Five Principles of the Ancient Egypt Civilization

Egypt is one of the many civilizations that have contributed to the advancement of modern-day society. The ancient civilization grew along the Nile River making it possible for the Egyptians to develop and sustain a civilization. The Nile River made it possible to there to be agriculture in Egypt. Without the Nile River, Egypt would be nothing but a desert. Today, we see many things that have been improved or are even possible because of durability of ancient Egypt’s colossal structures and/or monuments for example, the Sphinx. Egypt is known for its incredible achievements in a range of fields, this all includes: buildings, colossal pyramids, temples, many strange religions, treasures, powerful pharaohs, mysterious mummies, medicine and even art. Egypt was a perfect example of a complex society.

Egypt itself had cross-cultural connections, and the fact that the civilization could adapt to any changing environment made it a very successful civilization, and it also had religious developments. Around 3100 BCE, the Egyptian leaders made Upper and Lower Egypt one, or unite, making it a powerful ancient state. What makes a civilization? There are five principles. Geography is Destiny, Agriculture Creates Civilization, Clashes of Culture Drive Innovation, Trade is Lifeblood of Civilization, and Mentality is Destiny. These are the things that make a civilization and Egypt is a civilization that demonstrates these components very well. Egypt was one of the first civilization and longest lasting civilizations in world history.

As mentioned before, there are five principles that make a civilization and one of those is Geography is Destiny. Now, the Nile River is what made it possible for Egypt to even become a civilization, because without it, Egypt would have just been a dry desert. The Nile River is a very important, if not the most important, fundamental in ancient Egypt’s growth and advancement. A Greek writer named Herotus once called Egypt the “gift of the Nile” because if it was not for the Nile Rivers narrow strip of fertile land, Ancient Egypt would not have flourished for as long as it did. The annual flooding determined how the Egyptians made their living.

The banks of the Nile were dedicated to growing crops since they were rich with a black silt that brought upon all the fertile nutrients for the crops to grow. Until flooding season when all fertile growing grounds of the Nile were engulfed under water, but when the water levels lowered the farmers would once again plant their crops and continue the cycle. Being that Egypt was a tropical region, rainfall was never a problem. It also made homelife easy for the ancients. They used a mixture of mud and reeds, after being left in the sun, it would turn hard as a brick, to build their homes and because of so little rainfall destruction of the brick-made home was not a worry. A great amount of ancient Egypt citizens lived off the edge of the Nile Rivers fertile land, giving them constant access to crops, taking advantage by using as much space as possible to harvest as many crops as possible. With the river to one side and the harsh conditions of the desert wasteland surrounding the other, it made it easier for Egypt to protect its civilization on all sides. The geological location of Egypt allowed there to be agriculture.

Since the Egyptian Nile is located right off the east of Africa, in the early summer the rainfall hits. Farming became dependent right off the Nile River because silt is carried by the Nile, which then fertilized the fields each year, prior to planting, which then allowed Egypt to grow barley and wheat. Ancient Egypt’s economy became based on agriculture, and the farmers were mainly peasants. The farmers were able to sustain the lifestyle of the Pharaoh and his occupants by producing large surpluses. Farmers were able to make this possible between the months of October to February after the flood had gone down. Those months became their growing season due to flooding season lasting from June to September. When Egypt did not receive much rain, the farmers would water their fields with river water. They would either get it from the reservoirs, and/or from the river itself. The methods used to successfully reach the water from the river and or reservoirs to their farms, were with ditches and canals. The first agricultural settlement happened to be in in Fayyum, which is said to be a “swampy depression” off the Nile. Shortly after, this allowed villages to develop into towns. Farmers began exchanging surplus food and traders would often offer goods, but not anything that was produced locally. This covers our second principle being, Agriculture Creates Civilization.

Trade is the lifeblood of Civilization is the fourth principle and Egypt relied on trade. Trading became easy and convenient for Egypt for the simple fact that the Nile River was an easy access. Trading was a necessity for any civilization, whether it was locally or even international. The reason behind this is because no matter where you are at, whether it be as an individual, a village, or a town, there will always be someone else that is in need of your goods because where they are located, there is lack of production of that item and they will need to purchase some of your goods through trading. This is where trading become possible and needed. Egypt was a civilization that was not self-sufficient, it was rich in many natural resources, but it did lack in other resources which then caused it to rely on trade for other necessary goods.

As mentioned before, ancient Egypt’s economy relied on agricultural, but it operated on a barter system without any cash. Cash did become available in trading for Egypt, but later in time. The way that trading functioned would be that they would take the value of the goods that each party had and choose the goods that was considered “fair” for the same value of the other party’s goods. At first trading began between Upper and Lower Egypt, but then it eventually spread along the Mesopotamia. They would eventually then begin trading with neighboring countries. Mesopotamia was an early trade partner with Egypt, but it would eventually influence the development of Egyptian art and other achievements that Egypt is known for today.

With Mesopotamia being a trade partner with Egypt it allowed Egypt to pick up on some of their culture. The development of Egypt art, religion, and culture had been originally influenced by Mesopotamia. Some of the Egyptologist noted that they were influenced by some art from Mesopotamia. This is what really began Egypt’s culture and their achievements as in, pyramids, religion, art, and many more. Even though the society was mainly populated by peasant farmers, the land was controlled by the Pharaoh, or by one of the temples which would have to be extremely wealthy.

The ancient Egyptians were really intelligent. They had developed a very high level of mathematical skills that would enable them to build their pyramids and temples with simple tools. Not only were they great at mathematical skills, but they also had a very great reputation with medicine in the ancient world. The ancient Egyptian doctors were able to heal wounds. For example, they could stitch a wound up, they could repair broken bones and even amputate infected limbs in needed. They had discovered different methods for different sicknesses. For example, onions and garlic were used as health food diets, and they would cover cuts with raw meat. I believe that this falls under principle number three, Clashes of Culture Drive Innovation.

Our last principle is number five, Mentality is Destiny. Egypt was a land of mystery and wisdom to the Greeks. Ancients Romans were fascinated with Egypt. From the very beginning, Egypt was a great civilization. It created amazing, incredible art, fascinating pyramids, their ability to build wonderful building with only so many tools. Egyptians were very intelligent and even still today, we admire them for their culture. Greeks and Romans even travelled to the of Egypt and were amazed by what they saw. Egypt has so much to offer and other countries were well aware of it. Egypt has become a longest lasting civilization, because of their great ability and mentality.

Egypt came along way. Even today. Egypt is admired for their temples, pyramids, and just everything. But Egypt would have not been able what it has become, if it was not for the Nile River. The Nile River is was enabled it to grow wheat, to trade their goods, to fertilize their fields. This river is the main reason Egypt has become very successful. The Egyptians had creative minds. Egypt started with a civilization, and as I wrote about, we can see that they did have the five important principles to become a successful civilization as they did.