“First of all, we must recognize that the life of Tawi [the two lands, Kemet, Ancient Egypt] was significantly urban. A large part of the population had farming as its major occupation and probably most people in the various levels of life engaged in farming, gardening, hunting or fishing on at least a limited scale. These facts, however, should not prevent us from seeing the basic urban structure of the nation. Cities, towns and ports, dotted the two banks. There was continual traffic up and down Hapy (the Nile). Farmers made frequent trips to the cities and city folk went out to the farm lands. Many farmers spent part of each year in the cities on urban projects. Cities were built around temples, craft specialties, graveyards, commerce and, of course, government. Urban renewal was a constant process as older sections of a city were abandoned and new sections built. The towns and cities were the life of the civilization. In a manner of speaking, we can say the whole Nile Valley from the Delta to Aswan was a continuous Urban strip.” “The towns and cities of Tawi were not the deserts that Eurasian cities often became. Gardens, aviaries, game parks and fishing sites were often left in their natural setting and the buildings and projects were fitted into them, rather than vice versa. Thus, urban life integrated the natural setting so that the Urban area was not an abrupt and defiant insult to the divinity of nature.” Jacob H. Carruthers “Essays in Ancient Egyptian Studies” Page 95
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 08:55:57 +0000
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