1.
Egyptian dynasties
–
In Ancient Egyptian history, dynasties are series of rulers sharing a common origin who are usually of the same family. Ancient Egypts historical period is divided into thirty-one pharaonic dynasties. The thirty-first dynastys name is not due to Manetho and is a later coining, while widely used and useful, the system does have its shortcomings. Some dynasties only ruled part of Egypt and existed concurrently with other dynasties based in other cities. The Seventh might not have existed at all, the Tenth seems to be a continuation of the Ninth and this page lists articles on dynasties of Ancient Egypt. The cities in power was held during these dynasties follow their names
Egyptian dynasties
2.
Ancient Egypt
–
Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. It is one of six civilizations to arise independently, Egyptian civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh Narmer. In the aftermath of Alexander the Greats death, one of his generals, Ptolemy Soter and this Greek Ptolemaic Kingdom ruled Egypt until 30 BC, when, under Cleopatra, it fell to the Roman Empire and became a Roman province. The success of ancient Egyptian civilization came partly from its ability to adapt to the conditions of the Nile River valley for agriculture, the predictable flooding and controlled irrigation of the fertile valley produced surplus crops, which supported a more dense population, and social development and culture. Its art and architecture were widely copied, and its antiquities carried off to far corners of the world and its monumental ruins have inspired the imaginations of travelers and writers for centuries. The Nile has been the lifeline of its region for much of human history, nomadic modern human hunter-gatherers began living in the Nile valley through the end of the Middle Pleistocene some 120,000 years ago. By the late Paleolithic period, the climate of Northern Africa became increasingly hot and dry. In Predynastic and Early Dynastic times, the Egyptian climate was less arid than it is today. Large regions of Egypt were covered in treed savanna and traversed by herds of grazing ungulates, foliage and fauna were far more prolific in all environs and the Nile region supported large populations of waterfowl. Hunting would have been common for Egyptians, and this is also the period when many animals were first domesticated. The largest of these cultures in upper Egypt was the Badari, which probably originated in the Western Desert, it was known for its high quality ceramics, stone tools. The Badari was followed by the Amratian and Gerzeh cultures, which brought a number of technological improvements, as early as the Naqada I Period, predynastic Egyptians imported obsidian from Ethiopia, used to shape blades and other objects from flakes. In Naqada II times, early evidence exists of contact with the Near East, particularly Canaan, establishing a power center at Hierakonpolis, and later at Abydos, Naqada III leaders expanded their control of Egypt northwards along the Nile. They also traded with Nubia to the south, the oases of the desert to the west. Royal Nubian burials at Qustul produced artifacts bearing the oldest-known examples of Egyptian dynastic symbols, such as the crown of Egypt. They also developed a ceramic glaze known as faience, which was used well into the Roman Period to decorate cups, amulets, and figurines. During the last predynastic phase, the Naqada culture began using written symbols that eventually were developed into a system of hieroglyphs for writing the ancient Egyptian language. The Early Dynastic Period was approximately contemporary to the early Sumerian-Akkadian civilisation of Mesopotamia, the third-century BC Egyptian priest Manetho grouped the long line of pharaohs from Menes to his own time into 30 dynasties, a system still used today
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Great Sphinx and the
pyramids of Giza are among the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt.
Ancient Egypt
–
A typical Naqada II jar decorated with gazelles. (Predynastic Period)
Ancient Egypt
–
The
Narmer Palette depicts the unification of the Two Lands.
3.
Roman Empire
–
Civil wars and executions continued, culminating in the victory of Octavian, Caesars adopted son, over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and the annexation of Egypt. Octavians power was then unassailable and in 27 BC the Roman Senate formally granted him overarching power, the imperial period of Rome lasted approximately 1,500 years compared to the 500 years of the Republican era. The first two centuries of the empires existence were a period of unprecedented political stability and prosperity known as the Pax Romana, following Octavians victory, the size of the empire was dramatically increased. After the assassination of Caligula in 41, the senate briefly considered restoring the republic, under Claudius, the empire invaded Britannia, its first major expansion since Augustus. Vespasian emerged triumphant in 69, establishing the Flavian dynasty, before being succeeded by his son Titus and his short reign was followed by the long reign of his brother Domitian, who was eventually assassinated. The senate then appointed the first of the Five Good Emperors, the empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan, the second in this line. A period of increasing trouble and decline began with the reign of Commodus, Commodus assassination in 192 triggered the Year of the Five Emperors, of which Septimius Severus emerged victorious. The assassination of Alexander Severus in 235 led to the Crisis of the Third Century in which 26 men were declared emperor by the Roman Senate over a time span. It was not until the reign of Diocletian that the empire was fully stabilized with the introduction of the Tetrarchy, which saw four emperors rule the empire at once. This arrangement was unsuccessful, leading to a civil war that was finally ended by Constantine I. Constantine subsequently shifted the capital to Byzantium, which was renamed Constantinople in his honour and it remained the capital of the east until its demise. Constantine also adopted Christianity which later became the state religion of the empire. However, Augustulus was never recognized by his Eastern colleague, and separate rule in the Western part of the empire ceased to exist upon the death of Julius Nepos. The Eastern Roman Empire endured for another millennium, eventually falling to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, the Roman Empire was among the most powerful economic, cultural, political and military forces in the world of its time. It was one of the largest empires in world history, at its height under Trajan, it covered 5 million square kilometres. It held sway over an estimated 70 million people, at that time 21% of the entire population. Throughout the European medieval period, attempts were made to establish successors to the Roman Empire, including the Empire of Romania, a Crusader state. Rome had begun expanding shortly after the founding of the republic in the 6th century BC, then, it was an empire long before it had an emperor
Roman Empire
–
The
Augustus of Prima Porta (early 1st century AD)
Roman Empire
–
Aureus of
Augustus, the first
Roman Emperor.
Roman Empire
–
A segment of the ruins of Hadrian's Wall in northern England
Roman Empire
–
A 5th-century
papyrus showing a parallel Latin-Greek text of a speech by
Cicero
4.
Ancient Roman units of measurement
–
The ancient Roman units of measurement were largely built on the Hellenic system, which in turn was built upon Egyptian and Mesopotamian influences. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented, the basic unit of Roman linear measurement was the pes or Roman foot. Investigation of its relation to the English foot goes back at least to 1647, an accepted modern value is 296 mm. The Roman foot was sub-divided either like the Greek pous into 16 digiti or fingers, frontinus writes in the 1st century AD that the digitus was used in Campania and most parts of Italy. Columella also gives uncial divisions of the jugerum, tabulated by the translator of the 1745 Millar edition as follows, Both liquid. As no two surviving examples are identical, scholarly opinion ranges from 530 ml to 580 ml. Cardarelli gives a value 549.28 ml. A1952 estimate for its value in Pliny the Elders Natural History estimated it as 500 ml.3 ml, which falls comfortably within the accepted range. The core volume units are, amphora quadrantal – one cubic pes congius – a half-pes cube sextarius – literally 1⁄6, of a congius The units of weight or mass were mostly based on factors of 12. Several of the names were also the names of coins during the Roman Republic and had the same fractional value of a larger base unit, libra for weight. Modern estimates of the range from 322 to 329 g with 5076 grains or 328.9 g an accepted figure. The as was reduced from 12 ounces to 2 after the First Punic War, to 1 during the Second Punic War, the divisions of the libra were, The subdivisions of the uncia were, The complicated Roman calendar was replaced by the Julian calendar in 45 BC. In the Julian calendar, a year is 365 days long. Between 45 BC and AD1, leap years occurred at irregular intervals, starting in AD4, leap years occurred regularly every four years. Year numbers were used, rather, the year was specified by naming the Roman consuls for that year. When a year number was required, the Greek Olympiads were used, or the count of years since the founding of Rome, in the middle ages, the year numbering was changed to the Anno Domini count. The Romans grouped days into a cycle called a nundina. Each astrological day was reckoned to begin at sunrise, the Jews also used a seven-day week, which began Saturday evening. The seventh day of the week they called Sabbath, the days they numbered rather than named, except for Friday
Ancient Roman units of measurement
–
Bronze modius measure (4th century AD) with inscription acknowledging Imperial regulation of weights and measures
5.
