THIS IS EGYPT.BUT WHAT DID EGYPT LOOK LIKE WAY BACK IN THE BRONZE AGE?

What was life like in the Bronze age? (kinda informative with graphics but mostly
about britain) More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z874kqt#zwmkd2p

NON MATERIAL CULTURE

Civilizations- TITLE

The Bronze Age civilizations of the Near East are perhaps best known for their
glorious culture and avant-garde innovations. The best known among the Bronze
Age civilizations of Mesopotamia were the ancient Sumerians who were the
recorded oldest and the earliest society to be based on religion and political
administration. (PICTURES)
Mesopotamia - http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VwitrRhPK-
4/Tpi2LiK7LuI/AAAAAAAAOP4/OxZ9EyuG1QA/s1600/mesopotamia+powerpoint.jpg

During this time, Sargon of Akkad built the first empire of the world, the Akkadian
Empire which united Akkadian and Sumerian speaking people under one rule. Soon,
the Babylonian civilization rose and came to be known for their contributions to
architecture and the sciences. Hammurabi, the Babylonian king, was the first to
introduce written laws and develop a legal structure for his subjects. (PICTURES)
Sargon of Akkad - http://c8.alamy.com/comp/G1CT9T/sargon-of-akkad-also-known-
as-sargon-the-great-akkadian-emperor-famous-G1CT9T.jpg
Babylon -
http://orig14.deviantart.net/b593/f/2013/161/1/0/babylon_castle_3_by_jet1100-
d68hhd2.png

The Bronze Age civilizations in other parts of the world were just as glorious, and
were a period of learning. The Indus Valley Civilization of India became known for
their civic constructions and their exemplary art and culture. The Vedas were
written in the Bronze Age and form the basis of cultural life in India even today. The
onset of the Yayoi Period in Bronze Age Japan saw the speedy development of
agricultural techniques.
Indus Valley - http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1600xn/p047ycg0.png

In about 3200 BC, King Menes established the First Dynasty of Egypt by uniting the
Upper and Lower Nile Valleys. The civilization of Egypt was highly advanced and
remains a source of mystery and learning for archaeologists and historians. The
hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as art, architecture and many
aspects of religion, took shape during the Early Dynastic period.

Society- TITLE

Archaeologists have demonstrated that societies during this time had a significantly
more varied and complex structure than was previously thought.

This power structure was based on social networks rather than on permanently
established institutions. Society was organized into small and medium-sized
chiefdoms that were typically involved in ongoing struggles for dominance between
various powerful families.

Bronze Age Pompeii (A World Full of Swords) - https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-

media/image/upload/s--
wjWjjR0P--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_center,h_450,q_80,w_800/klw5g9zwwufwinicmpvs.
png

Hierarchical composition of societies was evidenced through the differences in the

sizes of houses and homesteads, as well as variations in community structure within
and between various regions. This shows that there was a hierarchy of communities
that existed in the area.
Archaeologists found that there is a clear correlation that can also be noted
between the centrality of an area and the way settlements look. Areas that were in
and near the central geographic location and have access to important raw
materials show their communities organised in forms ranging from relatively dense,
village-like structures to isolated homesteads.

Meanwhile for those farther to the central geographic location and raw materials,
settlement patterns were of a more much dispersed nature, and consist mainly of
scattered, village-like structures or isolated homesteads.

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/onepiece/images/2/2f/Syrup_Village_Infobox.png/
revision/latest?cb=20130127100139
Real Pictures
South Stack Iron Age Hut Circles, Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales. There over 50 Iron Age hut
circles on the headlands near Holyhead and over 20 are visible on the landscape. It is thought that
these structures provided dwelling places, cattle sheds and workshops for farmers and fishermen
and this landscape was farmed for at least 3000 years prior to the huts. The different shapes and
locations of the huts and various archaeological finds lead us to believe that they were in occupation
for well over a 1000 years, albeit in different stages. -

What we now know as urban life began in the Bronze Age and led to a shift of
scribes, artisans, and other socialized occupational groups to the towns.
Specialization of labor, leisure time, and organized government, the separation of
the priestly class, kingships, and organized astronomical data are also found in this
period.

