EGYPTIAN ENTERTAINMENT

From the scenes depicted on pyramids and temples it is obvious that sports were a fundamental part in the Egyptian daily life. Quite surprisingly ancient Egyptian games and sports are not that different from the games we practice and enjoy today. Many of today's sports were practiced by the Ancient Egyptians who set the rules and regulations for them.

Inscriptions on monuments indicate that the pharaoh and his people enjoy sports such as wrestling, weightlifting, long jump, swimming, rowing, shooting, fishing and athletics, as well as various kinds of ball games. This was practiced more by royalty for entertainment purposes rather than for practical means.

Drawings on monuments tell us that several thousand years ago; the Egyptians had established basic rules for games, chosen a neutral referee, a uniform for players, and a means of announcing the winners by awarding them different collars. Both winner and loser were met with ovation, the first for his superiority and the latter for his sporting spirit.

Due to the fact that Egypt was situated on the banks of the Nile River, many Egyptian sports were water related. Evidence indicates that Egyptians enjoyed such sporting events as swimming and rowing.

One of the games involved balls, and others palm trees used as bats. Those games were enjoyed by children and adults with the purpose of having entertainment and diversion. Today soccer is still being practiced and is quite popular in modern Egypt just as it was with their ancestors. They still have sports such as squash, tennis, and even golf.

In addition, ancient Egypt sports included lengthy marathons that were recorded in a number of ancient Egyptian texts. Marathons seem to have even played a part in the coronation festivities of pharaohs throughout most ancient Egyptian history.

Gymnastics: Consecutive Vault
This painting represents pharaonic gymnastics. The players performed consecutive vaults without touching the floor with their heads and making more than one complete turn in the air.

Fishing
Fishing was one of the sports practiced by kings, princes and commoners. There are many drawings of scenes of fishing as a hobby on the Saqqara tombs of the Old Kingdom as much as there are on the New Kingdom monuments.

Weightlifting
Weightlifting was one of the sports known by the ancient Egyptians. One method of weightlifting was the attempt to lift a heavy sack of sand with one hand (clean and jerk lift) and keep it high in a quasi-vertical position. The player had to stay in that position for a short period. This is one of the rules of weightlifting applied till now.

Rowing
Rowing was one of the sports that required most physical strength on the part of the ancient Egyptian. Plates recorded team-rowing in which the players depended on harmonizing their rowing according to the directives of their leader who held the rudder. The leader also controlled their movement through a high-pitched systematic call to unify the moment when oars touched the surface of the water and that helped to push the boat forward more steadily and swiftly - a method still being adopted in rowing nowadays.

Swimming
Swimming was the favorite sport of the ancient Egyptians, who made use of the River Nile to practice it. The Nile was not the only place for swimming contests. Noblemen's palaces had swimming pools in which princes learned the sport.
The calm waters of the Nile encouraged youths to hold swimming competitions in which they could show their skills.

Archery
Was a well-known sport and was often recorded on plates in ancient temples. These plates show the kings' and princes' skill in accurate aiming at the target, and their strength in pulling the bow.
Archery competitions were common. In the 21st century BC King Amenhotep II boasted that he pierced the middle of a thick brass target with four arrows. He then set a prize for anyone who could do the same.

Marathon
Marathon races were of the utmost importance in ancient Egypt, particularly during celebrations marking the assumption of power of new kings. One of the rituals of these celebrations was to hold a marathon run by the king around the temples before spectators to reveal his physical strength and his ability to rule using his bodily as well as mental capabilities.

Bibliography

Egypt State Information System

http://www.sis.gov.eg/

SOME EGYPTIAN INVENTIONS AND TRADITIONS

Ancient Egypt achieved a very high standard of productivity, organization, and sophistication.
They were the firsts to invent hydraulic cement. The Egyptians created their own alphabet and the decimal system, though it is unclear due to the margin of error in carbon-dating tests that don’t lead scientist to study this completely. They developed some basic math concepts as in algebra and geometry, they could use fractions, besides the four basic mathematical operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division), and they also compute the volumes of boxes and pyramids and calculate the surface area of rectangles, triangles, circles, and even spheres.

Traditional empiricism, as evidenced by the Edwin Smith and Ebers Papyry (circa 1600 BC), was first credited to Egypt, and the roots of the scientific method can also be traced back to the ancient Egyptians.

Archeologists have recently uncovered the remains of an ancient Egyptian glass factory. Glass-making is known to have been highly developed in ancient Egypt based on the glass beads, jars, figures, and ornaments discovered in the tombs.

Ancient Egyptian physicians were renowned for their healing skills. They protect and treat their patients using prayers, protective amulets, and medicines derived from natural resources. There were some advantages in getting remedies due to the fact that they were found in their houses or their own crops.

They used to bandage the wounds with raw meat, but this leads an almost certain infection produced by the germs of the meat and the lack of hygiene in the process. Honey was used to prevent the infection and opium was used to control and relieve pain. Garlic and onions were used regularly to promote good health and were thought to relieve asthma symptoms. Ancient Egypt surgeons in spite of stitching wounds, repaired broken bones and amputated diseased limbs. They recognized when the injuries were so serious that the only course of action was to wait until the death of the patient.

