Ancient egypt life places
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| Ancient egypt |
Tombs and temples provide most information about ancient Egypt
because they were built of
towns situated along the Nile; each nome (dis- trict) had an urban center that housed the local administrators and officials and their families; and there was the royal capital which accom- modated the residence of the royal family and was also the seat of government. The location of the capital varied from one period to another, and there were also other royal residences, which the kings visited periodically, around the country. All these towns housed not only the officials but all the other people—craftsmen, traders, and farmers—who were needed to feed and service the community. This state of rela- tive nonurbanization, it is claimed, continued until the New Kingdom.
According to an alternative view, however, Egypt had an ordinary pattern of urban devel- opment rather than just these scattered towns. Certainly when the Greeks arrived they remarked that there were thousands of towns and villages. Centers would have developed in a number of ways: In many cases the predynas- tic villages developed to become capitals of nomes; new villages sometimes grew up; there were new locations for temples and royal resi- dences; and there were military colonies at the forts and fortresses and royal workmen’s towns to house the necropolis workforces and their families. There were three major capital cities—Memphis, Heliopolis, and Thebes— and, it is claimed, even in the Old Kingdom there were also walled towns of various types and sizes such as Edfu and Abydos. Some were administrative centers, and others were centers of worship that had a national importance. The geographic location of a town or the economic activity of a community sometimes dictated their growth and development, but others were specifically created by the government to house the personnel associated with temples or other monuments. Again, in addition to the officials and their families, craftsmen and agricultural workers lived in these settlements to supply the community’s needs.
The inundation dictated the location of the towns, which were concentrated on mounds and hillocks formed by the alluvial deposits and on the dykes. They were continuously rebuilt on former constructions that were demolished and leveled, and certainly in the long-established towns there was no logical order or real attempt at town planning. This practice of rebuilding at the same site over many genera- tions makes it very difficult to study their town planning principles, but a few sites that were built for a particular purpose and occupied for a limited period have remained sufficiently intact to enable us to examine their methods. These include the towns built for the royal necropolis workers (Kahun, Deir el-Medina, and the special village at Tell el-Amarna) and the capital city of Akhetaten (Tell el-Amarna). The latter demonstrates that this city at least had an overall plan: Three distinct areas—resi- dential, the palace and temple district, and administrative headquarters—were linked by three almost parallel main streets. The villas belonging to the wealthy were arranged to good advantage and occupied prime sites, but the poorer dwellings were built randomly between them.
Ancient egypt
The question of the quantity, importance, and spread of towns remains in dispute, but it is evident that two main types of urban devel- opment emerged. There was the natural and unplanned growth of towns, which evolved, for economic, administrative, or religious rea- sons, from the predynastic villages; and there were planned towns, initiated for particular purposes in specific locations. The latter were occupied for the duration of the project but were subsequently abandoned because there was no continuing need for them. Since they were not leveled and rebuilt for continuous occupation, some have survived in a better state than the great cities of Memphis or Thebes. They include several royal work- men’s towns.
Ancient Egypt - Ancient Egypt - Ancient Egypt - Ancient Egypt
towns situated along the Nile; each nome (dis- trict) had an urban center that housed the local administrators and officials and their families; and there was the royal capital which accom- modated the residence of the royal family and was also the seat of government. The location of the capital varied from one period to another, and there were also other royal residences, which the kings visited periodically, around the country. All these towns housed not only the officials but all the other people—craftsmen, traders, and farmers—who were needed to feed and service the community. This state of rela- tive nonurbanization, it is claimed, continued until the New Kingdom.
According to an alternative view, however, Egypt had an ordinary pattern of urban devel- opment rather than just these scattered towns. Certainly when the Greeks arrived they remarked that there were thousands of towns and villages. Centers would have developed in a number of ways: In many cases the predynas- tic villages developed to become capitals of nomes; new villages sometimes grew up; there were new locations for temples and royal resi- dences; and there were military colonies at the forts and fortresses and royal workmen’s towns to house the necropolis workforces and their families. There were three major capital cities—Memphis, Heliopolis, and Thebes— and, it is claimed, even in the Old Kingdom there were also walled towns of various types and sizes such as Edfu and Abydos. Some were administrative centers, and others were centers of worship that had a national importance. The geographic location of a town or the economic activity of a community sometimes dictated their growth and development, but others were specifically created by the government to house the personnel associated with temples or other monuments. Again, in addition to the officials and their families, craftsmen and agricultural workers lived in these settlements to supply the community’s needs.
The inundation dictated the location of the towns, which were concentrated on mounds and hillocks formed by the alluvial deposits and on the dykes. They were continuously rebuilt on former constructions that were demolished and leveled, and certainly in the long-established towns there was no logical order or real attempt at town planning. This practice of rebuilding at the same site over many genera- tions makes it very difficult to study their town planning principles, but a few sites that were built for a particular purpose and occupied for a limited period have remained sufficiently intact to enable us to examine their methods. These include the towns built for the royal necropolis workers (Kahun, Deir el-Medina, and the special village at Tell el-Amarna) and the capital city of Akhetaten (Tell el-Amarna). The latter demonstrates that this city at least had an overall plan: Three distinct areas—resi- dential, the palace and temple district, and administrative headquarters—were linked by three almost parallel main streets. The villas belonging to the wealthy were arranged to good advantage and occupied prime sites, but the poorer dwellings were built randomly between them.
Ancient egypt
The question of the quantity, importance, and spread of towns remains in dispute, but it is evident that two main types of urban devel- opment emerged. There was the natural and unplanned growth of towns, which evolved, for economic, administrative, or religious rea- sons, from the predynastic villages; and there were planned towns, initiated for particular purposes in specific locations. The latter were occupied for the duration of the project but were subsequently abandoned because there was no continuing need for them. Since they were not leveled and rebuilt for continuous occupation, some have survived in a better state than the great cities of Memphis or Thebes. They include several royal work- men’s towns.
Ancient Egypt - Ancient Egypt - Ancient Egypt - Ancient Egypt