Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was a civilization of ancient North Africa, concentrated along the lower
reaches of the Nile River in the place that is now the country Egypt. Ancient Egyptian
civilization followed prehistoric Egypt and coalesced around 3100 BC (according
to conventional Egyptian chronology) with the political unification of Upper and Lower
Egypt under Menes (often identified with Narmer). The history of ancient Egypt occurred as
a series of stable kingdoms, separated by periods of relative instability known as
Intermediate Periods: the Old Kingdom of the Early Bronze Age, the Middle Kingdom of
the Middle Bronze Age and the New Kingdom of the Late Bronze Age.

The history of Egypt's contact with the outside world is above all concerned with power
and prestige. In the earliest commercial links between the Egyptians and their neighbours in
Africa and the Near East, the principal motivation appears to have been to obtain rare or
exotic materials and products that could serve to bolster the power base of the individuals or
groups concerned.

Ancient Egyptian religion was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals which
were an integral part of ancient Egyptian society. It centered on the Egyptians' interaction
with a multitude of deities who were believed to be present in, and in control of, the forces
and elements of nature. The myths about these gods were meant to explain the origins and
behavior of the forces they represented. The practices of Egyptian religion were efforts to
provide for the gods and gain their favor.
Formal religious practice centered on the pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Although he was a
human, the pharaoh was believed to be descended from the gods. He acted as the
intermediary between his people and the gods, and was obligated to sustain the gods
through rituals and offerings so that they could maintain order in the universe. Therefore,
the state dedicated enormous resources to the performance of these rituals and to the
construction of the temples where they were carried out. Individuals could also interact with
the gods for their own purposes, appealing for their help through prayer or compelling them
to act through magic. These popular religious practices were distinct from, but closely linked
with, the formal rituals and institutions.
The popular religious tradition grew more prominent in the course of Egyptian history as the
status of the pharaoh declined. Another important aspect of the religion was the belief in the
afterlife and funerary practices. The Egyptians made great efforts to ensure the survival of
their souls after death, providing tombs, grave goods, and offerings to preserve the bodies
and spirits of the deceased.
 The Four Main Religion

Heliopolis Theology

The Heliopolis theology explains creation in terms of the emanation of the Ennead, the
first nine Gods, from whom the rest of Ceeation arises.At Heliopolis the name Atum is given
to the First Principle, the Creator or Demiurge. The word Atum means both "All" and
"Nothing", (c.f. the words attributed to Christ, "I am the alpha and the omega"). He
represents the potential totality of the Universe which is as yet unformed and
intangible. There are three basic variants by which Atum gives rise to creation
 Memphis Theology

The Memphis theology is based around Ptah (equivalent to the Greek Hephaistos, the
divine blacksmith), (shown above on the left), who himself becomes the primordial fire and
gives it substance. This cosmological system was developed at Memphis, when it became
the capital city of the kings of Egypt. Ptah is the creator-god of Memphis, and during the
long period the city served as the capital of Egypt it was known as Het-ka-Ptah or "House of
the Soul of Ptah"

Hermopolis Theology
From Hermopolis, city of Hermes (Thoth), Master of Writing, Numbers, Measurement and
Time, comes the description of the Nun, the primordial environment, picturing its qualities
and characteristics: 'He [the Demiurge] created the Eight: He formed its body as that of a
sacred child who issues forth from a lotus in the middle of the Nun.'
 Theban Theology

The Theban theology, like the Memphite theology, is based on a primordial triad. In this
case it is the triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. The Theban myth of creation is somewhat
complicated and wrapped in obscure symbolism

Four Generation:
The serpent Kam-at-f, assimilated to Amun-Re of Karnak.
The serpent Ir-ta, assimilated to Min-Amun of Luxor.
The Eight Primordials, one of whom is Amun, who thus re-generates himself.
The solar child who comes forth from the lotus at Hermopolis, in other words Re, product
of the Fight Primordials, and also assimilated to Amun.

Theology
The beliefs and rituals now referred to as "Ancient Egyptian religion" existed within every
aspect of Egyptian culture. Indeed, their language possessed no single term corresponding
to the modern European concept of religion. Ancient Egyptian religion was not a monolithic
institution, but consisted of a vast and varying set of beliefs and practices, linked by their
common focus on the interaction between the world of humans and the world of the divine.
The characteristics of the gods who populated the divine realm were inextricably linked to
the Egyptians' understanding of the properties of the world in which they lived.