In conclusion, we can see that Egypt led us to some of the most important concepts in math that has been a help for architecture and engineering. Today we also use some natural products to heal and treat wounds. All of these inventions were a factor in creating today’s modern society.

Bibliography
· www.cofc.edu
Peter A. Piccione, Assistant Professor, Egyptologist, University of Charleston.

A VIEW OF THE FAMILY IN THE ANCIENT AND THE MODERN CULTURE

The family was considered the core in ancient Egypt; some gods were predestined to take care of that group. In marriage, the women held stronger social positions. Marriage was purely a social arrangement that regulated property. Once an adolescent man was mature enough, it was appropriate for him to look for a partner and begin his own family; on the other hand it was thought that the females were ready for marriage after their first menses. Due to the lack of contraceptives of that age, people used to have a large family, but that was traditional and accepted for the society.

Nowadays people get married more often when they have a definite economical situation and a job, thus they have the means to support a family. Also companies and health centers make plans to prevent and help families with a lack of means to avoid pregnancy or have more then two or three kids; they have to recognize their situation and know that if they don’t use contraceptives methods the end result will bring them more poverty.

Once the couples were married in Egypt it was to be expected that they were totally faithful to each other. Therefore if the women of the men were unfaithful then they received a punishment that could sometimes be death. Nonetheless, in Egypt divorce was common, despite of the fact that sometimes people would remarry. However, there were some “rules” for the divorce that involved the marital joint property; when a woman chose to divorce, she could leave with what she had brought into the marriage plus a share (about one third to two thirds) of the marital joint property. But in case a woman abandoned her sick husband, in the resulting judgment she was forced to renounce all their joint property. Nevertheless, if the husband left the marriage he was liable to a fine or payment of support (analogous to alimony), and in many cases he forfeited his share of the joint property.

That is similar to modern life, because now it is common to hear or see couples divorcing as a result of their troubles; after a divorce those persons can get married again. However, the law makes them divide the shared property in half for each one. In case the couple has kids, the father is forced to pay a certain amount destined to serve as alimony support for his children.

Egyptian women had greater freedom of choice and more equality under social and civil law than their contemporaries and in some cases even that of the women in our time, because nowadays there are still women who submit for their husband.

In summary, there are some similarities and differences in how ancient Egypt and our civilization consider marriage, but the only thing that is known is that in spite of any circumstances the family had and still has to be the center of the society.

The gods and goddesses

The ancient Egyptians believed in many different gods and goddesses. Each one with their own role to play in maintaining peace and harmony across the land.

Some gods and goddesses took part in creation, some brought the flood every year, some offered protection, and some took care of people after they died. Others were either local gods who represented towns, or minor gods who represented plants or animals.
The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to recognize and worship these gods and goddesses so that life continued smoothly.


Mummification

The earliest ancient Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the desert. The heat and dryness of the sand dehydrated the bodies quickly, creating lifelike and natural 'mummies'.
Later, the ancient Egyptians began burying their dead in coffins to protect them from wild animals in the desert. However, they realized that bodies placed in coffins decayed when they were not exposed to the hot, dry sand of the desert.
Over many centuries, the ancient Egyptians developed a method of preserving bodies so they would remain lifelike. The process included embalming the bodies and wrapping them in strips of linen. Today we call this process mummification.


The Pharaoh

The most powerful person in ancient Egypt was the pharaoh. The pharaoh was the political and religious leader of the Egyptian people, holding the titles: 'Lord of the Two Lands' and 'High Priest of Every Temple'.
As 'Lord of the Two Lands' the pharaoh was the ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. He owned all of the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt against foreigners.
As 'High Priest of Every Temple', the pharaoh represented the gods on Earth. He performed rituals and built temples to honor the gods.
Many pharaohs went to war when their land was threatened or when they wanted to control foreign lands. If the pharaoh won the battle, the conquered people had to recognize the Egyptian pharaoh as their ruler and offer him the finest and most valuable goods from their land.


Temples

The ancient Egyptians believed that temples were the homes of the gods and goddesses. Every temple was dedicated to a god or goddess and he or she was worshipped there by the temple priests and the pharaoh.
Temple of Luxor, Egypt
The large temple buildings were made of stone so that they would last forever. Their walls were covered with scenes that were carved onto the stone then brightly painted. These scenes showed the pharaoh fighting in battles and performing rituals with the gods and goddesses.


Time
The civilization of ancient Egypt lasted for over three thousand years. During this time there were many changes in terms of what the ancient Egyptians believed in, and how they lived their lives. However, many aspects of the basic culture, religion, and artistic style of ancient Egypt remained the same.

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/

Argumentative Essay

THE PYRAMIDS: AN AMAZING WORLD TO EXPLORE

As everybody knows Ancient Egypt was a civilization that stood out for their astonishing architecture starting with the pyramids that made them recognized. Today there are so many theories about how they built them and none of them have been proved yet. But the only thing we know is that the construction of some of the most remarkable monuments that exist on the earth is still attractive to study.

