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Civilization of Ancient Egypt covers more than 3000 years, it was formed in the year four thousand B. C. and can be divided into three historical periods: Ancient (years 2800 - 2250 B. C. ), Middle (years 2050 - 1700 B. C. ), and New Reign (years 1580 - 1070 B. C. ).
Correspondently, there are three conditional periods in the development of Egyptian culture. Ancient period is characterized by development of culture of Sumerian civilization with deep spiritual traditions, based on mythology. Despite of a great variety of Sumerian myths and legends, which later on were transformed into fairy-tales and fables, they all can be gathered into one unique system of view of life. In chaotic diversity of fantastic adventures of Gods and antic heroes, the chains of sequent evens can be noticed. Thats how the imagination about the development of nature and society has been forming. An ancient man felt helpless in front of nature and it made him feel thrilled with horror facing storms and imagine those as powerful and conscious creatures to worship to.
Skies, lands, air had associations with big animals (for example, with bulls), later on with human-looking creatures. Imaginations about acts of God have been progressively transforming into attributes of divinity (for example, Moon became tiara of Nannar, not the god itself). Development of the human being, reflected in Sumerian myths, has a lot of common with ancient Greek and biblical myths, there are legends about ancient people living in paradise (like in Greek "Golden Age") or about infinite happiness of inhabitants of lonesome island (like biblical Eden). In Sumerian culture human made the first attempt to understand the death as the moment of transformation to eternity. Sumerian art was very advanced, especially architecture and sculpture, together with ornamental plastic.
Pyramids are miraculous constructions, their form, based on proportions of golden section, is incredibly expressive: square shaped base and convergence of the four faces in the peak, like all the life was converging, focusing in adored pharaoh. Pyramids are art generalization of the essentials of Ancient Egyptian society, surrendered to infinite power of pharaoh. In the period of Middle Reign such unique antiques like Keeps, Here and Mikerin pharaoh tombs in Giza and Amenemhat III pharaoh tomb were constructed. In Uruka a complex of holy buildings zakk urates was erected and became a center of spiritual culture of Egypt.
In art of orators Sumerians were first in using the way of non-pause narration of stories, that give an opportunity to create first epical stories and tales, among which the most popular is epic legend "Gilgamesh." Religion played an important role for Egyptians. Forming of Egyptian Pantheon of Gods reflects cult of personification of various phenomena of nature. Pantheon of Gods consists of idols, personifying skies, lands, plants, Nil, together with such concepts as fate, truth, war, justice, mind, art, etc. At that, the appearance of idols combined the features of human being and animals (mostly a man with head of cat, dog, lion, etc. ). Since the early times, the idol of Sun takes a special place; imagination of it differs from a disk with wings or a beetle to a man with a head of falcon. The names were also different in special localities: Ra, At, Amon, Gor.
In the years 2500 B. C. God Ra became the main God of the Pantheon, whose cult was getting spread to all Egypt and who was supposed to be the God of Gods, creator of world and human being. There were many myths and legends created by the Egyptians about God Ra, his daughters and successors, connected with annual growth of plants, droughts and winds. Throughout the history of the world, no region has been more influenced by the natural attributes of the land than Egypt. One more characteristic feature of Egyptian religion was cult of death and the afterworld, it was based on the following imaginations: when a man dies, only his body dies, at the same time his name, soul, fate are going on living.
Exactly the fate was the main concern of Egyptian magic traditions, because it could also die without body and must be protected by magic formulas and observance of rituals. The system of imaginations of ancient Egyptians about the afterworld was thoroughly developed. The God of death was Osiris, one of the most adorable idols. To please him, to make him be kind to dead people, famous temples and architectural monuments were constructed, which remained since ancient times in exceptionally good condition. During the New Reign and later, temple and sanctuary constructing was developing, the most famous of which are temples Amon-Ra in Luksor and Karnak.
Characteristic feature of these constructions was a great deal of columns, symbolizing the forest, and different unique paintings. As a rule those were pictures of gods and goddesses doing different activities. Colored portraits made predictions of the afterlife they believed in, nature and everyday activities were also important subjects. Another art form was relief: the picture was carved into layers to give a raised look, for what sandstone was used.
