Before our modern obsession with posting on Internet walls and adoring our pets, an ancient civilization nestled on the banks of the Nile did exactly the same thing. Except that civilization existed more than 6,000 years ago. This civilization was Egypt. Ancient Egypt covers a vast history and certain events or eras were crucial to the development of its society and culture. One of these was the unification of Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt during the third millennium BC. The ancient Egyptians considered this event the most important in their history, comparable to the "First Time" or the creation of the universe. With the unification of the “Two Lands” by the legendary, if not mythical, King Menes, the glorious Pharaonic age began. Power was centralized in the hands of a god-king and thus Egypt became the first organized society. The ancient Egyptians were a people of many firsts. They were the first people in ancient times to believe in life after death. They were the first to build in stone and shape the arch out of stone and brick. Even before the unification of the Two Lands, the Egyptians had developed a plow and a writing system. They were accomplished sailors and shipbuilders. They learned to map the cosmos in order to predict the flooding of the Nile. Their doctors prescribed curative remedies and performed surgical operations. They carved stone and decorated the walls of their tombs with brightly colored naturalistic murals. The legacy of ancient Egypt is etched in stone across the country, from the pyramids of Upper Egypt to the cave tombs of the Valley of the Kings, to the Old Kingdom temples of Luxor and Karnak, to the Ptolemaic temples of Edfu and Dendera and the Roma...... middle of paper ......e. They believed that the physical body must be preserved to allow their spirit to live on in the afterlife. For this reason, mummification was practiced to preserve the body. Conclusion Without their religion and progress in all areas of life, Egyptian society might not have existed. Egyptian culture revolved around its ardent beliefs. This celebration of life and death was revealed through their art, architecture, politics, social life and religion. Perhaps it was the mixture of politics, religion, and the belief that the pharaoh was infallible and a deity that allowed Egypt to remain the powerful country it was for so long. Nonetheless, the ancient Egyptians bequeathed us a vast knowledge of advancements that we have enjoyed for thousands of years and should expect to continue to do so for the foreseeable future..