2. Greece & Egypt
Ancient Egypt:
Medicine: people preformed high-tech
Astronomy: Saw the movements of the planets and recorded
the constellations; made the calendar we use today
Mathematics: to help with the fields and building temples
mathematics was used
Ancient Greece:
Good at making sculptures and very intelligent and lived on
the Mediterranean Sea and lived in an area that was hard to
grow crops
Greece had a rough land with lots of mountains. Egypt was
flat with mostly deserts.
First, the Greek sculptors liberated their figures from the
original stone block. The Egyptian obsession with permanence
was alien to the Greeks, who were preoccupied with finding ways
to represent motion rather than stability in their statues.
Second, the koori are nude, just as Greek athletes competed
nude in the Olympic Games, and, in the absence of attributes,
Greek youths as well as maidens are formally indistinguishable
from Greek statues of deities. According to the World Fact book
at cia.gov, Greece is 98% Greek Orthodox, 1.3% Muslim and .7%
"other." According to the same source, Egypt is 90% Muslim
(mostly Sunni), 9% Coptic and 1% other Christian. If you are
asking about the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, they each had
very distinct different polytheistic religions that followed
pantheons of many unique gods. The gods of the ancient Greeks
were cantered at Mount Olympus and ruled by Zeus. The gods of
3. the ancient Egyptians were cantered in Egypt and ruled by Sotiris
or Ra or other sun gods depending upon the period. I recommend
you try using God checker to learn about the ancient Egyptian
and Greek pantheons.
The ancient Egyptian religion is far older then the Greek
religion, for one. The Egyptians were also far more absorbed in
their religion. The Greeks treated their religion more like the
Irish talk about their leprechauns and wee little people. The gods
of the Egyptian religion are also harder to discern because
different areas would blend the gods name to make one god {like
Amen and Ra}. The Greek stories were closer to fairy tales and
their gods easier to remember. Greek gods began with the Titans
whose power began to overwhelm them. When sister and brother
gave birth to the Olympians who captured the Titans and became
the new gods who resided on Mount Olympia. Zeus became king
of the Gods and he took his sister Hear as his queen. In Egyptian
mythology the king of the gods was Ra who fathered the first of
the Pharaohs.
I can understand why you would confuse the two, at certain
points they even intertwine and connect. In Greek mythology
Hear catches Zeus cheating with a beautiful human and changes
her into a cow. To escape here’s wrath she dives into the Nile
and attempts to swim to the other side. Before she reaches the
other side the curse begins to wear off, and when she steps out
of the water the only part of her that still looks like a cow is her
head. Later she is found by the Egyptians and she ends up
marrying a god. The Egyptian book of mythology is even called
the Book of the Celestial {or Holy} Cow. Hope this helped.
Most of the religious people's of the Mediterranean area, which
includes both Egypt and Greece, in modern day, believe in some
version of the Hebrew god Yahweh. . Whether it's the Trinity of
Father, Son and Holy Ghost worshiped by the Catholics, the
unnamed god of the Jews or Allah, the name given the same
4. deity by Islam. In ancient times both cultures had large
pantheons. Check out the link below for a lot of information
about any religion you can think of. Ancient Greek worship is
based primarily on life while ancient Egyptian worship
concentrated on the after life. A common thread is that many of
their chief Gods (Ra, Chromos, Sotiris, and Zeus) married their
sisters, (Hath or, Rhea, Isis, Hear). Both cultures have several
gods/goddesses which represent several different things. The
names are different, and the Egyptians have quite a few more
gods/goddesses than the Greeks.They're both Mediterranean
climates and had easy access to fresh water.
Ancient Egypt and Greece
The ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek civilizations are two
of the oldest known civilizations in our history. The Egyptian
civilization, based in the eastern part of North Africa, is believed to
have started around 3150 BC and continued till the end of the
Pharaoh rule in 31 BC. The ancient Greek civilization is believed to
have been in effect from 1100 BC till about 146 BC. Many
similarities and differences existed between these two civilizations,
as even though they co-existed during a certain timeframe (1150 BC
to 146 BC); they were located in different geographical areas.