Ancient Greek units of measurement
–
Ancient Greek units of measurement varied according to location and epoch. Systems of ancient weights and measures evolved as needs changed, Solon, some units of measurement were found to be convenient for trade within the Mediterranean region and these units became increasingly common to different city states. The calibration and use of measuring devices became more sophisticated, by about 500 BC, Athens had a central depository of official weights and measures, the Tholos, where merchants were required to test their measuring devices against official standards. Some Greek measures of length were named after parts of the body, such as the δάκτυλος or finger, a common unit in both measures throughout historic Greece was the cotyle or cotyla whose absolute value varied from one place to another between 210 ml and 330 ml. The basic unit for both solid and liquid measures was the κύαθος, thus for example the English pound has been both a unit of weight and a unit of currency. Greek weights similarly bear a resemblance to Greek currency yet the origin of the Greek standards of weights is often disputed. The Attic/Euboean standard was based on the barley corn, of which there were supposedly twelve to one obol. However, weights that have been retrieved by historians and archeologists show considerable variations from theoretical standards, a table of standards derived from theory is as follows, Athenians measured the day by sundials and unit fractions. Periods during night or day were measured by a clock that dripped at a steady rate. Whereas the day in the Gregorian calendar commences after midnight, the Greek day began after sunset, Athenians named each year after the Archon Eponymos for that year, and in Hellenistic times years were reckoned in quadrennial epochs according to the Olympiad. In archaic and early classical Greece, months followed the cycle of the Moon which made them not fit exactly into the length of the solar year, thus, if not corrected, the same month would migrate slowly into different seasons of the year. The Athenian year was divided into 12 months, with one month being inserted between the sixth and seventh months every second year. Even with this intercalary month, the Athenian or Attic calendar was still fairly inaccurate, Greek and Roman Weights, Measures and Currency. Archived from the original on 6 August 2007, online Conversion of Ancient Greek Units
Ancient Greek units of measurement
–
Neck amphora depicting an athlete running the
hoplitodromos by the Berlin Painter, ca. 480 BC, Louvre.
Ancient Greek units of measurement
–
An obol, Attica, Athens, weighing 0.69 g After 449 BC
Ancient Greek units of measurement
–
This section of a frieze from the
Elgin Marbles shows a cavalry procession that was part of the quadrennial Greater Panathenaic festival, always held in the month Hekatombion.
6.
Byzantine units of measurement
–
Byzantine units of measurement were a combination and modification of the ancient Greek and Roman units of measurement used in the Byzantine Empire. Until the reign of Justinian I, no system of units of measurement existed in the Byzantine world. Justinian began the process of standardization that resulted in a specifically Byzantine system, official measurement and weighing was performed subject to an array of charges including the mestikon, miniatikon, zygastikon, kambaniatikon, gomariatikon, and samariatikon. In addition, from the 12th century, foreign merchants such as the Venetians, Pisans, the Byzantine Empire continued to employ the anthropometric units used by the Greeks and Romans. Weights and measures acts were undertaken by the emperors as forms of tax reform. The ordinary units used for land measurement were Greek, the ordinary units used for liquid measurement were mostly Roman, The ordinary units used for measurement of weight or mass were mostly Roman, based on the late Roman pound. This has been reconstructed on the basis of legislation of Constantine the Great in AD309 establishing 72 gold solidi to the pound. As the early solidi weighed 4.55 g, the pound was therefore 0.3276 kg at the time. The solidus was repeatedly debased, however, implying average pounds of 0.324 kg,0.322 kg,0.320 kg,0.319 kg, model weights were made in lead, bronze, and glass and from gold and silver. In the second half of the 6th century, these were replaced by discs until at least the early 9th century, the glass weights had numerous advantages in manufacture and use but seem to have disappeared following the loss of the empires Syrian and Egyptian provinces in the 7th century. Analysis of the thousands of surviving model weights strongly suggest multiple local weight standards in the Byzantine Empire before the Arab conquests, under Justinian, the weights of currency were administered by the comes sacrarum largitionum and commodity weights by the praetorian prefect and eparch of the city. Greek units Roman units Davis, Siriol, Pylos Regional Archaeological Project, Part VI, Administration and Settlement in Venetian Navarino, entwistle, Christopher, Byzantine Weights, The Economic History of Byzantium, From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century, Washington, Dumbarton Oaks. Krumbacher, Karl, ed. Byzantinische Zeitschrift, Vol. XCI, De Gruyter, Byzantine Measures, Digital Humanities, Diophant Ancient Measures Converter, retrieved 6 April 2015. Prices and Wages in the Byzantine World, The Economic History of Byzantium, From the Seventh through the Fifteenth Century, Washington, Dumbarton Oaks, the Book of the Eparch, London. Porter, H. Sabbath Days Journey, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, pryce, Frederick Norman, et al. measures, The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th ed. Oxford, Oxford University Press, p.917, ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8. Schilbach, Erich, Pletron, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford, Oxford University Press, smith, William, Uncia, A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p.1213
Byzantine units of measurement
–
The excavated remains of the
Milion zero-mile marker in
Istanbul (the former
Constantinople).
Byzantine units of measurement
–
The Yassiada reconstruction in
Bodrum 's Museum of Underwater Archaeology, loaded with replica Byzantine
amphorae
Byzantine units of measurement
–
Five bronze commodity weights
Byzantine units of measurement
–
Bronze
steelyard weights were often in the shape of a Byzantine empress
7.
Alexander the Great
–
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty and he was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of historys most successful military commanders. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16, after Philips assassination in 336 BC, he succeeded his father to the throne and inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his fathers Panhellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia, in 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Following the conquest of Anatolia, Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of battles, most notably the battles of Issus. He subsequently overthrew Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety, at that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He sought to reach the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea and invaded India in 326 BC and he eventually turned back at the demand of his homesick troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexanders surviving generals, Alexanders legacy includes the cultural diffusion which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt, Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and he is often ranked among the most influential people in human history. He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his wife, Olympias. Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his wife for some time. Several legends surround Alexanders birth and childhood, sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wifes womb with a seal engraved with a lions image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations of dreams, that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and it was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception
Alexander the Great
–
"Alexander fighting king
Darius III of Persia ",
Alexander Mosaic,
Naples National Archaeological Museum.
Alexander the Great
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Bust of a young Alexander the Great from the Hellenistic era,
British Museum
Alexander the Great
–
Aristotle tutoring Alexander, by
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Alexander the Great
–
Philip II of Macedon, Alexander's father.
8.
Achaemenid Empire
–
The Achaemenid Empire, also called the Persian Empire, was an empire based in Western Asia, founded by Cyrus the Great. The empires successes inspired similar systems in later empires and it is noted in Western history as the antagonist of the Greek city-states during the Greco-Persian Wars and for the emancipation of the Jewish exiles in Babylon. The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was built in a Hellenistic style in the empire as well. By the 7th century BC, the Persians had settled in the portion of the Iranian Plateau in the region of Persis. From this region, Cyrus the Great advanced to defeat the Medes, Lydia, Alexander, an avid admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered the empire in its entirety by 330 BC. Upon his death, most of the former territory came under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire. The Persian population of the central plateau reclaimed power by the second century BC under the Parthian Empire, the historical mark of the Achaemenid Empire went far beyond its territorial and military influences and included cultural, social, technological and religious influences as well. Many Athenians adopted Achaemenid customs in their lives in a reciprocal cultural exchange. The impact of Cyruss edict is mentioned in Judeo-Christian texts, the empire also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Iran. Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details Due to the duration of their reigns, Smerdis, Xerxes II. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here, the Pasargadae, Maraphii, and Maspii, upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished, they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii, all of which are attached to the soil, the Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians. The Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire, as by 6th century BC another group of ancient Iranian peoples had established the short lived Median Empire. The Iranian peoples had arrived in the region of what is today Iran c.1000 BC and had for a number of centuries fallen under the domination of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, based in northern Mesopotamia. However, the Medes and Persians, Cimmerians, Persians and Chaldeans played a role in the overthrow of the Assyrian empire. The term Achaemenid means of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes, despite the derivation of the name, Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria. At some point in 550 BC, Cyrus rose in rebellion against the Medes, eventually conquering the Medes and creating the first Persian empire
Achaemenid Empire
–
Standard of Cyrus the Great
Achaemenid Empire
–
Relief of
Cyrus the Great.
Achaemenid Empire
–
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus one of the
Seven wonders of the ancient world was built by Persian satrap of
Caria,
Mausolus (Scale model.)
9.
