ANTH 205 Lecture 21

« previous | Wednesday, March 6, 2013 | next »

Egypt

Population: 81 M

90% Muslim, 10% Christian

Nile River

Flows north
Divided into three regions:
1. Upper Egypt (upstream)
2. Lower Egypt (downstream)
3. Delta (where Nile enters into ocean)

Egypt was the gift of the Nile. Herodotus

Inhabited forever: First inhabitants 40 Kya

History

Begins around 3100 BC

First unified into a state; First Pharaoh
Narmer Palette: one of first records of history

Phases:

Ancient Egypt
Greco-Roman (332 BC – 395 AD)
Byzantine (395–640)
Midieval
Ottoman
Modern

Ancient Egypt

3100–332 BC (shockingly long time)

Old Kingdom
Middle Kingdom
New Kingdom

(crash-course video)

Entire culture ran its course before modern/western civilization even emerged

Food Supply

Nile flood cycle are basis of Ancient egyptian calendar

Akhet: Season of inundation
Peret: Season of emergence
Shemu: Season of the Harvest

Very productive: one Egyptian farmer could produce enough grain to feed 20 adults

Until Greco-Roman period, there was no money

Governmant siezed and redistributed resources according to status

Religion

Very much polytheistic

Some half-animal, some all human

Very malleable; new gods could be created.

Some close parallels to Christianity

Christian Egypt

Coptic Church

Arrived with St. Mark around 45 AD

Founded Church of Alexandria

Credited as fonuder of Christianity in Africa

Difficult under Roman Rule

Worst under Diocletian (4^th century AD)
Grew in spite of persecution

Christian monasticism was born in Egypt (3^rd century AD)

Debates about nature of God (Arianism) and

Council of Nicea (325 AD)
Council of Chalcedon; split between Oriental, Roman, and ...

Copts Today

Ethnoreligious minority, and largest Christian community in Middle East
16 million COptic Christians worldwide
Separate pope
Fasting/Abstinence/Veganism for 210 days of the year

Coptic Language

Form of Demotic

Originally deciphered from Rosetta Stone

Used for liturgy

When spoken, basically like hearing Ancient Egyptian