Egyptian Achievements

Achievements   People remember Egyptians for their cultural achievements:  Art  Writing  Architecture Inventions Page 1 Egyptian Calendar Egyptian Clocks    The Ancient Egyptians created the first known 365-day Calendar. They created it in order to mark the passage of years and to record special or significant events. Their calendar was originally based on the phases of the moon until they found the Sirius star (“Dog Star”) rises up every 365 days. This was also about the time the Nile river flooded the Egyptian valley. • Obelisks (slender, tapering, four-sided monuments) had moving shadows that created an almost sundial, allowing Egyptians to split the day in half, morning and afternoon. This clock showed the year's longest and shortest days by how the shadows moved. Markers around the base of the Obelisks helped show more division of time during the day. Inventions Page 2 “Papyrus” Egyptian Paper  • Papyrus means two things. First, it is the plant that is grown in Lower Egypt near the Nile River. Second, papyrus is the paper that is made from the papyrus plant. • Papyrus paper was made by laying the reads of the plant in two layers and pressing them together. • The Egyptians pressed several of these pages together to create scrolls. Writing   3300 BC.- One of the first writing systems in the world, the Egyptians developed Hieroglyphics.  They were first carved in stone or other hard materials.  Later Egyptians learned how to make papyrus, a long lasting, paper-like material. Scribes used them to write using brushes and ink.  This writing system used 600 symbols!  You could write it in a very flexible way: from left to right; right to left; up and down… making it a nightmare to the reader. Written Language Hieroglyphics  The Ancient Egyptians loved to write and draw. With that love, they created their own written language using pictures. The official language of the Ancient Egyptians was Hieroglyphics. This language is made up of pictures or hieroglyphs that represented words, letters, or a combination of letters. In 1799, a stone called the Rosetta Stone was found by the French in Northern Egypt. On each side of this special stone there were three different languages telling the same story. One of the languages was Hieroglyphics. The other two languages were Demotic and Greek. People could still read Greek and so they compared the Greek words with the Hieroglyphic symbols and began to understand what each picture meant. Ancient Egyptians wrote Hieroglyphics on the walls of their homes, pyramids, tombs, and on papyrus scrolls. Back then, children could write on their walls and not get in trouble with mom. Original Hieroglyphics started out very simple. If there was a picture of a bird it meant bird. But over time, that simple bird picture became the letter M. People started to get confused about what pictures mean what. Over time, no one could remember what the pictures meant. In 1822, Jean Fancois Champollion began study Hieroglyphics and he figured out that some of pictures were for letters, some were for words and some were for ideas. His work helped Archaeologists read the walls and works of the Ancient Egyptians and learn more about this time in history. Egyptian Texts   Papyrus did not decay in Egypt’s dry climate, that is why many texts still survive.  These texts talked about:  Historical and government records, science texts, medical manuals.  Literary texts also survive, such as the Book of the Dead, which tells about the afterlife. Architecture - Pyramids Back To Journal   When most people think Egypt, they think Pyramids.  The Egyptians built two types of Pyramids, the “Step Pyramid” and the true “Pyramid” The Pyramids were built as tombs. They were places to burry the Kings and Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. They were built to protect the Pharaoh’s body. Inside the Pyramids were mazes and dead-ends in order to protect the Pharaoh’s body somewhere in the Pyramid. Buried with the Pharaoh, there were all of his treasures that he/she wanted to take in the afterlife. The Egyptian Pyramids are hand-made. They are made of huge blocks made of sand, clay and stone. “The Great Pyramid” or “Khufu” is the largest pyramid ever built. It is over 450ft high.       Temples, Tombs & Art   The walls of their tombs and temples were covered with impressive paintings and carvings. Great Temples   Other than the pyramids, Egyptians also built massive temples, which the believed to be the home of the gods.  Some of them shared similar features like:  Rows of sphinxes (imaginary creatures with the bodies of lions and heads of other animals or humans).  Huge gates.  Obelisks (a tall four-sided pillar that is pointed on top). Temples: Inside   Huge columns rose to support the roofs on the temples, and walls were beautifully decorated.  Statues of gods and pharaohs often stood along the walls as well. Art   Ancient Egyptians were masterful artists.  They painted on papyrus, canvas, pottery, plaster and wood.  The temple art was dedicated to the gods, while tombs’ artwork were meant to be enjoyed during the afterlife.  Subjects were:  Historical events such as crowning of kings and founding of temples.  Every day life! Art   Paintings had a distinctive style:  People’s head and legs were always seen from the side. Their upper bodies and shoulders straight on.  People do not always appear the same size: important figures such as pharaohs appear huge in comparison to others.  They were also skilled stoneworkers, metalworkers and jewelers. With these materials they made:  Huge statues  Necklaces, collars and bracelets. Ask Yourselves   Analyze: 1. What were some advantages of using papyrus? 2. What would It be like to use a language that could be written either up or down, right or left; or left to right? 3. Why do you think builders would place obelisks at the entrance of the temples? 4. Why do you think many Egyptian temples had rows of sphinxes leading to the entrance? 5. Choose one achievement of the ancient Egyptians and compare it to something that you remember the Sumerians created. How is the achievement from Egypt similar to that from Sumer?  Identify:  What is a sphinx?  Recall:  What are the two types of large structures created by the Egyptian architects?  Give two examples of common subjects of Egyptian paintings.