Hellenic Civilization
The Hellenistic period covers the period of Mediterranean history between
the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire as
signified by the Battle of Actium in 31 BC] and the subsequent conquest of Ptolemaic
Egypt the following year. The Ancient Greek word Hellas (Ἑλλάς, Ellás) is the original word
for Greece, from which the word "Hellenistic" was derived.
 The Hellenic World' is a term which refers to that period of ancient Greek history between
507 BCE (the date of the first democracy in Athens) and 323 BCE (the death of Alexander
the Great). This period is also referred to as the age of Classical Greece and should not be
confused with The Hellenistic World which designates the period between the death
 of Alexander and Rome's conquest of Greece (323 - 146 - 31 BCE).

The Hellenic World of ancient Greece consisted of the Greek mainland, Crete, the islands
of the Greek archipelago, and the coast of Asia Minor primarily (though mention is made
of cities within the interior of Asia Minor and, of course, the colonies in southern Italy). This
is the time of the great Golden Age of Greece and, in the popular imagination, resonates as
'ancient Greece'.

Roman Republic
 The Roman Republic (Latin: Res publica Romana) was the era of classical Roman
civilization beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom, traditionally dated to 509
BC, and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire. It was during this
period that Rome's control expanded from the city's immediate surroundings
to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world.

Unlike the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire, the Republic was in a state of quasi-
perpetual war throughout its existence. Its first enemies were its Latin and Etruscan
neighbours, as well as the Gauls, who even sacked the city in 387 BC. The Republic
nonetheless demonstrated extreme resilience and always managed to overcome its losses,
however catastrophic.
 Pyrrhic War (280–275 BC)[

By the beginning of the 3rd century BC, Rome had established itself as a major power on
the Italian Peninsula, but had not yet come into conflict with the dominant military powers in
the Mediterranean Basin at the time: Carthage and the Greek kingdoms.[53 HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic"] HYPERLINK "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Republic"[54]
 The "Capitoline Brutus", a bust possibly depicting Lucius HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Junius_Brutus"Junius HYPERLINK
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Junius_Brutus" Brutus, who led the revolt against
Rome's last king and was a founder of the Republic.

Lost and Found

Medieval Europe
The period of European history which we call “Medieval” is usually regarded as consisting of
the thousand years or so between the fall of the Roman empire in the west (in the 5th
century), through to the period of the Renaissance in the 15th century. In fact, the term was
coined by later historians, and means “Middle Ages”, which might today be rendered as “in-
between times” – that period which came after the high civilizations of
the Greeks and Romans, and before the high civilization of the Renaissance: an age of
barbarism, ignorance, illiteracy and violence.

Kings led armies of KNIGHTS and foot soldiers. They made laws, collected taxes, and
encouraged trade. Nobles ran great estates, given to them on the condition that they would
help the king rule. The Church was important in every area of life, providing medieval
Europe with its schools, hospitals, and universities.
Renaissance Man
he "Vitruvian man" by Leonardo da Vinci is a study of how a human figure can be fitted into
two geometric shapes, the circle and the square.

Renaissance man or polymath is used for a very clever person who is good at many
different things. The idea comes from a time of history called the Renaissance which lasted
from about 1400 to about 1600. One of the most famous people alive during this time
was Leonardo da Vinci. He was most famous as a painter, but he was also
a scientist, engineer and mathematician. Leonardo is called a "Renaissance man". Another
"Renaissance man" was Michelangelo, who was a sculptor, painter, architect and poet.
 List of polymaths

• Aristotle (Greek: Ἀριστοτέλης, Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek

philosopher who studied and wrote about many subjects, including physics,
 metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, politics, government, ethics,
biology and zoology

• Archimedes (Greek: Ἀρχιμήδης; c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC) was a Greek

mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer.
• Michelangelo (March 6, 1475 – February 18, 1564) was an Italian Renaissance
painter, sculptor, architect, poet, engineer and theologian (student of
the Bible).
• Isaac Newton (1643–1727) was an English physicist, mathematician,
astronomer, theologian, natural philosopher and alchemist. His development
of calculus, and his three laws HYPERLINK
"https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_laws_of_motion" of motion were
landmarks in applied mathematics.