Core
Page
PartI- Egypt
Part II -
Greece
Part
III - Rome
Part IV -
Bridges
THE AMAZING
ANCIENT WORLD OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION:
ACT I:
PART I
EGYPT,PREHISTORY,
AND THE "OTHER ANCIENTS"
AND THE "OTHER ANCIENTS"
This Internet Book visited
28,682,000,140times since April 1997 (as of 2009)
The PREMIER JOURNEY to The Ancient World, weaving together the Peoples of those lands and civilizations and the way they lived and - their thoughts, their hopes, their dreams, their lives.
What is the Ancient World? Greece, Rome, Egypt,
Mesopotamia, Babylon, Sumer, Nubia, Persia, Byzantium, Turkey? Or is it
Assyrians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, Hittites, Akkadians, Etruscans, Minoans?
Is it Alexander, Plato, Virgil, Socrates, Hammurabi, Aristotle,
Nefertiti, the Pharaohs, Emperors, Caesar, Cleopatra, Sargon, Akhenaton, the
Black Athena, Homer? Or is it the dinosaurs, Stonehenge, hunters, slaves,
women, rulers, soldiers, or the Iliad, the Aeneid, the Odyssey, the Olympics?
Is it found in the ruins, temples, forums, pyramids or in the remnants of
ordinary life? Explore through this Web Book and the Online College
Course.
Ancient Egypt best viewed
with Mozilla Firefox
Ancient Civilization did not begin in what we think of as the West. It did not start in Paris or Berlin or London or Prague or Brussels or Stockholm. It grew out of the Mediterranean breezes, the sun and desert of Northern Africa, the Persian and West Asian lands. To study Ancient Civilization is to travel - across parts of Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia to India. It is a linking voyage, not a reducing trip. It CONNECTS peoples, ideas, patterns, developments, organizations, wars, religions, art, architecture, food and drink. It is a human endeavor about a human story.
- I am an historian, not a classicist. And historians and classicists are not the same. They focus and work differently. But the challenge of it all is that understanding can only come by standing on the mountain and looking at the parts in the whole. An historian of this time (from the beginning of time through Egypt, Greece, to the fall of Rome) must be willing and eager to reach out and know that all knowledge is important. I built this Ancient Civilization arena for people - for students, faculty, and ordinary folks who think it is fascinating and can be just plain fun. Just like our lives, in this Arena there is much seriousness but also much joy and animation.
And the wonderful range of things to think about? Culture, archaeology, art, music, theater, books and writing, language, philosophy, politics, peace and war, life and living. Psychology, sociology, history, geometry and astronomy and biology, building and architecture and engineering. Economics and geography, women and men and children, farming and town planning, rivers and deserts and mountains, gods and goddesses. Birth and death, magic and mystery, aspiration and despair, palaces and mud huts, the freedom to rule empires, and the chains of everlasting slavery. Poetry, logic, weaponry, sports, courage and cowardice, love and hate, and genius.
Return to Master
Core - Amazing Ancient World
A FASCINATION WITH THE ANCIENT WORLD ACT I of the Western Civilization Series |
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BOOKS! BOOKS ! RECOMMEND-PURCHASE HERE
Fast Way to Get HITLER'S DEATH CAMPS: The Sanity
of
Madness
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COLLEGE COURSE: THE ANCIENT
WORLD
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WESTERN CIVILIZATION: ACT II - MEDIEVAL, RENAISSANCE, ENLIGHTENMENT A Comprehensive Internet Book and Special Course |
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WESTERN CIVILIZATION: ACT III - THE MODERN WORLD A Comprehensive Internet Book and Special Course |
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HISTORY
OF ANCIENT ROMEA Comprehensive Internet Book and Course |
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DEDICATION, CREDITS, COPYRIGHT, AUTHOR |
ANCIENT
SOURCES:A BEGINNING
The Web teems with the richness of the Ancient World. So many wonderfully conceived sites representing dedication, scholarship, diversity, determination and exceptional creativity. At least 400 lists exist for the ancient area. But, what good, I wondered, is yet another list. So this Ancient Arena is explained each step of the way. By looking through the material in the Chapters on this Page, one can attain a general overview of the place, the time, the subject matter, the humans. Then the searcher can move to the areas of interest or even fascination - and begin the in-depth "clicking" and traveling and thinking. My pledge to the voyager is simple: I place here only those sites and destinations in which I have spent time and thought. I have searched through each one with care.
-
We begin with the Big Five
Destinations:
-
The Land Almost Before Time
-
The Mystery that was Egypt
-
The Glory that was Greece
-
The Power that was Rome The Complexity that was the Other Ancients
Everyone has his/her own starting point. So, start anywhere.
-
ALMOST BEFORE TIME BEGAN:
PREHISTORY
Dinosaurs, mammoths, ice ages, neolithic warriors, Stone Age hunter gatherers. Prehistoric Man, Primitive Man, Neanderthal Man, Paleolithic Man. And the pursuit of the origins of Stonehenge. A great opportunity for a variety of fascinating Internet Field Trips.
IF YOU ARE TAKING AN ANCIENT HISTORY
ONLINE COLLEGE COURSE, STUDENTS SHOULD SKIP THIS SECTION AND GO ON TO
EGYPT.
-
DINOSAURS AND OTHER FOLKS - AND THEIR LAND
- Dinosaur Fun
- Create-a-saurus - build and create your own dinosaur! Zoom Dinosaurs is a comprehensive on-line hypertext book about dinosaurs. Designed for students of all ages and levels of comprehension.
