Information about the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. Material and cultural activity of the ancient Egyptians. Livestock accounting. Above each type of animal are numbers showing their number in a wealthy owner. Photo: Lepsius

God Thoth - the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom and knowledge

Science in the East, since ancient times, has remained a field of application of knowledge to solve only practical problems related to the economy and technology, on the one hand, and administrative activities, on the other. Eastern science was fundamentally different from European and, from the point of view of the latter, was not such at all. It was mainly of a religious and moral nature, was connected with the sensory experience of a person and did not need an experiment. Its main problem lay in the humanitarian sphere and was closely connected with religious ideology, philosophical "wisdom", the sphere of esoteric knowledge.

Much of the scientific heritage of the ancient Egyptians has come down to our days indirectly - in the retellings of Greek historians and philosophers, who found the culture of Ancient Egypt already in the late period, at the stage of slow extinction. This information was often incomplete, covered with a veil of secrecy, like almost everything that concerned Egypt in the Greco-Roman era. In many ways, this mystery is due to the fact that the priests were the guardians of the scientific tradition, and science was closely intertwined with religion. Many knowledge, especially those that had a certain sacred meaning, were carefully guarded and were available only to the elite. The meager Egyptian written sources testify precisely to an extremely strong oral tradition - scientific texts are extremely scarce, and those that have survived to this day are often almost indecipherable, their meaning is obscure and, most likely, encrypted. Nevertheless, evaluating the culture of Ancient Egypt, one can be convinced that the Egyptians made many discoveries in many fundamental areas of science. The irrigation system and pyramids are evidence of highly developed engineering and geometry, the art of embalming is proof of the practical achievements of ancient Egyptian chemists and physicians.

Part of the papyrus of Ahmes with tasks

Mathematics

In the field of scientific knowledge, the greatest development in Dr. Egypt received mathematics as an applied science. For the construction of temples and tombs, the measurement of land areas and the calculation of taxes, a system of calculation was required, first of all; This is where the development of mathematics began. The measurement of circular areas and cylindrical volumes required the calculation of the square root. It can be concluded that Egyptian mathematics arose from the needs of office work and economic activity of the Egyptians. The Egyptians used a decimal non-positional counting system, in which they used special signs to denote the numbers 1, 10, 100 - up to 1 million. They operated with simple fractions only with the numerator 1.

Egyptian numerals were invented in ancient times, apparently at the same time as writing. They are pretty simple. Small vertical lines were used to write numbers from one to nine. A sign resembling a bracket or a horseshoe was used to represent 10. An image of a rounded rope was used to write the concept of 100. The stem of a lotus flower indicated 1000. A raised human finger corresponded to 10,000. The image of a tadpole was a symbol of 100,000. A figure of a squatting deity with raised hands denoted 1,000,000. Thus, the Egyptians used the decimal system, in which ten signs of the lowest row could be replaced by one sign of the next level.

The Egyptians knew how to multiply and divide, but these actions were carried out in a rather laborious way. The division was "multiplying in reverse." To divide one number by another, it was necessary to calculate how much to multiply the divisor to get the dividend. The multiplication used by the Egyptian mathematicians was consistent. So, the action "5x6" looked like (5x2) + (5x2) + (5x2).

Despite the fact that determining the area of figures of various configurations was a familiar task for geometers, the Egyptians did not have in their arsenal the number "pi", introduced much later only by Greek mathematicians.

Mathematics had not only practical, but also artistic applications. Some of the Egyptian paintings have preserved traces preparatory work. The thin lines of the grid applied under the drawing showed that the artist drew the plane into squares and inscribed the figures into these squares in parts. This technique testifies, in addition to wit technical solution and mathematical thoughtfulness of the composition, that the Egyptians studied proportions well and actively used them in painting.

Hieroglyphic record of the number 35736

The ancient Egyptians also had some elementary knowledge in the field of algebra - they were able to solve equations with one and two unknowns.

Geometry was at a fairly high level for that time. Pyramids, palaces and sculptural monuments were built with a high degree of accuracy. The Moscow Mathematical Papyrus contains solutions to difficult problems for calculating the volume of a truncated pyramid and a hemisphere. The volume of a cylinder was calculated by multiplying the area of its base by its height. This operation, associated with the cylindrical shape of the measure for grain, was used to account for grain in government stores. The Egyptians of the Middle Kingdom period already use the number "Pi", taking it equal to 3.16, and in general, the errors in calculating the areas of spherical surfaces do not go beyond the permissible limits.

Apparently, already in the era ancient kingdom(“The periodization of the history of dynastic Egypt from the semi-legendary king Menes to Alexander the Great, from about the 30th century BC until the end of the 4th century BC, is closely connected with the Manetho tradition. Manetho, a priest who lived in Egypt shortly after the campaign of A. Macedon, he wrote in Greek a two-volume "History of Egypt". Unfortunately, only excerpts from his writings have survived, the earliest of which are found in the works of historians of the 1st century AD. us, often in a distorted form, is extremely important, because these are excerpts from the book of a man who described the history of his country, based on well-available Egyptian documents.Manetho divided the entire history of dynastic Egypt into three large periods - Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms; of the named kingdoms is divided into dynasties, ten for each kingdom - a total of 30 dynasties") and the system of length measures adopted in Egypt during the entire existence of the Egyptian kingdom is established. This system of measures was based on the proportions of the human body. The main unit of measurement was the cubit (equal to 52.3 cm) - a value equal to the distance from the elbow to the fingertips. Seven palms with a splint of 4 fingers each equaled one cubit. There were also divisions in the elbow (equal to the width of one finger), which, in turn, consisted of smaller parts. The main measure of the area was considered "cut", equal to 100 square meters. elbows. The main measure of weight "deben" corresponded to approximately 91 g.

