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THE ANCIENT EGYPT PORTAL

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The golden funeral mask of king Tutankhamun, a symbol for many of ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeast Africa. It was concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River, situated in the place that is now the country Egypt. Ancient Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100 BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology) with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under Menes (often identified with Narmer). The history of ancient Egypt unfolded as a series of stable kingdoms interspersed by periods of relative instability known as "Intermediate Periods". The various kingdoms fall into one of three categories: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age, the Middle Kingdom of the Middle Bronze Age, or the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age.

Ancient Egypt reached the pinnacle of its power during the New Kingdom, ruling much of Nubia and a sizable portion of the Levant. After this period, it entered an era of slow decline. During the course of its history, ancient Egypt was invaded or conquered by a number of foreign powers, including the Hyksos, the Nubians, the Assyrians, the Achaemenid Persians, and the Macedonians under Alexander the Great. The Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom, formed in the aftermath of Alexander's death, ruled until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. Egypt remained under Roman control until the 640s AD, when it was conquered by the Rashidun Caliphate.

The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture. The predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. With resources to spare, the administration sponsored mineral exploitation of the valley and surrounding desert regions, the early development of an independent writing system, the organization of collective construction and agricultural projects, trade with surrounding regions, and a military intended to assert Egyptian dominance. Motivating and organizing these activities was a bureaucracy of elite scribes, religious leaders, and administrators under the control of a pharaoh, who ensured the cooperation and unity of the Egyptian people in the context of an elaborate system of religious beliefs.^[1]

The many achievements of the ancient Egyptians include the quarrying, surveying, and construction techniques that supported the building of monumental pyramids, temples, and obelisks; a system of mathematics, a practical and effective system of medicine, irrigation systems, and agricultural production techniques, the first known planked boats, Egyptian faience and glass technology, new forms of literature, and the earliest known peace treaty, made with the Hittites. Ancient Egypt has left a lasting legacy. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities were carried off to far corners of the world. Its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for millennia. A newfound respect for antiquities and excavations in the early modern period by Europeans and Egyptians has led to the scientific investigation of Egyptian civilization and a greater appreciation of its cultural legacy. (Full article...)

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Ancient Egyptian deities are the gods and goddesses worshipped in ancient Egypt. The beliefs and rituals surrounding these gods formed the core of ancient Egyptian religion, which emerged sometime in prehistory. Deities represented natural forces and phenomena, and the Egyptians supported and appeased them through offerings and rituals so that these forces would continue to function according to maat, or divine order. After the founding of the Egyptian state around 3100 BC, the authority to perform these tasks was controlled by the pharaoh, who claimed to be the gods' representative and managed the temples where the rituals were carried out.

The gods' complex characteristics were expressed in myths and in intricate relationships between deities: family ties, loose groups and hierarchies, and combinations of separate gods into one. Deities' diverse appearances in art—as animals, humans, objects, and combinations of different forms—also alluded, through symbolism, to their essential features. (Full article...)

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Credit: Ricardo Liberato

The pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.

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Did you know...

... that the mortuary temple of the pyramid of Sahure (pictured) was decorated with over 10,000 sq. metres (107,640 sq. ft) of fine relief carvings?

... that Iry-Hor is the earliest ruler of Egypt known by name?

... that Qakare Ibi was the last pharaoh to have a pyramid build for himself in Saqqara?

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5th September 2018. Rock-cut Tomb discovered in a 4,000-year-old Elite Cemetery

August 2018: in the tomb of the mayor of Memphis Ptahmose who dates around 1300 BC was found well preserved cheese, more than 3000 years old. [1]

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Part of a door jamb showing the cartouche of Djedkare Isesi, Neues Museum, Berlin

Djedkare Isesi (known in Greek as Tancheres) was a pharaoh, the eighth and penultimate ruler of the Fifth Dynasty of Egypt in the late 25th century to mid-24th century BC, during the Old Kingdom. Djedkare succeeded Menkauhor Kaiu and was in turn succeeded by Unas. His relationship to both of these pharaohs remain uncertain, although it is often conjectured that Unas was Djedkare's son, owing to the smooth transition between the two.

Djedkare likely enjoyed a reign of more than 40 years, which heralded a new period in the history of the Old Kingdom. Breaking with a tradition followed by his predecessors since the time of Userkaf, Djedkare did not build a temple to the sun god Ra, possibly reflecting the rise of Osiris in the Egyptian pantheon. More significantly, Djedkare effected comprehensive reforms of the Egyptian state administration, the first undertaken since the inception of the system of ranking titles. He also reorganised the funerary cults of his forebears buried in the necropolis of Abusir and reformed the corresponding priesthood. (Full article...)