- The Field Museum
- Sight and sound tour of dinosaurs, back to pelycosaurs and forward to early humans. Beautiful sight. Time lines, lab for detailed information.
-
Dino Paradise
- The Dinosaurs and their Super Continent
-
Mongolian dinosaurs, pleistocene mammals, tertiary
mammals
- Of Mastodons, Mammoths and Other Giants of the Pleistocene
- UC Museum of Paleontology Public Exhibits
- Of Mastodons, Mammoths and Other Giants of the Pleistocene
- Virtual Exhibits from UC. Excellent for geological ages and environments of the past.
- Discovery of a Paleolithic painted cave at Vallon - Pont-d'Arc ( Ardèche )
- "An exceptionally important archaeological discovery has recently been made in Southern France,... in the form of a vast underground network of caves decorated with paintings and engravings dating from the Palaeolithic age." Now we have an opportunity for study aiming at "retracing the evolution of natural environment during the last Ice Age." The findings are stunning.
- Flints and Stones: Real Life in Prehistory
- Exhibit about Stone Age hunter gatherers who once lived in Britain and north west Europe. By The Museum of Antiquities. Explore daily life of hunter gatherers, and how archaeologists discover this info from past remains.
- The Hunter Gathers Food: Do the Quiz
- Would you survive? All Western Civilization. Students should take this quiz.
-
STONEHENGE
- Earth Mysteries: Stonehenge
- Summary page with facts, measurements, photos, recreations.
-
History
of Stonehenge
- Magical History Tour
- "Stonehenge is surely Britain's greatest national icon, symbolizing mystery, power and endurance." Was it a temple for the worship of ancient deities, an astronomical observatory, a sacred burial site?
-
LIFE AS IT WAS
THE MYSTERY THAT WAS EGYPT
The Egyptians carry a fascination for us that transcends time. And always the sense of strangeness and mystery. Videos, TV programs from Omar Shariff and the "Mysteries of the Pyramids," to Charleton Heston and "The Mystery of the Sphinx," and "Cleopatra: Destiny's Queen," and the "Chariots of the Gods," and the "Visit of the Aliens." How could the history of one nation span 3000 years? How did they build such remarkable monuments to antiquity? Why did intelligent humans mummify themselves? Where did their genius come from? Why do most history books on Western Civilization allot this culture only a scant twenty pages at best? Why do many people "forget" that Egypt is and always has been in Africa?
The themes which follow give credence to the richness of the Egyptian civilization AND to the Web. In categories that I think important but to which the Web makes no contribution, I leave blank - but urge referral to articles and books focusing on those subjects - such as Slavery.
-
SPECIAL PLACES
-
Akhet Internet: SPECIAL
FOCUS
- Where to begin with this exceptional site. Start HERE with the mysteries of Akhenaten. Egyptian Art, Sculpture and Furniture. Coffin, funerary art; mummy masks. British, Luxor, Cairo Museums. Akhenaten and the Amarna Period. Gods and Goddesses. The Clickable Mummy. Dynasty by dynasty list of the Pharaohs. Mythology, Tombs & Temples. King Tut - the most famous of the pharoahs but insignificant. His life and treasures. The SPECIAL FOCUS - Akhenaten. Akhenaten gallery - Pictures and information about the "Heretic Pharaoh." Who was he? Nefertiti.
- The Galleries of Egypt Art - A Special Creation
- The Richard Deurer Galleries. The Time Warp Gallery - An Odd Special Place I really like! His paintings are a special, humorous look at our modern world as it might appear through the eyes of the ancient Egyptians. Late for Work, Ship of Fools, The First Brunch, and so on. Then take a photgraphic and map tour of Egypt with excellent explanations. Visit all the major places and then cruise the Nile. Next visit the Ancient Art Gallery, followed by a beginner's guide to the fascinating world of Egyptian myths and legends. Includes pictures and descriptions of the gods and goddess. Description and explanation of mummies and mummification. Hieroglyphic Directory is first rate and fun HERE. Check out the Egyptian fashions and design that were "in" 3500 years ago.
- Guardian's Egypt - Main Gate: A SPECIAL EXPLORATORIUM
- Simply the best there is. Take the remarkable CyberJourney through pyramids. Pharaohs, news, tombs, hieroglyphs, art, music. You could spend a lifetime here. It is such a busy site that often it is difficult to connect. Have patience. IT IS THERE!
- Odyssey's Egypt - From Emory University and the University of Rochester
- "When we think about Egypt, camels, pyramids, and mummies often come to mind! No one knows exactly what life was like in ancient Egypt, but these objects tell us a lot. Egyptian fashion, religious beliefs, recreational activities, and much more can be explored through the art they created and included in their burials. Go to the Map - click for pronunciation and notice where the cities in ancient Egypt were located. People - People usually married within their social group and continued in the same job as their parents. People from all social groups represented in Egyptian art. Nobles & Priests, Soldiers, Scribes, Merchants, Artisans, Farmers, and even Slaves & Servants depicted in sculpture or paintings that illustrate scenes of rituals and everyday life. Mythology - In ancient times each Egyptian city or region had its own god and worshipped many others. Learn a few general things about ancient Egyptian religious beliefs. Who did they worship? Daily Life - Where did they live, what did they wear?" The range of life in Ancient Egypt.
