Author - David Rymer BA MBT

Ancient Egypt spanned nearly 3,000 years. To better understand the ebb and flow of this vibrant civilization, Egyptologists introduced three clusters, splitting this vast period of time firstly into the Old Kingdom...

Geography shaped how ancient Egyptians thought of their land. They perceived their country to be divided into two distinct geographical zones. Kemet the black land comprised the fertile banks of the Nile River, while...

Senusret I was the second pharaoh in Egypt’s Twelfth Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. He ruled Egypt from c. 1971 BC to 1926 BC and Egyptologists viewed him as this dynasty’s most powerful king. He pursued his father...

Ramses III was the Second pharaoh in the 20th Dynasty of Egypt’s New Kingdom. Egyptologists recognize Pharaoh Ramses III as the last of the great pharaohs to rule Egypt with substantial power and authoritative central...

The ancient Egyptians lived in a society that is considered to be one of the most fascinating in human history. The people of that time gave credence to both the physical and spiritual aspects of their culture in the...

Legend has it that King Menes (c. 3150 BCE) founded Memphis in c. 3100 B.C. Other surviving records credit Hor-Aha Menes’ successor with Memphis’ construction. There is a Myth that Hor-Aha so admired Memphis that...

Today, The temple of Edfu in Upper Egypt between Luxor and Aswan is one of the most beautiful and best-preserved in all of Egypt. Known also as the Temple of Horus, its exceptionally well-preserved inscriptions have...

Anyone who has ever gazed upon the Great Pyramid of Giza (also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops) can only stand in awe of the amazing achievement of its builders. From the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khufu to its...

Xois or Khaset or Khasut as the Egyptians knew it was a large Egyptian town, ancient even by the time of the 14th Dynasty. It enjoyed a Mediterranean-wide reputation for its production of fine wine and the manufacturer...

Thutmose II who is believed by Egyptologists to have reigned from c. 1493 to 1479 BC. He was the 18th dynasty’s (c. 1549/1550 to 1292 BC) 4th pharaoh. This was an era in which ancient Egypt rose to the peak of its...

The distinctive geography of ancient Egypt with a narrow strip of lush fertile land surrounded by desert saw its cities built close to the Nile River. This ensured a ready supply of water, access to hunting grounds in...

Snefru (or Sneferu) was the founding Pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty in Egypt’s Old Kingdom. Following his death, his ancient Egyptian subjects remembered him as a good and just ruler. Egyptologists believed he reigned...

The ancient Egyptian Empire as we know it today emerged at the time of the New Kingdom (c. 1570 to c. 1069 BCE). This was the height of ancient Egypt’s wealth, power and military influence. At its apogee, the Egyptian...

At the heart of ancient Egypt’s culture lay a deep reverence for and belief in the afterlife. Enormous care was taken to create vast necropolises to serve not just the royal family and members of the aristocracy but the...

As with other contemporary civilizations, ancient Egypt’s economy was dependent on a mix of both unskilled and skilled labour. How ancient Egypt organized its labour force was one of the contributing factors to its...

Egyptologists believe Ramses I (or Ramesses I) was descended from a military family hailing from Egypt’s northeast delta region. Horemheb the final king in ancient Egypt’s 18th Dynasty (c. 1539 to 1292 BCE) was Ramses’...

Since Howard Carter discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, the world has been gripped by a mania for ancient Egypt. The find propelled Howard Carter a previously largely anonymous archaeologist to global fame...

Hieroglyphics was a system of writing developed by the ancient Egyptians around c. 3200 BC. These hieroglyphics were based on a system of several hundred ‘picture’ words. This writing system was extremely...

Who was King Tutankhamun? Tutankhamun was the 12th king of ancient Egypt’s 18th dynasty. His enduring fame is due more to the vast riches found in his tomb than for his achievements on the throne as he reigned for only...

The Ancient Egyptians relied on a lunar calendar until they migrated to a solar based calendar. While the exact genesis of the ancient Egyptians calendar remains unclear, Egyptologists estimate it was created some 5,000...

While some elements of marriage in ancient Egypt appear on the surface to be similar to those customs of today, other ancient conventions were radically different. Moreover, surviving accounts of marriage customs in...

The ancient Egyptians led a rich theological life. With 8,700 deities in their pantheon, religion played a central part in both their society and their daily lives. The heart of their religious devotions was the temple...

Xerxes I was Persia’s king from 486 to 465 B.C. His reign continued the Achaemenid Dynasty. He has come to be known to historians as Xerxes the Great. In his time, Xerxes I’s empire stretched from Egypt to parts of...

As with other cultures, the home was the centre of social life. Ancient Egyptian homes were built to a generally common layout using a limited range of natural materials. Most houses in ancient Egypt were built using...

