KAMIL, Jill - The Ancient Egyptians - Life in The Old Kingdom
KAMIL, Jill - The Ancient Egyptians - Life in The Old Kingdom
KAMIL, Jill - The Ancient Egyptians - Life in The Old Kingdom
Coptic Egypt
History and Guide
The American University in Cairo Press, rev. ed. 1990
The Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai
History and Guide
The American University in Cairo Press, 1991
Aswan and Abu Simbel
History and Guide
The American University in Cairo Press, 1993
Luxor
Ancient Thebes and the Necropolis
Sakkara and Memphis
The Necropolis and the Ancient Capital
Upper Egypt and Nubia
The Antiquities from Amarna to Abu Simbel
The
Ancient Egyptians
Life in the Old Kingdom
Jill Kamil
Acknowledgments vn
Chronology vm
Introduction I
I Beginnings 5
The Gift of the Nile • Hunters and Gatherers • Adjusting to the Environ-
ment • Semi-Nomadic Settlers • A Settled Way of Life • The Nile and Soci-
ety • Burial Practices in Upper Egypt • Leadership • On the Threshold of
Civilization • Cultural Exchange • Toward Unification • The Predynastic
Legacy • Origin of Ancient Egyptian Religious Beliefs • Sense of Cosmic
Order
II Growth 36
Search for the Earliest Kings • Divergence of Opinion • Early Records •
Royal Cenotaphs and Tombs • Unity Consolidated • Loyalty Won • Cult
Centers • Artificial Development of Cult Centers • Keepers of the Cult
Statue • Local Prestige • Threat of the Use of Force • Provincial Celebration
• Creating a Tradition • Unified Artistic Expression • Anthropomorphic
Gods • Zoser's Step Pyramid • Preparing for a National Festival
III Control 71
The Great Pyramid Age • The Economic Structure • Recruitment of Labor •
Funerary Estates • The Giza Group • How the Pyramids were Built • Wor-
kers' Accommodation • The Cult of the King • Cult Statues • The Sphinx •
The Egyptian Religion • Significance of the Pyramidal Shape • The King is
Dead, Long Live the King • The Kingship Ideal
IV Organization 99
Sun Temples and Solar Worship • Abu Sir Archives • All the King's Men •
The Power of Pepi • A Boy on the Throne • To Protect a Heritage • King
Lists • The Pyramid Texts • Propagating the State Dogma • Guardians of a
Tradition • The Final Collapse
V Travel 117
The Watery Highway • Sea Voyages • Movement Overland • Rural Move-
ment • Journey to the Afterlife
VI Living 129
Enjoyment of Life • Noble Men and Women • Food and Drink • Clothing
and Accessories • The Ideal Family • Right and Wrong • Children • Peasant
Farmers and Laborers • Piety of the People • The Royal Family • Honor of
Ancestors • Class Mobility
Conclusion 187
Index 192
VII
Acknowledgments
For this new and updated edition I have received advice, en-
couragement, and help from many sources, particularly from
Dr Kent Weeks, professor of Anthropology and Egyptology at
the American University in Cairo, and Dr Zahi Hawwas, direc-
tor of the Giza plateau. I would also like to thank Lyla Pinch
Brock for her patient editing of the manuscript and invaluable
critical analysis. I would like to add that the hypotheses pre-
sented here - on the creation of cults, the importance of festi-
vals, and the significance of ancestor worship - are not neces-
sarily shared by these scholars.
VIII
Chronology
Prehistoric Egypt
(All dates are approximate and some periods overlap)
Old Kingdom
Fourth Dynasty 2575-246560
Senefru • Khufu • Redjedef • Khafre • Baufre • Menkaure • Shepseskhaf •
Dedefptah
MEDITERRANEAN SEA
Kufra £££$;.
Gilf Kibir =
Scale
Lake .
500 km Victoria
Semi-Nomadic Settlers
Seasonal settlements can be traced to many sites, including those
along the northern fringe of the Fayyum's Lake Qarun; at Merim-
da on the southwestern edge of the Delta in Lower Egypt; and at
Badari, Hammamiya, and Tasa near Asyut in Upper Egypt. These
cultures, named after the sites where they were first identified,
were not necessarily the earliest - or the only - herding and farm-
ing settlements. Countless others in Upper Egypt were doubtless
obliterated by the swirling waters of particularly high floods in
ages long past or, in the Delta, submerged beneath successive lay-
ers of alluvial soil. Despite these lost settlements, available evi-
12 The Beginnings
Reed basket,
Fayyum culture
Semi-Nomadic Settlers 13
fish in the shallow waters of the lake and, despite increases in ani-
mal husbandry, expeditions into the desert to hunt large mammals
continued.
A seasonal, semi-nomadic existence can also be traced in Upper
Egypt. Burial grounds of the 'Badarian' culture have been identi-
fied at many sites south of Asyut. They most likely date to about
the same period as early occupation in the Fayyum, around 5000
BC. The actual settlements, probably built on natural levees along
the banks of the river, have long disappeared. The burial grounds,
however, were constructed in the desert above the floodplain,the
bodies laid to rest in the fetal position in shallow oval graves in the
sand surrounded by basketry, skins, and objects of daily life.
These have been well preserved and provide evidence upon which
to base our knowledge of early society. Ivory spoons, figurines,
and small copper objects - hammered, not cast - were among the
grave goods.
Remnants of clothing show that the people wore kilts, some-
times with decorative girdles, and feathered headgear. Strings of
blue-glazed beads, anklets of shells, and bracelets of ivory were
also buried. Oval slate palettes which bear traces of red ocher or
green malachite were probably used to grind body paint for cere-
monial purposes. Indeed, some of the characteristic red-brown
pottery of these sites - blackened around the rim - bears traces of
the prepared pigment.
Ivory carvings,
Fayyum culture
14 Beginnings
M E D I T E R R A N E A N SEA
»Mustagidda
L.»Mustagidda
.. . .- -Ballas,
Abydos .^J —.... ..
NaqadaJ Coptos
al-Kab
Predynastic
sites and '
ancient routes
16 Beginnings
Unconventional pottery
with incised geometric
lines, Naqada I
Burial Practices in Upper Egypt 19
Leadership
As sprawling, semi-sedentary settlements began to coalesce into
more heavily populated communities, leadership became an in-
creasingly vital part of social development. This is especially ap-
parent at Nekhen, where there are five unusually large graves
among the burials. One in particular, in the eastern part of the
cemetery, was more elaborate than the others. It was brick-lined,
plastered, and decorated with images of people, boats, and ani-
mals in red, white, and black on a yellow background. Referred to
as the 'painted tomb' at Hierakonpolis, it is now lost, but it was
important for several reasons. Firstly, both the leader and the
site became sacred through the very act of building such a large
structure and Nekhen retained its importance throughout an-
Leadership 21
cient history. Secondly, its brick walls and floor made this tomb a
fore-runner of the large brick-lined tombs of the early dynas-
ties. Thirdly, it had the earliest known attempt at mural decora-
tion, and it is interesting to note the emergence at so early a date,
of certain motifs that were to become part of the artistic tradit-
ion in dynastic times. There is a victor - whether local leader or
king - smiting bound enemies with a raised club; a leader stands
beneath a sunshade; and the owner of the tomb is shown larger
(that is, more powerful) than the accompanying figures. In ad-
dition, representations of high-prowed boats with deck-cabins
have their prototypes on the Predynastic pottery found at this
site. A figure holding two lions, on an ivory knife-handle from
Gebel al-Arak, is thought to be of Mesopotamian origin - strik-
ing evidence for cultural diffusion.
Nekhen and Naqada both bear marks of having developed into
communities of substantial influence in Predynastic times. Each
was strategically situated with direct connections through large
wadis: west to Kharga Oasis and east to the gold-bearing region
between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea. Each eventually became
a cult center, of Horus (the hawk) and Set (a mythical desert ani-
mal) respectively. Their rulers came to exemplify the emerging
ideology of power and were probably buried in the so-called roy-
al tombs in the Predynastic cemeteries in both places.
Abydos is another site where lasting associations of leadership
mental. Although art, in today's sense of the word, did not exist,
people were skilled in the execution of their work. Slate palettes
for grinding paint were carved in decorative fish, bird, and animal
designs. Amulets were produced in a larger assortment of stones
and in different designs. A keen artistic sense can be seen in the
way that the roughly-made slates of Badarian times were now
formed into bird, hippopotamus, and fish designs. Ivory stat-
uettes have been found, although it is not known whether these
were fertility figures - since some were carved with exaggerated
sexual characteristics - or toys like the small stone balls, game
pieces, and a kind of chessboard that were often buried with chil-
dren. Furniture was placed in tombs: low stools made of stone
and wood-frame beds with mattresses of woven linen lashed to
the frame. Decorative ware included small boxes of ivory, or
wood inlaid with ivory, to hold a woman's possessions. One of
particularly fine execution has its lid carved with a human figure
in low relief and its sides decorated with geese. Clearly the owners
of such objects were no longer primarily concerned with survival.
At a more practical level, tools like axe-heads, adzes, hoes, chis-
els, daggers, and knives of beaten metal were produced. The
Gerzean period was also known for its vases produced from a va-
riety of hard and brightly-colored stone: basalt and alabaster,
white limestone, red breccia, marble, diorite, and granite. The
stone was shaped by skilled artisans using stone drills. These ob-
Cultural Exchange
Trade in luxury goods became a royal business in dynastic times.
In the Gerzean period, however, the importation of raw materials
for the development of industries seems to have been a local affair.
Because of their strategic location, some of the settlements were
Cultural Exchange 25
Toward Unification
As certain settlements became richer - and consequently larger -
than their neighbors, their leaders prospered. In Upper Egypt,
Nekhen came to enjoy particularly strong leadership. In Lower
Egypt the formation of a major settlement is not so clearly de-
shows slain captives being preyed upon by lions, while the Towns
Palette is thought to represent different clans destroying walled
settlements. The possibility of internal conflict is also suggested
from oral traditions. Myths, once dismissed as unreliable, are
now being recognized as reflections of important historical and
social realities. The many myths describing battles between Ho-
rus of Lower Egypt and Set of Upper Egypt may, in their earliest
form, have been based upon actual conflict between the two
strong Upper Egyptian settlements: Nekhen, where the hawk
was the emblem, and Naqada, associated with the Set animal. Po-
litical integration was extremely slow. Several centuries passed
before objects of Upper Egyptian origin replaced those in the
Delta and until the names of Ka and Narmer - two of the earliest
kings identified in Upper Egypt-were found at Tell Ibrahim
Awad in the Delta.
The leaders who lived during the crucial years immediately pri-
or to unification identified themselves with names like Ka and
Iryhor or with symbols like the elephant and the scorpion.
Only in dynastic times did the names and titles of kings be-
come standardized. The early pictographic records were most ex-
plicit, however. One 'scorpion' leader left a fascinating record on
a pear-shaped macehead (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford), a large
object, apparently used for ceremonial purposes, and carved in
three registers. Dominating the central scene is the scorpion king
himself.
He wears the distinctive headgear that has become known as
the White Crown of Upper Egypt and his tunic has a bull's tail,
which became a common attribute of kings. He is depicted in an
agricultural setting breaking the ground with a hoe. Behind him
are fan-bearers and people rejoicing. Below is another agricultural
scene, while the top register shows dead lapwings, associated with
various tribes on the borders of Egypt, hung from standards bear-
ing their emblems. The event is an unmistakable record of mili-
tary triumph by a leader whose attributes included physical
Relief scene
on macehead
of King Scorpion
30 Beginnings
ern horizon, the place of the setting sun, as the gateway to the af-
terlife. Certainly the sun and the river, which together formed the
dominating means of survival, must have made an early impres-
sion on them. They were two natural forces with both creative
and destructive power: the life-giving rays that caused the crop to
grow could also cause it to shrivel and die; and the river that invig-
orated the soil could also destroy whatever lay in its path. Both
the sun and the river embodied the pattern of death and rebirth:
the sun died when it sank on the western horizon only to be re-
born in the eastern sky the following morning; the death of the
land was followed by the rebirth of the crops with the river's an-
nual flood the following year. The moon (Thoth), too, symbol-
ized death and rebirth, its waxing and waning seen as the resur-
gence of vitality like the flood waters, the sprouting grain, and the
rising sun. Rebirth was a central feature of the Egyptian scene. It
was seen as a natural succession to death, and undoubtedly lay at
the root of the ancient Egyptian conviction in the afterlife.
The natural desiccation of bodies into leather-like figures that
occurred when they were buried in hot desert sand may have en-
couraged the belief that the preservation of mortal remains was
important. The fact that the most minute facial details, including
hair and eye-lids, were frequently preserved may lie at the base of
the ancient belief that the likeness of the deceased was necessary
for eternal life.
