There is a travel agency called “Seti I” near where I work, which is booming. It seems that the pharaohs not only created the splendor of ancient Egypt, but also bless their descendants today.
Not long ago, the Egyptian Civilization Museum officially opened. The 22 mummies of ancient Egyptian pharaohs and queens originally collected in the Egyptian National Museum were transferred to the museum and “lived” in the royal mummy hall. When I heard the news, I made a field visit for the first time.
Pharaoh was the name given to a king in ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians worshipped the pharaoh so much that the officials even took pride in kissing the pharaoh’s feet. Even today, many Egyptians still have a special liking for the pharaoh. Under the ruins of the temple, some ancestors still wander and stare, remembering the glory of their ancestors. The pharaohs of the past dynasties also vigorously promoted the “God-given divine authority”, and built many magnificent temples to worship the gods in the middle reaches of the Nile Valley in ancient Egypt to consolidate their dominance. Later, with the successive invasions of Persia, Macedonia, Rome, Arabia, Ottoman and other empires, especially the arrival of the Arabs, Egypt’s religion has undergone repeated changes, and even ethnic faults have occurred, and the ancient temples have gradually declined and are almost deserted.
The Civilization Museum is located on the bank of the shimmering Ain Sira Lake in the Fustat city south of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Behind the museum is a large blue lake with beautiful scenery. Blue sky, clear water, green trees, fragrant grass… In such an environment, the pharaohs will definitely live very comfortably.
In addition to the huge main building of the museum, the external space is also very spacious. On both sides of the aisle leading to the main building, there are huge portraits of 18 kings, 1 queen and 3 queens who have just moved here. There are also patterns and slogans of the “Pharaoh Golden Parade” event around. The main exhibition hall is divided into two separate areas, one chronologically and the other thematically. The former exhibits cultural relics of various stages from the prehistoric period, the ancient Egyptian pharaoh period, the Greco-Roman period, the Coptic period to modern Egypt. The latter is divided by themes into areas such as Civilization, Nile, Writing, State and Society, Material Culture, Faith and Thought, and Royal Mummy Zones. At present, the museum has a collection of 65,000 cultural relics, of which 1,600 are on display.
Except for the famous Ramses II and Queen Hashepsut known as “Egypt Wu Zetian”, other “moving” pharaohs all lived between the 17th and 20th dynasties of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. These dynasties were relatively prosperous, especially the Eighteenth Dynasty, which represented the pinnacle of ancient Egypt’s splendor. Thutmose III, who lived in the 18th Dynasty, was known as “the most outstanding statesman, strategist, founder of the Egyptian Empire”, and even “Napoleon in the ancient world”. The museum staff told me that among the 31 dynasties in ancient Egypt, the 18th Dynasty had the largest territory, the strongest national power, and the longest duration, and Thutmose III was the master of this dynasty. He seemed to be born to fight, and every day he was either fighting or thinking about how to fight. He launched a large-scale expansion war, making today’s Sudan, Libya, Canaan (today’s Palestine, Israel), and Syria all subject to his rule, turning Egypt from a regional kingdom into an intercontinental empire, affecting Powerful.
Another pharaoh who impressed me was Seti I. He was the father of Ramses II, and during his reign, he formulated scientific domestic and foreign policies and reinvigorated the Egyptian army in an attempt to regain Egypt’s lost lands in Syria and Canaan. He was good at strategy, once led an army to fight against the Hittites, and later made a peace treaty, and was a “great pharaoh”. During his reign, he attached great importance to the development of culture and art, and the buildings such as the Ipostil Hall of the Karnak Temple are still well preserved.
I’m particularly concerned about Seti I because many of my Egyptian friends mentioned him to me. In their minds, Seti I had great prestige. There is a travel agency near my work place, the name is “Seti I International Travel Agency”, and the business is very prosperous. The boss told me that it might be thanks to the name getting good.
It seems that the pharaohs not only created the splendor of ancient Egypt, but also bless their descendants today.