Diadochi
–
The Diadochi were the rival generals, families and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period, an army on campaign changes its leadership at any level frequently for replacement of casualties and distribution of talent to the current operations. The institution of the Hetairoi gave the Macedonian army a flexible capability in this regard, there were no fixed ranks of Hetairoi, except as the term meant a special unit of cavalry. The Hetairoi were simply a pool of de facto general officers, without any or with changing de jure rank. They were typically from the nobility, many related to Alexander, a parallel flexible structure in the Persian army facilitated combined units. Staff meetings to adjust command structure were nearly a daily event in Alexanders army and they created an ongoing expectation among the Hetairoi of receiving an important and powerful command, if only for a short term. At the moment of Alexanders death, all possibilities were suddenly suspended, the Hetairoi vanished with Alexander, to be replaced instantaneously by the Diadochi, men who knew where they had stood, but not where they would stand now. As there had no definite ranks or positions of Hetairoi. They expected appointments, but without Alexander they would have to make their own, for purposes of this presentation, the Diadochi are grouped by their rank and social standing at the time of Alexanders death. These were their initial positions as Diadochi and they are not necessarily significant or determinative of what happened next. In Hellenistic times the title Diadoch was actually the lowest in a system of official rank titles and it was first used in the 19th century to denote the immediate successors of Alexander. Craterus was an infantry and naval commander under Alexander during his conquest of Persia, after the revolt of his army at Opis on the Tigris River in 324, Alexander ordered Craterus to command the veterans as they returned home to Macedonia. When Craeterus arrived at Cilicia in 323 BC, news reached him of Alexanders death, though his distance from Babylon prevented him from participating in the distribution of power, Craterus hastened to Macedonia to assume the protection of Alexanders family. The news of Alexanders death caused the Greeks to rebel in the Lamian War, Craeterus and Antipater defeated the rebellion in 322 BC. Despite his absence, the gathered at Babylon confirmed Craterus as Guardian of the Royal Family. However, with the family in Babylon, the Regent Perdiccas assumed this responsibility until the royal household could return to Macedonia. Antipater was an adviser to King Philip II, Alexanders father, when Alexander left Macedon to conquer Persia in 334 BC, Antipater was named Regent of Macedon and General of Greece in Alexanders absence. In 323 BC, Craterus was ordered by Alexander to march his veterans back to Macedon, Alexanders death that year, however, prevented the order from being carried out
Diadochi
–
Bust of
Seleucus Nicator ("Victor";
c. 358 – 281 BC), the last of the original Diadochi.
10.
Ptolemy I Soter
–
Ptolemy I Soter I, also known as Ptolemy Lagides, was a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great, one of the three Diadochi who succeeded to his empire. Ptolemy became ruler of Egypt and founded a dynasty which ruled it for the three centuries, turning Egypt into a Hellenistic kingdom and Alexandria into a center of Greek culture. He assimilated some aspects of Egyptian culture, however, assuming the title pharaoh in 305/4 BC. The use of the title of pharaoh was often situational, pharaoh was used for an Egyptian audience, like all Macedonian nobles, Ptolemy I Soter claimed descent from Heracles, the mythical founder of the Argead dynasty that ruled Macedon. Ptolemy was one of Alexanders most trusted generals, and was among the seven somatophylakes attached to his person and he was a few years older than Alexander and had been his intimate friend since childhood. He was succeeded by his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Ptolemy served with Alexander from his first campaigns, and played a principal part in the later campaigns in Afghanistan and India. Ptolemy had his first independent command during the campaign against the rebel Bessus whom Ptolemy captured and handed over to Alexander for execution. During Alexanders campaign in the Indian subcontinent Ptolemy was in command of the guard at the siege of Aornos. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Ptolemy is said to have instigated the resettlement of the made at Babylon. Ptolemy quickly moved, without authorization, to subjugate Cyrenaica, by custom, kings in Macedonia asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Ptolemy then openly joined the coalition against Perdiccas, Perdiccas appears to have suspected Ptolemy of aiming for the throne himself, and may have decided that Ptolemy was his most dangerous rival. Ptolemy executed Cleomenes for spying on behalf of Perdiccas — this removed the check on his authority. In 321 BC, Perdiccas attempted to invade Egypt only to fall at the hands of his own men, Ptolemys decision to defend the Nile against Perdiccass attempt to force it ended in fiasco for Perdiccas, with the loss of 2000 men. This failure was a blow to Perdiccas reputation, and he was murdered in his tent by two of his subordinates. Ptolemy immediately crossed the Nile, to provide supplies to what had the day before been an enemy army, Ptolemy was offered the regency in place of Perdiccas, but he declined. Ptolemy was consistent in his policy of securing a power base and his first occupation of Syria was in 318, and he established at the same time a protectorate over the petty kings of Cyprus. When Antigonus One-Eye, master of Asia in 315, showed dangerous ambitions, Ptolemy joined the coalition against him, in Cyprus, he fought the partisans of Antigonus, and re-conquered the island. A revolt in Cyrene was crushed the same year, in 312, Ptolemy and Seleucus, the fugitive satrap of Babylonia, both invaded Syria, and defeated Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, in the Battle of Gaza
Ptolemy I Soter
–
Bust of Ptolemy I in the
Louvre Museum
Ptolemy I Soter
–
Ptolemy as Pharaoh of Egypt, British Museum,
London.
Ptolemy I Soter
–
The taking of Jerusalem by Ptolemy Soter ca. 320 BC, by
Jean Fouquet.
Ptolemy I Soter
–
A rare coin of Ptolemy I, a reminder of his successful campaigns with Alexander in India. Obv: Ptolemy in profile at the beginning of his reign. Rev: Alexander triumphantly riding a chariot drawn by elephants.
11.
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a Hellenistic kingdom based in Egypt. Alexandria became the city and a major center of Greek culture. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace, they named themselves the successors to the Pharaohs, the later Ptolemies took on Egyptian traditions by marrying their siblings, had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participated in Egyptian religious life. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars led to the decline of the kingdom. Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Egypt throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods until the Muslim conquest. The era of Ptolemaic reign in Egypt is one of the most well documented periods of the Hellenistic Era. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon invaded the Achaemenid satrapy of Egypt and he visited Memphis, and traveled to the oracle of Amun at the Oasis of Siwa. The oracle declared him to be the son of Amun, the wealth of Egypt could now be harnessed for Alexanders conquest of the rest of the Persian Empire. Early in 331 BC he was ready to depart, and led his forces away to Phoenicia and he left Cleomenes as the ruling nomarch to control Egypt in his absence. Following Alexanders death in Babylon in 323 BC, a crisis erupted among his generals. Perdiccas appointed Ptolemy, one of Alexanders closest companions, to be satrap of Egypt, Ptolemy ruled Egypt from 323 BC, nominally in the name of the joint kings Philip III and Alexander IV. However, as Alexander the Greats empire disintegrated, Ptolemy soon established himself as ruler in his own right, Ptolemy successfully defended Egypt against an invasion by Perdiccas in 321 BC, and consolidated his position in Egypt and the surrounding areas during the Wars of the Diadochi. In 305 BC, Ptolemy took the title of King, as Ptolemy I Soter, he founded the Ptolemaic dynasty that was to rule Egypt for nearly 300 years. All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy, while princesses and queens preferred the names Cleopatra, Arsinoe and Berenice. Because the Ptolemaic kings adopted the Egyptian custom of marrying their sisters, many of the kings ruled jointly with their spouses and this custom made Ptolemaic politics confusingly incestuous, and the later Ptolemies were increasingly feeble. The only Ptolemaic Queens to officially rule on their own were Berenice III, Cleopatra V did co-rule, but it was with another female, Berenice IV. Cleopatra VII officially co-ruled with Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, Ptolemy XIV, and Ptolemy XV, upper Egypt, farthest from the centre of government, was less immediately affected, even though Ptolemy I established the Greek colony of Ptolemais Hermiou to be its capital. But within a century Greek influence had spread through the country, nevertheless, the Greeks always remained a privileged minority in Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
Eagle of Zeus
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
Bust of
Ptolemy I Soter, king of Egypt (305 BC–282 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
A bust depicting King
Ptolemy II Philadelphus 309–246 BCE
12.
Early Dynastic Period of Egypt
–
The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt is the era immediately following the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt c.3100 BC. It is generally taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from the end of the Naqada III archaeological period until about 2686 BC, with the First Dynasty, the capital moved from Thinis to Memphis with a unified Egypt ruled by an Egyptian god-king. Abydos remained the holy land in the south. The hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilization, such as art, architecture and many aspects of religion, before the unification of Egypt, the land was settled with autonomous villages. With the early dynasties, and for much of Egypts history thereafter, the pharaohs established a national administration and appointed royal governors. The buildings of the government were typically open-air temples constructed of wood or sandstone. The earliest Egyptian hieroglyphs appear just before this period, though little is known of the language they represent. By about 3600 BC, neolithic Egyptian societies along the Nile had based their culture on the raising of crops, shortly after 3600 BC Egyptian society began to grow and advance rapidly toward refined civilization. A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the pottery in the Southern Levant, extensive use of copper became common during this time. The Mesopotamian process of sun-dried bricks, and architectural building principles—including the use of the arch, concurrent with these cultural advances, a process of unification of the societies and towns of the upper Nile River, or Upper Egypt, occurred. At the same time the societies of the Nile Delta, or Lower Egypt also underwent a unification process, warfare between Upper and Lower Egypt occurred often. During his reign in Upper Egypt, King Narmer defeated his enemies on the Delta, in mythology, the unification of Egypt is portrayed as the falcon-god, called Horus and identified with Lower Egypt, as conquering and subduing the god Set, who was identified with Upper Egypt. Divine kingship, which would persist in Egypt for the next three millennia, was established as the basis of Egypts government. The unification of societies along the Nile has also linked to the drying of the Sahara. Funeral practices for the peasants would have been the same as in predynastic times, thus, the Egyptians began construction of the mastabas which became models for the later Old Kingdom constructions such as the Step pyramid. Cereal agriculture and centralization contributed to the success of the state for the next 800 years and this would last for many centuries. It was also during this period that the Egyptian writing system was further developed, initially Egyptian writing had been composed primarily of a few symbols denoting amounts of various substances. By the end of the 3rd dynasty it had expanded to include more than 200 symbols
Early Dynastic Period of Egypt
–
A plate created during the Early Dynastic period of Ancient Egypt. It depicts a man on a boat alongside a
Hippopotamus and a
Crocodile
Early Dynastic Period of Egypt
–
Flag
13.
