Egyptian+Civilization

Scribes are people that can read and write in Egypt. These people go and collect taxes and report to the Pharaoh’s assistant. The scribes report back about once every 30 days. All the taxes collected go towards building the pyramid, for designing and the materials.

Ma’at is the concept of justice and truth. The priests teach this concept to the children when they are young. The priests are also the ones that teach them about religion, and they teach the “gifted ones” how to read and write.

King Djoser was the one that was said to be able to communicate to the gods, not the priests themselves. Djoser is the one that tells us the gods’ orders, and we obey them. The priests are the only ones that are considered worthy to take out the Pharaoh’s commands. This means that the priests have many responsibilities like organizing funeral services, teaching the civilians, and attending the Gods’ needs.

There are approximately 700 gods that the Egyptians worship, all in different ways, depending on where and when you lived. Ra, the sun god is worshipped throughout all of Egypt. He is said to be the creator of the universe. There are many different theories of how he appeared on this earth. One theory is that Ra emerged from a sacred blue lotus, growing from the soil, and created a universe.

The Egyptian God of the afterlife is called Anubis. He is the one that you see when you die. It is said that when you die, you will be judged by Anubis. Anubis will take out the heart and weigh it. If the heart is heavier than a feather with sin, Devourer of Souls will wolf it down. If the heart is not heavier than a feather with sin, the person can have eternal life. Egyptians see king Djoser as a god, in human form. They believe that he was sent down to guide them. He will help the Egyptians in the afterlife when he reaches there safely, that’s why the Egyptians built the pyramid for the Pharaoh; to help them get to the afterlife more easily.

The governing system in Egypt is based on their religion. The Ma’at concept was part of the Egyptian religion. The Ma’at has a great impact on the governing system. It is fair to everyone, but the slaves. Slaves were treated as creatures lower than humans. For example, they did not receive the same justice in court.

The Pharaoh is the one that establishes the laws, with the advice from his Vizier. The police and scribes are the ones that carry out this in everyday life. The common people have no say in the government, and how it should be ruled.

If you are able to read and write in Egypt, you will be highly respected.

Priests are seen as the educators in @Egyptian society. Priests teach reading and writing. Their written language dates back to 3000B.C, one of the first written languages. There are about 800 hieroglyphics, each representing something different. A hieroglyphic can represent the sound from an object or a thought related to it. They use this recording system for religious recordings and often mathematical issues. The Egyptian numbers are based on units of ten and have different characters to modify the value of ten. It is a very complex system, and is only taught to those who are said to be gifted.

Without the recording information, they wouldn’t have been able to build those pyramids. The building of the pyramids required a tremendous amoun of exact calculating according the resources and currency. The record keeper is extremely important to Egyptian civilization. Many other countries fear Egypt because of such abilities There are no record in laws. Taxes and income are only calculated throughout the country by scribes. The Book of the Dead was a book dealing with the afterlife. This book is divided into individual spells and chapters, around 200 in total. It is a guiding book to the deceased, guiding them through the obstacles they may encounter while entering the underworld.

The Step Pyramid was the first pyramid ever built. This pyramid was built for the great kind Djoser. The “external ramp” theory was used to build the pyramid. The external ramps were supposedly made of long wooden poles. These poles would be tied together by rope. Then, you would attach the large limestone blocks to the ropes on the “external ramp”. The “external ramp” would pick up these blocks and haul them to the needed spots to make the first third of the pyramid.

After the “external ramp” was finished being used, they would use the “internal ramp” which was a inclining platform on the outside of the pyramid so the workers would be able to carry the large limestone blocks onto the pyramid. The internal ramp would be slightly larger on the corners because the limestone blocks were obviously not flexible, so they would have to make the corners bigger, so as the workers turned the block, people wouldn’t fall off the edge.

Before the workers for the blocks to the pyramid, they had to be able to carry them there, but that took a lot of power. What the egyptians used were these wooden racks. On these racks were ropes that were attached so that people could pull it. It was very difficult for the egyptians to just pull the wooden racks with a huge limestone block on it that weighed an average of 2.5 tons. There was one man that would have a bottle of water that he would pour just in front of the rack as it moved. They did this because it made it easier for the workers to slide it along the floor. The limestone would be strapped on with with the ropes so they wouldn’t slide off.

After they were done with the outer shell of the pyramid, the “external ramp” would be used again to build the internals of the pyramids. As you all know, the inside pathways of the pyramids are extremely complex.

No one knows why the insides were made so complex, but one possible explanation would to keep out the thieves. The thieves would want to steal all the burial treasures that were buried with the pharaohs. The pharaohs would be buried with all the things that they lived with, like they’re jewelry and clothes, etc. When the pyramid was done, the workmen would put the top piece of the pyramid on. Then, the workers would carve the top so it was pointed. People say that the reason that the egyptians build the pyramids is to help the pharaohs reach their afterlives more easily. It was said that the pharaohs were able to “climb up” the pyramid to their afterlives.

Memphis is the capital of Egypt and is located in Lower Egypt, near the end of the Nile, before it spreads into a delta to the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile provided the Egyptians enough water to grow crops and feed the country. The rich soil is only a small strip of land on the sides of the Nile, which gave them little space for civilization. Egypt is trapped on both sides by the Western and Eastern dessert, which cuts of communication with the other countries, but it also protects them from outside warfare.

The Egyptians worship this river as one of their gods. It gives them water to drink and makes the soil moist, enabling them to grow crops. It acted as a water highway for trading. Without the Nile, they would not be able to survive or create this civilization.

The Egyptians created the calendar to record the floods and plan their harvesting seasons. Priests say that Sirius appears in the eastern sky before the floods come. Sirius is a star. The priests count the days between the appearance and disappearance of Sirius, which was 365 days. They then divided those 365 days into 12 months, and added five days in separate months for festivals and ceremonial breaks. With this calendar, they were able to calculate the harvest time. Harvesting season is a few months after winter and before June. Once the river recedes in October, they immediately plant the seeds into the fresh soil, rich with fertility. Throughout the rest of the autumn and all through winter, they carefully water our crops from the irrigation ditches they dug. Those irrigation ditches prevent thirst of their crops while the hot sun dries up the silt. They weave in between our fields, making it a shorter distance to transport large amounts of water. Then in July once again the riverbank overflows with its water, and the cycle of flooding and harvesting is repeated.

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