Enough of these cold, drafty old caves. Come into the time machine again, we're going on a little vacation to the place where the sun is hot, the palm trees flourish, and the people are oh so tan.
...No, we're not going to Southern California, why would you think that?
We're going... To Egypt!
...No, we're not going to Southern California, why would you think that?
We're going... To Egypt!
(Image from this article: http://www.allhotnewz.info/2011/08/18/pyramid-of-djoser-might-be-destroyed/)
Here we are, nice warm Egypt. Around 2,600-2,450 B.C. Egypt to be exact. Oh look, there's Djoser's (Zoser's) Mastaba! This is much better than cold grey rocks, these are hot, blindingly bright rocks! Don't look directly at it, the limestone surface reflects the sun. This structure is five Mastabas (slabs) stacked. This building was made by the first Egyptian architect, Imhotep. He was so proud of his accomplishment he carved his name on the inside of this Mastaba.
Oh look, more pyramids!
(Image from http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Colorful-Sunset-Silhouetting-Men-and-Camels-at-the-Great-Pyramids-of-Giza-Egypt-Posters_i3170727_.htm)
There lie the three pyramids of Giza: Khufu's, Khafre's, and Manakaure's. Khufu's pyramid is the biggest in all of Giza! The pyramid is 755 feet long at the base- wow, talk about a luxurious grave! And it was perfectly proportioned too! Nothing less for the pharaoh, I suppose.
(Image from this article: http://guardians.net/hawass/articles/news_on_the_robot_Dec_2005.htm)
Here is the layout of Khufu's pyramid. Not quite as confusing inside with a map, is it? Unfortunately many raiders didn't have this handy map, and ended up lost or in a trap. They were probably all men. If they had just asked for directions they wouldn't have ended up in that pit full of scorpions at the second turn to the right...
WHAT IS THAT!?
(Image from http://www.guardians.net/egypt/sphinx/)
Oh, okay, just a statue of a sphinx. Oh, this is THE Sphinx! It's the 240 foot long and 66 foot tall Sphinx to be exact. This is the statue of Khafre, the guard of the pyramids of Giza, the Micheal Jackson of the Middle East! ...Well not really that last part, but you'll understand some day. In the future some historian decided to cut this great beast's nose off to document it. I don't know why he would do that or why anyone let him, but believe me, this lion looks a lot better without it.
Oh look, there are some actual breathing sphinxes over there!
The statue one is a guard because, well, it's hard to get real sphinxes to stay in one place. The statue is only a human and a lion, but in most mythology sphinxes were like these, half-woman, half-lion, with the wings of a large bird. They're very scary predators and they never sleep. Ever.
(Image from http://www.bestourism.com/items/di/641?title=Abu-Simbel&b=102)
Moving on now, here we are at Abu Simbel! The front entrance has four statues of Pharaoh Ramses II. Under him at the sides of his legs are Nefetari, his favorite wife, and his mother Mut-Tuy. The smaller statues are his first two sons Amun-her-khepeshef, Ramesses, and his first six daughters Bintanath, Baketmut, Nefertari, Meritamen, Nebettawy and Isetnofret. Talk about ego, look how big Ramses II is compared to everyone else in his family!
This entire temple was cut out of a mountain. A mountain which people later moved 200 feet to higher ground in 1968 A.D. so Lake Nasser didn't flood it when the Aswan High Dam was built. People and there rocks, pretty amazing, huh?
(Image from http://www.theathertons.info/2010/04/interior-of-the-small-temple-httpwww-theathertons-infowp-contentuploads201004abu_simbel_16-480x332-jpgat-abu-simbel-part-1/)
Here is the inside of the Abu Simbel temple. The entire temple is filled with amazing architecture, many sculptures, a lot of artwork, and many hieroglyphics. This temple was built so that 61 days before and after the Winter Solstice the sun would go through the sanctuary and light up the sculptures (all except for Ptah, the god of the Underworld). No one is sure why it was built to do this on these two dates, but some think that it's the days of Ramses II's birthday and his coronation day.
Well, we've spent enough time on Ramses II's ego, let's go to another pharaoh. This one is very well-known in the modern world.
Oh, okay, just a statue of a sphinx. Oh, this is THE Sphinx! It's the 240 foot long and 66 foot tall Sphinx to be exact. This is the statue of Khafre, the guard of the pyramids of Giza, the Micheal Jackson of the Middle East! ...Well not really that last part, but you'll understand some day. In the future some historian decided to cut this great beast's nose off to document it. I don't know why he would do that or why anyone let him, but believe me, this lion looks a lot better without it.
Oh look, there are some actual breathing sphinxes over there!
The statue one is a guard because, well, it's hard to get real sphinxes to stay in one place. The statue is only a human and a lion, but in most mythology sphinxes were like these, half-woman, half-lion, with the wings of a large bird. They're very scary predators and they never sleep. Ever.
(Image from http://www.bestourism.com/items/di/641?title=Abu-Simbel&b=102)
Moving on now, here we are at Abu Simbel! The front entrance has four statues of Pharaoh Ramses II. Under him at the sides of his legs are Nefetari, his favorite wife, and his mother Mut-Tuy. The smaller statues are his first two sons Amun-her-khepeshef, Ramesses, and his first six daughters Bintanath, Baketmut, Nefertari, Meritamen, Nebettawy and Isetnofret. Talk about ego, look how big Ramses II is compared to everyone else in his family!
This entire temple was cut out of a mountain. A mountain which people later moved 200 feet to higher ground in 1968 A.D. so Lake Nasser didn't flood it when the Aswan High Dam was built. People and there rocks, pretty amazing, huh?
