Ancient Egyptians

The Egyptians

• The civilization of ancient Egypt grew and developed around the Nile River in Northeast Africa (modern Egypt) around 5100 years ago
• The impressive buildings, cursed tombs, sacred rituals, half-human and half-animal gods, and the mysterious writing system have made ancient Egypt one of the most fascinating civilizations
• Most Egyptians were farmers who lived and worked in the countryside
• The land they worked on belonged to the pharaoh, a temple, or other wealthy people
• The pharaoh was considered the representative of the gods on earth, and his mission was to protect and care for his people
• Ancient Egyptian houses were built with adobe bricks, which kept the house cool during the hottest hours of the day
• The common diet consisted of bread and beer, supplemented with vegetables like onions and garlic, and fruits like dates and figs
• Wine and meat were enjoyed by everyone on feast days
• Ancient Egyptians valued hygiene and appearance, and taking care of their bodies was considered an important custom that was practiced daily by both the rich and the poor

Introduction to the Ancient Age

• The Ancient Age began approximately in 3300 BC
• Writing appeared during this time
• It ended in 476 AD with the fall of the Western Roman Empire
• The Ancient Age began approximately 5,000 years ago (around 3000 BC) and ended around 476 AD
• Many important civilizations emerged during this period, especially around the Mediterranean Sea, and the most notable civilizations were ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome

Achievements of the Egyptians

• The culture influenced our current culture, politics, religion, art, and science
• Expanding cities led to the emergence of the first civilizations in various regions of the world, and some of the oldest and most important civilizations were the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations

The Egyptians' Achievements

• The Egyptians achieved great accomplishments such as construction techniques that allowed them to create monumental buildings like pyramids, temples, and obelisks
• They Used a writing system based on hieroglyphs that allowed them to record all kinds of facts.
• They implemented a practical and efficient medical system with doctors specialized in different parts of the body.
• Egyptians were already doing orthodontics then.

Egyptian Writing

• The Egyptians were inspired by the writing invented by their neighbors, the Sumerians, and created their own writing: hieroglyphs
• Each concept or letter is represented by a drawing or sign in hieroglyphic writing
• The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799.
• The Rosetta Stone is a stone written in two languages, Egyptian and Greek
• The philologist Jean-François Champollion managed to decipher it in 1822, after many years of study

Egyptian Religion

• The ancient Egyptians worshiped many gods and goddesses
• Their religion was polytheistic.
• Many of the Egyptian gods had a human form with an animal head or were only human in form but with the ability to turn into some animal
• Ra, the god of the sun, was represented as a man with a falcon's head with a solar disk on top of his head.
• Anubis, the god of mummification, was represented with a human body and the head of a jackal

The Greeks

• The ancient Greeks were a people established in a mountainous area full of islands located northeast of the Mediterranean
• The Greeks were very influential in the other cultures of the Mediterranean Sea, and examples of their presence and influence can be found in many places

Polis

• The ancient Greeks lived in city-states called polis
• Each polis controlled its territory independently of the other polis
• The link between Greek citizens and their polis was so important that there was no worse punishment than being expelled from them

Athens and Sparta

• Athens and Sparta were two of the most well-known and famous polis
• Although the two cities were formed by Greek citizens, their customs, laws, and forms of government were not entirely the same
• The city of Athens was a cultural city, where much importance was given to learning philosophy, literature, and the arts
• The city of Sparta was a militaristic city, where the fundamental education was to teach children to be good warriors

Democracy

• The Greeks were the founders of democracy, as they were the first to make decisions through voting
• Their democracy was not like the one we know today as society was divided into different classes, and only those people considered citizens could enjoy participation in politics
• The ancient Greeks only considered free men born in the polis to be citizens, while women, children, slaves, and foreigners were never considered citizens

The Olympics

• The Olympics were sports competitions that were organized in the city of Olympia every four years in honor of the god Zeus
• During the games, citizens from various city-states participated in athletic events of all kinds
• The winners of the competitions received an olive wreath known as kotinos

Greek Religion

• The Greeks were polytheistic, meaning they worshiped several gods
• They believed that the gods had human form and lived on Mount Olympus
• The gods were associated with things in the everyday life of Greek civilization and were the way they had to understand and explain the things that happened in the world
• The Greeks built many temples in honor of their gods
• The Greeks also believed in legendary heroes like Hercules and Achilles, and in mythological beings such as centaurs, sirens, hydras, or the Minotaur

The Romans

• Legend says that the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC by two twin brothers named Romulus and Remus.

Way of Life

• The richest Romans lived in large houses in the countryside called villae (villas), or in large houses in the city called domus.
• The houses were built around a courtyard and had many rooms, drinking water, a kitchen, central heating, and even a bathroom
• Often the rooms on the side of the entrance of the domus were open to the outside, containing taverns and stores of different kinds where food, shoes, or books could be bought, among other things.
• Romans with fewer resources lived in small houses located in multi-story buildings known as insulae.

Society

• Roman society was divided between free people or citizens and slaves or non-citizens.
  • Patricians
    • Were the upper class of Roman society
    • Controlled the best lands.
    • Constituted the majority of the senate.
  • Plebeians
    • The majority of the citizens of Rome were plebeians.
    • Were the lower class of Roman society.
  • Slaves
    • Although they lived in the city, they were not considered citizens of Rome
    • The slaves were considered "properties", as such, they were bought and sold like any object.

Activities

• The most popular games of ancient Rome were theatrical performances, chariot races, and gladiator fights.

Religious Influences

• The Roman gods were practically the same as those of the Greeks, but with Romanized. names
• Zeus, the famous father of the gods and lord of lightning, was worshiped under the name Jupiter in Rome
• Aphrodite, the beautiful and loving goddess, was assimilated by the Romans with the name Venus.

Roman Numerals

• Roman numerals are a numbering system used by the Romans in antiquity
• This system is based on the use of letters of the Latin alphabet to represent numerical values
• The letters and their values:
  • I=1
  • V=5
  • X = 10
  • L = 50
  • C = 100
  • D = 500
  • M = 1000

Formation

• Roman numerals are formed by combining these letters.

• The rules for their combination are as follows:

  • Adding
    • If a letter of a smaller value follows a letter of a larger or equal value, the value of the smaller letter is added

• Example: VI = 5 + 1 = 6

• Example: XIII = 10+1+1+1 = 13

  • Subtracting
    • If a letter of a smaller value precedes a letter of a larger value, the value of the smaller letter is subtracted.

• Example: IV = 5-1 = 4

• Example: IX = 10 - 1 = 9

Examples of Roman numerals

• III = 3
• XIV = 14
• XXI = 21
• CXXI = 121
• MCMXCIV = 1994

Current Use

• Today, Roman numerals are still used in various situations, such as in clocks, in the dates of movies or books (to identify the number of the movie. or book), and in some official events such as the Olympics or the reigns of the monarchs
• Roman numerals are an elegant and historical way of representing numbers and are a testimony to the ancient Roman Empire.