Scribes:
http://www.hellenicaworld.com/History/DelphianSociety/en/images/fig118.png

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/trade/story/page7.html

These resulted to the establishment of violent and barbaric kingdoms whose

prosperity was based upon the enslavement of innocent people, large-scale
organized warfare, and the reduction in the status of women to mere property while
supported by a religious belief-system in which violent male war-gods encouraged
and sanctioned such behaviour.

Slavery: https://d284gedng9vuu0.cloudfront.net/article_media/2016/05/BHP-10-
africa-slavery-5e747670.png.460x258_q90_box-0,128,1366,896_crop_detail.png

Priests in theocratic Sumeria and civil servants of aristocratic Egypt controlled the
first civilizations and their captives became more profitable to them by putting them
to work instead of killing them. The largest class, however, remained the peasant
farmers.
Farmers: https://cdn.vectorstock.com/i/composite/96,83/farmers-vector-929683.jpg

They also needed metals, in the form of plows, hoes, axes, and other edge tools
which in Neolithic times had been made of wood and stone. In times of war, many
peasants were recruited as soldiers and, as at other times in history, peaceful
metal-working was adapted to the production of bronze helmets, battle-axes,
spearheads, daggers and later swords.
Soldiers: http://www.dailyfreepsd.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Soldiers-
silhouette-outline.png

Writing TITLE

Writing emerged in many different cultures in the Bronze Age. The earliest form of
writing, cuneiform, was developed by the Sumerians. The earliest cuneiform tablets
discovered by archaeologists were formed by pressing a reed stylus into a wet clay
tablet and then letting it dry.

Cuneiform: http://cdn.ilovetypography.com/img/2010/08/ugaritic-abcedary.png

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the oldest written literature in the world, dating back to
2500 BC. Other examples are the Egyptian hieroglyphs, Cretan hieroglyphs, Chinese
logographs, and the Olmec script of Mesoamerica.
Egyptian hieroglyph:
https://www.freevector.com/uploads/vector/preview/3414/FreeVector-Egyptian-
Hieroglyphs.jpg

The original Sumerian writing system derives from a system of clay tokens used to
represent commodities. By the end of the 4th millennium BC, this had evolved into a
method of keeping accounts, using a round-shaped stylus impressed into soft clay
at different angles for recording numbers. This was gradually augmented with
pictographic writing using a sharp stylus to indicate what was being counted.
Sumerian System:
https://68.media.tumblr.com/3cd4c816e3170e1fc3258e243d6a0e71/tumblr_inline_o
fmok7jJ8S1t79fgm_540.jpg

Wala nay lain picture ani

On the other hand, in ancient Egypt, writing was very important in maintaining the
Egyptian empire, and literacy was concentrated among educated elite of scribes.
Only people from certain backgrounds were allowed to train as scribes, in the
service of temple, royal (pharaonic), and military authorities.
Egyptian Scribes:
http://l7.alamy.com/zooms/11d4f719273c42809c1300b6165583b9/egyptian-scribes-
c1350-bc-1936-bjtr1t.jpg

This written language was formed around 3100 BCE, the same time the Pharaohs
began to rule, and it lasted until 400 CE. Egyptian hieroglyph was based on symbols
which each have a picture that represented a sound. It was based on 42
hieroglyphics, some of which were used interchangeably. Another form of the
hieroglyph, the cursive hieroglyphs were used for religious literature on papyrus and
wood.
Pharaoh - http://www.landofpyramids.org/images/hieroglyphs-mentuhotep-ii.jpg

Beliefs TITLE

Beliefs known to come from the Bronze Age is not extensive but objects from the
time suggest that it brought about big changes in religious practices.