Corpses were first wrapped in matting, skins, or strips of wo-
ven cloth. When it was observed that bodies in large tombs per-
ished more easily than those interred in pits - a few instances of
high-status, brick-lined graves at Naqada containing poorly-pre-
served human remains suggests that this type of enclosure was
considered ineffective - attempts were made to preserve the body
by artificial means. Natron (sodium carbonate) was applied to the
body. In Early Dynastic times, in an effort to main-tain the de-
ceased's likeness, the head and body were carefully molded over
Origin of Ancient Egyptian Religious Beliefs 33
the sun brought forth plant life. There were many explanations as
to how the sun moved across the heavens each day and presum-
ably through the underworld at night in order to rise in the east-
ern sky the following morning. The most widely held view in-
volved river transport: the orb that rose in the eastern sky - corre-
sponding with the east bank of the river - crossed the heavenly
river (the sky) by boat to set in the western sky - the west bank of
the river. Between Nut, the sky - traversed by the sun by day and
with glittering heavenly bodies by night-and Geb, the earth,
which annually gave forth vegetation, there were two other dis-
cernible phenomena, air (Shu) and moisture (Tefnut). If the an-
cient Egyptians harbored any concern about how the sky might
be held aloft it was presumed to be by four great pillars, the
mountains of the deserts to east and west, like the supporting pil-
lars of early shelters.
When a person died, they, like the setting sun, entered the after-
life beyond the horizon. And, like the sun, they would rise and
live again. The host of the dead were seen to take their place with
the circumpolar stars (the 'imperishable ones') in the northern
part of heaven. This was regarded as the place of the afterlife. A
First Dynasty tomb inscription records that there the deceased
person became an akh, a glorified spirit; the akhs were spirits
which, like the stars, "know no destruction."
II
Growth
Ceremonial
palette of Narmer
38 Growth
Narmer ultimate credit for both his own achievements and those
of his predecessors. The genealogies are also significant in their
demonstration of pious regard for royal ancestors. More than a
thousand years later, a scene in the Temple of Seti I at Abydos
shows the king and his son (later Ramses II) presenting offerings
to the names of the kings written in elliptical cartouches, connect-
ing the Nineteenth Dynasty royal house in continuous sequence
to the first dynastic kings.
Divergence of Opinion
Despite proof of the sequence of rule, there still remains consider-
able divergence of opinion on the Early Dynastic Period. New
discoveries and observations on the Egyptian civilization are
compelling scholars to modify their views time and again. Many
theories earlier regarded as plausible are proving to be unfound-
ed. New hypotheses on the vital early years of the civilization are
being made. Even the historical importance of the Palette of
Narmer has been challenged. Many scholars, unconvinced of its
message of unification, point out that archaeological techniques a
century ago were poor by today's standards and that the palette
was not accurately recorded in situ. In other words, they claim it
is not clear whether Narmer himself commemorated his own
conquest or whether the Palette was sculpted hundreds, maybe
thousands, of years after his death in commemoration of an his-
torical event.
Another question that remains unresolved is whether Narmer
was indeed the first king to unify the Two Lands or whether there
was an earlier union between Upper and Lower Egypt. When lit-
tle was known about the kings of the first two dynasties - and
even less about the Predynastic Period - what appeared as a sud-
den cultural advance at the beginning of the First Dynasty was
described by some scholars as the incursion of a new 'master race'
40 Growth
Elevation of the
paneled brickwork
known as 'palace facade'
Early Records 41
Early Records
The invention of writing in Predynastic times was followed by its
rapid development in the Early Dynastic Period. Certain rules
were early established, especially in regard to royal epithets writ-
42 Growth
ten in sequence. The names of Aha, Djer, and Djet were inscribed
within a serekh surmounted by a hawk.
This 'Horus name' of the king became the first and most en-
during of the royal titulary. It was a graphic representation denot-
ing the king in his dwelling place, undoubtedly modeled on the
design used in First Dynasty palace architecture, which is first in
evidence on the partially-intact paneled wall of Aha at Nekhen.
On an ivory label belonging to Aha, his Horus name is shown
along with a nebty or 'two ladies' title. This second important part
of the titulary combined the cobra associated with Lower Egypt
and the vulture of Upper Egypt over two basket-like signs denot-
ing 'lord' (that is, lord over each part of the country). Other titles
were to follow.
Also dating to the reign of Aha is a record on an ivory label of
an historical event. In the middle register a ceremony is being per-
formed. Although the crucial center portion of the label is miss-
ing, two figures in the lower register can be seen performing some
function over an unidentified object. The ceremony is described
as "receiving the south and the north."
'Horus name'
of King Aha
Royal Cenotaphs and Tombs 43
kings and the suggestion that they may have been regarded as di-
vine in the First and Second dynasties came from Abydos. In a
cemetery known as Umm al-Qaab the kings were buried in
tombs far grander than anything previously constructed. The su-
perstructures have entirely disappeared but excavations of the
tombs themselves show that they were large, shallow, rectangular
trenches hewn out of the bedrock and divided by a series of cross-
walls. These were brick-lined, frequently with a second lining of
wood. The king was buried in the central chamber. The other
chambers were store-rooms designed to contain provisions for
his afterlife. Pottery jars held oil, beer, grain, and other foodstuffs.
Grave goods included a variety of exquisitely fashioned furniture,
toiletries, and an unprecedented wealth of jewelry in gold and
choice foreign materials like lapis lazuli and obsidian. In neigh-
boring subsidiary pit graves, servants and retainers of the royal
household or artisans of various industries were buried. Studies
on the remains of these tombs show that their owners were all un-
der the age of twenty-five, suggesting that they were put to death
in order to serve the king in the afterlife. This practice did not sur-
vive past the early dynasties.
Like the Predynastic tombs at Nekhen, the royal structures at
Abydos stood apart - much larger and more impressive than the
surrounding tombs. They were expressions of power and pros-
perity; both burial places and symbols of leadership. Recent re-
Decoration on
macehead of Narmer
Unity Consolidated 45
Unity Consolidated
Picking up the threads of the historical narrative, a ceremonial
macehead (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford) dating to Narmer's
reign is another record of conquest. This time it shows the king
enthroned and wearing the Red Crown of Lower Egypt only.
The protective wings of a vulture hover above the covered niche
in which he sits. In front of him are standard-bearers, an unidenti-
fied seated figure on a palanquin, foreign bearded captives, a pre-
cise record in numerals and signs of 120,000 men, 400,000 oxen,
and 1,422,000 goats. Perhaps the seated figure is Neith-hotep, a
queen in whose impressive monuments at Helwan and Naqada
the names of both Narmer and Aha appear. She may have been
White crown,
red crown,
and double crown
46 Growth
the consort of Narmer and the mother of Aha, which would pro-
vide the earliest evidence of the rule for royal succession passing
to the son of the 'Great Royal Wife' (see chapter vi).
The most prosperous reign of the First Dynasty was that of
Den, the fifth king. It heralded a time of innovation, not only in
tomb construction but also in the enhancement of the kingship
ideal. He was the first king to wear the Double Crown which
combined the White Crown of Upper Egypt and the Red Crown
of Lower Egypt. Den also adopted a new royal title known as the
nesw-bit title, which, like the earlier nebty title, combined sym-
bols of Upper and Lower Egypt, this time in the form of the sedge
and the bee. None of these early titles was ever abandoned, not
even in later periods when others were added to the royal titulary.
The prominence given to their enumeration became a part of a
growing tradition.
Perhaps the most important record of Den's reign is an ebony
label that records the earliest Sed festival. It shows the king in the
upper right-hand register in two adjacent representations. In the
first, he is enthroned on a stepped platform facing a court. He
wears the White Crown and the close-fitting robe and emblems
that came to be associated with the legendary ancestor Osiris. In
the second he is shown wearing the Double Crown and a tunic,
striding between crescent-shaped objects or boundary markers.
A great deal has been written about the Heb Sed but no explana-
Nesw-bit title
Loyalty Won 47
tion of its purpose or origin has been fully accepted; nor has its
strange name - the 'tail-festival' - been explained. Most early rep-
resentations of the king depict him wearing the tail of an animal
attached to the back of his simple garment. Perhaps this tail be-
came a part of the recognized royal insignia during the earliest
Heb Sed and gave the festival its name. The various robes and em-
blems of office, including the artificial beard, combined to project
an image of power and authority. According to available evi-
dence, Den initiated the first national festival in which the king
appeared in a dramatized setting to perform rituals before people
from all parts the country. This suggests that it was in his reign
that unity was consolidated.
Loyalty Won
The method by which loyalty and allegiance were won is crucial
to an understanding of ancient Egyptian society. Even today,
lacking some sort of local administrative device no individual can
hold down large masses of people or elicit the loyalty of commu-
nities of which they are not a part. There must be some sort of
willing response. Most scholars attribute the king's success in an-
cient Egypt to his claim to divinity. But it is unrealistic to suppose
that any individual could engender the trust and confidence of
communities from Elephantine to the Mediterranean by simple
Cult Centers
The Palermo Stone, named after the city where the largest of sev-
eral surviving fragments is housed, provides clear evidence of the
Cult Centers 49
I am Horns...
It is I who restored you... who should be restored.
It is I who set you in order... you settlements of mine.
5° Growth
The text suggests that shrines were built and cult statues made
out of various local materials. Most were probably small at first,
each given a definitive form based on either the Predynastic em-
blem of the settlement or a plant, bird, or animal indigenous to the
area. By an act of magic (an important facet of early society), the sta-
tues were then animated; each was provided with a ka (immortal
spirit) which set it apart from the work of human hands. This may
have been achieved in a ritual similar to that performed on a corpse
to imbue it with eternal life by touching the mouth with an adze.
Labels of wood and ivory attached to objects and stores placed
in tombs further support the artificial creation of cults. All the la-
bels bear texts relative to the commodity to which they were at-
tached, but frequently some of the larger labels record events in
the king's reign. Although these texts cannot be deciphered with
certainty, it is possible to glean their meaning. Two identical labels
found at Abydos, which date to the reign of Aha, give an idea of
the appearance of an early cult center. In the top register, the Ho-
rus name of the king can be seen to the right. There is a boat and a
structure of reeds, branches, and beams topped with an ensign of
two crossed arrows on an animal skin identified with Neith. In
the second register, a figure holds a vessel marked "electrum" (a
gold and silver alloy), which is offered "four times," thus con-
firming the Memphite Drama text concerning offerings. To the
First Dynasty
representations of
shrines show them
as lattice-work structures
52 Growth
Wooden label of
Djer from Saqqara
showing ritual
before the king
54 Growth
Offering-bearers in a newly-discovered
Sixth Dynasty tomb at Saqqara. (Robert Scott)
Local Prestige 55
Local Prestige
The creation of cult centers not only neutralized the differences
between the various settlements but created a strong bond be-
tween people of all walks of society. Under the guidance of the
Great House their religious observance soon became a conven-
tion. Political vision is evident from the beginning of the historical
period; there remained managerial skills to see it brought to
56 The Beginnings
fruition, and here the local elite came into play. It was they who
mobilized people to construct shrines to house sacred statues and
paid them in kind with lavish gifts like electrum, perhaps linen,
and land, in order to provide them with the means to cater for the
splendor that must inevitably have surrounded royal visits. The
prestige of the elite, thus enhanced, created an atmosphere in
which it was no difficult task to draw on them to carry out the
census of land and livestock on behalf of the king, or later to re-
cruit labor for mining and trading expeditions. They had power,
however, only by virtue of the king; the land earmarked for their
use belonged not to them as individuals but to the local cult.
The significance of the title Followers of Horus (literally 'the
gods who follow Horus,' that is, the king) has long been debated
among scholars. In the late nineteenth century, some Egyptolo-
gists concluded that the dynastic kings were the successors of an
early Predynastic union of the Two Lands, which was triggered
from Lower Egypt. Others observed the great strides made in art
and architecture at the start of the First Dynasty and presented
the master-race theory. Now, however, it seems the Followers of
Horus may simply have been the king's appointed officials who
acted on his behalf. The earliest mention of them by name can be
traced back to the reign of Den. One, Hemaka, bore the title 'seal-
bearer of the King of Lower Egypt,' suggesting that he had au-
thority to act on his king's behalf.
phrases referring to a time when the dead were laid to rest in sim-
ple sand pits and when desert animals were prone to desecrate
bodies) include utterances in which the king addresses the gods in
heaven as he may have addressed the cult centers: "that he may
destroy (their) power and confer (their) powers." "Worship him,"
he declared. "Whom he wishes to live will live; whom he wishes
to die will die." And he goes on: "This king comes indeed; he
takes away powers and bestows power; there are none who shall
escape."
The effect of such a threat on a community of landed leaders
and servants of god can well be imagined. It meant more than loss
of identity: it amounted to a threat of annihilation. In such event,
the sacred name and divine attributes of the local god could be ab-
sorbed by a neighboring god (as not infrequently happened-
Wast, for example, the goddess of Waset south of Thebes, was ab-
sorbed by Montu the hawk-god of neighboring Armant), but the
leader would lose his prestige and the servants of god their posi-
tions.
Little wonder that the Pyramid Texts abound with proclama-
tions of loyalty: "O King, may you stand among the gods and
among the spirits, for it is fear of you which is on their hearts. O
King, succeed to your throne at the head of the living, for it is
dread of you which is in their hearts." To fear god and honor the
king were one and the same act.
