates at Lake Tana. w
Those rains cause the level of the water to rise. In
river begins to rise in June and the water
Egypt the o NV
reaches its highest
levelby September. Thereafter the river
begins to recede. The
seed was sown in
October/November when the floods began
tosubside and water had been drained from the
fields!v-
BetweenAugust and January the Nile can be utilized for lu
irrigation by channeling the water into fields. By February uiued
the level is too low for the purposeThe
agricultural cycle J»r ii(a
was divided into three seasons: akhet.or
flood:_peret_ or
germination (sprouting); and chemu_or harvest, It is worth p
noting that the annual inundation coincides with the kr Feb
ue
(uve water
agricultural season, a feature which we do not find in,ou
Mesopotamia. This renders irrigation a relatively easier task
in Egypt. Unlike
Mesopotamia,where detailed attention_has
to be paid to irrigation facilities
depending on localconditions,
only a generalized supervision of irrigation is required in
gyp 3 Rlanuo:Met (ud)puel (yenuinakn)l cheuu
Whereas the floods are on the whole quite regular, there
can be variations in the water level. A difference of six feet
either way can create problems. If the riverrises morethan
SI feet abave the normal flood level, the countryside tends
to become waterlogged delaying agricultural operations. On
the other hand if the level is more than six feet below normal
t is
insufficient-ferirrigation. Consequently the water level
Was a matter of great concern to the Egyptian statel It kept a
 114 Early Social Formations
the annual flood so that the
ne nature
watch on the status of
close ascertained.
of the harvest
could be
OLD KING DoM

Egyptian civiliza
the Old Kingdom that
It was during The achievements the o
the of
of
entered its m a t u r e
phase.
on Egyptian culture
profound impact and
Kingdom had a centuries. in this period the Egvnt.
civilization for several further consolidated
ruling class,
headed by the pharaoh,its control over the rich
increase
This allowed it to
now firml
power. The pharaoh was by
r e s o u r c e s of the country.
Even in the Archaic Period, the pharaoh
established as a god. note that in Egvnt
was being projected
divinity. We should
as a
a secondary role in relation
the priesthood generally played
himself was worshipped as a god. The
to the king. The king
of elaborate rituals
Old Kingdom witnessed the growth
The cult of the
connected with the worship of the pharaoh.
and this cult came to occupy
pharaoh was vigorously promoted
an important place in Egyptian religion. Many of the prominent
associated with the cult of
Egyptian deities were gradually
the This made the Egyptian rulers omnipotent in an
pharaoh.
unprecedented way.
The archaeological remains of the Old Kingdom help us
to reconstruct some of the features of state and society in the
Old Kingdom. The most impressive buildings are the royal
tombs. The practice of constructing gigantic monuments for
the burial of pharaohs commenced in the Third Dynasty with
the step pyramid of Djoser. Djoser was the founder of the
Third Dynasty. He built a huge monument at
Saqqara (near
Memphis) for his own burial. Before this the pharaohs had
been buried in large
underground cemeteries called 'mastabas
From the time of Djoser
constructed.
overground mausoleums began to be
Djoser's step pyramid revolutionized
architecture. His tomb was made Egyptian
the earliest entirely with stone, being
Egyptian monument to be built
fully of stone. The
 Farly Egyptian
Ciorlization 115

npwere placed very skilfully in such

manner that large
a
steps werewere formed on each of the four
sides of the
aTangement of steps gave the structure a building
hap Dioser's step pyTamid is supposed to pyramidical
h Imhotep whose name is inscribed on it. have been designed
hitect endured for centuries right Imhotep's
an archite fame as
k rule.
Greek
Gree rule. Imhotep was raised to Pup to
to the status
the
period
period
or
of
of a
of
the a
god and
god and
worshipped by y the Egyptiane and
Egyptians later bv
Imhoten with and
roks identified Imhotep
Greeks identified
by the Greeks. The
The architecture of the
Asclepios, the god of healing
pyramids continued to evolve
n
und der the successors of
Djoser-from step pyramids to true
amids-till it reached its climax in the Fourth
The Fourth Dynasty Pyramids, situated at Giza close toDynasty.
modern
Cairo, are staggering in their dimensions. In terms of sheer
size these monuments were unparalleled in the ancient world.
The Fourth Dynasty Pyramids highlight the unique position
which the pharaohs occupied within the Egyptian ruling class.
Thev are also a reflection of the extensive resources which
were at the command of that class. The two most spectacular
pyramids of the Giza group are those of Cheops or Khufu
(second ruler of the Fourth Dynasty) and one of his successors,
Chephren (or Khafre). The pyramid in which Cheops was
buried has a square base with each side measuring 235 metres.
It is 146.5 metres high. The pyramid of Chephren has a base
of 215.25 square metres and is 143.5 metres high.
The gigantic proportions of these pyramids can be gauged
from the fact that each of them was built out of at least two
million blocks of stone, a block weighing two-and-a-half tons
on an average. These pyramids exhibit a very high degree of
architectural perfection. The design involved considerable
precision in mathematical calculations. This was not just a
matter of aesthetic appeal, but without such precision the

