Ancient Egyptian Lifestyle

by Samahra, Gregory, and Kyrstin

Food

Beer was the most popular drink in Egypt. It was made from bread. Milk was a prized beverage.

The Egyptians grew the following fruits and vegetables: pomegrantes, onions, leeks, beans, garlic, lentils, chick peas, and more.

Some of the meat the Egyptians ate were fish, beef, antelope, and gazelle. They never ate pork because they believed it wasn't clean. Meat was cooked over an open fire.

The average Egyptian ate three times a day, the Royal Egyptians ate five times a day.

Food was very important to Egyptians, they believed the dead needed food just like humans.

Religion

Religion was very important to the early Egyptians. They worshipped hundreds of gods. Most of the gods were represented by animals. Because there were so many it was difficult to tell who was who. Not only because there were so many, but because some temples had different meanings for an animal. For example, a baboon could stand for Thoth at one temple and a moon god at another. Lots of Egyptians used religious magic to ease their problems.

The early Egyptians wrote about the heart. They said it speaks out from the back of the head and also the hands.

The early Egyptians suffered a lot of eye disorders and tumors, just like some people do today.

Animals

There were lots of animals in Egypt such as birds, reptiles, fish, lions, hyenas, bulls, camels, and antelope. You could see crocodiles and hippos on the Nile.

Animal symbols were used for hieroglyphics, which was their written form of communication.

The male hippo was believed to be evil because he was associated with Set, the God of Violence.

The lion represented strength and determination, the crocodile symbolizes the God Sobek, a ram with curly horns could represent Amun-Re, the king of gods.

Gods

These are some of the Gods of Ancient Egypt:

Re - The God of Sun

Amun - The God of Air / The God of Thebes

Osiris - The God of All Dead

Anubis - Is a jackal headed God of the Dead

Bast - Cat Goddess

Bes - A dwarf God with a lion's face, he is God of the Home

Geb - The God of Earth

Set - The God of Violence. Set killed his brother Osiris.

Hapy - Nile God shown with heavy breasts.

Hathor - Cow headed God of Happiness.

Transportation

The ancient Egyptians travelled place to place mainly by water. The Nile River was the main highway. They could get to almost any part of Egypt by the Nile. Usually, short trips were made on foot of by donkeys. While wealthy people were often carried around in special chairs.

Ships varied in size, shape, and construction. Small boast were usually made of papyrus reeds tied together in bundles. These were called canoes. These boats were used for fishing and some short trips. Large boats were used for trading expeditions and warfare. The large boats had hulls made of timber. In the centre of the boat sat the oarsmen. They rowed together in time to a flute, gong, or a rattle. some of the larger boats needed forty of fifty oarsmen. Smaller boats needed only two of three. The boats were steered by a rudder. Some boats had sails. Boats travelling southward had the north wind to help them.

In order to move freight large rafts or barges were used. There were especially used during floods.

Once a year the pharaoh would go to his or her own barge and travel the Nile to check the entire country. On land they would ride in a chair held on pole-bearers shoulders. They did this because that is where they could see the granaries, fisheries, and areas for farming.

Childhood

In ancient Egypt children were blessed. They were blessed so much that a couple who could not have children could adopt one.

The children of ancient Egypt enjoyed their life. They loved games that are still played today such as leapfrog, and tug-of-war. There were board games like Snake, and game loved by early Egyptians called Senet. Toys included balls, dolls, and toy animals made of wood.

It is said that ancient Egyptians were great storytellers. They also kept their children amused by popular tales of the imagination and enchantment. For example; in one story a toy crocodile made of wax turns into a real one when it is thrown in the water.

Balls were a favourite pastime for the girls. The girls would throw them up in the air and catch them. They would also play with them while standing or on piggy back.

The ancient Egyptians made their dolls from wood with clay beads attached to twine. Dolls may have also been put in the tombs with the dead.

Many children played with a horse on wheels, or a jaw moving wooden toy, such as a mouse.

Egyptians used horses when they went on hunting trips. This came to be a favourite pastime by the pharaohs. Because of this they made wooden toy horses. They painted them and put wheels on them so that they could move. Many toys had movable parts.

