Creativity for Eternity Egypt Academics Support

INIFD Corporate

Egypt • Began about 3500BC

• Independent for 2000 years

• 31 dynasties – 4 great kingdoms or periods

• Old Kingdom

• Middle Kingdom

• New Kingdom

• Late Period (non-independent)

• Geography was a blessing and a downfall

Geography and Stability

The Nile River • Predictable and gentle

flooding – Replenished the soil, thus

allowing for 3000 years of continual planting

– Consistent flood times

– Consistent flood amounts

• Planned irrigation – Allowed for enough crops

for a very large population

Geography and Stability Isolation • Only realistic route for an

invader is over the Isthmus of Suez

• Egypt able to defend it

• Egypt was not influenced by outsiders for 1000s of years

• Even when Egypt became dominated by outside rulers, it held onto its own laws, culture, religion and kings.

Creativity • Creativity and Change

– Old Kingdom was uniting and conquering

– Temples and religion demanded creativity

– Surplus of labor. The Pharaoh put them to work on elaborate construction projects.

• Stagnant but Stable – Middle and New Kingdoms

– Fear of upsetting the profitable system, Egypt stopped creativity

– Delicate balance between gods, nature, and choices of the people

– Pharaohs lost the ability to bring change

Creativity

“The cost of Egyptian survival was the loss of its creativity.”

-Dr. Strong

Pre-Dynastic Period 3500-3100 B.C.

• Time of tribal and nomadic wanderings

• The Egypt territory was divided roughly to upper and lower Egypt

• Simple boats made of reeds sailed on the Nile

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

• Menes combined the upper and lower kingdoms into one (powerful ruler)

• Memphis-capital

• Creativity: – Papyrus

– Hieroglyphics

– Pyramids (Architecture and Engineering)

– Religion (Pharaoh was part god)

– Calendar

– Mathematics

– Art

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

Papyrus and Hieroglyphics

• Papyrus first made during time of Menes

– Easy material for writing

• Hieroglyphics: Sacred writings

– Used for over 2000 years

– Done by priests

– Usually concerned Pharaohs

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

Pyramids: Pharaoh burial place

• Built by both slaves and Egyptians – Created a strong relationship between

the people and the government

– Make-work projects

• Extensive engineering used to build pyramids larger and higher – Built pyramids of Giza and step

pyramids

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

Religion: • Principal gods: Osiris (father), Isis

(mother), Horus (son), Set (evil), Amon-Re, Aten (later)

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

• Be buried on Egyptian soil

• Be properly prepared (embalming)

• Pyramid built for afterlife

• Must preserve name in writing

• Judgment and afterlife

Religion:

O my heart of my being! Do not rise up against me as a witness,

Do not oppose me in the tribunal, do not rebel against me before the guardian of the scales!

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

Calendar and Mathematics • Created a calendar with 12 months of 30 days

each, which equals 360 days a year. To match solar year they had 5 days of holidays at the end of the year.

• Created a numbering

system based on 10

• Used accumulation and

place holders

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

Art • Representational rather

than realistic

– Standardized poses

– Generic faces

Old Kingdom (3100 - 2200 BC)

The Old Kingdom was the Golden Age for Egypt. Why?

• Energy from forming a new country?

• Innovation from conquering?

• Leadership of Pharaohs

– Strong leaders who know how to motivate their people are capable of great accomplishments

Middle Kingdom (2000 - 1800 BC)

Creativity? Not much.

• Tried to recapture Old Kingdom’s glory – Not able to build a conquering army – No massive public works projects (lack of funds) – Capital moved to Thebes for new temple, it was never

completed.

• Weak Pharaohs forced to share power with priests and landholders

• Ended with an invasion – Invasion by the Hyksos (Shepherd Kings or Semitic

people) – Hyksos ruled from 1800 to 1550 BC – Joseph, son of Jacob, is believed to have lived during

this time.

New Kingdom (1550 - 1050 BC)

• Began with overthrow of the Hyksos. The pharaoh knew not Joseph (Exodus 1:8)

• Ended with the Third Intermediate Period, led by foreign rulers and internal fighting

• Creativity – Temples

• Luxor and Karnak

– Strong pharoahs Luxor

Karnak Temple

New Kingdom (1550 - 1050 BC)

• Strong Pharaohs

–Akhenaton (monotheistic)

New Kingdom (1550 - 1050 BC)

• Strong Pharaohs

–Queen Hatshepsut

New Kingdom (1550 - 1050 BC)

• Strong Pharaohs

–Rameses II (military)

–Moses' enemy?

Late Period (700 - 332 BC)

• Capitals – Tanis and then Alexandria

• War – internal and external

• Government fractured

• Ruled by outside rulers – Libyans

– Persians

– Greeks (Ptolemy)

• Egypt given as a gift to Ptolemy, a general to Alexander the Great

• Last of the Ptolemies was Cleopatra – Romans

Egypt – Overall Creativity • Development and organization period

was high creativity

• Later periods were weak kings, strong priests, and low creativity – Trying to move to the past

– Religious conservatism

– Isolation

• What societies today have these characteristics?

Thank You