

Ancient Egypt

Super power of all super powers.

Egyptian art and culture are so large in both time and artifacts that it’s hard to wrap your mind around it. For over 3100 years egypt was a super power (not counting the Neolithic and Pre-Dynastic cultures from 6000-3200 b.c.e). The Nile river, its delta and the Arabian Desert were a natural barrier from unwanted invaders, creating a buffer that allowed the Egyptian culture to thrive politically, religiously and artistically with very little outside influence. Belief systems and art changed very little, and grew incredibly deep over that time, leaving one of the world's most rich, unique cultures ever to inhabit the planet.

From the time of Narmer, the first ruler to unify the kingdoms of upper and lower Egypt, to the the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great 2,800 years later, Egypt created an art and language that perfectly expressed its religion and politics, which in turn motivated the construction of several of the greatest wonders of the ancient world. From the pyramids of Giza to the tombs in the Valley of the Kings — the Egyptian belief in the afterlife led to a preservation of their culture that is still revealing treasures to this day. Some archaeologists claim that only a quarter of the artifacts and buildings have been uncovered in the Arabian Desert and the Nile River Delta. To put that in perspective, America is only 240 years old, times that by 13 and you get Egypt. To say theirs is a wealth of history is an understatement.

Alexander the great conquered Egypt  in 332 BC, then the eventual rule of Rome after the fall of the last Ptolemaic (greek ruler of egypt) ruler, Cleopatra. The Egyptian language and culture began to die out. For over 2,000 years Hieroglyphics, the written Egyptian language, was considered undecipherable. It was not until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone in Rosetta Egypt in 1799 by the French that we had our first clue. The Rosetta Stone includes three identical languages: Hieroglyphics, Egyptian Demotic and Greek, of which the Greek was the clue that allowed for Hieroglyphics to be deciphered. One of the great surprises was that Hieroglyphics was both a pictorial language and a tonal language. Each image makes up a sound in the egyptian alphabet, allowing egyptian writers to play with both image and words at the same time. Unraveling the mystery of Hieroglyphics allowed historians to step into the shoes of the ancient Egyptian culture — which is now richly documented and explored.

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Gebel el-Arak Knife

3200 BCE

Palette of Narmer

3100 BCE

Pyramid of Djoser

Imhotep, 2667 BCE-2648 BCE

Giza Pyramid Complex

Hemiunu, 2560 BCE-2540 BCE

Great Sphinx of Giza

2500 BCE

Model of Egyptian Nile Boat

2160 BCE-2130 BCE

I am one of those gods, the Powers who effect the triumph of Osiris over his adversaries on the day of the Weighing of the Words : I am thy kinsman, Osiris.

The Book of the Dead

1550 BCE

Head of Man with Bows

1479 BCE

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Senenmut, 1479 BCE-1458 BCE

Egyptian Vessel

1400 BCE

Luxor Temple

1800 BCE-1400 BCE

Akhenaton Bust

1355 BCE

Akhenaten and Nefertiti

1352 BCE

Bust of Nefertiti

1340 BCE

Canopic Jars

900 BCE

Aafenmut Canopic Jars

712 BCE-664 BCE

Isis Nursing Horus

663 BCE

Falcon of Horus

663 BCE

Isis and Horus

640 BCE

Horus Falcon

250 BCE


The Rosetta Stone, Translation of the Greek Section

196 BCE

The Rosetta Stone

196 BCE

Sculpture of Cleopatra

100 BCE
Next Movement

Norte Chico Civilization

The oldest civilization in the Americas

3500 BCE-1800 BCE
