Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Egyptian Theme Block



The goddes Wadjet, shown as a cobra, represented Lower Egypt. The hieroglyphs above have the same meaning. The goddess Nekhbet, shown as a vulture , represented Upper Egypt and again the heiroglyphs below repeat the message. The cobra and vulture appear together as the uraeus on the headdress of the pharaoh.

The Eyes of Horus symbolize the sun (right eye) and the moon (left eye). The eyes had magical health-giving properties, bestowing protection and were thought to ward off bad luck. The Eye of Horus were painted on coffins and on the bows of boats, both to protect the craft and to 'see' the way.

The Nile is the longest river in the world, rising in the East African highlands and flowing more than 4000 miles to the Mediterranean. The rhythm of this great river was the most important feature in the lives of the Ancient Egyptians. Without the river Nile, Egypt would probably never have become a prosperous powerful nation. It was an essential link between the low-lying delta area and the higher, drier territory of Upper Egypt, and goods were traded all along it's length.
The river itself was an abundant sourse of food, home to many types of fish. Nile perch could even be caught in the irrigation ditches that were cut to channel water from the river to the fields.

And last but not least, we can't forget the pyramids.

12 comments:

Gerry said...

WOW this is a great block. What a lot of work you've put into it. Very well done, Thelma!

Susan said...

Love your history lesson along with your terrific block!

Charlene ♥ NC said...

Beautiful, and educational, too!

Thelma said...

Thank you so much Gerry, Susan and Charlene for the compliments. I thought I was never going to get the Nile river finished. lol

NormaH said...

WOW!!!! Thelma, this is most impressive. The block is gorgeous, marvelous stitching and being a history buff .... loved the history lesson. VBHugs

gocrazywithme said...

Hi Thelma,
No wonder you only have one block done! You don't work slow, you just put a lot of beautiful work into it! Well done!

Thelma said...

Thank you Norma and I believe gocrazywithme is Janet???Am I correct? Thanks for the compliments on my block.

Marianne S-M said...

Wow Thelma, what a gorgeous block, and so well wrought and researched. thanks for sharing, Marianne

JK said...

And it is at my house!! HA! HA!! (I have been posting that to all the blogs with the Egyptian blocks on them.) Beautiful work sweetie, and thank you for participating in this swap!

Anonymous said...

HELLO,
I love your crazy Egypt and cats! it's all that I love.
I go to Egypt tomorrow, if you like, I send you a amulet from Assouan for your block.
You tell me : marie-paule.vb@wanadoo.fr
Excuse my english please
Have a nice day
Marie-Paule from France

Thelma said...

Thank you Marianne and JK. It was fun. At first I didn't have a clue what I was going to do. (g)

Thelma said...

Marie-Paule,
Thank you so much for the wonderful comments on my blocks. I would love an amulet from Assouan for my block, thank you so much. That would be awesome!!
Hope you have a fantastic day.