Ancient Egypt is one of the very firstcultures of world history. This civilization originated in the territory of Northeast Africa. As the researchers believe, the word "Egypt" comes from the ancient Greek "Ayguptos", which translated means "mystery, mystery". Historians believe that the ancient Egyptian state arose from the city of Hat-ka-Ptakh, which the Greeks later gave the name "Memphis". The people of ancient Egypt themselves called their country by the color of the soil - “Ta Kemet”. In translation, this phrase meant "Black Earth".
How did the settlements in the Nile Valley appear?
People lived here long before it was formed.a single state in ancient Egypt. It is believed that the first local settlements belong to the Paleolithic era. Researchers have found the remains of the sites of primitive hunters here. Flocks of predators growing along the banks of the Nile of acacia, insects - this is how the inhospitable ancient savanna met the first people. It is believed that they were forced to migrate to the Nile Valley due to the deterioration of natural conditions.
What was the valley of the Nile long before the emergence of a single state in ancient Egypt?
Egypt’s climate at the time was not so dry.like now. The melting of glaciers, which covered part of the European territory, ended quite recently. There were constant rains over the Nile Valley, wet winds were blowing. In the place where the vast desert is now, savannas used to stretch.
On the territory of the modern Sahara used to liveprimitive hunters of the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic period. It was after them that the first drawings of buffalo, elephant, and antelope were now known. These animals are not inhabitants of the desert. Another proof that the Nile Valley once was a savanna is a wadi. Vadi are dried river beds that once flowed into the Nile.
The onset of drought and the relocation of tribes
By the beginning of the V millennium BC. e.the climate is becoming more arid. Wet winds calm down. Slowly the savanna begins to turn into a desert. Hunting tribes at this time become pastoral, and more and more of their settlements are approaching the banks of the Nile.
In the V millennium BC. e.Neolithic representatives have not yet learned how to smelt copper. They used stone tools for hunting. Despite the fact that hunting and fishing are still the primary sources of food, at this time there is a primitive farming and animal husbandry. In late V - early IV millennium BC. e. The Copper Age originates - the Eneolithic era. At this time, the ancient inhabitants of the Nile Valley appear copper products, which they used in everyday life - beads, punctures. Irrigation canals are being constructed. However, hunting and fishing do not lose their role in the life of primitive people.
Noma - types of states
The next epoch before the singlea state in ancient Egypt, called the first pre-dynastic period. It belongs to the first half of the IV millennium BC. e. At this time, the main role is already beginning to play agriculture. Settlements increase in size, begin to unite and enclose walls. Copper is now used not only for the manufacture of household items and jewelry, but also for tools. In this era, objects made of gold appear for the first time.
К середине IV тысячелетия до н. э.the ancient Egyptians finally come to a settled way of life. Now the main role in ensuring the livelihoods of the villages is played by agriculture and cattle breeding. The tribal community is replaced by a neighbor community, and economic inequality arises. A small layer of slaves appears - prisoners captured in the process of constant clashes between settlements. Before the unification of ancient Egypt into a single state, the settlements were united in noma - closed centralized areas.
What was the community for?
These territorial entities were created onthe basis of tribal unions, which jointly created irrigation systems, entering into the struggle with the unmerciful forces of nature. Each nome, in fact, was a walled city in which there was its own temple, and where there was already its own government apparatus. Before a single state was formed in ancient Egypt, in the Nile Valley there were already about forty nomes.
Since the creation of irrigation systems requiredconsiderable effort, increasingly exacerbated the need for unification of nomov. So on the territory of the Nile Valley, two states appeared - Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt. These times are evidenced by pictures on slate plates. They depict scenes of war, related prisoners, theft of herds of cattle. A further war between the two unions eventually led to the victory of Upper Egypt. Thus ended the pre-dynastic period and the formation of a unified state began in ancient Egypt. The date that completes this era in history is 33 c. BC e.
What is known about the leaders of Lower and Upper Egypt?
About those rulers under whose authoritythis association took place, practically no information was left. Practically the only information is a few dozen ancient Egyptian names. It is also known that the rulers of Upper Egypt wore a white headdress, and the distinctive sign of the leaders of the Lower Egyptian nomov was the red crown. After the formation of a single state in ancient Egypt, the crown of red and white remained a symbol of power until the very end of antiquity in the Nile Valley.
The merger of states was long andbloody process. However, some researchers are convinced that some noma were united among themselves peacefully. It is believed that the center of the new state was one of the northern nomov. The ancient capital of a unified state in Egypt is the nom with the center in the city of Buto. The people who lived in the ancient Egyptian state that was formed, spoke Egyptian, which is now dead.
The late language of the Egyptians - kopsk - came along withArabic to the Middle Ages. Judging by the remaining drawings, the Egyptians were a dark-haired people of average height. They were slender, broad-shouldered people with straight hair. Images of women were painted yellow, men - in a brick shade.
