Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let
us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and, if war breaks out,
they join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with heavy burdens. They built for Pharaoh store cities, Pithom and Raamses. But
the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more
they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of
Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made
their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all
kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them
work as slaves. ~ Exodus 1:8-14
We had services in the Isis room this morning. How ironic since she's the goddess who resurrected her husband/god Osiris. Ferrell's lesson was Egypt in Prophecy.
History Lesson
1. Old Kingdom (until 2300
B.C.)
Primary god: Sun god, Ra
Pharoahs: Considered god, a shadow of Ra on the earth
Burial: In stone pyramid (there are 109) along the west bank of the Nile
Capital: Memphis (Men-nefer) means "beautiful monument"
Pharoah had a 5-man cabinet (see 2nd intermediate period for posts)
Primary god: Sun god, Ra
Pharoahs: Considered god, a shadow of Ra on the earth
Burial: In stone pyramid (there are 109) along the west bank of the Nile
Capital: Memphis (Men-nefer) means "beautiful monument"
Pharoah had a 5-man cabinet (see 2nd intermediate period for posts)
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1st intermediate period (2300-2000 B.C.)
Provinces: 42 provinces with mayors
Pharoah: The most powerful mayor was chosen to be Pharoah. Pharoahs were half-man / half-god
Burial: In mud brick pyramids. Very few of these remain
Capital: Memphis
Biblical contemporary: Abraham
Provinces: 42 provinces with mayors
Pharoah: The most powerful mayor was chosen to be Pharoah. Pharoahs were half-man / half-god
Burial: In mud brick pyramids. Very few of these remain
Capital: Memphis
Biblical contemporary: Abraham
---------
2. Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 B.C.)
Primary god: Amen. People believed in a second life.
Capital: Lisht
Burial: Humble men were buried in tombs that looked like a house or large room. Ref Beni-Hassah. Dress: Plain white linen garments were worn. Egyptians were clean shaven
Transportation: At the end of the Middle Kingdom, chariots with spoke wheels were introduced.
New Elements in Drawings: During this time period men with beards and long hair appeared in pictures (Hebrews / foreigners). Also pictures of rams, goats and sheep were drawn for the first time.
Primary god: Amen. People believed in a second life.
Capital: Lisht
Burial: Humble men were buried in tombs that looked like a house or large room. Ref Beni-Hassah. Dress: Plain white linen garments were worn. Egyptians were clean shaven
Transportation: At the end of the Middle Kingdom, chariots with spoke wheels were introduced.
New Elements in Drawings: During this time period men with beards and long hair appeared in pictures (Hebrews / foreigners). Also pictures of rams, goats and sheep were drawn for the first time.
---------
2nd intermediate period
Rulers: Non-Egyptians took control.
New Element in Drawings: The crook
Biblical contemporary: Joseph
Pharoah had a 5-man cabinet:
-- Chief of the Army: Potipher
-- Seal Bearer or Prime Minister: Joseph. The signet ring was the power of attorney. There were at the maximum 7 signet rings and at the minimum 2.
-- Scribe
-- High Priest: Joseph's father-in-law was priest and head of the college. The temples were on the east bank of the Nile. They served as schools and hospitals.
-- Fan Bearer
Joseph took his chariot to meet his father. In ancient Egypt main transportation was by boat.
Pharoah asked what was the family profession. When they said they were shepherds that looked after livestock, Pharoah gave them the best of Egypt, which was Goshen.
When Jacob died he was mummified for 40 days like a nobleman. The Egyptians "cried him out" for 70 days as if he were a king. In contrast, a poor man's body would be treated with salt water for 3 days. By the time Joseph died at the age of 110, he had lived in Egypt approximately 90 years.
Rulers: Non-Egyptians took control.
New Element in Drawings: The crook
Biblical contemporary: Joseph
Pharoah had a 5-man cabinet:
-- Chief of the Army: Potipher
-- Seal Bearer or Prime Minister: Joseph. The signet ring was the power of attorney. There were at the maximum 7 signet rings and at the minimum 2.
