Essay Example about Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt is believed to be one of the oldest civilizations. It followed its origin from prehistoric Egypt and commenced around 3100 BC according to the Conventional Egyptian chronology, which is a scholarly consensus of world-renowned Egyptologists. 

Ancient Egypt is a treasure trove of mysteries, fantastic architecture and monuments, and mythology. It was historically civilized along the Nile river, which can be credited to people's dependency on agriculture due to the fertile plains of the Nile valley. One of the most critical inventions of Ancient Egypt was the papyrus, one of the first data storage mediums manufactured using the inner stem tissues of the papyrus plant. 

Egyptian mythology depicts a descending hierarchy of the gods, who were, in theory, immortal but could suffer death as they ruled the land as kings in a human body. Ra, the god of the sun, was termed as the creator and ruler of the kings, sky, and the Egyptian order. Egyptian culture also emphasized the afterlife of a soul, including death and rebirth, guided by the lord Osiris. 

Ancient Egyptians used the concept of mummification and burial with rites and luxury goods to assure immortality and resources in the afterlife. The mummified remains were preserved in gold coffins with gems and artistic patterns. The Valley of the Kings, which is located in modern-day Luxor, Egypt, is where most of the pharaohs (the common title for ancient Egyptian monarchs) of the New Kingdom were buried, dating from the 16th to the 11th centuries BC. Due to the discovery of additional tombs since 2008 and the fact that the valley has at least sixty-three tombs uncovered to far, archaeologists and egyptologists have been drawn to it. The tombs have a nomenclature that begins with the letters KV (King's Valley) and ends with a number.

The Valley of the Kings is the source of ancient Egypt's most famous debate. The infamous curse of Tutankhamun's tomb has perplexed archaeologists and scholars for a long time. The scientific explanation for the curse is that the burial locations promote the growth of microorganisms and radiation, whereas the mythological explanation is based on cultural beliefs. The curse was also expressly declared in a few Old Kingdom tombs; however, there has yet to be a verifiable incident to back up this claim.

A specific modern account is connected to the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb (KV62), which was excavated by renowned British archaeologist Howard Carter's team and was financed by Lord Carnarvon. Tutankhamun was crowned king at the astonishingly young age of eight or nine and died a mere ten years later. Over 5,000 artifacts were found in his tomb, including King Tut's emblematic golden mask (a colloquial reference to Tutankhamun).

The 1922 discovery sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egyptology because of the deaths of a few members of the excavation team shortly thereafter. Although this legend cannot be validated because of no solid proof, cultural beliefs exist. Ancient Egypt has a lot to offer in the future as it has in the past. There is a possibility that historians, archaeologists, and egyptologists will gradually unravel the many mysteries in the coming years with the constant effort put forth by them.