Western Civ Blog 9

Today in class we finished the Egypt powerpoint. We learned about Gods, Humans, and everlasting life. Some information was that Gods were often portrayed with animal heads or bodies. Egyptians believed in an afterlife (ka), and they mummified bodies to preserve them for this post-death journey. All souls would need to justify themselves at the point of death and be either sent to an after-world paradise, or the jaws of a monster. Then we learned about the writing of the words of gods. Earliest Egyptian writing formed c. 3100 B.C. and were small pictures known as hieroglyphics. Egyptian script was usually written in ink on papyrus, which was made from mashed Nile reeds. Papyrus, the precursor to paper, was stored in scrolls and these scrolls were the books of ancient Egypt. Egyptian astronomers created a calendar with 12 months and 365 days to make better sense of the seasonal cycles. Due to their excellent knowledge of human anatomy, Egyptian doctors wrote extensively on health issues and created potions and cures for a number of common ailments. Wooden sailboats were constructed to increase transportation ability on the Nile. Last, the pyramids were massive stone tombs, originally covered in marble, but the marble was later stripped off during the Muslim conquest. The Temple of Amon at Karnak is the largest religious building in the world, also made out of huge blocks of stone. Stone sculptures and interior painting depicted humans and gods in a series of regulated poses, often in profile and without perspective, but were highly effective