Egyptian Origins

[Nungali]

Just arrived yesterday and full of pics and illustrations ' The Genesis of the Pharaohs ' by Toby Wilkinson. 

 

Waaaa - hooo ! been waiting ages, hard to get now its mine ... MINE !        

 

" For generations, tourists, scholars, and armchair travelers have been

intrigued by the puzzle of the ancient Egyptians' origins. Was civilization brought to the Nile Valley by invaders from other lands, even refugees from Atlantis? Or did civilization develop, over a long period, within Egypt itself? Most archaeologists favor the latter theory, yet nagging doubts have always remained because many of ancient Egypt's most distinctive elements seem to have appeared quite suddenly, as if from nowhere.

 

 

 

Now the quest for the elusive "missing link" is finally over, and, in the light of dramatic new discoveries, the genesis of the pharaohs is coming into focus. Ancient Egypt, it seems, did not begin by the banks of the Nile but in a much harsher environment. The ancestors of the pyramid-builders were not village-dwelling farmers but wandering cattle-herders, and pharaonic civilization was forged in a remote region, one of the most forbidding places on earth. These are the startling conclusions of Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson, based on his own discoveries in the heart of the Eastern Desert, between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea. Here, the pharaohs' distant ancestors left a stunning legacy that has remained hidden for 6,000 years: hundreds of intricate rock carvings that tell us about their lifestyle and their deepest beliefs. Pharaonic imagery such as the afterlife journey by boat, royal hunting, and the iconography of gods and kings all find their origins in this inhospitable terrain.

 

 

Genesis of the Pharaohs traces the discovery of these ancient records, dates them, and identifies the artists who made them. As the story unfolds, we travel back in time to a remarkable early period of human creativity and discover the answer to the question of where, when, and how ancient Egypt began. " 

 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7...f_the_Pharaohs

   

 

 

[Apech]

Sounds good.  But this is not new is it?  

[Nungali]

Ah ... I knew the scent of old mummies would bring you out from the ceiling . 

 

 

The Book isnt that  new.    The collated findings are relatively  new. 

 

The idea seems older, in that Pharaonic Civilisation was thought to have come in via the east  ( and would have crossed through this area ) .... but that was a bit influenced by old school ... ( wasn't it ?  I am sure you will correct me here if am I wrong  -  please do )  and Victorian Biblical  concepts.  

 

Some of the finds here in this area, were in the past seen as part of the above process .  But I dont know where these eastern desert culture / people originated.    I have not started reading it yet, so .... ? 

 

It was highly recommended  by a guy I have been conversing with on another site - he really knows his stuff and claims to be a curator of the Egyptian section at a museum in Chicago  . 

 

I got involved in a few in depth discussions with him and some others  (archeologists who have done digs in Egypt ) , current Egyptology students, professional anthropologists, on Egyptian origins - very interesting !

 

I eventually hit them with my theory, and to my surprise (although it is in no way 'official' )  the guy in Chicago said  " That's exactly what I tell people is my personal opinion on it when they ask me at the museum ."  

 

It also seems to support another idea I had, that animal husbandry, way pre-dated the development of agriculture and allowed settlements and projects before or right at the beginning of developing agriculture / urban environments.  Eg. Gobekli Tepe , Orkney   and saw the beginnings of it forming in Australia, evident at the first white settlement . 

 

Maybe more after I read some more   -   got it just in time for impending Jury Duty  ..... got keep interested somehow 

 

" Mr Nungali, that book you keep refering too, and the notes you keep taking, they are related to the case at hand I hope ?"

 

" Yes ,  Your Honour. "

 

" Good because  your attention now will help you decide on this Man's future -  to be set free or sent to jail ... I hope you realise that ?"

 

" Yes Pharaoh  ....   I mean ,  yes Your Honour. " 

[Apech]

I would guess that we need to understand more about how early pastoral communities worked.

[Nungali]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or did you mean   the     Masai ? 

Edited March 15, 2016 by Nungali

[Apech]

Obviously I meant Mormons.

[Junko]

Could you tell me about 'Anubis'?

[Apech]

Could you tell me about 'Anubis'?

 

Anubis is a very interesting god.  Usually shown as a jackal or a jackal headed man he was one of the most long lasting gods like Isis who persisted right through to the Late Period and the beginning of Christianity.  The Roman's had swore 'by the Egyptian dog' meaning Anubis.  He was twinned with another jackal headed god called Wepwawet (Apuat) whose name means 'opener of the ways' and he later assimilated some of the attributes of this god.