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Amenhotep I Ahmose I Akhenaten Philitas of Cos Darius the Great Artaxerxes III Thutmose I Tutankhamun Atlanersa Neferefre Unas Menkauhor Kaiu Nyuserre Ini Userkaf Isis Sheshi Hathor Neferirkare Kakai Ramesses VI Ptolemy II Philadelphus Ptolemy VI Philometor Sneferu Seth-Peribsen

General images

The following are images from various ancient Egypt-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Statuette of Merankhre Mentuhotep, a minor pharaoh of the Sixteenth Dynasty, reigning over the Theban region c. 1585 BC. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 2Portrait of "Black Pharaoh" Taharqa, Louvre Museum reconstruction (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 325th Dynasty (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 4An Osiris statue of Mentuhotep II, the founder of the Middle Kingdom (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 5Stela of the Second Dynasty Pharaoh Nebra, displaying the hieroglyph for his Horus name within a serekh surmounted by Horus. On display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 6Map of Lower Egypt, and location of the Faiyum oasis (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 7Greywacke statue of the pharaoh Menkaure and his queen consort, Khamerernebty II. Originally from his Giza temple, now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 8Ovoid Naqada I (Amratian) black-topped terracotta vase, (c. 3800–3500 BC). (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 9Mesopotamian king as Master of Animals on the Gebel el-Arak Knife, dated to the Naqada II period circa 3300-3200 BC, Abydos, Egypt. Louvre Museum, reference E 11517. This work of art both shows the influence of Mesopotamia on Egypt at an early date, and the state of Mesopotamian royal iconography during the Uruk period. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 10The prisoners on the Battlefield Palette may be the people of the Buto-Maadi culture subjected by the Egyptian rulers of Naqada III. (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 11Aterian point from Zaccar, Djelfa region, Algeria. (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 12Colossal depictions of Ramesses II at one of the Abu Simbel temples. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 13Evolution of Egyptian prehistoric pottery styles, from Naqada I to Naqada II and Naqada III (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 14Golden mask from the mummy of Tutankhamun (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 15Tasian beaker, found in a Badarian grave at Qau; tomb 569, around 4000 BC; Upper Egypt; British Museum (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 16Nabta Playa "calendar circle", reconstructed at Aswan Nubia museum. (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 17Clapper discovered in Maadi, Louvre Museum (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 18A guardian statue which reflects the facial features of the reigning king, probably Amenemhat II or Senwosret II, and which functioned as a divine guardian for the imiut. Made of cedar wood and plaster c. 1919–1885 BC (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 19Arrowheads from Al Fayum (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 20Ring with engraved portrait of Ptolemy VI Philometor as Pharao (3rd–2nd century BCE). Louvre Museum. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 21Bull palette, Naqada III (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 22Map of Egypt (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 23Ancient Egypt Predynastic Stone Vessels. Louvre Museum, Paris (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 24A typical Naqada II pot with ship theme (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 25Egyptian soldier of the Achaemenid army, circa 470 BCE. Xerxes I tomb relief. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 26Possible prisoners and wounded men of the Buto-Maadi culture devoured by animals, while one is led by a man in long dress, probably an Egyptian official (fragment, top right corner). Battlefield Palette. (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 27Carved catfish bones, and jar discovered in Maadi (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 28Merimde culture clay head, circa 5,000 BC. This is one of the earliest known representations of a human head in Egypt. (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 29Naqada figure of a woman interpreted to represent the goddess Bat with her inward curving horns. Another hypothesis is that the raised arms symbolize wings and that the figure is an early version of the white vulture goddess Nekhbet, c. 3500–3400 B.C.E. terracotta, painted, 11+1⁄2 in × 5+1⁄2 in × 2+1⁄4 in (29.2 cm × 14.0 cm × 5.7 cm), Brooklyn Museum (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 30A Gerzeh culture vase decorated with gazelles, on display at the Louvre. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 31Pottery model of a house used in a burial from the First Intermediate Period, on display at the Royal Ontario Museum. (from History of ancient Egypt)
Image 32Ancient Badarian mortuary figurine of a woman, held at the Louvre (from Prehistoric Egypt)
Image 33Egypt and its world in 1300 BC. (from History of ancient Egypt)

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Ancient Egypt

Notable Pharaohs

Ancient Egyptian religion

Ancient Egyptian offering formula
Pantheon
- Osiris
- Ptah
- Amun
- Isis
- Horus
- Set
- Montu
- Ra
- Ma'at
- Sekhmet
- Nepthys
- Anubis
Bastet
- Shu
- Tefnut
- Geb
- Ammit
- Bes
Religious concepts
- Ba
- Ka
- Akh
- Duat
- Atenism
- Egyptian soul
- Ennead
Ancient Egyptian funerary texts

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