the ancient Egyptian civilization lasted
for over 3,000 years
and became one of the most powerful and
iconic civilizations in history at its
height ancient Egypt's Empire stretched
as far north as modern-day Syria and as
far south as today's Sudan but long
before it was an empire ancient Egypt
was a series of small independent
city-states that bloomed along North
Africa's Nile River the city-states were
divided into two regions and named
according to the flow of the Nile upper
egypt in the south which was upstream
and lower egypt in the north which was
downstream by about 3100 bc the two
halves united thereby creating one
egyptian state that lasted for millennia
the reign of the civilization can be
divided into three major periods of
prosperity called the old middle and new
kingdoms and two periods of instability
in between called the first and second
intermediate periods guiding the
Egyptian people was a succession of
about 300 rulers often referred to as
Pharaoh's Pharaoh which means great
house in Egyptian was never the rulers
formal title it only became synonymous
with a ruling individual in modern times
thanks to its use in the Hebrew Bible
these rulers who were not always men nor
Egyptian were considered protectors of
the people and served as divine liaisons
between humanity and the hundreds of
gods they worshiped after the rulers
passed away ancient Egyptians believed
they then became gods to prepare their
journey into the afterlife the rulers
constructed elaborate tombs including
the Great Pyramids at Giza and
underground mausoleums
in the Valley of the Kings rulers filled
their tombs with all the items they
could need in the afterlife including
gold jewelry through
drink and even pets preparing for this
journey to the gods also involved
mummifying ones body the deceased corpse
was embalmed wrapped in hundreds of
yards of linen and placed inside the
tomb so the body could be reanimated in
the afterlife to this day structures
like the Great Pyramids are a testament
to the role of religion in ancient
Egyptians lives but they also represent
the innovative and cultural might of the
Egyptian people innovations in
mathematics and written language in
particular propelled their civilization
to success math specifically measurement
mathematics helped the Egyptians
understand and harness their world with
numbers like no other civilization had
before they developed a new form of
measurement called the cubit it was used
to design massive structures such as the
Great Pyramid with remarkable
geometrical precision the Egyptians also
measured time by combining mathematics
with astronomy they established a 24
hour division to the day and created a
solar calendar which was the first
dating system in history to feature 365
days in one year
lastly Egyptians developed methods to
measure and survey land around the Nile
River these civil engineering feats made
way for the construction of dams canals
and irrigation systems that helped
farming and agriculture to flourish in
the Nile Valley in addition to
mathematical concepts
the ancient Egyptians also created
written languages to describe the world
around them the oldest and probably most
well known of these is hieroglyphic
writing
this system was developed around 3150 BC
during the Old Kingdom and has over 700
pictorial characters it was used to
inscribe monuments and pottery and
predominantly served a decorative or
ceremonial purpose soon after another
ancient form of writing called higher
attic developed out of the hieroglyphic
system it was a form of cursive that was
written an inked and served a more
functional purpose unlike it's more
formal predecessor higher attic was
written on another ancient Egyptian
innovation papyrus papyrus was a type of
paper derived from the papyrus plant
which grew plentifully along the Nile
River this medium gave the ancient
Egyptians a new avenue of communication
and record-keeping that allowed their
civilizations administrative skill to
grow and their culture to spread for
thousands of years as with all great
empires ancient Egypt came to an end it
was eventually conquered after a series
of invasions including those by the
Persian Empire in the 4th century BC and
the Roman Empire around 30 BC not many
civilizations can claim a lifespan of
over 3,000 years let alone one that made
vast cultural contributions that still
resonate in modern times ancient Egypt
with its linguistic and mathematical
innovations spirituality and religion
and extensive political and military
might set a high standard for all
civilizations that followed
[Music]