Information on the History of My Nation, Egypt - Essay Example

I Was There Paper I belong to the professional group of artisans the Egyptian society. To be specific, my memory on the history of oursociety starts at the 3100 BC and ends at the 2600 BC. One must not expect perfection on my recollection of our history because I am an artisan by profession, not a pedantic historian. First of all, my society’s history during the fore pointed time period can be divided into: I Dynasty (established under the king known as Scorpion II) and II Dynasty (established under the king known as Hotepsekhemui). Besides, our I Dynasty originated in c.3100, and our II Dynasty in c.2890. You might not know much about this time period within the history of our society because there is less written information on the same. Still, you can go through our pictorial writings and know more about this time period. I Dynasty So, I am starting with the I Dynasty. Before the establishment of this dynasty, my nation was divided into two. But our king was that much influential and powerful enough to unify the divided nation into a single unit under a centralized authority. The United States Department of Defense stated that “The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c. 3100 BC” (n.pag). During the time of unification, the Upper Egypt was the axis of power because our king was from the Egyptian province known as Thinite. Besides, the unification was a tiresome effort because the people of the Lower part of our nation fought bravely. Still, our king became victorious because his aim was noble. He contributed so many innovative ideas to our society. For instance, he helped artisans like me by creating trade links with other nations like Phoenicia. Within the context of our society, our new king is the mastermind behind the establishment of an important city named as Crocodilopolis. Similarly, our king did not neglect our gods because he constructed a big temple dedicated to our god named as Ptah. But there are so many stories related to the death of our first king because some people say that the king was killed by dogs and some other say that he was killed by a wild animal. His name as Scorpion King derives from his family sign of scorpion. But one can see that the death of our first king did not end the influence of the royal family within our society. For instance, the queen named as Neithotep ascended the throne and began to rule over the vast nation. To be specific, the queen decided to do so because her aim was to help her young son named as Djer, to be the future king. As it is difficult to mention all the names of the following rulers of our nation, I shall continue with the main characteristics of the cultural context of our society. To be specific, our new rulers provided ample importance to different branches of art like painting and carving. For instance, I used to make so many decorative things and sell the same in the market place. When our king decided to create trade links with distant nations, I was able to sell my artworks to the merchants from other nations. Besides, the effort undertaken by our king to unify our nation deeply influenced the society and led towards prosperity. The most important factor behind the peacefulness and prosperity in our nation during the reign of our new king is that it ended the unexpected wars with rulers in the lower side of our nation. In short, the centralized mode of administration helped the new dynasty to be one among the influential and powerful dynasties with our nation’s history. II Dynasty My description continues and it is about the II Dynasty within our nation’s history. The origin of this dynasty was in 2890-BCE. The mastermind behind the establishment of this dynasty is a king, named as Hotepsekhemwy. Michael Rice declared that, “His name means ‘The Two Powers are at Peace’, suggesting that he came to the throne after a time of unrest or division, thwarting the attempts at union of the First Dynasty Kings” (72). Still, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact length of this king’s reign because there is less information on the same. This king was deeply interested in religious matters because constructed a new temple for a minor deity in Egyptian religious context, in Buto. But one must not expect that the society during this time period was peaceful because political turmoil was usual during this time. For instance, some are of the opinion that this king was overpowered by his own brother. So, political coupe can be considered as the grass-root level reason behind this king’s dethroning. But this dynasty did not end up with this political coupe because other powerful kings continued the rule under this dynasty. The rulers during this time period with our nation’s history provided maple importance scientific advancement and art. For instance, agriculture became the backbone of our economy. Similarly, so many farmers from my village migrated to the new cities because it was suitable for them to be economically independent. The Histroy.com stated that, “In the Archaic Period, as in all other periods, most ancient Egyptians were farmers living in small villages, and agriculture (largely wheat and barley) formed the economic base of the Egyptian state” (n.pag). On the other side, the context of trade with other nations underwent rapid progress because almost all the rulers during this period knew that trade relations are important. One day, my father pointed out me that someone developed a new form of pictorial writing. Now, this unique form of writing, invented by our people is generally known as hieroglyphics. So, one can see that the invention of this innovative form of writing was helpful to store information and to transfer to the following generations. Still, the unification of our nation under both the dynasties can be considered as important because the same provided political stability. Before these dynasties, our nation was divided and ruled by several minor rulers. Besides, this decentralized form of governance did not benefit our nation. For instance, internal problems hindered our nation from being a strong nation within upper African context. The big tombs are enough to prove that my nation was peaceful under these dynasties. Now, you people visit the tombs constructed by our rulers and administrators, generally known as Pyramids. Besides, decoration was at its minimum in this type of burial chambers. I guess that this economic use of decoration is due to the problem of economic disparity. I used to work for the construction of tombs for a number of wealthy administrators. So, one can see that this period is one among the prosperous periods within the history o our nation. Summing up, I expect that my words have provided further information on the history of my nation during a specific time period. For instance, the Archaic Period can be considered as the foundation of the progress of our nation because political unification occurred during this period. Besides, this unification influenced the society as a whole and helped the people to be prosperous and peaceful. Still, internal problems like political coupes occurred during this period, but overall performance of the rulers outperformed the minor errors. In short, the evaluation of the history of the both dynasties within my nation’s political scenario proves that the same resulted in unification and the progress in the following centuries. Works Cited Rice, Michael. Whos Who in Ancient Egypt. London: Routledge, 2002. Print. The United States Department of Defense. “Egypt: Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic Periods(5,500-2,700 BC).” United States Department of Defense. n.d. Web. 27 November 2014. The HISTORY.com. “Ancient Egypt.” The HISTORY.com. n.d. Web. 27 November 2014. Read More