-- Scribe
-- High Priest: Joseph's father-in-law was priest and head of the college. The temples were on the east bank of the Nile. They served as schools and hospitals.
-- Fan Bearer
Joseph took his chariot to meet his father. In ancient Egypt main transportation was by boat.
Pharoah asked what was the family profession. When they said they were shepherds that looked after livestock, Pharoah gave them the best of Egypt, which was Goshen.
When Jacob died he was mummified for 40 days like a nobleman. The Egyptians "cried him out" for 70 days as if he were a king. In contrast, a poor man's body would be treated with salt water for 3 days. By the time Joseph died at the age of 110, he had lived in Egypt approximately 90 years.
---------
3. New Kingdom
Primary god: Amen-Ra
Pharoahs: Are 100% man. These Pharoahs didn't know Joseph and persecuted the Israelites.
Capital: Luxor, on the West bank of the Nile
Burial: In the Valley of the Kings, tombs are hewn out of the rock.
Biblical contemporaries: The time of the Exodus.
Primary god: Amen-Ra
Pharoahs: Are 100% man. These Pharoahs didn't know Joseph and persecuted the Israelites.
Capital: Luxor, on the West bank of the Nile
Burial: In the Valley of the Kings, tombs are hewn out of the rock.
Biblical contemporaries: The time of the Exodus.
Egyptian Museum
They are building a new museum. It is scheduled to open in 2014.
No cameras or sharp-edged metallic instruments are allowed inside. I'm glad Susan & Joe gave me a journal. I needed it today to record what I was seeing. If you looked at everything for 1 minute it would take you 9 months to see everything in this museum. OK, I get it, I'll have to draw on the run.
A Pharoah had three wives and as many mistresses as he wanted. His successor was the oldest son from one of the three wives.
Water clocks = clepsedra
No cameras or sharp-edged metallic instruments are allowed inside. I'm glad Susan & Joe gave me a journal. I needed it today to record what I was seeing. If you looked at everything for 1 minute it would take you 9 months to see everything in this museum. OK, I get it, I'll have to draw on the run.
A Pharoah had three wives and as many mistresses as he wanted. His successor was the oldest son from one of the three wives.
Water clocks = clepsedra
Egyptian drawing legend:
If the beard is straight, the king is living. If the beard is curled, the king is dead.
If the left leg is striding forward, the king is alive. If his arms are crossed, the king is dead.
1. Sphinx at the Entrance
If the beard is straight, the king is living. If the beard is curled, the king is dead.
If the left leg is striding forward, the king is alive. If his arms are crossed, the king is dead.
1. Sphinx at the Entrance
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| Sphinx in the outer garden of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo |
2. Two-sided Stele says Israel (IRSEAR)* was defeated by Merenptah, the god of Memphis. Ramses II's son, Merenptah, went to Canaan. Basically it means the tribe of Israel has no more roots. The Exodus had already happened. * Note: The letter "L" didn't exist in hieroglyphs until Cleopatra.
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| Cartouche for Merenptah |
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| The left side is reflected to complete the drawing. |
Nefertiti was the Great Royal Wife of Akhenaten. Together they ruled Egypt during the 14th Century. They worshiped only one god, Aten. They reigned during one of the wealthiest periods of Egyptian history. Nefertiti may have ruled as Pharoah for a time before Tutankhamun was old enough to assume the throne. The blocking marks, which help the sculptor know where to carve next, are still on the statue. It's a gorgeous profile even in this preliminary stage. A crown made of a different material would have been attached to her head.
