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Egypt is Africa with a culture that developed on the continent of Africa. In the past there has been a tendency to separate ancient Egypt from the rest of Africa and to group it with ancient Greece, Rome and other cultures around the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. This can be partly attributed to general ignorance about Africa and its cultures. Also, the early Egyptologists isolated Egypt from Africa as they debated that a non-African population formed the roots of the Egyptian civilisation.
In summary it can be said, that within the large family of African peoples, the ancient Egyptians evolved in the particular conditions of the Nile and its environs. In the process they established a truly brilliant civilisation on the continent of Africa where their influence spread far beyond the borders of their country. Egypt in South AfricaVarious individuals and bodies, from as early as the late 19th century, donated ancient Egyptian artefacts to the SA Cultural History Museum (SACHM) in Cape Town, South Africa. A prime example here is the Kafr-Tarkhan collection of Egyptian artefacts excavated by Sir Flinders Petrie during the 1911-1912 and 1912-1913 seasons on behalf of the British School of Archaeology in Egypt (BSAE). Graves from the Predynastic to the Roman period were found. The collection dates mainly from the early Dynastic Period (3050-2686 BCE) of the Egyptian civilisation.On arrival in South Africa, the artefacts first went to the South African Museum (SAM), which had been established in the 1820's. Eventually the SAM became a natural history museum that includes a department of ethnology. In 1966 the SACHM was established, and the relevant collections of the SAM, including the Egyptian collection, were transferred to the new museum. In 1999, the above-mentioned two museums, together with several others, were amalgamated under the auspices of the new iziko museums of cape town. |
CONTENTSEnvironment
History
Religion and life after death
Architecture
Hieroglyphs and scribes
Clothing and adornment
Amarna period
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