1.
Carnac
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Carnac is a commune beside the Gulf of Morbihan on the south coast of Brittany in the Morbihan department in north-western France. Its inhabitants are called Carnacois in French, Carnac is renowned for the Carnac stones – one of the most extensive Neolithic menhir collections in the world – as well as its beaches, which are popular with tourists. Located on a narrow peninsula halfway between the medieval town Vannes and the seaside resort Quiberon, Carnac is split into two centres - Carnac-Ville and Carnac-Plage, in total there are five beaches, including la Grande Plage, and further to the east, Plage Men Dû and Beaumer. Carnac is famous as the site of more than 10,000 Neolithic standing stones, the stones were hewn from local rock and erected by the pre-Celtic people of Brittany. Local tradition claims that the reason they stand in such perfectly straight lines is that they are a Roman legion turned to stone by Pope Cornelius, the Carnac stones were erected during the Neolithic period which lasted from around 4500 BC until 2000 BC. The precise date of the stones is difficult to ascertain as little material has been found beneath them. One interpretation of the site is that successive generations visited the site to erect a stone in honour of their ancestors, in 1864, La Trinité-sur-Mer and its port were separated from the commune to create their own commune and parish. The fishermen found the church in Saint-Cornély to be too far from the port, La Trinité-sur-Mer thus became both a parish and a separate commune. In 1903, a resort was created on the old salt flats, developing extensively through the 1950s to create the split Carnac of today, Carnac-ville. In 1974, a hydrotherapy centre was sponsored by champion cyclist Louison Bobet. Since the end of World War II, Carnac has become a site for tourists seeking a break from the traditional destinations on the Côte dAzur. During the months of July and August, the number of people in the town increases significantly from the influx of tourists, wind and waves in the region attract day and cruise sailors. The Standing Stones and other monuments in the vicinity provide some cultural attraction and Carnac-Plages variety of bars and clubs ensures that a younger set can amuse themselves at night. There are a number of camping grounds in the woods around Carnac, Carnac is home to École de Voile de Carnac which provides sailing and windsurfing lessons and rentals to sailors of all levels of experience. The geography of the Bay of Quiberon provides ideal conditions for sailing, the Peninsula of Quiberon provides protection from Atlantic waves and turbulence while allowing the Gulf Winds to enter the bay. For windsurfers, the Saint-Colomban beach is located in Carnac-Plage, the beach is very popular with windsurfers, as its position allows for the best exploitation of strong winds from the West. Other beaches in the area provide equal access to the winds of the bay, a local myth holds that a unicorn lives in the waters off the city and in a cave near St. Malo. Carnac is connected to La Trinité-sur-Mer to the east by road, the other neighbouring communes are Crach, Erdeven, Ploemel and Plouharnel
Carnac
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Standing stones in the Kermario alignment
Carnac
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Stones in the Menec alignment
Carnac
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Tumulus of Saint-Michel
Carnac
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View of the Quiberon Bay from one of the Carnac beaches.
2.
Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak
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The Great Hypostyle Hall is located within the Karnak temple complex, in the Precinct of Amon-Re. It is one of the most visited monuments of Ancient Egypt, the structure was built around the 19th Egyptian Dynasty. Its design was instituted by Hatshepsut, at the North-west chapel to Amun in the upper terrace of Deir el-Bahri. The name refers to hypostyle architectural pattern, the hall covers an area of 50,000 sq ft. The roof, now fallen, was supported by 134 columns in 16 rows, the hall was not begun by Horemheb, or Amenhotep III as earlier scholars had thought but was built entirely by Seti I who inscribed the northern wing of the hall with inscriptions. Decoration of the wing was completed by Ramesses II. A series of later pharaohs added inscriptions to the walls and the columns in places their predecessors had left blank, including Ramesses III, Ramesses IV, the north side of the hall is decorated in raised relief, and was mainly Seti Is work. Ramesses II also usurped decoration of his father along the main north-south and east-west processional ways of the hall, most of Seti Is reliefs in the northern part of the hall were respected however. The outer walls depict scenes of battle, Seti I on the north, although these reliefs had religious and ideological functions, they are important records of the wars of these kings. On another wall adjoining the wall of the Hall is a record of Ramesses IIs peace treaty with the Hittites that he signed in Year 21 of his reign. In 1899,11 of the columns of the Great Hypostyle Hall had collapsed in a chain reaction. Georges Legrain, who was then the chief archaeologist in the area, later, similar work had to continue in order to strengthen the rest of the columns of the Temple. Talatat University of Memphis Great Hypostyle Hall Project Media related to Great Hypostyle Hall of Karnak at Wikimedia Commons
Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak
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Entrance to the Hypostyle Hall
Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak
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Egypt. Karnak. Great Hall., n.d., This slide colored by Joseph Hawkes. Brooklyn Museum Archives
Great Hypostyle Hall, Karnak
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General
3.