buildingswould not have been architecturally feasible. Given

their weight, size and shape they would just have collapsed.
It has been estimated that it would have required the
of at least 10, 000 persons, working together, to build
abour
cach pyramid. This labour was requisitioned when fields were
 E a r l y Social Formatioms
116

the Nile and no agricultural activity col

uld ake
flooded by
construction work stretched over several take
place. The
hold the view that the labour
forSons asons
historians
Some
was not forced
labour but essentially a mid
the peasantsway of
construction
livelihood and sustenance
to w
whe
providing work was slack. However, considerir
agricultural the ha

labour that went into

ave been a
this task there must have str
stro
element of coercion in mobilizing
a labour force for it One
should also keep in mind that engaging so many workers in
pyramid building amounted to diverting large labour forea
a

from economically productiv

(mainly able bodied adults) of tombs
construction on such a
activities. Even otherwise the
r e s o u r c e s of Egypt. It is hardlu
scale was a drain on the
surprising that the pyramid built by Mycerniusinferior (Menkure
the s u c c e s s o r of Chephren, was architecturally and
much smaller in size (just 62 metres high and 108.4 square
metres at the base). After Mycernius there was an overall
decline in pyramid building. For a long time after the Fourth
Dynasty the Egyptian economy could not afford such lavish
monuments. Some major dynasties in later periods did build
elaborate cemeteries but these were designed very differently
and the emphasis shifted to making huge larger-than-life
statues of the rulers.
The pyramids were principally buildings in which the dead
bodies of respective pharaohs were buried. There was a signii-
cant ritual connected with the burial. This ritual was intended
to enable the dead pharaoh to be reborn. A myth was invented
according to which the life of the pharaoh did not completely
cease with death. The pharaoh was supposed to possess an
after-life. But this after-life (or life after death) had to be facil
tated by performing some complex burial ceremonies. The
most important part of the ceremony was the preservation or
the dead body. The internal organsremoved and tne
were
body was embalmed by applying some herbs and chemicals
It was then
wrapped in bandage-like strips of cloth. This
process is usually called 'mummification'. The mummifie"
body was put in a chamber inside the pyramid (or other
type
 Early Egyptian
Crvilization 117
alongwith various
f to bs) A ritual boat was objects connected with the
pharaoh.

after-life
to
placed in the mausoleumhetodead
dead
aid
the passage
The concept of tthe after-life of the
pharaoh was
which we have
already made some linked
siris myth, to to
the
above
The dead pharaoh was identified with Osiris, thereference
of the blessed' dead. Some more god
aspects of the
myth
mentioned over here. Osiris (Asar) was a might
be
he ned deity in
worshipped deit Egypt during the widely
wo
Hiscult was initially connected with predynastic
period.
as the god of
gardea
vegetation agriculture.
and
Osiris was
rega humans how to was
supposed have
taught cultivate. It was believed that he had
ainted
quainted them with wheat,
bread, and beer. The worship
seems to have become
fOsiris very popular in the delta
where Busiris becamnet the main centre of this cult. Thereregion were
centres of the cult as well, and
other
many
period Abydos emerged its principal centre.during the dynastic
According to Egyptian mythology Osiris was a just and
anod king who ruled over the entire world. Osiris had a
hrother by the name of Set who was jealous of him. Set
conspired to assassinate Osiris. His plan succeeded and Osiris
was killed. Isis, the wife of Osiris, found the dead body of
her husband and through her efforts he was reborn. After his
rebirth, Osiris became the god of the blessed dead and ruled
over the region of dead. Isis then gave birth to the posthumous
son of Osiris. Horus was the son of Osiris and Isis. When
Horus grew up he avenged the death of his father by killing
Set. After the victory against Set, Horus occupied the throne
of Osiris with the consent of the gods. All ruling pharaohs
were identified with Horus. Horus had been originally linked
to the worship of the falcon totem. The talcon eventualy
became the symbol of all pharaohs. They were always denoted
by depicting a falcon. Thus each reigning pharaoh was
believed to be Horus.
The divinity of Egyptian kings was asserted by identifying
dead pharaoh with
Ne living pharaoh with Horus and the
USins. The myth of the rebirth of the pharaoh as Osiris helped
118 | Early Social Formations