Surviving mathematical texts Dr. Egypt (1st half of the 2nd millennium BC) consist mainly of examples for solving problems and, at best, recipes for solving them, which can sometimes be understood only by analyzing the numerical examples given in the texts . We should talk about recipes for solving certain types of problems, because mathematical theory in the sense of proving general theorems apparently did not exist at all. This is evidenced, for example, by the fact that the exact solutions were used without a significant difference from the approximate ones. Nevertheless, the very stock of established mathematical facts was, in accordance with high construction technology, the complexity of land relations, the need, and an accurate calendar, etc., quite large.

Iron production in ancient Egypt

Chemistry

Chemistry in Ancient Egypt is an exclusively applied science, and it had a partly sacred character. The main field of application of chemical knowledge is the embalming of the dead within the framework of the cult of the dead. The need to keep the body in order during the eternal afterlife required the creation of reliable balm compositions that did not allow rotting and decomposition of tissues.

The chemistry of the ancient Egyptian embalmers is all kinds of resins and saline solutions, in which the body was first soaked, and then soaked through with them. The saturation of mummies with balms was sometimes so high that the tissues were charred over the centuries. So, in particular, it happened with the mummy of Pharaoh Tutankhamun - the fatty acid contained in aromatic oils and balms caused complete charring of tissues, so that only the famous coffin of pure gold retained the appearance of the pharaoh.

Ancient Egyptian potters

Another aspect of the application of chemical knowledge is glassmaking. Faience jewelry, colored glass beads are the most important branch of the jewelry art of the ancient Egyptians. The rich color range of jewelry that fell into the hands of archaeologists convincingly demonstrates the ability of Egyptian glassmakers to use a variety of mineral and organic additives to color raw materials.

The same can be said about the leather business and weaving. The Egyptians learned to tan leather in the deepest antiquity and used natural tannin for this purpose, which is rich in acacia seeds growing in Egypt. A variety of natural dyes were also used in dressing fabrics - linen and wool. The main colors are blue, for which indigo paint was used, and yellow. richest color palette used by Egyptian artists: murals from the times of the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms, preserved to your time in the dry air of burial chambers. They have not lost their multicolor at all, which is the best way to characterize the quality of the dyes used by the Egyptians.

Medicine

The Egyptians gained extensive medical knowledge from the practice of embalming corpses, which led to familiarity with the internal structure of the human body. In the era of the Old Kingdom, individual medical observations obtained empirically were subjected to selection and classification, on the basis of which the first medical treatises appeared. Ten main medical papyri have come down to us, which received their name either by the name of the first owners, or by the name of the cities where they are stored. Of these, two are of the greatest value - the large medical papyrus of Ebers and the surgical papyrus of Edwin Smith.

The Ebers Papyrus was discovered in one of the Theban tombs in 1872 and dated to the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep I (XVI century BC). More than forty texts on medicine are recorded on this papyrus. It contains many recipes and prescriptions for the treatment of various diseases, gives advice on how to escape from insect and animal bites; the cosmetics section contains instructions on how to get rid of wrinkles, remove moles, increase hair growth, etc. Without exception, all medical prescriptions are accompanied by appropriate magic spells and incantations for each specific case. As medicines various plants are mentioned (onion, garlic, lotus, flax, poppy, dates, grapes), mineral substances (antimony, soda, sulfur, clay, lead, saltpeter), substances of organic origin (processed animal organs, blood, milk). Medicines were usually prepared in the form of infusions with milk, honey, and beer.

Egyptian physicians treated various fevers, dysentery, dropsy, rheumatism, diseases of the heart, liver, respiratory tract, diabetes, most stomach diseases, ulcers, etc.

The Edwin Smith papyrus lists various injuries: head, throat, collarbones, chest, spine. Egyptian surgeons ventured into quite complex operations. According to the finds in the tombs, they used surgical instruments made of bronze. throughout the ancient world the best doctors, and in particular surgeons, the Egyptians were rightly considered. They knew herbs and their medicinal properties, knew how to make an accurate diagnosis in many cases, used morphine, and used tried and tested methods of treatment. The lack of knowledge was filled with magic and sorcery, which also often turned out to be useful (at least psychologically). Some of the remedies and treatments used by ancient Egyptian physicians are used in modern medicine.

Egyptian doctors were taught, first of all, to identify the symptoms of the disease, and then to perform examinations and tests. They were instructed to record in detail the data of their observations and surveys. There is evidence that Egyptian doctors had to say after the examination whether they could cure the patient or not. Sometimes they did surgery. Surgeons calcined their instruments on fire before the operation and tried to keep the patient and everything that surrounds him as clean as possible.

Ancient Egyptian physicians enjoyed such high prestige in the Middle East that they sometimes traveled to neighboring countries at the invitation of their masters. One of the wall paintings in a New Kingdom tomb shows a foreign prince who came to Egypt with his entire family to consult an Egyptian physician. Physicians were trained by their older and more experienced colleagues while living with their families for some time. Apparently, medical schools also existed in Egypt. Yes, there is evidence of the existence special school for midwives. The best doctors became the court physicians of the pharaoh and his family.

The ancient Egyptian doctors were well versed in how the human body. They had information about nervous system and the effects of brain injury. They knew, for example, that an injury to the right side of the skull causes paralysis on the left side of the body, and vice versa. Although they did not fully understand the circulatory system. They only knew that the heart provides blood circulation in the body. They called the pulse "the messenger of the heart."

An ill Egyptian did not need to know what exactly he was ill with. He was much more interested in whether the doctor could heal him. Such an approach to the doctor’s business was reflected in the recommendations: “Tell him (i.e. the patient) only:“ I can cope with this disease, ”or“ I can cope with this disease, ”or“ I can't handle this disease," but tell him right away."