Precinct of Amun-Re
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The Precinct of Amun-Re, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. The precinct is by far the largest of these and the one that is open to the general public. The temple complex is dedicated to the god of the Theban Triad, Amun. The site occupies roughly 250000 m², containing many structures, the main temple itself, Temple of Amun, covers roughly 61 acres and would have been able to hold 10 average European cathedrals. Some parts of the complex are closed or semi-closed, partially large parts of the North/South Axis, the whole southeast corner is semi-closed. The northwest corner is a museum that requires a ticket to visit. Most of the southwest is an area with millions of stone fragments, from small to huge, laid out in long rows. Also in this area can be found the housing of the Akhenaten Temple Project, a long building. The history of the Karnak complex is largely the history of Thebes, the earliest artifact found in the area of the temple is a small, eight-sided column from the Eleventh Dynasty, which mentions Amun-Ra. The tomb of Intef II mentions a house of Amun, which implies some structure, the main temple is laid out on an East/West axis, entered via a quay. The modern entrance is placed over the end of the ancient cult terrace, inscribed into the terrace are the inundation levels for several kings of the Third Intermediate Period, collectively known as the Nile Level Texts. The cult terrace is often thought to be a dock or quay. It was intended for the presentation of cult images, originally the quay led via a corridor of Sphinxes to the entrance to the second pylon, but these were moved aside when the First Pylon was constructed. Construction of the current pylon began in 30th dynasty, but was never totally completed and it is 113m wide and 15m thick. There are large numbers of mud bricks piled up against the inside of the pylon, the construction of the original first pylon and Forecourt in the 22nd dynasty enclosed several older structures, and meant that the original avenue of sphinxes had to be moved. These were built in the time of Seti II, and are dedicated to Amun, Mut, in order to construct this kiosk, the ram-sphinx corridor was removed and the statues moved to the edges of the open court. Only one column remains in place, bearing inscriptions by Taharqa, Psamtik II, on the south side of the forecourt, there is a small temple built by Ramesses III. Inscriptions inside the show the king slaughtering captives, whilst Amun-Re looks on
Precinct of Amun-Re
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Map of the Amun-Re Temple
Precinct of Amun-Re
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First pylon of Karnak
Precinct of Amun-Re
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First pylon
Precinct of Amun-Re
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Bark shrines of Seti II
4.
Luxor Governorate
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Luxor Governorate has been one of Egypts governorates since 7 December 2009, when former president Hosni Mubarak announced its separation from the Qena Governorate. It is located 635 km south of Cairo and it is currently the smallest governorate in Egypt, spanning approximately 5 km from north to south, and 1.5 km from east to west, and lies in Upper Egypt along the Nile. The city of Luxor is the capital of the Luxor governorate, the government is studying the possibility of extending the boundaries of the governorate to include the neighboring towns of Armant and Esna. The emblem of Luxor represents the bust of Tutankhamun on board of an Ancient Egyptian canoe boat, cruising in the Nile, with an obelisk, the governorates total area is 55 km2, representing 0. 24% of the countrys area. At the 2012 census, the population of the area which in 2009 was formed into the new Luxor Governorate was 1,064,000 people,47. 4% of them lived in urban areas, while 52. 6% lived in rural areas. The annual population growth rate is 18.2 per thousand, population estimates from 2015 puts the same figure at 1,147,058 with an urbanization rate of 37. 8%
Luxor Governorate
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Flag
5.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
Egypt
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The
Giza Necropolis is the oldest of the
ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.
Egypt
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Flag
Egypt
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The Greek Ptolemaic queen
Cleopatra VII and her son by Julius Caesar,
Caesarion at the
Temple of Dendera.
Egypt
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The 1803
Cedid Atlas, showing
Ottoman Egypt.
6.
Upper Egypt
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Upper Egypt is the strip of land on both sides of the Nile that extends between Nubia and downriver to Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt is between the Cataracts of the Nile above modern-day Aswan, downriver to the area between Dahshur and El-Ayait, which is south of modern-day Cairo, the northern part of Upper Egypt, between Sohag and El-Ayait, is also known as Middle Egypt. In Arabic, inhabitants of Upper Egypt are known as Saidis, in ancient Egypt, Upper Egypt was known as tꜣ šmꜣw, literally the Land of Reeds or the Sedgeland It was divided into twenty-two districts called nomes. The first nome was roughly where modern-day Aswan is and the twenty-second was at modern Atfih just to the south of Cairo, the main city of prehistoric Upper Egypt was Nekhen, whose patron deity was the vulture goddess Nekhbet. 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 increase in complexity. A new and distinctive pottery, which was related to the Levantine ceramics, extensive use of copper became common during this time. The Mesopotamian process of sun-drying adobe and architectural 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, for most of pharaonic Egypts history, Thebes was the administrative center of Upper Egypt. After its devastation by the Assyrians, its importance declined, under the Ptolemies, Ptolemais Hermiou took over the role of Upper Egypts capital city. Upper Egypt was represented by the tall White Crown Hedjet, and its symbols were the flowering lotus, in the 11th century, large numbers of pastoralists, known as Hilalians, fled Upper Egypt and moved westward into Libya and as far as Tunis. It is believed that degraded grazing conditions in Upper Egypt, associated with the beginning of the Medieval Warm Period, were the cause of the migration. In the 20th-century Egypt, the title Prince of the Said was used by the apparent to the Egyptian throne. Although the Kingdom of Egypt was abolished after the Egyptian revolution of 1952, media related to Upper Egypt at Wikimedia Commons
Upper Egypt
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Iry-Hor
Upper Egypt
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Ka
Upper Egypt
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King Scorpion
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
Geographic coordinate system
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Longitude lines are perpendicular and latitude lines are parallel to the equator.
8.
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
9.
