What You Should Know About Egyptian Pyramid

Ancient Egyptians believed that when the pharaoh died, he became Osiris, king of the dead. The new pharaoh became Horus, god of the heavens and protector of the sun god. This cycle was symbolized by the rising and setting of the sun.

Some part of a dead pharaoh's spirit, called his ka, was believed to remain with his body. And it was thought that if the corpse did not have proper care, the former pharaoh would not be able to carry out his new duties as king of the dead. If this happened, the cycle would be broken and disaster would befall Egypt.

To prevent such a catastrophe, each dead pharaoh was mummified, which preserved his body. Everything the king would need in his afterlife was provided in his grave—vessels made of clay, stone, and gold, furniture, food, even doll-like representations of servants, known as ushabti. His body would continue to receive food offerings long after his death.

Tombs Fit for Kings

To shelter and safeguard the part of a pharaoh's soul that remained with his corpse, Egyptians built massive tombs—but not always pyramids.

Before the pyramids, tombs were carved into bedrock and topped by flat-roofed structures called mastabas. Mounds of dirt, in turn, sometimes topped the structures.

The pyramid shape of later tombs could have come from these mounds. More likely, Egyptian pyramids were modeled on a sacred, pointed stone called the benben. The benben symbolized the rays of the sun; ancient texts claimed that pharaohs reached the heavens via sunbeams.

Who Built the Pyramids?

Contrary to some popular depictions, the pyramid builders were not slaves or foreigners. Excavated skeletons show that they were Egyptians who lived in villages developed and overseen by the pharaoh's supervisors.

The builders' villages boasted bakers, butchers, brewers, granaries, houses, cemeteries, and probably even some sorts of health-care facilities—there is evidence of laborers surviving crushed or amputated limbs. Bakeries excavated near the Great Pyramids could have produced thousands of loaves of bread every week.

Some of the builders were permanent employees of the pharaoh. Others were conscripted for a limited time from local villages. Some may have been women: Although no depictions of women builders have been found, some female skeletons show wear that suggests they labored with heavy stone for long periods of time.

Graffiti indicates that at least some of these workers took pride in their work, calling their teams "Friends of Khufu," "Drunkards of Menkaure," and so on—names indicating allegiances to pharaohs.

An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 workers built the Pyramids at Giza over 80 years. Much of the work probably happened while the River Nile was flooded.

Huge limestone blocks could be floated from quarries right to the base of the Pyramids. The stones would likely then be polished by hand and pushed up ramps to their intended positions.

It took more than manual labor, though. Architects achieved an accurate pyramid shape by running ropes from the outer corners up to the planned summit, to make sure the stones were positioned correctly. And priests-astronomers helped choose the pyramids' sites and orientations, so that they would be on the appropriate axis in relation to sacred constellations.

From stone pusher to priest, every worker would likely have recognized his or her role in continuing the life-and-death cycle of the pharaohs, and thereby in perpetuating the glory of Egypt.

(National Geographic)

Akhenaten... Nefertiti's Love

Akhenaten and Nefertiti was a famous couple, just like Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Another romance story from Egypt...

Queen Nefertiti is often referred to in history as "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World." The Berlin bust, seen from two different angles, is indeed, the most famous depiction of Queen Nefertiti. Found in the workshop of the famed sculptor Thutmose, the bust is believed to be a sculptor's model. The technique which begins with a carved piece of limestone, requires the stone core to be first plastered and then richly painted. Flesh tones on the face give the bust life.

Her full lips are enhanced by a bold red. Although the crystal inlay is missing from her left eye, both eyelids and brows are outlined in black. Her graceful elongated neck balances the tall, flat-top crown which adorns her sleek head. The vibrant colors of the her necklace and crown contrast the yellow-brown of her smooth skin. While everything is sculpted to perfection, the one flaw of the piece is a broken left ear. Because this remarkable sculpture is still in existence, it is no wonder why Nefertiti remains "The Most Beautiful Woman in the World."


Back to Akhenaten. Akhenaten was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who reigned about 3,500 years ago.
He made some major, but rather short-lived changes to various aspects of ancient Egyptian culture, the most notable one being his religious revolution. Akhenaten also made major changes in the ancient Egyptian art style, and presented himself in a very different manner from any of his predecessors.

Akhenaten ruled in the eighteenth dynasty, which seemed to be an age of revolution in ancient Egypt. Only a few reigns before his had been the reign of Hatshepsut, the most famous (but not the only) female pharaoh.

Akhenaten's strange appearance and mysterious behavior, as well as his connection with Nefertiti and with the ill-fated "boy king" Tutankhamen, have made him the subject of much passion and controversy in the last century or so. Akhenaten is all things to all people--to some he was a fanatical lunatic, to some he comes across as a strange, eccentric young man whose behavior was strongly influenced by his mother, to others he was a Christ-like visionary and a mentor of Moses, and to still others he was simply someone who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and who really had nothing to do with the dramatic reformations that went on during his reign.

