Page 35 - The Flickering Cauldron Magazine - April 2022

Ancient
Egypt
with the
Flickering THE LAND OF THE PHARAOH'S
Each month we will be sharing a wonderful piece we have written about Ancient Egypt from our Egyptian Moon Diary. There is no better place to start than its history, it is so long, we have condensed it down for you, setting ourselves quite a task!
Condensing thousands of years of fascinating history into a few pages was a daunting prospect, but here it is. Whilst other civilisations were still hunter gatherers, by 5000 BC, farming had begun along with creating pottery and weaving linen. The use of bronze followed and by 3200 BC the first hand written symbols had been created.
However, it was a country of two halves. Lower Egypt in the north and Upper Egypt to the south.
The first unification was created in about 3118 BC by King Menes, more often referred to as King Narmer who chose to create Memphis as his capital. It was a calculated decision as it was on the border between the two former kingdoms and was hugely symbolic in showing unity as one country.
A fully functional, highly organised society was formed of the 42 regions, referred to as nomes were created, and to each a nomarch was appointed to govern.
On the downside, it also led to the first taxation system! Farmers would pay a portion of their produce in taxes.
The Old Kingdom, which is regarded as the first period of Egyptian history, was when the Pharaohs first built pyramids.
The first being the famous step pyramid created on the order of Djoser at Saqqara in about 2665 BC. Sneferu and Khufu were the Pharaohs that followed him did likewise.
After centuries of peace had prevailed, by roughly 2180 BC, the control and authority of the centralised powers collapsed. Civil wars broke out between the nomes and Egypt became fragmented.
We refer to this part of the historic timeline as the First Intermediate Period. Egypt remained a divided nation until 2055 BC, when it was reunited
The Flickering Cauldron® Magazine - Ancient Egypt with the Flickering | 35