- The Thebian Mapping Project : SPECIAL TECHNOLOGY
- One of the finest sites on Egypt. Tour the Necropolis - "The Theban Necropolis on the West Bank of the Nile across from the modern city of Luxoris probably the richest archaeological site on earth and one of the largest. Covers 6 square kilometers (just over two square miles), and was the burial-place of Egypt's New Kingdom pharaohs, noblemen, officials and priests. Explore the History of Thebes. Tour the principal monuments in Theban Sites. See the Theban Necropolis in Virtual Reality through QTVR. The Valley of the Kings - Follow the Exploration of the Valley. Visit the tombs individually in KV Sites. Trace the Family Tree of Rameses the Great and his sons. Meet the ancient Egyptians buried here in Personal Profiles. Trace the year-by-year History of KV 5's discovery. Take a Tour of the tomb and its many chambers."
-
A
Slice of Time: Ancient Egypt - SUPERB - Explore It All
- The Tomb of the Chihuahua Pharaohs - JUST A VERY SPECIAL PLACE
- Wonderful Egyptian graphics , great stuff for students and teachers, and an excellent section on why and how the Egyptians mummified their dead.
-
GENERAL SITES AND HISTORY
- Ancient Egyptian Virtual Temple
- "The boat is docked and waiting to take you on your journey to explore the Ancient Egypt or Kemet as it was known to the Egyptians themselves. According to these ancient people, Egypt not just an earthly locality, but in fact a reflection of Heaven ."
- Ancient Egypt - History
- "Travel back in time to a place that has left its imprint and impact on humanity forever.. . At no other period of known history has a civilization left behind so many clues and riddles that could answer mankind's deepest searchings of today."
- Ancient World Cultures: Ancient Egypt
- Brief essay and links introducing Egypt. Use the Ancient World Site for links, quizzes, chronology.
- History of Egypt
- Skip this site if you do NOT need extensive detail on every period. Excellent coverage from prehistory to today, each major period, each kingdom.
- History of Ancient Egypt
-
Well presented, intricate, interesting, helpful. Tour the
houses of Cleopatra, Caesar, Antony.
Terris' World
of Egyptology
- "Ancient Egypt was a glorious land, a place filled with beautiful, colorful temples, palaces, tombs and monuments. A place where magic and spiritualism were a way of daily life for its people. Where riches such as gold and precious gems were abundant, where such fine pieces of art were created that no other craftsman could ever duplicate, and where even its common citizens were in the presence of a "God." Pharoahs, queens, monuments, temples, dynasties.
- Rigby's World of Egypt
- Extensive tour of the monuments, palaces, temples. Chronology, antiquities, King Tut, major museums. "Take a tour of the country, relish ancient poetry, Egyptian antiquities, see Egypt from space."
- Did You Know? - Just how Good is you Egyptian Knowledge?
- A list of interesting "facts" to test your knowledge of basic Egypt. .
- The British Museum - The Remarkable "Place"
- "Illuminating world cultures." And here is their fine Interactive Egypt Learning site.
- Carlos Museum - Ancient Egyptian Art
- Emory University's outstanding collection of Egyptian art.
- Oriental Institute Museum Highlights.
-
Fine virtual museum with changing exhibits. Faces of Ancient Egypt.
Collections highlighted by geography and subject.
- Web site of the prestigious ancient Near East museum of the University of Chicago.
The Egyptian Collection. - Web site of the prestigious ancient Near East museum of the University of Chicago.
- The Virtual Museum - By the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism
-
LIVING
- Daily Life in Ancient Egypt
- The Nile - geography and agriculture, Nubia and Egypt , Religion , the priestly and military castes, medicine, calendar system, astrology, ethnozoology.
- Egypt: Daily Life
- Family life, marriage, food and cooking, cosmetics, hair, jewelry, clothing, housing and furniture, entertainment, government.
- Egyptian Ancient Recipes, Food
- The Ancient Egypt Site
- Rich site. Egyptian history, language and culture. Ancient Egypt from A-Z. about.
- Discovery of Writing
- "The ancient Egyptians knew full well that writing was the mainstay of civilised life. A seated scribe holding a papyrus roll was one of the most popular subjects in their early art. He was revered and honoured, for the early Egyptians recognised that writing was the foundation of ordered life and government and, to some extent, transcended death itself."
- Hieroglyphics
- In the beginning hieroglyphic signs were used to keep records of the king's possessions. "Scribes could easily make these records by drawing a picture of a cow or a boat followed by a number. But as the language became more complex more pictures were needed. Eventually the language consisted of more then 750 individual signs." First rate introductory site.
- The Finding of the Rosetta Stone
- "For 1400 years, no one knew how to read Egyptian hieroglyphs. Virtually all understanding of this mysterious script had been lost since the 4th century AD. The breakthrough to the decipherment of hieroglyphs came in 1799, a year after Napoleon's armies successfully captured the Egyptian Nile Delta. A French soldier, while working at a fort on the Rosetta branch of the Nile River, found a black basalt stone slab carved with inscriptions that would change the course of Egyptology." Cleveland Museum of Art.
- Duke Papyrus Archive
- "Electronic access to texts about and images of 1,373 papyri from ancient Egypt. Excellent short articles explaining papyri and writing. " "Papyrus,an Egyptian word that originally meant that which belongs to the house."some of the "recipes" for chemical combinations. Mix up a batch! Click to Writing in Egypt under Greek and Roman Rule. "All these texts somehow serve to reconstruct ancient civilization at large, its social, economic, political, legal, religious, linguistic and even medical history, from a far more authentic angle than is otherwise possible through the written word. Usually we have only the works of biased classical authors to tell us what their life was like. Papyri, however, were not written for us but for the use of the ancients themselves. This gives them their unique freshness and directness. Their interest is even greater when they are part of one and the same private archive, because in that case we can follow the ups and downs of a family through several decades, or even centuries."
