Characteristics of Ancient Egyptian Civilization

1. The oldest civilization, the oldest ancient country

One of the important signs of the formation of civilization is the emergence of the state. In the history of the world, the earliest establishment of the state, the first to enter the civilized society is the Nile Valley and the two river basins. After about the middle of the 4000s B.C., the Egyptian civilization emerged in the Nile Valley and the Sumerian civilization in the southern part of the Two Rivers Valley.

Who were the creators of these civilizations? It has been a source of concern since the last century. It is usually believed that the ancient Egyptians developed from the long-term fusion of the Hamitic-speaking tribes of Africa and the Semitic-speaking tribes of Asia. Examined from the linguistic aspect, at present, people tend to identify the ancient Egyptians as belonging to the Sem (Sem)-Ham (Ham) language family, or known as the Afro-Asian language family. If we look at the ethnographic characteristics, the ancient Egyptians belonged neither to the white race nor to the black race.

In fact, the Egyptians of the south were not quite the same as those of the north. Broadly speaking, the ancient Egyptians were characterized by long heads, oval faces, slender stature, and black hair with waves. Such a basic African group was blended and altered at an early date by broad-headed immigrants from Palestine originating from Anatolian and Semitic stock to produce the historical Egyptians.

They were polished, with large brains and strong bones, and extraordinarily large wrists and ankles. Women, however, were usually shorter and slimmer. Taken together, the prehistoric Egyptians can be seen as one of the Mediterranean peoples. The Sumerians created the Sumerian civilization in the Two River Valley almost simultaneously with the ancient Egyptians as early as the second half of the 4000s BC.

2. Typical authoritarianism that blends Eastern and Western monarchies

When it comes to authoritarianism, people tend to think of the so-called "oriental authoritarianism" first, and in the concept of "oriental authoritarianism", ancient Egyptian authoritarianism is typical. The first thing that comes to mind is the so-called "Oriental despotism".

Authoritarianism began to take shape in the ancient kingdom era with the final establishment and consolidation of national unity and the strengthening of the king's power. The so-called authoritarianism was a form of state institution and administration. Under an absolutist regime, the monarch has absolute and unlimited power. The monarch-king ruled, often at his own will, without being limited by any laws or norms.

The pharaoh, as the ancient Egyptian, monarch of authoritarian rule, has unlimited power in the legal, administrative and financial aspects of the implementation of the transfer of personal will, the absolute rule of one person. The architecture of the pyramids is enough to symbolize the absolute power of authoritarian rule. However, in the ancient kingdom era, we do not have enough evidence to prove that the central government unified the planning and management of water construction projects.

On the contrary, there are a number of sources that prove that local governments and state rulers were responsible for carrying out the construction of water irrigation projects in the late Ancient Kingdom and the First Intermediate Period. The inscription of Keti in Assiut tells about the development of arable land by installing sluice gates and diverting water to the "mountains". So, at least until the 12th dynasty, irrigation works were the business of local governments, and there was no centralized government for the construction of irrigation works.

So, the Egyptian authoritarianism as "water authoritarianism" is obviously a kind of fabrication. Ancient Egyptian despotism was based on the slave-owning aristocracy, despotic monarchs over the slaves, as well as the vast number of free peasants of class rule, is the result of class relations sharpened.

3. Strong Religious Consciousness and Its Widespread and Profound Social Influence

Religion is one of the social ideologies of human society, and one of the ideologies of thought. Religion is a reflection of real life, but it is a reflection of fantasy, an ideology that has been reversed. In the ancient world, people often appeared to be weak in the face of nature; under the rule of monarchs and aristocrats, society was severely polarized, and the masses of people were helpless.

Therefore, they hoped to get rid of all kinds of dilemmas in real life and to pursue a better life through religion, i.e., by means of sacrificing to the gods and holding worship ceremonies. The ruling class capitalized on this common mentality of the people and used religion as a means of enslavement and domination.

Religion occupied an important position in the realm of ideology in the ancient world. Ancient Egypt, on the other hand, was the civilized country with the strongest and most intense religious consciousness in the ancient world. Religion not only interfered in the political and economic life of the country, but also influenced the development of culture and even penetrated into the real life of every individual.

The reason for this is, on the one hand, the relatively closed ancient Egyptian natural environment on people's invisible control and influence; on the other hand, more importantly, the long-term theocratic and royal authoritarian rule.

4, inherent cultural traditions and eclectic civilization

In many people's impression, ancient Egypt is a closed, conservative country, is a slow development, stagnant civilization. The reason for this is, to a large extent, blamed on the role of geography.

Egypt is located in northeastern Africa, centered on the Nile River, its east and west of the arid desert, south and north of the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile River bordered by several large waterfalls. Such a relatively closed environment creates an almost natural barrier to foreign peoples.

So Egypt was seldom subjected to nomadic and certain civilized peoples and facilitated mutual cultural exchanges, as was the case in the Two Rivers Valley. In fact, however, this natural geographic barrier did not limit Egypt's interaction with the Near East and the Mediterranean world, as well as with the African interior.

From time immemorial, Egyptian intercourse with Syria and Palestine took place through the Red Sea Straits and the Straits of Suez. In the south it was possible to pass through several waterfalls, often in close contact with the Ethiopians. Especially from the time of the New Kingdom onwards, Egypt became increasingly embroiled in foreign military and commercial activities.