One of the greatest changes was that people stopped building large ritual
monuments, such as stone circles. People also placed metal items, thought to be
offerings to gods in rivers, lakes, and bogs, and other bodies of water.

They also held beliefs about death and burial. When powerful European leaders
died, they were buried beneath large mounds. Some graves belonging to warriors
contained things like bronze axes, daggers, and gold ornaments, which were buried
with the dead.

In the late Bronze Age, people began to cremate bodies instead of burying them.
The ashes left from the cremation were put in pottery containers called urns and
buried in graveyards called urnfields.

The manner of decorating the urns and other Bronze Age objects expressed regional
as well as chronological styles. Among these, the most noticeable stylistic
developments were the widespread use of the combined sun-bird-ship motif of the
urnfield culture.
Capel Garmon Burial Chamber, nr. Betws-y-Coed, North Wales, 22.1.17. A fine layer of snow
covered the entrance capstone and the larger stones when visiting this site today. The interior of
the chamber is exposed although the outline of the mound can be made out thanks to perimeter
stones laid out as recently as 1925. The Neolithic chamber was originally over 30 metres in
length, possessing a false blocked entrance. Although it was Neolithic, beaker finds suggest that
it may have been in use even in the early Bronze Age.

http://thesilicontribesman.tumblr.com/post/156234680227/capel-garmon-burial-
chamber-nr-betws-y-coed

NOW LETS GO OVER THE MATERIAL CULTURES THAT HAD BEEN PRESENT IN THE
BRONZE AGE

Metallurgy TITLE

Bronze Age is the period in the development of technology when metals were first used
regularly in the manufacture of tools and weapons. Pure copper and bronze, an alloy of copper
and tin, were used generally at first. Most techniques used in quarrying and dressing stones
were made possible with the use of advances in metallurgy.

http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/trade/story/page3.html

The earliest use of cast metal can be deduced from clay models of weapons while casting was
certainly established in the Middle East by 3500 B.C. Following the Neolithic period, the
development of a metallurgical industry coincided with the rise of urbanization.

The organized operations of mining, smelting, and casting undoubtedly required the
specialization of labor and the production of surplus food to support a class of artisans, while the
search for raw materials stimulated the exploration and colonization of new territories.

This process culminated in the civilizations of Mesopotamia and Sumer. Later, the Minoan
civilization and the Mycenaean civilization opened extensive trade routes in central Europe,
where tin and copper were mined. This activity fostered native industries and political
unification, especially in Hungary, Austria, and the Alpine region.

It laid the foundations of the Iron Age civilization, which was to follow under Greek, Etruscan,
and Scythian influences. In the New World the earliest bronze was cast in Bolivia c.A.D. 1100.
The Inca civilization used bronze tools and weapons but never mastered iron.

Other forms of technological advances:

Water Works for Irrigation

To solve the annual and regular flooding of the Nile River, people cooperated and built dikes and
maintained it in both Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Irrigation -
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/sqmegapolis/images/8/84/Irrigation_System_L1.png/revision/l
atest?cb=20151013170215

Processing of Raw Materials

Food stuff from farms and gardens involved pressing, crushing and grinding operations
requiring several tools or devices.

Mathematics

The Ancient Egyptians developed high levels of mathematical skills to enable them to build their
pyramids and temples with remarkably simple tools. However their mathematics has less
influence on later civilizations because they seemed to have a more practical nature of
mathematics than that of the Mesopotamians.
https://img.clipartfest.com/a09e4ff91f27b72ea015a0f4e211d530_math-clip-art-math-clipart-
png_1600-1329.gif

Medicine

Ancient Egyptian funerary practices, which involved mummification and embalming the dead,
did not lead to detailed knowledge of human anatomy. Their doctors did not understand the
internal functioning of the body and they did not realize that the brain had anything to do with
thinking because it was believed that the heart was the centre of reason. They also thought that
blood, urine, excrement and semen circulated constantly around the body.
Mummy - http://swh.schoolworkhelper.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/ancient-
egyptian-medicine-3.jpg?x37075

Nevertheless, Egyptian medicine acquired an excellent reputation in the Ancient World. Ancient
Egyptian doctors could stitch up wounds, repair broken bones and amputate infected limbs.
Cuts were bandaged by raw meat, linen, and swabs soaked with honey. Opium was also used
as a painkiller while onions and garlic were used as health foods in the diet.

