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Pharaonic Civilization Essay Pharaonic Civilization Civilization of the ancient Egyptians is the civilization that Egypt lived under the pharaohs with 30 different families. The pharaohs began ruling Egypt in 3000 B. C. , they considered themselves to be living gods who ruled with absolute power (Pharaohs, 2010). The ancient Egyptian excelled in building. They built pyramids as testimony of their greatness. Also, they left a significant cultural momentum in science, art of embalming and symbols for gods and goddesses they believed in. The Egyptian Pyramids  The pharaohs believed that death on the earth was just the start of a journey to the next world, and all the evidence referred to that the pharaohs worked in their life preparing for the afterlife. As so, they built the pyramids to be their tombs, to keep their jewelries and their bodies to take it with them to the other life. Booth (2010) stated that it was believed that if the discarded body were preserved, it would remain a focus for the spirit that had left it, exerting an attraction that pulled it down to earth (para. 1). Pyramids of El-Giza  There are many pyramids have found in Egypt, but the most famous three are those which found in El-Giza, couple hundred meters south from Cairo. The three pyramids are Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Khufu pyramid also known as the Great Pyramid is considered as the tallest pyramids and the oldest wonder of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Great Pyramid needs more than 10. 000 laborers working in three-month shifts took around 30 years to build the pyramid (Egyption Antiquities Organization, 2001). All the three pyramids of El-Giza contain corridors led to the chambers inside each one. For example, according to Romer (2007), There are three known chambers inside the Great Pyramid. The lowest chamber is cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built and was unfinished. The Queens Chamber, Kings Chamber are higher up within the pyramid structure. Not only the magnitude of the pyramids which make it famous and great, but also the archaeologists have found many mysterious about the pyramids. For instance, the sides of all three of the Giza pyramids were astronomically oriented to the north-south and east-west with no any small fraction of degree. In addition, they found that the pyramid of Menkaure contains a small hole in one side of the pyramid does not exceed 20 cm in diameter. The secret of this hole is that the sunlight enters through that hole only one day a year to the tomb of the pharaoh completely, the odd thing is this day is the Pharaohs birthday, according to Kamal (2000). The Sphinx The largest and most famous sphinx is the Great Sphinx of El-Giza. The sphinx is located in the north and below the pyramids. The ancient Egyptians believed that lions are symbolism for power. So, the king Khafre symbolized himself in a lion body with his head. Also, some researchers said that he considered himself as the guard of the pyramids. Mummification Preservation of human bodies after death is usually known by two expressions, Embalming and Mummification. Undoubtedly, mummification is the most distinctive technique or art which developed in Ancient Egypt. As I said at first, the pharaohs believed that keeping their bodies will help the spirit to find its body when its the time to join the afterlife journey. Mummification Process  According to Alchin (2012), the embalmers used a range of tools during the mummification process (some of which were left inside the mummies). The embalmers tools included bronze hooks, knives, tweezers, needles and awls (a small point tool used for making holes) for opening, emptying and closing up the corpse. The mummification process which included the removal of organs were conducted on a special slightly slanted table which allowed the blood and bodily fluids to drain into a built in basin. The removal organs was placed in 4 jars as follow: * The container with the human head protect the liver. The container with the Baboon(kind of Monkeys) head protect the lungs. * The container with the falcon head protect the intestine. * The container with the fox head protect the stomach. The embalming processes were accompanied by rituals stand for more than two months. Specifically, the process lasted for a period of 70 days divided into 15 days spent on cleansing and purification, 40 days drying period, and 15 days wrapping, bandaging and paintings. Then, the wrapped body was put in more than one coffin. Sometimes, up to five coffins, and the last one must have the buried pharaohs face.