Ancient Egypt

PAGE CONTENTS:

Ancient Egypt Tidbits

Cleopatra

King Tut

More King Tut

Why Did Hatshepsut Become King?

How to Make a Mummy

Pharaohs ruled Egypt from 3110 B.C. until 332 B.C., when Egypt came under foreign rule.

Cleopatra was part Macedonian, part Greek, and part Iranian. She was not an Egyptian.

As long as 4,500 years ago, the Egyptians used gold in dentistry. Remarkable examples of the artistry of these early orthodontists have been found, perfectly preserved, by archaeologists of our own time.

- Checkers was invented in Egypt, where the aristocracy played it as early as 2,000 B.C.
- Long ago, dead Egyptian women used to be left in the sun for three days before being embalmed. Why? So the embalmers wouldn't find them attractive!
- The ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone
- The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 BC.
- In 4000 B.C., Egyptians discovered yeast's leavening abilities and turned out more than 40 types of bread.
- Fruitcake originated in ancient Egypt and was considered an essential food for the afterlife.
- The Egyptians first invented toothpaste some 5,000 years ago. It was a crude mixture of wine and pumice. From the early Roman Empire until eighteenth-century Europe and America, urine was a main ingredient in toothpaste, because the ammonia in it is an excellent cleaner. Ammonia is still a main ingredient in many types of toothpaste.

Who built the first paved road?
To build their monuments and temples, the ancient Egyptians needed huge blocks of black basalt, which they floated to Giza (just outside Cairo) using wooden barges on the Nile River. But how did they get the blocks of stone from the quarry to the water, which was about seven miles away (11 km)?

They solved the problem by building what may have been the world's first paved road. The six-foot wide (1.8 meter) road was paved mostly with flat slabs of sandstone and limestone. Because there are no grooves on the ancient stones, it is thought that the blocks of basalt were moved on rollers.

More about the world's first paved road:

EARTH'S OLDEST PAVED ROAD
Forty-three miles southwest of Cairo lies a basalt quarry favored by ancient Egyptian artisans. Old Kingdom craftsmen laboriously cut this hard, black, glassy rock into royal sarcophagi and pavements for the mortuarytemples at Giza just outside Cairo.

To transport the heavy blocks of basalt from the quarry to Giza, the Egyptians built a quay on Lake Moeris, which then had an elevation of 66 feet above sea level and was located 7½ miles southeast of the quarry. (The Lake is now much smaller and 148 feet below sea level, indicating a large climate change.) Then, when the Nile flooded and its waters reached a gap in the hills separating the Lake and the Nile, the Egyptians were able to float the blocks of basalt over to the Nile and down to Cairo.

Good thinking! But how did they transport the heavy blocks 7½ miles from quarry to quay? The answer: What was apparently the first paved road on the planet. This 4,600-year-old engineering feat averaged 6½ feet wide and was paved with thousands of slabs of sandstone and limestone, with some logs of petrified wood thrown in. Since the slabs show no grooves, it is thought that the stone-laden sleds moved on rollers.

ON WHAT VEGETABLE DID AN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PLACE HIS RIGHT HAND WHEN TAKING AN OATH?
The onion. Its round shape symbolized eternity.

Did Egyptians really worship onions?
It appears they did, although not without good reason - In ancient Egypt, the onion symbolized eternity to the Egyptians who buried onions along with their Pharaohs. The anatomy of the onion suggested a circle-within-a-circle structure, symbolizing eternal life.

How old was Queen Cleopatra?
Cleopatra was no older than 18 when she became the queen of Egypt. Despite her glamorous image today, she is depicted on ancient coins with a long hooked nose and masculine features. Yet she was a very seductive woman. It was reported that she had a lovely singing voice, exuded great charm, and was very intelligent. She spoke nine languages (she was the first Ptolemy pharaoh who could actually speak Egyptian) and was considered a shrewd politician.

