It is generally believed that civilization is the stage when human beings reach a certain height in intelligence, material conditions, social organization and cultural mechanisms. As for the criteria for entering the stage of civilization, there is a consensus in academic circles that the differences between civilizations and the particularities of each civilization must be taken into account, and there is no universal iconic "element". Another common understanding about civilization is that the formation of civilization means the formation of values shared by certain groups of people. Since THE END OF THE 20TH CENTURY, POST-PROCESS archaeologists have paid special attention to exploring the origin of civilization from this perspective, and proposed that the ideology and social common values constructed by the upper levels of society also played an important role in the formation of civilization. Influenced by this trend, the British famous Egyptologist, Oxford University professor baines and the famous American scientist, university of Michigan, near east of Assyria and human professor, department of the ancient world, a senior fellow at New York university Ye Fei, in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia civilization the rise and fall of problem widely carried on the thorough research. Baines is devoted to explain by means of art, religion and social form of ancient Egypt, including writing system in the society, the function and meaning in the text on the formation of the elite role and the reinforcement of ideology, the relationship between image and text as well as the ancient Egyptian officials in the material world and the time and space environment.39bet-kết quả bóng đá-kết quả xổ số miền bắc-kèo bóng đá -soi cầu bóng đá-đặt cược Ye Fei published several important works, including The Primary Stage of Mesopotamian Civilization Development, The Mystery of Ancient States: The Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States and Civilizations, and the Decline and Fall of Ancient States and Civilizations. The two scholars co-authored Order, Legitimacy, and Wealth in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. They agreed that the important manifestation of ancient Egypt's civilization stage was the elite's use of symbolism to create a new "high culture" (i.e., complex society), and relying on the order of the universe to establish its sanctity, manifest and convey their will. Royal palaces, administrative institutions, religious and sacrificial buildings; Crowns, scepters, garments, weapons, jewelry, and special vessels; Myths, legends, festivals and historical writing and narration centered on the king's table are all important carriers and materialized forms. The appearance of these materialized forms is an important criterion to judge the origin of ancient Egyptian civilization.
It is relatively easy to identify the origins of ancient Egyptian civilization because of clear images and early writings. Clear evidence of civilization formation can be seen in the famous palette of Narmai. The first is the establishment of a unified state. On the front of the palette, Narmai, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, strikes the bowed rulers of lower Egypt; On the back of the palette, Narmai wears the red crown of Lower Egypt and leads the Upper Egyptian army to defeat their Lower Egyptian rivals. Two sacred beasts with long necks intertwined, symbolizing the unity of upper and lower Egypt. The second is the divine right of Kings and the divine right of Kings. At the top of each side of the palette are carved the heads of two cows representing the goddess Harto, indicating that the kingship of Narmai is protected by the goddess. In the middle of the head is a royal icon with the name of Narmai. On the icon is the protector god of Upper Egypt, Horus, which means that the power of Narmai comes from Horus. On the front of the palette, Horus holds the rope around the nose of the leader of Lower Egypt, helping Narmai to achieve unity. The third is the formation of the management system. In front of the king and behind the figure of important courtiers, each marked with hieroglyphics official title, one of the official name is ancient Egypt's top executive "prime minister". Fourthly, the name and official name of Narmai on the color palette indicate that the text has served in the political, military and other fields. These four aspects of the color palette are the core content of ancient Egypt's "complex society". The above image elements become an important standard to identify the formation of ancient Egyptian civilization.
New archaeological work in southern Egypt has found that if the appearance of these images and relics is any guide, the formation of ancient Egyptian civilization dates back even further.