Thanks to her role as the ancient Egyptian goddess of kindness and love, Hathor was one of the most popular deities, worshipped by pharaohs and queens through to ordinary people. Hathor also personified motherhood and...

In a religious pantheon brimming with 8,700 gods, the ancient Egyptians worshipped Ra ahead of all other gods. After all, Ra was the Egyptian god who created everything. In this role, Ra rose from a sea of turbulent...

Today, Tutankhamun’s tomb is considered to be one of the world’s great art treasures. When his burial items go on tour, they continue to draw record crowds. Its fame is due in no small part to the grave goods in King...

Few Pharaohs have captured the public imagination over succeeding generations than the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Ever since Howard Carter discovered his tomb in 1922, the world has been enthralled with the splendour...

Neferefre may not be amongst the most high profile of Egyptian pharaohs, however, he is one of the most thoroughly documented kings of the Old Kingdom’s (c. 2613-2181 BCE) Fifth Dynasty. Inscriptions, texts and...

An icon of ancient Egyptian culture, the enigmatic Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most instantly recognizable artifacts in the world. Hewn from a single colossal limestone outcrop, the origins of this 20 metres (66...

In ancient Egypt, Isis was the much-loved goddess of fertility, motherhood, marriage, medicine and magic. Myths and legends abounded in the ancient world about Isis and have come down to us today through Egyptian...

That the ancient Egyptian civilization proved so resilient and endured for thousands of years was in no small part due to the system of government it evolved over centuries. Ancient Egypt developed and refined a...

Ancient Egypt was a culture rich in theological beliefs. In a religious cosmos featuring 8,700 major and minor deities, one god, Amun was consistently depicted as the Egyptian supreme creator-god and the king of all the...

The ancient Egyptian concept of ma’at or harmony and balance in all things lay at the heart of their approach to technology. Harmony and balance could be maintained by overcoming life’s problems with human ingenuity...

Alongside the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, when we think of ancient Egypt, we immediately summon an image of an eternal mummy, swathed in bandages. Initially, it was the grave goods that accompanied the mummy into...

Ancient Egyptian medical practises were so advanced that many of their procedures and observations were not eclipsed by western medicine for centuries following the fall of Rome. Both the ancient Greeks and Roman...

Religion in ancient Egypt permeated every facet of society. Ancient Egyptian religion combined theological beliefs, ritual ceremonies, magical practices and spiritualism. Religion’s central role in everyday Egyptians’...

While Egypt’s Old Kingdom poured resources into building the Giza Pyramids and tombs in the Nile Delta, New Kingdom pharaohs, searched for a southern location closer to their dynastic roots in the south...

Education in ancient Egypt was shaped by its conservative social system. While education was valued, it was largely restricted to the children of those with means. As the same families often staffed civilian and...

Geb was the ancient Egyptian god of the earth. He was also one of the second generations of the nine gods who formed the Ennead of Heliopolis. Also known as Gebb, Kebb, Keb or Seb,  Geb was the third divine pharaoh. He...

Surely one of the world’s most evocative rivers as well as being its longest, the mighty Nile River surges imperiously ever northwards 6,650 kilometres (4,132 miles) from its origins in Africa to its mouth on the Uat-Ur...

People have played sports seemingly since the dawn of time when the first cities and organized civilisations emerged. Unsurprisingly, ancient Egyptians enjoyed both individual and team sports. Just as ancient Greece had...

Modern Alexandria is a port set on Egypt’s northern Mediterranean coast. Following his conquest of Syria in 332 BCE, Alexander the Great invaded Egypt and founded the city the following year in 331 BCE. It achieved fame...

One of the signature actions expected of every Egyptian pharaoh was the commissioning of monumental construction projects. These projects would celebrate the achievements of the pharaoh’s reign for all eternity...

The Ramesseum is a monumental funerary temple honouring Ramses II or Ramses the Great. It was commissioned to serve the king’s mortuary cult after Ramses’ death and was also consecrated to Amun the king of Egypt’s gods...

Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) is considered to be one of ancient Egypt’s most revered if controversial rulers. Celebrated by Egyptologists as a commanding female sovereign whose rule ushered in a long period of military...

Modern-day Karnak is the contemporary name for the ancient Egyptian Temple of Amun. Set at Thebes, the ancient Egyptian referred to the site as Ipetsut, “The Most Select of Places,” Nesut-Towi, or...

When we think of the ancient Egyptians, we summon images of Giza’s pyramids, the vast Abu Simbel temple complex, the Valley of the Dead or King Tutankhamun’s death mask. Rarely do we get a glimpse of ordinary ancient...

At the heart of ancient Egypt’s culture is the belief in a host of deities and the central role they played in everyday life and the immortal journey every human soul underwent in the underworld. Ancient Egyptians...

