Five thousand years ago the chain of independent city-states lining the River Nile united to form one long, thin country ruled by one king, or pharaoh. Almost instantly a highly distinctive culture developed. For almost 30 centuries Egypt remained the foremost nation in the Mediterranean world. Then, in 332 BC, the arrival of Alexander the Great heralded the end of the Egyptian way of life.
''All
ancient civilisations have contributed in some way to the
development of
modern society.''
The unique culture was quickly buried beneath successive layers of Greek, Roman and Arabic tradition, and all knowledge of Egypt''s glorious past was lost. Only the decaying stone monuments, their hieroglyphic texts now unreadable, survived as silent witnesses to a long lost civilisation.
Some 2,000 years on, however, the ancient
hieroglyphs have been decoded and Egyptology - the
study of ancient Egypt - is booming. At a time when Latin and ancient Greek are rapidly vanishing from the school curriculum, more and more people are choosing to read hieroglyphs in their spare time. And the Egyptian galleries of our museums are packed with visitors, while the galleries dedicated to other ancient cultures remain empty.
To emphasise the point, University Egyptology courses are full to bursting, and night school classes are attracting increasing numbers of people happy to spend their leisure hours studying the far distant past. This obvious interest has become self-fulfilling. Publishers and television producers are happy to invest in ancient Egypt because they know that there will be an appreciative audience for their work, and every new book, each new programme, attracts more devotees to the subject.
All ancient civilisations have contributed in some way to the development of modern society. All therefore are equally deserving of study. Why then do so many people choose to concentrate on Egypt? What does the culture of ancient Egypt offer the modern
world that other cultures - those of Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, or China - do not?
Those who have been bitten by the Egyptology bug cite a variety of reasons for their addiction - the beauty of the art, the skill of the craftsmen, the intricacies of the language, the certainties of the priests - or even a vague, indefinable feeling that the Egyptians came as close as is humanly possible to living a near-perfect life. Individually these would all be good reasons to study any ancient civilisation. Combined, and tinged with the glamour bestowed by some of the world''s most flamboyant archaeologists, they make an irresistible package.
Egyptology today
Their work has not only provided a wealth of information about the health of the ancient Egyptians, it has provided useful information to scientists engaged in the struggle to eliminate the parasitical infestation bilharzia (schistosomiasis) which still plagues the Nile Valley. In its worst, untreated form, bilharzia can lead to the development of cancer.
''The study of Egyptian art, of genealogy or hieroglyphs, is above all, however, the greatest of fun.''
The Egyptologists have noted that both ancient and modern bilharzia infection can be identified by testing for the presence of antibodies. This suggests that the parasite has remained fundamentally unchanged since ancient Egyptian times. It is hoped that the study of bilharzia worms discovered in mummies may eventually help determine those parts of their genetic code that cause the development of cancer.
So far we have considered a series of worthy reasons why ancient Egypt is important to the modern world. Egypt offers inspiration, stimulation, valuable knowledge and an insight into our own modern culture. One very important reason, however, has been overlooked. The study of Egyptian art, of genealogy or hieroglyphs, is above all, however, the greatest of fun.
Find out more
Books The Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt by J Baines and J Malek (Factc, 2000)
Chronicle of the Pharaohs by P Clayton (Thames and Hudson, 1994)
Howard Carter: The Path to Tutankhamun by TGH James (Kegan Paul, 1992)
Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilization by BJ Kemp (Routledge, 1989)
Ancient Egypt: The Great Discoveries by N Reeves (Thames and Hudson, 2000)
The Complete Valley of the Kings by N Reeves and RH Wilkinson (Thames and Hudson, 1996)
Valley of the Kings by J Romer (Michael O''Mara Books, 1988)
The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt by I Shaw (Oxford University Press, 2000)
Tales from Ancient Egypt by JA Tyldesley (Rutherford Press, 2004)
Egypt''s Golden Empire: The Age of the New Kingdom by JA Tyldesley (Headline, 2001)
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