IN 3000 BC EGYPT, WHAT WAS USED TO COLOR NAILS AND LIPS?
In 3000 BC Egypt, yellow-red henna was used to color nails and lips in popular shade of orange. In Roman times, sheeps fat was used to color nails.

Did the Egyptians really wear gold cloth?
The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore garments made with thin threads of beaten gold. Some fabrics had up to 500 gold threads per one inch of cloth

WHY DID EGYPT’S FEMALE PHAROAH HAVE A BEARD?
A female pharaoh was unknown in Egypt before Hatshepsut, who began her reign in 1502 B.C. In order not to shock convention, she had herself portrayed in male costume, with a beard, and without breasts.

Were the Egyptians really accomplished dentists?
As long as 4,500 years ago, the Egyptians used gold in dentistry. Remarkable examples of the artistry of these early orthodontists have been found, perfectly preserved, by archaeologists of our own time.

Did the ancient Egyptians use honey for medicinal purposes?
The popular and varied uses of honey as a medicine in ancient Egypt can be seen in Egyptian medical texts dating back to about 2,500 B.C. In these texts, honey is listed in hundreds of remedies.

Did the ancient Egyptians speak hieroglyphics? If not, what did they speak?
There is a popular notion that hieroglyphics, the famous picture writing of ancient Egypt, was simply a written language. But - surprise! - it did phonetically "spell out" their spoken language, combining alphabet-like symbols with the pictures. Unfortunately, the symbols appear to have represented only consonants, not vowels - nbdy knws hw th lngge snded.

The language itself was a mixture of Cushitic and Berber languages from northern Africa and words taken from the Semitic tongues spoken in nearby Asia. Source: THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA

Cleopatra

Queen of Egypt (69 - August 30, 30 BCE)

Much of what we know about Cleopatra was written after her death when it was politically expedient to portray her as a threat to Rome and its stability. Thus, some of what we know about Cleopatra may have been exaggerated or misrepresented by those sources. Cassius Dio, one of the ancient sources that tell her story, summarizes her story as "She captivated the two greatest Romans of her day, and because of the third she destroyed herself."

During Cleopatra's early years, her father tried to maintain his failing power in Egypt by bribing powerful Romans. Ptolemy XII was reportedly the son of a concubine instead of a royal wife.

When Ptolemy XII went to Rome in 58 BCE, his wife, Cleopatra VI Tryphaina, and his eldest daughter, Berenice IV, assumed the rulership jointly.

he returned, apparently Cleopatra VI had died, and with the help of Roman forces, Ptolemy XII regained his throne and executed Berenice. Ptolemy then married his son, about 9 years old, to his remaining daughter, Cleopatra, who was by time about eighteen.

Cleopatra apparently attempted to rule alone, or at least not equally with her much-younger brother. In 48 BCE, Cleopatra was pushed out of power by ministers. At the same time, Pompey -- with whom Ptolemy XII had allied himself -- appeared in Egypt, chased by forces of Julius Caesar. Pompey was assassinated by Ptolemy XIII's supporters. A sister of Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII declared herself ruler as Arsinoe IV. Cleopatra, according to the stories, had herself delivered to Julius Caesar's presence in a rug and won his support. Ptolemy XIII died in a battle with Caesar, and Caesar restored Cleopatra to power in Egypt, along with her brother Ptolemy XIV as co-ruler.

In 46 BCE, Cleopatra named her newborn son Ptolemy Caesarion, emphasizing that this was the son of Julius Caesar. Caesar never formally accepted paternity, but he did take Cleopatra to Rome that year, also taking her sister, Arsinoe, and displaying her in Rome as a war captive. That he was already married (to Calpurnia) yet Cleopatra claimed to be his wife added to a climate in Rome that ended with Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE.

After Caesar's death, Cleopatra returned to Egypt, where her brother and co-ruler Ptolemy XIV died, probably assassinated by Cleopatra. She established her son as her co-ruler Ptolemy XV Caesarion. When the next Roman military governor of the region, Marc Antony, demanded her presence -- along with that of other rulers who were controlled by Rome -- she arrived dramatically in 41 BCE, and managed to convince him of her innocence of charges about her support of Caesar's supporters in Rome, captivated his interest, and gained his support.

