Egypt is our door way to the distant past and in understanding its history, we find both mankind's greatest glories and achievements, as well as his often repeated mistakes. We may follow along with the building of empires, only to see them collapse again and again. We learn about religion, its evolution and, as the world grows older, its replacement with newer religions. Yet, the ancient Egyptian religion has never really completely died out. Even today, many Egyptians continue customs, including some aspects of religion, held over from thousands of years ago.
Unfortunately, our knowledge about Egyptian cities, and settlements in general is limited. Every aspect of of ancient Egyptian cities conspires to limit our understanding. Settlements and cities were located on the floodplain, with a preference for proximity to the Nile, in order to receive goods by boat and for its source of water. Temples, tombs, most housing and public buildings in these cities and settlements were made of mudbrick throughout pharaonic times and shifts in the course of the Nile, the build-up of the floodplain by the annual deposition of silt and the impact of high Nile floods have all led to their destruction, which has sometimes been complete. Many cities, such as Thebes, have been built over by modern settlements, and even when some remains have survived, the mudbrick has been harvested by farmers to use as fertilizer. Finally, archaeological investigations since the nineteenth century have focused on temples and tombs, with their rich and spectacular art, sculpture and architecture, rather than the few less thrilling ancient Egyptian towns.
The South town in the Naqada region, the area was made with small villages between the edge of the floodplain and the desert line. Dating to around 3800 BC, these villages, often spaced about two kilometres apart, consisted mostly of small huts.
Another clear example of specialized Egyptian towns were the fortress towns, of which some of the best known were in Nubia and date to the Middle Kingdom. However, there were other similar towns in the northeast and probably even the northwest, particularly later, that protected the borders from Asian and other invaders, as well as from massive immigrants.
Egypt has an old civilization which began when the ancient Egyptians established on the bank of the River Nile the first central state. Throughout centuries, the Egyptians interacted with other civilizations and peoples. Yet, Egypt kept its cultural peculiarity which historians divide into Pharaonic Era which lasted for 3000 years, Greek Era which also lasted for 3000 years, Roman Era which interacted with Coptic Era after Christianity entered Egypt, and finally the Islamic Conquest of Egypt and the Ottoman Rule till the Modern Era launched by Mohamed Ali Pasha, the founder of modern Egypt. |