w a s i m m o r t a l . All the
notion that the king
to reinforce the have to he
with the rebirth of the pharaoh
rituals associated and other roval
The pyramids
viewed in this
context.
f u n c t i o n . They were
not the
ideological
c e m e t e r i e s had an o b s e s s i o n with death and

result of peculiar Egyptian such b u r i a l s would have

some

been the case

after-life. Had that H o w e v e r , the majority
in that society.
been
feature
a universal austere graves. The
buried in very
were dead body
of the Egyptians pits in w h i c h the
narTOW
were
graves of
the poor in a very undignified
crouching position
was
in a
placed
were intended
built by the pharaohs
manner.

upon them that

monuments
The grand a s to impress
a s well
the people but a mighty god.
to o v e r a w e human being
w a s n o ordinary
the pharaoh which the pyramids
visualize the impact
It is not
difficult to
on the people.
The
would have had
of Cheops and Chephren s t r u c t u r e s . They w e r e part of much
not isolated where priests
pyramids w e r e which contained
temples
of
larger complexes rituals. The
pyramid-complex

regularly performed unusual piece of

a large and very carved out of a
Chephren has additionally is
'sphinx'. The sphinx
called the human being
sculpture lion with the body of a
a
single rock, and depicts of the pharaoh Chephren.
In order
The head is representation
a immense
state expended
the cult of the pharaoh the
to promote temple-cum-burial
m a i n t e n a n c e of these
the that
onwards the belief
resources on

the Fourth Dynasty

complexes. From entrenched in the
minds

pharaohs were gods

remained firmly
of the Egyptians. class which
controlled
The Egyptian state,
and the ruling
in perpetuating the cult of the phar
it, w a s constantly engaged enormous
which wa
power
ruling class wielded
aoh. This the pharaon
from the divine status of
extent
derived to large
a
a powerfu
remember that in the Old Kingdom
We must
into existence in Egypt. It is only a ruling
centralized state c a m e
confident of its ability to mobiliz
class which is extremely sca
and human r e s o u r c e s on very
a large
financial, technical as tn
undertakesuch a n ambitious enterprise
that can
 Early Egyptian Cirilization | 119
onstruction of the great pyramids. Nevertheless the demands
made by the ruling elite on the productive resources of the
country had become excessive by the end of the Fourth
cou

Dynasty. There was grov ing pressure on marginal areas which

hably resulted in environmental degradation and
prob
declining
productivity. This might have been one of the causes which
pro
ed to the momentary breakdown of the centralized state at
the end of the Old Kingdom.
By the Old Kingdom the Egyptian state had developed an
xtensive bureaucratic structure with wide ranging
administrative functions. This bureaucracy carried out the
systematic collection of tribute. Another major function of the
bureaucracy was to organize and coordinate tasks related to
irrigation. The overwhelming bulk of the tribute came from
agriculture. Wheat, barley and flax (a kind of fibre used for
making cloth) were the main crops. Besides, cattle rearing
was an integral part of the agrarian economy. The produce of
the peasants (mertu is a term frequently used for peasants in
Egyptian documents) was appropriated in kind through a tax
levied on them. This tax was called mezed and it included grain,
bread, flax and animal hides. The mertu were also liable to kat,
which implied forced labour either for the state (construction
of pyramids etc.), or for digging and maintaining canals and
dykes for irrigation. Artisans and craftsmen were generally
bound to workshops attached to temples, palaces and houses
of wealthy families. Although there were private traders, the
state organized major trading expeditions especially for
procuring metal, wood and luxury goods.
Every two years the government conducted a census for
dsessing cattle and to some extent land. This should not be
confused with the modern concept of census, since it would
have been based on a rough estimate of the resources of each
or nome. We do not know as to how efficient or
rovince
OTOUgh the census was, but it was probably linked in some
way to the system of taxation. The officer who was responsible
Tor this biennial census enjoyed prominent position in the
a
state. The taxes collected in kind were stored in central
120 Early Social Formations