Of course, the oldest and most important branch of medicine in ancient Egypt was pharmacology. Many different recipes for potions made from plant and animal ingredients have survived to this day. In this area, science and exact knowledge interacted especially closely with magical rituals, without which ancient Egyptian medicine, like the medicine of any other ancient civilization, could not be imagined at all. It should be noted here that doctors originally belonged to the class of priests. Only in a rather late period, not earlier than the New Kingdom, did medical treatises emerge from the walls of scribe schools, secular institutions. Probably due to the decline in the influence of the temples following the end of the New Kingdom, medicine became largely secularized. But religion still played an important role in the treatment of diseases, especially when it came to psychological problems. During the treatment, prayers were always read, and the more serious the illness, the more important it was probably to say them. People often turned to the temples of these gods to be cured. Doctors lived at the temples, who were also priests. In some cases, the sick were allowed to spend the night in the temple room next to the sanctuary. The Egyptians believed that a miracle could heal the sick. If a miracle does not happen, in this case the patient will be sent a prophetic dream, on which the doctor can base his further treatment.

Astronomy

Since ancient times, the main source of accumulation scientific knowledge There was economic activity in Ancient Egypt. For a competent organization of the annual agricultural cycle, it was necessary to be able to determine the arrival of the next season, predict the flood of the Nile, make some kind of forecasts regarding the abundance of flood waters. Egyptian priests have been observing the stars, probably from the moment the first settlements appeared in the Nile Valley. Over the centuries, they have accumulated a significant amount of astronomical data, which made it possible to make fairly accurate meteorological forecasts - probably both long-term and short-term. In addition to the purely applied side, observations of the sky were also partly theoretical. So, it is known that even the astronomers of the Middle Kingdom made maps of the starry sky visible in Egypt. Such maps are preserved in the paintings on the ceiling of some ancient Egyptian temples. In addition to Set-Sirius, the most important star for the ancient Egyptians, Horus is present on these maps - Venus, the Evening Star. Apparently, it was from the ancient Egyptian priests that the tradition began to depict constellations on the maps of the starry sky in the form of symbolic figures. Careful observation of the sky allowed the Egyptian priests to quickly learn to distinguish between stars and planets. Tables of the position of stars and celestial bodies helped Egyptian astronomers in determining the spatial position. The priests-astronomers were able to predict solar eclipses, even calculate their duration. However, this side of astronomical knowledge was the undivided secret of the higher priesthood. The agricultural annual cycle has led to the need to create a calendar. The ancient Egyptian solar calendar is truly a masterpiece of the accuracy of ancient astronomers. By and large, it was this calendar that formed the basis of those calendars that humanity still uses today. The year began in April, on the day when Sirius rose in the dawn sky, the star that the ancient inhabitants of the Nile Valley called Seth. The predawn sunrise of Seth-Sirius foreshadowed the long-awaited rise of water in the Nile and the beginning of a new life cycle. The Egyptian year lasted 365 days. The flood cycle of the Nile dictated the division into three seasons - flood, drying up of water and silt in the fields, and drought. There were four months in each of the seasons, and each month was devoted to certain agricultural work. The months were equal, thirty days each, and divided into three decades. The last five days were added at the end of the year to correlate it with the solar cycle. The disadvantage of this calendar was only that the calendar year and the solar year did not completely coincide. The ancient Egyptians did not know about the leap year, so over time quite significant discrepancies between the solar and calendar years accumulated - one day in four years, almost a month per century.

The Egyptian day consisted of 24 hours, and for measuring time there were two types of clocks - solar and water. In addition, at night, the time could also be determined by the position of the stars, using the same astronomical tables.

The second ancient Egyptian calendar was based on the phases of the moon. Since the lunar month consists of 29.5 days, this calendar needs to be constantly amended. However, it continued to be used to calculate dates for certain religious ceremonies. The first calendar, providing for the division of the year into 365 days, was introduced back in the era of the Old Kingdom, possibly by King Imhotep. Since there are 365.25 days in a year, this calendar began to gradually lag behind the date of the new year, calculated according to the position of Sopdet. After visiting Egypt, Julius Caesar ordered its introduction throughout the Roman Empire. A variant of this calendar, known as the Julian, was used in Europe until the 16th century. the Gregorian calendar was not created - the same one that we use today.

Afterword

The needs of production, socio-economic and proper cultural development led to the accumulation of the reality of knowledge - mathematical, astronomical, biological, medical. Writing also allowed them to be recorded and passed on to the next generations.

Science is the understanding of the world in which we live. Accordingly, science is usually defined as a highly organized and highly specialized activity for the production of objective knowledge about the world, including man himself. At the same time, the production of knowledge in society is not self-sufficient, it is necessary for the maintenance and development of human life.

The knowledge of the Egyptians in various fields had a significant impact on the development of ancient, and consequently, European science. The Greeks have always looked to Egypt as a land of ancient wisdom and considered the Egyptians to be their teachers.

The emergence of scientific knowledge in Egypt and other ancient states did not lead to the emergence of science in the proper sense of the word; we can only talk about its elements, which were used mainly for practical, utilitarian purposes. In addition, Egyptian "science" is very closely related to mythology, religion and magic.

Literature
Great Soviet Encyclopedia (volume 9 and 15). A. M. Prokhorov. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1972.
The World History. M.A. Ksenova, S. Ismailov. - M.: Avanta+, 1993.
The World History. Bronze Age. A. N. Badak, I. E. Voynich. - M.: AST, 2002.
History of the East. Volume 1: East in antiquity. R. B. Rybakov. - M.: Eastern literature, 1999.
History of world culture. S. Karpushina, V. Karpushin. - M.:NOTA BENE, 1998.
World culture: Sumerian kingdom. Babylon and Assyria. Ancient Egypt. A. Zaitsev, V. Laptaev, A. Poryaz. -M.: Olma-Press, 2000.

"For a start, make it clear to yourself: it is possible to change the attitude of the world towards you only by changing your own attitude towards the world. Knowledge and health from the world is possible only by preparing yourself for this reception..." "Learn to watch your body and your posture. Having transformed... it is impossible." "Be patient, but patience is not humility and humility. This is diligence, painstakingness and calmness in any act. "" Honor ancient customs, for our Forefathers and Foremothers learned them from our bright Gods.

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Earth radioactive waste? Biotechnology? Where will all this lead us? So far, all problems solved scientific they only gave rise to even bigger problems in the way - the farther into the forest, the darker the prospects, narrowing ... if you can still somehow agree with the kids and quickly extinguish hostility, then with teenagers and adults, carriers of a different system knowledge, there are significant problems. How to smooth out these conflicts, how to seek mutual understanding? This is where morality comes in again.