Housing and Furniture

Towns and villages wer located near the Nile. Houses were crowded together to make room for farmland. Houses were also back to back to save space.

Everyone lived in a house made of mud. Rich and poor lived in mud houses. First, mud was carried in leather buckets from the Nile to the ground where the house would be built. They they placed straw and pebbles into the mud to strengthen it. Next they poured the mud into wooden frames to make bricks. After they put the bricks out and let them dry in the sun. Once they were dry, they put together the walls of the house. The beams of the house were made from strips of linen and from mud. The roof was built of timber. Floors were made of mud paster covered with a hard layer of gypsum. The floors were raised to keep snakes out of the houses. Once the house was done they put plaster on the outside of the walls and decorated it with scenes of nature on the inside.

There were four different kinds of houses. The house for poor families was a one room hut. The house for the middle class has 1-2 stories with at least three rooms.

Commoners lived in a 2-3 storey house. The first storey was for business and the second and third stories were for living quarters.

Noblemen lived in a Villa. Some Villas had up to seventy rooms. A Villa was split up in three areas, a hall, a reception area, and a private area. A Villa was surrounded by plain square walls that were whitewashed or painted in light pastel colours. There was only one entrance to the Villa.

No on had a lot of furniture in their home. Most people had only a few stools and beds. They had small boxes for jewellry and cosmetics and chests for clothing. They used pottery jars and oil lamps. Each home was equipped with at least one fly catcher.

Clothing, Jewellery, and Cosmetics

Clothes were made from flax to make a fine texture. The ancient Egyptian cared about appearance a lot.

Children had three sets of clothes. One for summer, one for winter, and one for special occasions. For late spring, summer, and early fall children usually ran around nude because it was so hot. In the winter, early spring, and late fall the children usually wrapped in cloaks and wraps to keep warm. On special occasions children wore sandals, the girls wore dresses and the boys dressed in their best clothes. Everyone wore makeup and jewellery.

Women had a few types of clothing. For work, women wore short skirt dresses. During the New Kingdom era women wore long pleated dresses with a shawl. Noblewomen sometimes wore beaded dresses. Some Queens wore decorative ceremonial clothing with feathers and sequins. Most people went around barefoot. On special occasions women wore ankle length dresses with a shawl or cloak.

Men had a lot of styles of clothes. During the Old and Middle Kingdoms men wore kilts. During the New Kingdom, noblemen sometimes wore a big robe over their kilt. When doing hard work men wore loin cloths, shirts, and pants. Kings wore elaborately decorated sandals and sometimes gloves. Men dressed in tunic style shirts.

full source here

http://www.wsd1.org/earlgrey/ancient.htm

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Posted by Bilal Aslam

Egypt officials have said they will make a formal request to Germany for the return of the 3,400 year-old bust of fabled Queen Nefertiti, but Germany said the bust will remain in Berlin.

State minister for antiquities Zahi Hawass said this week a letter would be sent to Germany to demand the return of the Nefertiti bust, nearly a century after it was uncovered on the banks of the Nile.
Read the full News Here

By Ishaan Tharoor

On a sunny afternoon on Dec. 6, 1912, an Egyptian worker at a dig along the banks of the Nile came across what may be the most striking find in the history of Egyptology. Ludwig Borchardt, the German archaeologist in charge of the excavation, scribbled excitedly in his diary a century ago: “The tools were put aside, and the hands were now used … It took a considerable amount of time until the whole piece was completely freed from all the dirt and rubble.” What emerged was a 3,300-year-old limestone bust of an ancient queen, colored with a gypsum lacquer. A flat-topped crown perched above a finely defined brow. Her cheekbones were high, nose distinguished. A thin, elegant neck — some now describe it “swanlike” — rose from the bust’s base. “We held the most lively piece of Egyptian art in our hands,” wrote Borchardt.

The bust is of Nefertiti, queen of Egypt and wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, who reigned in the 14th century B.C. A hundred years after Nefertiti’s bust was lifted out of the ground at Amarna, some 480 km south of Cairo, it remains one of the most iconic figures of Egyptian antiquity, far smaller than the pyramids or the Sphinx, but no less globally resonant. The bust adorns souvenir schlock throughout Egypt and history schoolbooks worldwide. When it went on display at a museum in Berlin in the 1920s, it was almost immediately held up as a symbol of universal, timeless beauty. That’s not surprising. Nefertiti’s name means “the beautiful one has come.”