According to Herodotus, a tradition survived that Khufu
closed temples in the land, and the Westcar Papyrus (a later docu-
ment that related events in the Old Kingdom) refers to his closing
down at least one temple. There is therefore every indication that
the divine king shared a common feature with the leaders of most
early societies: he was a warlord. Among his remembered desig-
nations from early times were "Horus fights," "Horus seizes,"
and "Horus decapitates." In the lower register of the ceremonial
Palette of Narmer the king is shown as a bull trampling a fallen
58 Growth
Provincial Celebrations
People all over the land were drawn together into public life
through frequent royal journeys to participate in provincial cele-
brations. The anniversary of the 'birth' day of a local god was one
in which public life reached a peak of intensity. Surrounded by an
Provincial Celebrations 59
enclosure wall, the sacred shrine of the deity was accessible only
to the servants of god for most of the year. On this one occasion,
however, the shrine was brought out of seclusion. A sense of awe
undoubtedly surrounded it when it appeared to the populace,
carried in procession. In ancient times, as today, neighboring cult
centers probably took part in each other's festivals, not as active
participants, but as willing sightseers. When the villagers saw the
royal barges carrying his majesty or his representative to officiate
at the celebration, it was a confirmation of order, a repeat perfor-
mance. In texts of all periods, the verb 'to appear' was used equal-
ly to refer to sunrise, creation, kingly rule, and the appearance of
gods on their 'birth' days.
There was no aspect of life in ancient Egypt that was not tied, in
one way or another, to belief in appearance (birth) and reappear-
ance (rebirth). Such ceremonial invention created homogeneous
belief in the power of the king over the 'powers' (the gods) and
over the Nile flood. Through the creation of cults the Great
House managed to establish a measure of cohesion such that a na-
tional festival, the Heb Sed, could be held at which all provincial
leaders were called upon - indeed they felt it an honor - to attend.
Moreover, when large numbers of men were required by the
Great House for expeditions or building construction they could
be recruited in the name of the king from the cult centers he had
built. In return for missions successfully accomplished the king
gave thanks and made sacrificial offerings at the shrine of the local
god. He further expressed his gratitude to the leaders by reward-
ing them with land grants to help maintain the cults on which
their success, and hence their prestige, depended. It was a symbi-
otic relationship between the king and local god, state and temple
Creating a Tradition
The effort that went into promoting nationalism by creating a
common culture was largely successful. After one short setback
toward the end of the First Dynasty, described by Manetho as a
time of "very great calamities," there was a change of dynasty, and
stability was reestablished. This lasted until the reign of Per-ibsen,
the sixth king of the Second Dynasty, when he broke with tradi-
tion by abandoning the royal Horus title and adopting a Set title.
In other words, he exceptionally surmounted his serekh with the
Set animal instead of the hawk of Horus. The reason for such a
revolutionary act is not clear; evidence is lacking because the
tombs of the first three kings of the Second Dynasty have never
been found. Perhaps the leaders of the two Upper Egyptian cult
centers, Nekhen where Horus was chief deity and Naqada associ-
ated with Set, were engaged in a power conflict. Be that as it may,
the adoption of a Horus-and-Set title by Per-Ibsen's successor,
Inscription on
stone vase of
Khasekhem(wy)
Creating a Tradition 61
Second Dynasty
funerary stela
from Saqqara
Unified Artistic Expression 63
had grown a demand for luxury goods. Stone and other raw mate-
rials for their production were easily transported by river, and
work was provided for an ever increasing number of artists and
artisans. Striving to please a rich and powerful elite who valued
fine work, the artisans perfected their skills. A finely carved fu-
nerary stela from Saqqara shows the owner seated on a chair in
front of a funerary meal of bread and beer, meat, poultry, and jars
of wine. Scenes such as these became part of the artistic tradition.
It seems likely that the canon of proportion and conventional
ways in which the human body was represented were laid down
at Memphis. Its 'chief craftsman' was attached to the shrine of the
local god Ptah, who was early seen as the inspiration behind
builder, carpenter, potter, and artist alike. Unfortunately, little
sculpture has survived from the first two dynasties, but fragments
of life-size or near life-size wooden statues that can be dated to
Djer, Den, and Ka reveal that certain poses early became tradi-
tional. Two fragments of feet, ankles, and calves in the mortuary
structures at Saqqara in particular show that statues were pro-
duced from an early stage in the posture with the left foot ad-
vanced - the conventional pose of most male statues. And two
statues of Khasekhemwy found at Nekhen are the earliest ex-
Limestone statue
of Khasekhemwy
64 Growth
amples of the king seated with one hand on his knee, the other
crossed over the chest. He wears the White Crown and is robed
in the cloak generally associated with the Sed festival.
Anthropomorphic Gods
Stylized art can also be seen in the earliest anthropomorphic fig-
ures. These composite representations that combine the human
body and an animal head first appeared on cylinder seals and ob-
jects of the Early Dynastic Period.
From their uniformity, they would appear to have been an arti-
stic device to identify the local god with an idealized figure of the
king. Each is shown as an animal or bird head, in side view and of-
ten with some sort of headgear, mounted on a human figure in the
one-foot-forward stance (for male figures) and carrying a staff.
The bottom row of one ivory label found at Nekhen depicts an-
thropomorphic gods all carrying before them the ankh - the sym-
bol of life. Such uniformity strongly suggests a single guideline.
Anthropomorphic gods
on Early Dynastic objects
Zoser's Step Pyramid 65
iii•a
mil
Engaged columns
in Step Pyramid
complex at Saqqara
66 Growth
Lower Egypt and receive the emblems and scepters of power. The
Pyramid Texts abound with such utterances as: "O King, fill your
hand with the Ars-scepter that it may equip you as a god"; "O
King, take your bright tunic, take your cloak upon you, be clad
with the Eye of Horus"; and "O King, I bring you the Eye of Ho-
rus ... put his Eye on your brow in its name Great-of-Magic ...
appear as King of Upper and Lower Egypt."
The Heb Sed court, to the east of the Great Court, had shrines
that may have accommodated cult statues brought by the differ-
ent delegations on portable shrines. The festival was an opportu-
nity for the delegations to travel to the capital and pledge their
loyalty to the king. In return, they received gifts. The Pyramid
Texts contain many references to "a boon which the king gives"
and the few early texts that have survived show that this some-
times came in the form of precious minerals, linen, foodstuffs, and
livestock. Alternatively, and in view of the kingship ideology,
statues of the king may have been installed inside the doorways
and niches of the shrines on both sides of the Heb Sed court. Oth-
er structures in the complex also reflect the dual nature of king-
ship: two subterranean tomb chambers (one regarded as the actu-
al tomb, the other - the 'south tomb' - variously interpreted as a
burial place for his canopic jars or for his ^-statue, or as repre-
senting his cenotaph in Upper Egypt, the birth-place of the
kings); and parallel shrines known as the 'house of the North' and
the 'house of the South,' situated to the north of the Heb Sed
court (these may be symbolic reconstructions of the shrines of the
royal ancestors in Upper and Lower Egypt, textually referred to
as the 'souls of Nekhen' and the 'souls of Pe'). There is no doubt
that Zoser revered his royal ancestors. In a cache in the subter-
ranean corridors of his pyramid, stone vessels included the names
of virtually all of them. They may have been collected during the
last stages of construction of his tomb from destroyed funerary
estates all over the country.
The Sed festival provided an opportunity for the various cult
centers to see how many of them were united in recognition of the
king, not as a recently crowned monarch or celebrating his jubilee
as in later tradition, but as a divine leader to whom they owed al-
legiance. Although interpretation of the hieroglyphs on Zoser's
panels is not certain, some may read "creation" or "dedication."
Participation at the Sed festival clearly marked the cult centers as
the common property of the Great House.
Heliopolis
\
Pyramid of Abu Rawash
Mokattam Hills
Pyramids
of Giza
Pyramid of
Zawiyet al-Aryan
Pyramid of
AbuGhurab
Pyramids of Abu Sir
^ .. MEMPHIS
Necropolis / ,'-,
and Pyramids Mit Rahina
ofSaqqara
Pyramids
of Dahshur
Dahshur
The Giza
necropolis Meidum »
The Great Pyramid Age 73
ind west
corridors
(I) (4)
(5)
(3) (6)
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Recruitment of Labor
It is not known whether the people resisted when large bodies of
men were mobilized to help build the funerary complexes, mine
the raw material for their construction, and fight punitive wars to
safeguard sources of supply. It was a national duty. Leaders of cult
centers were committed to - and successful in - raising the re-
quired numbers of people. Perhaps they considered participation
in a glorious deed to be reward enough. Ostraca bearing the
names of dead officials at quarry sites - along with their birth
place and parentage - suggest that those who died on duty were
transported home for burial. We also know from autobiographi-
cal texts that every effort was made to recover the bodies of expe-
dition leaders who died abroad and ensure that they were suitably
buried.
In return for satisfactory service and loyalty an official was per-
mitted to build a private tomb on the necropolis, in the shadow of
the royal pyramid. Mortuary priests were similarly encouraged to
cooperate with the Great House:
O all you gods who shall cause this pyramid and this
construction of the king to be fair and endure, you
Funerary Estates 77
Funerary Estates
Each of the funerary complexes was economically independent.
Every worker was paid in rations from the enormous surplus
produced by the agricultural land, endowed by the Great House
as funerary estates, which were exempt from taxes. Some estates
were situated in the valleys near the funerary complexes, others in
distant provinces, some even in unoccupied land in the Delta
where peasant farmers or captives from military skirmishes in
Nubia and Libya were settled. The reign of Senefru saw the first
substantial increase in the number of such estates. Some thirty-
five were mentioned individually on the Palermo Stone in his
reign, as well as 122 cattle farms. In Senefru's valley temple the
collection of taxes became a subject of sacred art: each of his fu-
nerary estates, individually named, is shown as a female offering-
bearer. A text in the tomb of prince Nekure, son of Khafre, shows
that his funerary monument was endowed with the revenue of no
fewer than twelve towns. The income from these estates was the-
oretically reserved for the perpetual maintenance of the royal
monuments. In practice, however, part of the income went to-
ward the payment of officials, artisans, and retainers at construc-
tion sites and to pursue the policy of the Great House in support-
ing local leaders and maintaining local shrines. There is evidence
that Khufu rebuilt, restored, or "embellished with silver and
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build the Great Pyramid an extremely large work force was re-
quired (a great mass of masonry estimated at sixteen million tons
went into its construction) and full-time as well as part-time
workers were needed. There were teams to prepare the site for
construction, quarry-workers to extract local stone for the core
of the pyramid, others to quarry the fine quality limestone for its
facing and for statues, stelae, and sarcophagi. This limestone came
from Tura, on the east bank of the Nile. On the western plateau,
ramps had to be built to haul the blocks to the building site, where
teams of men, straining at the ropes strung over their shoulders,
raised them to the required height. Giza was a vast construction
site where workers from all over the country toiled to build a
grand necropolis, planned with precision by 'master builders/
Officials as well as workers - as we now know from the discovery
of a workers' settlement and neighboring burial ground - had to
be housed, fed, and sometimes buried on the Giza plateau.
Senefru's limestone
stela at Dahshur
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subsequently marking the waterline and then draining off the wa-
ter, trenches of uniform depth could be excavated. This theory was
put to rest when it was observed that the pyramids of both Khufu
and Khafre were built up on huge cores of bedrock; in the case of
Khafre, the bedrock rose to a height of over ten meters. Thus in or-
der to level the site, from the outside, the ancient Egyptians appear
to have surveyed the area using stakes mortared into the bedrock.
Sockets in pairs have been found around the pyramids, which
attest to this method for achieving perimeter level accuracy.
The core of Khufu's pyramid was built of local limestone,
which was mined from the main quarry on the plateau, identified
as the depression directly south of the pyramid. The facing stone
from Tura had to be transported, probably in crude blocks, across
the river. During the annual inundation, the high level of the Nile
would have enabled ships to approach the Giza plateau. The idea
of a harbor at Giza, long suspected, has now been confirmed with
the discovery of what appears to be the ruins of a stone pier. Per-
haps it was fed by a canal during low Nile so that shallow-bot-
tomed vessels with their heavy loads could moor there all year
round. It is likely that there was also a network of smaller canals
dug off the main waterway to transport food for the workers.
One can imagine both harbor and plateau teeming with work-
ers and their ever-present overseers. The quarry must have re-
sounded with copper chisels and stone hammers chipping on
stone. Teams of twenty to fifty men hauled the stone up broad
ramps of piled rubble by ropes slung over their shoulders. Per-
haps they chanted and grunted in rhythm much as work-gangs do
today at construction sites. Once the stone was raised to the
plateau then gangs of workers, this time in groups of ten under
the watchful eyes of overseers, were organized to raise the mighty
blocks to their required position above the bedrock. An estimated
2,300,000 in number, these blocks weighed an average of two and
a half tons each, with some up to sixteen tons.
