Young Writers Society

I am thinking about writing a story heavily based upon Ancient Egyptian mythology from 2700 B.C. I want to know things about their culture, kingdoms, pharaohs, mythology, etc. Any info is appreciated.

Hey @DestinyWolf

As a bit of a starting point, if you're looking for basic information, Google would be much more help than we could. We can help with some in-depth information, but we're not gonna do your research for you

@Omnom

I was not asking for you to do my research for me. I was asking if anyone knew any specific single important pieces of information that might be useful. I have already consulted Google, and other websites.

Thanks for your useful help,
Destiny

You're dealing with early pyramid building, which means the infrastructure of Egypt would be much, much different— and is actually something archaeologists are only recently starting to understand.

First off, pyramid builders were skilled craftsmen who were paid in food, shelter, and medicinal care. They might have had tons of injuries working with rocks, but a lot of those injuries healed. They also tended to work over lifetimes on a single pyramid, with rulers commissioning them in their late teens or early twenties and having them finished after they died.

Medicine was wildly advanced at the time, and women were in science, notable enough to be named in tombs. Scientists in general were about to become very, very prominent, with Imhotep is about a century off from your timeline. This points to a high value in improving advancements, especially since Imhotep was multi-disciplinary.

This is when Egypt began to resemble what we know as Egypt today. It grew esponentially, putting high value on the sciences, while also putting a high value on afterlife and immortality. The pyramids were build to line up with astrological points of reference on auspicious days of the year, basically giving the pharaohs a direct "step up"/direction towards the heavens.

The physical geography of Egypt would've been different, too, with carved canals to get the giant blocks of stone in place. Giza had a river flowing through it, and there's no reason to believe the desert that currently surrounds the pyramids always did. Ancient Egyptians took care of their kingdom and had to have water flow everywhere, and with trees planted, the desert couldn't easily claim their cities.

So in general look for swelling importance, refined infrastructure, lots of purposeful land tending to make the areas habitable, probably a certain amount of government bodies we associate with socialism, and lots and lots of magic that was strongly believed in. The stone tablets recovered from pyramid building villages show everything from passing notes in class level gossip— materials lists and comments about attractiveness— to potent curses and blessings.

A grander example being how a pharaoh used the solar eclipse to have an area around the pyramid cleaned. He said the gods were angry that their sacred ground was dirty, and as proof, he said they had taken away the sun. Cleanup happened just in time for the sun to come back, and mythology was closer to religion than simple gods.

Just do lots and lots of research. You have to be into something to write it right.

So there's info but to get the best info on the gods and stuff I suggest meditation and heavy thinking about the Egyptian gods heard rumors that you can visit them through this way personally I have done this but not what I was expecting like I lost focus so if you can do this correctly and meet an Egyptian god take your time with the questions and ask them everything you want to know

Hey @DestinyWolf, I'll join the frey as well.

Everyone does have a point, whilst you've done your research you should tell us where you've done your research so that we don't repeat what you've researched already. It's more effective for you and for us.

Social wise

-Life expectancy for men were around 35, women rarely made it to their 30s. Infant mortality was severe.

-Despite the reach of ancient Egypt, throughout its history the vast majority of the population lived along the Nile and its delta. Most of the territory ancient Egypt was ever composed of was barren and empty (and this continues to be true with modern Egypt). Which meant that wherever your mythology is taking place, it'll most likely to centered around the Nile if you're aiming for historical accuracy.

-Many of them had broken teeth due to the large amount of sand they consumed.A common way to grind flour was by mixing sand in with the grain, so it would grind faster. As a result, they ate a lot of sand, which wore down the enamel and exposed the pulp of their teeth. Abscesses and other dental problems were a common medical issue.

-Earrings were worn by young boys and discarded when they reached manhood

-It was considered one of the most heinous crimes to harm a corpse (which might prevent the spirit from returned to recognize it after death) and so the man who cut into a body to remove organs for mummification was pelted with stones as a ritual punishment.

-Many Egyptian Pharaohs married their sisters.

Culture wise

-Ancient Egyptians loved their beer. It might not be recognizable to today's beer drinkers, but ancient Egyptian beer was central not only to their diet, but also society; beer could be bartered for other goods and services, and wages were sometimes paid in beer. A substantial portion of any ancient Egyptian's diet could be beer. "The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with beer." - 4000+ year old ancient Egyptian inscription.

-The Great library of Alexandria and its burning, if you haven't already included this or touched upon it in your research. It'd be a good idea, the library is one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. It was dedicated to the Muses, the nine goddesses of the arts.

In terms of pyramids. You should know that the Egyptians didn't come up with the perfect pyramids on the first go, no. There were actually several failed designs, such as the the collapsed Pyramid of Maidum, and the Pyramid of Snefru.

If you want further information or asks people who are far more qualified than me, I suggest visiting this site. You have to make an account first, but it's worth it.

I hope this has been somewhat helpful to you.

Just going to correct a little thing in the previous post.

The Library of Alexandria only became a major player in the Greek period of Egypt, after Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and founded a city in his name. As a result, it wouldn't have been around in your timeline. Cleopatra's life was actually closer in time to the moon landing than the pyramids, so they were already considered "ancient" history by the Greek period.

That isn't to say Egypt didn't have libraries and gathered knowledge from the ancient world, but the great Library of Alexandria was not in existence yet.

Bit of a wild shot but you might want to look into a novel called The Egyptian (or Sinouhe the Egyptian I think depending on the edition) by author Mika Waltari which, while it takes place at a point in history closer to us than the one you're looking for, is pretty darn well researched & touches on a lot of small details of everyday life on top of following closely the Pharaohs & religion/politics as part of the storyline.

Thanks everyone!