Destination 5: The Eastern and Western Desert

The Western Desert

     The last destination we arrived at was nothing but sand that ran on for miles. It took no genius to realize that we were in the desert. The desert is by far the hardest place to look for artifacts for. If we were to walk and end up near a city, then we would know we walked too far. In the desert there was no telling where we would end up. After walking for miles we ended up at an abandoned mine. In Egypt, the deserts were sources of minerals such as gold (Newman 56). Through extensive excavation in the mines, the people would usually find valuables such as metal and precious stones (reshfim.org). The precious stones were used to make artifacts such as the one we found. 

The Precious Hawk

     The artifact we found is known as the precious hawk. The precious hawk was made out of gold, and many other valuables, that could only be found in the mines near Nubia. The precious hawk is a symbol of high status. You would not see someone of low class sporting the hawk. The hawk itself represents the god Horus. The hawk holds the ankh, the symbol of life, and the shen sign, the symbol of completeness (Tyldesley 36).  

     The people contributed to the civilization because  the work was done by the lower class. If there were no lower class there would be no one to providing precious valuables to the king. The place contributed to the civilization because the classes of a civilization were distinguished by what they wore. The high class wore elegant jewelry that the lower classes did not have.