Workers' Accommodation 81
Workers' Accommodation
A massive wall with a gateway at the foot of the Giza plateau,
which probably bordered the harbor, gave access to a workers'
community, which is among the most remarkable discoveries of
recent years. One camp accommodated the general workers, an-
other was a service area with two bakeries to provide bread to
feed the vast numbers of people, and a third camp housed special-
ized workers and overseers. In the bakeries, large containers that
could hold some fifteen kilograms of dough were found. They
were apparently covered with coals in large vats to bake the bread.
A large number of bread molds found are identical to those de-
picted in the Fifth Dynasty nobles' tombs at Saqqara. The grains
dug up suggest that the bread was made of barley, which was also
the basis for beer, another part of the people's staple diet.
An estimated thirty thousand people lived near the construe-
82 . Control
tion site. Among them were artisans who decorated the tombs of
the relatives of the king and his loyal and devoted officials. In the
ruins of this vast settlement area are thousands of fragments of
pottery, including cooking pots, beer jars, trays for sifting grain
and flour, along with some fine burnished red ware. The discov-
ery of typical Upper Egyptian pottery suggests that some of the
food may have been sent to Giza from other areas of the country,
which would support the idea that a national effort was required
to raise the pyramids. The community reveals a high degree of or-
ganization. Records were kept of every activity, including the
name, hours, and rations of each worker. Perhaps the most re-
markable picture of the pyramid builders comes from the ceme-
tery associated with these communities. Some six hundred tombs
have been excavated west of the service area. As would be expect-
ed, they have no uniform architectural features. Some were
copied from the tombs of the upper classes, with vaulted ceilings,
some were tiny replicas of pyramids within an enclosure wall, and
one even had a pyramidal superstructure. This last discovery rais-
es the issue of whether the pyramidal shape was exclusively re-
served for royal tombs, as previously supposed, or whether the
shape evolved from mounds placed over Predynastic graves. In
other words, was the pyramid a development of folk architecture,
or did the masses seek to emulate the wealthy? The workers'
cemetery had narrow streets, in imitation of the cemetery to the
north of Khufu's pyramid for his loyal officials, and the funerary
texts are most explicit. A certain Petti wrote,
You have your water, you have your food, you have
your efflux which issued from Osiris; the tomb is open
for you, the doors of the coffin are drawn back for
you, the doors of the sky are thrown open for you;
raise yourself O king.
Five boat pits have been found around the Great Pyramid. The
two to the south contain full-size wooden boats - one now in a
museum above its pit, the other unexcavated. Boats had an impor-
tant symbolic and ritual role in ancient Egypt but the significance
of their burial on the plateau remains uncertain. The fact that
there are five precludes the possibility that they were ritual boats
for carrying the soul of the king to the four cardinal points or that
they were solar boats for his journey across the heavens and
through the underworld. They may originally have been used
during his lifetime for ceremonial journeys and buried on the
plateau as part his funerary equipment. There may even be some
connection that so far eludes us between the five niches for statues
in his mortuary temple and the five boat pits around the pyramid.
Little remains of the valley temple of Khufu, which lies beneath
Cult Statues
It would appear that the creation of royal statues was a large in-
dustry in the Old Kingdom and it seems likely that at Giza stan-
dards were strictly maintained. In large galleries to the north of
Khufu's pyramid (reexcavated in 1993) fragments of figurines
have been found that suggest a royal workshop. One eroded frag-
ment shows the king with one leg forward, another is a head and
crown carved against a pillar with the projection of the colonnade
above, and a third is a bust cut off at the arms in the manner of 'tri-
al pieces' of later times. They might well be samples given to dif-
ferent sculptors to reproduce on a large scale and en masse. Royal
statues undoubtedly played an important part in maintaining na-
tional unity. Although none of Khufu have survived, recent stud-
ies suggest that they may have been usurped much later by Ram-
ses II and are now at Memphis. The magnificent diorite statue of
Khafre shows the king with a hawk spreading its wings around
the royal headcloth. This expresses much the same idea as the
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hawk depicted on top of the royal serekh bearing the king's name:
kingship. Menkaure, builder of the third pyramid at Giza, was
frequently sculpted in pair-statues (dyads) or as a member of a
group of three (triads). These triads were composed of the king,
the goddess Hathor, and different local deities. Fragments of stat-
ues in stone and copper found at many sites suggest that there
may originally have been as many triads as there were cult centers.
Statues at cult centers were housed in a special building known as
a '&<z-house.' Surviving examples at Tell Basta and Bubastis show
that they were more grand than the shrines to local gods in having
limestone elements decorated with reliefs. Their function proba-
bly arose from the fact that the king could not discharge his ritual
duties simultaneously all over the land, nor could he make offer-
ings of thanks to the local gods for every mission successfully ac-
complished. In placing a statue of himself at cult centers, he could
make symbolic offerings of thanks to the local god whenever nec-
essary. The fact that in later periods - when the simple shrines had
grown into large temples - the king would be depicted in relief
making these offerings and being blessed in return suggests this
original function.
The Sphinx
Near Khafre's valley temple is the Great Sphinx - one of the
world's best known and most frequently photographed monu-
ments. It has commanded a great deal of attention in recent years
because of the rate of its deterioration. This vast statue with the
body of a lion and a human head was carved directly from an out-
cropping of rock left unexcavated on the Giza plateau. It is isolat-
ed in a horseshoe-shaped trench, the stone from which was used
to build the Sphinx Temple to the east. The lowest part of the stat-
ue lies in the hard rock strata of the plateau, while most of the
The Sphinx 87
body was carved through softer layers, with the neck in the soft-
est strata of all. Fortunately, the strata from which the head was
carved were harder. The builders of the Sphinx, aware of the fri-
able nature of the body, gave it its shape by the addition of stone
blocks.
The Sphinx remains an enigma to this day. The Old Kingdom
sources are silent about it, and the earliest references to it are from
the Eighteenth Dynasty, about a thousand years after it was built,
when it was described as Re-Harakhte, "Horus of the Horizon."
Recent excavations and study in the Giza Plateau Mapping Pro-
ject (started in 1984) show that the Sphinx Temple was designed as
an integral part of Khafre's pyramid complex: both the Sphinx
Temple and Khafre's Valley Temple lie on the same terrace, their
back and front walls being nearly aligned, and the walls of both
were built of large limestone blocks faced with red granite. Cer-
tain architectural features of the Sphinx Temple, however, show a
similarity in style and technique to the monuments of Khufu.
This interesting observation has led to speculation that the Sphinx
may have been the main feature of a temple originally designed
not by Khafre but by his father.
The Great
Sphinx, Giza.
(Amr Gamal)
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view of nature and the origins of the universe, this came later.
There are several 'creation stories' in ancient Egypt, the earliest
(and the one on which subsequent theories were largely based) is
known as the Heliopolis Doctrine. It describes the period from
the creation of the physical world up to the triumph of Horus as
king. It involved the Nine Gods of the Ennead and was based on
the claim that Heliopolis was the site of the creation. In the begin-
ning a watery waste, Nun, filled the void that was the universe.
Within these waters reposed the sun-god Atum (whose name
may have meant either 'not being' or 'being complete'). When the
waters subsided a primordial hill appeared - much as the Nile
flood waters withdrew each year leaving mounds of alluvial soil
out of which plants grew. On this hill Atum manifested himself as
the physical sun, Re. Atum-Re's emergence dispersed darkness
and created light. Alone, he masturbated to produce two children:
Shu the god of air and Tefnut the goddess of moisture, whose un-
ion then created Geb the earth-god, and Nut the sky-goddess.
Geb and Nut were at first joined together but Shu came between
them, placing air between earth and sky. In order to create a link
between the solar sphere and human society mythology de-
scribed Geb and Nut as the father and mother of Osiris (the leg-
endary ancestor associated with the fertile land), his wife Isis, and
their counterparts Set (associated with the arid desert) and his
wife Nephthys.
The myth of Osiris underwent many changes with the passage
of time. In one form it relates how he ruled the land justly with his
wife Isis at his side. He taught the people the art of making agri-
cultural implements and controlling the waters of the Nile flood.
Isis, equally loved by the people, taught them how to grind grain
and weave linen and, in her devotion to her husband, she intimat-
ed the benefits of domestic life. Osiris's brother Set was jealous of
his popularity and, secretly aspiring to his position of favor,
tricked him into entering a coffin designed to fit him alone. He
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then sealed it and cast it on the waters of the Nile, where it was
borne northward by the flow. Numerous myths describe Isis
searching for Osiris, how she collected the parts of his body (ear-
lier discovered by Set and hacked into fourteen pieces and scat-
tered throughout the land), and reassembled them with the neces-
sary prayers and incantations. Then she descended on Osiris in
the form of a bird and received his seed. In due time she gave birth
to Horus and raised him to manhood. The grown Horus then set
out to avenge his father's death, and the myths relating to his bat-
tles with Set are many. In one terrible confrontation Horus's eye
was ripped out by his antagonist. But he recovered, was victori-
ous, and became the prototype of kingly rule.
The purpose of the Heliopolis Doctrine (fragments of which
appear in the Pyramid Texts) was to explain the creation of the
physical world in terms that could be understood and at the same
time to present the divine character of the king as of solar descent.
Kings of the early dynastic period were already regarded as heirs
to their legendary ancestor Osiris: early reliefs and statuary reveal
that they wore the cloak and held the emblems associated with
him at their Sed festival, and battles between Horus and Set were
already part of the mythological tradition. In uniting the two
spheres - the solar, which featured Atum-Re as creator, and na-
ture, which featured Osiris as the wise and benevolent ancestor -
official sanction was given to widespread beliefs. The Heliopolis
Amm-Re
solar cult
nature cult
Osiris Isis Set Nephthys
The Egyptian Religion 91
Hail to you, Re, you who traverse the sky and cross
Nut, having traversed the winding waterway. Hail
to you, O Re, in your life and in your beauty... bring
me the milk of I sis, the flood ofNepthys, the overspill
of the lake, the surge of the sea, life, prosperity, health,
happiness, bread, clothing, and food, that I may live
thereby. Hail to you, Unique One, who daily en-
dures. Hail to you... who takes his place at the zenith
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meeting the king, just as the gods do obeisance when meeting the
rising of Re when he ascends from the horizon." The living king
was honored daily at dawn: "O Re, if you dawn in the sky, you
dawn for the king, lord of all things"; "Make salutation, you gods,
to the king (when he) shines anew in the East. ... Rejoice at the
king, for he has taken possession of the horizon."
Scholars from all over the world have long pondered over the
meaning of the words 'god' and 'gods' in ancient Egyptian texts,
which, although written side by side, were never confused with
one another. In the present context it can be seen that all the 'gods'
were drawn into the central theology of the state through 'god,'
the king, who was in direct line to Osiris the legendary ancestor of
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Fifth Dynasty king Sahure, as depicted in his sun temple; the very
names of the Libyans defeated in battle were copied. What was
originally an historical record in Sahure's reign took its place in
the repertoire of achievement of a successful ruler. By the reign of
Teti we have the earliest evidence (at Edfu) of the title of 'great
chief being combined with that of 'high priest' of the local deity.
To Protect a Heritage
When political power is not contested it needs no reinforcement.
Only during times of disharmony or change does tradition need
to be stressed. For hundreds of years, the energies of the state had
been channeled toward unifying the country and maintaining
control over cult centers in order to monopolize its resources.
Despite efforts made to enhance the image of the Great House,
when the provincial elite began to acquire wealth the tide of
change could not be controlled. Perhaps an awareness grew dur-
ing this time of the need to record and transmit the sacred heritage
before it was too late.
Learned literates could look back to early records and trace
how their ambitious and imaginative ancestors had formalized hi-
eroglyphic writing, codified art forms, standardized mortuary
ritual, and formulated a national religion. Now, in order to ensure
that such a memorial to achievement was not swept from the pub-
lic memory, evidence was gathered and committed to writing. An
updated king list was compiled, mortuary texts were gathered and
inscribed in the pyramids, and dramatizations of kingship rituals
and oral traditions were put to written record. This was an extra-
ordinary achievement, because although much of the textual evi-
dence was forged in mythological language it formed a lasting his-
torical base for the future.
no Organization
King Lists
Lists of dead kings, which the ancient Egyptians themselves com-
piled, gave continuity and historical sequence to their ideology.
They were royal ancestors to whom pious regard was shown. The
information revealed by the Palermo Stone was drawn from earli-
er king lists that predate the historic period. Written centuries af-
ter unification - and probably aided by a nobility register - the
margin of error was undoubtedly small. Menes - whether
Narmer, Scorpion, Aha, or a composite figure that embodied the
achievements of many leaders - became the traditional unifier of
the country and a decisive beginning to the First Dynasty. The
importance of the Palermo Stone was that, apart from listing the
names of successive kings, it documented religious festivals, the
biennial census, and the height of the Nile flood during successive
reigns, and it itemized the 'birth' days of gods.