But she’s much more than a pretty face. The queen and the bust that made her famous in our time are both fascinating stories — with endings that are still shrouded in uncertainty. Little is known of Nefertiti’s origins save that she was born outside the royal family, the daughter of the pharaoh’s vizier. She married Amenhotep IV, who inherited a vast, rich empire from his father Amenhotep III that stretched from the Nubian wastes to the river lands of Syria. Theirs was a moment of relative stability, with trade, not conquest, filling Egypt’s coffers.

Yet Nefertiti and her husband were for centuries virtually wiped off the historical record; it’s only once archaeologists in the early 20th century started excavations of their capital complex at Amarna that they loomed out of the dark of the past. The reason, it seems, was a move taken by Nefertiti’s husband to abandon the cults of certain gods — and the bloated, powerful priesthoods that surrounded them — in favor of worship of just one abstracted figure: Aten, a god represented as a sun disk. Amenhotep IV assumed the name Akhenaten, or “one devoted to Aten,” and he and Nefertiti arguably became the world’s first monotheists. There are other moments in history when a royal takes such a daring ideological turn — Byzantine Emperor Julian forsook Christianity for Greek polytheism and philosophy; Mogul Emperor Akbar embraced the din-e-ilahi, a cosmological religion that melded Hinduism and Islam — but Akhenaten stands out for seeming so uncharacteristically modern in such an ancient moment. That modernity is reinforced by the outsize role played by Nefertiti. Friezes, steles and inscriptions all make clear that she was firmly at Akhenaten’s side, and sometimes even standing before him. In one image found on blocks at the site of Hermopolis, Nefertiti is cast in the classic role of a male conqueror, grabbing her enemies and captives by the hair while smiting them with a mace.

Historians and archaeologists now puzzle over whether she ruled on in the wake of her husband’s death. But evidence is spotty. Much of the artwork and symbolism of their rule was erased by reactionary successors who restored polytheistic worship to the court. Unlike many ancient Egyptian royals, archaeologists have yet to identify their mummies, though speculation has been rife in recent years.

Analysis by Rossella Lorenzi

Two possible pyramid complexes might have been found in Egypt, according to a Google Earth satellite imagery survey.
Located about 90 miles apart, the sites contain unusual grouping of mounds with intriguing features and orientations, said satellite archaeology researcher Angela Micol of Maiden, N.C.
One site in Upper Egypt, just 12 miles from the city of Abu Sidhum along the Nile, features four mounds each with a larger, triangular-shaped plateau.
The two larger mounds at this site are approximately 250 feet in width, with two smaller mounds approximately 100 feet in width.
NEWS: Egyptian Pyramids Found With NASA Satellite
The site complex is arranged in a very clear formation with the large mound extending a width of approximately 620 feet -- almost three times the size of the Great Pyramid.
"Upon closer examination of the formation, this mound appears to have a very flat top and a curiously symmetrical triangular shape that has been heavily eroded with time," Micol wrote in her website Google Earth Anomalies.
Intriguingly, when zooming in on the top of the triangular formation, two circular, 20-foot-wide features appear almost in the very center of the triangle.

Full source: http://news.discovery.com/history/lost-egyptian-pyramids-found-120810.html

The Pharaoh in Egyptian Society

During the third and fourth dynasties of the Old Kingdom, Egypt enjoyed tremendous economic prosperity and stability. Kings held a unique position in Egyptian society. Somewhere in between human and divine, they were believed to have been chosen by the gods to serve as mediators between them and the people on earth. Because of this, it was in everyone's interest to keep the king's majesty intact even after his death, when he was believed to become Osiris, god of the dead. The new pharaoh, in turn, became Horus, the falcon-god who served as protector of the sun-god, Ra.

Ancient Egyptians believed that when the king died, part of his spirit (known as "ka") remained with his body. To properly care for his spirit, the corpse was mummified, and everything the king would need in the afterlife was buried with him, including gold vessels, food, furniture and other offerings. The pyramids became the focus of a cult of the dead king that was supposed to continue well after his death. Their riches would provide not only for him, but also for the relatives, officials and priests who were buried near him.