Palermo stone
–
The Palermo Stone is one of seven surviving fragments of a stele known as the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. The stele contained a list of the kings of Egypt from the First Dynasty through to the part of the Fifth Dynasty. It was probably made during the Fifth dynasty, the Palermo Stone is held in the Regional Archeological Museum Antonio Salinas in the city of Palermo, Italy, from which it derives its name. The term Palermo Stone is sometimes applied to all seven surviving fragments of the Royal Annals, including held in museums in Cairo. The fragments are also sometimes described collectively as the Cairo Annals Stone, the Royal Annals stele, of which the Palermo Stone formed part, may originally have been about 60 cm high and 2. 1m wide. The fragments are composed of a hard black stone, probably a form of basalt. The Palermo Stone itself is an irregular shield-shaped fragment,43.5 cm high,25 cm wide and 6.5 cm thick, the inscription on the front of the Palermo Stone consists of 6 horizontal bands or registers of hieroglyphic text running right to left. The first register lists the names of kings of Lower Egypt. The second register on the Palermo Stone begins with the final year entries for a king of the First Dynasty whose name is not preserved, but who is generally assumed to be either Narmer or Aha. The rest of the register is taken up with the first nine annual entries for this kings successor, who is again not named on the fragment. The remainder of the inscription on this continues with royal annals down to the kings of the Fourth Dynasty. The text continues on the back of the Palermo Stone, cataloguing events during the reigns of pharaohs down to Neferirkare Kakai, from the surviving fragments it is unclear whether the Royal Annals originally continued beyond this point in time. Where a king is named, the name of his mother is also recorded, such as Betrest mother of the First Dynasty king Semerkhet and Meresankh I mother of the Fourth Dynasty king Seneferu. Information recorded in the Royal Annals includes measurements of the height of the annual Nile flood, the Inundation, details of festivals, taxation, sculpture, buildings, the original location of the stele is unknown and none of the surviving fragments have a secure archeological provenance. One fragment now in Cairo is said to have found at an archaeological site at Memphis. No find site for the Palermo Stone itself has been suggested, the Palermo Stone was purchased by a Sicilian lawyer, Ferdinand Guidano, in 1859 and it has been in Palermo since 1866. On 19 October 1877, it was presented to the Palermo Archaeological Museum by the Guidano family, there are five fragments of the Royal Annals in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, four of which were acquired between 1895 and 1914. The fifth was purchased on the market in 1963
Palermo stone
–
The Palermo Stone, the fragment of the Egyptian Royal Annals housed in Palermo, Italy.
14.
Nile River
–
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It is generally regarded as the longest river in the world, in particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan. The Nile has two tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself, the Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa and it flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast, the two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Sudanese desert to Egypt, then ends in a large delta, Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, in the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥpī or Iteru, meaning river. In Coptic, the words piaro or phiaro meaning the river come from the ancient name. The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος, beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed. One possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning river, the standard English names White Nile and Blue Nile, to refer to the rivers source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum. Above Khartoum, the Nile is also known as the White Nile, at Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia, both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers, the source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, or the Nyabarongo, the two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the water of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop. The Nile leaves Lake Nyanza at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda and it flows north for some 130 kilometers, to Lake Kyoga. For the remaining part it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta
Nile River
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The river in Uganda
Nile River
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The Nile at
Dendera, as seen from the
SPOT satellite
Nile River
–
The Nile near
Beni Suef
Nile River
–
Composite satellite image of the White Nile.
15.
Pharaoh
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The word pharaoh ultimately derive from the Egyptian compound pr-ˤ3 great house, written with the two biliteral hieroglyphs pr house and ˤ3 column, here meaning great or high. It was used only in larger phrases such as smr pr-ˤ3 Courtier of the High House, with specific reference to the buildings of the court or palace. From the twelfth dynasty onward, the word appears in a wish formula Great House, may it live, prosper, and be in health, but again only with reference to the royal palace and not the person. During the reign of Thutmose III in the New Kingdom, after the rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period. During the eighteenth dynasty the title pharaoh was employed as a designation of the ruler. From the nineteenth dynasty onward pr-ˤ3 on its own was used as regularly as hm. f, the term, therefore, evolved from a word specifically referring to a building to a respectful designation for the ruler, particularly by the twenty-second dynasty and twenty-third dynasty. For instance, the first dated appearance of the pharaoh being attached to a rulers name occurs in Year 17 of Siamun on a fragment from the Karnak Priestly Annals. Here, an induction of an individual to the Amun priesthood is dated specifically to the reign of Pharaoh Siamun and this new practice was continued under his successor Psusennes II and the twenty-second dynasty kings. Shoshenq I was the successor of Siamun. Meanwhile, the old custom of referring to the sovereign simply as pr-ˤ3 continued in traditional Egyptian narratives, by this time, the Late Egyptian word is reconstructed to have been pronounced *par-ʕoʔ whence Herodotus derived the name of one of the Egyptian kings, Φερων. In the Bible, the title also occurs as פרעה, from that, Septuagint φαραώ pharaō and then Late Latin pharaō, both -n stem nouns. The Quran likewise spells it فرعون firawn with n, interestingly, the Arabic combines the original pharyngeal ayin sound from Egyptian, along with the -n ending from Greek. English at first spelt it Pharao, but the King James Bible revived Pharaoh with h from the Hebrew, meanwhile in Egypt itself, *par-ʕoʔ evolved into Sahidic Coptic ⲡⲣ̅ⲣⲟ prro and then rro. Scepters and staves were a sign of authority in ancient Egypt. One of the earliest royal scepters was discovered in the tomb of Khasekhemwy in Abydos, kings were also known to carry a staff, and Pharaoh Anedjib is shown on stone vessels carrying a so-called mks-staff. The scepter with the longest history seems to be the heqa-scepter, the earliest examples of this piece of regalia dates to pre-dynastic times. A scepter was found in a tomb at Abydos that dates to the late Naqada period, another scepter associated with the king is the was-scepter. This is a long staff mounted with an animal head, the earliest known depictions of the was-scepter date to the first dynasty
Pharaoh
–
Den
Pharaoh
–
Narmer Palette
Pharaoh
–
Nomen and prenomen of
Ramesses III
Pharaoh
–
Royal titulary
16.
Djer
–
Djer is considered the third pharaoh of the First Dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the mid-thirty-first century BC and reigned for c.40 years, a mummified forearm of Djer or his wife was discovered by Flinders Petrie, but was discarded by Emile Brugsch. The Abydos King List lists the third pharaoh as Iti, the Turin Canon lists a damaged name, beginning with It. Wilkinson notes that years 1-10 of Djers reign are preserved in register II of the Palermo Stone, Djers reign was preceded by a regency controlled by Neithhotep, possibly his mother or grandmother. An ivory tablet from Abydos mentions that Djer visited Buto and Sais in the Nile Delta, one of his regnal years on the Cairo Stone was named Year of smiting the land of Setjet, which often is speculated to be Sinai or beyond. Manetho claimed that Athothes, who is identified as Djer, had written a treatise on anatomy that still existed in his own day. Djer was a son of the pharaoh Hor-Aha and his wife Khenthap, Djer fathered Merneith, wife of Djet and mother of Den. These women are thought to be the wives of Djer and include, Nakhtneith, buried in Abydos, Herneith, possibly a wife of Djer. Seshemetka, buried in Abydos next to the king and she was said to be a wife of Den in Dodson and Hilton. Penebui, her name and title were found on a label from Saqqara. Bsu, known from a label in Saqqara and several stone vessels, similarly to his father Hor-Aha, Djer was buried in Umm el-Qaab at Abydos. Djers tomb is tomb O of Petrie and his tomb contains the remains of 318 retainers who were buried with him. Several objects were found in and around the tomb of Djer, A stela of Djer, labels mentioning the name of a palace and the name of Meritneith. Fragments of two inscribed with the name of Queen Neithhotep. Bracelets of a Queen were found in the wall of the tomb, in the subsidiary tombs excavators found, Stelae of several individuals Ivory objects with the name of Neithhotep. Manetho indicates that the First Dynasty ruled from Memphis – and indeed Herneith, one of Djers wives, was buried nearby at Saqqara
Djer
–
Djer
Djer
–
Iti, cartouche name of Djer in the
Abydos king list.