- University of
Michigan Papyrus Collection - One of most
extensive collections in the world
- Great Library of Alexandria
- "Being one of the two most important libraries in the world, the library obtained any scrolls of any consequence, and eventually contained over 700,000 volumes. Founded around the year 300B.C. by Ptolomy I, the library was destroyed in 391A.D. by religious fanatics after 700 years of operation. Only a small portion of its knowledge managed to survive, giving us a small glimpse of what wonders it contained. With the destruction of the Library in Alexandria, we lost great works of drama, comedy, poetry, and other texts by philosophers and historians that we may no nothing about. Information from other cultures, most likely including the secret of the pyramids, why they were built, and how were also probably included. Also other great records from Babylonian, Europe, North Africa, and Mesopotamia have been lost."
- The Revival of the Ancient Library of Alexandria
- "At the meeting point of the three continents, Asia, Africa and Europe, Egypt has been the cradle of civilizations since ancient times. The ancient city of Alexandria was at the beginning of the third century B.C. the birthplace of the great plan to build a library. But a fire, which ravaged Alexandria, destroyed the library, this vast storehouse of learning. The Egyptian Government, in co-operation with UNESCO, has decided to resurrect the old dream to endow this part of the world with an important focal point for culture, education and science."
- Ancient Egypt Literature
- Book of the Dead, Coffin Texts, Creation Myths, Instruction for Behavior, Pyramid Texts, Spells, Stories, Verse.
- Literature of Ancient Egypt
- "The religious literature of ancient Egypt includes hymns to the gods, mythological and magical texts, and an extensive collection of mortuary texts. The range of secular literature includes stories; instructive literature, known as wisdom texts; poems; biographical and historical texts; and scientific treatises, including mathematical and medical texts. Notable also are the many legal, administrative, and economic texts and private documents such as letters, although not actually literature." Thoughtful site.
- Love Poems from Ancient Egypt
- "The ancient Egyptians left behind various love poems which relate the emotions felt all those thousands of years ago. And yet, they can be read as if they apply to us in the 20th century - has anything really changed?"
- Earliest Egyptian Chemical Manuscripts
- Egypt is generally recognized as the mother of chemical and alchemical arts. Site contains important ideas and discoveries.
- Egyptian Mathematics
- Try your hand at solving Egyptian math problems! The ancient Egyptians were possibly the first civilisation to practice the scientific arts. Indeed, the word chemistry is derived from the word Alchemy which is the ancient name for Egypt.Where the Egyptians really excelled was in medicine and applied mathematics.
- Historical Astrology in Ancient Egypt
- "Astrology has played a major role in society since the beginning of civilization, and maybe even before that. Astrology's history is a long one, and common belief is that its origins lie with the Greeks. However, a closer look shows that the foundations for astrology were laid much earlier than that, and the Egyptians had much to do with this."
- Medicine in Ancient Egypt - Summary of Research Thrusts.
- Research in polio, TB, dwarfism.
- Medicine in Old Egypt - Excellent Article
- Papyrology Home Page
- Best Index of Papyrus in existence probably. Important medical information. "With the turn of the century, . . new life was breathed into the study of disease and health in the ancient Nile Valley. Academic study of Egyptian disease segregated into three categories. First - medical Papyri. Early on it was recognized that the textual material of the Dynastic Period pertaining to the recognition and treatment of disease was extremely important for understanding the state of health as well as the concept of disease in Egypt. Second - the artistic representation of disease in the Nile Valley. The Egyptian's predilection to portray life in a relatively realistic manner offers an excellent opportunity for the study of disease."
- Science in Ancient Egypt
- "It is universally agreed that in technical arts Egyptian workers pointed the way to the rest of the world, and it is to them that all must turn for the first discovery of those facts that made science possible." Technical arts related to alchemy, glassmaking, dying, metallurgy, gold, textiles, copper and iron extraction.
-
BELIEVING, BELONGING, AND THE GODS
- Ancient Egyptian Religion: Tombs, embalming, funerals
- "Religion guided every aspect of Egyptian life. Egyptian religion was based on polytheism, or the worship of many deities, except for during the reign of Akenaton. The Egyptians had as many as 2000 gods and goddesses. Some were worshipped throughout the whole country, while others had only a local following. Often gods and goddesses were represented as part human and part animal."
- Directory of Ancient Egyptian Gods - Excellent List and Description
- "Unlike the later myths of the Greeks and Romans, the Egyptian gods do not have their own dominions, There is no one god that represents the sun, no strongest, no most beautiful. It is not that simple, Egyptian deities at times seem to share the same attributes and sometimes even the same appearance. Due in part to the Egyptian respect of traditions which made them slow, even reluctant to change their old ideas and myths, even as they were adopting new ones. This made their mythology more and more complex as time went by."
- Egyptian Mythology
- Overview "to explain some of the basic concepts and to introduce some of the gods. Religion in ancient Egypt was not unlike modern times. . . Individual kings worshipped their own gods, as did the workers, priests, merchants and peasants. . . . The gods lived, died, hunted, went into battle, gave birth, ate, drank, and had human emotions. The gods reigns overlapped, and, in some instances, merged. Their was no organized hierarchy structure of their reign. The dominance of the gods depended on the beliefs of the reigning king. Likewise, the myths changed with the location of the gods, as did their names."
