Essay Sample on Ancient Egypt: Advanced Civilization

“The effect or remembrance of what Egypt accomplished at the very dawn of history has influence in every nation and every age. 'It is even possible, as Faure has said, 'that Egypt, through the solidarity, the unity, and the disciplined variety of its artistic products, through the enormous duration and the sustained power of its effort, offers the spectacle of the greatest civilization that has yet appeared on the earth.' We shall do well to equal it (Mark).” Many scholars have said that ancient Egypt is very influential and is a building block for further civilizations down the path. This supports the idea that Ancient Egypt was the most advanced place in the ancient world because of its scholarly advancements, its creativity in farming techniques, and its own written language.

Their farming techniques were so creative they advanced their society by having a stable food source. They had very inventive watering techniques for their crops during the harsh summer. They used shadaf which is a “large pole balanced on a crossbeam, a rope and bucket on one end and a heavy counterweight at the other. By pulling the rope it lowered the bucket into the canal. The farmer then raised the bucket of water by pulling down on the weight. He then swung the pole around and emptied the bucket onto the field (Barrow).” This was the first invention ever like this during this period and it was easily made and was made with accessible materials. They used tools similar to today and paved the way for more tools to be invented. They used the plows that were pulled by cows so that they could turn the earth so that the dirt would be nutrient-rich and it helped plant the seeds (Seaton). Their irrigation system was creative and ended up inspiring several other places like Rome and Greece. “These canals were carefully engineered to efficiently water the fields but, most importantly, not to interfere with anyone else's crops or canals (Mark).” It was important to make sure that the crops were always watered. Lingkun Chen explains in detail how they work and how they are important” Regulated sluices would direct floodwater into a basin, where it would sit for a month or so until the soil was saturated. Then the remaining water would be drained off to a basin down-gradient or to a nearby canal, and the farmers of the drained plot would plant their crops. This practice allowed the ancient Egyptians to control the rise and fall of the river to best suit their agricultural needs. A crisscross network of earthen walls was formed in a field of crops that would be flooded by the river. When the floods came, the water would be trapped in the basins formed by the walls. This grid would hold water longer than it would have naturally stayed, allowing the earth to become fully saturated for later planting. Once the soil was fully watered, the floodwater that remained in the basin would simply be drained to another basin that was in need of more water (Chen).” They had the Nile River close which provided them with rich nutrients so they took advantage of that. The Nile had also proven to make it difficult to decide when to plant crops so the Egyptians had to also come up with a way to be able to tell when it was going to flood. They invented one of the most important pieces of technology for farming where flooding is frequent. They had invented the Nilometer. This could predict when the Nile would flood. They would be placed all along the river. They would measure how high or low the water was and they would track it to see how fast the water level was rising or lowering giving them an early warning of what to prepare for. This is important because if you didn’t have enough water stored up for a drought then all of your crops would die and then you wouldn't be able to make any money that year (Chen).

They had their own written language that is similar to the languages we use today. Hieroglyphics were the most influential ancient language. It is one of the earliest forms of writing and reading. The ancient Egyptians came up with a way to make sure the reader always knew where to start so all of the hieroglyphs would face towards the beginning of the text (Mark). They found that aesthetics are very important in written language and when writing they had all of their characters in a rectangle very similar to columns (Mark). They also used similar techniques to writing today. Their hieroglyphics were supposed to be read from right to left and from the top to the bottom.  This further proves they were thinking about every aspect of the written language. The Egyptians were efficient in writing. After writing had become more popular and people were doing it more they noticed that it was a lot of work to write all of the hieroglyphs because they were very intricate and delicate they decided to create a simplified version of hieroglyphics that are called hieratic scripts. This made writing and doing commissions faster so that it could become faster and more efficient for everyone. Ancient Egyptians noticed that stone was too expensive to be written on constantly so they created paper from a plant called papyrus (Writing Scribes, Hieroglyphs, and Papyri). 

They had advancements in astronomy, math, and medicine that put them ahead of other civilizations. They created and inspired some of the things that we do today in the medical field. They were able to test and detect diabetes and some kinds of cancers. They treated diseases including dental, gynecological, gastrointestinal, and urinary disorders (Metwaly et al.). Their surgeries were the most advanced in all of the ancient world. They still use very similar instruments during surgery: scalpel, forceps, and scissors. These instruments make it easier and safer to do surgeries. Which means it would give them a higher chance of survival. They were the most professional in medicine. They would write everything down on Papyrus and.