Doctor: http://factfile.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Ancient-Egyptian-Medicine-Pic.jpg

Women practiced contraception by using concoctions such as honey and natron, which they
injected into their vaginas. The Egyptians also devised the earliest-known pregnancy test.
Women moistened a sample of barley and emmer (wheat) with their urine each day. If the
barley grew, it meant the child would be a male; if the emmer grew, it would be a female. If
neither grew, it meant the woman was not pregnant. The effectiveness of this test has been
validated by modern science explaining that the urine of non-pregnant women will prevent
barley from growing.

Barley: http://www.clipartkid.com/images/6/barley-clip-art-at-clker-com-vector-clip-art-online-
royalty-free-asGWwk-clipart.png
Wheat: https://img.clipartfest.com/a8ad5c53f3bb1b04ba0a2486ff2ee0a7_wheat-stalk-
illustration-clipart-wheat-stalk_600-563.png

(It is important to note also, that remedies and prescriptions for various ailments, wounds,
stomach complaints, skin irritations, broken bones and many other conditions were recorded on
sheets of papyrus.)

Astronomy

Like many ancient people, the Egyptians studied the night sky, taking measurements from the
stars to accurately align their pyramids and sun temples with the earth's four cardinal points.
Taking sightings of the Great Bear and Orion with an instrument called a merkhet (similar to an
astrolabe), astronomer-priests marked out the foundations of buildings with astonishing
accuracy.
Merkhet: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-
qzWKsLStbMo/Vi2UgQRR0HI/AAAAAAAAOgM/4RGdv8pjU3A/s1600/merkhet2.jpg
How to read it: https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-
cMFm3f5pW4I/Vi2UoXNnOUI/AAAAAAAAOgU/hLxic23JIXk/s1600/merkhet.jpg

Ship Building

The Egyptians also played an important role in developing Mediterranean maritime technology
including ships and lighthouses. The long river along which Ancient Egyptian civilization
flourished was an ideal environment for the development of boat technology.

Lighthouse:
http://www.clker.com/cliparts/1/7/6/3/12117616351606757755johnny_automatic_ancient_lightho
use.svg (open this link and save pic to get clearer/bigger copy)
As early as 3000 BC an Egyptian ship of 75ft in length had been built. Planks of wood were
originally held together by straps, with reeds or grass pushed in to seal the gaps. Soon tree
nails were used to hold planks together, with pitch and caulking to close the seams; and mortise
and tenon joints had also been developed.

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/ub/v14n06p269_03shipbuilding.png

However, despite having ships on which to sail, they were not renowned as great sailors and do
not seem to have engage in shipping across the Mediterranean or Red Seas on a regular basis.

The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid
construction processes. They used rope trusses to stiffen the beam of ships. Egyptian paper,
made from papyrus, and pottery was mass produced and exported throughout the
Mediterranean basin. The wheel, however, did not arrive until foreign invaders introduced the
chariot in the 16th century BC.
https://s-media-cache-
ak0.pinimg.com/originals/8f/e3/09/8fe3097d83e0b725d7ec6f6bcce0a44e.jpg

NOW, FOR THE LAST PORTION OF THIS VIDEO, LETS GO OVER THE DETAILS OF ONE
OF THE GREATEST PRODUCTS OF THE BRONZE AGETHE INFAMOUS PYRAMIDS OF
EGYPT

PYRAMID CONSTRUCTION

FACTS/INTRO

The Egyptian pyramids are some of the most magnificent man-made

structures in history which were built during a time when Egypt was one of the
richest and most powerful civilizations in the world. The peak of pyramid building
began with the late third dynasty and continued until roughly the sixth, around 2325
B.C when Egypt enjoyed tremendous economic prosperity and stability. The
Egyptian pyramids still retain much of their majesty, providing a glimpse into the
countrys rich and glorious past.
http://www.pngall.com/pyramid-png

https://dalishah.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/pyramids-2.png

The three largest pyramids are the Pyramid of Menkaure, the Pyramid of
Khafre and the Great Pyramid of Khufu. The three smaller pyramids in the
foreground are subsidiary structures associated with Menkaure's pyramid.

