Ancient Egypt: Difference between revisions
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** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_chronology wikipedia "Egyptian chronology"] - this page discusses the problems in establishing Egytian chronologies | ** [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_chronology wikipedia "Egyptian chronology"] - this page discusses the problems in establishing Egytian chronologies | ||
* Egyptian archaeological record: | * Egyptian archaeological record: | ||
*** not always reliable: often works of state | *** not always reliable: often works of state propaganda | ||
*** extensive gaps occur between surviving records | *** extensive gaps occur between surviving records | ||
*** Egyptian year count based on events and | *** Egyptian year count based on events and pharaohs which is difficult to translate to modern dating | ||
* Manetho of Sebennytus | * Manetho of Sebennytus | ||
** Egyptian high priest (of the sun god Ra) who lived under the Greek king of Egypt, Ptolomey I | ** Egyptian high priest (of the sun god Ra) who lived under the Greek king of Egypt, Ptolomey I | ||
** major work is "Aegyptiaca," the first organized historical overview of ancient Egypt, completed in 271 BC | ** major work is "Aegyptiaca," the first organized historical overview of ancient Egypt, completed in 271 BC | ||
*** Kings List: of rulers and gods who ruled before the kings | *** Kings List: of rulers and gods who ruled before the kings | ||
**** kings list was an | **** kings list was an Egyptian tradition: see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saqqara_King_List Saqqara Tablet] | ||
**** the list of ruling "dynasties" comes to us from Manetho | **** the list of ruling "dynasties" comes to us from Manetho | ||
*** includes narratives of events across | *** includes narratives of events across Egyptian history | ||
*** written in Greek, most of original is lost | *** written in Greek, most of original is lost | ||
*** historians rely on translations by others, notably Josephus, Africanus, and Eusebius, all from the Roman era | *** historians rely on translations by others, notably Josephus, Africanus, and Eusebius, all from the Roman era | ||
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*** [http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1999/127pdf/127093.pdf The First Egyptian Narrative History: Manetho and Greek Historiography] - Academic article | *** [http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1999/127pdf/127093.pdf The First Egyptian Narrative History: Manetho and Greek Historiography] - Academic article | ||
** [http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs/Manetho.html Manetho's "Aegyptiaca"] - images of surviving manuscript | ** [http://www.und.edu/instruct/cjacobs/Manetho.html Manetho's "Aegyptiaca"] - images of surviving manuscript | ||
** | * celestial dating | ||
*** | ** using the path of the Dog Star, Sirius, Egyptologists have been able to correlate the position of the star with the ancient Egyptian calendar | ||
*** | ** since the Egyptian calendar was the basis of the Roman calendar | ||
*** (which is the basis of the modern European "Gregorian" calendar) | |||
** knowing that July 19 is the Egyptian date for the rise of Sirius, the Dog Star | |||
*** by matching surviving Egyptian records, astronomers and mathematicians were able to date the | |||
**** start of the 12th dynasty at 2000 BC | |||
**** start of the 18th dynasty at 1580 BC | |||
***** more or less by 3 years | |||
*** these calculations have allowed for accurate extrapolation of Egyptian records into modern dating | |||
**** they also showed the Manetho's timeline was greatly exaggerated | |||
* Greek, Roman and Islamic historians | |||
** Herodotus | |||
** Islamic histories of ancient Egypt << to do | |||
== Ancient Egypt Vocabulary == | == Ancient Egypt Vocabulary == | ||
* black land / red land | * black land / red land | ||