various parts ot country. Payments

the
in
granaries located In the Archaic Period
disbursed from the granaries.
kind w e r e and Lower Egypt
treasuries for UPper
there w e r e two separate w a s designated
as White House

the treasury of Upper

Egypt
House. In the Old Kingdom
as Red
and that of Lower Egypt one c e n t r a l treasury
into
called
were merged
the treasuries were managed by the
House'. The granaries
'Double White account of receipts,
payments.
also kept an
treasury, which collection of flax
and hides.
t r e a s u r e and
tribute, royal administration
became m o r e and more
centralized
As a chief minister to
began to appoint
complex, the pharaohs of the government. The
to day functioning
look after the day w a s usually
from the
the title taty and
chief minister bore of the adj-mer, who
the position
royalfamily. In the provinces in the nomes,
irrigation works
responsible for
w a s initially w a s virtually the
The adj-mer
became increasingly powerful.
carried out the biennial
head of the provincial government,
the lower levels of
c e n s u s in nomes,
and dispensed justice. At had
number of scribes who
bureaucracy there
w e r e a large
to read and write the hieroglyphic script and to
been trained
can be certain
of official documents. We
draft various types was confined to a
that knowledge of the hieroglyphic script
section of society (officials, priests,
scribes, and
very small
of the people were ignorant
the aristocracy). The vast majority
of the script. efficient
Whereas the Egyptian state had evolved a fairly
a certain point centrali-
system for centralized control, beyond
state. In view of the his
zation was difficult for a premodern
the government in
torical limitations of a premodern state,
on ancient village level
institutions
ancient Egypt had to rely
for routine local administration. We have references to village
councils called seh (or zazat) in the Old Kingdom and qenbet
the Middle These councils consisted of the
Kingdom.
during the
Saru-local notables and some scribes. In other words,
saru or members of these councils were drawn from among
the dominant in the
groups The seh or zazat had
villages.
existed in the predynastic period. The centralizing
probably
 Early Egyptian Civilization 121
tendencies of the Egyptian state did
not destroy these
dtstions.
instit These councils now assisted
the government in
illage administration. In the countryside, the saru became
he main support base of the state and upheld the
the pharaoh. authority of

IV RELIGDN/RITUALS
Cudtr o epmauo on Gfcial relu raug
-

have already observed that in the idasley

dynastic period the
tficial religious ideology of Egypt revolved around the cult dmeus
of the pharaoh.However, thisult developed relatively late AY*
and incorporated several aspects of Egyptian
it
were much older (e.g. the worship of
religion which"Yitidir
Osiris). The roots of 0sis.
TEevptian religion go back to the Amratian and Gerzean n
cultures, or even earlier. The first agricultural communities in goadeNu
Egvpt worshipped mother-goddesses and had their own tuju
fertility cults As these conimunities got organized into clans Cuuk of
and tribes they adopted totems which symbolized respective auiulhua
clans/tribes.When the clans ortribes settled downin the Nileauuwwi
valley, they attached themselves to specific territorie_. TheO toe
totems which were held sacred by clans or tribes residing in a
o
particular areabecamethe emblemsofrespective predynastic
territorial units.|Mother-goddess and fertility cults as well asuu alp
worship of cerfain elements of nature (sun, barren desert). MeM
was
prevalento nahul wuol had dpecke tuthries Le e
As in
the ase of Mesopotamiä, it is not possible to speaktysae
in terms of Single, uniform EgVptian religion. Even though,
E8ypt was politically unified at a very early date, religious
beliefs and practices exhibited great diversity. We must distin-
guish betweenstate-sponsored religon. which tried to üi
embrace the countryas a whole) and the
were
local cults whict t
confined to certain nomes or cities) At the
popular level Me
Several
primitive beliefs persisted.(Wepwawet was a wolf god k
Clated with the Asyut nome, Khentiameñtiu was a jackal
EOd in Abydos and Sobek was a crocodile god in Thebes All
nree might have been sürvivals of early totems. Egyptian
gion kept evolving over centuries so that some cults were
Pwavet - wa 4»d- Asyat wue
KAEntriampnho aukal od- ydas
hebd
ouwUuowdile od
 Maade
Maadag dde,
uumoupuA ypd - O esapheo
kunaE
am