The Early Pyramids

From the beginning of the Dynastic Era (2950 B.C.), royal tombs were carved into rock and covered with flat-roofed rectangular structures known as "mastabas," which were precursors to the pyramids. The oldest known pyramid in Egypt was built around 2630 B.C. at Saqqara, for the third dynasty's King Djoser. Known as the Step Pyramid, it began as a traditional mastaba but grew into something much more ambitious. As the story goes, the pyramid's architect was Imhotep, a priest and healer who some 1,400 years later would be deified as the patron saint of scribes and physicians. Over the course of Djoser's nearly 20-year reign, pyramid builders assembled six stepped layers of stone (as opposed to mud-brick, like most earlier tombs) that eventually reached a height of 204 feet (62 meters); it was the tallest building of its time. The Step Pyramid was surrounded by a complex of courtyards, temples and shrines, where Djoser would enjoy his afterlife.

After Djoser, the stepped pyramid became the norm for royal burials, although none of those planned by his dynastic successors were completed (probably due to their relatively short reigns). The earliest tomb constructed as a "true" (smooth-sided, not stepped) pyramid was the Red Pyramid at Dahshur, one of three burial structures built for the first king of the fourth dynasty, Sneferu (2613-2589 B.C.) It was named for the color of the limestone blocks used to construct the pyramid's core.

The Great Pyramids of Giza

No pyramids are more celebrated than the Great Pyramids of Giza, located on a plateau on the west bank of the Nile River, on the outskirts of modern-day Cairo. The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is the only surviving structure out of the famed seven wonders of the ancient world. It was built for Khufu (Cheops, in Greek), Sneferu's successor and the second of the eight kings of the fourth dynasty. Though Khufu reigned for 23 years (2589-2566 B.C.), relatively little is known of his reign beyond the grandeur of his pyramid. The sides of the pyramid's base average 755.75 feet (230 meters), and its original height was 481.4 feet (147 meters), making it the largest pyramid in the world. Three small pyramids built for Khufu's queens are lined up next to the Great Pyramid, and a tomb was found nearby containing the empty sarcophagus of his mother, Queen Hetepheres. Like other pyramids, Khufu's is surrounded by rows of mastabas, where relatives or officials of the king were buried to accompany and support him in the afterlife.

The middle pyramid at Giza was built for Khufu's son Khafre (2558-2532 B.C). A unique feature built inside Khafre's pyramid complex was the Great Sphinx, a guardian statue carved in limestone with the head of a man and the body of a lion. It was the largest statue in the ancient world, measuring 240 feet long and 66 feet high. In the 18th dynasty (c. 1500 B.C.) the Great Sphinx would come to be worshiped itself, as the image of a local form of the god Horus. The southernmost pyramid at Giza was built for Khafre's son Menkaure (2532-2503 B.C.). It is the shortest of the three pyramids (218 feet) and is a precursor of the smaller pyramids that would be constructed during the fifth and sixth dynasties.

Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone (averaging about 2.5 tons each) had to be cut, transported and assembled to build Khufu's Great Pyramid. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that it took 20 years to build and required the labor of 100,000 men, but later archaeological evidence suggests that the workforce might actually have been around 20,000. Though some popular versions of history held that the pyramids were built by slaves or foreigners forced into labor, skeletons excavated from the area show that the workers were probably native Egyptian agricultural laborers who worked on the pyramids during the time of year when the Nile River flooded much of the land nearby.

The End of the Pyramid Era

Pyramids continued to be built throughout the fifth and sixth dynasties, but the general quality and scale of their construction declined over this period, along with the power and wealth of the kings themselves. In the later Old Kingdom pyramids, beginning with that of King Unas (2375-2345 B.C), pyramid builders began to inscribe written accounts of events in the king's reign on the walls of the burial chamber and the rest of the pyramid's interior. Known as pyramid texts, these are the earliest significant religious compositions known from ancient Egypt.

