Question: Identify and Discuss 4 (Four) major Egyptian contributions to Human Society and Development.
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The Unification of Ancient Egypt
The unification of Egypt in 3200 B.C.E. came after a long period during which the country benefited from the knowledge of agriculture and the domestication of animals. Food production made possible the full utilization of the potentials of the Nile Valley. Hence, beginning from around 4500 B.C.E., settled life developed very rapidly along the valley. A great number of villages and towns appeared. Some of the towns and villages united into districts called Nomes that were ruled by strong rulers/leaders called Nomarchs.
However, about 4,000 B.C.E., the Nomes of the Southern part of Egypt were united
under the strongest Nomarch. Hence the Kingdom of Upper Egypt, called the Kingdom of Nekhin, was born. The same process took place around the Delta in the Northern parts of the country, where the Kingdom of Lower Egypt emerged.
During this time and, until the unification of the whole country in 3200 B.C.E., the
Element(s) of the Egyptian civilization began to take shape – for Example:
Buildings bean to be made of bricks.
The calendar of 365 days was invented.
Art and architecture forms started to take shape.
A system of writing – the Hieroglyphic was developed.
Sometime around 3200 B.C.E., the two Kingdoms were united. Henceforth, Egypt became one unified country ruled by one ruler, the Pharaoh. The hero, responsible for this unification was Narmer, also known as Menes, the King of the Black Kingdom of Nehkin. On a quick series of military campaigns, Narmer/Menes was able to unify all the lands from Nubia in the South to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Pharaoh Narmer/Menes, a Black man from Upper Egypt, as his Statues show, was born at Abydos. Abydos, the Holy City of the Ancient Black World, housed the major temples and was the place where the Pharaohs were buried. Narmer/Menes became the first Pharaoh of Egypt. His descendants formed the First Dynasty. Narmer’s/Menes’ capital city was Thinis. Later on, and in order to halt the incursion of Asiatic Peoples, the Second Dynasty moved the capital city to Memphis in the North. However, during the period of the Middle Kingdom, the capital was finally moved back to the south, to the Town of Thebes, the Capital of the ancient Black World. Thebes became the center of Egyptian Life. Its Guardian God, Amon, the God of Africa, whose image was a ram, became most prominent.
The Legacy and Contributions of the Ancient Egyptians
For about 3,000 years, the Black Peoples of Ancient Egypt, heirs to the Neolithic Revolution on the Nile Valley, built a civilization that surpassed in its splendor any other civilization. It predated the civilizations of the Middle East (Mesopotamia) and those of Greece and Rome. Indeed, it provided the foundation on which these later civilizations were developed. Egypt was an authentic African civilization, developed by Africans on African soil. Its contributions to the history of human development covered many fields. This includes crafts and sciences including geometry, astronomy, chemistry, applied mathematics, medicine, surgery, artistic productions, religion, literature and philosophic theories etc.
Ancient Egyptian Contributions in Crafts
The Egyptians and their contributions in crafts can be traced in stone, metal, wood, glass, ivory, bone etc. The Egyptian explored and exploited the various natural resources of their country as well as those of the neighboring countries.
The Egyptians mastered the techniques of metal working such as forging, hammering, casting, stamping soldering and riveting. They built factories where they fashioned gold and silver into jewelry, and copper into large statues.
Egyptians also mastered wood working. Egyptians carpenters, used saws, pliers, hammers, drills etc., to manufacture all kinds of magnificent furniture. Most significantly there was a caste of carpenters who specialized in boat-making. Boats were used along the Nile River, to transport foodstuffs and people and to ferry stone blocks weighing between 8 to 10 tons each, for the building of temples, statues and pyramids. Boats were also used used in trading expeditions to Syria and Palestine and down the Red Sea to Somalia.
Ancient Egyptians were probably the first people to perfect the techniques of spinning and linen-making. Spinning was done by women who produced a variety of fine fabrics. The finest cloth of all, byssus, was woven in the temples. It was sold overseas (abroad) and generated (brought) huge revenues to the Egyptian State.
Moreover, Ancient Egyptians have been credited with the invention of glass-making techniques, both transparent and non-transparent glass. They manufactured vases, beads, mirrors etc. In later periods, colored glass appeared.
Another of their greatest contribution was the making of paper from papyrus. The fibers of this plant were used for boat-making, for the wicks of oil lamps, for constructing mats, baskets and ropes. However, above all, papyrus was used to make ‘papyrus’ from which the world paper is derived. ‘Papyrus’ or paper is made by placing crosswise layers of fine strips taken from the stem of the plant, which after pressing and drying, formed a large sheet of paper.
Ancient Egyptian Scientific Contributions
Perhaps the most outstanding contribution of the Ancient Egyptians is in the field of sciences – it is in mummification. Their perfection of mummification shows their knowledge and understanding or mastery of a number of sciences, including physics, chemistry, medicine and surgery. Mummification involved soaking the body of a deceased (dead) person for 70 days in a chemical called Natron. This chemical was found in certain areas in Egypt, particularly in the Wadi el Natron region of the country. The compounds of Natron are a mixture of Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Salt and Sodium Sulphate. The ancient Egyptians were well aware of the chemical functions of these substances. Having soaked the body of the deceased in Natron for 70 days, they subsequently drew the brain out through the nostrils. They also removed the intestines through an incision made in the side of the body. Such operations as delicate as these necessitated an accurate knowledge and understanding of the body anatomy and surgery.
Egyptians surgeons developed their surgical techniques at a very early period in their history. From the surgical pamphlets which have survived from the Old Kingdom, Scholars have come to learn about the Egyptian mastery of bone surgery, external pathology and dentistry. It is known that foreign sovereigns employed Egyptian physicians.
Ancient Egyptian Contributions in the Field of Medicine
Medical knowledge and medical understanding must be considered as one of the most important early contributions of the Ancient Egyptians to the history of the human race. In fact, the civilizations of the ancient Near East (Mesopotamia) and of the classical world (Greece and Rome), recognized and hailed the ability and the reputation of the ancient Egyptians in the disciplines of Medicine and Pharmacology. One of the most important and significant personalities in the History of Medicine is Imhotep, the vizier (high-ranking Government Official), Architect (Builder of the very first pyramid in the world), and Physician (Doctor) to King Zoser of the Third Dynasty. Imhotep was assimilated by the Greeks to Askelepios, the God of Medicine.
Egyptians had a vast knowledge of the chemical substances of herbs and minerals. The Egyptian doctor examined his patient and determined the symptoms of his complaint. He then made his diagnosis and prescribed treatment. The examination was made in two stages, some days apart. Among the ailments identified and treated by the doctors were gastric disorders, stomach swelling, skin cancer, laryngitis diabetes, bilharzia (parasite), ophthalmia (information of the eye), bronchitis, constipation, etc. Doctors treated their patients by using ointments, syrups, potions, oils, inhalants, etc.
Egyptian Contributions in the Field of Mathematics
The ancient Egyptian method of numeration is based on the decimal system. There is no zero, but they knew fractions: ½, 1/3, ¼, 1/5, and so on.
Egyptian administrative organization required the knowledge of Arithmetic, and the need to calculate the area of the land eroded or added each year by the flooding of the Nile; this led them to invent Geometry. The Ancient Egyptians knew perfectly well how to calculate the area of a triangle or a circle, the volume of a cylinder, of a pyramid and that of a hemisphere. Their greatest success was the calculation of the area of a circle. They assigned a value of 3.1605 to π.
Egyptian knowledge of Geometry proved of considerable practical use in land surveying and in the construction of towns and monuments.