The Great Pyramid of Khufu is commonly known as the Great Pyramid of Giza
which is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the World, and the only one to remain
largely intact. It is also the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza
pyramid complex. It remained as the tallest man-made structure in the world for
over 3,800 years.

BELIEFS

Pharaohs, or Egyptian kings, were believed to come from the gods. They were
regarded as mediators of the gods and the people on earth. Because of this, it was
in everyones interest to keep the kings majesty intact even after his death.
 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Pharaoh-right-facing-
hi.png

Ancient Egyptians believed that when the king died, part of his spirit, known
as "ka", remained with his body. To properly care for his spirit, the corpse was
mummified, and everything the king would need in the afterlife was buried with
him, including gold vessels, food, furniture and other offerings. The pyramids
became the focus of a cult of the dead king that was supposed to continue well
after his death. Their riches would provide not only for him, but also for the
relatives, officials and priests who were buried near him.
 The pyramid's smooth, angled sides symbolized the rays of the sun and were
designed to help the king's soul ascend to heaven and join the gods, particularly the
sun god Ra. Most pyramids were faced with polished, highly reflective white
limestone, in order to give them a brilliant appearance when viewed from a
distance. Pyramids were often also named in ways that referred to solar
luminescence.

While it is generally agreed that pyramids were burial monuments, there is

continued disagreement on the particular theological principles that might have
given rise to them. One suggestion is that they were designed as a type of
"resurrection machine."

The Egyptians believed the dark area of the night sky around which the stars
appear to revolve was the physical gateway into the heavens. One of the narrow
shafts that extend from the main burial chamber through the entire body of the
Great Pyramid points directly towards the center of this part of the sky. This
suggests the pyramid may have been designed to serve as a means to magically
launch the deceased pharaoh's soul directly into the abode of the gods.

All Egyptian pyramids were built on the west bank of the Nile, which, as the
site of the setting sun, was associated with the realm of the dead in Egyptian
mythology.

CONSPIRACIES

There are several conspiracies about the use and construction of the
pyramids. These claims include its internal structures being kept as a secret as well
as its connection with Illuminati and Freemasonry symbolism. There are even
theories that ancient aliens helped Egyptians build the pyramids due to its perfect
form. However, recent facts and discoveries have revealed its purpose and
construction process.

CONSTRUCTION

In summary, constructing the pyramids involved moving huge quantities of

stone. The quarried blocks were likely transported to the construction site by
wooden sleds, with sand in front of the sled wetted to reduce friction. Droplets of
water created bridges between the grains of sand, helping them stick together. The
water poured in the path of the sledge was long dismissed by Egyptologists as ritual
but is now confirmed as feasible.

This served to increase the stiffness of the sand, and likely reduced by 50%
the force needed to move large rocks and statues. Similar techniques seem to have
developed over time, but later pyramids were not built the same way as earlier
ones. Most of the construction hypotheses are based on the idea that huge stones
were carved with copper chisels from stone quarries, and these blocks were then
dragged and lifted into position.

Early Pyramids

Mastabas were flat-roofed rectangular royal tombs made by carving rocks.

These precursors to the pyramids started in the beginning of the Dynastic Era,
around 2950 B.C. The oldest known pyramid in Egypt was known as a Step Pyramid.
It was built around 2630 B.C. at Saqqara, for the third dynastys King Djoser.