Akhenaten had an extensive family, which was well represented in the art from his reign. His parents were Amenhotep III and Tiye. Akhenaten's name was originally Amenhotep IV, which he changed later. Akhenaten was married to Nefertiti, who is now famous because of the beautiful bust of her found at Amarna. Nefertiti's origins are uncertain. Some historians believe that she was a foreign princess, but there is some evidence to suggest that she was a relative of Akhenaten.

Akhenaten and Nefertiti had six daughters, named Merytaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten-tasharit, Neferneferure, and Sotepenre. Meketaten died when she was about eleven of unknown causes, and Neferneferuaten-tasharit, Neferneferure, and Sotepenre followed shortly afterwards. They were probably victims of a plague that was running rampant in Egypt at the time.

There were two mystery figures in Akhenaten's family--Smenkhkare (Akhenaten's co-regent and successor), and Tutankhaten (later Tutankhamen). These two were almost certainly brothers--this was basically confirmed by the discovery of Smenkhkare's body in tomb 55--but their relation to Akhenaten is unknown. Maybe they were brothers of Akhenaten as well, or cousins.

The nature of Akhenaten's revolution is well established--he overthrew Egyptian polytheism in favor of the worship of a single god, Aten--but the reason behind it is still unknown. Many people have offered theories.
When historians first began to study Akhenaten carefully, in the late 1800s, the first thing that naturally came to everyone's mind was that Akhenaten was divinely inspired. However, it does not seem likely that Akhenaten simply decided out of the blue to make such a major change.

Many early historians, determined to link Akhenaten's religion somehow to the Jewish religion, said that he was inspired by Joseph or Moses (Redford, p. 4, 1984). This is a possibility, considering that Joseph, at least, was around in roughly the same time period as Akhenaten. However, after close examination of Akhenaten's religion, this hypothesis seems unlikely. Akhenaten's religion did center on one god, but his major emphasis was on the Aten's visibility, tangibility, and undeniable realness. Akhenaten placed no emphasis, therefore, on faith.
According to John Tuthill, a professor at the University of Guam, Akhenaten's reasons for his religious reform were political.


By the time of Akhenaten's reign, the god Amen had risen to such a high status that the priests of Amen had become even more wealthy and powerful than the pharaohs. However, Barbara Mertz argued that Akhenaten and his courtiers would not have easily perceived this (Mertz, 1966, p. 269). Still, this theory remains as a possibility to be considered.

It may be that Akhenaten was influenced by his family members, particularly his wife or mother (Dunham, 1963, p. 4; Mertz, 1966, p. 269). There was a certain trend in Akhenaten's family towards sun-worship. Towards the end of the reign of Akhenaten's father, Amenhotep III, the Aten was depicted increasingly often.

Some historians have suggested that the same religious revolution would have happened even if Akhenaten had never become pharaoh at all. However, considering the violent reaction that followed shortly after Akhenaten's untimely death, this seems improbable.
The reasons for Akhenaten's revolution still remain a mystery. Until further evidence can be uncovered, it will be impossible to know just what motivated his unusual behavior.


Works Cited:
Dunham, Barrows (1963). Heroes and Heretics. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.
Mertz, Barbara (1966). Red Land, Black Land. New York: Coward McCann, Inc.
Redford, Donald B. (1984). Akhenaten: The Heretic King. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press

The Life of Cleopatra..

Cleopatra Bust from Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany.
Public Domain. Courtesy of Wikipedia.


Cleopatra (January 69 B.C. - August 12, 30 B.C.) was the last pharaoh of Egypt. Following her death, Rome took over as ruler of Egypt. Cleopatra was not an Egyptian, however, despite being pharaoh, but a Macedonian in the Ptolemaic dynasty which the Macedonian Ptolemy I Soter started. Ptolemy was a military leader under Alexander the great and possibly a close relative.

Cleopatra was one of several children of Ptolemy XII Auletes, a descendant of Alexander's general. Her two older sisters were Berenice IV and Cleopatra VI who may have died early in life. Berenice staged a coup while Auletes was in power. With Roman backing, Auletes was able to regain the throne and have his daughter Berenice executed.

An Egyptian custom that the Macedonian Ptolemies adopted was to have pharaohs marry their siblings. Thus when Ptolemy XII Auletes died, he left the care of Egypt in the hand of Cleopatra (aged about 18) and her younger brother Ptolemy XIII (aged about 12).

Ptolemy XIII was influenced by his courtiers and forced Cleopatra to flee from Egypt. She regained control of Egypt through the help of Julius Caesar, with whom she had an affair and a son named Caesarion.

Following the death of Ptolemy XIII, Cleopatra married an even younger brother, Ptolemy XIV. In time she ruled along with her son Caesarion.

Cleopatra is known for her affairs with Caesar and Mark Antony, by whom she had three children, and her suicide by snake bite after her husband Antony took his own life.

After the death of Cleopatra, Octavian took control of Egypt, putting it into Roman hands.

(About.com)