Senusret I
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Senusret I, also anglicized as Sesostris I and Senwosret I, was the second pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1971 BC to 1926 BC, and was one of the most powerful kings of this Dynasty and he was the son of Amenemhat I and his wife Nefertitanen. His wife and sister was Neferu and she was also the mother of the successor Amenemhat II. Senusret I was known by his prenomen, Kheperkare, which means the Ka of Re is created and he also organized an expedition to a Western Desert oasis. Senusret I established diplomatic relations with rulers of towns in Syria. He also tried to centralize the countrys political structure by supporting nomarchs who were loyal to him and his pyramid was constructed at el-Lisht. Senusret I dispatched several quarrying expeditions to the Sinai and Wadi Hammamat and built numerous shrines and temples throughout Egypt and he rebuilt the important temple of Re-Atum in Heliopolis which was the centre of the sun cult. He erected 2 red granite obelisks there to celebrate his Year 30 Heb Sed Jubilee, one of the obelisks still remains and is the oldest standing obelisk in Egypt. It is now in the Al-Masalla area of Al-Matariyyah district near the Ain Shams district and it is 67 feet tall and weighs 120 tons or 240,000 pounds. A shrine with fine, high quality reliefs of Senusret I, was built at Karnak to commemorate his Year 30 jubilee and it has subsequently been successfully reconstructed from various stone blocks discovered by Henri Chevrier in 1926. Finally, Senusret remodelled the Temple of Khenti-Amentiu Osiris at Abydos, some of the key members of the court of Senusret I are known. The vizier at the beginning of his reign was Intefiqer, who is known from many inscriptions and he seems to have held this office for a long period of time and was followed by a vizier named Senusret. Two treasurers are known from the reign of the king, Sobekhotep and Mentuhotep, the latter had a huge tomb next to the pyramid of the king and he seems to have been the main architect of the Amun temple at Karnak. Hor is known from several stelae and from an inscription in the Wadi el-Hudi where he was evidently the leader of an expedition for amethyst, one of the stelae is dated to year nine of the king. A certain Nakhr followed in office attested around year 12 of the king, a certain Antef, son of a woman called Zatamun is known again from several stelae, one dates to year 24 another one to year 25 of Senusret I. Another Antef was the son a woman called Zatuser and was most likely also high steward in the kings reign, Senusret was crowned coregent with his father, Amenemhat I, in his fathers 20th regnal year. Towards the end of his own life, he appointed his son Amenemhat II as his coregent, the stele of Wepwawetō is dated to the 44th year of Senusret and to the 2nd year of Amenemhet, thus he would have appointed him some time in his 43rd year. Senusret is thought to have died during his 46th year on the throne since the Turin Canon ascribes him a reign of 45 Years, loyalist Teaching Senusret Kheperkare Sesostris I
Senusret I
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Heliopolis obelisk (Senusret I)
Senusret I
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Bust of Senusret I in the Neues Museum, Berlin
Senusret I
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Osiride statue (Senusret I)
Senusret I
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Stone weight with Senusret I's cartouche
10.
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
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Some scholars also include the Thirteenth Dynasty of Egypt wholly into this period as well, in which case the Middle Kingdom would finish c. 1650, while others only include it until Merneferre Ay c.1700 BC, during the Middle Kingdom period, Osiris became the most important deity in popular religion. The period comprises two phases, the 11th Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes and the 12th Dynasty onwards which was centered on el-Lisht, after the collapse of the Old Kingdom, Egypt entered a period of weak Pharaonic power and decentralization called the First Intermediate Period. Towards the end of period, two rival dynasties, known in Egyptology as the Tenth and Eleventh, fought for power over the entire country. The Theban 11th Dynasty only ruled southern Egypt from the first cataract to the Tenth Nome of Upper Egypt, to the north, Lower Egypt was ruled by the rival 10th Dynasty from Herakleopolis. The struggle was to be concluded by Mentuhotep II, who ascended the Theban throne in 2055 B. C, during Mentuhotep IIs fourteenth regnal year, he took advantage of a revolt in the Thinite Nome to launch an attack on Herakleopolis, which met little resistance. After toppling the last rulers of the 10th Dynasty, Mentuhotep began consolidating his power over all Egypt, for this reason, Mentuhotep II is regarded as the founder of the Middle Kingdom. Mentuhotep II commanded military campaigns south as far as the Second Cataract in Nubia and he also restored Egyptian hegemony over the Sinai region, which had been lost to Egypt since the end of the Old Kingdom. He also sent the first expedition to Punt during the Middle Kingdom, by means of ships constructed at the end of Wadi Hammamat, Mentuhotep III was succeeded by Mentuhotep IV, whose name significantly is omitted from all ancient Egyptian king lists. The Turin Papyrus claims that after Mentuhotep III came seven kingless years, despite this absence, his reign is attested from a few inscriptions in Wadi Hammamat that record expeditions to the Red Sea coast and to quarry stone for the royal monuments. The leader of expedition was his vizier Amenemhat, who is widely assumed to be the future pharaoh Amenemhet I. Mentuhotep IVs absence from the king lists has prompted the theory that Amenemhet I usurped his throne, while there are no contemporary accounts of this struggle, certain circumstantial evidence may point to the existence of a civil war at the end of the 11th dynasty. Inscriptions left by one Nehry, the Haty-a of Hermopolis, suggest that he was attacked at a place called Shedyet-sha by the forces of the reigning king, but his forces prevailed. Khnumhotep I, an official under Amenemhet I, claims to have participated in a flotilla of 20 ships to pacify Upper Egypt, donald Redford has suggested these events should be interpreted as evidence of open war between two dynastic claimants. What is certain is that, however he came to power, from the 12th dynasty onwards, pharaohs often kept well-trained standing armies, which included Nubian contingents. These formed the basis of larger forces which were raised for defence against invasion, however, the Middle Kingdom was basically defensive in its military strategy, with fortifications built at the First Cataract of the Nile, in the Delta and across the Sinai Isthmus. Early in his reign, Amenemhet I was compelled to campaign in the Delta region, in addition, he strengthened defenses between Egypt and Asia, building the Walls of the Ruler in the East Delta region. Perhaps in response to this perpetual unrest, Amenemhat I built a new capital for Egypt in the north, known as Amenemhet Itj Tawy, or Amenemhet, the location of this capital is unknown, but is presumably near the citys necropolis, the present-day el-Lisht
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
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An
Osiride statue of the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom, Mentuhotep II
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
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The head of a statue of Senusret I.
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
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Statue head of Senusret III
11.
Ptolemaic Kingdom
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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 Kingdom
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Eagle of Zeus
Ptolemaic Kingdom
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Bust of
Ptolemy I Soter, king of Egypt (305 BC–282 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemaic Kingdom
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A bust depicting King
Ptolemy II Philadelphus 309–246 BCE
12.
World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
World Heritage Site
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Site #252:
Taj Mahal, an example of cultural heritage site
World Heritage Site
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Logo of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
World Heritage Committee
World Heritage Site
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Site #156:
Serengeti National Park, an example of natural heritage site
World Heritage Site
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Site #274:
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu, an example of mixed heritage site
13.