Because of these differences in geography, both these civilizations
were subjected to different kinds of exposure, which included
contact with other civilization and cultural inheritance. In the
political sphere, we find that the Egyptian civilization had stronger
emphasis on central authority, while the Greeks had a more
decentralized structure, where powers were distributed over the
cities and the states as well. As far as art is concerned, we find that
the Egyptians were more involved in creating great monumental and
gaudy structures, while the Greeks were more involved in creating
smaller, more literary pieces of art.
One of the biggest reasons why these two civilizations had
these differences is due to their geography. The Egyptians had easy
access to large stones that they could bring in to their country and
use them to erect such monumental structures. Many scholars
5. believe that it was their power structure and the lust of large
buildings that caused the Egyptians to develop a class system where
they had to gather mass laborers to work for them. This can also be
attributed to the Egyptians have a very strong bureaucracy and a
strictly centralized government system. These differences can also
be attributed to the difference in religious beliefs of the two
civilizations, as the Egyptians had a very strong believe in the after-
life and they built all their large pyramids and structures in order to
help their dead find a better life after death. The Greeks lacked
such beliefs and this is why their social structure was very different
from the Egyptians.
Both the civilizations are known to have been extensive
traders, however, there were certain differences in the way that
they traded due to their geographical location. The Egyptians had
the Nile to their advantage and their production was mostly
agricultural. The Greeks had a much harsher climate and their focus
was instead on the development of commercial law and merchant
class. This is why the Greeks had to develop much more complex
trade routes than the Egyptians did. Many scholars as being more
stable than the Greeks also describe the overall political structure
of Egypt. Most scholars agree that this was because of the
comprehensive religious belief system that the Egyptian had in
place. The Greeks lacked such a strong belief system and their
political structure was marked by intermittent and heavy
disruptions.
However, the two civilizations were very similar as far as the
social stratification was concerned. Both civilizations had an upper
class that was landowners and each of these upperclassmen had
their peasants and slaves. Religious priests were also part of the
upper class, as they had a great say in the political happenings of
both the civilizations. Even though both the civilizations encouraged
scientific studies in astronomy and mathematics, and had greatly
developed political and economic systems, they both showed more
conservatism. Change was not encouraged and was only brought on
about because of outside forces, such as natural disasters or
invasions. Both civilizations were therefore, able to last a long time
while keeping true to their roots and their values. Perhaps the
biggest impact that the Egyptian and Greek civilizations had on our
6. Western society was on the iconoclastic ideals and symbols. Many of
our current religious as well as social symbols (such as the sun, the
moon, etc) have been adopted from the ideas behind Egyptian
religion and mythology.
The Ancient Egyptians believed that there was more to life
than just the life on earth. Much of their architecture, including the
pyramids and the houses they built were based on strict rules of
mathematics and geography. They used mathematics to build the
dwellings in very symmetrical designs. It has been noted that the
numbers pi and phi have been greatly incorporated in the building
and design of Ancient Egyptian architecture (Greenberg).
Researchers have noted that dividing the perimeter of the dwellings
made by Ancient Egyptians by their height gives a close
approximation to 2pi, which is the same result one would get if one
were to divide the circumference of a circle by its radius. This
suggests that maybe the ancient Egyptians were trying to emulate
the spherical nature of the Earth by presenting this relation (Smith
et al).
These design techniques show that the Ancient Egyptians built
their dwellings very symmetrically. It has also been noted by
research that symmetrical dwellings tend to create harmony in its
structure. This also allows the residents to remain in harmony
amongst each other. One of the things that are also common in the
dwellings structure of all three ancient civilizations is the use of
landscaping. The use of gardens was considered to be very
important. “As early as the 3rd millennium by, the Egyptians
planted gardens within the walled enclosures surrounding their
homes. In time these gardens came to be formally laid out around a
rectangular fish pond flanked by orderly rows of fruit trees and
ornamental plants, as seen in tomb paintings” (MSN Encarta). This
use of plants and gardens gave the houses a very natural feel and it
allowed the dwellers to find some sort of a peace of mind. Even in
today's architecture, we find that the use of gardens, lawns,
porches, and yards allow a more aesthetically pleasing look and feel
to the houses. This not only helps in beautifying the houses, but
also helps the residents to find their peace of mind. This allowed
them to be in harmony not only with each other but also with
nature.
