Standard(s) 15.Describe the culture of ancient Egypt including: class structure/governance

• Standard(s)

15.Describe the culture of ancient Egypt including:

• class structure/governance

• beliefs, including polytheism and monotheism

• accomplishments

Ancient Egypt

The

Nile

River

Valley

The Geography• Egypt is surrounded by

desert

• The Nile River runs north, 4,000 miles to the Mediterranean Sea

– Through modern Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt

• From May until September is the rainy season

Egypt

• Northern Egypt is called Lower Egypt because it lies downstream on the river

• Upper Egypt in the south is “upstream”

The Nile River• At the Mediterranean Sea the Nile

deposits much of its silt

– Then divides into a fan-shaped delta

• Very fertile, flat land made of silt

The Importance of the Nile

• The Nile River flooded every year.

– But every April the ancient Egyptians' waited for it

“The Gift of the Nile”

• The floods helped ancient farmers turn the Nile Valley into a fertile agricultural area.

Times of High Water or Hunger• Too much water

– villages were destroyed and farm animals drowned

• Too little

– crops failed.

Nile Farming• In October,

farmers planted wheat, barley, and other crops, and flax

– Flax is a plant that makes linen

• In March farmers harvested

Irrigation

• Ancient Egyptians dug canals

• And used a shadoof to lift water into their fields

• The Nile River was the center of ancient Egyptian civilization.

• Annual floods provided rich soil for their fields

• The river was used for irrigation and transportation

• http://videos.howstuffworks.com/discovery/28707-assignment-discovery-uses-of-the-nile-river-video.htm

The Kingdoms of Egypt

• Egypt was a thriving culture

– Surplus crops

– Crafts workers

• Tools

• Pottery

• Jewelry

– Trade along the river

– Cooperation among communities

King Menes• 3100 B.C.

– Menes, king of Upper Egypt overthrew the king of Lower Egypt

• Designed the double crown

– Represented the unification of Egypt

Menes - The First Pharaoh

• Pharaoh refers to the “great palace” where the rulers of Egypt lived

• Later it became the name given to the rulers

Old Kingdom

• From about 2700 B.C. to about 2200 B.C.

• A time when Egypt’s pharaohs worked to build unity in the country

Egypt’s Government

• Menes made Memphis his capital

• The pharaoh made local leaders serve the new government

– To collect taxes

– To serve as judges

– To make sure canals and storage pools were shared fairly

Religion• Egypt’s pharaohs had religious duties

– “The sun god … entrusted me with what he protected.”

• Egypt had many gods with a variety of responsibilities

Horus• The god who united the

two Egypts.

• The Egyptians believed the pharaoh was the “beloved of Horus”

Isis

• The most important goddess

– The mother of Horus

– Protected people from sickness and harm

Ra

• The most important god

– The sun god

• Gave life to Earth

• Just as the pharaoh, the child of Ra, gave life to Egypt and its people

Mummification

• Ancient Egyptians believed they would need their bodies in the afterlife.– They preserved the bodies of the dead

• They anointed the body with spices

• Wrapped the bodies in cloth

• Then encased them in wood or stone cases

The Pyramids

• Huge stone structures built as tombs, or burial places, for the pharaohs

– The first was for Pharaoh Zoser

• Around 2780 B.C.

• A stepped pyramid

The Great Pyramid• The three largest pyramids are at Giza

near Cairo

– The largest pyramid built was for Pharaoh Khufu in 2600 B.C.• It took 22

years to build

• About 100,000 people worked on it

• Building pyramids was expensive

– Most of the collected taxes were used to feed and cloth the workers

– It put a strain on Egypt’s people and economy

– Then local rulers began to demanded pyramids

• Which weakened the unity of Egypt

Hieroglyphics

• Egyptian writing system

– It had about 800 picture signs

• Each sign could stand for an object or a sound

Scribes

• Travelled around Egypt keeping records, and preparing letters and contracts – Only boys

could become scribes• Training

began at about 10 years old

Papyrus

• A reed plant that grows along the Nile

– It was pressed together to form a kind of paper

• A sharpened reed was used as a pen

• Reeds were dipped into red or black ink

• Scribes also had to be good at math

– To keep accurate records of taxes and the pharaoh’s goods

Lost Meaning

• Around 300 B.C. Egypt was conquered by the Greeks

– Egyptians stopped using hieroglyphics

– The meanings became a mystery

The Rosetta Stone• Found by French

soldiers near the Egyptian city of Rosetta

• The stone had Egyptian hieroglyphics, a later Egyptian writing called demotic, and Greek

• In 1822

– Jean Champollion figured out how to read hieroglyphics

The Egyptian Number System

The Egyptian Economy• Hieroglyphic records tell us the Egyptian

economy was based on a surplus of crops• The pharaoh collected taxes which could

include– Part of a farmers crops– Portions of products

• Leather goods, linen cloth, baskets– Days of work

Slaves• Were prisoners of war

• Some worked in government owned gold mines

• Others were trusted with government positions

Middle Kingdom

• The Old Kingdom of Egypt ended around 2000 B.C.