The last of the great pyramid builders was Pepy II (2278-2184 B.C.), the second king of the sixth dynasty, who came to power as a young boy and ruled for 94 years. By the time of his rule, Old Kingdom prosperity was dwindling, and the pharaoh had lost some of his quasi-divine status as the power of non-royal administrative officials grew. Pepy II's pyramid, built at Saqqara and completed some 30 years into his reign, was much shorter (172 feet) than others of the Old Kingdom. With Pepy's death, the kingdom and strong central government virtually collapsed, and Egypt entered a turbulent phase known as the First Intermediate Period. Later kings, of the 12th dynasty, would return to pyramid building during the so-called Middle Kingdom phase, but it was never on the same scale as the Great Pyramids.

The Pyramids Today

Tomb robbers and other vandals in both ancient and modern times removed most of the bodies and funeral goods from Egypt's pyramids and plundered their exteriors as well. Stripped of most of their smooth white limestone coverings, the Great Pyramids no longer reach their original heights; Khufu's, for example, measures only 451 feet high. Nonetheless, millions of people continue to visit the pyramids each year, drawn by their towering grandeur and the enduring allure of Egypt's rich and glorious past.

King Tut: Royal Lineage

Genetic testing has verified that King Tut was the grandson of the great pharaoh Amenhotep II, and almost certainly the son of Akhenaten, a controversial figure in the history of the 18th dynasty of Egypt’s New Kingdom (c.1550-1295 B.C.). Akhenaten upended a centuries-old religious system to favor worship of a single deity, the sun god Aten, and moved Egypt's religious capital from Thebes to Amarna. After Akhenaten's death, two intervening pharaohs briefly reigned before the 9-year-old prince, then called Tutankhaten, took the throne.

Early in his reign Tutankhamen reversed Akhenaten's reforms, reviving worship of the god Amun, restoring Thebes as a religious center and changing the end of his name to reflect royal allegiance to the creator god Amun. He also worked in concert with his powerful advisers Horemheb and Ay—both future pharaohs—to restore Egypt’s stature in the region.

King Tut: Illnesses and Death

King Tut was tall but physically frail, with a crippling bone disease in his clubbed left foot. He is the only pharaoh known to have been depicted seated while engaged in physical activities like archery. Traditional inbreeding in the Egyptian royal family also likely contributed to the king's poor health and early death. DNA tests published in 2010 revealed that Tutankhamen's parents were brother and sister and that his wife, Ankhesenamun, was also his half-sister. Their only two daughters were stillborn.

Because Tutankhamen's remains revealed a hole in the back of the skull, some historians had concluded that the young king was assassinated, but recent tests suggest that the hole was made during mummification. CT scans in 1995 showed that the king had an infected broken left leg, while DNA from his mummy revealed evidence of multiple malaria infections, all of which may have contributed to his early death.

King Tut: Mummy and Tomb

After he died, King Tut was mummified according to Egyptian religious tradition, which held that royal bodies should be preserved and provisioned for the afterlife. Embalmers removed his organs and wrapped him in resin-soaked bandages, a 24-pound solid gold portrait mask was placed over his head and shoulders and he was laid in a series of nested containers—three golden coffins, a granite sarcophagus and four gilded wooden shrines, the largest of which barely fit into the tomb's burial chamber.

Because of his tomb’s small size, historians suggest King Tut’s death must have been unexpected and his burial rushed by Ay, who succeeded him as pharaoh. The tomb’s antechambers were packed to the ceiling with more than 5,000 artifacts, including furniture, chariots, clothes, weapons and 130 of the lame king's walking sticks. The entrance corridor was apparently looted soon after the burial, but the inner rooms remained sealed. The pharaohs who followed Tut chose to ignore his reign, as despite his work restoring Amun, he was tainted by the connection to his father’s religious upheavals. Within a few generations, the tomb's entrance had been clogged with stone debris, built over by workmen's huts and forgotten.

King Tut's Tomb: Rediscovery and Renown

By the time he discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter had been excavating Egyptian antiquities for three decades. At the time of the discovery, archaeologists believed that all the royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, across the river from ancient Thebes, had already been cleared. Excitement about the new tomb—the most intact ever found—quickly spread worldwide. It took Carter and his team a decade to catalogue and empty the tomb.