The compilers of the king lists also laid claim to an even more
ancient and embellished heritage: the 'time of the gods.' Re the
sun-god, Shu the god of the atmosphere, Geb the earth-god,
Osiris the legendary ancestor, Set his adversary, and Thoth the
moon-god and measurer of time were all there. Thoth, according
to a later king list - the Turin Papyrus - lived for 3,726 years, and
was described as the scribe of the gods, keeper of the secret books,
and hence a god of wisdom. With an obvious pride in the past,
which was regarded as a model of order, compilers of the king lists
credited the earliest kings with achievements that came only later.
Den of the First Dynasty, for example, was said to have written
books on anatomy, yet in his reign the hieroglyphic writing sys-
tem was still in its formative stages. Conversely, Zoser of the
Third Dynasty was dignified with the invention of stone architec-
ture, although it had been used in some architectural elements of
earlier monuments.
Propagating the State Dogma 111
'White Wall.' Here the actors place reeds and rushes on each side
of the entrance to the temple of Ptah and the presenter says:
Ptah is again presented as the primordial hill that contained all the
elements necessary for life and political order, and it is argued that
everything that existed originated in his heart (that is, in Egyptian
parlance, in his mind) and was made manifest by being pro-
nounced by his tongue (that is, by means of the spoken word).
The performance ended with a hymn to Ptah, the great and
mighty, the eternal ocean Nun, Ta-Tjenen the first land, the 'lofty
throne' where the sun-god Atum-Re came to be, the site where
Isis beheld the body of her beloved husband drowning in the wa-
ter, where she saved him, bound his limbs together, and brought
him back to life. Each act, indeed every scene, was in accordance
with tradition.
It has been argued that the Memphite Drama represents an in-
tellectual account of the creation because Ptah conceived of the
world in his heart and brought order - gods, cities, temples, and
all earthly things - into being through the 'word'. In fact, the dia-
logue should be taken at face value: a political process by means of
which power was granted to inanimate gods by naming them. It is
interesting to observe a tradition that survived to the second cen-
tury ad, when the Hermetic writings state that "our ancestors in-
vented the art of creating gods."
The authors of the Memphite Drama neither obscured nor de-
nied widely-held beliefs. The drama confirmed the sacred charter
ii4 Organization
Guardians of a Tradition
As the thread of a tradition passes from generation to generation,
more and more people become its guardians. With the passage of
time the ideology with strong political, social, and religious rami-
fications is further embellished. Battles between Horus and Set,
for example, became one epic struggle between two protagonists
representing Upper and Lower Egypt; Set became associated
with the desert and with evil, Horus with benevolence. All sea-
sonal and kingship festivals stressed the triumph of Horus over
Set. The former was the prototype of the 'good god,' the latter its
opposite. Set featured in all ritual sacrifices; as an animal was
bound, killed, and dismembered so would the enemies of the king
suffer that fate. All variations became part of a living and enduring
tradition. Leaders could come and go, loyalties change, but even
alien conquerors and usurpers were accepted as king once they
took the sacred emblems of kingship, wore the Double Crown,
underwent the necessary coronation rituals, gave prestige to the
various cult centers by rebuilding or enlarging their temples, hon-
ored the royal ancestors in festivals like the Sed, and made pil-
grimage to their shrines. Dynasties of Libyans, Kushites, Greeks,
and Romans are all marked by great building activity, and all ac-
tively participated in the ancestor cult as well as the rituals and
festivals that formed the fabric of society.
The Final Collapse 115
'first time,' when the principles of justice reigned over the land.
What was actually meant by this oft-repeated phrase - the 'first
time' - in ancient Egyptian texts is not known. It implies the be-
ginning of an event and is often taken to mean 'the beginning,' or
'creation.' The 'first time' might, however, simply have represent-
ed recapitulations that reflected the Egyptians' pride in their own
culture; a confirmation that order once existed.
V
Travel
Sea Voyages
Egyptians traveled great distances in search of raw materials.
Once monumental building in stone began, the need to bring
large quantities to the Memphite necropolis made timber for boat
construction one of Egypt's most pressing requirements. Wood
was also needed for the substructures of the tombs, the interior of
Sea Voyages 121
the pyramids, and for flagstaffs, coffins, and doorways. The best
quality wood was the cedar from Lebanon, and one of the earliest
surviving texts that specifically makes mention of an Egyptian
fleet records that in the reign of Senefru forty ships sailed across
the 'great green' (the Mediterranean) to Byblos and returned to
Egypt laden with timber. The text mentions that the ships were
one hundred cubits long (approximately forty-five meters). The
term 'Byblos ship' was used of a seaworthy vessel, and these dis-
played certain modifications in comparison with craft designed
for river and canal traffic, though it is likely that they hugged the
shore rather than heading across open sea. They had a long hull, a
high curved stern with two rudders situated on each side, a single
mast held by four ropes, and a wide sail. For added strength, a ca-
ble connected the bow and stern above the deck. The Egyptian
fleet was a familiar sight on the eastern Mediterranean. A shrine
was set up at Byblos in honor of Hathor, Egypt's popular cow-
goddess. It provided a place of worship for the sailors and a con-
venient point from which to recruit laborers from among the in-
habitants, largely fishers and farmers, to fell the timber and trans-
port it to the port. Byblos became a sort of protectorate to which
traders brought their wares: cedar oil (frequently mentioned on
offering lists), Syrian wine, lapis lazuli, and Asiatic copper for the
Egyptian treasury. Some of the foreign traders were rewarded for
their efforts by a trip to Egypt; in Sahure's sun temple a relief de-
picts the homebound fleet with bearded Syrians aboard, their
arms uplifted in homage to the king.
Sahure also sent ships down the Red Sea to Punt on the Somali
coast; indeed, travel along this waterway was more frequent than
is usually supposed. The ship-building material had to be trans-
ported overland from Coptos to the region around Quseir.
(While engaged on such a mission, one caravan leader and the
troop with him were murdered by Bedouin tribes; Pepi-Nakht, a
competent nobleman from Elephantine, was dispatched by the
122 Travel
Great House to resolve the problem and recover the body.) The
frequency of expeditions to Punt is clear from the text in the tomb
of a subordinate official from Elephantine, who recorded that he
accompanied his lord on a dozen occasions. The imports from
one journey alone were eighty thousand measures of myrrh,
some six thousand units of electrum, and 2,600 staves of ebony.
Movement Overland
No effort was spared to build the most beautiful and enduring
monuments, and no distance was too great to travel in search of
metal and stone of the finest quality. The extent of internal move-
ment and communication can best be realized by considering the
widely separated areas from which the raw material came: copper
and turquoise from the mines in Sinai, basalt from the eastern
Delta, limestone from the Tura quarries south of Helwan, al-
abaster from Hat-Nub in Middle Egypt, fine and coarse granite
from the quarries around Aswan, diorite from the Western Desert
of Lower Nubia, and gold and copper ores from the Eastern
Desert. A text in Wadi Hammamat shows the size of missions
sent to quarry in the Eastern Desert: one thousand officials,
twelve hundred quarrymen, and one hundred 'necropolis work-
men.'
When stone was quarried for statues or sarcophagi, it was
roughly shaped before transportation in order to reduce the
weight. The stones were then eased onto wooden sledges and
towed by gangs of men to the river to be levered onto the waiting
barges. Having sailed to their destination on the swift-flowing
currents, the stone would be transferred to sledges again and
dragged to the chosen site. Although there is a representation of a
scaling-ladder on wheels in a Fifth Dynasty tomb, wheels were
not used for transportation in the Old Kingdom.
Movement Overland 123
cophagus and lid and to Hat Nub for a piece of local alabaster for
his table of offerings. Central control over raw materials was a
great source of power. Foreign trade and mining were controlled
by the Great House and distribution was regulated. Royal work-
shops played a crucial role in transforming these raw materials
into the luxury goods required for the ever-increasing upper
classes. Well into the Sixth Dynasty, when there was a breakdown
in central control, men like Weni remained subservient to the
government.
Rural Movement
In the rural areas the people traveled on foot, and the donkey and
the ox were the only beasts of burden. As they made their way to
the granaries and storehouses laden with produce, their routes
were trodden into firm dirt-track roads. These were used by the
peasant community, by herdsmen and their cattle, by female of-
fering-bearers from the estates, and as playgrounds for children.
Almost all of Egypt's cultivable soil was used for crop-grow-
ing, and the land was irrigated through a system of large and small
canals. The farmer who dug a canal to regulate the flow of water
to the crops simultaneously constructed a dike with the excavated
earth, and this served as a path between the fields. Since regular at-
tention was given to canals to guide water to land that would oth-
erwise remain barren, and precautions were intermittently taken
to prevent over-flooding, the paths were kept in good order. They
were used by the farmers and their livestock. Larger dikes beside
deep canals could serve also as tow-paths for small boats. There
were no bridges. When a canal had to be crossed herders simply
guided their animals through the shallow water; alternatively, a
ferryman was inevitably available, using a pole like a punt to cross
a canal, and was probably paid for his services in farm produce.
n8 Travel
Enjoyment of Life
Most of the buildings of ancient Egypt, including the royal palace,
were made of wood and sun-dried brick. Stone was reserved for
tombs and temples, so most of the surviving structures are of a fu-
nerary nature. This gives the erroneous impression that the an-
cient Egyptians were preoccupied with the afterlife. Evidence to
the contrary is abundant. They thought of the afterlife as a natural
sequence to their earthly existence and decorated their tombs
with categories of activities they wished to repeat. Representa-
tions of agriculture and food - common to all tombs - were sym-
bolic of the fertile land of Egypt. Ripe wheat fields and orchards
laden with fruit would provide food for the afterlife. Scenes of
hunting, fishing, and the rearing and care of animals were likewise
symbolic in their purpose. Presumably it was not considered nec-
essary to depict the canal system of irrigation, methods used in
transforming stone into monuments, or techniques of construc-
tion. What was important was to ensure that the best food was
grown for eternity, prepared in the best possible way, and ade-
quately stored.
Burial grounds around Memphis, Giza, and Helwan attest to
three distinct social classes in the Old Kingdom: the nobility, offi-
cials and artisans, and peasant farmers. The king was the leader of
the nobility and after him came the royal family, members of oth-
er powerful families, and those promoted in rank. Artisans em-
ployed by the state came next, along with overseers, superinten-
130 Living
dents, and their families. At the bottom of the scale were farmers,
herdsmen, and laborers. Inequality was accepted as the normal
condition. However, within each social stratum the people had
their own gradations of power and wealth.
tant official often had a small town house - one of a pair built
back-to-back and opening onto a street - located near the king's
palace, and a larger country house on one of the estates under his
control. The country house was airy and spacious, well suited to
the warm climate with latticed windows and large open court-
yards. Some of the mud-brick structures were built on founda-
tions of stone covered with clay. The wealthier homes had lime-
stone lintels above the doorways, and wooden beams. Floors
were frequently paved with brick tiles. Houses were usually white-
washed inside and out, as attested by the ruins of some wealthy
houses excavated at Giza; the purpose may have been hygienic as
well as aesthetic. Insect pests were controlled by washing the house
with a solution of natron, and the ancient Egyptians appear to
have had well-developed drainage systems. The earliest evidence
of a bathroom comes from a Second Dynasty tomb at Saqqara. It
reveals that water was drained off into pits that could be closed
with a metal plug or emptied through a copper conduit. House-
hold waste was accumulated and swept out from time to time -
but only as far as the street or to an empty lot. There the piles of
refuse grew and probably attracted scavengers, much as they do
today. All useful items were fashioned with care. Chairs and beds
- which often had leather or rope-weave seats or mattresses fas-
tened to the frame with leather thongs - had legs carved in the
form of the powerful hind-limbs of ox or lion. Furniture fre-
Half-ellipse table
Food and Drink 133
Food offerings
136 Living
spout. They shaved their limbs with bronze razors with curved
blades and used tweezers and scrapers. A woman's skin was
rubbed with perfumed oils, her lips and cheeks were colored with
rouge, and her palms were stained with henna. She applied a char-
acteristic band of color around the eye with a paint produced
from lead ores and known from Predynastic times as a remedy for
eye ailments, as well as for adornment. She applied this with the
aid of tiny ivory and wooden sticks, using mirrors of highly pol-
ished copper fitted with handles.
Special care was taken with the hair, which was washed, anoint-
ed with oils, and fashioned into curls and plaits. Even as early as
the First Dynasty, there is evidence that women sometimes
padded out their own hair with artificial tight curls and braids to
make it appear thicker. Both human hair and vegetable fiber were
made into wigs when either fashion or age necessitated it. Small
plaited locks of hair were treasured. All small items - including
locks, hairpins, mirrors, 'tweezer-razors,' or hair-curlers - were
kept in decorative containers of ebony, alabaster, and marble,
sometimes engraved with miniature high relief. Men, too, dressed
their hair with oils and fashioned it into different styles. They
wore kilts of varying lengths and tended to be clean-shaven, again
using razors with curved blades. The famous statue of Rahotep
and his wife (Egyptian Museum, Cairo) shows the nobleman
with the modest mustache that appears to have been fashionable
during the Old Kingdom.
