Prior to legislation many antiquities were removed from Egypt to join
private collections or museums around the world. A decree was issued in
1835 by the then governor of Egypt, Mohamed Ali Pasha, prohibiting any
export or trade of Egyptian antiquities.
The Egyptian Museum, where this journey ends, was born out of an
international competition in 1895 and won by French Architect, Marcel
Dourgnon. It houses 160,000 artifacts ranging from the pre-Dynasty
period all the way through to the Roman era.
The Museum holds some very important pieces such as the Palette of
Narmer which depicts the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under one
King. The palette is so significant that it has never been allowed to
leave the country on any touring exhibitions.
Some of the earliest hieroglyphic inscriptions were found on the
palette. Hieroglyphs were the formal writing system often used in tombs,
monuments and religious texts. They were stylized pictures of objects
representing a word, syllable or sound. For everyday purposes the
writing style was hieratic script which was a faster version of
hieroglyphs and then further simplified via demonic script to write
legal documents. However, once they were conquered by Alexander the
Great, scribes had to write in Greek and over time the meaning of the
hieroglyphs was lost. No one understood it anymore until the Rosetta
Stone was found in 1799. On the stone was a decree in two languages and
three writing styles: hieroglyphic, demotic and Ancient Greek. Over the
next 23 years scholars would build upon each other's deciphering works
until 1822 when French scholar Jean-Francois Champollion cracked the
code. Ancient Greek was widely known by scholars and it was used as a
way to work backwards till the code was finally deciphered.
Statues of the three kings who built the Giza
pyramids are also within this museum's collection. As big as the Great
Pyramid is, Khufu's statue is quite small all of 3in (7.5cm) but it is
the only three dimensional image of him.
Walls are lined with coffins that once held mummified bodies.
Mummification was a complex process that took 70 days to complete.
Starting by removing the brain through the nose, then removing the
organs which after they dried were stored in canopic jars. The heart was
left inside as it was thought to be the seat of the soul. Interestingly
it was believed the brain was useless and hence thrown away because
they thought the heart was the centre of thought and personality. The
body was rinsed, packed with natron (salt) then covered with more natron
then left for several weeks to dehydrate the body. The next phase was
to wash, oil and cover with resin as adhesive. Wrapping it completely in
linen it was then placed in a mummy shaped coffin that was quite often
intricately designed. Depending on status of the deceased, the mummy may
have also been covered with a mask such as the one found on King
Tutankhamun. Protective amulets were included in the coffin then sealed
and the coffin was then inserted in a stone sarcophagus.
The most elaborate burial was that of King Tut. His mummy was inside
several layers of container. There were three coffins each inside the
other (like Babushka dolls) with the innermost coffin made entirely out
of solid gold. The coffins lay inside a stone sarcophagus which rested
inside four box-like shrines, each gilded and heavily decorated along
with spells from the Book of the Dead inside.
Tutankhamun may have been only 19 when he died but he was instrumental
in restoring the old gods which were banished by his father, Akhenanten,
who only wanted to have one god for the royal court. All sorts of
deities were worshipped by the Egyptians but the most powerful god was
the sun god, Ra, who travelled across the sky in his sun-boat bringing
warmth and light to the people.
One of the most influential stories in ancient Egyptian mythology was
that of two brothers, Osiris (god of the underworld and afterlife) and
Set (god of chaos). Osiris was once a Pharaoh and married to Isis
(goddess of life and magic). Together they had a son Horus. Set wanted
the throne and to rule Egypt. He tricked Osiris into climbing in a chest
which Set then sealed shut and tossed down the Nile. Isis went
searching for Osiris and when she found him he was already dead. She
resurrected Osiris but he was neither dead nor alive, thereby forcing
him to retreat to the underworld and become the king of the dead. Once
Horus was fully grown, he set out to avenge his father and claim the
throne. A battle ensued in which Horus lost his left eye but won the
battle vanquishing Set. The eye became known as the "Eye of Horus"
symbolising protection, royal power and good health.
Other famous pharaohs and queens who left their mark were:
- Hatshepsut – she ruled for 20 years supposedly on behalf of her
stepson but eventually declared herself a Pharaoh and even started
wearing a beard which was a sign of royalty. She was a great ruler
re-establishing trade routes and maintaining an extended period of
peace.
- Akhenaten – was the father of Tutankhamun, who abolished all the gods,
closed all the temples and decreed only one sun-god, Aten.
- Nefertiti – was the wife of Akhenaten and a strong influence
supporting monotheism. Her bust is widely recognised with her tall
cap-crown and widely contested as to who owns it.
- Ramesses II – he reigned for 67 years and had 96 children. He built a
huge number of monuments and temples that nearly bankrupted the throne
and unabashedly declared himself a god.
- Cleopatra – she was the last active ruler of Egypt. Politically savvy
she brought peace and prosperity to the people. When she heard that her
lover, Marc Antony, was dead she took her own life. With her death the
Egyptian empire came to an end.