Egyptian temple
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Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt and regions under Egyptian control. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they were dedicated and these rituals were seen as necessary for the gods to continue to uphold maat, the divine order of the universe. Housing and caring for the gods were the obligations of pharaohs, nevertheless, a temple was an important religious site for all classes of Egyptians, who went there to pray, give offerings, and seek oracular guidance from the god dwelling within. The most important part of the temple was the sanctuary, which contained a cult image. These edifices are among the largest and most enduring examples of Egyptian architecture and their typical design consisted of a series of enclosed halls, open courts, and massive entrance pylons aligned along the path used for festival processions. Beyond the temple proper was a wall enclosing a wide variety of secondary buildings. A large temple also owned sizable tracts of land and employed thousands of laymen to supply its needs, temples were therefore key economic as well as religious centers. The priests who managed these powerful institutions wielded considerable influence, temple-building in Egypt continued despite the nations decline and ultimate loss of independence to the Roman Empire. With the coming of Christianity, however, Egyptian religion faced increasing persecution, for centuries, the ancient buildings suffered destruction and neglect. Dozens of temples survive today, and some have become world-famous tourist attractions that contribute significantly to the modern Egyptian economy, Egyptologists continue to study the surviving temples and the remains of destroyed ones, as they are invaluable sources of information about ancient Egyptian society. Ancient Egyptian temples were meant as places for the gods to reside on earth, indeed, the term the Egyptians most commonly used to describe the temple building, ḥwt-nṯr, means mansion of a god. A gods presence in the temple linked the human and divine realms and these rituals, it was believed, sustained the god and allowed it to continue to play its proper role in nature. They were therefore a key part of the maintenance of maat, maintaining maat was the entire purpose of Egyptian religion, and it was the purpose of a temple as well. Because he was credited with divine power himself, the pharaoh, as a king, was regarded as Egypts representative to the gods. Thus, it was theoretically his duty to perform the temple rites, the pharaoh was nevertheless obligated to maintain, provide for, and expand the temples throughout his realm. Although the pharaoh delegated his authority, the performance of rituals was still an official duty. The participation of the populace in most ceremonies was prohibited. Much of the lay religious activity in Egypt instead took place in private and community shrines, however, as the primary link between the human and divine realms, temples attracted considerable veneration from ordinary Egyptians
Egyptian temple
–
The Temple of
Isis at
Philae, with
pylons and an enclosed court on the left and the inner building at right
Egyptian temple
–
Low relief of
Seti I performing rituals for the god
Amun
Egyptian temple
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Sunk relief of personified
provinces of Egypt bearing offerings for the temple god
Egyptian temple
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Reconstruction of an Old Kingdom pyramid temple, with causeway leading out to the valley temple
14.
Ptolemaic period
–
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 period
–
Eagle of Zeus
Ptolemaic period
–
Bust of
Ptolemy I Soter, king of Egypt (305 BC–282 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemaic period
–
A bust depicting King
Ptolemy II Philadelphus 309–246 BCE
15.
New Kingdom
–
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
–
New Kingdom at its maximum territorial extent in the 15th century BC.
New Kingdom
–
Relief of a Nobleman, ca. 1295-1070 B.C.E.
Brooklyn Museum
New Kingdom
–
Queen Ahmose-Nefertari
16.
Amun
–
Amun was a major Ancient Egyptian deity. He was attested since the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amaunet, with the 11th dynasty, he rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Monthu. After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I, Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, Amun-Ra retained chief importance in the Egyptian pantheon throughout the New Kingdom. Amun-Ra in this period held the position of transcendental, self-created creator deity par excellence, he was the champion of the poor or troubled and his position as King of Gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism where other gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods, as the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire, Amun-Ra also came to be worshipped outside of Egypt, according to the testimony of ancient Greek historiographers in Libya and Nubia. As Zeus Ammon he came to be identified with Zeus in Greece, Amun and Amaunet are mentioned in the Old Egyptian Pyramid Texts. The name Amun meant something like the one or invisible. Amun rose to the position of tutelary deity of Thebes after the end of the First Intermediate Period, as the patron of Thebes, his spouse was Mut. In Thebes, Amun as father, Mut as mother and the Moon god Khonsu formed a family or Theban Triad. The history of Amun as the god of Thebes begins in the 20th century BC. The city of Thebes does not appear to have been of great significance before the 11th dynasty, major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Re took place during the 18th dynasty when Thebes became the capital of the unified ancient Egypt. Construction of the Hypostyle Hall may have begun during the 18th dynasty, though most building was undertaken under Seti I. Merenptah commemorated his victories over the Sea Peoples on the walls of the Cachette Court and this Great Inscription shows the kings campaigns and eventual return with booty and prisoners. Next to this inscription is the Victory Stela, which is largely a copy of the more famous Israel Stela found in the complex of Merenptah on the west bank of the Nile in Thebes. Merenptahs son Seti II added 2 small obelisks in front of the Second Pylon, and this was constructed of sandstone, with a chapel to Amun flanked by those of Mut and Khonsu. The last major change to the Precinct of Amun-Res layout was the addition of the first pylon, the local patron deity of Thebes, Amun, therefore became nationally important. The pharaohs of that new dynasty attributed all their enterprises to Amun. The victory accomplished by pharaohs who worshipped Amun against the rulers, brought him to be seen as a champion of the less fortunate
Amun
–
Amon-Ra (l'esprit des quatre elements, lame du monde matérial),N372.2.,
Brooklyn Museum
Amun
–
Bas-relief depicting Amun as
pharaoh
Amun
–
Amun-Min as Amun-Ra ka-Mut-ef from the temple at Deir el Medina.
Amun
–
The
sarcophagus of a priestess of Amon-Ra, c. 1000 BC –
Smithsonian 's
National Museum of Natural History
17.
