a little history of the world: the land by the nile (3)
A Short History of the World: Countries on the Nile (3).
and yet the most important part of the egyptians’ strange religion was their belief that, although a man’s soul left his body when he died, for some reason the soul went on needing that body, and would suffer if it crumbled into dust.
The most important part of the peculiar Egyptian religion, though, is their belief that even though the soul leaves his body after death, for some reason the soul still needs this body, and once the body turns to dust, the soul suffers.
so they invented a very ingenious way of preserving the bodies of the dead.
So they invented a very ingenious way to preserve the bodies of the dead.
they rubbed them with ointments and the juices of certain plants, and bandaged them with long strips of cloth, so that they wouldn’t decay.
They wiped the carcasses with ointment and the juice of specific plants and bandaged them tightly with long strips of cloth to prevent decay.
a body preserved in this manner is called a mummy.
A corpse that has been processed in this way is called a mummy.
and today, after thousands of years, these mummies are still intact.
Today, thousands of years later, these mummies are still intact.
a mummy was placed in a coffin made of wood, the wooden coffin in one of stone, and the stone one buried, not in the earth, but in a tomb that was chiselled out of the rock.
The mummies are placed in a wooden coffin, which is then placed inside a sarcophagus, which is not buried in the ground, but in a tomb carved into the rock.
if you were rich and powerful like king cheops, ‘son of the sun’, a whole stone mountain would be made for your tomb.
If you are as rich and powerful as King Kiops, the "Child of the Sun", your tomb will even turn into an entire mountain of stone.
deep inside, the mummy would be safe – or so they thought! but the mighty king’s efforts were in vain: his pyramid is empty.
Mummies buried deep inside should be safe – at least that's what they think! But the efforts of this great king were in vain, and his pyramid is now empty.
but the mummies of other kings and those of many ancient egyptians h**e been found undisturbed in their tombs.
However, the mummies of other kings and many ancient Egyptians are preserved intact in their tombs.
a tomb was intended to be a dwelling for the soul when it returned to visit its body.
The tomb is seen as the abode of the soul when it returns to visit the body.
for this reason they put in food and furniture and clothes, and there are lots of paintings on the walls showing scenes from the life of the departed.
For this reason, they placed food, furniture, and clothes in the tombs, and the walls were also covered with murals depicting the lives of the dead.
his portrait was there too, to make sure that when his soul came on a visit it wouldn’t go to the wrong tomb.
His portrait is also there to ensure that his soul does not go to the wrong tomb when it comes to visit.
thanks to the great stone statues, and the wonderfully bright and vivid wall paintings, we h**e a very good idea of what life in ancient egypt was like.
Thanks to those huge stone carvings and exquisite frescoes, we have a very good understanding of the life of the ancient Egyptians.
true, these paintings do not show things as we see them.
It is true that these paintings do not truly reflect what we see.
an object or a person that is behind another is generally shown on top, and the figures often look stiff.
The people and objects that should be in the back are usually drawn on top of other people and objects, and the characters often look stiff.
bodies are shown from the front and hands and feet from the side, so they look as if they h**e been ironed flat.
The body is displayed from the front, and the hands and feet are shown from the side, so they look as if they have been ironed flat.
but the egyptians knew what they were doing.
But the Egyptians knew what they were doing.
every detail is clear: how they used great nets to catch ducks on the nile, how they paddled their boats and fished with long spears, how they pumped water into ditches to irrigate the fields, how they drove their cows and goats to pasture, how they threshed grain, made shoes and clothes, blew glass – for they could already do that! –and how they shaped bricks and built houses.
Every detail is clearly visible: how they caught ducks in the Nile with huge nets, how they fished with spears in boats, how they irrigated their fields with pumps of water into ditches, how they drove cattle and sheep to pastures, how they threshed, how they made shoes and clothes, how they blew glassware – they were already able to do it! – and how to shape bricks and build houses.
and we can also see girls playing catch, or playing music on flutes, and soldiers going off to war, or returning with loot and foreign captives, such as black africans.
We can also see girls playing throwing games or playing flutes, and soldiers going out on expeditions or returning triumphantly with booty and foreign captives, such as black Africans.