Djer
–
Stone vase bearing the serekh of Djer,
National Archaeological Museum (France).
Djer
–
Small ivory label of Djer mentioning the name of a fortress or domain of the king "Hor-Djer-ib".
17.
Third dynasty of Egypt
–
For the Sumerian Renaissance, see Third Dynasty of Ur The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth, the capital during the period of the Old Kingdom was at Memphis. After the turbulent last years of the Second Dynasty which might have included civil war, Egypt came under the rule of Djoser, both the Turin King List and the Abydos King List record five kings, while the Saqqara Tablet only records four. Djoser’s successor was Sekhemkhet who had the nebty name Djeserty, the last king of the dynasty is Huni. There are three remaining Horus names of known 3rd dynasty kings, Sanakht, Khaba and perhaps Qahedjet, one of these three went by the nebty name Nebka. Dating the Third Dynasty is similarly challenging, shaw gives the dates as being approximately from 2686 to 2613 BC. The Turin King List suggests a total of 75 years for the third dynasty, baines and Malek have placed the third dynasty as spanning the years 2650 –2575 BC, while Dodson and Hilton date the dynasty to 2584 –2520 BC. It is not uncommon for these estimates to differ by more than a century, a radiocarbon study done of the period in 2010 gives a reign for Djoser between roughly 2691 to 2625 BC. The pharaohs of the Third Dynasty ruled for approximately seventy-five years, the order of the kings is based on Wilkinson. The number of years as king, the years, is based on Dodson and Hilton. They have the dynasty lasting only 64 years, more importantly, seals naming Djoser were found at the entrance to Khasekhemwys tomb at Abydos, which demonstrates that it was Djoser, rather than Sanakht, who buried and succeeded this king. The Turin King List scribe wrote Djosers name in red ink, in any case, Djoser is the best known king of this dynasty, for commissioning his vizier Imhotep to build the earliest surviving pyramids, the Step Pyramid. Some authorities believe that Imhotep lived into the reign of the Pharaoh Huni, little is known for certain of Sekhemkhet. However, it is believed that Khaba possibly built the Layer Pyramid at Zawyet elAryan
Third dynasty of Egypt
–
Funerary temple of
Djoser at
Saqqara
18.
Step Pyramid
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A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout history, in locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and made of layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged separately from one another, ziggurats were huge religious monuments built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau, having the form of a terraced step pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. There are 32 ziggurats known at, and near, Mesopotamia, twenty-eight of them are in Iraq, and four of them are in Iran. Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites and Assyrians as monuments to local religions, the earliest ziggurats probably date from the latter part of the Early Dynastic Period of Sumer. Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance, kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven, with a shrine or temple at the summit, access to the shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. It was also called Hill of Heaven or Mountain of the gods, the earliest Egyptian pyramids were step pyramids. During the Third Dynasty of Egypt, the architect Imhotep designed Egypts first step pyramid as a tomb for the pharaoh and this structure, the Pyramid of Djoser, was composed of a series of six successively smaller mastabas, one on top of another. Later pharaohs, including Sekhemkhet and Khaba, built structures, known as the Buried Pyramid. In the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, the Egyptians began to build true pyramids with smooth sides, the earliest of these pyramids, located at Meidum, began as a step pyramid built for Sneferu. Sneferu later made other pyramids, the Bent Pyramid and Red Pyramid at Dahshur, with this innovation, the age of Egyptian stepped pyramids came to an end. One of the structures of Igboland was the Nsude Pyramids, at the Nigerian town of Nsude. Ten pyramidal structures were built of clay/mud, the first base section was 60 ft. in circumference and 3 ft. in height. The next stack was 45 ft. in circumference, circular stacks continued, till it reached the top. The structures were temples for the god Ala/Uto, who was believed to reside at the top, a stick was placed at the top to represent the gods residence
Step Pyramid
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The 4100-year-old
Great Ziggurat of Ur in southern
Iraq
Step Pyramid
–
Pyramid of Djoser in 2010
Step Pyramid
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Pyramid of the Moon,
Teotihuacan, Mexico
Step Pyramid
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Monk's Mound in summer. The concrete staircase follows the approximate course of the ancient wooden stairs.
19.
Saqqara
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Saqqara, also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English /səˈkɑːrə/, is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world-famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, located some 30 km south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km. At Saqqara, the oldest complete stone building known in history was built, Djosers step pyramid. Another 16 Egyptian kings built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in states of preservation or dilapidation. High officials added private funeral monuments to this necropolis during the pharaonic period. It remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3,000 years, well into Ptolemaic, north of the area known as Saqqara lies Abusir, south lies Dahshur. The area running from Giza to Dahshur has been used as a necropolis by the inhabitants of Memphis at different times, some scholars believe that the name Saqqara is not derived from the ancient Egyptian funerary god Sokar, but from a supposed local Berber Tribe called Beni Saqqar. The earliest burials of nobles can be traced back to the First Dynasty, during this time, the royal burial ground was at Abydos. The first royal burials at Saqqara, comprising underground galleries, date to the Second Dynasty, the last Second Dynasty king Khasekhemwy was buried in his tomb at Abydos, but also built a funerary monument at Saqqara consisting of a large rectangular enclosure, known as Gisr el-Mudir. It probably inspired the monumental enclosure wall around the Step Pyramid complex, Djosers funerary complex, built by the royal architect Imhotep, further comprises a large number of dummy buildings and a secondary mastaba. French architect and Egyptologist Jean-Philippe Lauer spent the part of his life excavating and restoring Djosers funerary complex. During the second half of the Old Kingdom, under the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, the Fifth and Sixth Dynasty pyramids are not built of massive stone, but with a core consisting of rubble. They are consequently less well preserved than the world-famous pyramids built by the Fourth Dynasty kings at Giza, Unas, the last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, was the first king to adorn the chambers in his pyramid with Pyramid Texts. It was custom for courtiers during the Old Kingdom to be buried in mastaba tombs close to the pyramid of their king, clusters of private tombs were thus formed in Saqqara around the pyramid complexes of Unas and Teti. Few private monuments from this period have been found at Saqqara, Pyramid of king Khendjer Pyramid of an unknown king During the New Kingdom Memphis was an important administrative and military centre, being the capital after the Amaran Period. From the Eighteenth Dynasty onwards many high officials built tombs at Saqqara, when still a general, Horemheb built a large tomb here, though he was later buried as Pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes. Other important tombs belong to the vizier Aperel, the vizier Neferrenpet, the artist Thutmose and to Maia, many monuments from earlier periods were still standing, but dilapidated by this period. Prince Khaemweset, son of Pharaoh Ramesses II, made repairs to buildings at Saqqara, among other things, he restored the Pyramid of Unas and added an inscription to its south face to commemorate the restoration
Saqqara
–
The stepped
Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
Saqqara
–
Map of the site
Saqqara
–
View of Saqqara necropolis, including
Djoser 's
step pyramid (centre), the
Pyramid of Unas (left) and the
Pyramid of Userkaf (right).
Saqqara
–
Funerary complex of Djoser
20.
Cubit
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The cubit is an ancient unit based on the forearm length from the middle finger tip to the elbow bottom. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in antiquity, during the Middle Ages, the term is still used in hedge laying, the length of the forearm being frequently used to determine the interval between stakes placed within the hedge. The English word cubit comes from the Latin noun cubitus elbow, from the verb cubo, cubare, cubui, cubitum to lie down, the ancient Egyptian royal cubit is the earliest attested standard measure. Cubit rods were used for the measurement of length, a number of these rods have survived, two are known from the tomb of Maya, the treasurer of the 18th dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun, in Saqqara, another was found in the tomb of Kha in Thebes. Fourteen such rods, including one double cubit rod, were described and compared by Lepsius in 1865. These cubit rods range from 523.5 to 529.2 mm in length, and are divided into seven palms, each palm is divided into four fingers and the fingers are further subdivided. Use of the royal cubit is also known from Old Kingdom architecture, in 1916, during the last years of the Ottoman Empire and in the middle of World War I, the German assyriologist Eckhard Unger found a copper-alloy bar while excavating at Nippur. The bar dates from c.2650 BC and Unger claimed it was used as a measurement standard and this irregularly formed and irregularly marked graduated rule supposedly defined the Sumerian cubit as about 518.6 mm. The Near Eastern or Biblical cubit is usually estimated as approximately 457.2 mm, in ancient Greek units of measurement, the standard forearm cubit measured approximately 0.46 m. The short forearm cubit, from the wrist to the elbow, in ancient Rome, according to Vitruvius, a cubit was equal to 1 1⁄2 Roman feet or 6 palm widths. Other measurements based on the length of the forearm include some lengths of ell, the Chinese chi, the Japanese shaku, the Indian hasta, the Thai sok, the Tamil, the Telugu, a cubit arm in heraldry may be dexter or sinister. It may be vested and may be shown in positions, most commonly erect. It is most often used erect as a crest, for example by the families of Poyntz of Iron Acton, Rolle of Stevenstone, the Encyclopaedia of Ancient Egyptian Architecture. The Cubit, A History and Measurement Commentary, Journal of Anthropology doi,10. 1155/2014/489757,2014 Media related to Cubit arms at Wikimedia Commons The dictionary definition of cubit at Wiktionary
Cubit
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Egyptian cubit rod in the
Liverpool World Museum
Cubit
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Cubit rod of
Maya, 1336-1327 BC (
Eighteenth Dynasty)
Cubit
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Cubit rod from the Turin Museum.