Antony spent a winter in Alexandria with Cleopatra (41-40 BCE), and then left. Cleopatra bore twins to Antony. He, meanwhile, went to Athens and, his wife Fulvia having died in 40 BCE, agreed to marry Octavia, the sister of his rival Octavius. They had a daughter in 39 BCE. In 37 BCE Antony returned to Antioch, Cleopatra joined him, and they went through a sort of marriage ceremony in 36 BCE. That same year, another son was born to them, Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Marc Antony formally restored to Egypt -- and Cleopatra -- territory which the Ptolemy's had lost control of, including Cyprus and part of what is now Lebanon. Cleopatra returned to Alexandria and Antony joined her in 34 BCE after military victory. He affirmed the joint rulership of Cleopatra and her son, Caesarion, recognizing Caesarion as the son of Julius Caesar.

Antony's relationship with Cleopatra -- his supposed marriage and their children, and his granting of territory to her -- were used by Octavian to raise Roman concerns over his loyalties. Antony was able to use Cleopatra's financial support to oppose Octavian in the Battle of Actium (31 BCE), but missteps -- probably attributable to Cleopatra -- led to defeat.

Cleopatra tried to get Octavian's support for her children's succession to power, but was unable to come to an agreement with him. In 30 BCE, Marc Antony killed himself, reportedly because he'd been told that Cleopatra had been killed, and when yet another attempt to keep power failed, Cleopatra killed herself.

Egypt became a province of Rome, ending the rule of the Ptolemies. Cleopatra's children were taken to Rome. Caligula later executed Ptolemy Caesarion, and Cleopatra's other sons simply disappear from history and are assumed to have died. Cleopatra's daughter, Cleopatra Selene, married Juba, king of Numidia and Mauretania.

Jone Johnson Lewis

King Tut

On Sunday, exactly 85 years after Howard Carter first saw the steps of Tut's tomb, the chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Dr. Zahi Hawass, removed Tut's mummy from its stone sarcophagus and carefully placed it in a climate-controlled display case that exposes the mummy's face.

Before, perhaps only 50 people in the world could claim to have laid eyes on the mummy. Now, the more than 5,000 people a day who travel to Tut's tomb in the Valley of the Kings can see it, too.

King Tut was born around 1342 BC. No one knows who his parents were, but his father was most likely the pharaoh Akhenaten, and his mother was most likely a minor royal wife named Kiya, who might have died during childbirth.

During two decades of turbulent rule, Akhenaten had tried to eradicate Egypt's ancient religion in favor of the exclusive worship of the sun god Aten. In the process, he had stirred up hatred among priests and ordinary Egyptians alike.

Akhenaten's reforms died soon after he did. His successor, Smenkhkare, ruled for only a few years. Then, around 1333 BC, Tutankhamun came to power, although at the time he was called Tutankhaten ("the living image of Aten"). The new pharaoh was all of nine years old.

A commoner called Ay acted as regent. Ay had risen to prominence during Akhenaten's reign. After his patron was gone, he and another commoner, Horemheb, divided power between them. While Ay guided the young Tut, Horemheb commanded Egypt's armies.

Under Ay's influence, Tut reinstated Egypt's "old-time religion" and changed his name to Tutankhamun to distance himself from the unpopular worship of Aten. He also took a bride--his half-sister Ankhesenamun, once named Ankhesenpaaten. (Strange as it sounds, ancient Egyptian royals often married their close relatives.) None of his children with Ankhesenamun outlived their pharaoh father.

Tut's reign was dedicated to returning Egypt to its glory days. The old temples were restored, the military reinvigorated, and new building plans announced. But Tut didn't rule for long. He died, abruptly, around 1323 BC, still short of his 20th birthday. At the time, Horemheb was away on campaign against the Hittites. That left Ay with a clear path to power--if he acted quickly. Once Tut was safely in the ground, Ay had himself crowned pharaoh.