When we saw the pyramids, it’s clear the big challenge that the Egyptians confronted to build them, but the end result was still successful and an absolutely amazing construction. The Egyptians spent a lot of time and effort building them and due to the size of the pyramids they had slaves that were forced to work every day and every night just to please the pharaoh. That demanded great effort from the slaves and a lot of them died during their tasks. Hunger, bad treatment, and many other factors caused death among the slaves. The arrogance of the pharaoh brought much suffering among the slaves and their families as a consequence, and in spite of all of the prayers and begging that they did he did not take awareness of it.

Nevertheless, all of the work that they did is a big acknowledgement nowadays. So many people travel to Egypt to see the admirable construction that is one of the wonders of the world.

Despite of the cost of the materials that were needed and the trouble to transport the heavy materials, the pyramids are one of the things that made this civilization remarkable in history.

Furthermore, the incredible secrets that lie inside of each wall are still almost all unknown and indescribable even for archaeologists and scientists. Their hieroglyphics and art tell us amazing stories about the amazing civilization that will astonish you.

Egypt leaves us a legacy that shows us that with effort, wishes can come true just as the pyramids became possible for the pharaohs. The pyramids became possible even though the cost, the suffering, the bad treatment, and the selfish mind of the pharaoh were in the middle of the construction. Today the pyramids are recognized as an open attraction and amazing wonder for you to visit!

Compare and Contrast essay

ANCIENT EGYPT AND ANCIENT GREECE

According to history there were two important ancient civilizations that stood out for their culture. Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece in spite of having been two civilizations so distant, there were some similarities as differences with some aspects of their development.

In their architecture both civilizations used resources as bricks, wood, and stones; they used different materials to develop a limited range of building types each one with a purpose that could be religious, military, or commemorative purposes. Both civilizations used the art like another symbolic form of their culture which has been a help in studying history.

While Egypt stood out for their famous pyramids; Greece is recognized for their monumental temples and elaborately planned cities and sanctuaries. In addition, Egypt used images, text, reliefs carved on walls, tombs, and even statues for glorifying the pharaoh. Hieroglyphs were used as their writing system. The Greek art was focused more on sculptures that today tell us story about the gods, heroes, mythical creatures and events in general.

In summary, both Ancient civilizations were remarkable besides their great devotion to their gods, their influential contribution to the eastern north civilization of Africa and the western civilization of Europe as well as the areas of philosophy, art and architecture, but in areas like math and science.

Family

To understand the everyday life of ancient Egyptians, archaeologists based on many sources like paintings and reliefs.

The nuclear family was the fundamental social unit of ancient Egypt. The father was responsible for the economic well-being of the family. Upper-class men often became scribes or priests, while lower-class men often were farmers, hunters, potters, or other craftsmen. The mother was dealing with the labors of the home and the education of the children.Upper-class women could become priestesses, and all women could become musicians or professional mourners.

Children stayed at home until they reached marriageable age (about twenty for males, younger for females). Although Egyptian children had toys but they occasionally play, much of their time was spent preparing for adulthood. For example, peasant children accompanied their parents into the fields; the male offspring of craftsmen often served as apprentices to their fathers. Many privileged children received formal education to become a scribe. Some promising youngsters were taught by priests in temples, and children of the nobility sometimes received private instruction from tutors or learned to be an officer in the army.

DRESS

The dress of the ancient Egyptians consisted not only of the clothes they wore but also of the elaborate costume jewelry that served to embellish everyday clothing. Colored or patterned cloth was rarely used.
Mens dress with a kilt that was a rectangular piece of linen wrapped around the body and tied at the waist, also worn was a short, wide cape covering the upper part of the body and hanging from the shoulders.

Women wore simple dresses falling from the breast to just above the ankle, and after they became more elegant.


Children participating in rigorous exercise frequently wore no clothes at all. Both boys and girls heads were usually shaved except for a long, braided sidelock.

Both men and women sometimes wore sandals made from papyrus, palm leaves, or leather fastened by leather thongs.


Both men and women wore jewelry such as earrings, bracelets, anklets, rings, and beaded necklaces. They incorporated into their jewelry many minerals including lapis lazuli, as well as copper, gold, and shells. Because the Egyptians were very superstitious, frequently their jewelry contained amulets.

Cosmetics were not only an important part of Egyptian dress but also a matter of personal hygiene and health. Eye paint, both green and black, is probably the most characteristic of the Egyptian cosmetics.




FOOD
The Egyptians staple food was bread. It was made from barley and emmer wheat, their most common crops. The main beverage of ancient Egypt was beer, but wine was also popular.


LEISURE ACTIVITIES

The ancient Egyptians filled their leisure time with many pleasant activities. They enjoyed good food, drink, music, singing, and dancing. The upper class watched professional dancers at formal banquets.
Other leisure activities included hunting, fowling, and fishing for sport.
The Egyptians enjoyed pets. The dog was the most common. Cats also became popular. The wealthy sometimes had monkeys.