The Role Of The Pharaohs In Ancient Egypt

Throughout history people seem to have always come together, though certainly not all through the same means, with the most successful cultures eventually establishing civilizations. These civilizations are as different as the environments they developed in and the societies that composed them. One such civilization that is worth taking note of is one of the longest lasting and most impressive that has ever existed. Its impressive history is rivaled by few: Ancient Egypt. These were a people that emerged in an entirely unique geographic landscape and ecosystem found no place else on Earth. Ancient Egypt’s utter dependence on the Nile River and her life sustaining waters heavily influenced its cultural development.
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Their rule was entwined with the spiritual realm of the gods and the Egyptians’ views on the creation of man would be a manifesto in recognition of the impact the Nile had on their lives (Tyldesley). There would be several myths created in attempts to explain the world that surrounded them and they all would have at least one thing in common: a shared idea of life emerging from the Primeval Waters of a chaotic, empty world (Taylor). Out of the tumultuous waters arose the Primeval Mound; the beginning of all life. The High God, Atum (sometimes Ptah), created several children who would be the beginning of a divine family of gods (Clark Figure 1). Atum, like the floods, retreated from his creation and the reign of Shu began. Shu’s children, Geb and Nut (earth and sky respectively), were separated to create a space for mankind to live under the sun god Re (Breasted). Re would serve as the ally and protector of the Pharaohs. Osiris would teach man the arts of civilization and he would come to be identified with the waters of the Nile, the soil and the vegetation that grew from it (Clark). His brother, Seth, grew jealous of Osiris and eventually murdered him, cut his body into pieces, placed the remains into a sealed coffin and attempted to hide the evidence in the river. Isis would find Osiris’s body and repair it, giving him a proper burial into the earth (Breasted). Seth ruled over an age of confusion …show more content…
At first glance this may seem trivial but in a climate not very hospitable to trees, mud makes all the difference. The first buildings would be constructed of mud that was mixed with sand and straw, then shaped into bricks and set out to dry in the rays of the sun (Art). For Egyptians, this would mean they were constructing structures made of Osiris and blessed by Re. This method of creating building materials would literally be the foundation of Egyptian architecture. Later advancements would see quarried stone added to the available materials for building the most important of structures that were intended to last for an eternity (Aldred). While it is certainly true that the construction of housing would be necessary, there is an astonishingly large amount of major building projects in Egypt were erected with religious intent; whether to allow for spiritual rebirth or to facilitate that process both before and after death (Lehner). Early burials initially show simple, ovular graves dug into the sand. This process would dry out the corpses and be the first instances of mummification that Egyptians would later seek to replicate (Taylor). As time went on, we began uncovering bodies buried with more and more material goods. While this could be an indication of a belief in an afterlife, what would come next would solidify the