Luxor
–
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896, with an area of approximately 416 square kilometres, immediately opposite, across the River Nile, lie the monuments, temples and tombs of the West Bank Necropolis, which includes the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens. Thousands of tourists from all around the world arrive annually to visit these monuments, the name Luxor comes from the Arabic al-ʾuqṣur, lit. the palaces, from the collective pl. of qaṣr, which may be a loanword from the Latin castrum fortified camp. Luxor was the ancient city of Thebes, the capital of Egypt during the New Kingdom. Montuhotep II who united Egypt after the troubles of the first intermediate period brought stability to the lands as the city grew in stature. The city attracted peoples such as the Babylonians, the Mitanni, the Hittites of Anatolia, the Canaanites of Ugarit, the Phoenicians of Byblos and Tyre, a Hittite prince from Anatolia even came to marry with the widow of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun. However, as the city of the god Amon-Ra, Thebes remained the capital of Egypt until the Greek period. The main god of the city was Amon, who was worshipped together with his wife, the Goddess Mut, and their son Khonsu, the God of the moon. With the rise of Thebes as the foremost city of Egypt and his great temple, at Karnak just north of Thebes, was the most important temple of Egypt right until the end of antiquity. Later, the city was attacked by Assyrian emperor Assurbanipal who installed the Libyan prince on the throne, the city of Thebes was in ruins and fell in significance. However, Alexander the Great did arrive at the temple of Amun, where the statue of the god was transferred from Karnak during the Opet Festival, Aswan and Luxor have the hottest summer days of any other city in Egypt. Aswan and Luxor have nearly the same climate, Luxor is one of the hottest, sunniest and driest cities in the world. Average high temperatures are above 40 °C during summer while average low temperatures remain above 22 °C, during the coldest month of the year, average high temperatures remain above 22.0 °C while average low temperatures remain above 5 °C. The climate of Luxor has precipitation levels lower than even most other places in the Sahara, the desert city is one of the driest ones in the world, and rainfall does not occur every year. The air is dry in Luxor but much more humid than in Aswan. There is a relative humidity of 39. 9%, with a maximum mean of 57% during winter. In addition, Luxor, Minya, Sohag, Qena and Asyut have the widest difference of temperatures between days and nights of any city in Egypt, with almost 16 °C difference. The hottest temperature recorded was on May 15,1991 which was 50 °C, the Coptic Catholic minority established on November 26,1895 an Eparchy of Luqsor alias Thebes, on territory split off from the Apostolic Vicariate of Egypt
Luxor
–
Top: First pylon in Precinct of Amun-Re, 2nd left: Night view in Luxor Temple, 2nd right: Colossi of Memnon Statue, Middle left: Pillars of Great Hypostyle Hall ancient site, Middle right: Hatshepsut Temple in Deir el-Bchari, 4th left: Statue of Ramses Ⅱ in Karnak Temple, 4th right: Needle Monument in Karnak Temple, Bottom: View of Pillars of Great Hypostyle Hall ancient site
Luxor
–
Luxor Temple
Luxor
–
Streets of Luxor in 2004
Luxor
–
Luxor
souq
18.
Brooklyn Museum
–
The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum is New York Citys third largest in physical size, the museum initially struggled to maintain its building and collection, only to be revitalized in the late 20th century, thanks to major renovations. Significant areas of the collection include antiquities, specifically their collection of Egyptian antiquities spanning over 3,000 years, African, Oceanic, and Japanese art make for notable antiquities collections as well. American art is represented, starting at the Colonial period. Artists represented in the collection include Mark Rothko, Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell, Winslow Homer, Edgar Degas, Georgia OKeeffe, the museum also has a Memorial Sculpture Garden which features salvaged architectural elements from throughout New York City. The roots of the Brooklyn Museum extend back to the 1823 founding by Augustus Graham of the Brooklyn Apprentices’ Library in Brooklyn Heights, in 1890, under its director Franklin Hooper, Institute leaders reorganized as the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences and began planning the Brooklyn Museum. The initial design for the Brooklyn Museum was four times as large as the actualized version, Daniel Chester French, the noted sculptor of the Lincoln Memorial, was the principal designer of the pediment sculptures and the monolithic 12. 5-foot figures along the cornice. The figures were created by 11 sculptors and carved by the Piccirilli Brothers, by 1920, the New York City Subway reached the museum with a subway station, this greatly improved access to the once-isolated museum from Manhattan and other outer boroughs. The Brooklyn Institutes director Franklin Hooper was the museums first director and he was followed by Philip Newell Youtz, Laurance Page Roberts, Isabel Spaulding Roberts, Charles Nagel, Jr. and Edgar Craig Schenck. Thomas S. Buechner became the director in 1960, making him one of the youngest directors in the country. Buechner oversaw a major transformation in the way the museum displayed art and brought some one thousand works that had languished in the museums archives and put them on display. Buechner played a role in rescuing the Daniel Chester French sculptures from destruction due to an expansion project at the Manhattan Bridge in the 1960s. The Brooklyn Museum changed its name to Brooklyn Museum of Art in 1997, on March 12,2004, the museum announced that it would revert to its previous name. In April 2004, the museum opened the James Polshek-designed entrance pavilion on the Eastern Parkway façade, in September 2014, Lehman announced that he was planning to retire around June 2015. In May 2015, Creative Time president and artistic director Anne Pasternak was named the Museums next director, member institutions occupy land or buildings owned by the City of New York and derive part of their yearly funding from the City. The Brooklyn Museum also supplements its earned income with funding from Federal and State governments, as well as donations by individuals. Major benefactors include Frank Lusk Babbott, the museum is the site of the annual Brooklyn Artists Ball which has included celebrity hosts such as Sarah Jessica Parker and Liv Tyler. The Brooklyn Museum exhibits collections that seek to embody the rich heritage of world cultures
Brooklyn Museum
–
Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Museum
–
Replica of the
Statue of Liberty in back lot.
