Almost all of us, at some point, have seen on television, on the internet, through books or in printed newspapers and magazines, images of the great pyramids of Egypt, located in Giza. Many have also seen various representations of mummies, whether in cartoons or Hollywood movies. Well then, all this universe that comes to our sight and mind and provokes fascination refers to the ancient civilization that developed in the northeast region of Africa, that is, the civilization of EgyptOld one, which began to take shape around 3000 BC. Ç.
The Greek historian Herodotus is credited with the phrase “Egypt is a gift from the Nile”, that is, Egyptian civilization is a gift, a gift from the river that permeates the region where it flourished. In this sense, Egypt resembles the civilizations that developed in Asia Minor, in the region known as Mesopotamia, since they owed their existence to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Some historians define this region, which stretches from Mesopotamia to Egypt, as “ GrowingFertile", that is, an area with great potential for agriculture, given the presence of rivers. For this reason, these civilizations are also called hydraulic, as it was from rivers like the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates that the entire survival apparatus, from plantations to housing, was built.
The work of irrigating the rivers and the construction of dikes and dams provided the Egyptians with an ever-increasing civilizational advance. The society that formed in Ancient Egypt was rigidly stratified, with solidly delimited oppositions. At the base of the social pyramid were slaves and peasants (also called fellas). In addition to these, there were still a number of workers who acted as service providers, which were the most varied, such as handicrafts.
Above the social base were such figures as embalmers, priests, state officials, warriors, and a few wealthy merchants and artisans. There was also the figure of the scribe - the scribe responsible for controlling goods, work, collecting taxes, organizing laws, among other activities of paramount importance. Scribes and priests maintained an intimate relationship with the highest sovereign of society, the Pharaoh.
For most of its history, Ancient Egypt was a society with a polytheistic religion, that is, they believed in several gods, with the exception of the period of the government of AmunhotepIV [1353 to 1336 a. C.], who tried to institute the cult to a single god, Atón, the god of the solar disk. Pharaoh himself represented deities, one in life and one after death. Therefore, when he died, he was embalmed and mummified to reign among the dead just as he had reigned among the living.
The stages in the history of the development of Ancient Egypt are also related to the various dynasties of pharaohs who established themselves in power. Historians usually divide their history into three major phases: 1) o Old oneEmpire, which had the city of Memphis as its capital and which lasted until the year 2052 BC. Ç. It was during this period that the pyramids of Giza were built. 2) The AverageEmpire, which had the city of Thebes as its capital and was marked by the invasion of the Hyksos peoples. 3) And finally, the NewEmpire (1539-525 BC a.), that includes events that go from the resistance to the hyksos to the occupation of the territory by the Assyrians. Then there is the phase of the Hellenistic period and the link with the Roman Empire.
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