-
RULING
- Egyptian Kings - From the Egypt Home Page
- Vignettes on almost every king in every dynasty. Was the Pharaoh divine? Royal regalia? A tour de force.
- Mark Millmore's Ancient Egyptian Page
- Attractive, well-designed and informative site: kings and queens, pyramids, the "Napoleon of Ancient Egypt."
-
Akhenaton - Background, and The Mystery of Akhenaten: Genetics or Aesthetics?
- Akhenaton - Ancient Revolutionary
- "When we place the revolutionary movement of Akhenaton against this background of popular discontent and then add to it the secret opposition of a powerful priesthood, a powerful army which disliked the king's peace policy, we begin to appreciate the powerful individuality of this first intellectual leader in history. His reign was the earliest age of the rule sf ideas. Akhenaton was the world's first revolutionary, and he was fully convinced that he might entirely recast the world of religion, thought, and life by the invincible purpose he held. Like all true revolutionaries at all times Akhenaton was fully persuaded that his ideas were right and that all men would eventually benefit by them."
- Amara: The Land of the Aten
- Akhenaton, "perhaps one of the most studied, despised, loved figures of ancient Egypt - and his queen Nefertiti. Hymn to Aten, details of the City of Akhenaton, map, the royal tomb (pictures and commentary). The mother of Tut, Tut, Ay, Horemheb - "Evil Madman or Misunderstood General." Pictures, descriptions of objects in Tut's tomb linked to Akhenaton and Amara period. And HERE the 1920 record of Sir Wallace Budge and the discovery of the Amarna Tablets. Basic family tree of the 18th Dynasty.
-
- Tutankhamun
- Well designed portrait. "Tutankhamun was a shadowy and little known figure of the late 18th Dynasty. To a certain extent he still is, despite the prominence he has acquired from the contents of his tomb"
- King Tut - The Boy
King - Fine site by Guardian
- National Geographic Presents: At The Tomb of Tutankhamen
- WONDERFUL SITE. Feb. 1923. The NG correspondent arrives in Luzor, at the Tomb and enters. His articles. Photos. Preview IMAX film, Mysteries of Egypt. "What would it be like to be there as the pyramids rise above the dunes, as stoic priests lay their pharaoh to rest, as an obsessed archaeologist finally finds the treasure that had eluded him for so long? Sift through stills."
- The Tomb of
Tutankhamun
- King Tut - How Did He Die?
- Ever since the discovery
of the tomb of Tutankhamun there has been speculation about the king's
death - was he a victim of the backlash against the Akhenaten / Amarna
heresy? Had he been murdered to allow his courtiers access to the throne?
Or was he a sickly young man whose genes had been affected by generations
of in-breeding by previous Egyptian pharaohs?
- BBC's Ramesses the Great
- "Is he the Pharaoh of the Bible's Exodus story? Known today by the majestic temples and colossal monuments that still rise above the Nile; proclaiming, as they have for more than 3,000 years, the greatness of Ramses II, "Son of Ra", the sun god and the warrior king of Egypt. More modern traditions that seek to identify him as the unnamed Pharaoh of the Exodus."
-
- Ancient Egyptian Military
- Individuals through the dynasties, military technology, soldiers, army structure, fortresses.
- Splendors of Ancient Egypt
- Take this special tour and follow the paths of the Kings and Queens of ancient Egypt. Real-life exhibition from Florida International Museum. Explore the artifacts. Tour the galleries.
-
BUILDING: The Pharaohs, Their Tombs, Their Temples
- Great Pyramid: A Dreamland Report
- "The world's oldest structure is so advanced that it can't be duplicated today, even using current technology." Details, challenges.
- Construction of the
Pyramids - Construction Techniques,
Building Theories.
- Giza Plateau Computer Model
- "In the spring of 1991 WGBH, in Boston, contacted Professor Mark Lehner, the Oriental Institute's Egyptian archaeologist, with the idea for a show to be broadcast in their NOVA series, investigating the construction of the Giza pyramid complex. One part of the show was to be an animated "fly-over" of the Giza Plateau as it might have looked at the time the pyramids were being constructed. To accomplish this a computer model of the entire plateau and its architectural components had to be created from published maps, survey, and excavation reports." And here is the fascinating result.
- Archimedia - Includes Giza Plateau Mapping Project
- Project's object is to assist students in understanding what ancient buildings looked like and how they were constructed. Displays numerous views, plans and sections, as well as computerized reconstructions. Concentrates on buildings from Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia. Pyramid, ziggurat, mycenaen palace. Includes the important Giza Plateau Project.
- Guardian's Great
Pyramid
- Guardian's Meidum Homepage
- Good site for the mystery pyramid. Interactive elements allow one to enter and explore.
- Guardian's CyberJourney
- Take a well-done trip to the pyramids, tombs, temples.
- Nova Online/Pyramids/Explore the Pyramids
- Great online interactive site. Explore the Pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, Menkaure, Sphinx. History, builders, science, age. Enter each one in this miltimedia effort. Then follow the excavation. Resources, guides.
- Temple Palace of Ramses III - Good Pictures
- The Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser
- "Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser (also spelled Zozer) was built during the Third Dynasty (ca. 2800 B.C.) in what is now Saqqara, Egypt. Djoser's Step Pyramid is generally considered the first tomb in Egypt to be built entirely of stone. Use page to explore ."
