Exploring Egypt: Ancient Near East to the Pyramids & World Wonders - Essay Sample

Being an ancient near the east person, I feel excited to visit Egypt for the first time. I am especially thrilled to look at the pyramids and why they are among the world's seven wonders. This excitement is because this region lacks stones for building and precious artifacts since, from time in history, we relied on long-distance traders to exchange rocks with agriculture. The ancient near East is around the Mesopotamia River, famous for irrigation and onset of cultivation (German n.p). Reading about the many artifacts and emperors in Egypt is exciting, but getting to see the real images it something else more exciting. In this paper, the focus is to discuss in detail and demonstrate the experience from my trip to Egypt and sketch the culture shock I experienced.

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Egypt is a renowned country within the Middle East with its capital in Cairo. It is majorly known for its inventions, pyramids, pharaohs, and major ancient artifacts. My main concern for visiting Egypt was to relate their Culture to my own and see the many artifacts and pyramids. My first stop is at the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is one of the oldest pyramids and is in the Seven Wonders of the World. The pyramid was mainly built for Pharaoh Khufu since they used tombs to burying pharaohs and their wives (Calvert n.p). Alongside the pyramid of Giza were other smaller rectangular structures built for the prominent elders who worked closely with the pharaoh Khufu. It was a great honor in the Culture of Egypt being buried next to the pharaoh as it signified a respected place in the afterlife. The crafts used in the construction of the pyramid are quite exemplary, "I told one of the guys standing next to me as he was also mesmerized by the height and the structure of the pyramid." It feels excellent touching and groping the texture of the pyramid. Comparing the structures from my home region, I am glad to see the pyramids, though I am still shocked at how the peasants managed to build such a perfect system with such heavy material that has stood the test of time.

I am heading to the Mortuary temple and considerable kneeling of the Hatshepsut. "You want to join me?" my new friend asked. "Sure, let's go." We recognized Hatshepsut as a female pharaoh since her kneeling sculpture is surprisingly shocking as it depicts a king's image. She was fascinated by being royal and used sculptures and arts to represent her interests. Her mortuary temple is built near a cliff with organic qualities that are so permanent and stable after a sense of instability on the onset of the New Kingdom (Harris and Sucker n.p). The sculpture is made of granite stone that is hard to find but very firm and rare; it does not show any spaces between it as it is one continuous structure. "How did these people make such art?" I asked Jamal, my new friend. "I am shocked too," Jamal says. Coming from the ancient Near East, it wasn't easy to find such a thing. One can tell that the different spaces between sculptures. "I am wowed by the intelligence and workmanship of people from Egypt," Jamal says. "I am majorly surprised by how authentic and surprisingly unique they embraced their culture by making durable structures most fascinatingly." We are comparing the aspect of royalty from the ancient Near East and ancient Egypt, and it is surprisingly shocking that they have no title for a queen, and the wives of the kings are referred to as' King's wife' or 'Kings mother.'

Proceeding, we meet Hunefer's Judgement in the presence of Osiris book of the dead explicitly written for Hunefer because he was an Egyptian official who was a divine scribe and lived closer to the King. The fascinating thing I am encountering this book is that it is written on papyrus, a particular reed used for writing in ancient Egypt. It also illustrates the various artifacts and rituals that represented life after these high officials' death, according to Egyptian Culture. I am looking at an image of Hunefer's mummified body and the drawings that show how his mummified appearance is stationed for judgment in the presence of an Osiris who is a special Egyptian Lord and Judge of the dead (Museum (1) n.p). The details captured in the art are quite phenomenal and shocking at the same time as to how they believed in the afterlife, and each symbol and animal was worshipped. The mummification of the bodies is the most culturally shocking aspect of Culture experiencing in this visit. The preservation of the bodies and brain removal through the nose and later buried in eight coffins is astonishing. Jamal and I chatted about how Culture can be surprisingly different since, in our home region, people were buried in royal graves of Ur in pits built of strong marble and near shrines. These pits contained rich materials (Museum (2) n.p).

In a nutshell, my visit to Egypt has been a great and fascinating experience as I got the pleasure to see the pyramids and the different ancient antiques and shockingly learn the Culture of the Egyptians and how they made some of the durable sculptures. The mummification process is the most flamboyant of them all.

Works Cited

Calvert, Amy. "The Great Pyramids of Giza." Smarthistory, 2015. https://smarthistory.org/the-great-pyramids-of-giza/

German, Senta. "Ancient Near East: Cradle of Civilization." Smarthistory, 2015. https://smarthistory.org/ancient-near-east-cradle-of-civilization/

Harris, Beth, and Steven Sucker. "Mortuary Temple and Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut." Smarthistory, 2015. https://smarthistory.org/hatshepsut/

Museum, British (2). "Standard of Ur – Smarthistory." Smarthistory, 2015. https://smarthistory.org/standard-of-ur-2/

Museum, British (1). "Hunefer's Judgement in the Presence of Osiris – Smarthistory." Smarthistory, 2015. https://smarthistory.org/hunefers-judgement-in-the-presence-of-osiris/