Cubit
–
The Nippur cubit-rod in the
Archeological Museum of
Istanbul, Turkey
21.
Richard Lepsius
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Karl or Carl Richard Lepsius was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist and linguist and pioneer of modern archaeology. He was born in Naumburg an der Saale, Saxony, the son of Friedericke Glaser and Peter Carl Lepsius. Karl Richards grandfather was Johann August Lepsius, the mayor of Naumburg upon Saale and he studied Greek and Roman archaeology at the University of Leipzig, the George Augustus University of Göttingen, and the Frederick William University of Berlin. After the death of Champollion, Lepsius made a study of the French scholars Grammaire égyptienne. In that year, Lepsius travelled to Tuscany to meet with Ippolito Rosellini, in a series of letters to Rosellini, Lepsius expanded on Champollions explanation of the use of alphabetic signs in hieroglyphic writing, emphasizing that vowels were not written. In 1842, Lepsius was commissioned by King Frederich Wilhelm IV of Prussia to lead an expedition to Egypt, the Prussian expedition was modelled after the earlier Napoleonic mission, with surveyors, draftsmen, and other specialists. The mission reached Giza in November 1842 and spent six months making some of the first scientific studies of the pyramids of Giza, Abusir, Saqqara and they discovered 67 pyramids recorded in the pioneering Lepsius list of pyramids and more than 130 tombs of noblemen in the area. While at the Great Pyramid of Giza, Lepsius inscribed a graffito written in Egyptian hieroglyphs that honours Friedrich Wilhelm IV above the original entrance. In 1843 he visited Naqa and copied some of the inscriptions and representations of the temple standing there, afterwards they stopped at Coptos, the Sinai, and sites in the Egyptian Delta, such as Tanis, before returning to Europe in 1846. In 1866 Lepsius returned to Egypt, where he discovered the Decree of Canopus at Tanis, a closely related to the Rosetta Stone. Lepsius was president of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome from 1867–1880, and from 1873 until his death in 1884, the head of the Royal Library at Berlin. He was the editor of the Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, a scientific journal for the new field of Egyptology. While at the helm, Lepsius commissioned typographer Ferdinand Theinhardt to cut the first hieroglyphic typeface, the so-called Theinhardt font. Much of his work is fundamental to the field, indeed, Lepsius even coined the phrase Totenbuch. He was also a leader in the field of African linguistics, on 5 July 1846, he married Elisabeth Klein, daughter of the composer Bernhard Klein and great-granddaughter of Friedrich Nicolai. They had six children, including the geologist and Rector of the Darmstadt University of Technology G.1842, das Todtenbuch der Ägypter nach dem hieroglyphischen Papyrus in Turin mit einem Vorworte zum ersten Male Herausgegeben. Translated into English 1853 Discoveries in Egypt, Ethiopia and the Peninsular of Sinai, das allgemeine linguistische Alphabet, Grundsätze der Übertragung fremder Schriftsysteme und bisher noch ungeschriebener Sprachen in europäische Buchstaben. Berlin, Verlag von Wilhelm Hertz 1856, ägyptische königsdynastie nebst einigen bemerkungen zu der XXVI
Richard Lepsius
–
Karl Richard Lepsius
Richard Lepsius
–
Plates of
El-Lahun and
Tura from Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien.
22.
Maya (Egyptian)
–
Maya was an important figure during the reign of Pharaohs Tutankhamun, Ay and Horemheb of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Mayas titles include, fan bearer on the Kings right hand, overseer of the treasury, chief of the works in the necropolis, Maya was the son of a magistrate named Iuy and his wife Weret. He had a half-brother named Nahuher who is shown officiating in his tomb in Saqqara, Maya was married to a lady named Meryt, and they had two daughters named Mayamenti and Tjauenmaya. The early years of Mayas life and career are not well known and it is possible that Maya started his career during the reign of Amenhotep III. He may be the person as a royal scribe named Maya who is attested in Malkata in year 34. He may also be the person as a courtier named May known from a tomb in Amarna during the reign of Akhenaten. The May from Amarna shares some of the titles with Maya, Maya is well known from the reign of Tutankhamen however. It is possible that he left a hand written text in the tomb of Thutmose IV stating that he had been charged with the restoration of the burial of the king. Maya would have reported to the vizier of Lower Egypt, who was based in Memphis, Maya collected taxes and performed other services for these pharaohs, including supervising the preparation of their tombs. Maya contributed an Ushabti to the furnishings for King Tutankhamen. He also presented the king with a figure of the King in the guise of the god Osiris, both items were inscribed and recorded that Maya was the donor of the statues. Maya is known to have lived until at least year 8 of Horemheb when an inscription mentions he was charged with tax collection for the entire country and he is also depicted in TT50, the tomb of a divine father of Amun named Neferhotep. Maya is depicted between King Horemheb and the viziers showing his close relation to the king, Mayas own tomb at Saqqara was initially partly excavated in 1843 by the archaeologist Karl Richard Lepsius, and its impressive reliefs were recorded in sketches and some of them brought to Berlin. Over time, however, the tomb was covered by sand, as Martin states, We were in total darkness for about 15 minutes. Suddenly we glimpsed wonderful reliefs and were extremely startled to find ourselves in the antechamber leading to a burial chamber. My colleague looked across at a wall and said, My God. The first full work on Mayas burial in early 1987 indicated that his tomb is a slightly smaller. An open courtyard has a collanade on its west side and doors leading to three vaulted ceilings, an inner courtyard has been found to contain reliefs of very fine quality and a statue of Maya and his wife. The underground burial chambers were paved with limestone and decorated with reliefs showing Maya, the statues of Maya and his wife Merit have been put on display in the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Netherlands since 1823
Maya (Egyptian)
–
Statue of Maya and Merit from Leiden
Maya (Egyptian)
–
Frontal view of Maya and Merit's statue
23.
Tutankhamun
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Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom or sometimes the New Empire Period. He has, since his discovery, been referred to as King Tut. His original name, Tutankhaten, means Living Image of Aten, in hieroglyphs, the name Tutankhamun was typically written Amen-tut-ankh, because of a scribal custom that placed a divine name at the beginning of a phrase to show appropriate reverence. The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon of Tutankhamuns nearly intact tomb received worldwide press coverage and it sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamuns mask, now in the Egyptian Museum, remains the popular symbol. Exhibits of artifacts from his tomb have toured the world, in February 2010, the results of DNA tests confirmed that he was the son of Akhenaten. His mother was Akhenatens sister and wife, whose name is unknown, the mysterious deaths of a few of those who excavated Tutankhamuns tomb has been popularly attributed to the curse of the pharaohs. Tutankhamun was the son of Akhenaten and one of Akhenatens sisters, as a prince, he was known as Tutankhaten. He ascended to the throne in 1333 BC, at the age of nine or ten and his wet nurse was a woman called Maia, known from her tomb at Saqqara. His teacher was most likely Sennedjem, when he became king, he married his half-sister, Ankhesenpaaten, who later changed her name to Ankhesenamun. They had two daughters, both stillborn, computed tomography studies released in 2011 revealed that one daughter died at 5–6 months of pregnancy and the other at 9 months of pregnancy. No evidence was found in either mummy of congenital anomalies or an apparent cause of death, given his age, the king probably had very powerful advisers, presumably including General Horemheb and Grand Vizier Ay. Horemheb records that the king appointed him lord of the land as hereditary prince to maintain law and he also noted his ability to calm the young king when his temper flared. In his third year, under the influence of his advisors. He ended the worship of the god Aten and restored the god Amun to supremacy, the ban on the cult of Amun was lifted and traditional privileges were restored to its priesthood. The capital was moved back to Thebes and the city of Akhetaten abandoned and this is when he changed his name to Tutankhamun, Living image of Amun, reinforcing the restoration of Amun. As part of his restoration, the king initiated building projects, in particular at Karnak in Thebes, many monuments were erected, and an inscription on his tomb door declares the king had spent his life in fashioning the images of the gods. The traditional festivals were now celebrated again, including those related to the Apis Bull, Horemakhet and his restoration stela says, The temples of the gods and goddesses. Their shrines were deserted and overgrown and their sanctuaries were as non-existent and their courts were used as roads
Tutankhamun
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Mask of
Tutankhamun's mummy, the popular icon for ancient Egypt at
The Egyptian Museum.