A pharaoh would usually be mourned for more than two months, while his body was mummified and his grave goods produced. Temple remains show Tut was buried quickly. His tomb was small and largely undecorated (it was probably intended for someone else), and his burial offerings were a motley collection. Some were even labeled with a different pharaoh's name.

Ironically, the relative ignominy of Tut's burial is what sealed his later fame. Horemheb, who soon succeeded Ay as pharaoh, removed the few monuments marking Tut's tomb. Then, when Ramses VI's tomb was carved out of the rock overhead, the opening to Tut's tomb was buried under debris.

Later generations forgot he was there. Tomb raiders consequently focused their efforts on more prominent mausoleums, and in 1922 Tut's burial chamber was still mostly undisturbed, just waiting to be discovered by Howard Carter. So Tutankhamun--hardly the most significant of Egypt's pharaohs--became its most magnificent in death.

Mark Diller

More King Tut

A team from the University of Memphis (that's Memphis, Tennessee--not Memphis, Egypt) has discovered an intact tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. It's the first such find since Howard Carter discovered King Tut's tomb in 1922. The tomb is just a few feet from Tut's, and it evidently dates from right around Tut's time.

Study of the tomb and its contents--including five mummies in undamaged sarcophagi--is just getting started. While the Memphis team digs in to their new discovery, let's look back at the man next door: King Tutankhamun himself. Who was he? And why did his tomb survive intact?

King Tut was born around 1342 BC. No one knows who his parents were, but most likely his father was the Pharaoh Akhenaton, and his mother was a minor royal wife named Kiya, who might have died in childbirth. During 18 turbulent years of rule, Akhenaton had tried to eradicate Egypt's ancient religion in favor of the exclusive worship of the sun god Aton. In the process, he had stirred up hatred among priests and ordinary Egyptians alike.

Akhenaton's reforms died with him in 1335 BC. His successor, Smenkhkare, ruled for less than two years. Then, in 1333, Tutankhamun came to power, although at the time he was called Tutankhaton ("the living image of Aton"). The new pharaoh was all of 9 years old. A commoner called Ay acted as regent.

Ay had risen to prominence during Akhenaton's reign. After his patron was gone, he and another commoner, Horemheb, divided power between them. While Ay guided the young Tut, Horemheb took command of Egypt's armies.

Under Ay's influence, Tut reinstated Egypt's "old-time religion" and changed his name to Tutankhamun to distance himself from the unpopular worship of Aton. He also took a bride--his half-sister Ankhesenamun (strange as it sounds, ancient Egyptian royals often married their close relatives). None of his children with Ankhesenamun outlived their pharaoh father.

Tut's reign was dedicated to returning Egypt to its glory days. The old temples were restored, the military reinvigorated, and new building plans announced. Even as Tut was growing into adulthood, though, his body might have been growing frail. His tomb contained more than 100 walking sticks, and Tut was almost always pictured seated on a stool, even while hunting.

Tut died, abruptly, in 1323 BC, still short of his 20th birthday. At the time, Horemheb was away on campaign against the Hittites. That left Ay with a clear path to power--if he acted quickly. Once Tut was safely in the ground, Ay had himself crowned pharaoh.

A pharaoh would usually be mourned for more than two months, while his body was mummified and his grave goods produced. Temple remains show Tut was buried quickly. His body was shoddily mummified, and his tomb was small and largely undecorated (it was probably intended for someone else). Even his burial offerings were a motley collection, some labeled with a different pharaoh's name.

Ironically, the relative ignominy of Tut's burial is what sealed his later fame. He was tucked away in a poor, nondescript tomb. Then, when Pharaoh Ramses VI's tomb was carved out of the rock overhead, the opening to Tut's tomb was buried under debris.

