Thursday, January 9, 2014

Did Pharaohs civilization affect us in our daily life now?

Ancient Egypt was a very diverse culture in the fact that their religion was different than any other ancient civilization; they had many interesting structures that are still standing which include various pyramids and temples.  
The time of the ancient Egyptians lead some of our daily tools like paper which originally came from the papyrus paper that they cleverly invented and used to write and paint on.  
Egypt is very dry, with one main source of water, the Nile River, this influenced how houses were built, what food they ate, and what their clothing was made out of.  

The ancient Egyptians had their wealthy powerful people like the pharaoh, but they also had the poor who had to have their family work in the fields to survive.  
Ancient Egypt was a civilization that is recognized for many attributes such as: the climate, paintings, social structure, the afterlife of an Egyptian, and the jobs.  

Even though our lives today are much different and settled than the time of ancient Egypt there are still some things that remain the same, like music, some art, marriage, some foods and in most cases family life.  In conclusion the dry land of ancient Egypt looks much like is does today, the daily life however, is much different

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (Art / Music)

Due to the fact that all Egyptians were very strong belief for their religion most of their art and music was based on their religion (gods, and goddesses).
Music played a very important role in their culture and daily life. From many wall paintings in the tombs of the pyramids and in Luxor and Aswan there are scenes of musicians playing during the ceremony of the mummy. Music was in Egyptians daily lives by being a hobby for adults and kids. Some instruments that we see now are similar to the ones that were played in ancient Egypt would be hand drums, harp, and many wood instruments.  

Thanks to ancient Egyptian arts we are now have full information about their history, because they used to record all their activities and affairs on the walls of temples and pyramids, as Art was everywhere from in the tombs, houses, and outside (sculptors) that is how important it was to the Egyptians. Ancient Egypt was the first civilization to have paper (papyrus) and that made it a whole new way for artists to paint. There were many ways that art was established from wall paintings to carvings. Many people recognized Egyptian art from the way people, gods, goddesses were drawn which body facing forward, and head and feat was facing to the side.  In Modern Egypt there are and still celebrated festivals that have been in the Egyptians religion since ancient Egypt. One very symbolic festival for especially farming is the Leylet en Nuktah. Leylet en Nuktah is a annual celebration of the flooding of the Nile River, it is annually on the 17th of June because that is near the period of when the river would flood. In ancient Egypt if the flooding was late an attractive Egyptian women would be sacrificed in order for the river god HABI to be satisfied and it would betrayal a bad harvesting

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (Clothing)

Egypt is a very warm country which means the Egyptians wore very few clothes. The fabric that most of the cloths were made of was linen and sometimes they imported silk, cotton, and wool. 
Women wore long thin dresses, and at festivities they wore head dresses and some head dresses had scented fat that melted in the sun (this made them smell nice).

Both women and men shaved their heads because the weather was to warm and then they wore wigs.
Men wore wrapped skirts that varied in length depending on the time of year and the fashion of time.
Children did not wear any clothes until they were about six years old and then they wore the same clothes as women and men.

Footwear: the Egyptians wore mostly sandals or bare feet. The sandals where made from various sources- Papyrus and wood (bark), and the richest wore gold sandals. 

Makeup/Jewellery was common in Egypt and showed wealth

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Ancient Egyptian Daily life (Religion)

Religion was very important to the ancient Egyptians. They had a different and separate religion aside from other countries and cultures.  Their religion affected their entire daily life because it was influenced by tradition which caused the Egyptians to resist change.  They did not question the beliefs and myths that were passed down to them, they also never changed any of the beliefs.  Many of their myths were intended to explain the gods’ actions and roles in nature. 
The religion of Ancient Egypt was a polytheistic (many gods)  with one short period of monotheism (one god).  There were hundreds of different gods and goddesses.   The primary focus of the Egyptian religion was between the humans and the gods.  There was a god for every aspect of the natural world.  Some gods had the heads of animals that they defied.  The Pharaoh and the priests held a lot of power in Egypt.  The Egyptians believed that when things were going well, the leaders were doing their job well.  But when things were going bad, the pharaoh and the priests were to blame. 
Temples existed in almost every town, there were temples to serve the spirits of deceased pharaohs and temples dedicated to the patron gods.  Not all gods however, had temples dedicated to them.  The temples were supposed to be houses for the gods. 