Wealthy households included numerous servants, attending
master and mistress punctiliously from the moment they rose in
the morning. These were free servants, ancient Egyptians of poor-
er classes, at liberty to leave service if they so wished. A nobleman
had 'listeners' for his call, 'cup-bearers' to wait his table, and 'fol-
lowers' to bear his sandals, matting, and fly-whisk. Servant girls
poured water over the hands of guests before food was brought
in, musicians played, and young dancers performed. The tomb of
138 Living
It would appear that the bride, together with her dowry, simply
made her way to the house of her appointed or approved hus-
band. His duties toward her are clear: "If you are a successful man
establish your household. Love your wife in the house as is fitting
... fill her body, clothe her back ... the recipe for her limbs is oint-
ment. Gladden her heart so long as she lives ... she is a fertile field
for her lord." These are the words of Ptahhotep, a Fifth Dynasty
vizier (not to be confused with his namesake whose tomb is at
Saqqara), who was well advanced in years when he asked his king
whether he could instruct his own son and prepare him for the of-
ficial duties that lay ahead of him. The king consented and the
aged man, wise from experience and learning, wrote some forty-
three paragraphs of random instructions (the so-called 'instruc-
tion literature'), which have come down to us in four copies: three
on papyrus and one on a wooden tablet. Half of them covered of-
ficial duties and conduct in administrative circles; the other half
concerned personal character and family relations, which were
regarded as among a man's most valuable possessions.
Ptahhotep stressed the togetherness of a husband and wife, the
closeness of brothers and sisters, and good behavior toward
friends and neighbors. In this context the reliefs take on new
meaning. In the tomb of Mereruka (the son-in-law of the Sixth
Dynasty king Teti) - whose tomb at Saqqara comprised cham-
bers for himself, his wife, and his son - are several scenes showing
family devotion. At the entrance to the tomb Mereruka is depict-
ed with his son Meri-Teti. The boy wears his hair with the side-
lock of youth and holds a lotus stalk in one hand and a hoopoe in
the other. Behind him are Mereruka's wife and several rows of at-
tendants. In one chamber of the tomb is an intimate and delightful
bedroom scene: the nobleman and his wife hold hands as they
watch their bed being prepared by servants. In another chamber
Mereruka is depicted with his wife on a double couch. She plays a
harp while he marks time with his hand. Pictorial and written evi-
140 Living
gleets your council, disobeys all that is said, his mouth spouting
evil speech, punish him for all this talk!" Kagemni instructed his
children to "recite it as it is written... and it seemed good to them
beyond anything in the whole land." These became sacred rules
of behavior automatically adhered to for the simple reason that "it
was always done that way"; because it was rnaat. Just as maat
gave stability and authority to the state, it provided discipline and
respect in the family.
A sense of right and wrong, and pride in doing good deeds,
were inscribed in tombs. Harkhuf, the caravan leader from Ele-
phantine who was one of the early explorers of Africa, recorded:
"I gave bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, I ferried him
who had no boat." He also added a curse: "As for any man who
shall enter into (this) tomb as his mortuary possession, I will seize
him like a wild fowl; he shall be judged for it by the Great One."
Similarly, the steward Meni placed a warning above the doorpost
of his tomb: "Even he who does anything against it (my tomb); it
is the Great God who shall judge (him)." Since the king - the fo-
cus of national unity - had the attributes of his 'father' the sun-
god, such texts may refer to fear of judgment by the divine king,
or judgment before the sun-god. Either way, it is apparent that
fear of judgment was a deterrent against unacceptable conduct
and that a person's motive for declaring worthy deeds was "that it
may be well with me in the Great God's presence."
Children
The depiction of the children of ancient Egypt in tombs and tem-
ples give us an appealing insight into their lives, which seem to
have been happy. With plenty of fresh air and sunshine, they went
swimming in the canals (the crawl seems to have been a favorite
stroke), fishing on the lakes, danced in the streets during festivals,
144 Living
and had plenty of fresh food and vegetables to keep them fit. The
boys played tug-of-war, tag, and a game in which a whole group
of boys try to touch a crouching player with the foot while at-
tempting to evade his hands. Girls' games included 'swing
around,' in which two young girls in the center hold four partners
with outstretched arms, and a game of forfeit in which they ex-
change copper mirrors.
Children are the stuff of future generations and what they are
taught is an indication of what is regarded as important to society.
The texts and model compositions that were given to children
show that they were urged to remember the names of ancient
sages who taught behavior and morals; they did not copy texts ex-
tolling the exploits of heroes who fought wars nor did they copy
texts lauding physical strength. In fact, apart from wrestling
scenes depicted on some tomb walls, warlike games or warlike
training were rare. The people danced with sticks in the ritual
conflict of a peace-loving society.
Ptahhotep contrasted the good man with the bad, the wise man
with the fool. He balanced desirable behavior - characterized by
moderation, reserve, discretion, and gentleness - against the dan-
gers of undesirable behavior - excessive pride, boastfulness, and
avarice:
Honor of Ancestors
To conduct the funeral of a previous ruler was apparently a re-
quirement for succession. Many a king completed the funerary
monument of his father before commencing construction of his
own, inscribing his deed on the walls. It was also his duty to main-
tain the cult of ancestors, and this applied to royal wives as well as
kings. When Khufu learned that thieves had entered the tomb of
his mother, Hetepheres, he ordered a reburial for her in a new, se-
cret tomb at Giza. Unaware that the mummy had already been re-
moved from the sarcophagus, the workers lowered it into a shaft
to the east of the Great Pyramid, along with her funerary equip-
ment. It is thanks to Khufu's devotion that the furniture was
saved - the only royal furniture to have survived intact from the
Old Kingdom. It included the supports and uprights of a royal
canopy encased in gold from which mats were hung as curtains to
ensure privacy, a royal bed that sloped downward toward the foot
to provide a headrest, two chairs - one of which was portable -
and, among the smaller items, an inlaid footboard, vases of gold,
copper, and alabaster, gold razors, and a gold manicure set. The
chairs are magnificently carved with figures of the hawk and the
lotus, the symbol of the 'ankh (the key of life), and an ibex - all
gold-trimmed. The basic design of furniture did not greatly
change in later periods.
Class Mobility
All people could hope to gain promotion in life, whether they
were nobles, minor officials, or humble servants. Wealth and
prestige were not restricted to those born into a certain ruling
class. Marriage, inheritance, or promotion could change the status
of an individual. Naturally, this was easier for those who lived and
Class Mobility 151
your back. To flout him will not make him agree with you."), he
particularly stresses: "If you meet a poor man, not your equal, do
not attack him because he is weak... wretched is he who injures a
poor man."
A nobleman's attitude toward his subordinates is particularly
apparent through Ptahhotep's enumeration of the qualities of
leadership: "If you are a man who leads, seek out every good
deed, that your conduct may be blameless If you are an admin-
istrator, be gracious when you hear the speech of a petitioner." He
also taught:
Medical Practice
The temples of Heliopolis and Memphis seem to have been cen-
Medical Practice 15 5
in the left side of the body), but not the heart and kidneys. The
body cavity and the intestines were then washed in natron, a mix-
ture of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate found natural-
ly at several sites throughout Egypt. The internal organs were
subsequently wrapped in linen and placed either in a box with
four compartments or in four canopic jars placed beside the coffin
in the burial chamber. The body cavity itself was rinsed to remove
the remaining natron and filled with herbs and resins to retain the
shape. Desiccation took up to forty days to complete, after which
linen strips dipped in resinous material were molded on the
shrunken frame and individual ringers and toes carefully
wrapped. The earliest known use of natron comes from the re-
mains in the canopic jars of Khufu's mother, Queen Hetepheres.
By the end of the Fifth Dynasty embalmers encased the body in
an elaborate linen and plaster shell modeled to look like the hu-
man form and painted in lifelike colors.
There is no indication of where mummification was carried
out. The only extant 'mummification beds' are those of the sacred
Apis bulls at Memphis, which date to a late period in Egyptian
history. One thing is certain: the long and somewhat messy pro-
cedure is unlikely to have been carried out in, or near, sacred
shrines or mortuary temples.
Although priests did not form a distinct class of society until
toward the end of the Old Kingdom, as employees of the state
they served a function. There were numerous 'pure ones,' ordi-
nary members of the community who underwent certain purifi-
cation ceremonies in order to serve in relays as servants in the
'house of god.' There were others who were bound by rules of
cleanliness and became custodians of sacred order. These per-
formed their duties on a full-time basis and their positions even-
tually became hereditary. Priests were not required to have any
theological knowledge, they simply learned the correct obser-
vance of rituals as laid down by the Great House. A 'lector priest'
158 Work
in which the owner outlined that it was to be put toward the care
of the tomb and the continued supply of food and offerings. In
the case of royalty, the endowments were extremely large.
Khafre's son, Nekure, bequeathed to his heirs a private fortune
including fourteen towns and two estates at the royal residence,
the entire income of which was to go toward the maintenance of
his tomb; he made the will with the aid of a scribe, "while he was
alive upon his two feet without ailing in any way."
The fact that no written law has been found in ancient Egypt
should not undermine documentary evidence of legal practice.
Written briefs were submitted to a high-ranking official, who fre-
quently inscribed in his tomb that he "judged two partners until
they were satisfied." Among surviving Old Kingdom legal docu-
ments is one referring to litigation between an heir and an execu-
tor. It indicated that under certain circumstances an appeal might
be made directly to the central court. There is one remarkable case
of treason in the royal harem which was heard by two provincial
judges in place of the 'chief judge' (the vizier), for an unbiased de-
cision. Some of the documents were simple contracts such as the
"contract for the sale of a small house."
The most famous legal case was that of the vizier Kheti, whose
name lived on until the New Kingdom as "the judge whose case
was more than justice." Kheti was involved in a lawsuit in which
members of his own family were party; his judgment was against
Scribal equipment
160 Work
out; standing figures were nineteen units high, and the seated fig-
ures were fifteen units; the feet were the same length as the height
of the head and neck; the distance between the knees and the soles
of the feet was twice was long as the feet. Drawing to scale, the
artist could accurately enlarge a statue, or a scene. Continuity in
style was due to the careful maintenance of the codified rules laid
down in the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom. State
artisans reached the highest rank. Private statues were also made:
scribe statues, for example, were introduced at the end of the
Fourth Dynasty, showing a man in cross-legged posture, reading
or writing on a roll of papyrus on his lap. In the famous tomb of
Ti, a Fifth Dynasty court dignitary, is a representation of an atelier
with artisans polishing and carving statues in his likeness.
Reliefs were fashioned with extraordinary delicacy. Unfinished
tombs like that of Ptahhotep at Saqqara provide evidence of the
method and progress of relief decoration, which involved a team
of artists. The wall of the tomb was first rendered smooth. Then a
chief artist prepared each surface for decoration by separating the
different registers with the aid of cords dipped in red paint, subdi-
viding these further into rows or squares. Into these sections fig-
ures of people, animals, and hieroglyphic characters were drawn,
each row representing a single activity.
It seems probable that there was a common stock of themes
from which the noble tomb owners chose, for similar scenes are
represented in different tombs - with a reduction or increase in
the number of individuals, a variation in the placing of inscrip-
tions, or the adding of such details as might please the artist: a bald
man, a spotted cow, a frisky calf. The arrangement was apparently
guided by the chief artist's preference (within the broad outlines
of the customer's wishes) and by the size of the tomb. All avail-
able wall space was filled. After the background was cut away,
leaving the figures in low relief, a sculptor would carve the fine
detail. These relief-carvings were then painted. The coloring,
Art and Architecture 163
while not entirely true to nature, was not exaggerated. For exam-
ple, clothing was usually white (left without paint on the lime-
stone wall), red ocher was used for the sunburnt bodies of men,
while pink, pale brown, or yellow was used for women. Because
the chief Old Kingdom burial grounds were in areas of high qual-
ity limestone, reliefs were more common than mural decorations
(which were painted either directly on the smoothed surface of
the wall or on a plastered surface). Tempera technique was used:
natural powdered pigments mixed with water and bound with
acacia gum to adhere to the wall surface.
The freshness and brightness of Egyptian tomb paintings have
often been commented on. They have retained their color because
the pigments are natural. Red and yellow were obtained from
ochers from the desert, chalk (calcium carbonate) or lime provid-
ed white, and black was obtained from carbon in some form (soot
or powdered charcoal) or a black manganese found in Sinai. Blue
was obtained from azurite, which is a blue carbonate of copper;
another copper ore, malachite, was the source of green. Pink was
made by mixing red ocher with chalk. Early drawings on pottery
were probably made with a reed brush with the fibers teased out.
Later, artists and painters used similar reed-stems, and the palette
for mixing the paint was either a ceramic bowl or a conch shell.
