Wednesday 4 April 2007
Ancient Egypt by Charles Abdy a member of the Probus Club of Ewell
This was an interesting slide presentation about a tour of Egypt that Charles (left) undertook in 2002, and covered the length of the Nile by different modes of transport that is coach, river cruises and indeed by camel!
Charles showed a multitude of slides, indeed two full cassettes so about 50 plus slides and obviously this short report cannot do justice, Charles being the historian supported the pictures with much dialogue of dates, dynasty’s and names that left most baffled but increased our knowledge of Egypt a hundredfold, in fact perhaps he gave us more information than the official tour guides?
With the aid of a map (left) Charles indicated Ancient Egypt was a long-standing civilization in north-eastern Africa, it was concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River, reaching its greatest extension during the second millennium BC, which is referred to as the New Kingdom period. It reached broadly from the Nile Delta (Cairo) in the north, as far south as the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser.
The Nile River, around which much of the population of the country clusters, has been the lifeline for Egyptian culture since nomadic hunter-gatherers began living along the Nile, traces of these early peoples appear in the form of artefacts and rock carvings along the banks of the Nile and in the oases.
Charles tracked up and down the Nile not necessarily in chronological order but of interest, showing us and explaining about the series of three major pyramids in the the city of Giza, a necropolis of ancient Memphis, and today part of Greater Cairo, Egypt. Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops -below), this monument was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty around the year 2560 BC to serve as a tomb.
Temple at Luxor
Along the Nile, in the 10th millennium BC, a grain-grinding culture using the earliest type of sickle blades had been replaced by another culture of hunters, fishers, and gathering peoples using stone tools. Evidence also indicates human habitation in the south-western corner of Egypt, near the Sudan border, before 8000 BC. Charles showed (left) us some Egyptian necklaces of the advanced culture of ancient times when we were still in the Stone Age and their craftsman ship was supreme even by today’s technology.
Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, eventually forming the Sahara (c.2500 BC), and early tribes naturally migrated to the Nile River where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralised society.
By about 6000 BC, organized agriculture and large building construction had appeared in the Nile Valley. At this time, Egyptians in the south-western corner of Egypt were herding cattle and also constructing large buildings.
Perhaps the highlight was Tutankhamen’s tomb; the golden mask of course known to the world has been removed for safety reason as many of the tombs have been pillaged.
This was a professional presentation that needs to be seen and heard so watch the media when Charles is presenting his talk, or indeed invite him to present at your club.
Charles concluded by answering many questions and the meeting closed with Les Robinson a Chartered Engineer giving a warm vote of thanks which we all agreed with and showed our appreciation with sustained applause. Les in clarification of a question of the methods employed in construction outlined a new theory of a circular walkway within the body of each pyramid thus saving stone work and indeed construction as the ramp became part and parcel of the pyramid, so the meeting finished with a thought for the future, about the past! (see Footnote)
Footnote - A French architect recently claimed to have uncovered the mystery about how Egypt's Great Pyramid of Khufu was built, with use of a spiral ramp to hoist huge stone blocks into place. The construction of the Great Pyramid 4,500 years ago by Khufu, a ruler also known as Cheops, has long baffled engineers as to how its 3 million stone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each were lifted into place.
Ending eight years of study on the subject, architect Jean-Pierre Houdin released his findings and a computerized 3-D mock-up showing how workers would have erected the pyramid at Giza outside Cairo. The general taught school theory had been that an outer ramp had been used by the Egyptians, but no large ramp remains have been found to help archaeologists and others solve the method of construction.
According to his theory, shown in a computer model available at http://www.3ds.com/khufu - the builders put up a small outer ramp, then constructed an inner ramp in a corkscrew shape to complete the 450-foot structure, this remained as part of the pyramid and hence did not leave any traces!
Houdin also postulated that King's Chamber was hoisted into place through a system of counterweights, he plans to verify his theories through non-invasive tests on site, and we await the results.
