Introduction to History. IIUM

1. EGYPTIAN
CIVILIZATION

2. Egyptian Civilization
Egyptian Civilization like the Mesopotamia was a river valley
civilization. Unlike Euphrates and Tigris whose flooding on the
Mesopotamia region was irregular , River Nile which
dominated Egypt provided regular annual flooding that
enhanced Egypt’s agricultural potentials. The Nile also provides
fertile soil deposit which increased Egypt agricultural
capabilities
Also, unlike Mesopotamia, the geography of Egypt made it
difficult for it to be invaded. As opposed to the climate of
Mesopotamia which was harsh, the climate in Egypt was
friendly and considered life-enhancing. These factors affected
the psychology and culture of the inhabitants of these two
cradles of civilization.

3. Lower and upper egypt
Egypt is made up of two parts, the Upper and Lower parts.
The Lower Egypt which has twice the land of the Upper part
and lesser annual rainfall is considered the Northern Egypt.
The Upper part is also known as the Southern Egypt. Prior to
3000 BC, the Lower and the Upper parts were known to exist
independently as they were under different leadership.
It was however around 3000BC that both the Upper and
Lower parts were united under a single ruler. This
development enhanced the flowering of what is now known as
Egyptian civilization as it provided the optimum solidarity
base and centralized leadership needed to harness the
resources at hand.

4. Periodization of Egyptian civilization
1. Egyptian Civilization has been classified into 5-
major periods which are:
a) Early Dynastic Period (c.2575-C2575 B.C)
b) Old Kingdom ( c. 2575- c2575 B.C)
c) Middle Kingdom (1938-1600 B.C)
d) New Kingdom (c. 1540-1075 B.C)
e) Late Period (1075-525 B.C)

5. Egyptian Civilization
The Egyptian march towards civilization began before
the archaic/ Early Dynasty period as the people of the Nile
were already involved in farming and had already leant the
use of copper and stone tools. They had also developed the
hieroglyphic, a writing system that is different from the
Mesopotamia Cuneiform. These, coupled with the
unification of Upper and Lower Egypt by Narmer, the first
among Pharaoh kings, during the Archaic Period made it
possible to set up a centralized government, which in turn
facilitated the execution of the central irrigation project
that was needed for broad and all-time agricultural
practices.

6. Forms of Government
Through the archaic/Early Dynasty until the Late
Dynasty period, the governmental system varied from
Royal absolutism, peaceful, expansionist, centralized to
decentralized form of authority.
The Archaic period and the old kingdom era witnessed
royal absolutism, especially during the reign of Zoser,
one of the Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom’s era. There
was no separation between religion and politics as
everything was under the dictate and control of the
Pharaoh. The Priests were subordinated to the Pharaoh

7. Forms of Government
However, one of the Pharaohs of the Old Kingdom was said to be peaceful. Unlike
others he did not maintain standing armies. He relied on the service of the local
militias that were under the control of the local/provincial priests. During his
reign, there was more prosperity in the land and a strong social solidarity bond.
The Old Kingdom eventually fell due to:
1. Investment in white elephant projects (mega project of no economic benefits)
which did not contribute to the growth of the economy. One of these was the
pyramid project.
2. Harsh climatic conditions that affected negatively, the volume of agricultural
produce.
3. Also, as provincial chiefs began to be adventurous, lust for more wealth and
power, conflict arose within their ranks. This weakened the bond of solidarity, so
in the consequent, internal bickering which consumed the dynasty broke out.
A change in the government policy took place however during the Middle Kingdom.

8. Forms of Government
• The Pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom disembarked
on the building of pyramids. He invested on the
building of wide networks of irrigation dams.
• He stopped the act of using religion and rituals as a
means of extorting money from the people. The
Pharaoh of this era supported intellectual activities
and promoted social justice.
• This period is considered Classical Egyptian
Civilization Golden Age. Absolutist, isolationist and
aggressive policies were typical of the New
Kingdom era, the relics of which could be observed
during the Late period.