Later generations forgot he was there. Tomb raiders consequently focused their efforts on more prominent mausoleums, and in 1922 Tut's burial chamber was still undisturbed, just waiting to be discovered by Howard Carter. So Tutankhamun--frail in life--became magnificent in death.

Mark Diller - KnowledgeNews is brought to you by Every Learner, Inc., an independent small business dedicated to supporting lifelong learners. Copyright © 2008, Every Learner, Inc. All rights reserved.

Why Did Hatshepsut Become King?

by Jone Johnson Lewis

In about 1473 BCE, a woman, Hatshepsut, took the unprecedented step of becoming king of Egypt with full kingship powers and a male identity. She thus displaced, for about two decades, her stepson and nephew, assumed heir of her husband. And she did this in a time of relative peace and considerable economic prosperity and stability in Egypt; most women who ruled as regents or solely did so in chaotic times. Here's a summary of some of the current thinking about Hatshepsut's motivations for becoming -- and remaining -- the Pharaoh of Egypt.

Older versions of the story assume that Hatshepsut seized power and ruled as a "wicked stepmother," and that her stepson and successor got his revenge after her death by removing her memory from history. Is this what happened?

Hatshepsut's initial rule was as the regent for her stepson, and though she was depicted as a senior ruler and he as the junior partner in their rule, she did not initially take on full kingship. In ruling as a regent, protecting the throne for her husband's heir, she was following in some recent footsteps.

Women rulers before Hatshepsut had ruled as the mother of the next king. But Hatshepsut's regency was a bit different, and thus her legitimacy in ruling may not have been quite so clear.

When Hatshepsut took power as king, she did so in a context of religious beliefs. We might call this mythology today, but to the ancient Egyptian, the identification of the king with certain deities and powers was essential for the security of the unified Egypt.

Once Hatshepsut took the step of becoming fully king, she went to great lengths to justify that this was the "right thing to do" -- that all was right with the universe even with a woman taking on a male and kingly role.

If we think we understand why Hatshepsut or her advisors felt it necessary to take on the full kingship, there's one question left: why, when Thutmose III became old enough to rule, didn't he seize power or Hatshepsut step aside voluntarily?

It's estimated that Thutmose III was very young at the time his father, Thutmose II, died, Hatshepsut, wife and half-sister of Thutmose II, and thereby stepmother and aunt of Thutmose III, became regent for the young king.

In early inscriptions and images, Hatshepsut and Thutmose III are shown as co-rulers, with Hatshepsut taking a more senior position. And in year 7 of their joint reign, Hatshepsut took on the full powers and identity of a king, and is shown dressed as a male king from that time.

She reigned, it seems from the evidence, for more than 20 years. Surely Thutmose III would have been old enough to take over by the end of that time, whether by force or with Hatshepsut's cooperation? Does the failure of Hatshepsut to step aside speak for her usurpation of power against the will of Thutmose III? For his weakness and powerlessness, as in the no-longer-widely-accepted "wicked stepmother" story?

In ancient Egypt, the kingship was tied up with several religious myths. One was the Osiris / Isis / Horus myth. The king was identified, during life, with Horus -- one of the king's formal titles was a "Horus name." At the king's death, the king became Osiris, father of Horus, and the new king became the new Horus.

What would it do to this identification of the deities Horus and Osiris with the king, if the previous king did not die before the new king took on full kingship? There are some co-ruling kings in Egyptian history. But there is no precedence for a former Horus. There was no way to become "un-king." Only death could lead to a new king.

It was most likely in Thutmose III's power to overthrow and kill Hatshepsut. He was general of her army, and his military prowess after her death attests to his skill and willingness to take risks. But he did not rise up and do so.

So if Thutmose III did not hate his stepmother, Hatshepsut, and out of hate want to overthrow and kill her, then it makes sense that for the sake of Maat (order, justice, rightness) that he cooperated with her remaining as king, once she'd taken the step of declaring herself king.