o o u 1alow heade
headedod
pod.
Social Formations Hanu talton
122 Early
while others disappearo.
transformed
modified and
there declinein the
was a general in
In the(dynastic period mother-goddess whe
importanceof female
deities and w e have seen Ship
ve seen
Mesopotamia
ho orship
w
process
In o u r
discussion on
of patriarchal_soc
was linked to the emergence of patriarchal_so
se this
altogether elety
or
disappeared were
Female deities
either
they ho.re
In s o m e cases
male deities.
they ecame e
subordinated to inked
Thus Isis was linked to Osi
to
his wife.of
Similarly, gods.
a lion-headed goddess, called ris
d of Sekh4sophis.as
consorts
prominent
lled Sekh hma),
w a s the main
god of Memnk
who
c o n s o r t of Ptah
became the retained aa large
who retainea
large folloWi
followi
o n e of
the gods Memphis cea
Ptah was period, even when
throughout the dynastic Ptah was popular within h.
The worship of the
to be the capital.
as well as among artIsansJ
elite combine twO or three
educated deiio
also a tendencCy to
There was m e n t i o n e d the Qsirian famil
We have
in the form of a family. and Son Another well
Osiris-Isis-Horus as husband. wite
(consort).and Nefertum
known family wàSPtah, Sekhmat
We can see the growinglemphasis on the family asa
(son). in manner
this
unit in the attempt
to fuse separate cult_
social
Another interesting
characteristic
of bgYptian religion was
represented as
deities which were
the existence of numerous

the head) and part human.Arsapheswas

part animal (usually
talcon-
the ram-headed god of Heracleopolis; Sokar was a
headed god worshipped in the Memphis region.
of
The most outstanding feature E8yptian religion at the
From the
Plau level of the state was the worship of the(sun god)
Third Dynasty the pharaohs patronized solar Cults in $ome
other cults as wel
form the other. The solar cult embraced
or
ruaiIn the Archaic Periodthe worship of Horus, represented asa
falcon, became prominen)though different religious belies
ORUS were still contending for supremacy(Evidence from the re
o f Peibsen, the sixth ruler of the Second Dynasty,show
there was a strong move to revive the worship of Set towar
the end of the Archaic Period. As Emery has pointed out
thisstage Horus had not yet beenfully integrated with
Osiris cult It was in the Old Kingdom that the process

Horus- Md Hinqm
huttakon
 Early Fgvptian Cmlizatom 123

amalgamating Horus with the

Osirian family and depicting
Cet evil was completed Simultaneously
as wsuguy s
e the basis of official religion. A the sun god Re ceirs 4 e
major source for
Tmation on the worship of Osiris and Re are the
lhgious texts detailed
inscribed inside pyramids. These are known as luaui
DTamid Texts and the earliest belong to the
Fifth Dynasty (c.
200 BThe Pyramid Texts are the
oldest
religious texts in fme
Re.-SUN .
-

the world.
The trend
(4M Pmgoy
of |royalWOrship_ot Rel assumed significance 4300 B-6-
under Dioser. Gradually a
theology evolved whereby IRe.
Osiris, Horus. and pharaohs_were accomnodated in the tirs Hano
pantheonl AccordiNE tO he genealogy which was created, jexwdaw
iOsiris and Horus werë regarded as having descended from
the sun god Re. Thus the divine pharaoh was associated with Re
Re as well as with Qsiris and Horus. The worship of Re was
tully established by the Fourth Dynasty. This cult maintained
its preeminent position in Egyptian religion for
over twenty-
five centuries. Of course the actual manner in which Re was
worshipped underwent several changes throughout this long
period. paikcal cduaunges iallweucive e dulhg Re oo unues
At different points of time Re was linked to separate wuAn
deities. This was the direct outcome of political changes. As lcal deid
hewgroups rose to power they sought to proiect their.o a
cults by combining them with the worship of Re. This was
done by resorting to the device of converting a given local ke
deity into a manifestation of Re. For instance Amon became Atm-Re
Amon-Re, Atum became Atum-Reand Sobék became Sobek- Aun-Re
Re. This formula was convenient for giving a more universal Sohel - Re
appeal to local deities POPa souqut k pojet nuw n CLL
We have mentioned thatin Egypt the priests by and large
didnot directly wield much politicalauthority.However they
played a crucialideologicalrole in the political structure and
in times of crisis their support could be vital(In the Old

ungdom the priests of Heliopolis had acquired aspecial status.

