ART, WRITING AND SCIENCE
Writing
- Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphics which allowed the Egyptians to keep records of their history and maintain control of their large empire. The Ancient Egyptians used picture words to write called hieroglyphics. It is a very old form of writing that they starting using as early as 3000 B.C. Hieroglyphics was a very complicated way of writing involving 1000s of symbols. Some of the symbols represented sounds, like our letters, and other's represented entire words.
- The Ancient Egyptians often wrote on tablets or walls, but they also wrote on a type of paper called papyrus. Papyrus paper was made from a tall reed like plant called Papyrus. The Egyptians would use strips of the inner stem of the plant to make the paper.
Mathematics
- Egyptians used math in a variety of ways. The built pyramids and other large building by understanding the basics of mathematics and geometry. The balance and symmetry of their ancient structures–from the pyramids and temples, to statues and obelisks. The Egyptians were slowly able to make remarkable precision in approximations by being able to calculate the area of a square, trapezoid, triangle, circle, the height and angles of a pyramid and even the volume of a cylinder and thats how the Egyptians perfected their understanding of geometry.
- In order to keep track of business transactions, the used math and numbers. For numbers, they used a decimal system. Egyptians never used numbers 2-9 and 0, only 1,10,100 ect. In order to write 3, the would write down three number 1s. In order to write the number 40, they would write down four number 10s.
Art
- The civilization of Ancient Egypt’s art changed little during 3000 years. Art of Ancient Egyptians was based on their religion. The Pharaohs tombs consisted of paintings and sculptures. The Artwork would mainly help the Pharaoh in the afterlife. Temples were a popular place for art with large statues of their gods and paintings on the walls.
- The famous sculpture is the Great Sphinx of Giza, 240 feet long and the Statues of Ramses II at the Abu Simbel temples is 60 feet tall. The tomb walls of the rich and powerful were filled with paintings to help the person in the afterlife. The scenes would help to show the person the good in the afterlife.
- A relief is a sculpture that is part of a wall or structure. The Egyptians carved the walls of their temples and tombs. The Egyptians mostly used the colors blue, black, red, green, and gold in their paintings. A majority of the art hidden in tombs were stolen by thieves over thousands of years.
Science
- Egyptian scientists observed nature and practiced engineering. The pyramids and temples are a good example because of geometry and engineering. A way the pyramids were built is using the Pythagorean theorem. The scientists figured out a way to measure how high the flood would go each year because of how often the Nile flooded. They kept accurate records and calendars. The Nilometer was a device that helped measure the height of the Nile flood.
- In Faiyum, an oasis on the western bank of the Nile in southern Egypt, new irrigation technologies were developed. These technological advancements led to an increase in the size of the harvest.
Personal Hygiene
- The Egyptians used medicines and cures like using honey and human brains to cure eye infections, a whole cooked mouse to help cure cough. They believed that their medicines had spells to ward off the evil spirits making the person sick.The egyptians wore makeup, even the men to protect their skin from the hot desert sun. The makeup was call kohl form soot that was worn to make a fashion statement. The egyptians had horrible teeth therefore they invented the toothbrush and toothpaste in an effort to take care of their teeth. The toothpaste consisted of ashes, eggshells, and even ground up ox hooves.