Tutankhamun
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Stripped of all its jewels, the mummy of Tutankhamun remains in the
Valley of the Kings in his
KV62 chamber
Tutankhamun
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Bust of Tutankhamun found in his tomb, 1922
Tutankhamun
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Wooden bust of the boy king, found in his tomb
24.
TT8
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TT8 or Theban Tomb 8 was the site of one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in ancient Egypt. Its discoverers used 250 workers to dig in pursuit of the tomb for several weeks, the pyramidion of the chapel had already been removed by an earlier visitor and was now in the Louvre Museum. The tomb held the equipment of Kha, the overseer of works from Deir el-Medina in the mid-18th dynasty. The items found in the show that Kha and Merit were quite wealthy during their lifetime. The coffins of Kha and Merit had been buried in two nested coffins, Khas mummy had been wrapped with several items of jewelry included within the wrappings. The two anthropoid coffins of Kha are excellent examples of the wealth and technically brilliant workmanship of the arts during the reign of Amenhotep III. Khas outer coffin was covered with bitumen, with the face, hands, alternate stripes of the wig, bands of inscriptions. Meanwhile, Khas inner coffin was, Included in one of Khas coffins is one of the earliest examples of the Egyptian Book of the Dead. An X-ray of Khas mummy shows that it was adorned with a necklace and heavy earrings. Khas wife Merit was buried in an outer coffin with one inner anthropoid coffin. Her mummy was wrapped with funerary jewellery. A tomb of this magnitude would have taken years to prepare, unexpectedly predeceased by his wife Merit, Kha donated his own coffin to his wife. Since it was too big for Merit’s mummy, Kha was forced to pack linens, monogrammed for him, around her mummy. Merits single coffin combines features of Khas inner and outer coffins, the lid is entirely gilded, both Khas and Merits anthropoid coffins were themselves contained within Middle Kingdom style rectangular outer coffins covered with black bitumen and having vaulted, gable-ended lids. Khas own coffin was mounted on sledge runners, notes Ernesto Schiaparelli in his 1927 publication report of the discovery, thus, Kha and Merit’s tomb was furnished with all the objects necessary in the afterlife. Ointments and kohl were regarded as a part of hygiene and these precious materials were held in a variety of lidded alabaster, glass. Egyptians protected themselves from the flies and from sunlight by wearing dark kohl under the eyes, other objects in the tomb include sandels and jar vessels. The Tomb of Kha and Merit also contained more than 100 clothing garments alone for the couple to use in their afterlife, all the funerary objects from Khas tomb, except for two small articles, were subsequently transferred to the Egyptian museum in Turin
TT8
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The gilded inner coffin of Kha from his TT8 tomb (now in the
Museo Egizio of Turin)
TT8
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Statuette of Kha
TT8
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Toilet box and vessels of Merit
TT8
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Bowls, Vases and Jugs from the Tomb of Kha (TT8)
25.
Thebes, Egypt
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Thebes, known to the ancient Egyptians as Waset, was an ancient Egyptian city located east of the Nile about 800 kilometers south of the Mediterranean. Its ruins lie within the modern Egyptian city of Luxor, Thebes was the main city of the fourth Upper Egyptian nome. It was close to Nubia and the desert, with their valuable mineral resources. It was a center and the wealthiest city of ancient Egypt at its heyday. The Ancient Egyptians originally knew Thebes as Wose or Wase A was was the scepter of the pharaohs, a staff with an animals head. Thebes is the Latinized form of the Greek Thebai, the form of the Demotic Egyptian Ta-pe. This was the name not for the city itself but for the Karnak temple complex on the northern east bank of the city. As early as Homers Iliad, the Greeks distinguished the Egyptian Thebes as Thebes of the Hundred Gates, as opposed to the Thebes of the Seven Gates in Boeotia, from the end of the New Kingdom, Thebes was known in Egyptian as Niwt-Imn, the City of Amun. Amun was the chief of the Theban Triad of gods whose other members were Mut and this name appears in the Bible as the Nōʼ ʼĀmôn of the Book of Nahum and probably also as the No mentioned in Ezekiel and Jeremiah. In the interpretatio graeca, Amun was seen as a form of Zeus, the name was therefore translated into Greek as Diospolis, the City of Zeus. To distinguish it from the other cities by this name. The Greek names came into use after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. Thebes was located along the banks of the Nile River in the part of Upper Egypt about 800 km from the Delta. It was built largely on the plains of the Nile Valley which follows a great bend of the Nile. As a natural consequence, the city was laid in a northeast-southwest axis parallel to the river channel. Thebes had an area of 93 km2 which included parts of the Theban Hills in the west that culminates at the sacred 420-meter al-Qurn, in the east lies the mountainous Eastern Desert with its wadis draining into the valley. Significant of these wadis is Wadi Hammamat near Thebes and it was used as an overland trade route going to the Red Sea coast. In the fourth Upper Egyptian nome, Thebes was found to have neighboring towns such as Per-Hathor, Madu, Djerty, Iuny, Sumenu, according to George Modelski, Thebes had about 40,000 inhabitants in 2000 BC
Thebes, Egypt
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Egypt - Temple of Seti, east entrance, Thebes. Brooklyn Museum Archives, Goodyear Archival Collection
Thebes, Egypt
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Luxor Temple
Thebes, Egypt
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The Theban Necropolis
26.
New Kingdom
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Radiocarbon dating places the exact beginning of the New Kingdom between 1570–1544 BC. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period and it was Egypt’s most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power. The later part of period, under the Nineteenth and Twentieth Dynasties is also known as the Ramesside period. It is named after the pharaohs that took the name of Ramesses I. Egyptian armies fought Hittite armies for control of modern-day Syria, the Eighteenth Dynasty contained some of Egypts most famous Pharaohs, including Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. Queen Hatshepsut concentrated on expanding Egypts external trade by sending an expedition to the land of Punt. Thutmose III expanded Egypts army and wielded it with success to consolidate the empire created by his predecessors. This resulted in a peak in Egypts power and wealth during the reign of Amenhotep III, during the reign of Thutmose III, Pharaoh, originally referring to the kings palace, became a form of address for the person who was king. Akhenatens religious fervor is cited as the reason why he was written out of Egyptian history. Under his reign, in the 14th century BC, Egyptian art flourished and attained a level of realism. Towards the end of the 18th Dynasty, the situation had changed radically, Ramesses II sought to recover territories in the Levant that had been held by the 18th Dynasty. His campaigns of reconquest culminated in the Battle of Kadesh, where he led Egyptian armies against those of the Hittite king Muwatalli II. Ramesses was caught in historys first recorded military ambush, although he was able to rally his troops, the outcome of the battle was undecided with both sides claiming victory at their home front, ultimately resulting in a peace treaty between the two nations. The last great pharaoh from the New Kingdom is widely considered to be Ramesses III, in the eighth year of his reign the Sea Peoples invaded Egypt by land and sea. Ramesses III defeated them in two great land and sea battles and he incorporated them as subject peoples and settled them in Southern Canaan although there is evidence that they forced their way into Canaan. Their presence in Canaan may have contributed to the formation of new states, such as Philistia and he was also compelled to fight invading Libyan tribesmen in two major campaigns in Egypts Western Delta in his sixth year and eleventh year respectively. The heavy cost of this warfare slowly drained Egypts treasury and contributed to the decline of the Egyptian Empire in Asia. Something in the air prevented much sunlight from reaching the ground, one proposed cause is the Hekla 3 eruption of the Hekla volcano in Iceland but the dating of this remains disputed
New Kingdom
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New Kingdom at its maximum territorial extent in the 15th century BC.
New Kingdom
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Relief of a Nobleman, ca. 1295-1070 B.C.E.
Brooklyn Museum
New Kingdom
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Queen Ahmose-Nefertari
27.