In the constant foreign wars of the Egyptians, the Egyptian empire became the first military hegemony in the history of the Near East, and geography became less and less restrictive and influential, and thus the so-called closedness and conservatism were increasingly weakened by foreign military activities and political and cultural contacts.

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The reasons for the spread of Egyptian civilization to the outside world

1. Geographic reasons

Egypt is located in the northeastern part of Africa, with the Nile River at its center, its east and west of arid deserts, and north and south of the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile River bordered by a number of large waterfalls. Such a relatively isolated environment creates an almost natural barrier to foreign peoples.

So Egypt was seldom subjected to frequent encroachments by nomadic and civilized peoples as was the case in the two river valleys and facilitated mutual cultural exchanges. In fact, however, this natural geographical barrier did not limit Egypt's interaction with the Near East and the Mediterranean world, as well as with the interior of Africa. From time immemorial the Egyptians had intercourse with Syria and Palestine through the Red Sea Straits and the Straits of Suez, and in the south they could pass over several waterfalls and were often in close contact with the Ethiopians.

Particularly from the New Kingdom era onwards Egypt was increasingly involved in foreign military and commercial activities. In the constant foreign wars of the Egyptians, the Egyptian Empire became the first military hegemony in the history of the Near East, and geography became less and less restrictive and less influential, and thus the so-called closeness and conservatism were increasingly weakened by foreign military activities and political and cultural interactions.

2. Cultural Reasons

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, which began to appear in the second half of the 4000s B.C., is one of the oldest scripts in the world, and was in use until the end of the 4th century A.D., a period of about three to four thousand years of popularity. Although, the grammar and vocabulary of hieroglyphics changed quite a bit during these millennia, especially during the period of Roman rule when the Egyptian language bore little resemblance beyond that of the Pharaonic period, the hieroglyphic tradition was preserved.

It is particularly noteworthy that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, through Sinai inscriptions, eventually influenced the invention of the Phoenician alphabetic script. Hieroglyphics were initially not very easy to use. So, at the end of the Old Kingdom, an easy-to-write running script evolved from hieroglyphics, often called monastic script. Around 700 BC, a simpler form of cursive writing, known as secular script, was invented on top of monastic script. The Ancient Egyptians invented 3 different forms of writing, but they were all evolutions of hieroglyphics.

Hieroglyphics and its different writing forms maintained the inherent tradition of ancient Egyptian writing. With writing as a vehicle, Egyptian civilization spread its wings, and it was no longer confined to its influence in the Nile region, but began to spread to the Near East and Africa, as well as to the Mediterranean coast. It is difficult for a civilization to survive without its own script, and many civilizations that emerged in the ancient Middle East declined quickly because they did not have a script or because the script did not have the ability to survive and adapt.

And the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics not only has a strong vitality, but also, there is a great adaptability it constantly change themselves, so that it can be the Egyptian civilization triumphant bearing, spreading, passed down. Therefore, although the hieroglyphics were lost in modern times, the French Shang Boliang eventually succeeded in interpreting them. This further demonstrates that hieroglyphics are alive and well.

3. Technical reasons

Around 3000 BC, the ancient Egyptians invented papyrus, which has many advantages compared with traditional materials, such as light, cheap, easy to make, durable, can be rolled and folded and easy to transport. It was then mass-produced and exported to Mediterranean countries as a monopoly product, and was the most popular writing material for nearly 4,000 years.

Anciently, Egypt was the only country that produced papyrus. Because of Egypt's dry climate, the papers were not perishable, and some can still be found in the desert today. Among the papyrus found in the last 100 years are documents written in more than a dozen scripts from the first 2700 to 900 A.D., including Greek, Arabic, Egyptian, Coptic, Latin, Aramaic and Hebrew. Egypt is the most well-documented ancient civilization we know of today, thanks to the papyrus, which not only handed down Egyptian civilization itself, but kept the rest of it alive.

The spreading of civilization cannot be done by word of mouth, so paper as a medium becomes important in the process of spreading civilization. Because Egyptian papyrus has the characteristics mentioned above, it easily played an important role in spreading Egyptian civilization outward. Just like papermaking among the four great inventions of China, Egyptian papermaking played an irreplaceable role in the early civilization, which is an important condition for Egyptian civilization to spread abroad.

4. Military reasons

During the ancient Egyptian period, due to geographic closure, Egypt was inconvenient to interact with the outside world, and was rarely invaded by the enemy, but with the expansion of the scope of interaction of human civilization, Egypt also began to be threatened by foreign enemies. The Hyksos established the 15th and 16th dynasties in Egypt and ruled over half of the country. Even when the surrounding countries were weaker Egypt would inevitably invade other countries.

In the military confrontation between Egypt and the outside world, the enemy country in order to war needs of course to understand and study the Egyptian social and cultural situation. The war between the two sides also constantly have their own prisoners, and the prisoners will also bring many influences of Egyptian civilization. If Egypt invaded another country, it was even more natural to spread its own culture actively to eliminate the local culture and assimilate the people who had been invaded. In this case, the Egyptian civilization naturally spread outward with the military activities.

5. Reasons for transportation

Ancient Egyptian culture and ideas were spread through the Phoenicians to the countries and islands along the eastern Mediterranean. The influence of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics on world culture is obvious. Without the Phoenicians' advanced navigation and shipbuilding techniques, and the courage to explore into the unknown. Then the influence of Egyptian civilization would naturally have been greatly reduced, would have been confined to a very small area, and would not have left its mark on Western civilization.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia - Ancient Egyptian Civilization