Artifacts from King Tut's tomb have toured the world in several blockbuster museum shows, including the worldwide 1972-79 "Treasures of Tutankhamun" exhibitions. Eight million visitors in seven U.S. cities viewed the exhibition of the golden burial mask and 50 other precious items from the tomb. Today the most fragile artifacts, including the burial mask, no longer leave Egypt. Tutankhamen's mummy remains on display within the tomb, his layered coffins replaced with a climate-controlled glass box.

Dr. Zahi Hawass

Khafre (2576-2551 BCE), fourth King of the fourth dynasty, Old Kingdom. The son of Khufu, Khafre (or Khephren to the ancient Greeks) is best known as the owner of the second pyramid at Giza. As with the other Kings of that dynasty, written records that date to his reign are scarce; even information on family relationships and the lengths of individual reigns at that time may often be conjectural. Two of his wives are known: Meresankh II, the daughter of his brother Kawab, and his chief wife, Khamerernebty. His eldest son, Menkaure, builder of the third pyramid at Giza, succeeded him. Two other sons are recognized: Nikaure and Sekhemkare. His daughter Khamerernebty II became Menkaure’s chief queen. Khafre succeeded his brother, Djedefre, who had ruled for eight years. Ideologically, Khafre continued Djedefre’s promotion of the cult of the sun god re by using the title “ the Son of the Sun” for himself and by incorporating the name of the god in his own.

    Khafre built his pyramid at Giza next to that of his father. His pyramid complex has survived better than many others, in part because of the innovative construction method of using massive core blocks of limestone encased in fine lining slabs. The whole complex served as a temple for the resurrected god-King after his funeral, with statues incorporated into the design of both the mortuary and valley temples. There exist emplacements for more than fifty-four large statues of the King. None of the statues from the mortuary temple has survived, and it has been suggested that they were recycled in the New Kingdom.

    All the lining slabs were also removed in antiquity, and with them any inscription and reliefs; only the megalithic core blocks remain. Khafre’s valley temple, however, is one of the best preserved from ancient Egypt, Fragments of several statues of the King were discovered there, including the famous statue of the King seated on a lion throne with the falcon of the Horus behind his head, reflecting the belief that the King was a living incarnation of the god. Each of the two entrances to this temple were once flanked by a pair of sphinxes 8 meters (26 feet) long.

    The only remaining inscriptions in the building are around the entrance doorways; they list the King’s names and titles, those of the goddess Bastet (north doorway), and those of Hathor (south doorways). Recent work in front of the valley temple has revealed the location of a ritual purification tent and two ramps with underground tunnels that extend toward the valley.

    Next to the valley temple, the Great sphinx lies inside its own enclosure. Its position next to Khafre’s causeway and certain architectural details indicate that it was an integral part of the pyramid area; that colossal lion statue with the head of the King, carved out of a sandstone outcrop, represents Khafre as the god Horus presenting offerings to the sun god. From the eighteenth dynasty forward, the Sphinx was a symbol of Kingship and place of pilgrimage; and a small chapel was erected between its paws.

    Political events of Khafre’s reign can be deduced only from scant archaeological remains and rare inscriptions, which show that his workmen were exploiting the diorite quarries at Toshka in Nubia and that expeditions were sent to Sinai. His name was found on a list of other fourth dynasty Kings at Byblos, implying diplomatic and commercial links.

    Like his father Khufu, Khafre was depicted in folk tradition as a harsh, despotic rule: His pyramid complex was used as a quarry in the late New Kingdom, and the lining slabs and statues were removed to adorn other temples and royal establishments. By the Late period, however; the cults of the fourth dynasty kings had been revived, and Giza had become a focus for pilgrimage.