Heliopolis was located close to Memphis. Atum was the main
god of the city. The Heliopolis_priesthood successfully
aentified Atum with a much older deity namely the sungod
Specuu bahvo a puitols in Heliopolis COLD RING PoM)- near Memhio
Muin od
q Hekoyolis- A ATOM
fvn iduhh ed w Re
 124 I Early Social Formations

Re. Through this association

acceptable, they made Atum more
The Heliopolis priests widel
w
by attaching themselves firmly to the consolidatedtheir
their Doly
positi
was the dominant cult of the state. The Atum-Re
prolonged Old Kingdom. When there ult
era
of potitical crisis after the re v
was a
2oincA
Polihcad Fourth Dynasty, a
authority of the pharaohs weakened, the
the
li Under the Heliopolis
became politically pri
e we Dynasties _powerful. Fifth and Siv
the Heliopolis
M c r e u o e c d

Po ta authority,)
_ j p o rt u c e
priesthood enlargedthe scope ot i
nd o TheOld Kingdom came to an end with the
ASixth collaps of the
Dynasty. With the decline ofthe centralized
First Intermediate Period the state in the
Heliopalis
StuAtum-Re cultSuffered a setback. The focuspriests
e i ian g StuhoA andthe
shifted to somo
ieoh
f puieoha powerful nomes, which asserted their
independence
Provincial governors became strong, and in Greek accounts
such governors are referred to as
nomarchs. Heracleopolis
a p u e begame one of the major new centres of power. Withthe
sapnes

S ríse of Heracleopolis Arsaphes, the local god of the city

6ecauu

became a leading deity of the Egyptian pantheon for some

Heradealiime7

odeals andWhen Egvpt was once again unified underthe Eleventh

Twelfth Dynasties the worship of Atum-Re was replaced
the centre
AuAAn by the worship of Amon-Re_In the Middle Kingdom The ruler
A rspt of politicalpower movedto Thebes in Upper Egypt.
from Thebes
orsuipped

of the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties came

u 1wb of Thebes. Re_was now

Amon w a s the main deity the

as Amon-Re and it w a s
in this form that
lwevcial conceptualized of the Middle and Net
hn Sun god was worshipped
u l t Sun for most
references to Sobek-Re. We hav
Calt
Kingdomsj We aBso have
Muas noted that Sobek was a crocodile deity of Thebes.joteu
represen
epresente

the(Tweifth Dynasty the_pharaoh

was
v
urpiVutrom Amon cult became
The
Deing descended from Amon.
infiuen
Craoforemost cult of the Egyptian state. This cult was soEighte
Caraisn

AMothat when Amenhotep IV, one of the rulers of the t Capt

Auuet k
1EADynasty, tried to break away from it by transferring e

im a o u
Irom
Thebes to a site calied Akhet-aten w
new
bs
de-eN
ned
the worship of another deity (A ten),
a penhd
OCo Shited
 Early Egyptian Civilization 125

was
short-lived. His successor once again made Thebs the
pitatof the empire and ensured the continued domination
cap
of
of Amon
Am (or Amon-Ke).) Vecline of iriau Cult by 4ta tosy
During the course of these changès, the(Osirian cult was puiilegt
o1adified. In the Old Kingdom only the pharaoh enjoyed peubr
the privilege ofbeing reborn as Osiris. Later on, this privilege
was externded to other members of the royal family and yet be r t h e
later to provincial governors, nomarchs, and the aristocracy. dins
feveral sections of the rulingclasswere allowed toperformudes t h e r e c R u d e s