Brooklyn Museum
–
Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose, 31.1777e
Brooklyn Museum
–
Brooklyn Papyrus 664-332 BCE
19.
Giza pyramid complex
–
The Giza pyramid complex is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It is located in the Libyan Desert, approximately 9 km west of the Nile river at the old town of Giza and it is by far the oldest of the ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Along with these monuments are a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as queens pyramids, causeways. The valley temple was connected to a causeway which was destroyed when the village was constructed. The causeway led to the Mortuary Temple of Khufu, from this temple the basalt pavement is the only thing that remains. The mortuary temple was connected to the king’s pyramid, the king’s pyramid has three smaller queen’s pyramids associated with it and five boat pits. The boat pits contained a ship, and the 2 pits on the side of the pyramid still contained intact ships. One of these ships has been restored and is on display, khufus pyramid still has a limited collection of casing stones at its base. These casing stones were made of white limestone quarried from the nearby range. Khafre’s pyramid complex consists of a temple, the Sphinx temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple. The valley temple yielded several statues of Khafre, several were found in a well in the floor of the temple by Mariette in 1860. Others were found during excavations by Sieglin, Junker, Reisner. Khafre’s complex contained five boat-pits and a pyramid with a serdab. Khafres pyramid retains a prominent display of casing stones at its apex, menkaure’s pyramid complex consists of a valley temple, a causeway, a mortuary temple, and the king’s pyramid. The valley temple once contained several statues of Menkaure, during the 5th dynasty, a smaller ante-temple was added on to the valley temple. The mortuary temple also yielded several statues of Menkaure, the king’s pyramid has three subsidiary or queen’s pyramids. Of the four monuments, only Menkaures pyramid is seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing
Giza pyramid complex
–
All of the six
pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex
Giza pyramid complex
–
Views, Objects: Egypt. Gizeh [selected images]. View 05: Sphinx and Pyramids., n.d., New York. Brooklyn Museum Archives
Giza pyramid complex
–
Pyramids of Ghizeh. 1893. Egypt; heliogravures after original views. Wilbour Library of Egyptology.
Brooklyn Museum
Giza pyramid complex
–
The Great Sphinx partially excavated, photo taken between 1867 and 1899
20.
Precinct of Mut
–
The Precinct of Mut is an Ancient Egyptian temple compound located in the present city of Luxor, on the east bank of the Nile in South Karnak. The compound is one of the four key ancient temples that creates the Karnak Temple Complex and it is approximately 325 meters south of the precinct of the god Amun. The precinct itself encompasses approximately 90,000 square meters of the entire area, the Mut Precinct contains at least six temples, the Mut Temple, the Contra Temple, and Temples A, B, C, and D. Surrounding the Mut Temple proper, on three sides, is a lake called the Isheru. To the south of the lake is a vast amount of land currently being excavated by Dr. Betsy Bryan and her team from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Today, most of the compound is destroyed, but it is currently being renovated. Surrounding the Mut Temple, the Contra Temple, and Temples A, B, C, the Mut Temple proper was made of mediocre sandstone and it is positioned north and south and is directly aligned with the Precinct of Amun. The purpose of the Contra Temple is still unclear, however, within the temple are two stelae, one referring to Ramsses II’s work on Temple A and the other telling of his marriage to Hittite princess. To the east of the Mut Temple is a building referred to as, Temple B, due to the amount of damage of Temple B. The sacred lake, Isheru, was man made and held religious importance to the cult of the goddess Mut, the goddess Mut is the wife and consort of the god Amun-Ra. She was also known as the Mother Goddess, Queen of the Goddesses, Mut was the Egyptian sky goddess and her symbols were the vulture, lioness and the crown of Uraeus. She was the mother of Khonsu, the god of the moon, Amun-Ra, Mut, and Khonsu made up the Theban Triad. Amenhotep III was originally thought to have been the first to build the Mut Temple, the earliest dated cartouches are of Thutmose II and III of the 18th Dynasty. During the 20th Dynasty, Ramsses III built Temple C, it was used until the 25th Dynasty when it became a quarry for renovations for Temple A. During his reign, Kushite ruler Taharqa in the 25th Dynasty made major changes to the Mut Precinct and he built a new sandstone gateway in the northwest of the site that leads to Temple A. He also renovated parts of the Mut Temple proper, erecting a columned porch facing the south, ptolemy VI during the Ptolemaic period erected a small chapel inside the Mut Temple proper. Several stelae found on the site, mention construction on the site by Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, many travelers, like Napoleon and Sir John Gardiner Wilkinson visited the Precinct of Mut between AD1799 and 1845. The photographs, journals and maps that dated to the excavations have added an exceptional insight as to how the Mut Precinct could have looked at the time of each exploration
Precinct of Mut
–
Map of Precinct of Mut Complex
Precinct of Mut
–
General
21.
Precinct of Montu
–
The Precinct of Montu, located near Luxor, Egypt, is one of the four main temple enclosures that make up the immense Karnak Temple Complex. It is dedicated to the Egyptian god Montu, the area covers about 20,000 m². This gateway is also called Bab el’Adb and this large monumental door was preceded from a dromos and from a quay that led to a channel which connected the field to that of Montu of Medamud further north of the city. Through this gate, one reaches a large court which was decorated by a colonnade dating from the 25th dynasty Kushite period. In the south, a series of doors opened the enclosure on a series of vaults of Divine Adoratrices, the ruins of the temple date to the reign of Amenhotep III who rebuilt the sanctuary dating from the Middle Kingdom era and dedicated it to Montu-Re. Ramesses II increases the size of the temple by adding a forecourt, a large court with gantry gave on hypostyle open on the court, characteristic of the buildings of the reign of Amenhotep I. The sanctuary is made up as follows, a room with four columns serving various vaults of the worship, nearby in Medamud was another Temple of Montu. The Temple of Maât is famous for its court which judged the plunderers of royal tombs under Ramesses IX at the end of the 20th dynasty, the Temple of Harpre was for the greatest part built under Hakor of the 29th dynasty
Precinct of Montu
–
Precinct of Montu
Precinct of Montu
–
General
22.
