Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum in San Jose houses the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts on exhibit in western North America

Ancient Egypt Egypt's impact on later cultures was immense. You could say that Egypt provided the building blocks for Greek and Roman culture, and, through them, influenced all of the Western tradition. Today, Egyptian imagery, concepts, and perspectives are found everywhere; you will find them in architectural forms, on money, and in our day to day lives. Many cosmetic surgeons, for example, use the silhouette of Queen Nefertiti (whose name means “the beautiful one has come”) in their advertisements. Pyramid of Khafre at Giza, c. 2520-2494 (right). Photo: Dr Amy Calvert, CC BY-NC This introduction will provide you with the primary filters to view and understand ancient Egypt. Longevity Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for more than 3000 years and showed an incredible amount of continuity. Consistency & Stability Egypt’s stability is in stark contrast to the Ancient Near East of the same period, which endured an overlapping series of cultures and upheavals with amazing regularity. Geography Dynasties

San Jose Historical Museum Sumerian Myths Sumerian civilization originated in what is now southern Iraq, just upriver from the mouths of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. "Civilization" in this context means a settled town or city-dwelling people who possess a stable agricultural technology (including domesticated animals) and have developed a hierarchical system of social classes (peasants, laborers, slaves, craftsmen [smiths, masons, carpenters, potters, etc.], farmers, fishermen, merchants, doctors, architects, priests and temple attendants, bureaucrats, scribes, advisers, priest-kings). Since the climate of southern Iraq is hot and dry, agriculture requires an extensive irrigation system of canals and dikes. Map of Mesopotamian Archeological Sites (Oriental Institute, University of Chicago) Sumerian cities were close agglomerations of one or two story mud brick dwellings. The Sumerian CreationOnly one account of the Sumerian creation has survived, but it is a suggestive one. The Creation of Humans Questions:1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Lich Observatories Happy Hallow Park and Zoo