The ancient Egyptians created a high level, complex in structure, rich in content culture, which had a huge impact on the cultural development of not only many peoples of the Middle East, but also the ancient Greeks. Many cultural values created by the Egyptians have entered the treasury of world culture and have now become the property of all mankind.

Egyptian culture was created for about four millennia and went through a long and hard way of its development. What determined the development of ancient Egyptian culture and its high level? First of all, the features of the socio-economic system of Ancient Egypt. The economic development of the Nile Valley, the creation of rationally organized agriculture, the general rise of the entire economy created the material basis for cultural creativity. At the same time, achievements in the field of culture, education, science, and the general spiritual development of the ancient Egyptians undoubtedly became one of the important reasons for improving socio-economic relations and the state.

Ancient Egyptian culture has a number of features that make it deeply original system. Its originality and originality were determined both by the early emergence of class relations and the state, and by the rather isolated geographical position of the Nile Valley, which made it difficult for the contacts of the ancient Egyptians, and, consequently, for borrowing the cultural achievements of other peoples. The nature of the natural conditions of the Nile Valley left a deep imprint on the entire Egyptian culture. The decisive role of the Nile in the economy, life, everyday life, the sizzling sun in summer and beneficent in winter, remoteness from the sea, the destructive desert surrounding the Nile Valley with its heat, dust storms and predatory animals determined the specifics of the Egyptian worldview and religious cult, the entire system of spiritual values. Only by common work, organized by the strong power of the pharaoh, the Egyptians could create the conditions for a normal life. Therefore, fear of the formidable forces of nature, embodied in ferocious deities, of the all-destroying power of the pharaoh, their absolute greatness and power permeated the entire worldview of the Egyptian in antiquity. Man felt his powerlessness, his insignificant smallness before the powerful gods and the no less formidable pharaoh (including the executors of his will - officials).

Egyptian culture is characterized by deep conservatism and traditionalism. The Egyptians avoided radical innovations in their system of cultural values. On the contrary, their main principle was the careful preservation and imitation of already known ideas, canons, artistic techniques. Of course, this did not deny the emergence of new elements, new ideas and new techniques, but they appeared slowly, manifested themselves only in line with traditional ideas and were perceived not so much as fundamentally new phenomena, but as an improvement of existing models. Therefore, the Egyptian masters are characterized by a constant appeal to traditional plots and techniques and, ultimately, their exhaustive development. Traditionalism and conservatism of thinking led to the creation of thoroughly developed purely Egyptian canons and images, to that organic combination of skill, conceptual and professionalism, which is so characteristic of the masterpieces of Egyptian art.

scientific knowledge

Science is an organic part of any culture. Without a certain set of scientific knowledge, the normal functioning of the economy, construction, military affairs, and government are impossible.

The dominance of the religious worldview, of course, restrained, but could not stop the accumulation of knowledge. In the system of Egyptian culture, scientific knowledge reached a fairly high level, and above all in three areas: mathematics, astronomy and medicine.

Determination of the beginning, maximum and end of the rise of water in the Nile, the timing of sowing, ripening of grain and harvest, the need to measure land plots, the boundaries of which had to be restored after each spill, required mathematical calculations and astronomical observations. The great achievement of the ancient Egyptians was the compilation of a fairly accurate calendar, built on careful observations of the heavenly bodies, on the one hand, and the regime of the Nile, on the other. The year was divided into three seasons of four months each. The month consisted of three decades of 10 days. There were 36 decades in a year devoted to constellations named after deities. 5 additional days were added to the last month, which made it possible to combine the calendar and astronomical year(365 days). The beginning of the year coincided with the rise of the water in the Nile, that is, from July 19, the day of the rising of the brightest star, Sirius. The day was divided into 24 hours; although the value of the hour was not constant, as it is now, but fluctuated depending on the season (daytime hours were long in summer, short at night, and vice versa in winter).

The Egyptians studied well the starry sky visible to the naked eye, they distinguished between fixed stars and wandering planets. The stars were combined into constellations and received the names of those animals, the contours of which, according to the priests, they resembled (“bull”, “scorpion”, “hippopotamus”, “crocodile”, etc.). Pretty accurate catalogs of stars, maps of the starry sky were compiled. One of the most accurate and detailed maps of the starry sky is placed on the ceiling of the tomb of Senmut, a favorite of Queen Hatshepsut. A scientific and technical achievement was the invention of water and sundial. An interesting feature ancient Egyptian astronomy was its rational nature, the absence of astrological conjectures, so common, for example, for the Babylonians.

The practical tasks of measuring land plots after the Nile floods, recording and distributing the harvest, complex calculations in the construction of temples, tombs and palaces contributed to the success of mathematics. The Egyptians created a number system close to decimal, they developed special signs - numbers for 1 (vertical bar), 10 (sign of a bracket or horseshoe), 100 (sign of a twisted rope), 1000 (image of a lotus stem), 10,000 (raised human finger ), 100,000 (image of a tadpole), 1,000,000 (figurine of a squatting deity with raised arms). They knew how to perform addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, had an idea about fractions, in the numerator of which there was always 1.

Most of the mathematical operations were carried out to solve practical needs - calculating the area of the field, the capacity of the basket, barn, the size of the heap, grain, the division of property among heirs. The Egyptians could solve such complex problems as calculating the area of a circle, the surface of a hemisphere, and the volume of a truncated pyramid. They knew how to raise to a power and take square roots. The high level of mathematical knowledge can be judged by the content of two surviving papyri: the London Mathematical Papyrus Rind, which gives a solution to 80 complex problems, and the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus from the collection of the Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkin, containing answers to 25 problems.