(Image from http://www.theathertons.info/2010/04/interior-of-the-small-temple-httpwww-theathertons-infowp-contentuploads201004abu_simbel_16-480x332-jpgat-abu-simbel-part-1/)
Here is the inside of the Abu Simbel temple. The entire temple is filled with amazing architecture, many sculptures, a lot of artwork, and many hieroglyphics. This temple was built so that 61 days before and after the Winter Solstice the sun would go through the sanctuary and light up the sculptures (all except for Ptah, the god of the Underworld). No one is sure why it was built to do this on these two dates, but some think that it's the days of Ramses II's birthday and his coronation day.
Well, we've spent enough time on Ramses II's ego, let's go to another pharaoh. This one is very well-known in the modern world.
(Image from http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2577/4055630519_bfc916c0de.jpg)
I present to you... KING TUT! Tutankhamun, although famous now, may not have been a very great ruler in his time. He died at the age of 19, after only around 10 years of being Pharaoh. He is famous in my time because his tomb was the only one found relatively untouched by raiders. There were over 5,000 artifacts, food, and art found in his tomb. Honey, gold, jewels, and even his body were found in his tomb!
(Image from http://ambassadors.net/archives/images/King_Tut_face_tomb.jpg)
Here's a picture of Tut from a little before my time! Poor guy's getting an MRI.
It is believed he had many genetic problems because he was the child of incest. It is known that the mummy of King Tut had malaria in his system as well as a broken leg that lead to infection. Well, now that we're back here when he was alive maybe we should ask him how he died? ...Oh, wait...
Now onto a prettier subject.
(Image from http://madameguillotine.org.uk/2012/01/30/a-dread-and-terrible-queen-the-bust-of-nefertiti/)
I present to you The Bust of Nefertiti! Nefertiti was famed to be the most beautiful woman in Egypt- can't you see her influence? All the women around here get her haircut! She was a queen, and the wife of Akhenaten. The two of them created their own cult worshiping, strangely for that time, only one god: Aten the sun disc. Their cult got pretty popular, maybe because you didn't have to keep track of so many weird names or make sacrifices to ALL the gods!
(Image found here http://arthistoryresources.net/menkaure/menkaure-statue.html)
This is the statue of Menkaure and His Queen. They are both extending their left foot forward, into the afterlife. Menkaure is probably carrying a coffin of some sort. This is not the only statue of its kind, there are a few others in the same pose.
Oh look, a balloon! Let's go follow it!
(Image from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/egypt/luxor-colossi-of-memnon.htm)
Hey, I think I found something else the professor might like! This statue is the Colossi of Memnon! Another great feat of art and architecture, this statue actually makes a moaning sound at dawn and dusk. He is greeting and saying farewell to his mother, Eos the dawn goddess. Unfortunately in 200 A.D. a Roman emperor made the statues shut up.
Here's a picture of Tut from a little before my time! Poor guy's getting an MRI.
It is believed he had many genetic problems because he was the child of incest. It is known that the mummy of King Tut had malaria in his system as well as a broken leg that lead to infection. Well, now that we're back here when he was alive maybe we should ask him how he died? ...Oh, wait...
Now onto a prettier subject.
(Image from http://madameguillotine.org.uk/2012/01/30/a-dread-and-terrible-queen-the-bust-of-nefertiti/)
I present to you The Bust of Nefertiti! Nefertiti was famed to be the most beautiful woman in Egypt- can't you see her influence? All the women around here get her haircut! She was a queen, and the wife of Akhenaten. The two of them created their own cult worshiping, strangely for that time, only one god: Aten the sun disc. Their cult got pretty popular, maybe because you didn't have to keep track of so many weird names or make sacrifices to ALL the gods!
(Image found here http://arthistoryresources.net/menkaure/menkaure-statue.html)
This is the statue of Menkaure and His Queen. They are both extending their left foot forward, into the afterlife. Menkaure is probably carrying a coffin of some sort. This is not the only statue of its kind, there are a few others in the same pose.
Oh look, a balloon! Let's go follow it!
(Image from http://www.sacred-destinations.com/egypt/luxor-colossi-of-memnon.htm)
Hey, I think I found something else the professor might like! This statue is the Colossi of Memnon! Another great feat of art and architecture, this statue actually makes a moaning sound at dawn and dusk. He is greeting and saying farewell to his mother, Eos the dawn goddess. Unfortunately in 200 A.D. a Roman emperor made the statues shut up.
(Image from http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/writing/rosetta.html)
Now this is important. The Rosetta Stone, the reason why we know so much about ancient Egypt in the future. This stone made it possible to read the two different languages of Egyptian. They were translated with ancient Greek on this stone. Because of this, we are able to read the records and everything from ancient Egypt and understand their culture and history.
(Image from http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/schools/primaryhistory/images/worldhistory/rosetta_stone/rosetta_stone_hieroglyphs.jpg)
(Left image from http://www.xtimeline.com/evt/view.aspx?id=143413)
(Right image from http://irnustian.com/2011/06/creation-of-earth-and-sky-and-the-birth-of-adam/)
Just as an artistic reference for later, this is the Canon of Proportion. On the left is ancient Egypt's canon while on the right is the anatomically accurate one used in my time. In ancient Egypt the body was measured in fists, while now it is measured in heads. The Egyptian version is not anatomically accurate, but it is stylized on purpose, the image is instantly recognizable. The differences in art from time to time and place to place are amazing.
Well, I think I've got all the information I need for the professor. And just in time, too. I see a sandstorm brewing, we'd better get back into the time machine, and quick!