Symbolising ancient Egypt’s cultural richness the Abu Simbel temple complex is a breathtaking statement of political and religious power. Originally carved into living rock, Abu Simbel is typical of Ramses II...

Nefertari means ‘beautiful companion’ and was the first of Rameses the Great’s Great Royal Wives. Known also as Nefertari Meritmutor or ‘Beloved of the goddess Mut’ Nefertari is one of Egypt’s...

Surely one of the most enigmatic examples of ancient Egyptian art ever to come down to us through the passing centuries is the bust of Queen Nefertiti, the Pharaoh Akhenaten’s Great Royal Wife. Today she gazes unseeing...

Giza may have its pyramids and its sphinx; however, its obelisks are one of the most enduring and most widely travelled icons of ancient Egyptian civilisation. The ancient Egyptians developed the monumental design...

In ancient Egyptian religious lore, the Eye of Ra is an entity representing a female analog to Ra Egypts sun god. When unleashed it is a violent force able to subdue Ra’s enemies. The Eye is likened to the sun’s disk...

Each pharaoh had a kingdom to rule and government ministers and officials together with an army and police force to help him rule. Overseeing the vast apparatus of the administration was his Vizier, the Pharaoh’s...

Seth was ancient Egypt’s god of chaos, storms and war. Also known to the ancient Egyptians as Seth and Suetekh, Seth was the brother of Horus the Elder, Osiris and Isis, Nephthys brother-husband and uncle to Horus the...

Religion for the ancient Egyptians mined a rich seam of belief. They worshipped over 8,700 gods and goddesses with each playing an integral role in maintaining balance and harmony across the dual kingdoms. Despite the...

Perhaps only Cleopatra VII has such a tragic story as the turbulent personal history of the vanishing Princess Ankhesenamun. Born around c. 1350 B.C. Ankhesenamun or “Her Life Is of Amun” was the third of King...

Today, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics are amongst the world’s most recognizable images. Developed just before the dawn of Egypt’s Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 -2613 BCE), these “sacred carvings” were initially thought...

Set inland 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Nile River in Upper Egypt, Abydos emerged as a centre of gravity in ancient Egypt’s rich religious life. Abydos became the burial site of choice for Egypt’s early First...

Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last Queen of Egypt and its last pharaoh. Her death in 30 BCE brought to an end over 3,000 years of an often glorious and creative Egyptian culture. Following Cleopatra VII’s suicide...

Horus is the ancient Egyptian god of the sky and war. In Egyptian lore, there are two divine beings sharing this name. Horus the Elder, also known as Horus the Great was the last of the first five original gods to be...

Ma’at or Maat is a concept that symbolises the ancient Egyptian ideas about balance, harmony, morality, law, order, truth and justice. Ma’at also took the form of a goddess who personified these essential concepts...

Osiris is one of the most powerful and important gods in the ancient Egyptian pantheon. Depictions of Osiris as a living god show him as a handsome man wearing royal robes, with the plumed headdress Atef crown of Upper...

Ihy is the ancient Egyptian god of childhood, music and joy. His name has been translated as meaning “sistrum player” or “calf.” He is closely associated with the music of the sacred sistrum, a musical rattle form of...

Egyptian art has woven its spell on audiences for thousands of years. Its anonymous artists influenced Greek and Roman artists, particularly in creating sculpture and friezes. However, at its core, Egyptian art is...

When we think of ancient Egyptians, the image that most readily pops into our minds is hordes of workers labouring to build a colossal pyramid, while whip-wielding overseers brutally urge them onwards. Alternatively, we...

At the heart of the relationship between ancient Egyptians and animals were their religious beliefs. Ancient Egyptians believed their gods had intricate connections with the four elements of air, earth, water and fire...

Today, Philae is an Egyptian island completely submerged by Lake Nasser. The lake resulted from the construction of High (Aswan) Dam in 1970. In a dramatic “rescue mission” UNESCO relocated the island’s temples from...

The Hyksos People remain largely enigmatic to this day. Their ethnic origins of the Hyksos are still unknown as is their fate once Ahmose I (c. 1570-1544 BCE) expelled them from Lower Egypt and ushered in the rise of...

Fashion amongst the ancient Egyptians tended to be straightforward, practical and uniformly unisex. Egyptian society viewed men and women as equals. Hence, both sexes for the majority of Egypt’s population wore similar...

The earliest evidence of jewellery making in ancient Egypt dates to 4000 BC. Today, ancient Egyptian jewellery has gifted us with some of the rarest and most sublime examples of ancient craftsmanship discovered to date...

One of the oldest gods in the Egyptian pantheon, Anubis holds his place amongst their bevvy of gods as the god of the afterlife, the helpless and of lost souls. Anubis is also the Egyptian patron god of mummification...