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| Nefertiti means the beautiful one has come |
After years of searching Howard Carter finally found what he suspected. That there was still a tomb to be found in the Valley of the Kings. They found a step on November 4th. By late afternoon on the 5th, there were twelve steps revealed. On November 23rd, Lord Carnarvon and his daughter arrived in Luxor. On the following day they opened the outer entrance. This amazing find would consume the next ten years of Carter's life. This link gives a readable recap on the Discovery of King Tut's Tomb:
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/kingtut.htm
The trove that I saw was just a portion. But that portion was still incredible. Here's the list:
- Shield. King Tut holds two lions by their tails
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1920s/a/kingtut.htm
The trove that I saw was just a portion. But that portion was still incredible. Here's the list:
- Shield. King Tut holds two lions by their tails
- (2) Statues of King Tut. Wood carvings painted with black
to preserve the wood. Highlighted with gold. New Kingdom
- starched linen sticks out in front, pleets and shoulder length hair.
- Wine jars (the poor drank beer). Two samples (drawings) of
Palestinian pottery from Crete.
- (2) Small gold statues of King Tut wearing the two crowns
(drawings) of Egypt.
- Golden Chair (drawing). Two lions heads at base of chair's
arms.
- 365 shabati were found in Tut's tomb. These "baby
statues" look like Tut. They will do work for Tut in the afterlife.
- Golden statue of the serpent Neterankh
- Ivory Ostrich feather fan.
- Manuscript room - papyrus samples
- Papyrus chair
- Boomerangs
- Alabaster vases from Luxor.
King Tut's favorite essence was lotus.
- (3) funerary beds for the embalming process. One has the
head of cows with sun disk between the horns.
- Ivory box - His wife hands him lotus flowers. In Egypt the woman
chose their husbands by offering them flowers. If the man accepted, they were married.
- Floor less shrines which held the mummy
- Death mask (drawing). Exquisite!
- Crook and flail (drawing)
- Gold hands encased the mummy's hands and held a crook and
flail. The heart stone (scarab) was made of onyx - probably 3 inches tall.
Amazing.
5. Oldest mummy in the world is in a reed basket. Placed in fetal position. Died about 3000 B.C. or 1100 years before Joseph. Later mummies were laid flat.
6. Royal mummies - Thanks to Danny & Sara fronting me $20, I saw:
- King Tuthmosis II. Ruled for 14 years. His principal queen was his half-sister Queen Hetshepsut. He fathered Tuthmosis III with Isis, his secondary queen.
- King Tuthmosis III was a great warrior king who ruled 55 years. He was 1.7 meters tall.
- King Amenhotep II died when he was 45. He was the tallest New Kingdom Pharoah at 1.83 meters. He was a renown warrior and sportsman.
- King Tuthmosis IV died at 30 (1388 B.C.) from a wasting disease. Well manicured fingernails.
- Queen Hetshepsut was from the 18th Dynasty. She was obese with bad teeth.
- King Ramses II (Ramses the Great) ruled about 67 years. He had health issues: dental abscesses, arthritis in his hip and arteriosclerosis.
- King Seti, the son of Ramses I, died at 40. His hands are crossed but not clenched.
- King Merenptah was the thirteenth son of Ranses II. He died at 60 years old.
As we left the museum, I saw my first glimpse of the Nile. Hotels, restaurants and small palms line its banks. At times the Nile is greenish and at other times where its wider it turns blue. I saw my first felucca.
Lunch in Giza
En route to the pyramids we drive through Giza. I saw a white water bird. I wonder if it was a crane? The canal on our left is polluted with TONS of trash. Giza is poor compared to Cairo. We had a delicious lunch.
Giza: The Great Pyramids
En route to the pyramids we drive through Giza. I saw a white water bird. I wonder if it was a crane? The canal on our left is polluted with TONS of trash. Giza is poor compared to Cairo. We had a delicious lunch.
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| Freshly made flat bread! They had made an assembly line. |
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| Eagerly anticipating lunch. |
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| Danny & Sarah |
Heroditus said that it took 100,000-120,000 people 20-25 years to build each of the Great Pyramids. They only worked on the pyramids during the annual flooding of the Nile, which lasted for 2 months each year. The workers were building tombs for their "god." Each stone averaged three tons. If you were to dismantle these pyramids, you could build a 1 meter stone wall that would stretch around two-thirds of the equator.
