[...]... the realm of the dead — as spectators They looked on as the souls of the dead were being judged and they witnessed the torment of those who failed to pass the tests of Ma’at A man dressed in the finest linen stood beside Ausar (Osiris), the Judge of the Dead, and the boy said, “Do you see that shining spirit? It belongs to the poor man, whom we saw in the most modest of funeral processions.” The poor... is the soul of a rich man!” The boy immediately answered, “I only wish for you to share the fate of the poor man.” These words shocked Setna and hurt him deeply The boy took his father’s hand and led him out into the streets and onto a ferryboat This boat took them across the Nile into the City of the Dead, in the western desert region With words of power, chanted by the wise son, they entered the. .. 100 years old The work of a pharaoh often went on throughout his lifetime and was taken over by an heir, in turn The gods, or neteru, and Egyptians of every class lived by the laws of Ma’at A concept and a deity personifying truth, order and justice, 15 The Spirit of Ancient Egypt Ma’at was, in mythology, the daughter of the sun god Ra She was recognized by the single white ostrich feather she wore... Lower Egypt, the marsh area and the Delta are situated to the north Both regions were known as taui ( the two lands”) The northernmost area, where the waters fan out into streams in a triangular-shaped region, is known as the Delta, the name of the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet whose shape it resembles Each summer, rains from Africa cause the waters of the Nile to rise and temporarily flood the. .. BC, the Greeks came to power and established the 31st Dynasty, ushered in by Alexander the Great and continuing as the Ptolemaic Dynasty The capital was moved to a settlement called Raqote, which was re-named Alexandria by the Greeks in honor of the founder of the dynasty and the city The empire, however, crumbled under the formidable weight of the Roman invasion in 30 BC, which brought the end of ancient. .. architecture in the form of the construction of the pyramids During this time, an efficient administrative system was established as the government became more centralized However, a breakdown within the central administration arose as a result of the dispersion of duties and powers This decline brought about the collapse of the highlystructured society of the Old Kingdom The 7th Dynasty gave rise to the 1st... sharp contrast to the lifeless “red land.” 7 The Spirit of Ancient Egypt The Nile received its modern name from the Greeks, who referred to the river as “Neilos.” The Nile is the longest river in the world — almost 4200 miles long — yet it is only 500 yards wide Out of Ethiopia rises the Blue Nile and from Uganda comes the White Nile They converge at Khartoum, Sudan, flowing northward into Egypt, becoming... Herodotus, the Greek historian who traveled to Egypt in the 5th century BC, called it the gift of the Nile.” Wind and water The Nile is the source of all Egyptian life Without that sacred river, all this land would have been barren, dried by the broiling sun and the wind Rainfall gradually diminished in the area of Egypt, starting around the beginning of the third millennium BC; over time, it became... Heqet, the frog goddess of fertility and birth, was called upon during labor to 25 The Spirit of Ancient Egypt facilitate the process Heqet was also known as a spiritual midwife Most mothers brought their children into the world in a squatting position, inside a birth box, at home These were rectangular mud-brick boxes, about the size of a bathtub, with an opening at the end to allow entry They were... turn, became crucial in the development of the community Measuring and recording the level of the annual flood was a matter of national importance; the device used for this task was called a “Nilometer” It consisted of simple markings, in the form of a descending staircase leading down into the river; the depth of the rising waters 8 Egypt s Evolution was observed and documented by officials who used this . class="bi x0 y0 w0 h0" alt="" The Spirit of Ancient Egypt This Page Intentionally Left Blank The Spirit of Ancient Egypt Ana. The people of ancient Egypt dedicated many songs to the Nile, such as the “Hymn to the Nile,” “Adoration of the Nile” and “Hymn to Hapi.” Hapi was the