Egypt
is a nation in the north east portion of Africa. Egypt has many geographical
features such as twenty-seven governorates, two major deserts, and the world’s
longest river. The largest city in Egypt, Cairo, is the capital and home to the
nation’s political and cultural life[1]. The city that is
responsible for the harbor for exports and imports is Alexandria[2]. Egypt’s climate is hot,
dry climate with little to no rainfall[3]. Egypt has many amazing
geographical features. Located in the Sinai Peninsula, is Mount Sinai, where it
is said to be the place where God gave the laws to the Israelites[4]. The Nile River, the
longest river in the world, is 4,285 miles long and is nicknamed the “national
river” because it shares its water source with eleven other countries[5]. The two major bodies of
water that surrounds Egypt are the Mediterranean Sea and the red sea. These two
seas provide the country with water, exports and imports, traveling, and food
sources. The Western Desert and the Libyan Desert are what make most of the
nation up. These geographical features have provided the nation with many
elements that help the nation thrive.
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| Political Map |
Egypt
is known for its cultural and non-written history essentials. Art and Dance are
the two primary types of non-written history that Egypt has to offer. Produced
by the civilization of ancient Egypt n 3000BC to 100 AD” sculptures, paintings,
and agricultural have been highly stylized and symbolic throughout Egypt’s
history. Egyptian art uses hierarchical proportion, where the sizes of figures
in the painting determine their importance. For instance, if the figures were
large, it showed that the figured was of high importance such as pharaoh or
high officials of the tombs. The smaller figures indicated least important
figures such as natural things and servants[6].
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| Ancient Egyptian Pottery |
One
of the most famous works of art that the Egyptians produced was called “The
Book of the Dead”. This book, often buried with the entombed person, was filled
with paintings and drawings that introduced the dead to their afterlife[7]. Another type of
non-written history is dancing. Dancing was an important role in the social
classes of the Egyptians. Dancing occurred at all types of events: funerals,
weddings, burials, and celebrations[8]. With all of these
different elements of non-written history, ancient Egyptian art and dance
conclude historian’s assumptions about what they already know about Egyptian
culture.
Religion
is a major contributor in ancient Egyptian and modern Egyptian culture. In
Ancient Egypt, the major religion was polytheism which consisted of more than
2,000 gods[9]. The Egyptians strongly
believes that nature had divine forces that include the elements, animal
characteristics, and abstract forces[10]. The main purpose of
their religious practices was to sustain and appease the forces and turn them
to human advantage. The two major gods were Amon-Ra, the god of the sun and
creator and overseer of the universe, and Osiris, the god of the underworld and
the dead[11].
These two gods are whom the Egyptians worshiped on a daily basis.
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| Osiris |
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| Amon-Ra |
In
Modern Egypt, the main religions are Islam and Christianity. Today, about 90
percent of all people are Muslim and 10 percent are Christian[12]. Islam and Christianity
live as neighbors in Egypt because they share a common history and national
identity, they also share the same ethnicity, race, culture, language, and
people[13].
Egypt
relies on a lot of natural resources to keep their nation living and
prosperous. In ancient Egypt, the primary resource was the Nile River[14]. The Nile River provided
transportation, fish, and helped the fertilized the land for Egypt’s crops. Two
other resources that were essential in to the Ancient Egyptians were flint and
the papyrus plant. Flint was a type of stone that was used to make sickled for
harvesting and making weapons[15]. The papyrus plant was
used to make paper[16]. The Ancient Egyptians
used all the natural resources that were available to them to keep their
society thriving.
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| Papyrus Plant |
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| Flint |
Today,
Egypt relies on some of the same natural resources but have also developed new
resources. The Nile River is still the main natural resource. Other natural
resources include: petroleum, natural gas, phosphates, oil, and iron ore[17]. Ancient and Modern
Egyptians use their natural resources efficiently in order to take full
advantage of the land assets that they had access to.
The
first contacts in Egypt were crucial to the Egyptians way of life. Outside
cultures brought in new experiences, tools, and religions that ultimately
benefitted the Egyptians. The first documented cultural encounter was in
Prehistoric Nabta Playa, where the Egyptians came in contact with the southwest
Asians[18]. The Egyptians and
southwest Asians met for the first time when the Egyptians were exporting sheep
and goats to the Asian people[19]. Between 4,500 and 4,000
BC, the Badarian people began sharing their culture with the distant people of
Syria and Uruk. The people learned things from the Badarian such as: planting
wheat and barley, the keeping of sheep and goats, hunting and fishing skills,
and architecture[20].
There are many different reasons
that Egypt decided to explore new cultures and peoples because of trading,
military, and exporting/importing. It is interesting to see how the Egyptians
began building their empire by encountering different cultures.
As research and explored, Egypt has
many different elements that have made Egypt the nation that it is today.
Without the elements of geography, culture, religion, and contacts, Egypt would
not be a thriving and sufficient nation in Africa.
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| Egyptian using other cultural materials |
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| Painting of Egyptian hunting/fishing |
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| Egyptians embarking on exploring other cultures |
Final Multi-Media Video Presentation:
Bibliography
"Ancient Egypt." History.
http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-egypt.
Stone, C.P. "The Political Geography of
Egypt." Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York
15:361-74. JSTOR.
Ask Aladdin. Accessed May 4, 2015. http://www.ask-aladdin.com/Egypt-Travel-Tips/Egypt-Weather.htm.
"Polytheism in Ancient Egypt |
The Classroom | Synonym." The Classroom. http://classroom.synonym.com/polytheism-ancient-egypt-6481.html.
https://www.google.com/search?q=egypt&biw=1366&bih=633&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=9lxIVaThF4WXgwTW0oGYDw&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg#tbm=isch&q=egypt+map&revid=1208860979&imgrc=bYjn-Xk_cRiDVM%253A%3BXFw08k0bNnsSzM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nationsonline.org%252Fmaps%252Fegypt_map.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.nationsonline.org%252Foneworld%252Fmap%252Fegypt_map.htm%3B1200%3B891