Throughout Western Asia, Egyptian doctors were famous for their art. Their high qualifications undoubtedly contributed to the widespread custom of mummification of corpses, during which doctors could observe and study the anatomy of the human body and its various organs. An indicator of the great success of Egyptian medicine is the fact that 10 medical papyri have survived to our time, of which Ebers' large medical papyrus (a scroll 20.5 m long) and Edwin Smith's surgical papyrus (a scroll 5 m long) are real encyclopedias. For Egyptian medicine, the fractional specialization of doctors was characteristic. “Each doctor,” wrote Herodotus, “cures only one disease. Therefore, they have a lot of doctors, some treat the eyes, others the head, others the teeth, the fourth the stomach, the fifth the internal diseases. Doctors identified and recommended treatments for about a hundred different diseases. One of highest achievements Egyptian and all ancient medicine was the doctrine of blood circulation and the heart as its main organ. “The beginning of the secrets of the doctor,” says the Ebers papyrus, “is the knowledge of the course of the heart, from which the vessels go to all members, for every doctor, every priest of the goddess Sokhmet, every spellcaster, touching the head, neck, arms, palms, legs, touches the heart everywhere : from it the vessels are directed to each member. Various tombs found during excavations surgical instruments- Evidence of a high level of surgery.

The shackling influence of a religious worldview could not contribute to the development of scientific knowledge about society. However, we can talk about the interest of the Egyptians in their history, which led to the creation of a kind of historical writings. The most common forms of such writings were chronicles containing a list of reigning dynasties and a record of the most significant events that occurred during the reign of the pharaohs (the height of the Nile, the construction of temples, a military campaign, measurement of areas, captured booty). So, a fragment of the chronicle about the reign of the first five dynasties (Palermo stone) has come down to our time. The Turin royal papyrus contains a list of Egyptian pharaohs up to the 18th dynasty. The famous "Annals of Thutmose III" are a carefully processed chronicle, which outlines the history of his numerous campaigns.

A kind of collection of scientific achievements are the oldest encyclopedias - dictionaries. The collections of terms explained in the glossary are grouped by topic: sky, water, earth, plants, animals, people, professions, positions, foreign tribes and peoples, food products, beverages. The name of the compiler of the most ancient Egyptian encyclopedia is known: it was the scribe Amenemope, the son of Amenemope, he compiled his work at the end of the New Kingdom (most full list of this work is stored in Moscow in the Pushkin Museum im. A. S. Pushkin).

Significant development in this period is achieved by crafts, in particular, the processing of wood, stone, metal, clay, papyrus, dressing of fabrics and leather. In the era of the archaic and the Early Kingdom, all the groves were reduced, and therefore the processing of wood was of great importance in this period. In the manufacture of furniture, ships, burial boxes, and other items, they used both local wood species - acacia, palm, and imported varieties - pine, which was brought from Syria, and ebony, which was delivered from Nubia. The development of woodworking production was reflected in a significant complication and improvement of tools. Stone tools are gradually being replaced by metal ones. The tree is cut with an ax, sawn with a one-handed saw, hewed with an adze, marked with a flat numbering stone. In special workshops, bows and arrows are made using a whole set of tools.

Great importance had wood processing for shipbuilding. The official chronicles report the construction of large cargo ships from various types of wood, mainly from acacia brought from Nubia.

At that time, stone processing reached a high flourishing and technical perfection. An idea of the technique of stone processing is given by valuable vessels made of very hard rocks with amazing precision and perfection. But the Egyptian stonemasons achieve special success in the construction business. Huge royal tombs (pyramids) and temples located near them give a vivid idea of the heyday of construction technology. Huge stone slabs were used for their construction. Thus, the stones located at the entrance to the mortuary temple of Pharaoh Khafre reach a length of 5.45 m and weigh 42 thousand kg. The leading and most economically important type of craft was metallurgy, which also reached significant development during the period of the Old Kingdom. Stone tools are increasingly being replaced by metal ones, most often made of copper mined in the mines of the Sinai Peninsula. Along with the forging technique, the casting technique was also known.

Jewelry art reaches a high flowering in this era. From gold, silver and a natural alloy of gold and silver, Egyptian jewelers made fine products and jewelry. The perfection of the jewelry art of that time is vividly illustrated by the massive silver bracelets found in the tomb of Queen Hetsi-Cheres. These bracelets are decorated with the finest inlays of malachite, lapis lazuli, jasper, depicting graceful dragonflies.

Finally, other crafts also reached significant development in this era, in particular the processing of clay, papyrus, leather, and the dressing of linen fabrics.

A striking indicator of the development of the spiritual culture of this period is the appearance of writing, which, like the Sumerian, arises from the simplest drawings and patterns of the primitive era. This complex pictorial writing system was very visual, but not convenient. As the language becomes more complex and the need to designate a set of abstract concepts, the pictogram sign turns into an alphabetic sign. Thus, already in the era of the Old Kingdom, an alphabet system appeared in Egyptian writing, which served to designate 24 basic sounds. However, the Egyptian scribes could not get rid of the archaic remnants of antiquity and create a writing system that consisted of only alphabetic characters. Due to conservative traditions, Egyptian scribes retained a large number of complex syllabic and pictorial word signs, denoting whole words with hieroglyphs.

For almost four thousand years, a huge number of the most diverse literary works have been created, which testify to the high level of development of this ancient culture, the richness of the artistic creativity of the Egyptian people.

Egyptian literature received its most striking development in the era of the Middle Kingdom (c. 2050 - 1700 BC), which is considered the heyday of the classical literature of Ancient Egypt.

Fairy tales go back to the deep layers of oral folk art, often preserving plots from folk life, reflecting the life and worldview of farmers. They are clothed in the form of folk speech, which subsequently only underwent artistic literary processing.

The main fairy tale characters are innocent and righteous sufferers; such are "The Tale of Two Brothers" and "The Tale of Truth and Falsehood." The motive of the first of them - about an evil wife and an innocent young man whom she wants to seduce, the miraculous transformations of the protagonist of a fairy tale, and, finally, about the triumph of a righteous man who suffered unjustly - is found not only in Egyptian literature, but also in the literature of many peoples of later times that were influenced by Egyptian culture.