7. Similarly, we find that people in ancient Greece had the same
ideas of harmony and they incorporated them in their architecture
as well. Just like the Egyptians, the Greeks also considered the
mental well-being of their people and worked to provide residential
units that were designed to provide harmony and peace. Even
according to the Greek religion, trees and gardens were considered
to be places where the divine visited often. This is why most of the
Greek houses in Athens had courtyards and gardens that were
surrounded by walls. This is what was called a colonnaded garden.
Some of the houses that were built on the hill sides of Athens
included terraced gardens. The rich Greeks were known to have
extensive and lavish gardens or pleasure grounds. The Greeks
considered beauty to be a very important part of harmony and this
is why they gave a lot of attention on making their abodes as
beautiful as possible. This was usually done by landscaping and
including gardens and courtyards in their houses. In the houses in
Athens, people used to have delightful little gardens with running
fountains. The inmates of that home heard these very fountains
splash their refreshing waters among the flowers (MSN Encarta).
This is again consistent with the Greeks religion and how the use of
gardens and fountains in dwellings worked to create harmony for
the residents.
One of the main differences between these two civilizations
was in the realm of politics (Arid, 12). In Greece, the Greek polis
was the focus of the classical era of Greece. The Greek polis was an
ancient political community that took a rich variety of forms and
worked to shape the Greek culture that was so prominent in the
world by the eight century. Many historians also argue that the
whole of the Greek power that ruled over mot of Europe was all
because of the developments that were allowed by the Greek polis.
The polis is often described as a complex hierarchical society that
was built around the notion of citizenship. Hundred and thousands
of peasant households were all part of the Greek polis and none of
them were dependent on a central government. None of the
household in the polis ever paid any kind of a tax nor did they have
to revert to the government in order to provide them with the basic
necessities, which is very much unlike the major forms of
governments that we have today. This is one of the biggest factors
that differentiate the Greek polis from other ancient states: the
8. equation of the polis with the completed citizen body and the
reservation of the governmental functions to a very small group. In
the polis, every single citizen had his due share and the most
developed form of polis reports the basis on the economic
institutions such as that of chattel slavery. Any community whose
citizens at any time became the subjects was automatically
removed from the polis (Buckley, 17).
The polis was a society that was isolated from the rest of the
world and it was not much influenced by the external forces. The
Greek polis culture was made up of various and mixture of
civilizations. The government was usually small, with various cities
and states that were mostly self-governing. The polis culture,
however, had great empires that were ruled by monarchs and kings.
The wealthy and the rich class controlled many of the cities in the
polis. The citizens went for various educational and physical fitness
training at various gyms all over the Greek polis cultures. The trade
was limited to the usual commercial activity, while they relied upon
heavy and extensive trade, both on sea as well as on land. The
status of women and slaves were very low in both the cultures and
slavery was widely used in both the times. More attention was paid
to philosophy and experimental methods in the polis, while there
were great advancements in astronomy, mathematics, and medicine
(Buckley, 18).
This is greatly different from Egyptian politics, as we find that
the pharaohs had a more conservative approach (Grimily, 25). The
pharaoh was the main ruler of Egypt and unlike the Greek politics;
the general public did not have any say or representation in the
government. This was also due to the religious differences in
between ancient Egypt and ancient Greek. The Egyptian believed
that the pharaoh was some sort of a god who was answerable to
some higher gods. The Ancient Egyptians believed that there was
more to life than just the life on earth. They believed in a very
complex religion that involved the meeting up of the deceased with
Osiris (the Egyptian god of re-birth) in the afterlife. There were
certain aspects that were attributed to a human: the attributes of
the physical body, the shadow, the name, the spirit (Ka), the
personality, spirit or soul (Be), and immortality or eternity (Ankh)
and the protection of these attributes was very necessary for the
9. person was to achieve immortality in the afterlife. The Greeks also
had a very complex religious system with many different gods in
hierarchy with Zeus being the king and ruler of the other gods.
Various other gods and goddesses were there for many other things,
such as the god of war (Ares) and the goddess of love (Aphrodite).
The Greeks also had the notion that the soul of the person still
existed in the afterlife, as it went into the underworld to be ruled
by the god of underworld (Hades). Thus, both the Egyptians as well
as the Greeks placed a lot of importance to death and the afterlife.