Surely one of the most evocative titles ascribed to an ancient text, the Egyptian Book of the Dead is an ancient Egyptian funerary text. Created sometime around the beginning of Egypt’s New Kingdom the text was in...

Sobek was the ancient Egyptian god of water. Over time he also became closely associated with surgery and with medicine. These attributes reflected Sobek’s role as a prominent protective deity who is depicted as the...

Mastaba tombs are low rectangular, flat-roofed constructions with distinctive sloping sides created from sun-dried mud brick or infrequently stones. Inside they feature a small number of rooms together with a main...

One of the most enduring legacies of the ancient Egyptian civilization is their treasure trove of papyrus. Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) is a plant, which was once abundant in the Egyptian Delta. Today it is quite rare in...

Perhaps the most powerful legacy of the ancient Egyptian culture passed down to us is the eternal pyramids. Instantly recognizable around the globe, these monumental structures have carved a niche in our popular...

An ancient Egyptian cartouche is an oval frame containing the hieroglyphs comprising the name of a God, a member of the aristocracy or a senior court official. Stylistically, a cartouche is designed to represent a loop...

Khufu was the second king in ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom’s Fourth Dynasty. Egyptologists believe Khufu reigned for around twenty-three years based on the evidence contained in the Turin Kings List. In contrast...

Ramses II (c. 1279-1213 BCE) was the third pharaoh of Egypt’s 19th Dynasty (c. 1292-1186 BCE). Egyptologists frequently acknowledge Ramses II as perhaps the most celebrated, most powerful and the greatest pharaoh of the...

When we think of the Queens of Egypt the seductive allure of Cleopatra or Nefertiti’s enigmatic bust typically springs to mind. Yet the story of Egypt’s Queens is more complex than popular stereotypes would have us...

Seti I or Menmaatre Seti I (1290-1279 BCE) was a Nineteenth Dynasty pharaoh of Egypt’s New Kingdom. As with many ancient Egypt dates, the precise dates of Seti I’s reign remain a point of contention amongst historians...

Today, Nefertiti’s (c. 1370 to 1336 BCE) face is one of the most recognizable images of the ancient world. Her name translates as, “the beautiful one has come.” Thanks to a world-famous bust by the sculptor Thutmose...

Imhotep (c. 2667-2600 BCE) was a priest, vizier to Egypt’s King Djoser, an architect, mathematician, astronomer, poet and physician. An Egyptian polymath, Imhotep achieved fame for his breakthrough architectural design...

While she was neither Egypt‘s first female ruler, nor its only female pharaoh, Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BCE) was ancient Egypt ‘s first female ruler to reign as a male with the full authority of a pharaoh’s office. The...

For 6,000 years spanning the Pre-Dynastic Period (c. 6000 – 3150 BCE) through to the defeat of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323 – 30 BCE) and Egypt’s annexation by Rome Egyptian architects under the direction of...

Thutmose III (1458-1425 BCE) also known as Tuthmosis III was Egypt’s 6th king of the 18th Dynasty. He forged an enduring reputation as one of antiquity’s greatest military leaders. This military prowess set the platform...

Amenhotep III (c. 1386-1353 BCE) was the ninth king in Egypt’s 18th dynasty. Amenhotep III was also known as Amana-Hatpa, Amenophis III, Amenhotep II and Nebma’atre. These names reflect the concept of the god Amun being...

Akhenaten was a pharaoh of Egypt. When he ascended to the throne his name was Amenhotep IV. Scholars believe his reign over Egypt lasted for around 17 years ruling sometime around 1353 B.C. to 1335 B.C. Few monarchs in...

Cleopatra VII (69-30 BCE) had the misfortune to ascend the throne at a time when Egypt’s wealth and military power were in decline and an aggressive and assertive Roman Empire was expanding. The legendary queen also...

To Egyptologists, the Pharaoh Djoser came to power during a time of immense development in Egypt’s history. Agriculture, trade, architecture, the arts, Egypt’s civil administration and their state theology all...

Throughout Egypt’s long span of recorded history, its military adopted a diverse range of ancient weaponry. In Egypt’s early periods, worked stone and wooden weapons dominated the Egyptian arsenal. Typical weapons...

Strategically, Egypt was blessed with imposing natural defensive lines. Egypt’s swath of desert made the country a difficult target for invasion. The Mediterranean Sea protected Egypt’s northern border while the five...

Centred in North Africa on the Nile Delta, ancient Egypt was one of the most powerful and influential civilizations of the ancient world. It’s complex political structure and social organisation, military campaigns...

An affinity for making and appreciating music is one of humanity’s defining characteristics. Little wonder then that the vibrant ancient Egyptian culture embraced music and musicians. Music and musicians were valued...

When we think of the Ancient Egyptians we rarely stop to think about their food and drink, yet their diet tells us much about their society and civilization. Egypt may be a hot arid land with vast stretches of shifting...