Egyptomania

Pepi II was one of the late pharaohs of the sixth dynasty. The boy king ascended the throne at the age of six. He was thought to be the son of Pepi I but it is now more accepted that Pepi II was the son of Merenre (who was thought first to be his half-brother). His mother Ankhesenmeryre II served as regent for a number of years while Pepi II was a child. Pepi II ruled for 94 years according to the Turin King-list. Manetho also recorded that he reigned for 94 years. This would make Pepi II the longest ruler of Ancient Egypt. However, some doubt has been shed on this number, and some researchers suggest that it was a misreading of 64. At first glance, we do not notice that Pepi II was a bad king. He developed new trade links with southern Africa and he also strengthened foreign relations in a very similar manner to both his predecessors of the 5 th and 6 th Dynasties. These are such as the good relations he maintained with the Nubians during his reign. Egypt received goods such...

  This fun strategy game will teach you the history of the ancient Egyptian civilization easily This game is based on the real history of ancient Egypt, containing a lot of historical information, including the sacred deities of the ancient Egyptians, their names and their role in building ancient Egypt. Also, the technologies, industries and agricultural crops that the ancient Egyptians knew,  the challenges they faced and how they dealt with them. When the game starts, you will find yourself in Memphis, 3500-2140 BC, the era of the First Six Dynasties. You have to create a prosperous kingdom by exploring new lands, constructing buildings and cultivating lands to provide food and industrial resources. Later on you will face many problems including social problems of farmers and craftsmen, political problems of foreign neighbours, environmental problems such as predators and dry seasons. You must deal with each of the problems wisely so that your kingdom is not overthrown . If...

 The Ancient Egyptians and their culture have kept us astonished for hundreds of years. This is not limited to their skills in the arts and their construction of majestic temples, pyramids, and tombs with all the detailed histories they entail. The ancient Egyptians basically hacked the entirety of life. They always thought about how to make their lives easier and better. Also, their keen eye for the aesthetic has led them to take good care of their personal grooming, rising above the smelly caveman.  Ancient Egyptians have been doing effective, all-natural lifestyle hacks from more than seven thousand years ago, long before it became a hippie trend!  Ancient Egyptian Kohl pot minature pestle and mortar. Attribution:  Wellcome Collection .  Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) So, let’s learn some of the hacks originating from Ancient Egypt: 1) Milk and honey Milk and honey were used as skin routines back in ancient times. They are still used in some spa tr...

Having trouble styling your hair? Hair styling wasn’t of a big problem for the ancient Egyptians because they used hair wigs, adorned with floral garlands, ribbons and beads.  Wigs weren’t only pretty looking but also provided protection from the sun heat and insects. When not using wigs, commoner males wore their hair short. Only priests were strictly forbidden from wearing these wigs because it was believed that   hair attracts impurities. They had to always keep their heads shaved bald, while servants fastened their hair at the back of their neck. As for kids, boys shaved their entire head except for one braided lock that was usually hanging at the left side, while girls kept their hair in a pigtail or ponytail. “With this ring I thee wed” Ancient Egyptians were the first to exchange wedding rings, they considered the circle to be a symbol of eternity “signifying the eternal love of a married couple”, they were also the first to wear the wedding ring on the ri...

The Heb Sed is the Egyptian name for the king's royal jubilee. It is one of the oldest feasts of ancient Egypt. There is clear evidence for early pharaohs celebrating the Heb Sed: such as the pharaoh Den of the First Dynasty and the pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty. Some kings have built a whole new festival temple dedicated to this purpose, while others reconstructed a festival hall on already existing temples. It is noteworthy to know that this festival was a replacement of an ancient ritual of killing the king who became incapable of running the country effectively because of ageing. Becoming an ancient Egyptian King was no joke! Motivation behind the festival: The festival aimed to renew the reigning king's power which was depleted over time, endangering the continued existence of the state. It proved that the king was still capable of running the country. It was celebrated by the king after 30 years of his rule.  Unfortunately, there are no surviving manuscripts o...

We aren’t exaggerating when we say that most of our knowledge of ancient Egypt is owed to the hard work of the scribes. It is a fact. Scribes used to work for the Pharaohs or temple priests. They wrote everything down starting from the procedures in courts, magic spells, legal contracts, all the way to tax records for the government. They wrote on different mediums like obelisks, pyramids, tombs, sarcophagi, statues, and papyrus scrolls . The scribe’s equipment The scribes used specific equipment to help them write easily. This kit is called "sesh" in hieroglyphics. The term is more accurately translated as “to draw” or “to create” rather than “to write”. The most common equipment was a rectangular palette or a case with a very small leather bag to hold pigments and a long pen case to hold reed pens. The scribes also used a pot of water to wet the pigments and the reed pens. We can also see small circular cavities to hold the pigment on the palette itself. We found m...

It is unarguable that the COVID-19 pandemic is actively changing the course of our present. Looking back to similar occurrences in history and the huge impacts they had further solidifies this claim stemming from the universal vulnerability of human kind. The earliest of those recorded examples being the Athenian Plague in 430 B.C.  The Plague of Athens was probably not a bubonic plague due to the absence of the "bubo" symptoms from the accounts. By consensus, it originated from Ethiopia and probably reached Athens through Egypt and Libya. The plague is still attributed to Athens because this is where it was most detrimental according to the records (or their absence in other affected areas). One very poignant account of this plague (which we are extremely thankful for) is Thucydides' account of the Peloponnesian War against Sparta. In this unique account, the rapidly spreading symptoms ranged from fevers all the way to deadly gangrene. It is mostly agreed that the nature...

1. Getting all touchy/feely with the monuments Yes, the Egyptian Museum has a very unique way of displaying many artefacts. It just leaves some of them exposed on top of cabinets without glass encasing! Now, this isn’t entirely a bad thing. You get the full experience of admiring every ingenious detail your ancestors have carved instead of waving goodbye at it from behind glass obstacles. BUT, this doesn’t mean you get to grace the artefacts with the fatty acids of your hands and the perspiration of your breath. Do you know how hard conservators have to work in order to undo the mess you make? No you don’t. And let me tell you: CONSERVATORS HAVE A TON ON THEIR PLATE ALREADY. This is not your girlfriend/ boyfriend! 2. Going on a rampage with your camera's flash So, you’ve finally made it to the top chamber of the pyramid and now you want to savour this moment brag. The chamber is too dark so you whip out your camera’s flash and go crazy. You’ve just injured 5000 years of civiliza...