Hatshepsut had already apparently decided -- or the priests or advisors had decided for her -- that she must take on the role of king and a male identity, as there was also no precedence for a female Horus or Osiris. To break with the identification of the king with the myth of Osiris and Horus would have also been to question the identification itself, or to seem to open Egypt to chaos, the opposite of Maat.

Hatshepsut may have been, essentially, stuck with the identity of the king until her own death, for the sake of Egypt's prosperity and stability. And so also was Thutmose III stuck.

How to Make a Mummy

People have embalmed corpses for thousands of years. But no one has ever given the dead a royal sendoff quite like the ancient Egyptians.

Embalming Egyptian-style meant making a mummy. A team of priests and artists worked for months to make it happen. It wasn't cheap--only the richest of nobility could afford the full mummy treatment. But, despite the costs, nobles wouldn't be caught dead without a mummy plan.

Want to make a mummy, too? If you can't find an ancient Egyptian priest, or don't have the money, don't get unraveled. Here is the step-by-step process King Tut might have undergone more than 3,000 years ago.

The ancient Egyptians prepared the body for mummification immediately after death. Their goal: preserve the body for eternity, looking as much as possible like it did in this life. To prevent early decay, they knew that most of the internal organs had to be removed. So, using a sharp stone, they made a small incision on the left side of the abdomen. Then they reached in and took out the intestines, stomach, liver, and lungs, putting each in a separate container called a canopic jar. Each jar had the head of a different animal on it, representing each god that protected organs in the afterlife.

They left the heart in place--it's the center of thought and memory, and should never be disturbed. Not so the brain. The ancient Egyptians inserted a long sharp hook into it through the nostrils. Then they moved the hook around to dislodge parts of the brain and remove them, being careful not to damage the bones of the face. The brain is not an important organ in the afterlife, so they threw it away.

Once the organs were removed, ancient Egyptian embalmers washed the body's cavity with palm wine and pounded spices--both to slow decay and provide a pleasing scent. They preferred myrrh and cassia and avoided frankincense.

To dry the body completely, they covered it in natron inside and out. Natron is a type of salt found in Egypt, and it's perfect for mummy making. It absorbs moisture readily and chemically destroys fat and grease.

After they applied the natron, the ancient Egyptians put the body in a dry place for at least 40 days, preferably even 70, but not more than that. Then they uncovered it and washed away the salt. The body shrank and desiccated quite a bit, so they worked to restore the skin's suppleness and return everything to a natural shape. They rubbed in scented oils, applied makeup, and maybe even put on a wig. To give the body a robust form, they stuffed it full of herbs and linens.

Only then were they ready to wrap. The ancient Egyptians used several hundred yards of linen strips about three inches wide. They started with the head, fingers, and toes, and then wrapped the rest of the body.

They did it again and again until they had many layers. In between, they added amulets to protect the body and guide it in the afterlife. They soaked some of the layers in gum or resin, which held them in place and kept the body dry.

Finally, they wrapped the body in a shroud and had it interred. The relatively poor got a wooden box and shallow graves in the sand. Those who could afford more prestige got elaborately decorated coffins and stone tombs. Practically everyone got the "Opening of the Mouth," an all-important ritual in which a priest touched instruments to the mummy's mouth and other parts to bring back the senses enjoyed in life and enable speech and fine dining in the afterlife.

A royal sendoff, like King Tut's, included more, such as a gold mask and several gilded coffins. These went inside a stone sarcophagus, which went inside a tomb of many chambers. Art and hieroglyphic writing depicted the deceased, both in life and on a journey to the afterworld.

The tomb also contained personal possessions--everything from statues of servants to boats, chariots, and even pets, mummified like their owner. Warnings and curses on the tomb's entrance threatened those who would steal from someone's afterlife.

If you were an early dynasty king, like Khufu, your tomb was built into a pyramid. Later kings were often buried in tombs carved out of the earth. The Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens in ancient Thebes--what is now Luxor--contain more than 150 known tombs, including King Tut's.

Christopher Call

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