It began as a traditional mastaba, but because it was designed by the

architect Imhotep, it grew into something much more ambitious. Imhotep is credited
with being the first to conceive the notion of stacking mastabas on top of each
other, creating an edifice composed of a number of steps that decreased in size
towards its apex.

Over the course of Djosers nearly 20-year reign, pyramid builders assembled
six stepped layers of stone that eventually reached a height of 62 meters as
opposed to mud-brick, like earlier tombs. The Step Pyramid was surrounded by a
complex of courtyards, temples and shrines, where Djoser would enjoy his afterlife.

After Djoser, the stepped pyramid became the norm for royal burials,
although none of those planned by his dynastic successors were completed due to
their relatively short reigns. The earliest tomb constructed as a smooth-sided
pyramid or a "true" pyramid was the Red Pyramid at Dahshur. The name was
derived from the color of the limestone blocks used to construct the pyramids core.
It was one of three burial structures built for the first king of the fourth dynasty,
Sneferu.

Great Pyramids of Giza

No pyramids are more celebrated than the Great Pyramids of Giza which are
located on a highland on the west bank of the Nile River found on the outskirts of
modern-day Cairo. The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza was built for
Khufu, Sneferus successor. The sides of the pyramids base average 230 meters,
and its original height was 147 meters. Like other pyramids, Khufus is surrounded
by rows of mastabas, where relatives or officials of the king were buried to
accompany and support him in the afterlife.

During the Middle Kingdom, pyramid construction techniques changed again.

Most pyramids built then were little more than mountains of mud brick encased in a
veneer of polished limestone. In several cases, later pyramids were built on top of
natural hills to further reduce the volume of material needed in their construction.

The materials and methods of construction used in the earliest pyramids

have ensured their survival in a generally much better state of preservation than for
the pyramid monuments of the later pharaohs.
 Approximately 2.3 million blocks of stone, averaging about 2.5 tons each, had
to be cut, transported and assembled to build Khufus Great Pyramid. The ancient
Greek historian Herodotus wrote that it took 20 years to build and required the labor
of 100,000 men, but later archaeological evidence suggests that the workforce
might actually have been around 20,000.

Though some popular versions of history held that the pyramids were built by
slaves or foreigners forced into labor, skeletons excavated from the area show that
the workers were probably native Egyptian agricultural laborers who worked on the
pyramids during the time of year when the Nile River flooded much of the land
nearby.

The middle pyramid at Giza was built for Khufus son, Khafre. A unique
feature built inside Khafres pyramid complex was the Great Sphinx, a guardian
statue carved in limestone with the head of a man and the body of a lion. It was the
largest statue in the ancient world, measuring 240 feet long and 66 feet high.

The southernmost pyramid at Giza was built for Khafres son, Menkaure. It is
the shortest of the three pyramids rising only at 218 feet, and is a precursor of the
smaller pyramids that would be constructed during the fifth and sixth dynasties.

The most prolific pyramid-building phase coincided with the greatest degree
of absolutist rule. Over time, as authority became less centralized, the ability and
willingness to harness the resources required for construction on a massive scale
decreased, and later pyramids were smaller, less well-built and often hastily
constructed.

End of the Pyramid Era

Pyramids continued to be built throughout the fifth and sixth dynasties, but the
general quality and scale of their construction declined over this period, along with
the power and wealth of the kings themselves.

In the later Old Kingdom pyramids, pyramid builders began to inscribe written
accounts of events in the kings reign on the walls of the burial chamber and the
rest of the pyramids interior. Known as pyramid texts, these are the earliest
significant religious compositions known from ancient Egypt.

Kings of the 12th dynasty would return to pyramid building during the so-called
Middle Kingdom phase, but it was never on the same scale as the Great Pyramids.

And just as how it was with previous eras, the pyramid era met its end

THATS ALL FOR THIS VIDEO, THIS HAS BEEN THE GROUP HELIUM NEESON,
PRESENTING TO YOU THE DYNAMICS OF THE BRONZE AGE