Recently, archaeologists discovered a tomb of the Negada Culture I (about 4,000-3,500 BC) in Abydos. A pottery pot depicting a man in the shape of a king beating an enemy shows that the theme of unification through force has a long history. On this clay pot, both the attacker and the victim are Upper Egyptians. From the second period of the Negada Culture (about 3500 -- 3200 BC), the cultural diversity among different regions of Upper Egypt gradually decreased, and the convergence of pottery styles and housing patterns reflected the continuous progress of the unification of Upper Egypt. Long before Narmai, 19 rulers had used special ICONS representing royal palaces to assert their control over Upper Egypt and even parts of Lower Egypt. The scene of Egyptians striking down Egyptians on the palette of El Mai is a declaration of the unity of upper and lower Egypt. Beginning with Narmai's successors, the victims in images of war were foreigners. Thus we can see the expansion of the scope of national unity and the development of national identity. Images have always been an important way to spread the will of a nation. Since then, the popularity of hieroglyphics has provided a visually striking writing system, and religious and mythological traditions with unique ancient Egyptian characteristics have gradually taken shape. Through images and words, the sense of belonging to their civilization and the sense of Egyptian identity among people living in the Nile Valley has been reinforced. Egyptians and outsiders, inside and outside Egypt, are associated with the concepts of order and chaos, respectively. The political organization pattern of ancient Egypt experienced a long process of evolution. Compared with the surrounding tribes, which were still nomadic, this organizational pattern provided a solid foundation in terms of identity and cultural orientation. The most important support for the unity, stability and continuity of civilization was the state.
Archaeologists have discovered a staff in the shape of the hieroglyphic symbol Heka in the tomb of a former dynastic monarch in Abydos. Heka means "ruler" in hieroglyphics, and this scepter indicates the tomb owner's kingship. About 200 ivory labels, originally attached to pottery jars, were also found in the tomb. The hieroglyphic symbols on them indicate the varieties and origins of the wine in the jars, which are regarded as the embryonic form of hieroglyphic writing. It can be seen that the origin of ancient Egyptian writing is related to the recording of material information for effective management. There may be no difference between the Mesopotamian cuneiform writing, which originated from management needs, and the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, which originated from religious needs. These labels were placed in mausoleums to illustrate the collection, management and redistribution of various items, which were an important part of the royal and state administration. The tombs of many former and early dynasty monarchs have been excavated in Abydos. The RUINS OF THE TEMPLE WERE FOUND NEXT TO THE TOMB, INDICATING THAT THE NATIONAL religion AND THE MONUMENTAL architecture (temple, royal tomb and TEMPLE) had become the important pillar OF THE royal power and the most conspicuous symbol of ancient Egyptian civilization at this time. Since then, a complex system of symbols has been established to define and demonstrate royal power, including the king's clothing and decorations, such as the king's name circle, crown, head and scepter. Kingship and state religion formed the bulk of ancient Egyptian civilization, resulting in great monuments such as the Pyramids, the obelisk, and the Temple of Karnak. The ancient Egyptian civilization always emphasized three themes: first, the integrity and unity of the land; The second is the stability of the monarchy and the legitimacy of the king (the list of Kings lists the names of the past Kings, but the Hyksos rulers, Akhenaten, Hatshept and other monarchs are excluded for lack of legitimacy); The third is the concept of time closely related to temples and religious festivals and the concept of afterlife with resurrection after death as the ultimate goal. All these formed the elements of ancient Egyptian civilization, became the cornerstone of everyone's daily life, and gave birth to the corresponding myths and literature.
Cities are regarded as one of the elements of civilization by most scholars. The British archaeologist Childe took the emergence of cities and the resulting national-level political organizations as a sign of civilization formation. Some scholars further believed that the population of a city marking the birth of civilization should not be less than 5,000 people. But as far as the ancient Egyptian cities are concerned, the nature and pattern of the cities are very different from those of the two river basins. In the Mesopotamia, the city is the political, cultural, economic and religious center of the city-state, and the whole region presents a landscape of competing civilizations with many cities. In ancient Egypt, a single city -- the capital -- was in constant tension with the other cities, and the cities of ancient Egypt were hardly comparable in size, density, or the role they played in the development of civilization. In recent years, the archaeological discoveries and studies focusing on the elements of "high culture" also prove that ancient Egypt has entered the stage of civilization, which has promoted the new progress in the exploration of the source of ancient Egyptian civilization, and has important enlightenment significance for the exploration of the source of civilization in other parts of the world.