Greek travelers wrote about Seven Wonders (initially they were known as The Seven Sites) of the Ancient World: Great Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Of the Seven Wonders, only the Great Pyramids survive today.
Mudbrick ramps were used to move stones to higher levels when Egyptians were constructing a building. They were probably had a ramp on each side of the pyramid. There was a layer of gypsum (TURA) applied from the top downward. Limestone for the pyramids was quarried nearby.
Did Israelites build the pyramids (tombs for Pharoahs)? No, they built storehouses. In 1994, workers found a cemetary. Many of the bodies were Nubian. Were they slaves? No, they were forced to work but it was for their god (Pharoah) or perhaps it was an alternate means of paying taxes.
The Egyptian year was divided into the three seasons: akhet (Inundation/Flood which was July 17), peret (Growth - Winter which began Sep 17) and shemu (Harvest - Summer). What did the Egyptian kings do during the Inundation season? They lived in NE of the delta (Goshen) because the flooding wasn't as severe there. The East side of the Nile also has the higher elevation.
Great group photo with the Great Pyramids as the backdrop! Quite a few went inside the one pyramid that was open today. I decided to explore outside.
Greek travelers wrote about Seven Wonders (initially they were known as The Seven Sites) of the Ancient World: Great Pyramids of Giza, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodes, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia and the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Of the Seven Wonders, only the Great Pyramids survive today.
Mudbrick ramps were used to move stones to higher levels when Egyptians were constructing a building. They were probably had a ramp on each side of the pyramid. There was a layer of gypsum (TURA) applied from the top downward. Limestone for the pyramids was quarried nearby.
Did Israelites build the pyramids (tombs for Pharoahs)? No, they built storehouses. In 1994, workers found a cemetary. Many of the bodies were Nubian. Were they slaves? No, they were forced to work but it was for their god (Pharoah) or perhaps it was an alternate means of paying taxes.
The Egyptian year was divided into the three seasons: akhet (Inundation/Flood which was July 17), peret (Growth - Winter which began Sep 17) and shemu (Harvest - Summer). What did the Egyptian kings do during the Inundation season? They lived in NE of the delta (Goshen) because the flooding wasn't as severe there. The East side of the Nile also has the higher elevation.
Great group photo with the Great Pyramids as the backdrop! Quite a few went inside the one pyramid that was open today. I decided to explore outside.
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| See the Pyramids along the Nile ... Check! |
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| Noemie & Mike |
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| Dramatic sunset. |
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| Of course we'll go inside the pyramid |
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| Hey, wait for us! |
Sphinx = PERH EL. The head represents intelligence and the body of a lion represents strength. I was as impressed by the Sphinx as I was by the Pyramids. It's masterful and massive. A young lady was hurrying along (along running), slipped on the slick stones and slid on her face. She bled profusely. Scary. I must be careful.
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| Supposedly the visage resembles that of Pharoah Khafra. |
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| The Sphinx (aka The Father of Dread) is the largest monolith statue in the world. |
This structure is to the right of the Sphinx's paw. The desert sands could easily fill it in.
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| A hypostyle hall has a roof supported by columns |
Gold is $900 per ounce worldwide. However, Egyptian labor is cheap and the tax is only 1.7%. Gold is measured in carets: 6, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 18-22. 22 carets is high quality gold but it is very soft (easily bent). The Nubians said 18ct is the highest quality of gold you can use. The United Kingdom mixes 15 copper with 5 gold. Mundy mixes 18ct gold with platinum - the highest quality. They had cartouches for sale as well as replicas of King Tut's treasures, painted plates (I thought of Grammie)
and other trinkets.
Traffic Jam
We were stalled for an hour and a half in an awful snarl.
Horns honking. Cars were wedging out other cars. The street became a five-lane
road, although it was painted with only three lanes.
Tomorrow we fly to Luxor from 8:30 - 9:30am. From there we board our cruise ship.
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