Senenmut
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Senenmut was an 18th dynasty ancient Egyptian architect and government official. His name translates literally as mothers brother, Senenmut was of low commoner birth, born to literate provincial parents, Ramose and Hatnofer from Iuny. Senenmut is known to have had 3 brothers—Amenemhet, Minhotep and Pairy—and 2 sisters—Ahhotep, however, only Minhotep is named outside chapel TT71 and tomb TT353 in an inventory on the lid of a chest found in the burial chamber of Ramose and Hatnofer. More information is known about Senenmut than many other non-royal Egyptians because the joint tomb of his parents was discovered intact by the Metropolitan Museum in the mid-1930s and preserved. Senenmut first enters the record on a national level as the Steward of the Gods Wife. After Hatshepsut was crowned pharaoh, Senenmut was given more prestigious titles, Senenmut supervised the quarrying, transport, and erection of twin obelisks, at the time the tallest in the world, at the entrance to the Temple of Karnak. Neither stands today though they were commemorated in the Chapelle Rouge, karnaks Red Chapel, or Chapelle Rouge, was intended as a barque shrine and may have originally stood between the two obelisks. Senenmut claims to be the architect of Hatshepsuts works at Deir el-Bahri. Senenmuts masterpiece building project was the Mortuary Temple complex of Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri and it was designed and implemented by Senenmut on a site on the West Bank of the Nile close to the entrance to the Valley of the Kings. The focal point was the Djeser-Djeseru or the Sublime of the Sublimes mortuary temple-, Djeser-Djeseru sits atop a series of terraces that once were graced with gardens. It is built into a face that rises sharply above it. Djeser-Djeseru and the buildings of the Deir el-Bahri complex are considered to be among the great buildings of the ancient world. The building complex design is thought to be derived from the temple of Mentuhotep II built nearly 500 years earlier at Deir-el-Bahri near Thebes. Senenmuts tomb appears to have enjoyed Hatshepsuts favour and his portrayal in the Punt reliefs certainly postdates Year 9 of Hatshepsut, the earliest known star map in Egypt is found as a main part of a decor in the Tomb of Senemut. The astronomical ceiling in Senenmut’s tomb is divided two sections representing the northern and the southern skies. This indicates other dimension of his career, suggesting that he was an ancient astronomer as well, some Egyptologists have theorized that Senenmut was Hatshepsuts lover. They were both heavily vandalized during the reign of Thutmose III, perhaps during the campaign to eradicate all trace of Hatshepsuts memory. Neither tomb by itself was complete as would be expected Egyptian tomb for a person of high standing, TT71 is a typical Theban Tomb chapel, but does not have burial chambers
Senenmut
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Seated Senenmut holding the princess
Neferure in his arms, on display at the
British Museum.
Senenmut
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TT 353 of Sen-en-Mut (Senenmut tomb) - a
hypogeum built by the order of Sen-en-Mut, 97.36m long and 41.93m deep
Senenmut
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Djeser-Djeseru temple
Senenmut
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Bottom portion of Astronomical chart
28.
Digit (unit)
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The digit or finger is an ancient and obsolete non-SI unit of measurement of length. It was originally based on the breadth of a human finger and it was a fundamental unit of length in the Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hebrew, Ancient Greek and Roman systems of measurement. In astronomy a digit is one twelfth of the diameter of the sun or the moon, the digit, also called a finger or fingerbreadth, is a unit of measurement originally based on the breadth of a human finger. In Ancient Egypt it was the unit of subdivision of the cubit. On surviving Ancient Egyptian cubit-rods, the royal cubit is divided into seven palms of four digits or fingers each, the royal cubit measured approximately 525 mm, so the length of the ancient Egyptian digit was about 19 mm. In the classical Akkadian Empire system instituted in about 2150 BC during the reign of Naram-Sin, the cubit was equivalent to approximately 497 mm, so the finger was equal to about 17 mm. Basic length was used in architecture and field division, a digit, when used as a unit of length, is usually a sixteenth of a foot or 3/4. The width of a human male finger tip is indeed about 2 centimetres. In English this unit has mostly fallen out of use, as do others based on the arm, finger, palm, hand, shaftment, span, cubit. It is in equal to the foot-nail, although the term nail can also be used as 1/16 of yard. In astronomy a digit is, or was until recently, one twelfth of the diameter of the sun or the moon and this is found in the Moralia of Plutarch, XII,23, but the definition as exactly one twelfth of the diameter may be due to Ptolemy. Sosigenes of Alexandria had observed in the 1st century AD that on a dioptra, the unit was used in Arab or Islamic astronomical works such as those of Ṣadr al‐Sharīʿa al‐Thānī, where it is called Arabic, إصبعا iṣba, digit or finger. The astronomical digit was in use in Britain for centuries, the unit is apparently not in current use, but is found in recent dictionaries. A finger of a beverage is colloquially referred to as a digit
Digit (unit)
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Detail of the Ancient Egyptian cubit rod in the
Museo Egizio of
Turin, showing digit, palm, hand and fist lengths
29.
Palm (unit)
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The palm is an obsolete anthropic unit of length, originally based on the width of the human palm and then variously standardized. The same name is used for a second, rather larger unit based on the length of the human hand. The width of the palm was a unit in Ancient Egypt, Israel, Greece, and Rome and in medieval England. The only commonly discussed palm in modern English is the palm of ancient Israel. The length of the hand—originally the Roman greater palm—formed the palm of medieval Italy, the Spanish and Portuguese palm was the span, the distance between an outstretched thumb and little finger. The Ancient Egyptian palm has been reconstructed as about 75 mm or 3 in, the unit is attested as early as the reign of Djer, third pharaoh of the First Dynasty, and appears on many surviving cubit-rods. The palm was subdivided into four digits of about 19 mm, three palms made up the span or lesser span of about 22.5 cm. Four palms made up the foot of about 30 cm, five made up the remen of about 37.5 cm. Six made up the Greek cubit of about 45 cm, seven made up the royal cubit of about 52.5 cm. Eight made up the pole of about 60 cm, the palm was not a major unit in ancient Mesopotamia but appeared in ancient Israel as the tefah, tepah, or topah.9 in. As in Egypt, the palm was divided into four digits of about 18.5 mm and three palms made up a span of about 22.1 cm. Six made up the Hebrew cubit of about 44.3 cm, the Ancient Greek palm made up ¼ of the Greek foot, which varied by region between 27–35 cm. This gives values for the palm between 6. 7–8.8 cm, with the Attic palm around 7.4 cm and these various palms were divided into four digits or two middle phalanges. Two palms made a half-foot, three, a span, four, a foot, five, a cubit, and six. The Greeks also had a less common greater palm of five digits, the Roman palm or lesser palm made up ¼ of the Roman foot, which varied in practice between 29. 2–29.7 cm but is thought to have been officially 29.6 cm. This would have given the palm a notional value of 7.4 cm within a range of a few millimeters, the palm was divided into four digits of about 1.85 cm or three inches of about 2.47 cm. Three made a span of about 22.2 cm, four, a Roman foot, five, a hand-and-a-foot of about 37 cm, six, a cubit of about 44.4 cm. The palms of medieval and early modern Europe—the Italian, Spanish, in Italy, the palm varied regionally
Palm (unit)
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Detail of the cubit rod in the
Museo Egizio of
Turin, showing digit, palm, hand and fist lengths
Palm (unit)
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The hand (2) and palm (3) measurements shown, among others, on a human hand
Palm (unit)
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Sign giving the metric equivalents of the units in use in the 17th century in the covered market of Pernes-les-Fontaines in the Vaucluse
30.
Hand (unit)
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The hand is a non-SI unit of measurement of length standardized to 4 inches. It is used to measure the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and it was originally based on the breadth of a human hand. The adoption of the inch in 1959 allowed for a standardized imperial form. It may be abbreviated to h or hh, thus,62 inches is fifteen and a half hands, or 15.2 hh. Hands may be abbreviated to h, or hh, the hh form is sometimes interpreted as standing for hands high. When spoken aloud, hands are stated by numbers,15.0 is fifteen hands,15.2 is alternately fifteen-two or fifteen hands, to convert inches to hands, the number in inches is divided by four, then the remainder is added after the radix point. A designation of 15.5 hands is not halfway between 15 and 16 hands, but rather reads 15 hands and five inches, an impossibility in a base 4 radix numbering system, where a hand is four inches. On surviving Ancient Egyptian cubit-rods, the royal cubit is divided into seven palms of four digits or fingers each, five digits are equal to a hand, with thumb, and six to a closed fist. The royal cubit measured approximately 525 mm, so the length of the ancient Egyptian hand was about 94 mm. The hand is a unit in the UK. is four-fingers breadth, being the fist clenched, whereby the height of a horse is measured. Today the hand is used to measure the height of horses, ponies and it is used in the U. S. and also in some other nations that use the metric system, such as Canada, Ireland and the UK. In other parts of the world, including continental Europe, and in FEI-regulated international competition, horses are measured in metric units, usually metres or centimetres. In South Africa, measurements may be given in both hands and centimetres, while in Australia, the equestrian regulations stipulate that both measurements are to be given, a horse is measured from the ground to the top of the highest non-variable point of the skeleton, the withers. For official measurement, the process of the fifth thoracic vertebra may be identified by palpation. Miniature horses, but not miniature ponies, are measured at the base of the last true hairs of the rather than at the withers. For international competition regulated by the Fédération Équestre Internationale and for USEF competition in the US, in the United Kingdom, official measurement of horses is overseen by the Joint Measurement Board. For JMB purposes, the shoes must be removed and the hooves correctly prepared for shoeing prior to measurement, anthropic units List of horse breeds List of unusual units of measurement Pony Span
Hand (unit)
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Detail of the cubit rod in the
Museo Egizio of
Turin, showing digit, palm, hand and fist lengths
Hand (unit)
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The hand (2) and palm (3) measurements shown, among others, on a human hand