Menkaure
By : Dr Zahi Hawass

Menkaure is the son of Khafre and the grandson of Khufu of Dynasty IV. He bore the titles Kakhet and Hornub. There are doubts that Menkaure could be the son of Khafre, because the Turin Papyrus mentioned a name of a king between Menkaure and Khafre, but the name was smashed. A Middle Kingdom text written on a rock at Wadi Hamamat includes the names of the kings: Khufu, Djedefre, Khafre, Hordedef and Bauefre. This text indicates to some that Hordedef and Bauefre ruled after Khafre. But it seems that their names were not written as kings because Menkaure's names were not mentioned. It has been suggested that Hordedef's name was mentioned because was a wise educated man in this period and perhaps Bauefre was a vizier.
   He built the smallest pyramid at the Giza plateau, and is called "Menkaure is Divine." The pyramid is remarkable because it is the only pyramid in Dynasty IV that was cased in 16 layers of granite, Menkaure planned to cover the surface with granite but he could not because of his sudden death.
   The pyramid complex of Menkaure was completed by his son and successor Shepseskaf but the temples has architectural additions which were made during Dynasties V and VI. This suggests that the cult of Menkaure was very important and perhaps differed from the cults of Khufu and Khafre.
   At the pyramid's entrance, there is an inscription records that Menkaure died on the twenty-third day of the fourth month of the summer and that he built the pyramid. It is thought that this inscription dates to the reign of Khaemwas, son of Ramsses II. The name of Menkaure found written in red ochre on the ceiling of the burial chamber in one of the subsidiary pyramids.
   H. Vyse found a basalt sarcophagus and inside it a skeleton of a young woman. The sarcophagus was lost in the Mediterranean between ports of Cartagena and Malta when the ship "Beatrice" sank after setting sail on October 13, 1838. We still have the lid from the wooden anthropoid coffin found inside the pyramid which bears the name and titles of Menkaure.
   Menkaure's main queen was Khamerernebty II, who is portrayed with him in a group statue found in the Valley Temple. It is believed that she is buried in Giza.
   Shepseskaf completed the pyramid complex of his father with mudbrick and left an inscription inside the Valley Temple indicating that he built the temple for the memory of his father.
   Menkaure ruled for 18 years. There are two inscriptions found in his pyramid complex. The first was a decree bearing the Horus name of Merenre of Dynasty VI. The decree stated that the Valley Temple was in use until the end of the Old Kingdom. The objects found in some of the storage rooms of the temples show that the king's cult was maintained and that the temple had a dual function as a temple and a palace.
   The second decree of Pepi II was found on the lower temple vestibule, awarding privileges to the priests of the pyramid city. In the adjacent open court and in the area just east of the temple lie the remains of the Old Kingdom houses. Pepi II's decree indicates that these houses belonged to the pyramid city of Menkaure. Here lived the personnel responsible for maintaining the cult of the deceased king.
   The statuary program found inside the complex displays the superb quality of arts and crafts. The triads in Menkaure's valley temple suggest that his pyramid complex was dedicated to Re, Hathor, and Horus. In addition, they show the king's relationship with the gods and are essential to his kingship, indicating both a temple and palace function.
   The textual evidence indicates that the high officials had more privileges in his reign that in any other period. They had many statues in their tombs; the inscriptions and the scenes increased and were set on rock-cut tombs. In the tomb of Debhen an inscription was found describing the kindness of Menkaure. When Debhen came to visit the king's pyramid, he asked the king for permission to build his tomb near the pyramid. The king agreed and even ordered that stones from the royal quarry in Tura should be used in building his tomb. The text also mentions that the king stood on the road by the Hr pyramid inspecting the other pyramid. The name "Hr" was also found written in the tomb of Urkhuu at Giza, who was the keeper of a place belonging to the Hr pyramid. It is not clear what the Hr pyramid is. Is it a name of a subsidiary pyramid, or the name of the plateau? The Debhen texts is a revelation of f how the king tried to inspire loyalty by his people giving them gifts.
   Menkaure also had a new policy - he opened his palace to the children of his high officials. They were educated and raised with the king's own children. Shepsesbah is one of those children. The textual and archaeological evidence of the Old Kingdom indicates that the palace of the king was located near his pyramid and not at Memphis. Menkaure explored granite from Aswan and he sent expeditions to Sinai. Excavations under the author revealed a pari of statues of Ramses II on the south side of Menkaure's pyramid. The statues were made of granite, and one represents Ramses as king while the other as Atum-Re.
   The name of Menkaure was found written on scarabs dated to the 26th Dynasty, which may imply that he was worshipped in this period.
   Herodotus mentioned that Menkaure died suddenly and added that there was an oracle from the Buto statue that foretold that he would live for 6 years. Menkaure started to drink, and enjoy every moment of his remaining years. However, Menkaure lived for 12 years, thus disproving the prophecy. Herodotus also said that his daughter committed suicide. The Greek historian also wrote that the Egyptians loved Menkaure more than his father and grandfather. The Late Period tales were based on Menkaure's reputation during the Old Kingdom. He ruled with justice, gave freedom to his officials to carve statues and make offerings, and stopped the firm rules.
   E1-Makrizi, the Arab historian named Menkaure's pyramid as the colored pyramid because of the red granite casing.