Myths are very close to fairy tales, in particular the widely known myth about Osiris, which has come down to us in the work of the great ancient Greek writer, historian and philosopher Plutarch “On Isis and Osiris”. This myth and other Egyptian myths of the cosmic and solar cycle tell about the creation of the world, about the extermination of people by the gods, about the resurrection of heroes.

In the era of the Middle Kingdom, a new literary genre arose - descriptions of travel, which is the earliest predecessor of the later genre of adventure novels.

Fine arts and architecture reached a high development in Egypt. The temples and tombs that have survived to this day speak of the technical perfection of architectural forms. The forerunners of the huge royal tombs - the pyramids were burials in the rocks and small ground tombs, crowned with a pyramidal slab. With the development of building technology, the tombs became more and more

More monumental. The classical monumental pyramid, built from slab-blocks, was obtained by filling the empty spaces between the ledges of the pyramid with the help of an external cladding. Mortuary "temples of the kings" were built near the pyramids. The walls of these temples were decorated with reliefs depicting the life and deeds of the deified king.

Distinctive features The Egyptian fine arts of the Archaic and Middle Kingdom period is the majestic monumentality of form, strict and clear, almost geometric constructivism, frontal and static. All these features of Egyptian art were combined with realistic tendencies, especially in portraiture. But at the same time, if the king, the nobleman was depicted embellished, idealized, as a superpowerful person, then the images of “mere mortals” (statues of servants, slaves) are more realistic and bear the features of a portrait resemblance. And only in the era of the New Kingdom, the images of kings and queens become realistic, bear the features of a portrait resemblance (such are the statues of Amenhotep III, the sculptural portrait of Nefertiti).

In schools, in addition to writing, they gave applied knowledge. Thus, knowledge of arithmetic and geometry was used in determining the size of a field, a heap of grain, or the capacity of a barn; the Egyptians, as well as the Babylonians, were able to draw up schematic maps of the area and primitive drawings. The grandiose buildings (the pyramids of the Death Valley, the temples of Luxor and Karnak, etc.) testify to the high level of development of the mathematical knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, which could only be erected on the basis of a series of precise calculations.

One of the great achievements of Egyptian mathematics was the development of the decimal number system. In Egyptian writing, there were already special signs for the numbers 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10,000, 100,000, and even a million, indicated by a figure of a man who raised his hands in surprise. Very characteristic of Egyptian mathematics are peculiar units of length. These units were the finger, palm, foot and elbow, between which the Egyptian mathematician established certain relationships.

Mathematical knowledge was widely used in art. An Egyptian artist, in order to depict a human figure on a plane, drew a square grid into which he “fitted” the human body, using the knowledge of the mathematical ratios of the length of body parts.

The ancient Egyptians had knowledge in the field of astronomy, in particular, they distinguished planets from stars; on the ceilings of various buildings, mainly tombs and temples, there are maps of the starry sky, intended to determine the time at night. In the daytime, time was determined using sun and water clocks. The maps of the location of the stars compiled by the Egyptians were also used much later, in the Greco-Roman era.

Significant development in Egypt received medicine. The autopsies performed during mummification contributed to the development of medicine; Egyptian doctors had reliable knowledge about the structure of the human body and the functioning of the human body; the papyri that have come down to us describe the symptoms of many diseases, methods for their diagnosis and treatment. In medical texts, specialization is noted in certain types of diseases - gynecology, eye diseases, surgery. In the era of the Middle Kingdom, surgery reached a high level of development.

The names of certain diseases and recipes testify to the significant level of development of Egyptian medicine, the achievements of which were widely borrowed by the authors of medical treatises in the era of antiquity. The ancient Egyptian civilization went through all the natural stages of development from the beginning to the heyday and decline. But all the conquests of ancient Egyptian culture were of lasting importance for the further progressive development of human culture.

The significance of the art of Ancient Egypt for the history of the art of other peoples is very great, how great is the significance of everything cultural heritage left behind by the Egyptian people. One cannot underestimate the importance of the entire ancient Egyptian culture: art, architecture, painting, sculpture and other achievements in various industries scientific and cultural life.

Many mysteries of the Egyptian people remain unsolved to this day.

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Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian

Federations

FGBOU VO "Siberian State Technological University"

department national history and cultural studies

ABSTRACT

The science ancient egypt

Prepared by a student

Correspondence department

Fleishman L.E. 1527013

Checked by Cherkasov I.A.

Krasnoyarsk 2016

Plan

Introduction

1. Mathematics

3. Medicine

4. Astronomy

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature

Introduction

mathematics chemistry astronomical medicine

Much of the scientific heritage of the ancient Egyptians has come down to our days indirectly - in the retellings of Greek historians and philosophers, who found the culture of Ancient Egypt already in the late period, at the stage of slow extinction. This information was often incomplete, covered with a veil of secrecy, like almost everything related to Egypt in the Greco-Roman era. In many ways, this mystery is due to the fact that the priests were the guardians of the scientific tradition, and science was closely intertwined with religion. Many knowledge, especially those that had a certain sacred meaning, were carefully guarded and were available only to the elite. The meager Egyptian written sources testify precisely to an extremely strong oral tradition - scientific texts are extremely scarce, and those that have survived to this day are often almost indecipherable, their meaning is obscure and, most likely, encrypted. Nevertheless, assessing the culture of Ancient Egypt, one can be convinced that the Egyptians made many discoveries in many fundamental areas of science. The irrigation system and pyramids are evidence of highly developed engineering and geometry, the art of embalming is proof of the practical achievements of ancient Egyptian chemists and physicians.

1. Mathematics

The Egyptians knew how to multiply and divide, but these actions were carried out in a rather laborious way. The division was "multiplying in reverse." To divide one number by another, it was necessary to calculate how much the divisor should be multiplied by to get the dividend. The multiplication used by Egyptian mathematicians was consistent. So, the action "5x6" looked like (5x2) + (5x2) + (5x2).

