All of Egypt

Előszó

INTRODUCTION THE ORIGINS Egyptians history may have started in the paleolithic era even though that part of its history must consist entirely of hypotheses and suppositions. At that period the valley of the Nile was very different from what it is today. The river must have covered almost the whole region and this fact, together with a climate which was undoubtedly much more humid, would have resulted in unlimited expanses of marshland stretching right up to the Delta. The climate started to change at the end of the paleolithic period and this caused the Nile to change its course to that which it follows today. The slow but progressive change of the neighbouring areas into desert led to humán life being concentrated along the fertile banks of the river. In the neolithic period whose beginning can be taken to be about 10,000 B.C., there were already two distinct ethnic groups originating from two very different regions. A group of African race from central Africa and a second group of Mediterranean race which had its origins in the heart of Asia. To these two must be added a third group, believed to come from the Iegendary Atlantis, which must have arrived in the Nile valley via Libya. Two centres of civilisation developed, one in the north of the country concentrated in the Delta where it created the first úrban centre Merimda, the other in the south around Tasa. Thus the Egyptian population was divided into two even at this remote period and not withstanding the subsequent unification of the country this has left its mark in the division into « hesep » or provinces which the Greeks called « nőmi », Upper Egypt having 22 and Lower Egypt 20. This was the dawn of Egyptian civilisation, the period which the Egyptians themselves called the « time of God » when Osiris sat on the throne of Egypt. This terrestrial reign is described in documents known as The Pyramid Texts. Osiris, according to legend, united the two parts of the population but the unity did not last long. It is only from about 3200 B.C. that one can start to talk about Egyptian history in any serious sense. Unity between Upper and Lower Egypt The history starts with Narmer whom somé scholars feel should be identified with the mythical king Menes who unified the two kingdoms. This is the beginning of the first of the thirty one dynasties which sat on the Egyptian throne until 332 B.C., the year that Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great. « A breaker of heads he is... he does not spare » is what one can read in an ancient inscription about king Narmer. In fact this is how he is depicted on the famous « Narmer stele », a slate tablet about 74 centimetres high, dating from about 3100 B.C. and originating from Hier- Vissza