Egyptian history is broken down into kingdoms, or periods. These are logical breaks in the dynasties based on archeological periods, architecture, etc. It's probably easier to view the pharaohs either by dynasty or by name, but I've included below links to the major kingdons as a starting point.
From each kingdom page, you can walk through the chronology, dynasty by dynasty or pharaoh by pharaoh, or jump around to see who you are interested in. For a complete list, see the pharaoh index to this site to find a particular pharaoh.

Dynasty	Dates
predynastic (naqada)	pre 3100 BCE
early dynastic	3100 - 2686 BCE
old kingdom	2686 - 2181 BCE
first intermediate period	2181 - 2025 BCE
middle kingdom	2025 - 1700 BCE
second intermediate period	1700 - 1550 BCE
new kingdom	1550 - 1069 BCE
third intermediate period	1069 - 664 BCE
late kingdom	664 -343 BCE
second persian period	343 - 332 BCE
graeco-roman period	332 BCE - 640 CE
islamic period	640 - 1517
ottoman period	1517 - 1805
khedival period	1805 - 1919
monarchy	1919 - 1953
republic	1953 - today

The dates are the commonly accepted chronology, which has a few competing sequences. Dates for each pharaoh are listed, with alternate dates by differeing egyptologists shown when they exist.

Photo.net's extensive photo gallery allows you to browse by date, photographer, or see the top photos.

Egypt is one of the most fertile areas of Africa, and one of the countries around the Mediterranean Sea. Because it is so fertile, people came to live in Egypt earlier than in most places, probably around 40,000 years ago. At first, there were not many people, but gradually Egypt became more crowded, so there was more need for a unified government. Around 3000 BC, Egypt was first unified under one ruler, who was called the Pharaoh.

From that time until around 525 BC, when Egypt was conquered by the Persians, Egypt's history is divided into six different time periods. These are called the Old Kingdom, the First Intermediate Period, the Middle Kingdom, the Second Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom and the Third Intermediate Period.

Old Kingdom: 2686 – 2160 BC. First Intermediate Period: 2160 – 2040 BC. Middle Kingdom: 2040 – 1633 BC. Second Intermediate Period: 1786 – 1558 BC. New Kingdom 1558 – 1085 BC. Third Intermediate Period: 1085 – 525 BC. Persian Rule: 525 BC – 332 BC.

Man's first gods were the forces of nature. Terrifying and unpredictable, they were feared rather than revered by our ancestors. Yet while much of the world was in darkness, worshiping cruel incarnations of natural forces, a river valley in Africa held a people who followed a different path. They worshipped gods that were beautiful to behold, luminous beings that walked the earth, guiding the human race to Paradise. They had human forms but were much more powerful, yet like humans, they got angry, despaired, fought with one another, had children and fell in love. They lived lives very much like the people who worshipped them, the ancient Egyptians.

They were gods to be feared yes, as all gods are, but they were also gods to be loved. What's more the Egyptians enjoyed talking about the gods. Like the gods of the Greeks and the Romans, the Egyptian gods seemed to be made for storytelling. There were tales to educate, tales to entertain, tales with morals, and in those stories, the gods did not seem so unreachable. It was comforting to hear that the gods also wept for those they had lost, to hear about the gods laughing, to learn that the gods faced many of the same problems that the people did, albeit on a grander scale. In learning about the gods on such an intimate level, the Egyptians could better relate to the universe around them.

The ancient Egyptian practiced a belief system that was part totemism, part polytheism, and part ancestor worship. There were numerous gods, but rather than living on an isolated mountain or in an unreachable heaven, many of them lived invisibly in the mortal world, acting through sacred sites, animals or even chosen people. Furthermore, the spirits of the deceased, if remembered and honored, could aid and guide the living from the Afterlife.

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