Although relief and mural decoration may appear to have been
a mechanical art, the extremely high level of technical and artistic
skill - and the harmonious final effect - should not be over-
looked. The main figure was traditionally represented with head
in profile (full-view eye and eyebrow, a half mouth, and a side-
view nose) with shoulders shown full-width from the front, but
with profile body, legs, and feet, but minor figures are represented
in a variety of informal poses. One might have the impression of
similarity of subject matter, and the scenes may appear to be uni-
form, but close study shows that no two are exactly alike. There
was endless modification, especially in representations of figures
164 Work
Shipbuilding
Shipbuilding was one of the most important and oldest industries
(see chapter v). By the Fourth Dynasty, it is clear that boat con-
struction had developed into a national art. In Khufu's mortuary
complex at Giza is an intact vessel that was discovered in a rock-
hewn pit to the south of the Great Pyramid. It is a magnificent
barge 44 meters long, now reconstructed and in a special museum.
Built of cedar from Lebanon, it had been dismantled to fit into the
pit, which was too short for it. Careful reassembly produced a
flat-bottomed vessel with a massive curving hull rising to elegant
prow and stern posts. Poles on the deck proved to be the support-
ing palm-shaped columns of a large roofed cabin. Steering oars
(each five meters long) were also found, and coils of rope. The
planks were 'sewn' together by a system of ropes through holes.
This was the first royal barge discovered, and scientific examina-
tion suggests that it might actually have sailed. Such ships (there is
a second in an as yet unexcavated pit near the first) may have
served the king in his capacity as king of Upper and Lower Egypt
during his lifetime, later to be buried as part of his funerary equip-
ment. Alternatively, they could have served a funerary, solar func-
tion, being designed to transport his spirit, absorbed by the sun-
god, to a life everlasting.
The tomb of Ti contains two shipbuilding scenes, the noble-
man presiding over them both. He inspects every stage of the
work being carried out. One scene shows the entire shipbuilding
process, from the early stages of shaping and sawing the wooden
planks to the last stages of completion, with workmen milling
Stone and Pottery Vessels 165
and use was also made of the hand-wheel. Pottery was left to dry
in the open air to what is usually called the 'leather-hard stage.' It
was then smoothed by the potter's hand, or with a cloth, after
which a coating of a pigment and water, or pigment mixed with
clay and water, could be added to the surface before the pottery
was fired. These coatings made the surface less permeable, and
improved the appearance of the vessel.
By the Fourth Dynasty, the days of irregular burning in an
open fire at the mercy of the wind had passed; the potter had rows
of closed kilns with a simple updraft to achieve uniform firing.
Our knowledge of the kilns derives from a few samples that have
survived in tomb reliefs, models, and from hieroglyphic signs.
The earliest show that they flared to the top, with straight or con-
cave sides, and were loaded from the top. The pottery was stacked
on openwork platforms that separated them from the fire located
in a small chamber below. Although pottery was primarily the oc-
cupation of men, a potter's wife and other members of his family
helped out in various ways: collecting fuel for the kilns, carrying
the clay from its sources, and adding finishing touches to a pot be-
fore it was placed in the kiln.
Clay was also used for bricks, which were not fired. They were
made of a combination of mud, water, and straw. The mixture was
then poured into molds and left in the sun to dry. Brick-manufac-
ture by this same method can still be seen practiced in many parts
of Egypt today.
Textile Manufacture
Spinning and weaving were major industries practiced from Pre-
dynastic times, when dressed skins were replaced by woven gar-
ments. A skill was developed such that by the beginning of the
dynastic period, Egyptians were producing very fine linen. The
Viticulture 167
Viticulture
The first wine-press hieroglyph dates from the First Dynasty, and
there is evidence that even at this early date wine was transported
across the country in sealed jars. Later representations show that
grapes were picked by hand, placed in vats and trodden until the
liquid ran through holes into a waiting container. The vat was
canopied against the heat, and the chanting workers pressing the
grapes held on to ropes hung from rafters. The residue of skins,
seeds, and stalks was placed in canvas bags with staves fastened to
each end. Two men (aided, in several tomb representations, by a
monkey) lever these apart to squeeze out any juice remaining.
Fermentation probably occurred naturally, due both to the
method of pressing and to the high summer temperature. When
partly fermented, the wine was siphoned into tall pottery vessels
168 Work
Other Industries
Workers in other industries included carpenters, who produced
the highest quality furniture for the Great House; coppersmiths,
who made pipes and bowls as well as tools; and goldsmiths, who
fashioned jewelry. All were strictly organized, with the work su-
pervised by overseers, themselves under the direction of a 'chief
overseer.' There was a tendency for children to ply the trades of
their parents, at first making themselves useful around the work-
shops and then working as apprentices.
In making furniture, carpenters used hammers and mallets,
saws with teeth slanting toward the handle - indicating that they
were pulled not pushed - and bow-drills for making holes.
Leather-production had long been mastered and the curing of
hides produced soft, fine-quality skins. The hides were first
stretched taut on a board, then left to soak in oil. In the Old King-
dom no other tanning process was used. After the skins were re-
moved, and when they started to dry, the leather was hammered
to ensure that the oil was completely absorbed. The leather was
then dyed in various colors and used to cover stools, chairs, beds,
and cushions. Apart from its use in furniture, leather was also
used to produce sandals, satchels, and sheets of parchment for of-
ficial use.
The tomb of Ti records the goldsmith's factory and the differ-
ent stages of production of jewelry. Ti himself watches the head
goldsmith weighing the precious metal, which was brought from
the alluvial sands of the Eastern Desert or from Nubia, while
scribes record it. Workers are depicted casting, soldering, and fit-
Wages 169
ting together a rich assortment of fine jewelry. Six men direct their
blowpipes to the flames in a clay furnace. Beside them, a work-
man pours the molten metal. On the extreme right four men beat
gold leaf. Some of the engravers seated on low benches are dwarfs.
Turquoise, cut or ground- into tiny pieces, are inland with preci-
sion, soldered and fitted into exquisite necklets and other items of
adornment. Glass was produced from silica-sand, lime, and soda;
the earliest glass beads and amulets were found in Predynastic
graves.
Wages
Workers were paid wages in the form of bread, beer, clothing, oils,
and grain in large amounts. Nobles frequently recorded their re-
lationship with their foremen and workers by claiming that
"whether craftsmen or quarrymen, I satisfied them." One Fourth
Dynasty nobleman, Memi, was more explicit: in an inscription on
the base of his statue he declared that the sculptor who fashioned
his statue "was satisfied with the reward I gave him." Terms of
employment are not clear, although some inscriptions imply that
contracts were made. The lintel above an official's tomb entrance
at Giza records that "the necropolis man Pepi is content over the
contract which I made with him." The term 'necropolis man' was
used for unskilled labor, whether quarryman or stoneworker.
"Never did I use force against any man, for I wanted my name
to be good before god and my repute to be good before all men."
"Never did I do an evil thing." Such inscriptions were common in
the tombs at Saqqara, and may have reflected the tomb-owner's
wish to stress his qualities so that his name would shine before the
'great god,' the king. But they do encourage us to view with at
least some reservation Herodotus's description of hordes of op-
pressed and overworked slaves, whipped by merciless overseers,
i/o Work
their cattle were safely housed on higher, dry land; with other
agricultural activities suspended, they cared for the cattle and pro-
vided them with food already laid in storage. They carefully di-
rected the water from the main canals to smaller branches travers-
ing the fields in straight or curved lines, and controlled it by
means of embankments. When the water level began to fall these
natural reservoirs retained a residue of mineral-rich sediment that
was ready to receive seed without further preparation. Reliefs
show that oxen dragged simple wooden plows to till the soil and
then lines of sowers would cast grain on the surface from baskets.
This was usually trodden in by goats. Where the earth dried hard,
however, a plow was used. The hoe - one of the most ancient of
agricultural tools - consisted of a broad, pointed blade of wood
attached to a handle at an acute angle and held in position in the
center by a slack rope. The plow was a hoe enlarged by adding
two long wooden arms on which the plowman could lean to keep
the furrow straight and also to pressure the blade into the soil. A
pole was provided with a yoke for attaching to draft animals.
Although the Nile Valley and the Delta were fertile, full ex-
ploitation of the land only came with continuous toil. Farmers
manufactured their own tools and household possessions. From
scenes in nobles' tombs it is apparent that the harvest was the sea-
son of most strenuous activity. The ripened wheat was reaped
with the aid of a sickle, tied in bundles, and loaded on to donkeys
to be carried to the threshing floor. The wheat was then piled in
heaps to be trodden by oxen, goats, or donkeys. The threshed
grain was piled in a heap by means of three-pronged forks and
sifted and winnowed with small boards or scoops used in pairs to
toss the grain into the wind. Sometimes girls of ordinary families,
too young to manage the household, lent a hand in the fields,
gathering and winnowing. Finally the grain was placed in sacks
and transported to the granary.
Flour for bread, the staple food of rich and poor alike, was a
172 Work
Animal Husbandry
Environmental conditions in the Delta and in the marshlands af-
forded excellent conditions for cattle-breeding, and animals were
raised with care. Selection of temple herds was made from all
parts of the country, which must have improved the breeds, espe-
cially of cattle and sheep. Care of animals came naturally to peo-
ple who, before they settled down, had been hunters, fishers, and
cattle-breeders. Veterinary medicine was practiced and the obvi-
ous health of the herds indicates proficient rearing. The care of
livestock was a talent handed from generation to generation,
touchingly depicted in many tombs. There are scenes showing a
young farmhand feeding the animals, milking a cow, and (in the
tombs of Ptahhotep and Ti) helping a cow give birth. In the tomb
of Ti is a scene of a bald-headed farmer leading his animals
through a canal by taking a calf on his shoulders to encourage its
mother, and the rest of the herd, to follow. Attempts were made to
domesticate wild creatures like the antelope, gazelle, and hyena
along with tame species. The experiments seem to have been suc-
cessful. The ancient Egyptians knew their animals intimately and
although there are scenes of herders driving rams across a canal
with raised whip, none shows an animal being beaten.
The slaughter of cattle was part of temple ritual and there are
many scenes in Old Kingdom tombs that depict the manner in
which this was carried out. Several stockmen were involved. The
left foreleg of the sacrificial animal would first be caught in a slip
knot, the other end of the rope being thrown over its back and
pulled by a second man. This forced the roped leg off the ground
and threw the animal off balance. A man would sit on its neck and
pull its head backward, another would hold onto its tail, and a
third lift one of its hind legs. As soon as the animal was on the
ground, the two hind legs and roped foreleg were roped together,
the victim left powerless. The butcher then bled the animal to
i/4 Work
Entertainment
Leisure was made possible by the economy, exceptional opportu-
nities, and favorable climate of ancient Egypt. Many tombs at
Saqqara and Giza contain scenes of the deceased seated with fami-
ly, friends, or relatives beneath an arbor enjoying the mild north
breeze. The panorama of everyday life indicates how vitally con-
scious the people were of the animal and bird life teeming around
them and how much they esteemed outdoor life. It seems that
among the greatest pleasures were venturing into the marshes in
search of aquatic birds, hunting in the undulating plains of the
desert, and fishing in canals and lakes.
The ancient Egyptians had a great sense of rhythm and love of
music. During important events (such as the breaking of ground
by the 'scorpion king,' depicted on his mace-head), a line of
women clapped in unison. A piper or singer often entertained
fishers and farmers while they worked. And, not surprisingly, we
find the wealthy classes enjoying music at all times of day: at their
morning toilet, at meals, and during leisure hours. Harps were
small and usually played by a seated musician; flutes were in two
sizes. A full orchestra comprised two harps and two flutes. Two
or three musicians, as well as singers and clappers, often accompa-
nied lithe young women as they performed dances. One such
scene, in the tomb of Ti, shows both male and female performers,
who perform separately, each with accompanying hand-clappers.
In the tomb of Mehu at Saqqara female dancers raise their arms in
176 Leisure
a circular motion above their heads while their feet move forward,
a gesture probably repeated to the rhythm of the music. A more
energetic performance is depicted in the tomb of Ankhmahor,
where the dancers do a high kick. In the tomb of Kagemni an ac-
robatic dance is performed by young girls who are depicted with
the left foot placed flat on the floor, torso curved, head dropping
backward until the hair, plaited into a pigtail with decoration on
the end, hangs down in perfect symmetry. Such scenes, which are
commonplace in ancient Egyptian tombs were not, as once sup-
posed, purely for the entertainment of the deceased and their fam-
ilies in the afterlife. They were ceremonial dances, probably sug-
gesting a ritual of rebirth. Music and religion were closely linked.
Hathor, for example, the cow-goddess of love and nourishment,
was associated with music and dance; her son Ihy became a god of
music and patron of the chorus. Hathor's sacred emblem, the
sistrum, was an ancient musical instrument that eventually be-
came an architectural feature in temples.
The fact that the ancient Egyptians had no known system of
musical notation is somewhat surprising, particularly in view of
the development of an independent system of writing at an early
date. Perhaps tunes, like the popular stories, were transmitted
from generation to generation. We do know that early visitors to
Egypt from the Greek mainland around the sixth century BC were
particularly impressed with the harmony of Egyptian melodies.
