The Egyptian Kingdoms [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION Traveling by air between Cairo and Luxor, the modem visitor to Egypt gains a striking impression of the landscape which helped to mold the character of the ancient Egyptians thousands of years ago. The Nile, winding on its sinuous course to the Delta, is still as in earlier times the life-blood of the country. Cultivated strips of fertile land, srill tended with primitive tools and irrigated much as in ancient rimes, hug the banks of the river. The small fields, intensely green, contrast vividly with the desert close on either side, which often rises steeply to rugged cliffs. From Cairo the visitor will have traveled to Gizeh, Saqqara and Memphis where the pharaonic civilization first flourished during the Old Kingdom. In Upper Egypt, making the modem town of Luxor his base, he may devote several days to the east and west banks of the river which once made up the ancient capital of Thebes. He wiU wander around in the vast complex known as the Temple of Kar-nak and the smaller and more compact Temple of Luxor, and on the west bank will be shown the mortuary temples, the tombs of the kings, queens and nobles and the remains of the village of the royal necropolis workers. The temples, hosts only to the birds, the tourists and the archaeologists, are now deserted; columns and masonry lie scattered about, and the ritual incantations of the priests have long been silenced. And in the barren valleys the tombs lie empty, looted long ago by robbers. Only King Tutankhamun stiU rests in his original tomb. But it is impossible not to be moved by the great temples, or to marvel at the freshness of the tomb paintings, with scenes of kings and gods adorning the walls, as if the artists had just slipped away back to their village over the mountain. The fortunate visitor may go further afield - perhaps to Abydos to see what are possibly the finest reliefs in Egypt in the Temple of Sethos I; or he may visit the well-preserved and shapely temples of the Ptolemaic era-Edfu, Denderah, Kom Ombo, Esneh and Philae. Some will follow the river as far as Aswan and beyond, to the temples of Abu Simbel, recently rescued from the rising waters of the Nile. A few may perhaps reach Tell el-Amarna where the heretic pharaoh, Akhenaten, built his city and worshiped his single deity. The ancient custom of burying possessions with the deceased for the afterlife, along with Egypt's dry climate, has ensured that Egypt's material past has been preserved to a greater extent than that of most ancient civihzations. And a greater understanding of this civilization has been gained by the patient and arduous labors of several generations of Egyptologists, while spectacular discoveries have inspired people of every kind to leam more about these orderly and creative Egyptians. Finally, the decipherment of their writing has allowed us, at least to some degree, to enter into their minds. Moreover we shall find that many aspects of the civilization of ancient Egypt are not strange to us. We can understand their attitude to the home, to the family and education. We can admire their elegant jewelry and clothing, and sympathize with their search for medical knowledge and for rejuvenating cosmetics. Their buildings still stand to demonstrate the skill of their workmen, architects and craftsmen. Yet despite our wealth of knowledge about the Egyptians, it must always be remembered that it is based largely on the preservation of possessions they provided for funerary purposes, and there is a temptation therefore to regard the Egyptians as a race "obsessed with death." In reahty, it seems, their main preoccupation was not death but eternal life. The religious beliefs and the associated art forms of the Egyptians are perhaps the most difficult aspect of their civilization for the modem world to understand. The history of Egypt spans many centuries, from its obscure beginnings through the first great upsurge of brilliance during the Old Kingdom, the periods of decay and renewal, the zenith of international power, prestige and wealth during the New Kingdom to the gradual, sad decline during the later years. When her internal resources were exhausted, Egypt became easy prey for successive waves ofinvaders. Some, like the "Sea Peoples," were unsuccessful, but others - the Ethiopians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks and Romans - were able to subjugate Egypt for long periods of time. Yet not until the late Ptolemaic era, when a Hellenistic dynasty exploited the country, did these successive conquerors make any determined attempt to interfere with the deep-seated traditions and way of life they found in Egypt. Indeed, the invaders tended to become "Egyptianized," adopring many of the customs and ways of the country they had conquered. The following chapters attempt to give the reader some idea of the men and women - great and humble - who created this tenacious and long-lived civilization, and of the Egyptologists who have rescued them from oblivion.