Temple of Amenhotep IV
–
Constructed outside the boundaries of the Precinct of Amon-Re, to the east, the main temple in the complex was named Gm–p3–itn, which means The Sun Disc is Found in the Estate of the God Aten. The others were named Hwt–bnbn, Rwd–mnw–n–itn–r–nḥḥ, and Tni–mnw–n–itn–r–nḥḥ, very little of these buildings remains, they were built quickly, using Talatat blocks, and could therefore easily be demolished and reused as core for later structures. The Gempaaten appears to have no roof and its offering tables were exposed to direct sunlight, in this building were red granite and sandstone statues of Akhenaten, red granite offering tables and other statues, including a sphinx inscribed with the name of the Aten. It was of a size, but it was so completely destroyed that its foundations have been nearly obliterated. Erected in east Karnak, the Hwt benben or Mansion of the Benben was devoted to a solar cult, the Teni–menu seemed to contain domestic and storage rooms, and may have been a royal residence, although not enough of the structure remains to clarify the use. The walls of the Teni-menu were reused in the Ninth Pylon of the main Karnak temple and they have since been identified and reassembled like a giant puzzle and are partly exhibited in the Luxor museum. Donald Redford, Akhenaten, The Heretic King, Princeton,1984
Temple of Amenhotep IV
–
Reconstructed Talatats from the Gempaaten
Temple of Amenhotep IV
–
General
Temple of Amenhotep IV
–
Pharaohs
23.
Luxor Temple
–
Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor and was constructed approximately 1400 BCE. In the Egyptian language it is known as ipet resyt, the southern sanctuary, in Luxor there are several great temples on the east and west banks. Unlike the other temples in Thebes, Luxor temple is not dedicated to a god or a deified version of the king in death. Other parts of the temple were built by Tutankhamun and Ramesses II, during the Roman era, the temple and its surroundings were a legionary fortress and the home of the Roman government in the area. Luxor temple was built with sandstone from the Gebel el-Silsila area and this sandstone from the Gebel el-Silsila region is referred to as Nubian Sandstone. This sandstone was used for the construction for monuments in Upper Egypt as well as in the course of past, like other Egyptian structures a common technique used was symbolism, or illusionism. For example, to the Egyptian, a sanctuary shaped like an Anubis Jackal was really Anubis, at the Luxor temple, the two obelisks flanking the entrance were not the same height, but they created the illusion that they were. With the layout of the temple appear to be of equal height. Symbolically, it is a visual and spatial effect to emphasize the heights and distance from the wall, from medieval times the Muslim population of Luxor had settled in and around the temple, at the southward end of the mount. The Luxor Temple had begun to be excavated by Professor Gaston Maspero after 1884 after he had given the order to commence operations. The excavations were carried out sporadically until 1960, over time, accumulated rubbish of the ages had buried three quarters of the temple which contained the courts and colonnades which formed the nucleus of the Arab half of the Modern village. Maspero had taken an interest earlier, and he had taken over the post of Mariette Pasha to complete the job in 1881. Not only was there rubbish, but there were barracks, stores, houses, huts, pigeon towers. Maspero received from the Egyptian minister of works the authorization needed to obtain funds in order to negotiate compensation for the pieces of land covered by the houses and dependencies. It has been determined that the Luxor temple holds significance to the Opet Festival. However, other studies at the temple by the Epigraphic Survey team present a new interpretation of Luxor. They have concluded that Luxor is the dedicated to the divine Egyptian ruler or, more precisely. Six barque shrines, serving as way stations for the barques of the gods during festival processions, were set up on the avenue between the Karnak and Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple
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Entrance of Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple
–
Ramses II in Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple
–
Luxor temple at Night
Luxor Temple
–
Closeup of temple entrance
24.
Ptolemaic dynasty
–
Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 to 30 BC. They were the last dynasty of ancient Egypt, Ptolemy, one of the seven somatophylakes who served as Alexander the Greats generals and deputies, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexanders death in 323 BC. In 305 BC, he declared himself Ptolemy I, later known as Sōter Saviour, the Egyptians soon accepted the Ptolemies as the successors to the pharaohs of independent Egypt. Ptolemys family ruled Egypt until the Roman conquest of 30 BC, all the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy. Ptolemaic queens regnant, some of whom were the sisters of their husbands, were usually called Cleopatra, Arsinoe or Berenice. The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII and her apparent suicide at the conquest by Rome marked the end of Ptolemaic rule in Egypt. Dates in brackets represent the dates of the Ptolemaic pharaohs. They frequently ruled jointly with their wives, who were also their sisters. Of these, one of the last and most famous was Cleopatra, several systems exist for numbering the later rulers, the one used here is the one most widely used by modern scholars. Arsinoe IV, in opposition to Cleopatra Ptolemy Keraunos - eldest son of Ptolemy I Soter, Ptolemy Apion - son of Ptolemy VIII Physcon. Ptolemy Philadelphus - son of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII, Ptolemy of Mauretania - son of King Juba II of Numidia and Mauretania and Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. Contemporaries describe a number of the Ptolemaic dynasty members as extremely obese, whilst sculptures and coins reveal prominent eyes, familial Graves disease could explain the swollen necks and eye prominence, although this is unlikely to occur in the presence of morbid obesity. A. Lampela, Rome and the Ptolemies of Egypt, the development of their political relations 273-80 B. C. J. G. Manning, The Last Pharaohs, Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305-30 BC. Livius. org, Ptolemies — by Jona Lendering
Ptolemaic dynasty
–
Ptolemy I Soter.