• The Middle Kingdom was a time of change and prosperity

– Egyptians gain new rights

– The Pharaohs increased their control over Egypt

Nubia• Located to the

south of Egypt

– Was a wealthy kingdom with important gold mines

– Was conquered by pharaohs of the Middle Kingdom

Trade Expeditions

• Expeditions were sent from Egypt to Greece and to the Fertile Crescent

• As trade grew people from Asia began to settle in the Nile area

The Hyksos

• Were people who lived in the hills of western Asia

• They were skilled in warfare

• They conquered Lower Egypt and ruled for about 100 years

The New Kingdom

• Pharaoh Ahmose I led an Egyptian army and defeated the Hyksos

• He made Egypt the strongest military power in its part of the world

Egypt Becomes an Empire

• Egypt’s armies captured nearby lands

• The pharaohs created an empire from Kush in the south to the Euphrates River in the north

Kush• Was a wealthy kingdom

• Controlled trade routes with other African Kingdoms

• Traded gold, copper and precious stones for ebony, leopard skins, and elephant ivory

• Enriched the economy of Egypt

Amenhotep I• Made allies and traded in Africa, Asia,

and southern Europe

• He was one of Egypt’s great builders

Hatshepsut

• One of Egypt’s few female pharaohs

• During her reign Egypt enjoyed a long period of wealth and peace

• She is known for her burial temple

The Empire Weakens

• Amenhotep IV

– Angered Egypt’s priests

• Forbid the worship of Amon

–Chief god

• Replaced Amon with Aton

–God of the sun

• He renamed himself Akhenaton

– In honor of Anton

• Practiced monotheism

• He was unpopular

• After his death the Egyptian restored Amon and returned to the worship of many gods

Changes in the Empire• Tutankhamen became

pharaoh after Akhenaton’s death

– He restored the old gods

– But he only ruled for a few years and died young

Reconstruction of Tutankhamun’s face.

Ramses II• The last strong

pharaoh

• Ruled for 67 years

• The kingdom collapsed about 100 years after his death

• The empire was followed by many small kingdoms

Egyptian Medicine• Most doctors were

priests

– Could measure a person’s heartbeat

– New that moldy bread prevented infections

• Today antibiotics are often made from molds

Mathematics & Astronomy

• Priests knew about mathematics

– Needed to design and build pyramids

– Used to study the stars

• Developed a calendar based on 12 months of 30 days each

Nubia and Kush

• Located on the Nile River

– Includes parts of today’s southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sudan

The Land of Nubia

• The Nile River is formed by

– The Blue Nile which flows north out of Lake Tana

– The White Nile which flows north out of Lake Victoria

• The Nile River has stone cliffs, and cataracts (a steep rapids in a river), rocks, and waterfalls

– It make navigation difficult

• Nubia has harsh desert climate

– Above 100 in summer

• Below freezing in winter

• But the Nile provided water and good soil

• Nubia had two regions

– Lower Nubia in the north

• Had fertile farmland and annual flooding of the Nile

– Upper Nubia in the south

• Had a rugged landscape

–Rocky cliffs and hills that were rich in minerals

»Gold and copper

• People herded cattle

• Nubia developed cities

• Were active traders with Egypt and other African civilizations

• Had a government run by kings

• Had complicated religious beliefs

• Grew wealthy from its gold, iron and copper mines

A New Kingdom

• When Egypt’s pharaohs grew powerful they made Lower Nubia pat of their empire

• But they could not conquer Upper Nubia because it could not defeat the kingdom of Kush

• Kush’s capital city Kerma was an important trading city

– Kush grew rich and powerful

– It was strong enough to defend itself from Egyptian armies

• Until 1525 B.C.

• Egypt ruled Kush for 550 years

Blending Cultures• Kush was influenced

by Egypt

– Used hieroglyphics

– Adopted Egyptian religion

• And was also influenced by African and Asian cultures

– They used trained elephants for battle

Rise of Kush• Around 1000 B.C. Kush drive out the

Egyptians• Around 740 B.C.

Piye, a king of Kush, invades Egypt and becomes ruler

• Around 670 B.C. the Assyrians invaded Egypt – The Kushite rulers

retreated to Nubia

Life in Kush• The Kush capital city was Meroë

– It was the center of of the kingdom for 600 year• It was a large city with wide streets

and brick buildings• At the center was a walled area

called the Royal city–With temples and palaces

• It was a rich city

Meroë Society• It had the same social pyramid as Egypt• Pharaohs

• Vizier

• Nobles, Priests

• Scribes, Soldiers

• Craftsmen

• Farmers, Slaves

Women in Kush

• Had important responsibilities

• The throne was passed on to the son or daughter of the king’s sister

• Kush had many queens, and priestesses

• By A.D. 350 Kush had been conquered by the empire of Aksum from nearby Ethiopia

• It was the end of a 3,000 year old civilization

• Up next …

Ancient Greece

• Evaluation

– Egypt timeline worksheet

– All About Egypt worksheet

– Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses

– Giza Pyramid worksheet

– Egyptian Hieroglyphics worksheet

– Tutankhamen worksheet

– End of Chapter Test