Mathematics had not only practical, but also artistic applications. Some of the Egyptian paintings have preserved traces of preparatory work. The thin lines of the grid applied under the drawing showed that the artist drew the plane into squares and inscribed the figures into these squares in parts. Such a technique testifies, in addition to the wit of the technical solution and the mathematical thoughtfulness of the composition, that the Egyptians studied proportions well and actively used them in painting.

The ancient Egyptians also had some elementary knowledge in the field of algebra - they were able to solve equations with one and two unknowns.

Apparently, already in the era of the Old Kingdom (“The periodization of the history of dynastic Egypt from the semi-legendary king Menes to Alexander the Great, from about the 30th century BC until the end of the 4th century BC, is closely connected with the Manetho tradition. Manetho, a priest who lived in Egypt shortly after the campaign of A. Macedon, wrote a two-volume "History of Egypt" in Greek. Unfortunately, only excerpts from his writings have survived, the earliest of which are found in the writings of historians of the 1st century AD. But what has come down to us, often in a distorted form, is extremely important, because these are excerpts from the book of a man who described the history of his country, based on well-available Egyptian documents.Manetho divided the entire history of dynastic Egypt into three large periods - Ancient , Middle and New Kingdoms; each of the named kingdoms is divided into dynasties, ten for each kingdom - a total of 30 dynasties") and the system of length measures adopted in Egypt during the entire existence of the Egyptian kingdom is also established. This system of measures was based on the proportions of the human body. The main unit of measurement was the cubit (equal to 52.3 cm) - a value equal to the distance from the elbow to the fingertips. Seven palms with a splint of 4 fingers each equaled one cubit. There were also divisions in the elbow (equal to the width of one finger), which, in turn, consisted of smaller parts. The main measure of the area was considered "cut", equal to 100 square meters. elbows. The main measure of weight "deben" corresponded to approximately 91 g.

2. Chemistry

Chemistry in ancient Egypt is an exclusively applied science, and it had a partly sacred character. The main field of application of chemical knowledge is the embalming of the dead within the framework of the cult of the dead. The need to keep the body in order during the eternal afterlife required the creation of reliable embalming compositions that did not allow rotting and decomposition of tissues.

Another aspect of the application of chemical knowledge is glassmaking. Faience jewelry, colored glass beads - the most important branch of the jewelry art of the ancient Egyptians. The rich color range of jewelry that fell into the hands of archaeologists convincingly demonstrates the ability of Egyptian glassmakers to use a variety of mineral and organic additives to color raw materials.

The same can be said about the leather business and weaving. The Egyptians learned to tan leather in ancient times and used natural tannin for this purpose, which is rich in acacia seeds growing in Egypt. A variety of natural dyes were also used in the dressing of fabrics - linen and wool. The main colors are blue, for which indigo paint was used, and yellow. Egyptian artists used the richest color palette: murals from the times of the Ancient, Middle and New Kingdoms, preserved to your time in the dry air of burial chambers. They have not lost their multicolor at all, which is the best way to characterize the quality of the dyes used by the Egyptians.

3. Medicine

The Egyptians gained extensive medical knowledge from the practice of embalming corpses, which led to an acquaintance with the internal structure of the human body. In the era of the Old Kingdom, individual medical observations obtained empirically were subjected to selection and classification, on the basis of which the first medical treatises appeared. Ten main medical papyri have come down to us, which got their name either by the name of the first owners, or by the name of the cities where they are stored. Of these, two are of the greatest value - the large medical papyrus of Ebers and the surgical papyrus of Edwin Smith.

The Ebers Papyrus was discovered in one of the Theban tombs in 1872 and dated to the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep I (XVI century BC). More than forty texts on medicine are recorded on this papyrus. It contains many recipes and prescriptions for the treatment of various diseases, gives advice on how to escape from insect and animal bites; the cosmetics section contains instructions on how to get rid of wrinkles, remove moles, increase hair growth, etc. Without exception, all medical prescriptions are accompanied by appropriate magic spells and incantations for each specific case. Various plants are mentioned as medicines (onion, garlic, lotus, flax, poppy, dates, grapes), mineral substances (antimony, soda, sulfur, clay, lead, saltpeter), substances of organic origin (processed animal organs, blood, milk ). Medicines were usually prepared in the form of infusions with milk, honey, and beer.

Egyptian physicians treated various fevers, dysentery, dropsy, rheumatism, diseases of the heart, liver, respiratory tract, diabetes, most stomach diseases, ulcers, etc.

The Edwin Smith papyrus lists various injuries: head, throat, collarbones, chest, spine. Egyptian surgeons ventured into quite complex operations. According to the finds in the tombs, they used surgical instruments made of bronze. Throughout the ancient world, the best doctors, and in particular surgeons, were rightly considered the Egyptians. They knew herbs and their medicinal properties were able to make an accurate diagnosis in many cases, used morphine, used tried and tested methods of treatment. The lack of knowledge was filled with magic and sorcery, which also often turned out to be useful (at least psychologically). Some of the remedies and treatments used by ancient Egyptian physicians are used in modern medicine.

Ancient Egyptian physicians enjoyed such high prestige in the Middle East that they sometimes traveled to neighboring countries at the invitation of their masters. One of the wall paintings in a New Kingdom tomb shows a foreign prince who came to Egypt with his entire family to consult an Egyptian physician. Physicians were trained by their older and more experienced colleagues while living with their families for some time. Apparently, medical schools also existed in Egypt. So, there is evidence of the existence of a special school for midwives. The best doctors became the court physicians of the pharaoh and his family.

Ancient Egyptian doctors were well versed in how the human body works. They had information about the nervous system and the consequences of brain injuries. They knew, for example, that an injury to the right side of the skull causes paralysis on the left side of the body, and vice versa. Although they did not fully understand the circulatory system. They only knew that the heart provides blood circulation in the body. They called the pulse "the messenger of the heart."

An ill Egyptian did not need to know what exactly he was ill with. He was much more interested in whether the doctor could heal him. This approach to the doctor’s business was reflected in the recommendations: “Tell him (i.e. the patient) only:“ I can cope with this disease, ”or“ I can cope with this disease, ”or“ I can’t cope with this disease. "but tell him right away."

