THE NILE AND THE "TWO LANDS"
Notes:
- Upper Egypt was a 500 mile long strip of fertile land along the nile
- Lower Egypt was the wide land along the Nile delta, emptying into the Mediterranean Sea
- The Nile was the major provider of life for the Egyptians and was much revered in lore and writing
- Around 3100 BC the two lands were united under a single king of pharaoh (Narmer)
- Pharaoh was all powerful, worshipped as a god, and intimately connected to the other major Egyptian gods and goddesses
- Egyptians relied on a harmony and balance of the universe, which they called "maat"
- Isfet- opposite of maat- bad
- Pharaohs had multiple wives, and all routes to financial and social success were through the palace
- Women could inherit money and land and divorce their husband, only few ever achieved political power through
- Gods were often portrayed as being people with animal heads or bodies
- Egyptians believed in after-life (ka) and they mummified bodies to preserve them for this past-death journey
- All souls would need to justify themselves at the point of death and either sent to an after-world paradise, or the jaws of a monster
In the beginning of class I took the Mesopotamia quiz that I missed on the 29.
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