Ptolemaic dynasty
–
Ptolemy II
Ptolemaic dynasty
–
Ptolemy V
Ptolemaic dynasty
–
Ptolemy VI
25.
Architrave
–
An architrave is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of the columns. It is an element in Classical architecture. The term can also be applied to all sides, including the vertical members, in an entablature in classical architecture, it is the lowest part, below the frieze and cornice. The word is derived from the Greek and Latin words arche, the architrave is different in the different orders. In the Tuscan, it consists of a plain face, crowned with a fillet. In the Doric and composite, it has two faces, or fasciae, and three in the Ionic and Corinthian, in which it is 10/12 of a high, though. It means the part of something. The part on which the idea, the reasoning, the thought or the philosophy are based, examples, 1). the Mature Hegel- the Hegel of the Philosophy of Right- who becomes the architrave on which he constructs his social philosophy. Ref. Page, XIV, The Ethics of Democracy, A Contemporary Reading of Hegels Philosophy of Right LINK 2) to become the architrave of his theoretic construction Ref. Pag and it is placed above the bracket of a pillar, which gives it extra support. Dravidian architecture recognizes several distinct types of Architraves, rounded, wavy, flower shaped, bevel and tenon type, voluted, figural
Architrave
–
Architrave of the left-side
portal in the
facade of Sant'Ambrogio
basilica in
Milan,
Italy
Architrave
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Architrave in the Basilica di San Salvatore, Spoleto, Italy.
26.
Lever
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A lever is a machine consisting of a beam or rigid rod pivoted at a fixed hinge, or fulcrum. A lever is a body capable of rotating on a point on itself. On the basis of the location of fulcrum, load and effort and it is one of the six simple machines identified by Renaissance scientists. A lever amplifies an input force to provide an output force. The ratio of the force to the input force is the mechanical advantage of the lever. The word lever entered English about 1300 from Old French, in which the word was levier and this sprang from the stem of the verb lever, meaning to raise. The verb, in turn, goes back to the Latin levare, itself from the adjective levis, the words primary origin is the Proto-Indo-European stem legwh-, meaning light, easy or nimble, among other things. The PIE stem also gave rise to the English word light, the earliest remaining writings regarding levers date from the 3rd century BC and were provided by Archimedes. Give me a place to stand, and I shall move the Earth with it is a remark of Archimedes who formally stated the correct mathematical principle of levers. The distance required to do this might be exemplified in astronomical terms as the distance to the Circinus galaxy - about 9 million light years. It is assumed that in ancient Egypt, constructors used the lever to move, a lever is a beam connected to ground by a hinge, or pivot, called a fulcrum. The ideal lever does not dissipate or store energy, which there is no friction in the hinge or bending in the beam. This is known as the law of the lever, the mechanical advantage of a lever can be determined by considering the balance of moments or torque, T, about the fulcrum. T1 = F1 a, T2 = F2 b where F1 is the force to the lever. The distances a and b are the distances between the forces and the fulcrum. Since the moments of torque must be balanced, T1 = T2, the mechanical advantage of the lever is the ratio of output force to input force, M A = F2 F1 = a b. Levers are classified by the positions of the fulcrum, effort. It is common to call the force the effort and the output force the load or the resistance
Lever
–
Levers can be used to exert a large force over a small distance at one end by exerting only a small force over a greater distance at the other.
Lever
–
A lever in balance
Lever
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This is an engraving from Mechanics Magazine published in London in 1824.
27.
List of megalithic sites
–
This is a list of monoliths organized according to the size of the largest block of stone on the site. A monolith is a stone which has been used to build a structure or monument. In this list at least one colossal stone over ten tons has been moved to create the structure or monument, in most cases the ancient civilizations had little, if any, advanced technology that would help the moving of these monoliths. The most notable exception is that of the ancient Greeks and Romans who had cranes, documented in recent times, there is a list of efforts to move colossal stones that used technology that wasnt more advanced than the technology the ancient civilizations used. Most of these weights are based on estimates by published scholars, however, to help recognize exaggerations, an introductory description shows how to calculate the weight of colossal stones by calculating volume and density. In the cases of the smaller monoliths it may be possible to weigh them, however, in most cases the monoliths were too large or they may have been part of an ancient structure so this method could not be used. The weight of a stone can be calculated by multiplying its volume, the density of most stones is between two and three tons per cubic meter. Basalt weighs about 2.8 to 3.0 tons per meter, granite averages about 2.75 metric tons per cubic meter, limestone,2.7 metric tons per cubic meter. Some softer stones may be lighter than 2 tons per meter, like volcanic tuff. Since the density of most of these stones fluctuates it is necessary to know the source for the stone, the discussion above is accurate as far as it goes, which is only to the first significant figure. To go any further one needs to be relatively sophisticated about surveying the monolith, finally and crucially the rock density needs to be measured with appropriate precision. At the crudest, a device and a bucket can obtain two significant figures for a density value. This list includes only quarried, but not moved monoliths and this list includes only quarried and moved monoliths. Cueva de Menga, in Antequera, Spain, Dolmen made of megaliths, weighing up to 180 tons, built in 2500 BC. Colossal statue of Tlaloc, in Coatlinchan, made of basalt, weighing 168 tons. Pyramid of Khendjer at Saqqara, Egypt, several ashlars,100 to 130 tons, were transported 6 miles. Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, Greece, the Pyramid of Amenemhet III, at Hawara, Egypt. 110-ton, one piece quartzite burial chamber, the largest colossal statue of Ramses, well over 100 tons
List of megalithic sites
–
People on
Nias Island in
Indonesia move
monoliths to a construction site, circa 1915
List of megalithic sites
–
Monolith with
bull,
fox, and
crane in
low relief,
Gobekli Tepe
List of megalithic sites
–
The
Unfinished obelisk of Aswan
List of megalithic sites
–
The 1,250 t heavy
Thunder Stone in Saint Petersburg. On top an equestrian statue of
Peter the Great