Deep within its sands, both Saqqara and Giza
Necropolis' hold many more secrets yet to be uncovered. Ancient Egypt
was an extraordinary civilisation. It was able to adapt to the
conditions of the Nile river, build pyramids and other great works with
great precision and had to invent many things for themselves like
writing, mathematics, metallurgy, paper (the papyrus) and anything else
they needed to function as a society. They laid the foundations to many
things that were improved upon by later civilisations.
UNESCO listed in 1979, the pyramids are the final resting place for one
family. Beginning with Pharaoh Khufu, his pyramid was known as the Great
Pyramid because it was the tallest at 479ft (146m) with each side 754ft
(230m) long. The Great Pyramid is also the only surviving architectural
site on the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World list. It took 20 years
to build and a total of 2.5 million blocks. Each block weighed an
average of 2.5 tonnes. The pyramid was topped with a triangular capstone
covered in gilt but it is no longer on it. To the east of his pyramid
are three small subsidiary pyramids used as burial grounds for family
members. To the south are two boat pits. One of them was excavated and
within the pit was a jumble of 1224 pieces of wood. After several years
it was pieced together into a 142ft (43m) long funerary boat. It remains
on site inside a custom-built museum.
As usual it is debated how long he reigned. According to Manetho an
ancient historian, Khufu reigned for 63 years, however, modern
historians believe it to be more like 26-46 years. Not much is known
about him, besides having two wives and several off-springs. He was
succeeded by his son, Djedefre, who was then succeeded by his brother,
Khafre, who built the second pyramid.
Khafre was considered a cruel and heretical ruler who wanted his pyramid
to be bigger than his father's. The pyramid is set in the middle of the
three and although it seems taller because it was built on higher
ground, the pyramid is actually 19.6ft (6m) shorter than Khufu's. To the
east of his pyramid is his funerary temple and linked via a causeway is
the Great Sphinx. To the south is a subsidiary pyramid but not known as
to who it belongs to. Khafre's pyramid is the only one that still has
the capstone on it.
The smallest pyramid belonged to Menkaure, the son of Khafre and
grandson of Khufu. His pyramid stands at 213ft (65m) less than half the
height of the other two. What is also noticeable is that the building
materials used are different. Both Khufu and Khafre's pyramids' outer
core was covered in expensive white limestone slabs. Menkaure's pyramid
had limestone on the top two-thirds, however, the bottom third which is
still in place today, was covered in cheaper blocks of granite.
Menkaure was regarded as a kind and wise ruler. Disputes brought before
him were fairly judged and he seemed to be much more considerate of his
people by not having them work as hard on his pyramid as his
predecessors. To the south of his pyramid are three small subsidiary
pyramids possibly for his two wives and a daughter. He had two sons of
which the eldest predeceased him leaving the younger son to succeed
Menkaure. The younger son was the last pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty.
Interestingly at the end of the 12th century, Saladin's son and heir who
was Kurdish, attempted to demolish the pyramids in order to remove any
signs of Egypt's power. He started with Menkaure's pyramid but after
eight months with little progress – they were unable to remove more than
one or two stones per day – he abandoned the effort, but not without
leaving a large vertical gash on the northern face.
Standing guard on the east side of the Necropolis is the biggest statue
in the world, the Great Sphinx. Measuring 240ft long x 66ft high x 62ft
wide (73m x 20m x 19m), the sphinx has the body of a lion and the head
of a human thought to be of Pharaoh Khafre. Carved from a small hill of
solid limestone, the sphinx used to be painted red and yellow which has
over time worn away. Drifting sand eventually buried the sphinx to its
shoulders and although evidence suggests attempted restorations during
the New Kingdom era by Pharaoh Thutmose IV it wasn't until the early
19th century that the Sphinx was finally "dug out". Archaeological
studies also concluded that the sphinx's nose was intentionally removed
sometime between the 3rd and 10th centuries AD possibly a result of
iconoclasm.
Somewhere between 2181-2040BC, Giza was
abandoned and so was building pyramids. Low yields of crop in the 5th
and 6th Dynasties cause widespread famine and a greatly reduced
workforce. As such the Necropolis fell into decay, tomb robbers broke in
and stole the buried treasures and many succeeding pharaohs during the
Middle Kingdom broke up temples and walkways in order to reuse the
materials on their own projects. By the New Kingdom (1570-1069BC) the
reigning pharaohs reversed this approach and dedicated themselves to
preserving the area.
Khaemweset, was the 4th son of Rameses II, and considered the "first
Egyptologist", due to his commitment to restoring and preserving Giza. His efforts are well documented.
At the turn of the 19th century and as part of his Egyptian campaign,
Napoleon Bonaparte brought with him a team of experts to record their
discoveries about Giza. But the most widely
recognised archaeologist is Sir William Flinders Petrie due to his vast
contribution to Egyptology. One of his greatest discoveries happened
when a worker found a small headless statue with a pharaoh's name at the
bottom. Through careful digging, the head was found turning out to be
the only known image of Khufu, builder of the Great Pyramid.