theritual for being reborn as Osiris.Correspondingly there royal

seems to have been adecline in thé importance of the Osiris Jwiy
cult in terms of promotingthe divinity ofthe pharaoh. Though niauda
the Osiris cultremained very popular,its overallcharacter
was transformed afterthe Old Kingdom One might commentos ri a
here that by thelend of the Fourth Dynasty the notion that the was Pspala
pharaoh wasa god wasingrained inthe minds of the Egyptians
tosuch an extent that it was no longer necessary to rely on
the Osirian myth to perpetuate the idea of the pharaoh's
quasH dea PuGHOD a
divinity and immortalityj u etaisked 6rmy
AwGtal quro
V
MATHS.
The remains of ancient Egyptian civilization, including the
written texts which have survived, leave us in no doubt about
the impressive accomplishments of the Egyptians in science
and mathematics. The Greeks, who themselves made great
debt to
advances in these fields, readily acknowledged their
the Egyptians. The Egyptians were not very good at theory
out
but they were excellent observers and adept at working
practical solutions to problems in science and m thematics
he pyramids are the most noteworthy illustration of this. oftua u
was a response .
Early Egyptian geometry and arithmetic
need to measure Nile floods and survey land for 52, 3 qm
the was a royal
irrgation or taxation. The official unit for length
unearmeasure of 52.3 cm. This was used før measurimgOld the
evel of water in the Nile and was employedmeasure from the
There another inear which
Nngdom onwards. was
 126 Early Social Formations
aeneu vn was
Ihis
employed for ordinary
*
purposes.
b mewhat ha
was
,
smallerthan the royalunit.
symbols for reßPe
ols for represen
evolved
had
The Egyptians z e r o was
The concept of
ewuu oneto nin. like
known
nymbers from symbols for
for numbers like ten,
dl', su to them. They
had separate
till one
millionen,
million. Theip
and s0 on
n additioeir
MaLduh, dåv" hundred, thousand
calculations
w e r e mainly
based oon addition and
arithmetical

subtraction|
Knowledge ofthepropertesinvolvedd a
Itiplication_was
ofmultiplication was
a tedioue
tedious method
Multiplication
Spuate
very
elementary.
form
w
of addition. Thiswas
hr like an extended
which was more
4ymaalo
only numeratoT USed by #h
division)(The
also true for w a s the number "1. Thereforea
in their fractions
Egyptians
larger than one had to be
wA N
fraction having a numerator
manner: 3/1|would be shown
representecdin
represented in a long
as 1/11 1/11 1/11.
repetitive
To simplify this there
were
a few symbols
and 3/4J
for commonly used fractions, e.g, 2/3
the Egyptians were exceptionally
Despite these limitations, This is all the more remarkable
precise in their calculations.
of
PYMD when we realize that calculations on a scale asS vast as-that
exact. The smallest inaccuracy will
a to u i c a l the
the pyramids have to be executed
tend to get enlarged manifold when the design is
osewuk0gEven in the modern computer age the designing of a true
u
Pyramidical structure, having the dimensions of the grea
Pyramid of Cheops, would be a challenging job due to the
numerous simultaneous calculations this would require. We
know that the Egyptians used some of their astronomca
d
observations toworkoutthealignment of the great
pyram
They were familiar with the relationship between the aa"neter
of a circle and its area-and estimated the value of p4u i t
correctly.] CALEND AR
Whereas it is
generally recognized that the
did

beimiy Egyptlai
not on the whole make much progress in astronomy, they they dio
y,
devise a workable calendar. The length of a
u t e d

he yen almost
year wascom
accurately. In the ancient Egyptian calendar one
v e a r

M Ycontained 365 days. The year was divided into 12

thirtydays each. The beginning of the year correspon montl
ww
Rwnk
19th Jüly of our calendat) The five additional days were sa
30 daup
365 daup
Sda
ddikeual dayp t -

Sauud, wa
Early Egyptian Cioilization 1
days devoted to feast.(The discrepancy which would have
been caused over a period ot time by skipping one-fourth of a
da annually was rectified through the system of
reckoning
he calendar atresh with the accession of a new pharaoh. The
alendar of the preVIOus pharaoh was abandoned) This meant
lat the(error caused by the failure to add one day to the
alendar in every four years, something that we do in every
leap vear, did not accumulate beyond a certain point. The

disCrepancy was thus kept within manageable limits) MOMMFICATO

The Egyptians were
highly successful in preserving the 4ndyrasy
human deadbody. The artot mummification had been
nertected by the Fourth Dynasty. Preservation of the dead
hody required a good understanding of human anatomy and
of the basic principles of chemistry. This was a
highly
specialized job and the skill would have been acquired after a
long period of training. Unfortunately the expertise which
was developed for mummification did not lead to any
breakthrough in medical science. The specialists who carried
out thepreservation of the dead body got a chance to learn
much about human anatomy. This experience
could not benefit
medical science for the simple reason that medicine was
normally the domain of priests who did not_directly have
anything to do with the actual process of preservation. Priests
preferred to use magical charms and spellsfor curing illness.,
A great
historicalopportunity for the advancement of medicine
was thereby lost.