Ancient Egypt: The Eight Periods Of Ancient Egyptian Civilization

The Civilization of Egypt was both far reaching and thriving. Geographically speaking, the civilization was broken into two major territories; Upper Egypt, which consisted of the nile itself; and Lower Egypt, which consisted of the territory known to us today as the Nile River Delta. Even in a desert environment, Egypt was known for its thriving agriculture industry thanks to fertile silt, the yearly flooding of the Nile, and their technological and industrial advancements in irrigation and canal building. In terms of government, the civilization of Egypt operated under dynastic rule. There were 31 separate dynasties in Egypt, and those dynasties can be further broken up into eight periods. Rulers of these dynasties were known as Pharaohs, or god-kings, had absolute power over their territory and people, while also controlling vast amounts of wealth and resources. There is no better example of the power and wealth these pharaohs had than the grand pyramids and burial complexes they built for their tombs, many of which we can still see today. Long periods of unified rule under the Pharaohs of …show more content…
Their gods, normally depicted as human forms with animal heads, are not easily categorized, and often take on characteristics of one another. This can be attributed to one god from a specific cult being a prominent head during one Dynasty, but another with a similar purpose (and from the same cult) being the prominent head during the next Dynasty. Monuments and inscriptions could even be changed by the pharaoh to assert this new change. However, it should be noted that solar cults, and gods, were highly prominent in Egyptian society. This is likely due to the desert climate of the civilization, where the sun played a large role. The Egyptians but large temples for their gods that were staffed by priests, however normal citizens were not permitted to enter these most sacred