Of course, the oldest and most important branch of medicine in ancient Egypt was pharmacology. Many different recipes of potions made from plant and animal ingredients have survived to this day. In this area, science and exact knowledge interacted especially closely with magical rituals, without which ancient Egyptian medicine, like the medicine of any other ancient civilization, could not be imagined at all. It should be noted here that doctors originally belonged to the class of priests. Only in a rather late period, not earlier than the New Kingdom, did medical treatises emerge from the walls of scribe schools, secular institutions. Probably due to the decline of temple power following the end of the New Kingdom, medicine became largely secularized. But religion still played an important role in the treatment of diseases, especially when it came to psychological problems. During the treatment, prayers were always read, and the more serious the illness, the more important it was probably to say them. People often turned to the temples of these gods to be cured. Doctors lived at the temples, who were also priests. In some cases, the sick were allowed to spend the night in the temple room next to the sanctuary. The Egyptians believed that a miracle could heal the sick. If a miracle does not happen, in this case the patient will be sent a prophetic dream, on which the doctor can base his further treatment.

4. Astronomy

Since ancient times, economic activity has been the main source of accumulation of scientific knowledge in ancient Egypt. For the competent organization of the annual agricultural cycle, it was necessary to be able to determine the arrival of the next season, predict the flood of the Nile, and make some forecasts regarding the abundance of flood waters. Egyptian priests have been observing the stars, probably since the emergence of the first settlements in the Nile Valley. Over the centuries, they had accumulated a significant amount of astronomical data that allowed them to make fairly accurate meteorological forecasts - probably both long-term and short-term. In addition to the purely applied side, observations of the sky were also partly theoretical. So, it is known that even the astronomers of the Middle Kingdom compiled maps of the starry sky visible in Egypt. Such maps are preserved in the paintings on the ceiling of some ancient Egyptian temples. In addition to Set-Sirius, the most important star for the ancient Egyptians, Horus is present on these cards - Venus, the Evening Star. Apparently, it was from the ancient Egyptian priests that the tradition began to depict constellations on the maps of the starry sky in the form of symbolic figures. Careful observation of the sky allowed the Egyptian priests to quickly learn to distinguish between stars and planets. Tables of the position of stars and celestial bodies helped Egyptian astronomers in determining the spatial position. The priests-astronomers were able to predict solar eclipses, even calculate their duration. However, this side of astronomical knowledge was the undivided secret of the higher priesthood. The agricultural annual cycle has led to the need to create a calendar. The ancient Egyptian solar calendar is truly a masterpiece of the accuracy of ancient astronomers. By and large, it was this calendar that formed the basis of those calendars that mankind still uses today. The year began in April, on the day when Sirius rose in the dawn sky, the star that the ancient inhabitants of the Nile Valley called Set. The predawn rising of Seth-Sirius foreshadowed the long-awaited rise of the waters in the Nile and the beginning of a new life cycle. The Egyptian year lasted 365 days. The flood cycle of the Nile dictated the division into three seasons - high water, drying up of water and silt in the fields, and drought. Each of the seasons had four months, and each month was devoted to certain agricultural work. The months were equal, thirty days each, and divided into three decades. The last five days were added at the end of the year to match the solar cycle. The disadvantage of this calendar was only that the calendar year and the solar year did not coincide completely. The ancient Egyptians did not know about the leap year, so over time quite significant discrepancies between the solar and calendar years accumulated - one day in four years, almost a month per century.

The Egyptian day consisted of 24 hours, and for measuring time there were two types of clocks - solar and water. In addition, at night, time could also be determined by the position of the stars, using the same astronomical tables.

5. School

Time has preserved many Egyptian inscriptions and papyri. This indicates a high level of literacy among the Egyptians. There was no unified system of education. Schools were located at temples and state institutions, separate school buildings were not built. There are examples when children started going to school at the age of five.

At first they were taught to write and read. For exercises in writing, younger students were given lined clay shards or flat stone tablets. Valuable papyrus was received only by older students. Each student independently prepared black and red ink. The main text was written in black, and in red - titles and first lines.

There were no teachers for individual subjects. They taught mostly scribes. It was obligatory to memorize poems and religious works.

There were higher schools for future soldiers and ambassadors to other countries. In them, students were required to quickly answer such questions, for example: “How many bricks do you need to build a site of a certain size? How to put a large sculpture on the base? How many workers are needed to transport a column of a certain length and weight? In such schools they taught music, swimming, jumping, running. Among the pharaoh were officials with a good knowledge of foreign languages.

Thus, the ancient Egyptians were among the first to independently create a perfect written language for their time, achieved significant success in medicine, mathematics, and astronomy. Their calendar is almost the same as the one we use. They knew how to educate educated people.

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature

1. Great Soviet Encyclopedia (volumes 9 and 15). A. M. Prokhorov. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1972.

2. World history. M.A. Ksenova, S. Ismailov. - M.: Avanta+, 1993.

3. World history. Bronze Age. A. N. Badak, I. E. Voynich. - M.: AST, 2002.

4. History of the East. Volume 1: East in antiquity. R. B. Rybakov. - M.: Eastern literature, 1999.

5. History of world culture. S. Karpushina, V. Karpushin. - M.:NOTA BENE, 1998.

6. World culture: Sumerian kingdom. Babylon and Assyria. Ancient Egypt. A. Zaitsev, V. Laptaev, A. Poryaz. -M.: Olma-Press, 2000.

7. Early civilizations. Susan Peach, Anya Millard. -M.: Rosmen 1999.

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Information about the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. Material and cultural activity of the ancient Egyptians. Livestock accounting. Above each type of animal are numbers showing their number in a wealthy owner. Photo: Lepsius

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Information about the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. Material and cultural activity of the ancient Egyptians. Livestock accounting. Above each type of animal are numbers showing their number in a wealthy owner. Photo: Lepsius

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