9. Social hierarchy
1.Slaves
Royal
family
The Priests
Middle classMiddle class
Peasants
Professional SoldiersProfessional Soldiers
SlavesSlaves

10. Religion
• The religion of the land was at a time polytheist and at a time,
somehow monotheistic form of worship was practiced.
• The Pharaoh was regarded as divine whose authority equaled that of
the deity. At the onset, each locality have their own deity that they
were worshipping.
• Following the unification of the Upper and Lower Egypt, the deities
became merged into one, the Sun God (Re). Osiris is the second
powerful deity in the land.
• The Pharaoh was considered the representative of god on earth and
god himself. He was the all-in-all.
• They had a notion of hereafter and it was for this reason that dead
bodies were often mummified and then buried with food, and other
material provisions for their journey into the next life.
• At another time, magic and superstition became the order of the day to
the extent that the Book of the Dead was formulated as formula to be
recited in order to facilitate a better hereafter

11. Mummification process

12. ECONOMY
1- Farming and fishing
Agriculture created most of Egypt's wealth. Grain, vegetables, fruit, cattle, goats,
pigs and fowl were grown, and fish from the Nile were caught, and eventual
surpluses, after deduction of the various taxes, were sold on the markets.
2- Manufacture
A large part of the manufactured goods came from the families which produced
the raw materials. Labour was divided according to gender, with the processing
generally left to the women. While the men grew flax, their women spun it into
thread and wove the linen. A sizable proportion of the grain produced was used
forbeer production. The fish caught by the men had to be cleaned and dried,
which was generally done by women, to be of much use in the hot climate of
Egypt, unless they were consumed immediately.
In the towns small factories appeared, often financed by rich noblemen:
bakeries, breweries, carpentry workshops and the like with a few dozen
employees. In these manufactories weaving, for instance, became a largely male
occupation with the introduction of upright looms during the New Kingdom.

13. Economy
3- Mining
•Most of the things mined were of little interest to anyone but a
small number of rich people. Precious metals were not in general
circulation until the Late Period and even then remained in the
hands of few.
•Poorer people continued to use stone and wooden tools for most
purposes
•Gems too remained in the possession of a wealthy minority and
the stone quarried for temples and tombs served the same class of
people and profited only the craftsmen involved in building.

14. The fall of the Empire
One of the reasons for this was the fact that some Pharaoh embarked on
white elephant projects and undertook some radical reforms. These
were implemented by Akhenaton and Nefertiti.
It is said that Akhenaton did not prosecute expansionist policy and this
weakened Egypt’s control over most of its territories. Revolts broke
out in some of these places and these led to some losses and the
weakening of Egypt hold on power. Also Akhenaton reform of the
religious and political institutions created a lot of problems. He
introduced the worship of one deity, Aton, after which he took his
name, Akhenaton. This was resisted by the priests who felt their
religious rights, benefits and status will be affected thereof. In
reaction, Akhenaton reduced the powers of the priests and transferred
the capital to Amarna which he named Akhenaton.

15. The fall of the Empire
• It is said that Nefertiti, one of the female Pharaoh
king was a cousin of Amenhotep IV, Akhenaton.
This woman of beauty was part of Akhenaton’s
reform idea as she was one of the latter’s wives. She
was part and parcel of the whole order and her name
was often interchangeably mention by priest in place
of that of her husband, Akhenaton, when performing
rites.
• The way priest opposed her husband, Akhenaton was
the same way she was opposed, and this weakened
the hold of the Pharaoh on the society, hence, the
eventual decline that set it.

16. CONTRIBUTIONS OF EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Writing system: Invented hieroglyphic as a form of writing. This
comprises pictographs, syllabic and alphabets. They pioneered the
alphabets that are in use in the modern times
Astronomy: They also contributed to astronomy especially on how to
calculate the lunar calendar precisely. This was latter modified by
Julius Caesar.
Medicine : Contributed to the attribution of diseases to natural factors
and not superstition. They were able to treat ill people by monitoring
their pulse and also devised means of treating ulcer
Circle : contributed to the discovery of 360 degrees as the angular
measurement of a circle and the pie ratio  which is equal to 22/7 to be
the same for circles of different diameters