CLAS 2029 Midterm #1

Vizier

• highest official under the king, right-hand man, chief advisor, oversees pretty much everything while the kind is a public figure

• Weni was an extremely important vizier under Pepy

• began having viziers around the 3rd dynasty

• super close to the king, buried with him, called “son” even if not related

Nabta Playa

• c 8000 BCE

• sedentary hunter-gatherers, movement patterns dependent on the seasonal lake (playa)

• first location of cattle herding in Africa (milk + blood)?

• tightly organized way of life by 6000 BCE

• neolithic period, in Western Desert/Nubia

• pit houses, storage pits, super old pottery, “mini Stonehenge”

Mastaba

• bench shaped burial mound, at first only for elite burials

• Djoser’s Step Pyramid was made of 6 mastabas stacked on top of each other

• had false doors facing south and a serdab

Naqada Culture

• c 3800-2900

• Upper Egypt, largest known predynastic site, North Town and South Town small villages

• generally more advanced over time: trading, specialized economic activity, collection of goods with admin and labeling, social stratification

• Great New Race Cemetery, Cemetery T (more elite burials), more grave goods and bigger graves in Naqada II

• less burials in Naqada III but one “Royal Tomb”

• major locations at Abydos, Naqada, and Hierakonpolis

Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser

• largest construction project thus far, made all of stone (6 mastabas)

• built by Imhotep

• granite chamber with body (BELOW GROUND), first large royal statue (serdab)

• huge complex with Sed Festival court, South Tomb, walls, false windows, statues, tunnels, grave goods, corbelled roof, temple

• at Saqqara, 3rd Dynasty

• new level of royal control

Maat

• everyone’s duty to worship Maat (be a good person, consequences if not upheld)

• truth, balance, order, law, justice, etc: in everything

• “opening of the mouth” ceremony to breathe life

• in afterlife, ppl judged on whether or not they upheld Maat

Sun Temples

• reflection of transition from worshipping mainly kings to worshipping the gods themselves, transition of cult of Ra

• 5th dynasty only

• Userkaf’s and Menkauhor’s temples are the ones we have

• similarly constructed to pyramid complexes (valley temple, causeway, reliefs)

• obelisk shapes, boat outside walls

Fayum

• huge oasis, most fertile one

• lots of fish bc of brackish water and elevation

• produced wine, figs, cereals, etc

• huge agricultural spot

Inundation

• seasonal flooding of the Nile to normal levels so that crops can grow and land can be irrigated and full of silt

• heavily relied upon

Jen Francois Champollion

• cracked the Ancient Egyptian on the Rosetta Stone

• 1790-1832

Double Crown of Egypt

• combo of white crown (upper) and red crown (lower)

• symbolizes unification of upper and lower

• unification of both also symbolized by images to two different plants twined together on king’s throne

William Flinders Petrie

• 1853-1942

• excavated hecka sites in Egypt, more than any other archaeologist

• excavated Abydos, Memphis, Naqada, among many others

• Sequence Dating of graves

• emphasized importance of pottery and daily lives of people

Beer

• highly nutritious; everyone drank it all the time

• standardized beer jugs

• large industrial size breweries, got bigger over time

• similar brewing techniques as today

• birthed at Naqada and Hierakonpolis

Horus

• depicted as a celestial falcon

• embodiment of kingship: uniter of the two kingdoms and establisher of order

• huge conflict between Horus and Seth (recurring theme)

• son of Isis and Osiris

Kemet

• “Black Land”

• land of the Nile, fertile and dependent on Nile

• contrasts with Deshret, the desert land

Manetho

• 3rd century BCE

• priest who wrote “Aegyptiaca” or “History of Egypt” (history with a king list)

• shows Egyptian concepts of kingship: each new rule was like a new era, if there were multiple rulers, they were written consecutively bc there could technically only be one

• framework for division into dynasties

• contested but important

Narmer’s Palette

• depicts Narmer in the White Crown, smiting an enemy, with a falcon (likely meant to be Horus grabbing at people and at papyrus (symbolizing Lower Egypt), also fallen Asiatics

• shows unification of Lower and Upper Egypt? because of the crown of Narmer and the papyrus that the falcon has

• on the obverse side, Narmer wears the Red Crown and surveys the battlefield with dead people, and two animals’ necks are intertwined

• this side also symbolizes unification with the intertwining necks showing the Upper and Lower Egypts, and Narmer wearing the Red crown this time

At what point does Egyptian architecture reach its “zenith” in the Old Kingdom? What leads you to believe this? From what architectural concepts and styles has it evolved? Be sure to reference Predynastic examples to support your response. In what ways do we witness a decline following this dynasty, king’s reign, or the construction of this specific structure? Focus on three specific monuments to make your claim and be sure to survey the timeframe that is the inquiry of this topic.

zenith = Khufu’s Great Pyramid

evidence:

• burial pits at Naqada —> kind of the least elaborate of the burial techniques

• Pillared Hall” at Hierakonpolis —> first superstructure of a tomb, shows increased emphasis on afterlife and construction techniques

• Khufu’s Great Pyramid —> took ~25000 ppl to make, tons of resources, etc, still intact

• Userkaf’s pyramid —> pile of rubble, small

What cultural concept(s) is rooted in the production of Egyptian painting and sculpture in the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods? How is this same premise(s) continually demonstrated in art throughout the Old Kingdom? How does the art of Predynastic and Old Kingdom Egypt provide a window for us to examine the psyche of the early Egyptian Empire, whether from a royal, political, religious, common citizen, male, or female perspective? What are the early Egyptians saying about themselves? Limit yourself to one cultural concept. Focus on three artifacts to make your claim and be sure to survey the timeframe that is the inquiry of this topic.

concept: importance of the king + stability they provide, became more ubiquitous and established as time went on

evidence:

• “The Decorated Tomb” AKA Tomb 100 at Hierakonpolis —> men conquering animals taken to show a leader in the community

• Narmer’s Palette —> scale (king is biggest), uniting

• Djoser’s huge standing statue in his pyramid complex —> not for decoration but for honoring and worshipping to accept offerings