- Thebes Photographic Project
- Quite a remarkable project by Tom Van Eynde. "130 years after Francis Frith began his photographic expedition in Luxor, Egypt. I followed, continuing the work the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute's Epigraphic Survey at Luxor. My goal being to photograph the ancient capital of Thebes, and its sites, both, the little known, as well as the popular tourist attractions - to record the topography of the ancient sites in their present state, as well as, the interrelationships that they form with the landscape."
- Tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep (Niankhkhanum and Khanumhotep)
- Discovered in 1964 in the necropolis Saqqara. Tour it and see some "remarkable representations." Clickable floor plan.
- Tomb of Seneferi - History, Excavation,
Pictures
- Valley Of The Kings
- Three pharaohs, their
pictures, history. New discoveries in, excellent links to Ancient
Egypt.
-
DYING, DEATH AND "MUMMIFYING"
- The
Clickable Mummy - Fascinating!
- Death in Ancient Egypt
- From the research archives of the Oriental Institute in Chicago. Background, history, tomb scenes, supplies for the After-life.
- Egyptian Mummies - From the Smithsonian
- Mummies of Ancient Egypt
- What are mummies? How are they made? Who were they? The Afterlife.
- The Mummy Page
- The ambition of every Egyptian was to have a well mummified body and a perpetually cared-for tomb. The children of the deceased were charged with the maintenance of this home on earth and the observation of all attendant ceremonies. In the case of a favored government official a portion of the state revenue might be assigned as an endowment for the care of the tomb. As the number of deceased ancestors and officials multiplied, however, and the consequent cost of tomb maintenance became excessive, the tendency was to neglect those of the remote past and to concentrate attention on those of the more recently deceased.
- The Royal Mummies - View Them at the Luxor and Egyptian Museums. Research article here.
-
AND THE RIVER
- Bounty of Black Earth
- " Egypt is the 'gift of the Nile' and her harvests depend on its floodwaters. Fundamental pacemaker of the Egyptian farmer's life."
- History of Plumbing in Egypt
- "From ancient times, the rise and fall of the River Nile portended periods of famine or good fortune for the peoples of Egypt. Other than wells, the River Nile is the only source of water in the country. During an idyllic year, the flooding of the Nile would begin in July, and by September its receding waters would deposit a rich, black silt in its wake for farming. Before taming the river, however, the ancient Egyptians had to overcome the river's peculiar problem. When the Nile is the lowest, the ground completely dries up. When it floods, the water seeps into the dry soil and causes the ground to rise as much as a foot or two."
- River Nile
- "Egypt is the gift of the River Nile," said Herodotus, the great Greek historian, on his only visit to Egypt.
- Wild Egypt
- The Nile - an online safari for all ages. "The Nile River is possibly the most famous river in history. It was by its banks that one of the oldest civilizations in the world began. Not surprisingly, the Nile teems with life. Many different types of animals, birds, and fish all call the Nile River home. Hundreds of years ago, even hippos and lions could be found here in the Nile Valley."
-
AND THE SLAVES
- Slavery colors ancient
civilization as a continuing theme. Important as is the issue, the
Web offers only minimal assistance. Look to more recent books and
special articles.
Slavery in Egypt - "There is some controversy whether there was slavery at all in ancient Egypt. The differences of opinion stem mostly from how slavery is defined. Theory and practice of Egyptian slavery were, as far as we can ascertain, very different from those of Greece, Rome or the southern states of the USA, where slaves were wholly at the mercy of their owners with little protection from society, and more in line with the kind of slavery practiced in the rest of Africa." Excellent, ranging article.
- It Did Exist But Not A
Dominant Feature!
- Egypt FAQ
- " Slavery in ancient Egypt was different from the kind of slavery we have come to recognize, and certainly different from slavery in Mesopotamia or Rome at the same time. Egyptian slaves were more like the indentured servants of colonial America. They were able to buy or work their way to freedom, and were usually well cared for. They could hold important advisory positions in government, and there were several well-known slaves who became high officials in the Pharaoh's court. Prisoners were sent to work in the various mines which Egypt owned. The Pyramids, by the way, were NOT built by slaves, but by paid workers who were very proud of their work. The workers put their names and the names of their work teams on the insides of the blocks of stones, and they were allowed to build their own tombs within sight of the Pyramid, which was quite an honor. In those ancient times, you were better off as a slave in Egypt than as a free but poor person anywhere else."
- Slaves and Servants
- " The lowest class of Egyptian society, these workers were often foreigners. They worked in the household or in the fields. Slaves could be bought and sold like property. People could also sell themselves into slavery and buy themselves out of it."
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AND THE WOMEN
- Ankhesenamun: Princess
of Armana, Queen of Destiny - Fictional
and Factual
- Ankhesenamun - Wife of Tutankhamun, Daughter of Akhenaten?
Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis: A Royal Feud? - Ankhesenamun - Wife of Tutankhamun, Daughter of Akhenaten?
- Outstanding article by Dr. J. Tyldesley. After her death, the female king vanished from Egyptian history. Was her stepson to blame? Read on.
