Research Paper on Egypt Civilization

Introduction

Egypt is a country located in North Africa along the Mediterranean Sea and hosts one of the earliest civilizations in the universe. The name originates from a Greek word Aegyptos, a Greek pronunciation of the name "Hwt-ka-Ptah" (Ptah holy spirit's mansion), where the first name of the city was Memphis. It was the former capital of Egypt and a renown religious and Trade Centre. The Egyptians country was referred to as Kemet, which meant 'Black Land'. It was named after the wealthy, dark soil found along the river Nile, where they first began to settle. Later, the country was referred to 'Misr' which was meant 'a country'. The name is still in use up to date in regards to their nations. Egypt as a country has thrived for many years (since C. 8000 BCE to C. 30 BCE) as a liberal country renown for great culture improvement in all aspects of human knowledge.

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Egypt possesses a long history which can be traced far back more than the written words, the god's stories, or the monuments made by the famous culture. Since the land was arid the nomads practicing hunting and gathering sourced the cool water from the Nile river valley, which resulted in them settling there at around 6000BCE. As a result of settling, farming started in the region, which led to the formation of communities called Badarian culture and industries developed later. Amratian followed the Badarians and then succeeded by Gerzean and the Naqada culture. This contributed majorly to the development of what is now referred to as Egyptian civilization. Civilization, hence, originated from the Nile valley (Waddell, p. 18).

The Rise of Egyptian Civilization

The history of ancient Egypt civilization and rise of the Egyptian empire is spaced by a lot of years. It is partitioned into distinct time periods and a number of 31 different dynasties of the ancient Egypt rulers. The series of stable kingdoms led to the rise of the Egyptian civilization. The strong kingdoms established a strong military wing that was able to protect the kingdom effectively from external aggressions. Moreover, the military was able to domineer and conquer other neighboring kingdoms. This enabled them to enlarge their territories. The kingdom had a strong and able ruler known as pharaoh. The ruler who was the chief administrator was able to unite the kingdom by controlling all other leaders such as the religious leaders, who ensured the cooperation of the Egyptians in their religious activities. They also developed their ability to make peace with other kingdoms. For instance, they made a peace treaty with the Hittites.

The rise of Egyptian civilization was mainly influenced by agriculture. The stability and achievement were as a result of their capabilities to adapt to the prevailing conditions at the Nile floodplain (University of Liverpool library, p. 14). They took advantage of the fertile basin to flourish in agriculture. With the application of irrigation and flooding of the fertile valley, they achieved production of surplus food which enabled them to support their high population. In addition to this, they were able to practice mining and quarrying, which advanced their skills in the exploitation of the Nile basin as well as other drier regions. The skill of surveying which they possessed benefitted them in search of minerals in their territory.

Development

The kingdom acquired resources and income from trade, and this enabled them to run it smoothly. They practiced barter trade with other neighboring communities. By this, they were able to get what they did not have. Extensively, they had elite scribes, who controlled the trade. The Egyptians also were as advanced in education as they created their own writing systems such as hieroglyphics which was an independent one and the earliest as well. They also had their own mathematics system. The art and architecture of Egyptians were so advanced and recognized. They have proficient skills in the building and construction technology which they applied in the construction of the temples and pyramids. Their monuments were a source of inspiration and captured the minds and attention of travelers.

The Egyptians had strong religious beliefs. They had a number of religious leaders who led them into worship. They worshiped in temples led by priests appointed by the king. They had a number of gods who were superior with more supernatural powers whom they worshipped. Such gods included the god of famine, god of war and god of agriculture who they appeased through prayers and offerings.

They had strong ties to their culture. They valued hygiene and outward appearance thus bathed regularly in the Nile River. Most of them were builders with proficient skills, which enable them to build their dwellings with mud. They had developed a form of clothing made from simple white bleached linen sheets. They enjoyed entertainment such as music and games. This formed part of the activities carried out during the leisure time.

Fall of Egyptian Civilization

A series of reasons contributed to the fall of Egyptian civilization. Several indicators emerged which led to the eventual fall and collapse of ancient Egypt. First, Egyptian kingdom did not have adequate resources. As a result, they were unable to access iron, an important mineral, whereas their immediate neighbors', as well as other growing kingdoms, had the abilities to access iron from the locally available resources. Egypt lacked the needed ores and other metals to process them into valuable products. As a result, they were not able to make powerful and strong weapons to compete favorably with their competitors. Therefore, they were vulnerable and more inferior to the other armies of other kingdoms, which was a leasing and an evident sign of loss of military power. Their military technology was becoming out of date, thus could not march other competing kingdoms' armory like the Hittites who used bronze. Military institutions could also be outgrown by the competition of resources (Wenke, p. 301).

Internal political feuds were another factor contributing to the collapse of civilization. Such political division was a concerning issue as it was a sign of break of unity. With the breakup of the northern and southern part of the kingdom, this led to disunity and consequently contributing to the fall of the Egyptian civilization. The northern kingdom continued being ruled by the pharaoh whereas the south was ruled by the High priest of Amun. What followed later was civil wars between the two parts where each tried to outdo each other and seem superior. This formed a loophole and a point of weakness thus both of the kingdoms were more prone to attacks and invasion by the enemy kingdoms in an attempt to take over the Egypt territory as they were now weaker.

Some economic factors such as the economic disparity as a result of loose of power contributed to the falling of the Egyptian civilization. Catering and running of the military become an expensive investment thus the administration started straining and later could not sustain the funding of the military, a factor that weakened the army. The depleting economic health of the Egypt economy contributed significantly to the collapse of the kingdom. In addition, the harsh climatic factors led to decimated crops and death of animals due to famine.

Warfare

Although civil wars played a significant role in the failing of the kingdom, other external aggressions led to the town full of the kingdom. The warfare in the Egypt Empire was fought in several dynastic periods, the early dynastic kingdom, and the middle kingdom. The soldiers made use of a simple one-ached bow which was relatively hard and had a short range. The Egyptians were first invaded by the Assyrians who reigned from 671BC to about 627BC. With the Assyrian empire decline, the Egypt kingdom was invaded by the Persia, one of the neighbors and a power competing kingdom. With the weakening military power, Egypt was unable to defend herself and thus consequently losing the war. As a result, they lost their land and a lot of lives were lost. Egypt became an ordinary province in the Persian Empire.

Conclusion

The Egyptian kingdom had lasted for averagely over 3000 years before the signs of failure started to be exhibited. The monuments and cultural artifacts of ancient Egypt have left a lasting impact in the world. As a result, the archaeologists, as well as historians, have developed an imaginary area of study. This information and sources about the Egyptian civilization can be obtained from the monuments, artifacts' and books archived in the libraries.

Works Cited

The University of Liverpool Library "The Rise of Egyptian Civilization." Ancient Egypt: A Social History, pp. 1-70.

Waddell, l. A. Egyptian civilization its Sumehjan origin & heal chronology & Sumerian origin of Egyptian hi Eroglyphs. The Edinburgh press, 1930.

Wenke, Robert J. "The evolution of early Egyptian civilization: Issues and evidence." Journal of World Prehistory, vol. 5, no. 3, 1991, pp. 279-329., doi:10.1007/bf00974992.