They were constantly being reminded about death and were very
afraid of their fate after death.
These religious undertones were also apparent in the temples
that the two civilizations made. For the Egyptians, their pyramids
and other temples such as the great Ramseur had greeted religious
significance for the Egyptian. Similarly for ancient Greek, there is
the great Acropolis. The Ramseur is a temple complex that Ramses
II built between Quran and the desert (Kitchen, 22). Various
historians have referred to this complex of temple as one of the
most gigantic and marvelous temples ever built in Egypt. The
Ramseur consisted of various courts, pylons, extremely large
statues, and carvings of various war scenes depicted on the pylons.
Overall, it was an extremely large and lavish piece of architecture
that worked to show the grandeur of the great pharaoh. Even
though Pericles did not actually build the Acropolis, he did conduct
some major reforms to the architecture during his leadership. He
built many new and large temples, and it was during the Age of
Pericles that the Acropolis gained its final shape. It was also
Pericles who commissioned the building of the Parthenon within the
Acropolis.
One of the most apparent aspects of both these civilization
that sets them apart at a glance is the differences in their art. In
ancient Egypt, various art forms, such as painting, sculpturing,
crafts, and architecture were practiced. Much of the art depicted in
ancient Egypt has been found to be symbolic in nature and it is
mostly found on their tombs and monuments. Animals have been
found to be represented in much of Egyptian art and they used
many different colors to paint their paintings. Their colors were
more expressive than natural and some exaggerations, such as red
10. and yellow colors used for skin meant to imply youth or old age.
Ancient Egyptians used many art forms where they depicted
detailed humans in nature. Most of the painting that they made was
meant to provide company to the people who have died in their
afterlife. The ancient Egyptians made many of their paintings on
papyrus, which was a kind of paper that they made from the
papyrus plant found near the Nile. Ancient Egyptians also made
many different kinds of potteries throughout the various ages
including soapstone, vases, amulets, and images of their gods and
goddesses. Sculpture was also a prominent art form in ancient Egypt
with the Egyptians making large sculptures of their gods, Pharaohs,
and kings and queens. One of the most prominent of their
sculptures is called The Sphinx and it is one of the most
recognizable images that represent Egypt after the pyramids.
Another very prominent art form that distinguishes the Egyptian art
from other art is their use of hieroglyphics, which is a script based
on pictures and symbols.
Art used in ancient Greek is also very significant, as it appears
in many historic places and it also worked to pave way for other
Westernized art forms. The ancient Greeks made all kinds of art,
including paintings, sculpture, pottery, etc. Pottery was used for
many different purposes, including the use in everyday chores, wine
decanters, and as trophies for winners at the games. Other uses for
pottery included drinking vessels such as craters and hydria.
Miniature pottery was also made in order to emulate the various
gods and goddesses and many different colors were used in order to
honor these gods. The ancient Greeks also worked with metals such
as bronze to create many pieces of art work such as vases and other
ornaments. The ancient Greeks also made various clay and
terracotta figures, idols, and statuettes. Monumental sculptures is
also a very significant aspect of ancient Greek art and various large
sculptures made of marbles, stones, and metals like bronze were
made during their era. The Greeks also used coins during their era
and many coins from ancient Greece have been found with patterns
and designs. This practice is still followed today by almost all the
countries in the world. The Greeks also invented the art of panel
painting, where the artists drew various scenes over different
panels to depict stories. These were done on pillars and walls and
11. often told epic tales of heroes and gods. Other forms of paintings
that the ancient Greeks used included painting vases.
Thus, we find that ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece
had many similarities as well as differences. They both paid a lot of
attention to having harmony in their residential quarters and it was
very common to have extended family households, at least in rural
areas. The conventional image is that of an enterprise of dozens of
persons hierarchically governed by a paterfamilias who resides with
several of his married adult children and their families. This was
particularly true for the Egyptians and the Greeks, partly on
account of polygamy and (especially) slavery, and households then
might have included scores or hundreds of occupants (Ellickson 23).
Other similarities and differences also existed in the art,
architecture, geographical, and the political and social spheres of
the two civilizations as discussed herein.