- Maatkare Hatshepsut. Ancient Egypt
- Hatshepsut had herself portrayed in the royal headdress, sometimes as a woman with prominent breasts but more often as male in body as well as costume. Her self-promotion, which extended to a miraculous conception and fictitious coronation in childhood, involved deliberately obscuring the rightful ruler, Tuthmosis III, who was a man by the time he succeeded to unfettered rulership in 1483 BC. Hatshepsut accomplished what no woman had before her. She ruled the most powerful, advanced civilization in the world. Her consort and true love was her advisor, Senmut.
- Hatshepsut - 1473 - 1458 BC
- The end of Hatshepsut - "Towards the end of her reign, the Asiatic peoples staged a revolt centered on the city of Kadesh, Tuthmosis III himself led the Egyptian to quash this uprising and Hatshepsut disappeared. Tuthmosis III was finally able to claim his rightful place as King of Egypt, now came vengeance - all images of Hatshepsut were attacked; statues, reliefs and shrines all were defaced."
- Hatshepsut
- The first oceanographic cruise? Queen Hatshepsut ruled Egypt from ca. 1503 to 1480 B.C. In contrast to the warlike temper of her dynasty, she devoted herself to administration and the encouragement of commerce. In the summer of 1493 B.C., she sent a fleet of five ships with thirty rowers each from Kosseir, on the Red Sea, to the Land of Punt, near present-day Somalia. It was primarily a trading expedition. "Crew brought back exotic goods like ivory, myrrh, wood, monkeys, and gold. Hatshepsut was able to open and increase trade expansion, keep a country at peace for the length of her rule, and begin to perfect domestic advancement. Cottrell (1960) believed Hatshepsut was loved by many due to the thousands that worked for and supported her every day of her rule. However it is not understood what happened to the powerful Hatshepsut. Some think she was either poisoned by Thutmosis III or left the country."
- Hatshepsut, Queen of Egypt
- "Queen Hatshepsut of the 18th dynasty was one of the few female pharaohs of Egypt. There were female pharaohs prior to her, as well as female pharaohs after her. However, Queen Hatshepsut was in many respects special. The question is, how was a woman able to establish such power during a time when societies were predominantly ruled by men? To answer this question we must take a closer look at the social climate for the 'common' woman in ancient Egypt."
- The Queen Who Would Be King
- "Hatshepsut was an 18th-dynasty pharaoh and one of the handful of female rulers in Ancient Egypt. Her reign was the longest of all the female pharaohs, and her funerary temple still stands as a tribute to her incredible rise to power." The story of Hatshepsut and her family tree. The temple and her cartouche. Poetry in her honor. Well-designed, impressive.
-
Nefertiti - Queen of All Lands- Nefertiti: The Beautiful One Has Come
- "Famed throughout the ancient world for her outstanding beauty, Nefertiti remains the one of the most well known Queens of Egypt. Though Akhenaten had several wives, Queen Nefertiti was his chief wife. Nefertiti is remembered for the painted limestone bust depicting her, in one of the greatest works of art of the pre-modern world. Exhibited in the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. The Berlin bust, seen from two different angles, is indeed, the most famous depiction of Queen Nefertiti. Found in the workshop of the famed sculptor Thutmose, the bust is believed to be a sculptor's model."
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- The Egyptian Economy and Non-royal Women
- Their Status in Public Life. NEH lecutre by Dr. Ward of Brown University. "The best I can offer as a general rule of thumb: public life was the domain of men, women had the vast responsibility of private life. The number of women who were able to move into the public professional sector was relatively small and those that we can identify are the exceptions."
- Egyptian Women in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt
- Interesting dissertation summary by A. O'Brien. "The history of women in the ancient world has been, until recently, a neglected topic, and it seems that women in ancient Egypt suffer from an even greater lack of attention than their contemporaries elsewhere in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean region."
- From Warrior Women to Female Pharaohs - Careers for Women in Ancient Egypt
- Excellent BBC-sponsored article on the "equality" of women.
- Status of Women in Ancient Egypt
- Important article by Joyce Tyldesley. "Unlike the position of women in most other ancient civilizations, including that of Greece, the Egyptian woman seems to have enjoyed the same legal and economic rights as the Egyptian man-- at least in theory. This notion is reflected in Egyptian art and historical inscriptions. It is uncertain why these rights existed for the woman in Egypt but no where else in the ancient world."
- Women in the Ancient Near East: Bibliography
- Select bibliography of recent sources in The Oriental Institute Research Archives at the University of Chicago. Subject index alone is 18 pages - and helpful. Much has been researched lately on women in this time. The most important literature is found in a few books and the 500 articles listed here.
- Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt
- Kelsey Museum exhibit. Gender ambiguity, and power, religion, engendered protection. Gender, mortality, and demographics. Faces of gender. Gender in the Archaeological Record.
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Cleopatra: The Last Pharaoh - "When Cleopatra VII ascended the Egyptian throne, she was only seventeen. She reigned as Queen Philopator and Pharaoh between 51 and 30 BC, and died at the age of 39."
- Cleopatra
- "She was a quick-witted woman who was fluent in nine languages. She was a mathematician and a very good businesswoman. She had a genuine respect for Caesar, whose intelligence and wit matched her own. Antony on the other hand almost drove her insane with his lack of intelligence and his excesses. She dealt with him and made the most of what she had to do. She fought for her country. She had a charismatic personality, was a born leader and an ambitious monarch who deserved better than suicide."
- Cleopatra
- "Cleopatra is a name which has evoked powerful images of sovreignity, femininity, beauty, and cunning throughout history. Cleopatra is perhaps one of the most famous queens of all time. She has been immortalized by Shakespeare, Horace, Plutarch, painters and sculptors, and various historians alike. Yet, despite her infamous reputation as a power-hungry seductress, Cleopatra was a proud and greatly ambitious ruler."
