Egypt, the land one told to me as the land of gold; has tons and tons of cultural value in her. Dating back to 3000 BC Egypt has been one of the most culture rich counties till the modern days.
The Ancient Egypt
The ancient Egypt is one of the main focuses of the tourism sector, crowned as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the pyramids of Egypt attracts millions of tourist to visit them. Therefore the ancient Egypt’s culture and tradition is something worthy for us to look into.
Religion Beliefs and Tradition
Back then during the ancient Egypt, one of the very strong traditions was the Divine Kingship. Divine Kingship is the belief that Pharaoh which is their king, are not only their king but also their god.
Religion back then was very complex and intricate; ancient Egypt’s religion was a polytheistic religion with only one short period when it was monotheism. Their religion hosted in total about 700 different gods and goddess. However, among these 700 the main god they worshipped were Amon-Re, Osiris, Set, Isis and of course their Pharaoh. With such high level of respect for their gods and goddesses, the Ancient Egyptians built magnificent temples for their various gods. Not only do they have temples for worshipping gods they have temples to worship their dead kings. They are namely called the Cult Temple for the gods and Mortuary Temple for the dead kings. Cult temples serve as the gods’ house on earth. They are constructed of stones so that they would last an eternity. In all temples they are very well decorated with art pieces and decoration items like vase and statues. They believe that these decorations can ward off evil and bring in goodness. Before any mortal can enter the cult temple they will have to travel along a paved processional route. These routes are sometimes lined with sphinxes with led up to the massive pylons guarding the main gateway. There are craving of the gigantic reliefs of the king smiting Egypt’s foes, this entrance point which is also the biggest part of the temple, served as both a focal point for public processions and also a powerful tool to reinforce the power of the king and his link with the gods.
Egyptian religious rituals were processional in nature; the peristyle court is the one place rituals were held. The peristyle court consisted of an open courtyard surrounded on three of its side by a covered colonnade; this is a semi-public area and because of that the decoration of this court often featured coronation scenes. The peristyle court was the first court after passing by the main entrance, next will be the main temple areas: the hypostyle hall, the inner chambers and the sanctuary or naos. The temple was planned so that when it is approaching the sanctuary it will become darker and smaller. The most imposing parts of the temple: the hypostyle hall. In this hall there are massive towering pillars columns lit only by slashes of clerestory lighting. This design resembles the primitive ancient forest and marsh surrounding the primeval mound. These columns are so cleverly placed that when it is viewed at a certain angle it seems like there are no spaces between them. From the hypostyle hall there is a door leading to the inner chamber where it will be linked to the hall of offerings. Here is where daily offering were prepared before they were offered to the god. And lastly this will lead to the sanctuary where only the king or high priest can gain access to; this is where the stone naos which supported the god’s statue was placed. The walls were covered with reliefs depicting the king performing every stage of the offering ceremonies, which occurred twice a day.
Ancient Egyptians placed great beliefs in afterlife; therefore they believe that the body must be well preserved so that their spirits will have a place to dwell in the afterlife. Because of this mummification was performed to preserve the body. The process of mummification is either by chemicals made back then or exposed to extreme coldness. And these are done with the organs and skins intact; basically the whole human body is there. And to protect these mummies, the name given to preserved corpse, a pyramid was built. A pyramid served as a tomb for these mummies, however, only the pharaoh and the extremely rich will enjoy privileges like this. Not any tom’ dick or harry are allow to have a tomb built them. These tomb will start building once the pharaoh order them to, often when the pharaoh was at his youth as it takes years to finish the whole pyramid. When the person passed on he will be mummified and when all the mummification procedures are done, they will start moving the decreased to the tomb. Women will often cry and tear their clothes as they walked toward the tombs, many of these women were professional mourners hired by the family. After the body was brought in the tomb a ritual called the “Opening of the Mouth” would be done by the priest. It was believed that the life force will rejoin the body after this ceremony. The spirit of the deceased could now speak, eat and drink. This ceremony was done to give the statues and wall paintings the ability to care for the needs of the deceased spirit. Daily supplies needed and objects will be placed in the tomb for the deceased to “use”. There items will include clothing, jewellery, weapons and food. A statue of the deceased will also be built in the tomb along with other statues of servants, concubines and boats. These are to assist the deceased to travel in the afterlife. In addition to all these a male heir will have to bring food to the tomb to “feed” the deceased every day.
Daily Lifestyle and Education
Moving on from the religion of ancient Egypt let us look at the daily life of Egyptians. Back then, the poverty line was drawn very clearly. The lower income families will have to rely on the father to be the breadwinner and bring home the income while the mother will stay home and be a housewife. Their children will only have primary education at home and when they were deemed capable they will join their father in his trade and carry on the tradition. However, in a well to do family servants are hired to serve the family and at the same time the wife does not have to work, in addition children are given proper education and will grow up to working for the royal family as an army office or just some royal service.
Ancient Egyptian language at one point of time was the longest surviving and used language. It was used from 3000BC to the 11th century. Their very unique writing system was made up of pictures of the real things like birds, tools, etc. These pictures are known as hieroglyph. In their language there are over 500 hieroglyphs and is known as hieroglyphics.
Ancient Egyptian language at one point of time was the longest surviving and used language. It was used from 3000BC to the 11th century. Their very unique writing system was made up of pictures of the real things like birds, tools, etc. These pictures are known as hieroglyph. In their language there are over 500 hieroglyphs and is known as hieroglyphics.
Food
During those days domestic animals are not raised for the purpose of getting their meat as this will be expensive to uphold, they are usually used for other task. The stable food will be bread; the bread will be made from a gain called cyllestis. Beer was one of their main beverages as well. A typical meal will include some bread, beer, vegetables such as onions and a piece of dried fish. However, the wealthy had a totally different dietary habit. They enjoy a range of 15 types of bread, expensive vegetables like cucumbers and radishes, honeys were also available for them to sweeten their food and lastly they have meats from various animals serves regularly. In addition, they enjoyed dates, melons, grapes, pomegranates and apricots which were in good supply. There items were considered as rare and expensive back then.
Fashion
In the category of fashion, both men and women in Ancient Egypt love jewellery. They would flux their plain clothing with earrings, bracelets, rings, anklets and necklaces. Besides wearing these pieces, being very superstitious large number of ancient Egyptians wore or holds on to amulets or good luck charms. Another distinct trend will be the make ups; back then both men and women will wear makeup. For whatever reason, this was an essential bit of their everyday life. One of the reasons was that makeups were a matter for personal health and hygiene. The oil and cream used serves as a protection from the hot sun and dry winds.
Leisure
During times when the people were not working, studying or doing other required chores and tasks, they had many options to pass time. Toys such as balls and animal figures carved from ivory are used to keep the children entertained. And for the older people or many even some children the Nile River was a primary target to find fun. They would swim, fish and engage themselves in all sorts of games at the river. They also had strong passion for music; they would not hesitate to pick up harps and other instruments to fill the air with a good tune. However not always the weather allows physical activities outdoors, at times like there they will pass time by playing board games. There were many parties and celebrations held occasionally to honour the many gods that had a huge significance in their daily life.
Indigenous People
There were no records found on indigenous tribes or people found other then the Ancient Egyptians. One of the reasons might be that the population then was not as big as it is now, as there were no other people other than its own due to the lack of transportations.