One of the most appealing tales of the Old Kingdom is the sto-
ry of the pygmy brought from the 'land of Yam' to amuse the
young king Pepi II. Pepi was only six years old when he ascended
the throne. During the second year of his reign Harkhuf, the no-
bleman of Elephantine who made many journeys to the south, re-
turned with exotic products and a dancing pygmy as a gift for the
king. He sent messengers ahead to inform the Great House, and
with great enthusiasm Pepi sent a letter of thanks to Harkhuf re-
questing him to take every precaution that the pygmy should ar-
Outdoor Sport 177
Outdoor Sport
Outdoor recreations were popular among all classes of society.
King Sahure was depicted in his sun temple hunting gazelle, ante-
lope, deer, and other animals, and most nobles' tombs contain
scenes showing the pursuit of wild game and capture of various
species. The working classes chased gazelle, oryx, wild oxen,
i/8 Leisure
hares, and ostrich with equal enthusiasm. Long bow and arrow,
lasso, throwing sticks, and bola were the most common hunting
weapons. The bow was no more than a meter in length and the ar-
rows, carried in leather quivers, came in several varieties; the one
preferred for hunting (which served into the New Kingdom) had
an agate arrowhead cemented to a sturdy stick, usually ebony, and
fitted into a hollow reed shaft. It was decorated with two feathers
and notched for the bowstring.
Considerable ability must have been required in the handling
of the throwing stick, numerous specimens of which may be
found. They varied in shape. Some were semicircular, others end-
ed in a knob. The bola consisted of a rope or strap about five me-
ters long with a single rounded stone attached to the end. When
thrown, the cord would twist round the legs or neck of the animal
and hinder its movement. A good hunter could bring down an an-
imal with a careful throw. The noose of the lasso was thrown
round the neck of the running victim, whether gazelle, wild goat,
or ostrich.
Hunting scenes were extremely spirited, showing the hunter
enthusiastically pursuing game in an obvious display of pleasure.
Some scenes indicate how bait was used. In Ptahhotep's tomb the
muzzle of a young tethered heifer is being seized in the jaws of a
lion, which a hunter points out to his two hounds before setting
them loose. Hounds were specially trained for hunting and fol-
lowing wounded beasts. Every effort seems to have been made to
save the game animals from being hurt and to capture them alive.
Ptahhotep is depicted watching men dragging cages containing
lion, a frame with gazelles bound together in groups, and smaller
cages containing hedgehogs. Sometimes a hunter, perhaps after
killing its mother, would take a young gazelle back to the village.
The Egyptians were avid fishers. After the waters of the annual
flood receded, ponds were left in the open country. These, as well
as the canals and the river, yielded an inexhaustible supply of mul-
Outdoor Sport 179
let, catfish, tilapia, perch, barbel, and other varieties of fish. The
upper classes penetrated deep into the thickets in their firmly con-
structed papyrus skiffs, their feet squarely placed on the central
plank. They pursuedfishwith spears - sometimes two-pronged -
but never angled. The common folk on the other hand sometimes
speared fish like their masters but more often angled from small
boats, using as many as five hooks on a single line. Dragnets were
drawn from the shore in small canals, trawl nets were used in larg-
er canals and the river, and trap nets were also used. These were
wicker baskets with narrow necks, sometimes curving inward;
when they were dropped into shallow water, the fish were attract-
ed to the bait and swam inside but could not emerge. Hippopota-
mus-hunting with spears was popular among all classes. Har-
poons were used with great dexterity.
The ancient Egyptians' familiarity with bird life is particularly
apparent in the tomb of Ti, where various marsh species are de-
picted in families near their nests, each drawn with characteristic
features and easily identifiable (although not drawn to scale).
They include quail, partridge, heron, pelican, turtledove, magpie,
swallow, wild duck, and goose. Wading in the reedy swamps near
the river are flamingos, pelicans, and cormorants. In fact, indige-
nous and migratory waterfowl were so plentiful that the ancient
Egyptians likened a crowd to a bird pond during the inundation.
Birds were most often caught in clap nets. Hunting them with a
throw-stick was also an extremely popular sport, which needed
skill: the hunter, often accompanied by his wife, children, and ser-
vants, had to stand firmly in his boat with legs wide apart and,
while maintaining his balance, fling the missile at the fowl as they
took to the air. Some of the men with him hold decoy-birds, indi-
cating that the boat made its way quietly through the thickets to
creep up on the fowl. Mongooses were trained to catch small
aquatic birds, considered a great delicacy.
It is not surprising, in view of the warm weather and the prox-
180 Leisure
imity of the river, that the ancient Egyptians were swimmers from
early times. Early Dynastic seals show swimmers in action. It is
evident from these and other representations that the crawl was
the common stroke. Learning to swim may, indeed, have been
necessary training for children among the upper classes, for a bio-
graphical inscription of a Middle Kingdom nobleman refers to
the encouragement his king gave him and declares that as a youth
"he caused me to take swimming lessons along with the royal
children."
Confrontation sports like wrestling, boxing, and fencing with
sticks were also popular. Ptahhotep's tomb shows wrestling
scenes, in which many elements common in Japanese martial arts
have been detected. In many tombs the owner is depicted watch-
ing boatmen's games, which may have been either an exhibition
contest or a race. Light reed boats, often filled with produce, were
punted in the same direction, while two or three men stood in
each boat equipped with long poles with which they tried to push
their opponents into the water. They would then either board the
'enemy' boat or tip it over.
In the tombs of the Old Kingdom, only children (identified by
the side-lock of youth) are depicted playing games. Moreover,
most of the games are played by boys, and (with few exceptions)
boys and girls did not play together. A game requiring skill was
played by boys with sharp-pointed sticks, which they raised and
threw at a target on the ground between them. A 'tug-of-war' trial
of strength was accompanied by such inscriptions as "your arm is
much stronger than his," "my team is stronger than yours," and
"hold fast, comrades." Boys played a high-jump game, leaping
over an obstacle formed by two of their comrades sitting opposite
each other with the soles of the feet and tips of the fingers touch-
ing.
A girls' game is depicted in Mereruka's tomb: two players in
the center hold either two or four partners with outstretched
Indoor Games 181
arms; the latter lean outward so that only their heels touch the
ground. The text reads "turn around four times." Though there
are no reliefs of children playing ball in the Old Kingdom, balls
have been found, even in prehistoric graves. Some were covered
in leather cut into sections and sewn together and filled with fine
straw or reeds. Others were made of wood or clay, in one or more
colors. Tops, rattles, and blowpipes, as well as dolls, have also
been found. Some dolls seem to have been made by the children
themselves from pieces of wood swathed in cloth. They also made
toys fashioned of clay: crude human figures and animals like
sheep, dogs, tortoises, and lizards, which can be clearly identified.
When children died, these 'treasures' were buried with them.
Indoor Games
The ancient Egyptians were also imaginative in their indoor
recreation. A favorite game was senet, which appears to have been
similar to checkers, played on a rectangular board divided into
thirty squares in three rows with carved black and white pieces. A
large number were found at the tomb of Ptahshepses at Abu Sir.
Although the players are depicted facing each other, there is no
indication of the rules of the game. The earliest gaming piece (in
the shape of a house with a sloping roof) was found in the tomb of
the First Dynasty king Den. Predynastic game pieces made of
clay coated with wax, along with a checker-board table of un-
baked clay held up by four thick, short legs and divided into eigh-
teen squares, have also been found.
A game that appears to have been popular in the Old Kingdom
was played with a series of discs about ten centimeters in diame-
ter, made in wood, horn, ivory, stone, or copper. Each had a hole
in the center, through which a fifteen-centimeter pointed stick
was inserted. We do not know how the game was played. Perhaps
182 Leisure
the stick was rotated between the palms of the hands to make the
discs spin like a top.
Some of the games of the Old Kingdom did survive its fall. One
was played on a low table, its surface displaying an engraved or
inlaid coiled snake, the head situated at the center of the board and
the body divided into transverse lines forming segments. The
pieces for this game comprised three lions, three lionesses, and
five red-and-white balls; these were kept in an ebony box when
the game was not being used.
above the range that formed the edge of the world; how the sun
was a disc of fire that sailed across the heavens in a boat, or was
pushed by the beetle, Kheper; how the sky was a mother-goddess,
Nut, like the cow that gave nourishment; and how the earth was
Geb, who sprouted vegetation, reborn each year as their great an-
cestor Osiris had been given life after death. They told tales of
Osiris who taught them how to produce grain for their nourish-
ment, of Isis his wife who taught them how to weave and grind
grain for bread, and of Horus, their son, who was the king who
had power over the forces of nature.
They told many tales about their river: how Hapi the Nile-god
dwelt in a grotto on an island where the Nile gushed out of the
eternal ocean that surrounded the earth, and from where he con-
trolled its flow to Upper and Lower Egypt. They described Hapi
as a boatman or fisherman like many of their own, with a narrow
belt holding in a large belly and heavy breasts.
And they told tales of their land: how the vegetation that died
with the harvest was reborn when the grain sprouted, just as the
sun-god 'died' each evening and was reborn the next morning.
How Set, the personification of drought, darkness, and evil, se-
cretly aspired to the throne of Osiris, the god of fertility and wa-
ter. They told how, when Horus was a child and was hidden with
his mother Isis in the marshes of the Delta, he was bitten by Set,
who had taken the form of a poisonous snake. Isis, in despair,
called to the heavens for help, and the 'boat of millions of years'
drawing the sun-god across the heavens heard her. Re sent Thoth
the moon-god to speak to Isis and offer help. He informed her
that the boat of the sun-god would stand still, darkness would
reign, there would be no food, and the people of the earth would
suffer, until Horus was cured. They told how the evil Set was
overcome, Horus became healthy, and the sun-god resumed his
journey across the heavens, casting life-giving rays upon the earth
and causing the crops to grow again.
Rural Festivals 185
Rural Festivals
Rural festivals were a great source of pleasure to the masses. They
were closely linked to the working patterns of the people: cele-
brations heralding the rebirth of the crop, the reaping of the first
sheaf, the opening of a new canal, the bearing of the crop to the
granary - all were accompanied by hand-clapping, singing, and
sometimes more. All festivals were of a religious nature in the
sense that it was an appropriate time for pilgrimages to be made to
the graves of the departed to present offerings, or for a longer
journey to be undertaken to the holy site of ancestors to make a
sacrifice. These were not gestures of piety so much as a self-im-
posed duty, a gratification, and a familiar and recognized pattern
of behavior.
In the Old Kingdom the people were confident (they had not
yet known war or foreign occupation), hard-working (a reflec-
tion of a stable and organized government), and optimistic (since
the nature-worship of Osiris had not yet developed into a 'cult of
the dead,' there was no need for the growth of priestcraft to help
defend against the awesome powers of the underworld). In the
Old Kingdom, people suffered no apprehension of the hereafter.
186 Leisure
When they died and were buried on the west bank of the Nile,
along with the necessary provisions for the hereafter, they were
confident that they would go to the 'godly west,' where they
would live again as on earth. There would be no hunger or want.
In this blessed place of peculiar fertility, they would breathe the
fresh air along the river banks, fish in the bulrushes, paddle boats
along the river, and enjoy fowling and hunting for ever and ever in
the'field of reeds.'
Conclusion
sance) was applied to kingly rule, and the kings maintained their
control over the reunited country by reviving the methods prac-
ticed in the Old Kingdom: the construction or restoration of tem-
ples at cult centers, the performance of national festivals, and the
monopoly of trade. Indeed, in a record dating to the reign of
Senusret III we find the king searching the ancient records "to as-
certain the form of a god, that he might fashion him as he was for-
merly, when they made the statues in their council, in order to es-
tablish their monuments on earth."
After the war of liberation from the Hyksos and the creation of
an empire, Egypt entered an age of unparalleled wealth and
grandeur in the New Kingdom (15 50-1070 BC). The priests of
Amun-Re of Thebes became extremely powerful, and there was
grave discontent among the upper classes. When Akhenaten came
to the throne he emphasized a connection between his worship of
the living sun, the Aten, and the solar cult of the Pyramid Age. He
built his sun temples on the same lines as the Fifth Dynasty tem-
ples at Abu Sir. And the symbol of the Aten, the orb of the sun,
was reminiscent of the description of the sun-god in the Pyramid
Texts: "The arm of the sun beams." The king himself was still re-
garded as the 'son of the sun-god' and the traditional title Re-
Harakhte, 'Horus of the Horizon,' was not at first discarded.
Stress was once again placed on maat, and verses in praise of the
Aten contained little that had not been sung in earlier verses to the
sun-god Re. Akhenaten's revival was short-lived. The priests of
Amun-Re came back to power and for a time basked in a period
of unequaled splendor. But the empire was lost, the country went
into a period of decline.
During the brief Twenty-sixth Dynasty revival known as the
Sake Period (664-525 BC), conscientious effort was made to re-
capture 'the time of the ancestors,' "for lo, their words abide in
writing; open that thou may read and imitate knowledge." The
Saite rulers recopied ancient texts, and there is even evidence that
Conclusion 189
WadiDigla 25
Wadi Hammamat 117