-
AND NUBIA - THE "REST" OF EGYPT
- 1987 Nubian Exhibition: Brochure
- "Nubia - Its Glory and Its People." The outstanding 1987 exhibition of the Univ. Chicago Oriental Institute Museum.
- Ancient Nubia: Egypt's Rival in Africa --ONLINE!
- Kelsey Museum's important exhibition of Africa's diverse and sophisticated Nubian civilization, 3100BC to AD 400. Places ancient Nubians and civilization in "a new historical context, offering visitors a compelling well-founded perspective...Over the centuries Nubians and Egyptians competed for power and advantage throughout the vast Lower Nile region." Images from the Collections of the Kelsey Museum. The attempt to save the history and monuments in Lower Nubia.
- Nubian Homepage
- The section on "Nubia in the Old Days." Links, chronology, map. "For unjustifiable reasons Nubian Civilization has been overlooked in favor of the another Great Egyptian Civilization. All findings in the past have been attributed to Egypt, while Egypt's High Dam made it impossible for current excavations. More than 100 of Nubian villages in (most of them in Sudan )with all onuments,tombs,temples were flooded by the waters of Nasser Lake after the construction of this High dam. Very few monuments (only 4)of Nubia of Sudan were saved during an international campaign by world community to salvage Nubian Culture."
- Vanished Kingdoms of the Nile: The Rediscovery of Ancient Nubia
- 1992 Oriental Institute Exhibition. "Nubia is located in today's southern Egypt and northern Sudan. This land has one of the harshest climates in the world. The temperatures are high throughout most of the year, and rainfall is infrequent. The banks of the Nile are narrow, making farming difficult. Yet, in antiquity, Nubia was a land of great natural wealth, of gold mines, ebony, ivory and incense which was always prized by her neighbors. Nubia is the homeland of Africa's earliest black culture with a history which can be traced from 3100 B.C. onward through monuments and artifacts, as well as written records from Egypt and Rome."
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AND THEIR CITIES AND TOWNS
- Alexandria
- Basic antiquity reference. History of Alexandra, people, events, geography.
- Cairo History Guide
- Cairo's deep-rooted history. "When Alexander the Great conquered Egypt, Cairo was older to him than he is to us." Takes viewer on long journey from 3500 BC to today.
- Guardian's Egypt - Main Gate : The secrets of Egypt from a well-done site.
- The Ten Plagues of Egypt
- Great! And more causes of the Plagues? Here.
- Afrocentrism Debate
- "A heated, racial, academic debate between establishment and other theorists about the role of Egypt and other parts of Africa in the formation of our Greco-Roman heritage." Several diverse but analytical sites.
- Building Bridges to Afrocentrism
- Excellent 1995 article,
beginning with: " "What color were the ancient Egyptians?" This is a
question that strikes fear into the hearts of most American Egyptologists,
since it so often presages a barrage of questions and assertions from the
Afrocentric perspective. Few of us have devoted much thought or research
to the contentions of the Afrocentric movement, so we nervously try to say
something reasonable, and hope that the questioner won't persist and that
we won't end up looking
- silly or racist or both."
- Not Out of Africa: How Afrocentrism Became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History
- The Lefkowitz book title (1996). And her thesis: "There are of course many possible interpretations of the truth, but some things are simply not true. It is not true that there was no Holocaust. There was a Holocaust, although we may disagree about the numbers of people killed. Likewise, it is not true that the Greeks stole their philosophy from Egypt; rather, it is true that the Greeks were influenced in various ways over a long period of time by their contact with the Egyptians. But then, what culture at any time has not been influenced by other cultures, and what exactly do we mean by "influence"? If we talk about Greek philosophy as a "Stolen Legacy," which the Greeks swiped from Egyptian universities, we are not telling the truth, but relating a story, or a myth, or a tall tale. But if we talk about Egyptian influence on Greece, we are discussing an historical issue."
- What Race Were the Ancient Egyptians?
- Another point of view (2000): "Civilization as it exists today is the culmination of the historical development of mankind, layer upon layer from ancient times to modern, each group contributing its share to the whole. Through human interaction, whether by trade or warfare, ideas, reform, and invention are assimilated, adapted, and again dispersed. It's the nature of history regardless of ethnicity."
- Afrocentric Debate Resource (1997)
Afrocentrism (1996)
ByrnMawr Classical Review (2000)
CREATING
THINKING, WRITING, SPEAKING
HEALING AND DISCOVERING: SCIENCE AND MEDICINE
CONTROVERSIAL EGYPT PAGES
Controversy exists in all scholarly pursuits. It should not surprise us that it does in ancient Egypt. It seems more intense - perhaps because Egypt appears more mysterious than Rome and Greece. Of the many puzzles, the Athena Controversy stands apart - for its seriousness and impact.
THE BLACK ATHENA
CONTROVERSY
This
controversy stems from propositions considered controversial: that the
ancient Egyptians were black, that ancient Egypt was superior to other
ancient civilizations and had a major influence on Europe and Africa, and
that academic racists over the years prevented this information from being
disseminated. If you want to enter this debate, you need to read carefully
the major responses of the participants in this debate. What I should think
we would all agree upon is the wonder, richness, and "multiculturality" of
the mixture of peoples in the Ancient world.
To Part III-Rome
To Part
IV-Bridges 
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