Relieves showed every kind of activity, from feasting to working, from learning to dancing. Statues were another common art form during all ancient times in Egypt: the majority was gods, goddesses, pharaohs. The statues could be made small or large, as a rule they were not supposed to copy nature, they were meant to represent idols of the people's faith. The paintings and drawings of Egyptian people were created by particular unique techniques, thats why they have a characteristic look. Important people were painted larger than others. Heads were shown from front view.
Eyes and the top half of the body were shown from the front, but arms and legs were shown from the side, so that they were easier to see. There was a great deal of written sources as paintings on the walls of temples, such as Texts of Pyramids of Texts of Sarcophagus, containing texts of mourning rituals for pharaohs and kings. The Egyptians were influenced by many things to advance their culture. They used three different kinds of calendar: the 'agricultural' calendar for day-to-day use, an astronomical and a moon-calendar for certain rituals and events. They were experienced medical practitioners for their time.
Their legislation system was based on religion statements; the norms of right had obvious religious origin. Gods like Osiris or Maat, were taken as embodiments of justice. Even in prehistoric Egypt, women were skilled in textile manufacturing and garment making. Linen was a fabric made from plant fibers. The tools include knives or scissors and needles, both of these needed to be molded, shaped or craved.
Papyrus was very important to the ancient Egyptians; it helped transform Egyptian society in many ways. Once the technology of papyrus making was developed, its method of production was kept secret. The first use of papyrus paper is believed to have been 4000 BC. Egyptian writing was called hieroglyphics. Because of its importance to the culture, this written and painted language was also an art.
Unique and diverse culture of Ancient Greece has been forming during the years 3000 1200 B. C. First Cycladic civilization of the Aegean Sea flourished at about the same time as the early Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations. Religion of those times reflects helplessness of a human in front of powers of nature, different of which were represented by ancient idols.
Greek mythology was reach and various, it was echoing in early epic literature and sculpture. At those periods culture developed pottery, often decorated with rectangular, circular, or spiral designs, representing nature and animals. Processing metals was familiar, ancient architecture was in the form of sculptures made of marble, with geometric, two-dimensional nature. The Cycladic artists made obvious attempts to represent the human form. Minoan art developed in the 2 nd millennium B. C.
and can be characterized with innovations in constructing; frescoes, vases, and early writing are evidence of that flourishing culture. Minoan art is naturalistic, with smooth lines and colors, with dynamic three-dimensional figures. In Late Bronze Age Mycenaean culture was developing ceramic and decoration styles, coming to more formal and geometric than those of earlier examples. Greek TROIA (Troy) was an ancient city located in northwestern Anatolia that holds an enduring place in both literature and archaeology.
It had been founded in the year 3000 B. C. The approximate location of Troy was well known from references in works by ancient Greek and Latin authors. The 9 main periods of ancient Troy are numbered I to IX. Troy I to V corresponds roughly to the Early Bronze Age (c. 3000 to 1900 BC). Numerous archeological discoveries prove that Trojans were using black and reddish ceramic for producing pots, cups, plates, and painting them with idols appearances.
The most famous finding is Priamos treasury, which consists of a great amount of jewelry, including diadems, necklaces, vases, rings, and shows how rich Trojan Kings were. There are proves of commerce with Egypt and Mesopotamia. Troy VI and VII may be assigned to the Middle and Late Bronze Ages (c. 1900 to 1100 BC). Inhabitants were enlarging the city, they erected a magnificent circuit of cut limestone walls that were 15 feet thick at the base, rose to a height of more than 17 feet, and had ramparts and watchtowers made of bricks. A great collection of so called Mycenaean pottery was found, it can be dated to between 1260 and 1240 BC. During this period and after, the city was demolished and reconstructed nine times until the year 500 A.
D because of earthquakes and war. The legend of the Trojan War is the prominent theme from ancient Greek literature and forms the basis of Homer's Iliad. The classical legends of the Trojan War developed continuously throughout Greek and Latin literature. In Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the earliest literary evidence available, the chief stories have already taken shape, and individual themes were elaborated later, especially in Greek drama. Though its present-day ruins are not of vast extent, Troy is a key archaeological site whose many layers illustrate the gradual development of civilization in northwestern Asia Minor. During the Archaic and Hellenic periods, art and religion are in great development, the Pantheon of Gods was...
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Research essay sample on Myths And Legends Ancient Egyptians