The Egyptians believed in afterlife, they believed that the physical body of the dead (person) had to be preserved to allow a place for their spirit to live in the afterlife.  This created to process of mummification to preserve the body.  They preserved bodies of pharaohs then buried them in pyramids (except King Tut who was buried in the Valley of the Kings). Isis is an ancient Egyptian goddess that was worshiped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic (the goddess of motherhood, magic and fertility).  Isis had many friends  which include slaves, sinners, artisans, the downtrodden, in addition to listening to the prayers of the wealthy, maidens, aristocrats and rulers.  Isis was the first goddess of Geb ( god of the Earth). Her name means she of the throne. Her original headdress was a throne. 

Friday, December 6, 2013

Ancient Egyptian Daily life (Education)

Education

The first knowledge and information the child would have is from home, as the children used to stayed home with their mother to learn how to speak, walk, listen etc.  During this the children grew very close to their mother and had a strong respect for them.  Once a boy has reached the age of four, he is passed on to his father to learn more about his father’s job and how it was done because the boy was most likely to have the same job as his father.   
The girls stayed home with their mothers to learn more about caring for a family and a household.  Poor families were always just educated at home. 


There were not many children who actually went to a school, the only children that attended a school were those of wealthy families who are intending on their children to be like them, educated and wealthy.   For families that were wealthy but not at the top of the chart they would send their children off to learn to read, write, learn about trade and more.  
Most of these children went to a scribal school.  However, it was normally males who went to school even if the girl’s family was wealthy.  The royal family had their own special tutors come to them.  Most lessons would begin early in the morning and finish up in mid afternoon.

Friday, November 29, 2013

Daily Life in Ancient Egypt (Marriage)

In Egypt marriage was a very symbolic time in life and was considered to be a blessed bond. Since in those times death occurred earlier in life, a bride would be around the age of 13-15 years old and her husband would be around 17-20 years old. In an ancient Egyptian marriage if both of the husband and wife decide to get a divorce they will agree (similar to a contract) to share equally what they keep (Dowries) and what they give to the other person. In ancient Egypt marriage was very similar to today’s marriages, since they included requirements similar to a contract.
In ancient Egypt, give birth and pregnancy were a very important and difficult process which most of ancient Egyptian families were afraid of all the time. Many spells and many medicines where made in order to make the whole process go well. In Egypt since children were considered to be a blessing it was very important that the child got delivered healthy and alive but, since then there were less medications and less health care more children died of infection and diseases. Many gods and goddesses were a part of the pregnancy and birth some of the gods and goddesses include Bes (who is the god of protecting households and the mother and child), and Hathor (is the goddess of love, motherhood, and joy). Without many of the medicines and great beliefs of the ancient Egyptians childbirth would be very hard for the mothers. 
Childhood - Children were never given a voice in ancient Egypt. 
Small Children lived with their mothers and other female relatives in a special part of the house.  Many babies and small children died at birth due to the lack of knowledge and health care.  But the parents tried to prevent any accidents and illness by using special spells and charms.  During the first years of the children’s life they spend a lot of time learning basic skills such as walking, speaking and playing, no economic role.     
Boy’s heads had to be shaved, leaving only one plated lock.  But this was cut off when the boy reached twelve.  When the boys are only four years old their fathers start training them on the job that the father currently has. 

Girls were raised to get married and look after the house and their children (when they are older).  The Egyptian girls married very young at about 12. 

Children had many different toys and games that they often played.  If the children died young, some of these toys were buried in their graves with them.  Some of the toys include dolls, balls, tops, animal toys, and board games that resembled checkers.  Some children made their own toys, but there were also toy makers.  Many Egyptian families had a household pet that the children played with and helped look after, most families had a cat.


Children of wealthy families had more time to play, unlike poor families who had to have their children work with them in the fields with their father or at home with their mother.  

Friday, November 22, 2013

Ancient Egyptian Daily life (Food)

Food 


As advised most of Egypt land is desert, therefore the only land could be suitable for agriculture is the land nearby the River Nile (which is where most of Ancient Egyptian civilization was built near). Every year the Nile River would flood leading to very fertile soil, which is perfect for agriculture. 
From the silt and the river some substances of food would include wheat also used to make beer, fish, grapes where a very popular source of fruit and were fermented to make wine, and river birds. Since Egypt doesn't have that many substances of food/supplies most of their necessities where brought from faraway places and traded