 

His main role was as the god of embalming and the psychopomp or guide of the dead soul through the underworld.  This function links him to shamanist type practices of dreaming and astral travel and so on.  He also assisted Thoth the god of wisdom in the 'weighing of the heart' judgement where the good and bad deeds of the dead person were assessed to see if the soul of the departed could pass into the abode of Osiris.

 

The Egyptian for Anubis is Anpu (Anubis being the Greek version).  He is usually shown as black faced - black being the colour of both death and regeneration.  the embalming/mummification process was actually a magical process for creating a perfect body as a vehicle for the afterlife - and specifically the location of the heart (ib) which is the centre of mind, personality, volition and character).  The Egyptians held that a person was not one entity but several.  On death these several parts separated.  The body (especially the heart), the ka (the etheric life field), the ba (the soul) and the shade ( the void entity) would seperate going in different direction.  The body to earth, where the ka would also dwell until its energy expired, the soul to the sky and the shade to the underworld.  The purpose of Anubian rites and the assistance that Anubis offered is about how to bring these entities together to avoid the 'second death' - that is final extinction.  By assembling the body=mummy, energising the ka, invoking the ba and locating the shade it was possible to create a new entity called the akh - which means effective spirit - which is an eternal light being in which we can find spiritual immortality.

Edited April 10, 2016 by Apech

[Junko]

Thank you very much,Apech!

Could you now tell me about 'Bastet'?

[Apech]

Thank you very much,Apech! Could you now tell me about 'Bastet'?

 

 

Well, as you probably know Bast or Bastet (the 'et' part is just the feminine ending of the name) is a cat goddess usually associated with the North (or Lower Egypt) and hence the Red Crown - sometimes paired with Hathor (cow goddess ) in the south.  She became very popular in the late period worshiped at Bubastis in the northern delta.

 

She tends to have two aspects - peaceful and wrathful.  Her peaceful aspect is as a nursing mother and her wrathful aspect is linked to lioness goddesses like Sakhmet - in fact she was originally seen more as a lion than a domestic cat.  The Egyptians were very fond of cats.

 

She is linked to a certain event where the sun god Ra takes on the form of a cat in order to overcome the serpent Apophis - the sun must do this in order to rise in the east at dawn.  Rather like a mongoose in India cats were good at catching and killing snakes - and in this case the snake is seen as the embodiment of all hindrances and obstacles which prevent the path of the sun.  So in killing the serpent - the cat is restoring Ma'at or truth of the rightful order of things.

[Junko]

Very interesting,thank you.I had a cat as pet long time ago,but now I have dogs.I feel I came to this planet to communicate animal like dogs in particular to understand something...maybe something about underworld.....!

[Nungali]

Does Anpu chase Bast ?

 

 

Thanks for the info Apech  ( and sorry for not getting back to you Junko ) ... I been a bit busy  -  still in court  4 weeks now       and the prosecutor just finished presenting their case  - holy sheeeet ! 

 

Anyway, I finished Genesis of the Pharaohs .     

 

 

Mhe. 

 

 

It did a bad job of proving  the idea that was touted on the the publicity and the dust jacket of the book ;; that the origins of Pharaonic Culture were in the Eastern desert .... if that was his intention.  In doesnt appear to be throughout the book.  Then at the end he states it is ... but isnt  ???  A bit confused.

 

What I took from it was that the early culture that showed motifs of later Pharaonic culture does appear in rock art towards the eastern desert.  But these people ... according to the author himself, lived on that section of the NIle (the big bend)  where the river curves around to become the closest part of the river to the Red Sea. here they lived on the Banks of the Nile, to the area just to the its east and up the Wadis, especially Wadi Hamnamet  ( thats probably sic )  - now the  main route from Nile to Red Sea. In this area ( more fertile back then )  they went to seasonally herd and graze their cattle. No settlements of them are found there, but they are near the NIle, no graves are found there, but they are found (mostly) across the NIie on the west side. 

 

he makes a big deal out of eastern desert rock art showing people pulling ancient ships by ropes and postulates it is the earliest motif of the  King's after life journey   ( which also seems to indicate a river origin )  , but totally misses the point that ; where the river and sea are closest , and it has been a route  right back into the earliest times that the rock art may be a depiction of what actually happened in that area .  

 

And in the  summing up he seems to state that the people did live by the river   and went into the Wadis to graze their cattle ... BUT  ... their origin was in the desert  where they happened to leave their rock art . 

 

Seems a strange conclusion for a professional that spent so much time ad effort researching it and travelling there and writing the book. 

 

The publicity claims  the new revealing evidence and theory ....  but it just isnt in the book ... we seem back at origins from people living by the river ... who ventured into the east when it was more lush to graze their animals for part of the year and left their  art on the rocks there. 

Edited April 14, 2016 by Nungali